fainty_girl

My dog is the same! We adopted her from the pound 6 days ago and she was a stray, and it was estimated by the pound that she is 8-9 months old. She is a very clever dog and learnt her new name (we call her Tilly, but her registration name is Matilda) by the second day, and in the home she has responded well to her name since then. At the dog park is another matter though! The first time I took Tilly to a local dog park on an extender lead, she got very over excited and was keen to run off the lead, but I knew she wasn't ready on that day. Her extender lead was a pain in the butt...she ended up tangling me, other people and other dogs during our time at the park. Then when I was untangling the lead from my legs, she launched herself into the water chasing another dog. Her extender lead got dragged in the sand and didn't work after that. On another day my dad and I took Tilly to the same dog park and we let her off the lead. She was so happy and ran like crazy all over the park and in the water. She was having too much fun to listen to us when we called her name though. To get her back on the lead my dad had to try and round Tilly up into the water! How do you get a dog to recall in situations that are very exciting for them? I don't think Tilly spent much time out of a backyard with her previous owners. She gets so overexcited about a lot of things and so many things seem new to her.

I'm a big fan of 'the dog whisperer' Cesar Millan, so here is advice from his website: "Dogs become aggressive out of frustration and dominance. The frustration comes from a lack of exercise, and the dominance comes from a lack of calm-assertive leadership. When dealing with red zone dogs, I start by working with the owners, explaining how to establish themselves as pack leaders and to understand the animal in their dog. This is a crucial part of rehabilitating your dog: changing your behavior. If you revert to your old ways, so will your dog. For many of these dogs, it is a lack of adequate exercise that is the root of the problem. Physical activity burns the dog’s excess energy and helps maintain his healthy state of mind. This is important because, in order to talk to the mind, you need to remove the energy from the body. If you live with an aggressive dog, I urge you to find a professional dog trainer to work with you and your dog. Most cases can be rehabilitated with time and dedication, and we owe it to our dogs to try".

On a registration form that I found online it says: "What to do if circumstances change If circumstances change, you need to notify any local council to update your animal’s record within a certain period of time. You may need to take a copy of your Certificate or a copy of this form to the council. Some examples of changed circumstances are: change of any other of the animal’s details eg. is desexed - within 14 days" I suppose if I am able to adopt this dog and get her desexed, then I will need to update her details with the council. Maybe I could try asking then if they would possibly refund the difference. I'm not actually paying for the dog myself...I am getting her for my birthday, but don't worry, she's not a surprise present or anything horrible like that. I've been wanting a 2nd dog for years now, and myself and my family all fell in love with her when we met her. So she will just be a bit more expensive than first planned .

Can that be done in NSW?

Thanks for the info Cordelia . We have pretty much decided as a family that if our tender is accepted by the pound, then we will arrange to have the dog desexed at our local vet. If she is ours then we don't want to leave her there for that amount of time. On a side note, the tender system at the pound has me in so much suspense! I'll be devastated if we don't get her!

The desexing program at the pound is not running until Nov 24th. So the dog would be desexed on that day and available to be collected 5 days later.

I still have to wait for the pound to accept my offer, because the dog is not available for adoption for another couple of days. The pound's desexing program is not running until Nov 24th, so the person at the pound said that she could be collected 5 days after that date. The person did not mention anything about the dog being rehomed or PTS if this option was chosen. She did warn us that it is a possibility that the dog could get sick though. If we are able to adopt the dog, I don't think I could stand to leave her in the pound for that long. I'd be worried about her getting sick and I don't want to put her under anymore stress.

If you were to adopt a female dog from the pound, would you have the pound desex the dog for free (adding a 3 week delay, to when the dog could be collected, due to the desexing program not running at the moment). OR Would you arrange to desex the dog at your own local vet immediately after adopting, so you could collect the dog as soon as its available and avoid the delay. With this option, the registration fees at the pound would increase by $110 and you would also have to pay for the desexing.

You could try rewarding her with attention (could you pat her while you are brushing? if she likes being patted that is!). My dog's coat doesn't need brushing, but she gets really excited when she gets brushed. The other week she saw a hairbrush in my bag and started to get excited, thinking it was hers.

Thanks ShellyBeggs :p My very first dog Tammy (R.I.P ) that I owned as a child learnt her road sense by getting hit by a car in a really minor way (we didn't see it happen, but I think she just ended up with a bit of a sore foot or something very minor). At traffic lights while on the leash she also seemed to know to cross the road when the signal beeped for pedestrians. She was very obedient when crossing the road off the leash to a park...all we had to say to her was "in behind" and she'd sit behind us, and then "over you go" when the traffic was clear. My dog Jessie that I own now does the same thing at traffic lights when on the leash that my Tammy did. As soon as the signal starts beeping she will start pulling on the lead to cross the road.

Thanks for your replies everyone I think part of it is that my dog is getting some confidence. We've had her for 2.5 years, but when we first got her from a rescue place she was afraid of so many things and didn't have any confidence. She even used to get scared if someone stood outside and called her to come outside. We would joke that "she'll never leave", but at least now I know that she is willing to cross the road by herself when she sees another dog with a middle age woman (her favorite type of person!).

Is it possible to teach a dog to have some road sense? Today my dog Jessie decided to take herself across the road to see a little fluffy dog being walked by a lady, and nearly got herself hit by a car twice! I heard her barking and I assumed that she had gone into the front yard, yet she was on the other side of the road, and then she saw me straight away and then started crossing the road to see me. A car had to break to avoid hitting her, and then the lady called out and said it was the second time that she'd nearly been hit. She got out into our front yard by going through the garage door that had been left open by my dad. We've owned her for 2.5 years and she's never done anything like this before. She's never wandered across the street before or wandered anywhere past the front yard by herself. She always has access to the back yard, and normally I watch her when she's in the front yard, but she's never shown any interest in leaving whatsoever. Is there a way to teach her to have some road sense? Obviously i'll have to make sure that the garage door is shut from now on, because I definitely don't want her to be in this situation again. But is there something that I can do when i'm walking her on the lead to help her get some road sense? She is a clever dog, loves dog treats and i've also used a clicker to teach her tricks and she has responded well to that.

I bought a clicker a few months ago off ebay for my dog and it works so well on her too...she learns new little tricks with the clicker straight away, as long as she gets her schmacko treat!

Romeo came back for another visit...hahaha...he can visit my girl Jess all he likes now that she's desexed! Obviously she's still sore, so they just looked at each other through the glass door! Romeo's owners were actually very nice - they regretted not having him desexed, but their vet had said there is no point now due to his age. Jess is recovering really well! I'm so glad she's fixed now - one less thing to worry about!

My dog was desexed today - the lady at the Vet said that she wasn't pregnant, but i'm not sure if they could tell that early on? She was very happy to leave the vet, and she's now snuggled up on the couch having a sleep!

I spoke to Romeo's owner, and he does have nuts! He's a 9 year old dog, but can still jump over his 9 ft fence at home! My dog is getting desexed tomorrow...so no more Romeo after that! He is actually a lovely dog though - it just would have been better if he visited under different circumstances!

Romeo spent the morning on our balcony, staring at my dog through the glass door again. I'm not sure if he's got nuts or not! I rang his owner this morning to let him know, and he said "ohhh that's where he's been!"...and he told me he'd collect him in a few minutes. I haven't seen Romeo since, so his owner must be keeping him in. My mum is going to contact our vet tomorrow to see what we should do...so I will keep you all posted. We will either get her desexed earlier, or find out if there are any other options. We definitely do not want more puppies...so you don't have to worry about that!

My dog came on heat last Saturday evening (24/09/05) - I only got her a few weeks ago and wasn't able to get her desexed straight away as she had kennel cough. My vet advised us to wait 4-5 weeks until she wasn't in heat anymore to have her desexed, due to the risks of blood loss. Up until yesterday, we have had no problems with dogs coming into our yard. My dog has also had no desire to leave our house at all. Yesterday this old looking black collie type dog hung around in our front yard on and off during the day. Later on in the evening my dog cried a little bit at us, but that it - she wasn't acting different. Our backyard is secure with over 6ft high fences all around it...but this morning my dad woke up to the sound of paws running around on our deck. He went out there and this black dog was out there! My dad scared away the dog and it bolted straight away from him and jumped a 6ft fence like it wasn't even there. My dad isn't sure how long they were out there together, so who knows if anything happened! Later on this morning the black dog came back to our front yard and peered through our front door, staring at my dog. They stared at each other for ages, and they were both wagged their tales. My dog didn't even bark at him! After this black dog's morning visit, my dog isn't acting any different (she cried a bit this morning, the same as last night). I really do not want her to be pregnant!!! Would this black dog even keep coming back to our house if they had done the deed earlier? What makes it worse is that its Sunday, and a long weekend - so what vet in Sydney would be open now? ;) What should I do? Should I get her desexed ASAP and just hope that she isn't pregnant? Also, should I call the owner of the black dog? He is wearing a collar and a name tag!