sandgrubber

Which of the listed points do you think is/are rediculous? They look pretty much like the screening I went through when my girl did hospital visits with Delta -- and a reasonable, though vague, description of things a dog should be evaluated on before being adopted. 1. Accept a friendly stranger; 2. Sit politely for petting; 3. Appearance and grooming; 4. Walk on a loose leash; 5. Walk through a crowd; 6. Sit, down, and stay on command; 7. Come when called; 8. Reaction to another dog; 9. Reaction to distractions; and, 10. Supervised separation. I'd say the article is a bit muddled, and doesn't give the information needed to evaluate the 'ambasadors' program. Its intent seems, mostly, to damn the program and brand it as 'killing'. It first says dogs must pass 100% to make it out alive, and then it says that some shelters rehome dogs that are less than 100%, but just don't label them as 'ambassadors'. No clue about what percent of shelters require perfect scores for the dog to be rehomed, or how the listed points are interpreted (eg. #8 . . . is the dog ok if it ignores another dog or is it required to be friendly; #10. . . what is the dog supposed to do under supervised separation). The pass/fail rate isn't given. There is no information about whether dogs are given a little training before being tested. Nor does it say what percent of shelters have a policy of euthanasia for all pitties, and whether some of those shelters have adopted the 'ambasador' program and are now rehoming a fair number of pitties.

I agree about consulting a behaviourist. But as a first step, while trying to find a behaviourist, you might try the Triangle of Temptation as spelled out in the posts before the main part of this forum. It should help establish that YOU are boss. Given that your dominant bitch is strongly food oriented it may have a strong effect on her to have you take firm control of food.

Most likely outcome is nasty farts. If she sees tucked up bellies, walking stiffly, straining when trying to pooh, or any signs of agitation, call the vet.

On electronic collars . . . the restriction was lifted in December 2008. See Australian Customs Notice No. 2008/55 (Google will find it for you). I have been advised that if I bring a copy of the Customs Notice I will probably be able to import an e-collar without problems . . . and should be able to cause major problems for anyone who tries to confisgate it. Prong collars are still restricted on the advice of the NCCAW -- which seems to respond to RSPCA, PITA, etc. Exemptions to the restriction have not been granted. For what good it may do, I just sent the following to NCCAW . . . maybe if people keep hammering at them they will change their ways. If anyone else wants to chime in, the URL is http://www.daff.gov.au/feedback?query=animalwelfare I understand that Customs restricts (and for all practical purposes prohibits) the importation of prong collars based on NCCAW advice. I run a boarding kennel, breed Labradors, and am bringing a professional trainer in to work with my kennel. I have a PhD in the sciences and am qualified to evaluate a wide range of technical information. I fail to understand the aversion to prong collars. OK. They LOOK like instruments of torture. But put one around your thigh and tighten it. It doesn't hurt. It was not designed to bruise or puncture (as the restrictions state). It was designed to mimic the disciplinary action of a bitch to her pups, or a senior dog to a junior dog. Lots of points of contact. Low pressure on each point. MUCH MUCH less cruel than the chain link collar -- which is in effect a garrote (strangle the dog with a line of contact around the throat) -- that I can buy in the supermarket or the snake chain widely used in showing. A large number of dog trainers -- of high repute -- prefer the prong collar as a device to prevent tugging on lead. I would like to be able to act on this advice. I fail to see why you prevent the importation of the tools I would need to try out the device.

I wouldn't worry about wounds, which heal even if someone bleeds a bit, but I would be worried about skeletal damage. I once sold sibling lab pups to someone and they played so rough that one of them ended out needing elbow surgery. Yours are getting past the stage of maximum danger . . . but make sure they aren't doing things like throwing one another off the stairs or other things that might end out with a whack or clunk . . . and a yelp.

Any idea of where one applies to get a permit?

I'm planning a trip to the USA. I'd like to bring a couple prong collars and and e-collar back with me. I'm in Perth, but woiuld go through customs in NSW. Should I expect problems with clearing customs?

No. Try pricelesspets.com.au. They're cheaper and supply brands that vets also sell. I don't trust supermarkets to insist on quality control.

I placed a dog with major elbow problems. The owners have slimmed her down to near skeletal form and give her a low dose of non-steroidal anti inflammatories twice daily. She's as good as gold at 6 yrs. Wouldn't know she had OCD. I would assume the same might work with HD. The decrease in pain and increase in exercise seems to have a positive effect.

My vet says salmonella can be a serious concern in pups below 4 months, but an adult dog should have an immune system that can handle even the smelliest of meats. Chicken frames are the main ingredient of my dogs' diets. Never a problem (except when I forget to thaw them out).

I buy worming tablets in a bottle of 100 from the vet. I am happy to onsell them at near cost to people who have bought pups from me. They come out cheaper than the supermarket price and you know what you are getting. The problem with supermarket stuff is that they buy from the lowest bidder . . . and the lowest bidder may be dodgy. If you bought from a good breeder, you might ask them what they do and if they will let you buy in on the purchase.

I use Heatrguard every two months (my vet says it doesn't have to be monthly). Much cheaper than the annual vaccination. I purchase online . .. shop around cause the expensive places are 2X more expensive than the cheap ones. The dogs think it's a treat. I have never heard that it's ineffective. I haven't found anything cheaper and better.

If you can't come up with a behaviourist, you might want to try a bark collar. I think they generally recommend sonic or citronella collars for small dogs. The collars provide consistent, instant correction for barking, which is better than most of us can do. You might also find a behaviourist who lives some distance from you who would be willing to provide guidance in use of a bark collar . . . like most tools, they give better results if used correctly.

Acorns may be mildly poisonous, but, having grown up in an area of California where they are all over the place, they're not a worry. They taste horrid to dogs and dogs do not eat them. The Native Americans leach out the poisons with boiling water and eat the rest.

Shel's post was copied directly from a no-kill blog (see links at the end of the post). I see it as the no-kill line, as applied to APBT's. As with other no-kill lines, the ideal is great, and I wish it were realistic. I agree with greymate . . . temperament screening is the way to go given that there are too many dogs in shelters, and it's particularly important for breeds whose reputation could use a bit of cleaning up.

I was doing a scan of the LA Times and came across a section on APBTs. http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/unleashed/pitbulls/ Not sure all the photos shown are true to breed . . . but I find it hard to say that the paper is being unkind to the breed. They all look quite loveable. And the blog polls are running strongly against BSL.

Not sure what TOT is. Also, people may not be responding because they think 'clingy fungus' is a reference to a disease. With Labs (and many other dogs), if you don't encourage the behaviour, it usually goes away . . . unless there's a physical cause. Are you sure Fungus is ok, health-wise, or that there isn't something in the environment that scares him.

King River International in Canning Vale Industrail Dist. sells chopped roo tail bones at $3 for a 2 kg bag (frozen). They also have great prices for export grade roo meat, for the humans that is.

If the KC is indeed mild, I consider it almost a good thing. I think the mild cases build up immune response -- as do vaccinations. That doesn't mean it's fair to share it with other dogs, though. What's mild for one dog may be nasty for a dog whose immune system isn't prepared.

There is a VERY VERY small chance that the test results are wrong, eg, someone mixed samples up or a batch was contaminated, and therefore that both parents are not clear. I once used a dog who was tested to carry the (recessive) chocolate gene. He was retested. The second test showed that he did not carry chocolate.

Might be a good thing to get advice from a good vet and a good trainer. Could be she's sending you a message and you're not getting it. If it's physical (OCD or HD, for example) you must deal with the root cause.

Pups are likely to be curious about snakes, which is a good way to get bitten. Terriers, in general, tend to attack snakes, which is a good way to get bitten. The e-collar solution seems to be the best protection . . . if done properly, it may even give you a snake that warns you when a snake is about. However, it does not seem to have been done in an organised way in Australia. In the US the main target group is rattlesnakes, and it's clear that training a dog on one rattlesnake teaches him to avoid all rattlesnakes. In Australia, so many different snakes are poisonous, and their behaviours are different . . . so it's not clear whether you need to enlist the services of a snake farm to get the desired result, or whether it is sufficient to train with one harmless python. See responses to my earlier post about snakeproofing (in the Training Forum).

Not industructable, but last awhile and very cheap . . . I sometimes give my puppies cheap paint rollers. They love the texture, and the shape is great for throwing or mouthy games. You can put a rope through them, or p'nut butter inside for variety.

I'd suggest asking your vet. Mine recommends Rimdyl . . . a NSAI meant for dogs. She says the injections work faster, but the tabs are still good. But it is better to go through a vet on this one, as some dogs don't do well with Rimdyl.

I think the risk varies greatly by breed/temperament/age and by type of snake. I used to run into someone in a dog park who walked her two JRTs in a bush area. She saw a snake and leashed them up to leave. Then went ahead a few hundred meters and let the dogs off lead. Damned if one of em didn't go back to get the snake . . . and get himself killed. Small dogs with intense prey drive are probably the most endangered. Curious puppies that live in an area where there are snakes are also likely to get killed. Given what my Labradors do with blue tongues lizards, I don't think they'd be safe should a few snakes come onto my block.