sandgrubber

I wonder if these fellows would be classed as pit bulls in Victoria. http://www.hqbullies.com/males/ Living in pit bull land, I find it's very hard to know what is and isn't a pit. Some of the extreme types look more like English bulldogs, despite being 'pedigree' pits.

I love the concepts that Bill Bruce presents, but I put truth above my personal convictions. The numbers don't look that good. Slide #74 in his presentation shows significant increas in aggressive dog incidents since their program began . . . though the pattern has been for decline in the decades before it was implemented. I would like to believe that the Calgary approach works. But I'm not sure the Calgary statistics look so good. Edited to correct errors

A convincing argument against crate training. I've never been able to restrain my pups cause they seem to get so much pleasure from snuggling.

The voters voted to uphold the ban on Aug 12, 2013. Only 20% of the population voted. A dismal showing by anti-BSL activists.

If they had great luck with a herding dog bitza, why not get another herding dog bitza? You may be able to find a dog from a rural property who has lived unfenced . . . Gumtree? I agree that Lab or flattie would also go well. If they like wet dogs.

After the major finding that dogs have increased genetic capability to digest starch, as opposed to wolves, I don't see what the big deal is about being grain free. Furthermore, the devotees of the paleo diet (for humans) regard potatoes and other starchy tubers as being just as bad as grains . . . so what's so good about ditching rice and putting in sweet potatoes or whatever. I've know plenty of dogs that reached a healthy old age eating supermarket-brand dry food that contained a lot of corn. I use something a bit higher grade cause it keeps their coats nicer and I don't like to skimp on my much-loved dogs. But grain free seems like just one more fad, and an opportunity to pay an extra $20 for a big bag.

Patty, alas, is a browser. Here favorite toy is whatever is in her mouth at the moment. Her mother's tail, ears, and mouth are high on the list.

Most 'chocolate' doesn't contain enough chocolate to do harm. And a lot of those "poisonous to dogs' warnings are kinda iffy. I had 7 acres of pinot noir grapes for a couple years. The dogs browsed them and consumed huge amounts of drops during harvest. Not so much as a stinky fart or a tummy rumble. I tried the question out on a viticulture website and found that many many grape growers have dogs and almost all allow their dogs to sample the crop. No one reported problems. I don't want to say no human foods are dangerous to dogs. But there are a lot of people who like making mountains out of molehills.

if you haven't gotten responses, try posting in General. Few people read "Breeders" these days.

If you're after character more than look, I'd suggest working with a good rescue. Not all Rotties are good Rotties, and the temperament of a good Rottie does show up in other breeds, or mutts, from time to time.

But I don't think the poll gives you enough accurate figures re. population vs sample, skewness, significance etc to draw any real conclusions. Interesting to read people's experiences though. Agreed. If you are trying to do statistics, read up on "Opportunistic Sampling".

Sounds like a heyday for lawyers, therefore something to steer clear of.

Around here the near-universal sign is simply BAD DOG. It is especially common on the gates of people who don't have dogs :D. When I see this sign where there are a couple pits staked out in the yard, I'm inclined to give wide berth. I'd expect the next version to be BAD ASS DOG, but I haven't seen it yet.

Remember, they LooK cute, but they're the devil in disguise. I have 14 week Patty old running around my house. I woke this morning to a rather painful play bite to the nose. My shower scrubber is in tatters on the living room floor. It cost me $27 to replace the library book she explored. There are holes by the front porch and holed under where I park the car. She leaves a trail of destruction everywhere she goes.

Not sure how to vote. Mine have a couple acres to run on 24/7. Don't have a good local place to run them off leash, but they get run on-leash a few times a week (alongside a bicycle on a bike path) and sometimes we go to an offleash dog park that's ~25 km away..

Sending two Labradors from Perth to SFO cost me a bit under $4k (2010) . . . inclusive of crates, shots, and paying someone else to handle the paperwork, and a one night overnight stay in Sydney. I think that's pretty reasonable.

I think all mine have broken my skin with puppy bites, but I excluded this. Milk teeth and old lady thin skin are not a good combination. As with others, the "other animal" category is problematic. I encourage them to kill mice, rats, gophers, squirrels, and depending on where I live, rabbits. There is no way they would attack a sheep or pig or other larger domesticated animal. Chickens? Might be a problem, or they might just fetch them and bring them to me.

Had they hit problems, this could have been just as bad as the guy who ended up eating his dog and barely surviving.

some numbers for fraction of pups with low enough antibodies for vaccines to take, using newer, live virus vaccines. 6 wks 37% 8-9 wks 79% 12 wks 95% These results were found in Rottis, a breed that seems to be relatively bad for seroconversion. see http://www.newvaccinationprotocols.com/Current%20Knowledge%20of%20Immunology%20101.htm

Thanks everyone. Having looked at that video and done a little reading, my dogs are usually trotting, not pacing. Ie, same gait as you use in the show ring. The problem is that the old girl goes into a canter well before the young girl does so. Found a good canter vs. gallop clip I'm pretty sure she canters rather than gallops. Btw. The PennHip crew have a good description of gait as related to diagnostics. http://cal.vet.upenn.edu/projects/saortho/chapter_91/91mast.htm From what they say, a dog that paces is probably doing so for a reason, and it would be better to address the problem rather than trying to change the gait. I can't seem to find anything about the whys and wherefores of the speed at which a dog shifts from trot to canter or gallop. Guess it doesn't matter that the old girl goes to a canter while the younger girl is still trotting. Maybe it has something to do with being older and a little less flexible? I'll try to get some photos.

I have some tendon problems and there are limits to how much dog walking I can do. So I bought a recumbent tricycle. Works great. The dogs can pull it at their own natural pace, which is faster than mine. I've got breaks and steering so there's no danger of them taking off when an animal (deer are worst) crosses the path and I can slow them down. I pedal on uphill parts, and a little on the flat, so they never end out pulling very hard. They love it and get excited when I get the trike out. (One of these days I'll talk someone into taking a picture for me). I want to keep the dogs in shape, but don't want to harm their joints. I know running on pavement can be hard on joints, but what about pacing or a canter? Specifically: If I let the younger girl (4, radiographically has moderate dysplasia in L hip, 0:0 elbows, has never shown any sign of stiffness or limping) set the pace, she paces and the older girl (9, healthy and arthritis free, 2:1 hips, 0:0 elbows) breaks into a canter. I generally let this happen for a few hundred meters and then slow them down so that both pace. We go something like 4 km total. Question: Would it be harmful to the old girl to let her canter more? More generally, how do the different gaits stack up for stress on the dog's legs? p.s. the surface is mostly tarmac bike path, though the dogs can shift and run on grass if they want. A bit of limestone track as well.

I have a similar problem when I have a young pup and older dogs. Usually we do a short walk altogether, then the pup gets put away and we do a longer walk . . . or bike ride. The puppy complains seriously loudly. Dogs have a strong sense of justice, and mine don't take it well when they get left out.

Huh? What does this mean in practice?

Great story. I wish more ended like this!

My dogs sleep everywhere, but come on the bed at night, especially when it's cold. Woke up this morning at 3:53 with a puppy on my head. Grrr! I like having them snuggle, but in-you-face is too much, especially when they chew on and pull hair!