huski

That's cos it's true! Zero is amazing Mish couldn't be that close to a lunging dog without reacting, well not without food anyway!

Shell those photos are amazing, they bring a tear my eye as I know how bad Zero was and how far you've come with him

Come on Shell... where's the photo now??

Do they have to pick up different items for scent detection? i.e. metal, wood, plastic etc.

I don't think going to the dog park or most of the way we raise our dogs in modern society is 'naturally dog'. Is it really natural for a dog to bound up to another dog (or animal) outside of their set pack and want to engage and play? Is it really all dog to let a small puppy loose in a free running pack of 20-30 other dogs? If yes, then why socialise in the first place, if that friendliness or familiarity is something that comes naturally? The way we chose to socialise our dogs is not 'all dog' at all, it's what we humans perceive is the best thing to do. If we left our dogs to their own devices, how would they socialise themselves? Because that is the job of the alpha. Would you really just leave Penny to her own defenses if a seriously dog aggressive dog was mauling her? If we were approached by an aggressive dog my protective instinct would kick in long before I waited to see how my dog would react.

I'd email the suppliers and ask them about it, RS. And I beat you :p tehehe

Yep: http://www.obedienceproducts.com They are absolutely lovely people to deal with and very helpful too

When I get another dog which may be several years off that is what I will be aiming for too. Me too

Midol used the neutralisation method with his pup, and he let me pat him But only for a short period and then the dog was called back to Midol who was more exciting than I was (if that makes sense). No idea if that is 'correct' or not though

Can you have different 'levels' of neutralisation though? Does it have to be one extreme or the other? My next puppy is a long way off so it's not something I need to worry about in the immediate future, but at the moment I would happily neutralise any dog I get in the future. Daisy isn't neutralised, but she is one of those dogs who just isn't fussed with other dogs, she knows how to play and interact and on odd occasions she will, but playing with other dogs is not of much value to her (she would rather have her nose on the ground). The only dog she gets really distracted and excited by is Micha, and they play every day to some extent. So having seen her both ways (incredibly excited to go over to another dog and not fussed by other dogs) I much prefer having a dog who has a lower value in other dogs than I do one who sees another dog and goes nuts wanting to play with it.

From my experience, as the owner of a dog who has behaved in a similar fashion, it is behave that can easily escalate into something more serious. I used to think the same thing too Corvus, when other dogs pinned Micha to the ground when he was young (and when he eventually did it to other dogs) - 'it's ok because they aren't physically hurt'. Unfortunately there is more to it than physical injury, a dog might be physically fine but mentally scarred instead.

Steve

I worry about the same thing I used to think because he never injured them that they were ok. The same thing happened to him when he was a puppy (being pinned to the ground) and I thought he'd gotten over it, now I wonder if it was learned behaviour and I feel sick in the stomach to think what behaviorial issues may have arised with dogs he did it to. This was going back 2-3 years ago and I would never let him display the behaviour again but I do feel terribly guilty that I didn't know how bad it was

Just to comment on the video: it may not look like that much to someone who hasn't seen that behaviour before but it made me feel a bit anxious watching it. Micha is fear aggressive but he is also capable of rank aggression towards submissive dogs or puppies. I've seen him act like the dog in the video when I used to take him to the dog park, except that he would chase down more submissive dogs, grab them by the scruff of the neck and pin them to the ground. He never injured them and because I was a naive inexperienced dog owner, I believed the regulars at the park whose dogs did it too and told me it was normal dog behaviour. The behaviour the dog showed in the video above can escalate in less than a second, I've seen my own dog do it. I've seen a 'pack' of dogs at a dog park all chase down a smaller dog much like the one in the video. I would stay well away from any dog I saw exhibiting behaviour like the bigger dog in the video or similar.

Totally agree with Erny, APBT. I think you should really get someone in to assess how you are handling her and give you some pointers. It is beyond me

Some dogs aren't as laid back as Kivi, though, Corvus and I think that's where problems start happening. Some dogs do see other dogs as consistently more exciting than their handler. Some dogs lunge on their leads and practically pull their handler over to get to another dog. To change the values around and get the dog seeing the handler as the most exciting option instead, and to gain good focus and control back, can be really difficult once it gets to that point. I can totally understand why some owners chose to neutralise their dogs towards others. It makes sense to me as someone who wants to do obedience, we teach our dogs how awesome other dogs are and then have to undo that and get them to ignore them once we want their focus in training. I'm lucky in one way as I have a dog who has very little interest in other dogs apart from a quick sniff and occasional game of play. 95% of the time at DOL meets Daisy is off on her own with her nose to the ground and is really not that fussed on interacting with other dogs (so I just have to compete with her urge to scent, instead, lol). ETA: And at a guess, most times Daisy is interested in another dog involves her simply wanting to smell it and having little interest in it afterwards. So other dogs may be more about a stimulating and interesting smell for her and not so much about the play aspect.

Oh God Longclaw, I am so very sorry Run free beautiful Ruby

Thanks for the ideas guys. Will pass them all on to my cousin

Thinking of you and Ruby, Di xx

Thanks so much guys!! Kelly - thanks for your very helpful post. Does anyone think that anti-arthritis (assuming it is Cartrophen) should be needed every month for the rest of his life? Will they do much to help him on that regular a basis?

Sorry Laffi - not sure, will have to ask them... assuming they are referring to cartrophen though. Thanks Sas and PF, I will let them know, they have been giving him lots of dried treats to keep him still so I will tell them to find a healthier alternative.

Thanks Puggy. Will pass that on to her, what quantities of glucosamine and GLM stuff should I recommend? And how often do you give it to them? Is the glucosamine just in tablets or something else? ETA: She just told me she already has him on glucosamine, but she hadn't heard of the GLM stuff - I googled it and found you can get it as a powder, do you just put it over the dog's food? The vet has got them giving him weekly anti-arthritis shots and says he will need the shots every month forever - is that a bit of over kill or is that normal?

My cousins lovely dog has snapped his cruciate ligament. He's had to have surgery on his knee for a shattered his miniscus, and is now wearing a huge cast on his back leg for the next few weeks. The vet has told her that the knee is not fully repairable and he is guaranteed to have arthritis in the near future. They are devastated as he is an active, young dog (he is only five years old). He's got a lovely nature. I was just wondering if there is anything I can recommend them to help him recover, apart from getting him a crate and giving them the details for the canine fitness center that has a pool you can use to help dogs in the rehabilitation stage. Is there any diet that would benefit him or things they can do to help him? Or anything they can do to lessen the chances of arthritis developing? Here's a picture of Harry tonight after coming home from surgery:

Oh Kavik I feel your pain. Cherry has terrible allergies. She was fine on dried food, but summer really stuffs her around. One flea bite can cause a serious out break of itchy spots. She's really bad at the moment, sometimes you really feel at a loss. She has bitten some of the fur off the inside of her front legs, is scabby etc even with weekly baths. She broke out when I changed her to BARF and I deduced it was the red meat - she has no problem eating raw chicken or dried food with chicken in it. However, she has broken out really badly even though she is now back on dried food Although her current 'break out' seem to be different to when she reacted to a change in diet. She had rash in between her paws, on her eyes and mouth, on her belly when she reacted to the change of food but now it looks like she has small bites over her (none on her belly, no redness on her paws/eyes/mouth). I don't know if that means anything, though. The only thing that seems to give her relief is when she gets this bad is a cortisone shot, which isn't ideal.

Thanks fbaudry! I think they are pretty terrible