lovemesideways

Awesome book by Brenda Aloff called "Canine Body Language, A photographic guide" Its a great read, loads of photos.

Everything is going really great!! We had family friends and all their kids over on Saturday, so I set up a game with the kids giving Riddick treats! He is definitely growing in confidence. I made sure to give him time to chill out on his own with a biscuit. 2 of the girls, who where initially afraid of Rover (they are a bit scared of all dogs) both gave Riddick a treat, and he was very gentle in taking it off them. By the end of the night, he was fast asleep next to Rover, with one of the girls, Ava, whos 7, patting them both. Second round of puppy classes tomorrow night so I can chat with my trainer friend about him and his progress

Hes soooo cute, We need More photos!!! *demanding!!*

Kennys reading Womens Weekly? No wonder he chewed up the socks and undies!!!! I would too if I read that stuff.

Loving this thread, Riddick is the first dog thats ever been mine. I'm completely in love. He's lying on his mat at my feet and having a good chew on some toys. Seems like 10 times a day I call someone to say "Oh god Riddick is *insert something cute here*!!" :D Luckily people are indulgent of my obsession.

So a family who are friends with my family are currently looking at getting a dog !! The couple has 3 kids, aged 9, 7 and 4. All the kids love dogs (They where over here last night lovin on my 2 labradors ;)) The wife and 1 of the kids has allergy's so they're looking at dogs which don't produce that reaction. Jenny (the wife) mentioned they had thought about getting one of the poodle crosses, but I went on about how they had to be extremely careful where they got them from, due to not being able to tell whether or not they will shed, and of course where they potentially come from. They went to the royal easter show to meet with the poodle breeders there who where apparently extremely helpful :D, and none of the poodles that they met caused any kind of allergy so thats great, but Shahram (the husband) does not want a standard poodle, and feels that the miniature poodle is too small. They want something that they will be happy to be around their kids and will be happy to get hugged and loved on. (They The last dog they had was a keeshond, who they completely loved, but Jenny suffered allergys the entire time she was around. She passed away of old age about a year ago. So what other breeds would you suggest? I have heard of the lagotto, but haven't met one, so don't anything except the information I've read about on the internet, that says they're very trainable and great with kids. Are they extremely high energy, and very expensive? Someone mentioned they're around the $3000 mark? Thanks in advance for any information

Yep. Lots of things that the person could try before resorting to rough handling, yelling and rewarding the behaviour by putting distance between the dog and her handler and the other dogs. A good trainer could help, shame they seem to have run into a chest-beater. A couple of the posters in this thread witnessed what happened when OH's dog went snarly at another dog on a walk the other day. I took the lead, and took her away from OH. OH then went and patted and made a fuss of the dog she had carried on at. So the consequences of being aggro on lead were that she wound up with me (the evil long haired boss) and worse, OH went and patted the other bitch. For the rest of the on leash walk, apart from one incident with a strange lab cross with issues of its own, she was well behaved. I'm not saying we're perfect dog handlers, far from it, but manhandling and growling is not necessary. In our case, we know that she guards OH as a resource, and so it becomes a case of "make sure unwanted behaviour is unsuccessful". Of course, friends with eminently sensible dogs help too!! I agree, the behaviour isn't getting better. She seems to be getting worse. The way shes playing with other dogs is becoming very intense, Ive been trying to insist that he see a trainer, but if I say it in the wrong way hes going to feel insulted and not listen to anything I say.

Saw the dog again today, and the shepherd is now wearing a Check Chain... 5 month old baby, who now has a check chain being used on her...

I asked to have the one in general deleted . He's in the northern beaches in Sydney.

Posted in general as well So, my friend repeated the advice he was given regarding his german shepherd and I wanted to get other peoples opinions on it.. So the german shepherd, who is roughly 5 months old. When she is next to her owner, she has taken to snapping and growling at dogs if they approach. Her owner is nice, but very soft. His reaction is to grab her an tell her "No". From what I have observed, she never reacts in any way aggressive to other dogs unless she is sitting next to her owner when hes crouched down, she tends to lunge out at the other dog, give a yappy snap and growl, and then back quickly up to her owner again. Yet when shes away from her owner, shes a really nicely balanced dog who plays happily with others. I have never seen her react to another dog in any way, unless she was standing right next to her owner. If shes away from her owner and he pats other dogs, she fine, she doesn't act possessive over him. Its just when hes right there, crouched down next to her. He told me today about the advice a trainer gave him. The trainer said that whenever she growls at another dog, he's to crouch down, roughly grab her face and muzzle in his hands and put his face right down close to hers, yell No very loudly and angry, and growl at her. Then clip a lead onto her harness (its a car style harness) and walk away from the other dogs. I just see so many things that could go wrong!! Her fearing her owner and learning to never go near him. Freaking out because shes being held like that, trying to snap at a dog when hes holding her face right next to his, and getting his face instead. Taking that correction and applying it to the dogs who have approached and becoming More aggressive. Or if the reason she behaves like that is because it gets her a lot of attention from her owner, further reinforcing that behavior, making it worse. So, am I overreacting in thinking that advice is ridiculous?

Thats what I think.

Moved thread to Training.

Words don't describe.. I can understand you had kids with you and would not want to have them see something like that, good on you for calling the RSPCA!!! That is disgusting. Let us know how it goes, are you going back tomorrow to check the animals?

I can't believe people : I'm glad the situation turned out alright, you stopped and the lady put the dog on lead, eventually. I always say, I do not care if you have a perfectly trainer obedience dog, all it takes is 1 second, 1 tiny mistake, and your dog could be dead.

I'm looking to take my new boy Riddick to Puppy Classes. Got him a few days ago, hes 16 weeks old and not terribly confident with people (theres a thread about it in puppy problems if you have any advice regarding ) I think that a good puppy class environment would be really good for getting used to people. Hes already great with dogs. SO, any recommendations on really good puppy classes in the Northern Beaches area? Someone who might be willing to make a age exception for me if 16-17 weeks is to old. Going to be taking him to obedience training as well, but I think doing a puppy class will be good too.

Riddick is going well taking him out and getting friends to come and give him treats and everything. He goes straight up to people to have a sniff, tail wagging, if they then turn and approach him or lean over, thats when he backs up and looks unsure. He follows Rovers lead which is great. Had a vacuum out today, first time. Riddick tilted his head when it turned on, looked at rover (who was sleeping) and then just lay down and went to sleep with him. Nothing seems to faze him! Hes also good with dogs, hes met a few of my friends dogs and loved them all. Trots next to them tail wagging.

Definitely going to be doing dog training classes. :D Is 16 weeks too old for puppy school??

By oval I meant a sports oval, lots of kids and people come and play sports there so I'm going to be walking him around the outside, on lead. Thanks for the advice!! I will read through and definitely let you know how he gets on!

Heres some photos of the Riddick !! They're bad phone quality, but I shall be taking better ones soon! Sleeping baby, on comfy leg pillow "Im just gonna hold your leg with my paw so you can't leave, k?" Snoozing with his big brother Rover. "Lol" Im in loove

Hey everyone, my new baby is home His name's Riddick and hes wonderful. Hes been home for 2 days, so obviously he needs to settle in still, but just wanted some advice on here to make sure I start heading in the right direction. And of course the depth of knowledge that is DOL can help me He hasn't had much exposure to different kinds of people. So what would you all suggest as different ways to get him used to people? I'm going to be taking him everywhere I go, walking, outside the shopping centre, manly corso (areas where dogs are allowed) oval, everywhere! Maybe get random people to give him some delicious treats? Not reward the fear or reinforce it at all. Be calm and confident with him. Will it help him if I have Rover along, hes is a exceptionally confident (and beautiful ) 2 year old labrador boy who adores people, and dogs, and everything in life basically. (Hes so cute, hes never seen a TV screen before so he lies there watching TV with rapt attention )

Riddick is 16 weeks ! Currently lying quite happily and silently in his crate. Much improved from yesterday !! Thanks everyone Hows everyones puppys today?

Riddick is officially MINE ;)!!!!!! He's Sooooo beautiful, came home today. Rover thinks hes super fantastic and Riddick has been trailing him ever since they first met :D They're in love :D . Rover is going to be the cool older brother for sure Photos tomorrow <3 SO happy :cool:

Where would you recommend someone start if they want to get into professional obedience Do the dogs need any particular kind of registration or pedigree? I completed the NDTF course so I know the basics of dog training, but I haven't ever done professional obedience and really am not sure where to start! I'm located on the northern beaches in Sydney Any advice would be much appreciated Edit to ad: Yes I mean I want to compete it obedience. or at least learn more about it!

Love that movie Marley is such a crackup. I always pull my hair out a little, thinking of the training that could have made him a much better trained dog, but then again, we never would have had the book or movie to enjoy

Going to meet my potential new black labrador puppy tommorow morning! SO EXCITED OMG :D!!!! If we (the breeder, mum and I) all agree that he is the right dog for us we will be bringing him home tomorrow. I don't think I'll be getting much sleep tonight! He is another Black labrador from Guide dog lines, same as my current boy Rover. Potential name is Riddick *bounces up and down*