dee lee

Yep. Great post. I did the same thing with a dog who showed problem signs soon after adopting, I too perservered out of guilt and shame and hope. For 2 years and subsequent development of DA I tried hard but in the end she was PTS when I ran out of options. I wish desperately that I had bitten down my guilt and listened to my misgivings in the first week. Kirsty79, if you are only keeping this dog out of guilt- don't. Your problems are only just beginning, do you really have the resources and ability to work on this dog. Just something to consider.

And I expect he'll enjoy that :). Don't feel bad about laughing, Atanquin. It was funny. I think it is great that with the laughter, you've also been conscientious enough to understand the bloke. :) That's right. :) I laughed hard at your first post but after the details emerged, it is a bit sad. Hard not to find it amusing though, you couldn't find a dog further from a pitbull in looks than a cocker! I was in the park with Honey(GR) the other week & a funny old lady said "she's a border collie, right?". I was gobsmacked. There really are some clueless people out there.

Sounds like an awesome place! We regularly stay with our dog in both fenced & unfenced places, & a fenced yard really makes an enormous difference to our levels of enjoyment. Enjoy!!!

I think it's sensible to be wary. If your instincts tell you a situation could go either way, it probably can & it's best to err on the side of caution. Interestingly I had a similar situation with a young GSD recently too. There are 2 of them that go separately to my local park, both stunning & well behaved & this day I came across them both being introduced. Well, being young dogs they both got a little overexcited & scuffled a little. Which excited Honey who ran near them (the silly twit), causing one of them to chase her. It was over stimulated & TBH I got quite nervous that it was going to get serious (it had a small grab at her) but I hoped like hell it was as well behaved as I'd always assumed it to be & I barked at it "enough". Luckily it worked, it stopped & it's owner was able to get it back under control. But it scared the crap out of me. I can completely relate to your fear of the damage a large dog can do. Honey wouldn't have had a chance & she was almost as big!!

Yes, they are stunning! Don't get a Golden Retriever if you can't handle not being able to find a complete pair of shoes. It's a daily ritual for any of us to have to search for one of a pair! They are never chewed, just transported somewhere & left there. :laugh: Don't believe that GRs don't have drive, that they are lazy just because you see so many fat ones. Well, ok, they can be lazy (I am always hurrying Honey up on our morning jog :laugh: ), but they are also very athletic dogs that need a decent amount of exercise (miss one day, ok, but no more) & generally have a high drive for birds. (or skywriting... *sigh*... you've never seen a dog take off so fast... ) And let's just say, the shedding... the shedding.... :eek: ALL DAY, EVERY DAY... I sweep 3 times a day & still there is more. Lucky she is the perfect dog otherwise. ;) * and no she is NOT a long haired lab! (or a border collie? Wtf? The lady who said that to me last week must have been on crack )

Wow, I am having bad deja vous about what your trainer said! From experience- DO NOT take your dog to the dog park to learn it's place! I was inexperienced with headstrong dogs & had a young staffy cross that I got very similar advice about. My "trainer" felt she needed to become more socialized & would learn to behave from older dogs at the park (bearing in mind she was around 6 months at this stage). At the park she learnt from the other dogs alright- they taught her how to bully & to fight back! It was the worst thing I could have done & she subsequently ended up with very bad behavioral issues. It sounds like you are doing the right thing with your two, hopefully your strategy will work out in the long run. But do get a new trainer- yours sounds as idiotic as my previous one! Oh another thing... I owned a Keeshond when I was a teenager- such sweet happy dogs! If Bear is anything like my girl, he will mature into a well balanced lovely dog. :D

No couch, no beds. Other than that, she can go everywhere. Used to be my husband's rules (which we didnt pay much heed to ;)) , but then she got a wee bit incontinent so...

I agree. From the OP's posts, IMO, I would disagree that it sounds like a phobia. People with phobias do not like the thing they are afraid of. I know someone with a dog phobia and she cannot stand the very thought of them. Definitely there is a need to go slowly, but gradually desensitising and teaching the child it can trust some dogs will go a long way. This technique is recommended even with phobias. Who can blame a child for being scared of a silly jumpy bitey licky dog? They can be very full on. Personally, I found that having a calm trustworthy dog in our house for daily safe exposure was the best therapy. We undertook some meet and greet sessions with "nice" dogs prior to that but weren't making much headway, the constant contact was much more reassuring to her. I understand that its not the way everyone would choose to go, but I assessed the likelihood of my daughter getting worse by continuing the minimal contact with dogs and made that decision. Best thing I ever did. Bluefairy, one way or another, I hope your grandson gets to a stage where he can enjoy the love of his own dog. There is nothing like a dog to understand and snuggle with when your mum is "mean" (as my daughters tell me regularly :laugh: ). Good luck. :)

I feel for your family, my eldest daughter was terrified of dogs at 7 & it was very distressing. She reacted much the same as your grandson at the same triggers. We recognised that a puppy would only exacerbate the problem, so we opted to adopt an older dog from a breed rescue. We explained at length our situation & waited until a suitable dog came along. 2.5 year old Honey the GR was perfect, she didnt jump, lick or bark. She calmly sat for pats. She was (is!) the sweetest tempered dog. When Honey first came home, my daughter was still afraid & would run away at any movement she made. But day by day, she came to trust her & within a week was able to give her a hug. :D It took a long time before the fear diminished with other dogs outside our house, but eventually it did. Prior to Honey my daughter would run onto a road in fear, to avoid any dogs in her path. Now, 2 years on, she only flinches if one barks near her. It's an enormous improvement that I give Honey total credit for. :D I think Greytmate makes a very good point. My daughter was always much better with large dogs- they tend to be a lot calmer, move slower, jump & bark less. She found them a lot more predictable. ETA: oh, one more thing- my daughter is just not as "into" dogs as her sister, its unlikely she ever will be. And that's ok, Honey is the family dog. :)

My kids love our dog but have very little involvement with her other than feeding her when asked. She was intended as a family dog but is really my dog. I don't mind too much. :) I'm sure there are kids that may be very involved but in my observation, including my own behavior as a child, most are not. Like Whipptsmum said, they have so many other things to do & have such short attention spans. :laugh:

I've read that soy based products can help, but I've not tried that personally. Another interesting idea is to increase the dog's muscles in the general area by encouraging tail wagging! :laugh: My dog is on sporadic silboestrol, her incontinence comes & goes. I just pop her one if I notice she has a wet bum, or a wet patch on her bed. We are lucky in that it only happens every month or so & just one tablet usually sorts it out for a while. Interesting about the food issues, my dog's incontinence came on after we changed her foods. I tried to switch back to the previous one (which incidentally did have less grains) but discovered her food intolences were worse on that. The regular diarrhea was the greater of 2 evils so I had to ditch that experiment. In the short amount of time I didn't notice any change to the incontinence.

Inside, once all barbie dolls & erasers have been secured, & a pigs ear administered. We have a tiny yard & she barks a lot when left out. Inside, she sleeps. (after searching for any forgotten dolls or rubbers! :laugh: )

Does she have fleas? My Goldie once had a flea allergy & she lost fur from her back until I got on top of it.

Awwww. When I was little, my grandparents' GR would do the same thing. Sweet as pie, but my protector. Old Caesar was one of the reasons I got a GR. He was awesome, saved me from many a spanking! :D Honey is a great alert dog, she goes nuts if anyone approaches our house when we aren't home & often when we are home. I have learnt not to ignore her barking during the night, she has woken me twice when our bogan neighbour's house was surrounded by police. She's a good girl, but barking is all she would do, she's a chicken. :laugh: She's one of those- "come help me" type of dogs, though she has a very convincing bark if you can't see her.

I took my dog for a year. It was good, I'd recommend it. Be prepared for very large classes, but the instructors are lovely & it's a great place to start with obedience. Everyone new starts in the beginners course, it's a requirement, but only lasts 5 weeks til you progress. I have a friend who does agility there & he loves it. We no longer go because I have too much on my plate & I didn't have a desire to pursue obedience as an interest.

Yes, do this. From experience, the council will only log an incident of an actual attack with evidence. Otherwise it's case of your word against theirs. I recently had to deal with a similar situation & the council, whilst helpful, had their hands tied by all sorts of red tape. My dog was bitten but as there was no visible damage (she is a GR & her heavy ruff protected her) they were only able to slap the dog with a nuisance order after they were able to witness the dog offlead in a public street several times. This is despite a second rushing incident I reported. The owner just denied it. If you know that this couple frequent the beach at a particular time & the dog always exhibits this, let the council know when it is and they can go see for themselves. Clearly this dog needs to be kept on a lead.

What are you going to start using instead? I use Proban very sporadically for when we go on holidays & I'm struggling to find an appropriate alternative.

Thanks for that information. I'm glad it's the ingredient rather than the toxicity. ES, I was able to get about 20 tablets from my old vet thankfully. I figured since we have used it with no issues for the last 2 years it would be safe again. What a complete pain though. I was quite happy using it.

Aw crap. With a cat & a waterloving long haired dog, I don't know of anything else that will suit us.

I just went to do my yearly Proban restocking, in anticipation of holidaying in a tick area, & my usual vet informed that it is no longer available ! When I asked why he replied, rather testily, that too many animals had been poisoned. He offered to spray Honey with Frontline on Friday (she had just been bathed) as that was all he could recommend. So I called the other vet where I have bought it before & they hadnt heard anything about that. Proban is the best option for us -we have looked at them all & discounted all others for various reasons- so I went & bought some from them. Can anyone in the know shed any light on this? Is it no longer available due to being to toxic? Or is my vet just making a personal call? (which is fine, I'd just rather he be honest)

I hope your pup is ok. It drives me nuts too. Yesterday I was walking my dog with my daughter & up ahead was a woman, her young child & an offlead staffy. As is my habit, I crossed to avoid it- I have had too many bad experiences with offlead dogs. Just behind me was a woman walking her sweet little pomeranian & sure enough the bloody staffy saw it, raced up to it & lunged to grab it!! Luckily the poor woman managed to whisk it up (by its lead!!) just in time! Made my blood run cold. And I was very thankful I'd followed my own instincts.

Aargh, I feel your pain, my dog is the same. If I can't find a fenced park, I wait til i know she will be busting & look for an area where she will hedged in on 3 sides. Then in the event she tries to bolt off I am able to stop her. It has worked well so far. It's just a precaution, she is usually good offlead, but why take chances in a strange place? Enjoy your trip!! We are taking our dog away on two little adventures over the Xmas holidays, I'm so looking forward to it.

Do you think she might have dementia? There are some drugs that can help with this if you contact your vet. What sort of cat do you have? There are some pretty easy going purebreds you might want to look into if you were to get another cat. I hear the British Shorthair is a bit of a quiet, couch potato, but there are others as well, like Persians. Although, obviously there are differences in temperament within a breed as well, so you might have to be careful to pick the right cat! She is a blue rescue moggy, & she has always been nuts. The constant miaowing isn't new, it's just more noticeable now that she is older & only stays in and around the house (yes, I'm afraid she is allowed out ) . Aside from sleeping more and venturing out less, she doesn't appear at all old, so I'd be suprised if she has dementia. Still it's worth considering. Her "sister" who we adopted at the same time as a kitten was a cross Persian tabby & she was lovely (she died a few years ago), so I have had good past experiences. If I got another like her I'd be happy. My sisters PB Burmese is divine too. Hmmm, maybe I will get another afterall...

Honestly, you can't please all the people all the time. Isn't there a current post about wishing local beaches were dog friendly??? I'm really suprised anyone on here is complaining about an offlead beach. Personally I wouldn't take my dog to an ONlead beach, I can't see the point if they can't swim.

+1 Yep, this is really the crux of the issue. It's all well and good to have more dog-friendly places become available in Australia, but the majority of dog owners need some serious lessons in public canine etiquette first. I think why it is so successful in Europe is because their view of dog ownership is so different, and is largely very responsible. I'm lucky, where I live is very dog friendly, I wouldn't think twice about sitting at an outdoor table at a cafe or pub with my dog. Generally staff bring a bowl of water & make a fuss over Honey when I do. But even I find it annoying when someone brings their bad mannered dog along. Unless you can have your dog quietly relaxed at your feet & not bothering anyone else, you shouldn't take them. As for holidays & beaches, every year we take our dog on a beach holiday with us. Each time to a different place, & it's always great, long stretching beaches for the dog to chase seagulls. I've never had a problem finding dog friendly beaches or holiday homes. The people who own where we are going to this year have even emailed me an extensive list of dog friendly places to go!! Look on Stayz under pet friendly, it's easy!