Jaxx'sBuddy

To me there is no comparison. If you are looking for a dog you go to a registered breeder.

I think the trick is to find a registered breeder via word of mouth. Key word being REPUTABLE. I've had some shocking dealings with reg'd breeders, but just like any 'industry' you have to sort out the good from the bad. Then when you get good, they far outweigh the bad as they offer so much more than even a 'good BYB'er' (there's an oxymoron if I ever saw one ).

the trouble i have is the blanket "if they are a registered breeder they are good" mentality. it is very difficult for dog owners to find good breeders. how are they to get the "word of mouth" info? how do we know who is good and who isn't?

when you add to the mix that they may be new dog owners as well and have no clue as to what to ask then it becomes more difficult.

i don't have the answers but i would support anything that made it easier to sort out the wheat from the chaff.

Jaxx Buddy - lets just clarify something positive reinforcement training isn't just about the dog working for a treat. In fact I would go so far as to say that from the dedicated positive clubs (Holdfast, Aldinga, CBS) you would get a much better understanding on the appropriate use of rewards then you would from most of the traditional clubs.

Yes you might use food or a reward to get the dog to understand but where you fall into problems is if you rely on that for too long. Once the dog understands the behavior required then you don't have to reward it all the time (or even use food). Its a bit like the slot machine concept you teach a behavior but once its learned random reinforcement keeps the behavior strong - random in both type of reward (food, toy, life reward such as going to the park, being let off a lead to play) as well as frequency.

this has not been my experience. if it was as you described then i wouldn't have a problem. whilst my dog loves food, under distraction she is not interested in it so this method doesn't work for her. however, i went to obedience classes and all i was asked to do was give more food!!! maybe it was just this particular trainer.

here is a list of all clubs in SA

http://www.dogssa.com.au/Website/index.php...&page=clubs

maybe contact them and ask about their training methods.

i agree wire, my dog did not do well with food based positive training. i also don't like it as i want the dog to behave and do as i want because i have asked her not because i have a treat.

you may need to be careful...what caused the problem in the first place may happen again. the drive may have problems.

Good Grief...........

I read all this and now I think I need a drink.

anyone else care to join me?

i am so there with you!!! ;)

"Dominance Aggression"--A Common Misdiagnosis

One of the most common misdiagnoses in the field of behavioural medicine is that of "dominance" aggression. In dog to human relationships it is the factors of consistency, predictability and control that are the most important and the behaviours that are so often interpreted as "signs of dominance" can be better explained in terms of emotional conflict. Dogs react to the apparently threatening interactions from their owners with defensive signals which are all too readily misinterpreted as signs of challenge and confrontation and in a large number of behavioural cases, the use of inappropriate and unjustified attempts to assert the owner's dominance leads to escalating conflict and a misperception that the dog is attempting to be "dominant" in return. Far from being "dominant" these dogs are anxious individuals who find the world around them to be inconsistent and unpredictable. When they are provided with clear and consistent signals their anxiety subsides and they can begin to learn how to behave appropriately in a social context.

Sarah Heath, BVSc, DECVBM-CA, MRCVS

Behavioural Referrals Veterinary Practice

England

i agree with this completely. this is what i was trying to say in my previous post but this says it better!!!

i find this discussion interesting. i have become concerned about how many times a dogs behaviour has been classified as dominant when in my opinion it's a dog trying it on. They are clever and they are good at getting what they want, that's one of the reasons i like them.

i believe a lot of behaviour seen as dominance isn't. it is a dog that hasn't been taught the rules and doesn't know the boundaries.

my dogs listen to me...however, sometimes they don't ;) . when this happens, i may raise my voice a little, give them a "oi!" or give them the look and then they miraculously hear me clearly. this is not dominance because they end up doing what i want.

to classify a dog as dominant, i think the dog needs to exhibit several dominant behaviours consistently over a period of time. not listening to me once would not mean the dog was dominant.

my dog has been fed chicken frames for 14 years and she's still going strong. it was a lot of nonsense that pet shop person was sprouting. the life expectancy for her breed is about 12 years.

edited to say they were always frozen to stop her scoffing them and to help clean her teeth.

I'll give you a very simple test of how much of a choice your dog thinks it has in life - clip its toenails.

If your dog is older than 6 months and you still can't clip its toenails, who do you think is controlling that situation? I think dominance can be situational and dependent on distractions but I am constantly amazed by the number of people who cannot perform basic husbandry tasks for their dogs and its usually because the dog refuses to tolerate it.

Dogs learn very quickly where the thresholds are for individual people in terms of how easily they will let the dog win. Vickie's example is a classic one.

Forgot to answer this Corvus:

It doesn't make sense to me. What is the purpose of dominance? How does choosing to disobey the leader serve the purpose of dominance?

Dominance serves to ensure you get what you want regardless of the wants of others.

If you choose to disobey, you aren't recognising the role of that leader - you seek or assert dominance. Dominants lead, they are not led.

i agree 100%. i have never had a problem clipping toenails, looking/touching ears, giving pills. in fact my dogs let me do anything to them. one reason is that i expect them to let me and another is that i don't cause pain when i do things.

i think the issue of dominance is confused when people take certain behaviours, usually out of context and say the dog is dominant. one behaviour doesn't make a dog dominant. it takes several behaviours some of which seem small, ie the clipping of toenails.

No I'm not trying to introduce her to dogs but its hard to control other peoples dogs who are off the leash. I only take her to on the lead parks and down the streets leading to them but unfortunatly in my area people seem to ignore this. She stops pulling when I say no on her own but as to the other dogs its unavoidable when they just run up to her.

i would not take her anywhere that has dogs off leash. maybe look around your area for another park where people respect the rules.

my dog (14 months old) behaves like yours and i do not allow her to meet strange dogs. if i want this fearful behaviour to change then i need her to be around predictable dogs because if a bad situation happens then her behaviour will become worse.

as this is an important period in her life, second fear period, i need to make sure she knows that wherever i take her is safe. i have to step up my leadership with her.

i have stopped her from pulling now by changing direction often so she needs to watch me carefully to know where we are going. i also change where we walk so she doesn't know the way, ie she can't pull cause she doesn't really know where we are going

Thanks, Gaylek, just checked the Bonnie site and it comes in 3, 8 and 20kg in 'Puppy' but apparently only 20kg in Adult. Surely there must be a 'better' dry in a smaller bag? Oh well, will keep looking!

eta - OK the 'top of the range' dry - do any of these come in small bags and also small size suitable for Toys?

Eagle pack have lots of sizes

eta - to say my local Pet Stock will take opened food back if the dog doesn't like it

Thanks, Gaylek, just checked the Bonnie site and it comes in 3, 8 and 20kg in 'Puppy' but apparently only 20kg in Adult. Surely there must be a 'better' dry in a smaller bag? Oh well, will keep looking!

eta - OK the 'top of the range' dry - do any of these come in small bags and also small size suitable for Toys?

Eagle pack have lots of sizes

my dog has yeast allergies. i have now got this under control with no itching etc for 4 months.

there is no yeast in meat although some dogs can have allergic reactions to different proteins. for example pork can often cause an allergic reaction in some dogs.

this is what i did. over a period of time, feed only one protein at a time, ie beef, chicken, roo meat, duck, for a two week period for each protein. this will let you know what protein the dog can tolerate.

once you find out the best protein, mix the protein with a grain (i stayed away from wheat) so i tried rice and oatmeal. oatmeal was good.

then i looked for a dry food that had the protien and grain that she could tolerate and found that Eagle Pack Holistic duck meal and oatmeal dry food was ok.

i stopped giving her anything except the Eagle Pack Holistic duck meal and oatmeal dry food. i was really strict, no treats, nothing except this dry food.

to alleviate the yeast infections that she had at the time, (while investigating the protein and dry food) she was on a course of cortisone and creams for her feet and ears which cleared up the infection.

after this she has not had any other yeast problems.

now that she is stable, i am going to try introducing new foods, one at a time and very slowly to see if i can have her on a more interesting diet. if the yeast infection comes back, i will cut out everything again and put her back on the Eagle Pack and this will have to be her long term diet.

i hope this is some help. good luck, yeast allergies are tricky to manage.

I have also heard that Great Barko is good and Bonnie (don't know which one) has the same ingredients as one of the more expensive brands.

get packing tape or and wide tape and roll it around your hand, sticky side out and use like the sticky roll. it is lots cheaper and works better.

I am looking at replacing my fairly ordinary brushes (pin and slickers) with a better brand(s) so just looking for recommendations from people who have used some of the brands, what you like and what you didn't, what your thought was good value and what you wished you hadn't bought.

Thanks for your help.

what breed of dog?

However, if your dog has constant yeasty infected ears and skin complaints then its time to start looking at what he/she's eating.

absolutely agree. my dog started having allergies & yeasty infections so i had to work out what the problem was. found a kibble that worked and I will not change it without a great deal of thought.

i get concerned when someone asks about food and right off the bat someone will start with the "perfect" food and then insinuate that if you aren't feeding this you are a bad owner. this type of attitude puts people off from asking other questions that may help a dog in need.

a lot of things need to be taken into account when feeding a dog, including the family finances and even though some people don't want to acknowledge this it is the truth.

i would rather a dog be fed on cheaper food and have a loving home where it was excercised, stimulated, taught, and was part of the family than be fed an expensive and/or exclusive diet and left in the backyard for years with nothing to look forward to except the food.

i had a cairn with severe allergies. after taking her to a naturopath when she was 2 years old, she was put on a diet of chicken frames (raw) and rice with cucumber and carrot.

i did also suplement with missing link.

she has been on this diet and it really helped and she is now 13 years old.

I would like to know others thoughts on sedating a dog for a vet visit. There is a story to this but basically I would like to know if others do this and under what circumstances they would.

I am talking about a routine visit for annual vac's, heartworm and kennel cough. Kennel cough in the neck by the way as I can't even consider the nasal administration of kennel cough. Also unfortunately the dog does get those anal glands looked at as well.

It was suggested today that I sedate one 10kg dog. The vet was one I don't know (? filling in) and didn't like much. Unfortunately either did the dog so the dog wasn't done. My other dog was on anti inflammatory drugs prescribed only last Thursday. I asked about this first to check even thou it should be in the record. And found that she couldn't get vaccinated either while on medication.

So all in all not very productive. I did ask a vet at my old clinic last year if she thought sedation was warranted and she advised no. She did the dog OK. I have to wait a while for one dog to be off medication so have time to think about what is the best thing to do.

I will consult for professional advice but some others here often have a lot of experience to pass on.

And as to the vaccination question, I was thinking of titre test but no one here does it that I have found and my dog clubs/kennel still require vac's. So I think I will leave that question for another time.

Dogs are 5 and 6 years old, de-sexed, do obedience and agility and not aggressive.

i am really reluctant to sedate animals for vet visits. the dog can get confused and it doesn't help them deal with the situation.

seems to me this vet wants to make it easier for their examination rather than look at whats best for the dog.

It gives a brief basic outline of why processed dog foods are bad. Some swear by the stuff, but I consider it poison.

it is not helpful to the OP to include your value judgements. i have always prepared my own food for my dogs but my current dog had food allergies and i have found that kibble is the best to feed her to control the allergies. are you suggesting i am poisoning her?

how about getting your facts straight before pronouncing that we are all bad dog owers if we feed kibble.

for the OP, a kibble only diet will let you manage the amount of food much better and i can assure you that my dog is very healthy, has a shiny coat and no itching on the Eagle Pack holistic Duck kibble!!!

good luck with the weight loss.

i think mostly dogs prefer consistency. if all is calm then an outburst of anger from the owner then i think if this happens regularly the dog can become fearful, depending on the temperament of the dog. In any event, people that are angry may not be thinking logically and may confuse the dog. Confusion can also lead to anxiety. fear and anxiety can become aggression again depending on the temperament of the dog. it certainly won't help the dog become well behaved!

i am curious, would this mean that if a dog licks a human that it is being submissive?

the dogs is punishing me for leaving him at home

the dog knows he's done the wrong thing

the dog tries to make me feel guilty

my pup is used to being in a crate so i kept her in the crate for the time . i took her out for toilet breaks, gave her lots of chew toys in the crate, took her for a stroll around the garden on a leash, gave her frozen chicken wings. it was really hard and we were both stir crazy at the end of 7 days!!!!

she had an inguinal hernia op at the same time so it was really important for me to keep her contained.

styptic is best but i was caught once and didn't have any so cornflour it was!! i only knew of the cornflour and styptic powder. i learn something new every day. thanks!!!