Greytmate

Changing from Bonnie to Hills should do it. If not, add a daily tablespoon of meat fat or oily fish in oil.

Anvet Kedron is a great vet.

It sounds like predatory aggression if the dog was over-excited rather than growly. The reason doesn't really matter though, only the result of what the dog has done.

You should tell them. But be prepared for a range of reactions. Not everyone will care, some may blame you for putting their dog at risk, and some might even accuse you of blaming their dog for your dog's illness. Just be careful how you say it.

Another option is a good boarding kennel. Much better for your dog than vet boarding. I would leave the dog at the breeders. Your dog will not forget you. What reason do you have for thinking he will pick up bad habits?

Do you think this type of aggression is not serious enough to stop a dog from being allowed offlead with children around? Is it that hard to say to a child - "STOP, dont pat my dog"? There is no reason for a child to be in petting distance anyway My dog would go off his nut if a strange child tried to touch him. Would he bite them? Perhaps if he was pushed.. I really don't know. Would I allow a child to get close enough to find out? No way. You can say what you like to people, but in a public space, you cannot control what others will do. If you get into a situation where children don't listen, or you are caught by surprise, you would be fully responsible if your dog bit. Knowing how your dog reacts, he is a good candidate to be muzzled.

That is assuming the dog behaves unpredictably. That isn't always the case with aggression.

Ideally if you saw your dog go into this posture you would act immediately to stop the behaviour, divert the gaze and relax the dog. Allowing your dog to do this is unpleasant for other dogs at best, and extremely dangerous at worst.

Again, it isn't necessarily anyone's fault that DA occurs and certainly not "hands down" always the handler's fault either- unless you happen to be aware of some training method that completely eliminates instinctive behaviours that others could be using to make their dogs safe? Yes, people need to realise that breeding has a huge effect on temperament. Whether we are talking about natural tendencies being heightened in some breeds, or faults due to careless breeding in any sort of dog. The handler has a responsibility to manage the dog to prevent it causing harm, but the problem may not be their fault at all.

I dislike the use of the word 'deserve' when it comes to dog behaviour. It is sometimes used to justify terrible cruelty. The dog has learnt that it is beneficial to react in certain ways to certain stimuli. The dog has no control over its training or breeding. Humans have bred or trained the dog to be what it is, the dog has no agenda.

We have two dog parks near our house. One park is small, well-grassed, hardly used. There is plenty of time to see who is approaching the gate, and everyone generally puts their dogs back on lead or asks them to wait back until the new dog comes in. The other park is huge, bare, and full of dogs. Dogs rush at the gate at full speed while the owners congregate in the centre of the park. It is in a different area of housing, and that makes a very big difference as to the demographic of who goes in there, and the breeds they have chosen as pets. One I feel very safe to take my dogs into, one I do not. I don't like the b-dog park at all.

You are not taking this seriously enough. The thread will only get out of hand if you keep your head in that bucket of sand and ignore what you are being told. If you had really known your breeds and your dog you would never have brought in a male pup. You even admit your dog is so 'dominant' it is unable to get along with dogs that don't accept that. The situation right now is very serious. It only takes one fight for dogs to be killed. One fight, under supervision, you have no hope in hell of pulling two fighting bull-breed males apart if they want to fight. No hope at all. The decision may be taken right out of your hands. You may not have as many real options as you think you do. I fear for the safety of your dogs. Separate now, and understand that even with professional help you may never be able to have these two together.

Desexing might take some of the fire out of his temperament. But he will not change his learned habits unless you train him. I would separate the dogs, and consult a behaviourist.

As long as the dog is muzzled an under control it isn't a problem. Aggressive dogs are just as entitled to be exercised as any other dog. It is just up to the owners to control them properly, and up to other people not to allow their dog to approach strange dogs until they have the ok from the dog's owner. Every dog is capable of aggressive behaviour in the right circumstances. It is important that people don't allow their own dog to provoke aggression in others.

I don't lobby local government because I don't believe that it would make a difference. If I had the slightest faith that it would instigate change, then I'd be down at my local council drilling them to change. But, the simple matter is, it takes a lot of pressure from a lot of people to make change, and even though there are a lot of people who dont agree with current legislation, there aren't many who are willing to stand up and demand change. Absolute rubbish. There have been quite a few recent changes to dog legislation in QLD. None of iot would have happenned without lobbying. If an idea has merit it is very possible to lobby for and achieve legislative change. That is how our democratic system of government works. However you haven't been able to put forward a very persuasive argument for change here. I did not give incorrect information. I did not say it is law to hand dogs into pounds in QLD, as each council has its own laws, and I haven't looked at every councils' impounding legislation. But it is correct advice that to claim ownership of a stray dog it must go through a procedure with council and be held for a certain period of time (3 days or other depending on which QLD council), otherwise the old owner is entitled to claim the dog back at any time. Why don't you start a new thread. Joel's dreams and musings of a better impounding system. This one is about giving advice to finders of a lost dog about their entitlement to keep, sell or give away a dog they found. From the very first post questionable information was given here. Council pounds are a necessary service provided to ratepayers. If they are turning away animals or threatening to euthanise them as claimed, that is a very serious neglect of their duty. People should feel as though taking a dog to the pound is the correct thing to do. It is a lot safer for the dog to be securely kept in there than in somebody's backyard with other animals.

Well why don't you go and lobby local government to provide more luxurious accommodation for impounded animals. Rather than just whinge on an online forum at experienced people here giving the correct advice for the steps that need to be taken to legally take ownership of a stray animal.

That isn't always a good thing for a dog, to be kept to fill a need that might cease to exist when a real baby is placed in the role.

Of course people are going to be offended if you suggest that the dog is a practice for their baby. I think it is important that when people first get a dog, they raise it in the way that they expect it to live for its whole life. If a woman is planning on having a baby, she needs to understand that life with a baby means that she cannot have dogs jumping up on her lap or into her bed while she is trying to breast feed, or cuddle her new baby. So the responsible thing to do is not to allow the dog to demand affection, but instead to train it to wait until it is allowed to jump up for a cuddle, or have a treat or whatever. From the start. Well before the real baby comes along. I believe that new babies deserve a lot of attention from their parents, and having a dog constantly demanding attention and closeness from their parents diminishes that. In that busy time when a new baby comes home, it is logical that many people physically isolate their untrained dog from their baby, rather than devote the time to training the dog to be happy lying on the floor nearby. Responsible dog owners train their dogs to cope with their planned lifestyle. Treating a dog as a baby by giving it affection on demand and excessive physical closeness is not in a dog's best interests when you know there will soon come a time when you cannot possibly do this. It's not going to be good for the dog and may cause a lot of problems.

No, I wouldn't suggest that the OP sees her dog as a practice baby. But she does recognise that it happens, which is important. Even if the people with the 'baby dogs' never do go on to have children, there still can be all sorts of problems with owners anthropomorphising their dogs. The dog may be filling a gap in a person that could sometimes be filled in a healthier way. And it is in the dog's best interests to be treated as a dog, not a little human.

Yes, pugs are like cute lil' bubbas too. My dogs are not like babies. They are more like teenagers. Lazy, ungrateful teenagers that sleep all day, never lift a finger to help with the housework, and expect all their meals and laundry to be done for them.

What do you mean? I guess her breed or cross breed (small) and her temprement/personality makes her a good practice baby. She loves to be with us and is oh so adorable but I think lots of breeds are like that??? Some toy breeds were developed to be baby substitutes. They have large head size compared to their small body, have large round eyes in comparison with their head size, and have had their muzzles shortened to give a round 'baby-face' appearance. They were bred to be house companions and to be cuddled. The phenomenon is called neoteny. Besides that, I do notice on DOL that a lot of owners of these sort of breeds tend to refer to themselves as their dog's Mummy and refer to their partners as their dog's Daddy. Happens with other breeds as well, but it seems to be more prevalent with young childless couples that own 'baby-faced' breeds like cavs or shih tzus.

Is it a cav thing do you think?

While there is no legislative requirement to hand the dog over for impounding in QLD, there is a requirement to do this to obtain clear ownership of the dog. The dog should not be sent anywhere, or the pups given or sold to anyone until ownership is established. Before you can say that the finders have done everything right, we would need to know which council area they are in, and what was said. Metropolitan council pounds refusing to impound strays is very unusual, and has wider ramifications for other people in the community, and we need to wait for T-Time to find out more about this.

There are ethical and legal ways of obtaining dogs, and then there is just taking them and keeping them or selling them. Your family wouldn't be put in a firing line if you were to illegally take this dog or encourage others to do the same, it would just be you doing the wrong thing. Joel, there is no middle ground. A dog either belongs to you or it does not. If you want to claim ownership you must do this through the council. That isn't my opinion. It is the law. I hope my old sick dog never gets out, some of you people would try to ensure I would never see it again. ;)

Just over a year officially. But the law was rushed in before councils and others had a chipping procedure in place. There was also confusion and a later amendment about pups being chipped before 8 weeks. It is conceivable that a dog of this age may have missed being chipped by the breeder, and forgotten to be chipped by the buyer.