Greytmate

Putting the dogs into tool boxes is not a good idea. They normally have a mesh side, so there would be no protection for the dog from loose gravel coming off the road when other vehicles pass. Crates are really the best way to keep the dogs safe if the the crates can be secured in the cabin. I would work on ways to retrieve the crates to make it easier for the drivers to use them. It is very nice of them to transport the dogs for you. I am not sure of the legalities of keeping a dog in a toolbox, but keeping one unrestrained in the cabin is illegal.

I recently spoke to a couple of vets about this. They said that there is a theory about secondary rat bait poisoning, but it is not ever seen in their clinics or heard about in Australia.

We used to have this problem at our dog club in Victoria. We had booked the park, and formal dog training activities are similar to organised sports matches in that they override the off-lead status of the park. You wouldn't set up a picnic on the edge of a soccer field while a match was on and expect to get away with it, and people shouldn't expect to be able to disrupt dog training in this way either. I ended up learning a way to get these people to move away. If a dog ran into our class I would restrain it and wait for the owner to come over. They would walk over and call out to me to release the dog, but I never did until I was good and ready. A lot of people seem to have the attitude that people are in a dog class because their dog is bad, but their own dogs is so good it doesn't have to be on a lead or in a class, so they smirk as their dog runs around the class, and they show off by calling their dog to them. So by restraining their dog you embarrass them. It gives you a chance to say "We have an arrangement with council that we have reserved this space (define the space) for our private classes. You need to put your dog on lead and take it away from this area." Invariably they will step back and just call the dog, so don't let go of its collar while you do more talking. "Where is your lead, do you have a lead?" "Your dog is not listening to you, put it on lead and remove it please. " When they finally reach out to physically take hold of the dog I say something like. "That dog really needs to be under control, I had to hold on to it so it wouldn't keep disrupting us, please take it somewhere else to play." By then they would usually be really embarrassed and eager to just get their dog and move away. In your position Willow, I would insist that they move as you have paid for the space. If they do not, I would call the police.

We use big drums with screw top lids that we got from the produce store.

Are you paying premium prices? I have found that the most expensive dog food is still cheaper than the steak I would choose for myself. The price of dog food has little to do with production cost anyway, it is set by marketing departments. Premium prices are for products with premium branding. Dogs have a much shorter gut than humans, and so are much less likely to become crook from slightly contaminated food.

There are various reasons why they are "Not fit for human consumption". It has to do with the food not meeting the extremely high standards we have for human food. This applies to storage,refrigeration, preparation and handling as well as to certain ingredients. The difference between dog food processing and human food processing is that with dog food the raw meat will arrive in a non-refrigerated vehicle, and will be handled in the factory by people who may not wash their hands or wear hair nets or do many of the other things that keep human food safe for humans to eat. Dog food would be more expensive if the manufacturers had to have human-grade production facilities.

I have the Hilux with extra cab. I have a canopy with a roof vent and sliding windows with security screen. It was from ARB. Recently the window got stuck open because somebody slid it too far the wrong way. ARB Nudgee fixed it for free, so I can recommend them. I had a ute liner fitted and have two big mats for the dogs to lie on. You can fit quite a few big dogs in there. It is good having the front of the car stay clean and fur free. Edited to add - the ute liner is great and it turns the tail gate into a picnic table with cup holders.

No need to worry. Weims might be like mercedes, but staffies are like fords, and labradors like holdens. We all have to market our brand to the right demographic. Marketing the brand is more than just creating a logo and a T-shirt and setting up at Pet Expo. We have to get our product right first and really think about who we would like to sell to. We have to target that section of the market and educate them about the breed. It is not necessary that every breed is well-represented in the Australian pet market. It has come to a time when we should be thinking more globally about dog genetics.

M-J, my dog Leo only sits up on the couch when a storm is coming. He hates them. Goldie sits when she wants food (has been trained) the others don't sit at all.

Putting restrictions on who can buy would not work in isolation, it is part of a sales process. What they have done is build up their brand 'Weimeraner' and make it as good quality as they can. They market that, and the restrictions don't come in until after the buyer has decided what they want and the salesperson qualifies the sale (or more accurately, the breeder enforces restrictions). No different from selling Mercedes. The manufactureres and marketers make people desire it. But not everyone that wants one will qualify to buy. With a car the only qualifier is price, with a Weimeraner it is price and the restrictions. They don't lose sales, the restrictions make the product even more exclusive and attractive. They are not for Joe Average, but neither are most of the other finer things in life, and the Weimeraner buyers know that. In Australia, we don't see many dogs being sold that way. In our business we have made a real effort to build up our brand, and that makes it easier for us to sell more dogs, and people want our dogs even though we have restrictions too. But if you have the restrictions without the marketing and the quality control, it isn't going to work.

If the line alters too much then maybe it is lost anyway.

A German weim can still be suitable as a pet. But for really committed families and not just the average one. Breeding for working ability willl not mean that every individual is high drive, and high drive doesn't mean that the dog won't be a good pet for the right family. The danger with breeding away from high drive dogs is that you risk inadvertantly losing the dogs with good strong solid nerve. Because the less solid dogs will be more likely not to show the high drives on command. If a family want a large short coated dog, and cannot handle high prey drive, copious amounts of energy and endurance, the desire to retrieve, the desire to chase, the desire to be a companion and the desire to protect, perhaps they need to look at other breeds. There are plenty to choose from.

I wouldn't trust her reasons for returning the dog. There is the reason people return a dog, and then there are the excuses they make when they return a dog.

That is a very interesting book. A few dog's names have changed over the years as well as some of the dogs changing. Looks like some of the dogs may no longer be around at all.

Exactly. Research is good, but basing a lot of work on the results of a survey like that is risky. I rehome dogs professionally and see how varied people's expectations and managements skills are. All good dogs owners, all able to be matched with a suitable dog but ending up with very different dogs. But if you ask them, they will all describe the dogs they want using the same words. They all want Good Sense of Humour.

Racing line greyhounds in Australia have evolved a little away from the original greyhound that was bred to course hare. Over the last 80 years the soft wide sand tracks that we race the dogs on has meant that a much faster and finer breed has evolved out of a dog that was once built to turn tightly at speed and catch a big hare in its huge mouth. Which is why I do not agree with lure coursing for Australian-bred ex racing greyhounds. It is dangerous for them and likely to cause injury to them. They are a different dog now to the one that was bred to course over hard ground and change direction quickly. But as far as all breeds go, there is very little visible difference between a working line and show line dog. Some race bred dogs would do well in dog shows, but there are some that wouldn't that are still well-worth breeding from. The show standard doesn't hold much relevance to people that breed racing dogs as there are better ways to tell if a dog is high quality or not. But it is still good to see racing dogs in the show ring doing well. Unlike some other breeds, the best working temperament for greyhounds is also the best pet temperament for greyhounds. So it is in pet owner's favour that the breed is selected for excellent working ability alone, which requires a specific a combination of mental and physical qualities.

A good holiday activity is to paint their toenails. They love that sort of activity and attention.

Thanks for clarifying. That is great that you are working with HAR to help the dog. I agree with getting in the behaviorist, but you will always have to be very careful in placing a dog like this, as any work you do can be undone in a new home if the new owners are not willing to continue training.

More accurate and superior to what? What is your understanding of all of the behaviour and temp tests currently being used? How many have you observed and in what way are they inaccurate? This study has not even started and you are making claims about its superiority? What has BSL got to do with this? If people were intersted in using behaviour testing to combat unfair laws, they have always had the opportunity to do that, and some of us have actually done it. We didn't need to wait for this study to happen. This study may be well-intended. Or it may not be. Why is it being funded? Who stands to profit from this investment?

Greymate, my posts are based on my personal experiences with dogs over many decades. Not sure what your "opinions' are based on. Yep - personal insults ARE personal happy new year, and have a good life to you too My opinions are based on working with hundreds of dogs and preparing them for rehoming, as well as the small number of dogs I have personally owned. They are also based on information provided by reputable sources. You say that temperament isn't influenced by genetics. That may be because in your experience you haven't personally seen evidence of that. Rather than by observing, asking questions and learning how temperament is influenced by genetics, you simply refuse to acknowledge the possibility. That is ignorance. You say that TLC and common sense will fix all behaviour problems. Maybe in your limited experience all problems have been solved in this way. Some of us have found problems that are not so easily fixed. It is insulting to suggest that TLC could have worked when it hasn't, and that failure to fix a dog's problems would be due to a lack of common sense or loving care. Most of us would want to learn more about people's experiences in solving severe problems in dogs, rather than remaining ignorant. This isn't the only thread where you have made ignorant and dangerous suggestions, yet when people pull you up on it you accuse them of being personal. Try to understand it is what you say that needs to be corrected, none of us know anything about you or about each other. It isn't personal. Stop trying to diagnose serious behaviour problems over the internet and you will find that people will leave you alone.

You can tell if a male greyhound is too fat by standing him in front of the setting sun. If the skin above the penis is not translucent, the dog is probably carrying too much weight.

This advice is correct. The OP only just bought this dog, and if she is having problems, she needs to talk to the people she bought it from. If they are not given the opportunity to fix things it is not fair to be complaining about one of their dogs on the internet. This dog has been in foster care, was it mentioned when the dog was bought that you needed it to be able to mix with other dogs? Were you told it didn't like other dogs? What information was provided about him? If you do decide to stick with this dog, HAR should help with the work you need to do. If the dog didn't have the aggression problems while it was in foster care, it may be that it would be better suited in a different home to yours.

Just about anything that would break our skin will break a greyhound's skin. That isn't really a problem until you consider that the speeds greyhounds can do. Hitting a sharp stick or a piece of barbed wire at 60 km/h is going to cause some damage. People with greyhounds need to be on the lookout for things around their property that can hurt their dog. It is normal for greyhounds to get a lot of minor grazes when learning to use stairs.

Don't look at it in terms of 'fixable' or 'not fixable'. Instead see it is a problem that you will reduce with the help of a behaviourist. Sometimes problems are fixed with management as well as training, as it isn't always possible to change aspects of a dog's behaviour. No dog is 100% perfect upstairs in the same way that all people have slight flaws too. Some are much harder to live with than others. It is only when you hit the walll of what you are able to do for the dog that it becomes an issue. You haven't reached anywhere near that yet. So keep trying, but don't expect miracles.

I worry who you're spouting this kind of mis-information too. I'm sorry but you don't have enough education of animal behavioural science from that comment. Ditto, I also worry about some of the the very opinionated people on this forum, and who their mis-information is being promulgated to. Forums are an avenue for airing differences of opinion. I wonder, since we've never met, what you are basing your personal insults on? Your 'opinions' show us that you are ignorant about dog behaviour. Nothing personal. Genetics play a major role in determining a dog's potential for anxiety. That is why good breeders select for solid temperament. Not all damaged dogs can be fixed, whether TLC and common sense is used or not. That isn't opinion, that is fact. I have a problem with misinformation being used to discourage people from seeking help when they need it, as you have done in this thread. It is important that people understand that some dogs cannot be cured with common sense and TLC. Whatever it is that you think that is.