Pailin

15 hours ago, RuralPug said:

You can get laid back Rough Collies which do not have the full on working temperament and perhaps that's the way to go? Many of the pet RC's that I have met are not as demanding as, say, the average Border Collie, Australian Shepherd, Kelpie etc. 
I think you should be safe in talking to Rough Collie breeders. A good breeder will choose the correct temperament in a puppy or if you want to be 100% sure, look for an older dog whose temperament has already stabilised.
She might need to be sleeping in a queen size bed if she wants to share though ! A Shetland Sheepdog looks much like a Rough Collie, is much smaller but tend to be much more active and have a different temperament than Rough Collies.

There is a 14 month old RC girl currently advertised in NSW in the breeder's pages.

 

That is actually really exciting for me. To know that the breed she adores could work. I have yet to fully research myself and have met a couple of really high drive Border Collies in my time and thought "Collie" might mean too much to handle. Absolutely looking for a laid back family dog. Will start to research myself a little now and see what we come up with. Thanks for your response.

15 hours ago, Rebanne said:

and a totally unknown background/breed in most cases. Sorry but no way would I recommend a mutt for a young girl's 1st dog. A pedigreed dog you basically know what you are getting, size, coat, temperament etc.

My only query on a Rough Coat collie is the coat care

Our current family pooch is an RSPCA pup and she is such an awesome dog but you are right, we don't know her breed, can only guess at her history and it makes it hard to be prepared and researched on breed etc when getting into the mixed breeds. There is something to be said for knowing what to expect from a well bred dog and given the breed she is looking at (and people are saying might indeed fit) rescue doesn't seem like much of an option.
 

14 hours ago, mackiemad said:

I got my first dog as a dog and horse crazy 12 year old and it was a rough collie! 

 

Best dog for a teen in my situation, really high emotional iq, off switch and easy to train. Also, good with the horses (though terrified of the mini ) 

 

Yeah, brushing and hair isn't always fun but also led to some of the best bonding time between he and I. 

Thank you. Starting to think she may already be looking at the right breed for her and there is a reason she is drawn that way.

11 hours ago, Dogsfevr said:

1. As this is a long term project I would imagine your daughters choices will change .

2. Attend dog shows,attend obedience trials and let your daughter see breeds looking true to type and then looking at the real life commitment she must be prepared to commit too.

If a Collie is her choice then she needs to see the breed in coat ,understand brushing and the time it takes .

Tools that are a must for grooming and making sure she is committed to coat care in her teens ,dog before going out etc etc,You can have both but the dog is her responsibility.

If she really loves the Collie breed then maybe the smooth coat is an option ,not serious coat care .

 

3. I guess what I’m saying does she want a Lassie or does she want a Collie .

Thoughts 2/3 is a long time to decide ,let her research all about her time commitments,grooming costs if she doesn’t brush,bathing etc etc .

Understanding that a stinky dog sleeping on the bed is no fun .

Maybe a Shellie is another option same look but in a smaller package 

1. She has been on the Rough Collie bandwagon for at least a year and a half so far so if we find the Rough Collie can indeed fit into the family well...I don't think she will change her mind at all.
2. That is a brilliant suggestion. Are breeder/exhibitors happy to talk to the general public at these kinds of events?
She has her heart set on the full coated Rough so would be a great idea to introduce her to grooming needs and techniques from an experienced owner. As her mother and a huge dog lover there is no way that I would allow the grooming to fall down the wayside, even if I have to pick it up myself. I am going into this as a parent supporting her child but at the same time knowing that this dog will be family and *I* am making the commitment to the animal for it's lifetime.
3. She fell in love with the Rough Collie breed prior to even seeing the Lassie movie. She has already spent a LONG time researching the breed before she watched the movie so she is definitely in it for the breed.
4. I did look at the Sheltie but they seem to have higher energy/needs.
 

My daughter is a dog nut. Always has been. She is starting to save up for her own dog and I am looking for breed recommendations to point her towards. She is 11yrs old so this will be a long process, probably 2-3 years away still. Saving will take her a couple of years, she is already heavily researching.  She has her heart set on a Rough Collie however I am concerned that being a working breed they may end up being too much dog for her (and us as a family). 

She has an interest in training and obedience but not sure full on obedience is in the cards. She essentially wants a dog that can sleep on her bed, go for a walk daily, chase a ball, go to the beach etc. I tend to preference low shedding dogs (given I am the one that cleans the house lol). She is homeschooled, dedicated and very dog centered, obviously she will be fully supported and guided by myself as well. The dog would rarely be left alone. No size preference really but not too large.

Ideas? Thoughts? 

Mackiemad- You are right. I have been scared and that fear is not rational or allowing me to listen with an open mind to the vet and people on here. It is why I am so conflicted and struggling with the choice so much. If you look at the website productreview.com .au and read the reviews that have been left on there for the Bravecto it is easy to see why people are scared. It is not just a couple, there are a LOT of stories on there and I do know that people complain much more than they praise but it is concerning. Thank you for your posts and thoughts. I appreciate your time.

Sheena- Thanks, I think Nexguard would be a possible option for us and will consider it carefully. Thank you.

I am genuinely not trying to stir trouble and I do realise that some adverse reactions are common. The sheer number of reports from owners of dogs who have reacted poorly to the Bravecto is still really scary. It really feels like I am caught between a rock and a hard place. On the one hand this tick could have killed her, watching her struggle with her balance and be so unwell was heart wrenching and gutted us all. On the other hand, if I give her this product to try and keep her safe from the ticks (fleas are not an issue) and she has a reaction I don't know that I could ever forgive myself.

It is concerning that if she reacts to the Bravecto it will remain in her system for 3-4months. No way of backtracking. I have been reading so much online recently...thinking I may go the route of a tick collar and daily checks. I will know not to 100% trust the collar alone, hopefully daily checks and being more aware of the risk to her in the new area we have moved to will be enough. At least with the collar I can remove it instantly if a reaction occurs. It is really scary to read the online reviews and be so indecisive. A tick could kill her, the stuff to prevent the tick could kill her... I just want to wrap her in bubble wrap and never let her outside again.

My poor girl has had a nasty paralysis tick that she could  only have picked up out of our very own yard. She seems to be recovering, not out of the woods yet. 

My vet recommended Bravecto. The reviews and complications people seem to be having with the product terrifies me. What do people recommend to make sure she never gets another one? Will pair with daily checking,  happy to try topicals or collars but need them to be cat safe for our cat (not for use on our cat but they share the house).

I'm also looking for an option to treat the yard with. Vet said there isnt really anything that can be done for the yard but thought someone on here might have an idea. It is tiny, suburbia and doesnt have a single tree or shrub. 

Thabks in advance.

We are soon to be traveling around Australia with a van and my beautiful dog Lolly will be coming with. Everything is very up in the air and rushed at the moment. House sale finalises on the 7th December, we have to pick up the caravan (leave from Brisbane, collect it from Gladstone) and then we have managed to get a last minute cancellation spot on the Spirit of Tasmania for the 17th December. It is going to be insane but my sister (who I am traveling with) is determined to spend Xmas with our brother in Tassie.

Problem is that the spot we have secured and paid for does not include a kennel space and the kennels onboard are booked out currently. I have rang a few places and gotten quotes to fly her over ($300) but I really would prefer to keep her with me. My SIL and brother are the only possibility to pick her up from the airport if I go that route but it would be early Saturday morning (we would arrive the next day), they have a selective staffy who is super full on and my girl is getting older, will fret being away from me and may not tolerate their dog (I would like to be there for the introduction).

So at the present moment I will be calling daily to check if any kennel bookings have been cancelled and booking the flight if we cannot get her on BUT I have been told that if I sign an indemnity waiver she can travel over on the boat and remain in the car or caravan (will be in the canopy of the Triton). This information has been given by other people, not by the Spirit booking people I have talked with so not even 100% sure if it can be done. There seems to be quite a few people who have done this, we are on the night trip so heat shouldn't be a factor, but I have read an article where two Rottys passed away 5years ago on the Spirit and the owner suspected carbon monoxide poisoning...

So my question is, what would you do if this option is even a possibility. Would you leave your dog in your vehicle where they are comfortable and used to being and traveling, with their own comfortable bedding, water etc but with a possible risk of carbon monoxide and not being able to check on them, or would you fly them- a short flight-, not knowing how they will cope and knowing that they will spend a day fretting with strangers?

Has anyone taken their dog/s over on the Spirit? Thoughts?

Thanks

I've used the Kirklands Natures Domain grain free for my cat since we adopted him 2yrs ago. He does really well on it. His coat is soft and shiny and he has no issues at all. I cannot fault it.

I am just wondering if I am the only person who makes sure that my dog cannot interact with strangers coming onto my property, especially in the way of meter readers/ tradies etc.

The news article about that poor tradie getting attacked by the three AST's has me wondering. In addition to that my sister recently had an open home where one of her neighbours attended and asked the real estate agent to come back to her house for an evaluation. The real estate agent went over and in the process of looking around the house with the owner she was bitten quite badly by one of their French Mastiffs. The poor woman was terrified. It bit her on her back/butt... I just don't understand how giving dogs unfettered access to strangers, who are in the dogs territory, is a good idea.

I trust my girl, but I don't trust people I don't know and in circumstances I could never begin to predict. She gets shut away if someone is coming in.

Has anyone noticed that once you try to soften the elbow callous and they go back out and onto bare concrete, that it's actually worse because the hardened skin is not there as protection?

Yep. Exactly what has happened for us. The hardened callous wore off and became infected instead.

And another. It WAS a huge big old callous but it became inflamed and swollen once she got a proper bed. Go figure!

Vet says it is a Callous Pyoderma. Gave her a cortisone shot and antibiotics. At a worst case scenario it is actually in a good place for surgery as it is on the outer of her elbow. Going to research other methods of treating it now that we know it isn't a tumor or anything more serious.

Will attach pictures.

How did you go with this?

Have a similar thing on a Neo Mastiff. Off to the vets in the morning but hoping it is nothing major. Ironically it became inflamed after she came into my care and had a proper bed and mattress for the first time in her life.

What gets me is how many people think that incidents like this are avoided by asking permission of the owner. I too was of this belief and taught my children to never approach any dog without getting express permission from the owners. They are told not to even go "in range" without the owner's saying it is ok. I thought I was doing the right thing until my very dog savvy 9 year old had her face snapped at by a greyhound she had gotten permission to greet. It was incredibly lucky that the snap didn't actually connect but it also taught me that "permission from the owner" is giving the owner a lot of credit for knowing the limitations of their animals and is placing a lot of trust in them that they may not deserve. In my daughters case they then began to exclaim about how he had been raised around their grandson and was child friendly, they were astounded but then instructed my daughter to further invade the dogs space and pat it again! No way no how, I told her to back off immediately and told them that clearly their dog was uncomfortable and a warning like that should NEVER be ignored. I've now discussed with my children and completely changed my outlook to, we don't approach other people's dogs at all.

http://www.bunnings.com.au/ozito-170w-42-piece-rotary-tool-kit_p6290175

Is that the one that you bought Sunny1Shine?

I would start by rewarding calmness and being quiet, sitting for a pat etc. You will need to grow a treat bag on your hip if she is food motivated! You also need to cultivate the "cold shoulder" and "gasp! highly offended" body language to use IMMEDIATELY she does what you don't want - e.g. jumping up to greet you. Immediate withdrawal of attention for unwanted behaviour plus immediate reward for desired behaviour is what we want.

TOT is the perfect way to introduce the idea of her pleasing you to get what pleases her, so go with that for sure. Then clicker training or instant voice marking of the correct behaviour (or baby steps toward correct behaviour) is probably one of the best ways to start the want to please mindset in an older untutored dog.

To train her to walk quietly on a leash it may help to start with anti-pull Sporn Halter (since the halti isn't working.) A basic outline of some of the common positive training methods to achieve loose leash walking can be found here.

If she pulls when she sees another dog, quick about face so that she doesn't get the reward of meeting the other dog. WARNING - it is very important that you don't give a damn bout what onlookers might think of you doing six foot circles walking the dog as the pull/aboutface>relax/aboutface>pull/about face cycle happens. You can always interrupt it with a sit and treat if you start to get dizzy...

Thanks, exactly what I've started with. She isn't in the least bit food motivated, it's all attention for her. Even with the walking, it's the people that she wants to meet more than anything else....even better if they are kids, she loves them. Problem is most kids walking down the street don't fancy having a dog that size lunging at them to "love" them. That being said on our walk this evening, so long as I kept her focused and continued walking at a decent, focussed pace she didn't pay barely any attention to the numerous people we walked past so I have a feeling that these behaviours are boredom, lack of interaction with people, lack of consistent walks and lack of training all mixed together.

If the dog responds well keep using it. Don't let a dog that big get into the habit of pulling and frankly those breeds to NOT need equipment around their face. In warm weather it can interfere with breathing and they need a lot of air intake to cool down properly.

Work on focus, don't keep just yanking on the leash ask the dog to respond first, mark, then reward. The leash and collar are there as a back up consequence if the dog tries to pull to remind it. The main thing with mastiff types is be patient and do NOT rush. They are not super quick border collies, they take time and some obedience positions can be uncomfortable for them to perform due to their size so make provisions.

"As we approached she walked to the nearest fence and wrapped the lead around the fence and held on to the lead like that. I was a bit alarmed but it seemed effective. "

All this does is help the woman hang on and frankly a few trainers are using it as a 'training' method. It teaches absolutely nothing in fact it puts you backwards and simply 'deals' with the situation at the time. Different equipment that actually works and decent learning theory removes the need for this type of thing.

Thanks for that advise. Picked her up this afternoon and she is challenging but responding incredibly well. She initially jumped all over me, largely aiming for my face. Knowing that her motivation was attention, I tucked my hands in my pockets and kept turning away. It took her about 10 mins but she eventually calmed. I honestly think the main of her issues is just lack of contact and interaction. She is lonely. It's just establishing boundaries and following through on them. I'm following the NILIF and she is responsive to it. Firm, calm consistency gets through to her well.

Took her for a long walk with my girl to reintroduce them (they used to play together a couple of years ago) and she has had basic leash training, she will just forget it if you let her. she showed a good amount of focus on the walk and I made sure to reinforce the no pulling by stopping each time she would pull and she would have to come back into heel and look at me before we continued. She picked it up really quickly and honestly was pretty alright to walk. When she got home afterwards and off leash she was no longer bouncy or jumping at all, she was very content.

Continuing the walking training, pairing that with the NILIF and time and consistency and I am really confident that she has the potential to be an amazing dog and re home well.

Female 4yrs old desexed very large girl who is incredibly strong and very excitable. She hasn't had much time spent with her and so the hope is that with time, attention and training we will see a calmer side come forward but in the mean time she is gigantic and uses her size against you.

She has had basics taught but previous owner relied on his strength and size to dominate her and she has dragged her female owner over in attempts to greet other people on walks.

I am thinking to start her with Triangle of Temptation.

What would be the best collar option for walking? She has a halti and can pull through it, flat collar is probably not an option until a little more training and control is achieved. She has been walked with a check chain and responds well to it... Am thinking this is the way to go initially but I really want work towards attaining cooperation through training and not just because she remembers how her previous owner dealt with her on a check chain... Even though at the moment the check chain is about the only tool that gets immediate respect (or compliance) from her.

Sorry talking in circles now. Any advice welcome. Thanks.

Craig Murray from Premier Dog Training in Sydney may be able to assist or recommend someone who can. He trains security dogs and has a Dobe himself. 0408 113 874.

Thanks, unfortunately he got passed onto a new owner. Hoping that he doesn't become another statistic.

I know of a 5 yr old, male, de sexed Doberman who is needing to be rehomed. He is a stunning fellow, used as a property guard dog (as far as I am aware through a security business). People friendly, good with female dogs, untested with children, chases possums so probably off limits to cat homes.

I am trying to assist with the re homing, don't want this boy to go to just anyone and am thinking that an experienced rescue group may be the best way to accomplish that. Located Sunshine Coast and would love any advice on how to make sure this boy lands in a responsible, forever home. Thanks in advance.

How much is it?

I'll have to check the Northlakes Costco for it...I've not noticed it before.

I was horrified by how quickly it all happened and amazed at the cats response. So thankful that the little boys injuries were not worse. I found the original uploader and below is part of the description on his video answering why the Mum did what she did.

Question: Why did the mom run away?

Answer: After checking his wounds she made sure the dog did not return for a second attempt. The owners were there also and she was bit by the dog as she tried to pin him in his yard. The owners did get control of the dog and secured him in which she immediately returned to attending to our son. I did not include that video because it was not so much about the dog but about the cats actions. 

Zeus update from Team Dog at the link

Zeus is settling in absolutely brilliantly in his new home. He is fantastic with other dogs, and extremely social with every person he meets. His owner absolutely adores him.

As if that wasn't enough, Zeus's owner recently took in a tiny, 5 week old abandoned kitten to nurse back to health, and Zeus has decided that he is 'Mr Mum' - cuddling her, sniffing her, wanting to play with her (a little big for that still!) and just generally checking she's ok.

She adores him too, and follows him around demanding his attention.

This dog, brilliant with people, other dogs, and even kittens, was deemed a danger to society by Brisbane City Council based solely on his appearance. Those of us that have met Zeus collectively agree that his temperament is impeccable, especially considering the 8 month stint in the pound he so recently endured.

It cost close to $5,000 and a whole lot of time, effort and heartbreak to ensure that Zeus got to live out his days. Brisbane Council's legal fees would have also been a very large sum. That money, time and and resources could have instead been spent on programs that are proven to reduce dog attacks in the community.

Not only have the Council wasted their ratepayers' money on attempting to kill this dog, they have in fact removed an incredibly stable and non-aggressive dog from their community.

Thank you again to all the groups that made Zeus's release possible - Barristers Animal Welfare Panel, Holding Redlich, Fetching Dogs, BARK QLD and Zeus's previous owner, as well as our supporters that allowed us to play our role, too.

We are all heroes in our community. We are #TeamDog

Oh those pictures are heart melting <3

I am so glad that Zeus had so many people fighting for him and has gotten his happy ending. He looks like an amazing boy.