Odin-Genie

I will take my dogs to cafes and restaurants, your opinion not withstanding!!! Everytime I go I ask the restaurant owner's permission even though we are regulars, and without fail most people who are dining at the same time come out to pat my dogs and comment on how well behaved they are. If we are talking about law, I am legally allowed to take my dogs to outdoor cafes (with the permission of the owner of course). If we are talking about personal preferences, then the argument against having kids running in restaurants is as valid.

I take my dogs to cafes and outside dining areas of restaurants. They sit quietly near the table. They don't beg for food and would never ever do their pees and poos in these areas. I'm so glad this is allowed in my council. It's a great experience to take them out.

That, and feed her dinner immediately after applying the Paw Paw. It doesn't always work, or only works in part, but it might assist at least a little bit. Thanks Erny. I've started putting paw paw cream on his nose. I don't have the heating on so that couldn't have caused it. However, this year in summer we installed AC and the dogs sleep in our bedroom. Could this have been caused by the cooling?

Hi, My elkhound has developed a rough nose which is getting a little cracked. There is no discoloration. When I noticed it I tried to think back on what could have changed and I remmebered that we got him a really fancy bowl on his birthday (end October) which is made of FDA approved plastic. Previously we always used ceramic bowls. Could this have caused the rough nose? I have now put him back on the ceramic bowl. However, if this is the cause, how long would it take him to get better? The cracks are quite tiny. There is no bleeding. I have also been using vaseline. Do I need to see a vet for this?

If there is a correlation between desexing and personality of a dog, then wouldn't it be logical to say that desexing would affect the personality of a dog? Not a replacement for training, obviously, but make training easier? I know that a lot of people on DOL prefer to keep entire dogs without any problems, even if they are not shown or bred. But the average dog owner can not be compared to the DOL population. All the entire dogs I have come across (except for dog shows) have been trouble-makers or trouble-magnets. And even if the problem is the lack of training in other dogs who react badly to entire dogs, it would still mean trouble for an average dog owner who does not belong to any training clubs but prefers the local dog park. I am all for desexing pet dogs.

Both my dogs came from registered breeders and I didn't even think about the cost. I think it was quite fair.

Hi Leelaa17, I do cuddle my dogs a lot and I frequently have one dog sleeping with his head on my arm, the other holding my arm with her paw :D . If anyone told me not to cuddle my dogs for two weeks or show them any affection, I'll tell them to get lost . Someone I know had this suggested to them by these DogTech people, and this dog wasn't even a problem. However, I do practice tying up my dogs (always supervised). We usually do this when we are away from home, sitting in a park, having a picnic etc. They weren't relaxed initially but now have no issues. This makes it so convenient to take them out to cafes and restaurants with us. I also think it is important for the dogs to know how to relax and sit quietly.

Totally understand. There are only a few family/friends' places that I can take my dogs and that's not all the time either. We work full time, so we prefer to spend time with our dogs during the weekend. If we are invited to places without our dogs, I can't really have a relaxed time and tend to leave early. I understand that we need to respect other people's rules in their household, but I think others also need to understand and not feel offended if we aren't keen on going somewhere without our dogs. Our dogs may not seem like family to others, but they definitely are to me and my OH, and that needs to be respected by anyone who wants to associate with me.

15 May, at Homebush. See http://nsw.millionpawswalk.com.au/ I go for this walk every year and my dogs have great fun.

Have you though about changing his diet? When I started feeding my dogs Eukanuba (recommended by the vet ) they would not touch the food till I mixed a bit of mince etc. Now they gobble up Canidae without any issues, even though they get barf patties and raw bones. I know Black hawk is a better quality food than Eukanuba but perhaps something with a stronger flavour would work. I agree with everyone that the food should never be left with the dog all day. I feed my dogs twice a day. They are called when it is food time. They sit nicely before they are allowed to eat. Food is finished within 1-2 minutes. Bowls picked up, washed and put away.

Pretty much every male entire dog I have seen at the dog park seems to be trouble and seems to incite aggression in other dogs. I don't know enough to say that this is because these dogs are entire. It could well be that the owners of these entire dogs have not bothered to train their dogs. However, if the aggression/trouble rate is 100% (at least in the various dog parks I've been to), does that indicate that for regular pet owners (not DOLers) who don't have a lot of clue about dogs and usually just put the dog through puppy classes, it is best to desex their dogs?

Wow. Awesome dog!!! The news states that Sarbi is a lab x newfie. Does the Army use cross breed dogs for any particular reason? I am curious how the Army sources it's dogs.

Thanks for the replies. Makes me feel better about my choice. My OH and I are also staying over at Terrigal to have a short holiday of our own. We will drop the dogs at the resort and pick them up on our way back. Can't bear to be home without our dogs We went to check out the place last week and it looks really nice. They also have a swimming pool for dogs. The staff seemed very friendly to both humans and dogs They gave us and our dogs a tour of the place.

Glad to hear that. I wondered if I was being paranoid since all others seem to happily let their dogs join the play groups. My two will be boarded together as well so they'll have each other for company. And I think a walk around the lagoon will be a much nicer exercise.

My dogs have never been away from home. All our holidays have been with the dogs. However, we feel that we should get them used to staying in kennels since we would like to have overseas holidays. In that spirit we have booked them in at the Terrigal Pet Resort for two days since it's the only kennel around Sydney where my dogs can have their own room (with a proper bed) and private courtyard!!! How does everyone else manage when you send your dogs to kennels? Do you let them put another dog with yours? Do you let them take your dog out for the group play times? I've opted for walks for my dogs since I find the idea of 20 odd dogs in an enclosed play area supervised by one person a potential disaster. Has anyone else used the Pet Resort? Any feedback?

My OH and I are definitely going with our two dogs. I am still trying to see if I can put together a corporate team from work!! I'll watch out for your GSDs

Totally agree. If I see a dog walking off lead, I either have to take a different route or turn back. There are times when I can't take my dogs to the oval to jog with them because there are off lead dogs running (this is an onlead oval). These dogs might be perfectly friendly and well-trained, but I don't know that. I should be able to take my onlead dogs to all onlead places without worrying about offlead dogs. People who think they can walk/run their dogs offlead in onlead areas are actually stopping others from using these places.

WOW, I am always amazed at how dumb people are. I actually wouldn't have said the bold part. Why can't a man argue with a woman? Women are not intellectually less competent to have an argument.

This new clause was inserted into the Companion Animals Regulation 2008 recently by Companion Animals Amendment (Greyhound Muzzling Exemption) Regulation 2011 which became operational on 18 Feb 2011.

I put a harness and carried both my dogs when I brought them home as puppies on my lap with plenty of towels while my OH drove the car on a 2 hour drive. We did the same when my sister brought her puppy home on a 6 hour drive. I think the puppies love the human contact, settle down easily and the relationship starts with a great bond.

My dogs get fed with their bowls a foot apart. They know not to go for each other' bowls. I can leave them alone in the room and be 100% confident that there won't be any issues. My dogs also get their bones together. They sit perfectly peacefully side by side and chew their bones (they are supervised at all times of course). My goldie used to have resource guarding issues as a puppy but we have trained her out of it. However, I won't do any of this with any other dog around.

Signed.

Even if the dog was attacking his farm animals, he should have gone to the council. Legally, he is only allowed to shoot dogs attacking livestock when they are on his property. he can't walk into someone else's house with a loaded gun and shoot a restrained dog!!!! I wish he had received a higher penalty and prison time.

And that, precisely, is the problem. If excessive barking is totally subjective, a neighbour can complain that even one bark a day is 'causing them to lose their peaceful enjoyment of the property'. If someone is so sensitive to noise, they should not live in a busy suburb. I am not trying to ignore the issue of barking dogs. Some dogs do bark a lot and can be annoying. I also think that some neighbours complain because it gives them power over their neighbours. How frequently have we heard on this forum that neighbours have complained about dogs barking, sometimes even when the dogs weren't home? If we as dog owners allow people to be unreasonable about dog ownership and let subjective laws raise expectations that dogs need to be absolutely quiet, we may as well get virtual pets. I would like to see time limits on the barking and excessive barking fully defined so that everyone can be aware of their rights and responsibilities.

I think the issue is also too many people living too close and a general lack of tolerance. There is too much noise all around us. But there is little most people can do about most of these noises. So they pick on the most vulnerable targets. Yes, there are dogs who bark a lot. But there are also people who, when told after their council complaint that the barking is not excessive, go out and bait the dog!! Because they don't like any barking. Because they don't like their neighbours. Because they are unhappy and want to take it out on someone else. I'm sure we have all seen comments by non-dog owners on various newspaper articles about dogs. The amount of viciousness directed at dogs surprises me. It seems way over the top. I wonder if part of it is not caused by heightened levels of stress and frustration in people which is then directed at whatever target is most vulnerable. The kookaburra in the tree outside my bedroom makes such a noise in the mornings that it is bound to wake up the entire neighbourhood and is much louder and continues for longer than most barkings dogs. The cicadas in summer make such a racket (for hours and hours without stop) that one would need to keep all windows closed to avoid the sound. Then there is the noise of lawn mowers, parties, kids playing, kids crying, possums fighting. No one wants to go out and kill all kookaburras or the cicadas. People pick on dogs because they can.