Odin-Genie

My goldy was a massive drama queen when it came to trimming her nails and fur on her paws. She would panic and squirm and pretty much behave as if she was being tortured!!! After a few failed attempts we tried to trim her nails while she was in the bath. It worked like magic. The water softened the nails and she was partly distracted by my OH giving her a massage with the shampoo. So I could easily trim all her nails without any fuss. My Elkhound of course just lies down and lets me trim his nails. We never had to train him.

As the title says, one of my dogs showed a lot of interest in horse and cow poos when we recently went for a holiday in a farm area. This dog hasn't ever touched his own poo or any other dogs' poo. What could be attractive in a horse/cow poo?

I often get asked if my Elkhound is good with kids before parents allow their kids to pat him. When I walk my golden retriever, parents/kids rarely ask. They just walk over to pat her. Both my dogs are excellent with kids so I have no issues allowing unknown kids and infants to interact with them. But it is always closely supervised since kids can be unpredictable. I would never, however, say that a breed is good with kids (though I assume breeds with a high tolerance and low drive would be generally better). For me its more about the individual dog. I don't have enough experience with a large number of dogs of the same breed to make any generalised breed based statement.

Totally agree Dogmad. Absolutely agree. While I am not against killing where it is required (for culling or for food), it has to be done in a humane manner. I am totally against inflicting pain or killing for sport.

Do you need a prescription for combantrin?

I wonder if the council can legally refuse to hand over the body. What would be the justification? They get away with this since most people can't afford to take them to court.

My dogs are mostly inside. They prefer to stay inside even if the door to the backyard is wide open.

Where I live (upper north shore) there are about six dog parks within 20 minutes driving range. All of them have taps, poo bags and bins. Most cafes around this area also allow you to sit at the outside area with your dogs. We regularly take our dogs out to dinner with us.

Sounds like a nomination to me. www.mdbaawards,net.au We have a new category too - Best Dog Friendly Local council too. Perhaps the council should be nominated. It would reinforce good behaviour.

It does sound like that. If he had never attacked anyone why couldn't he be allowed to live with his owners as a restricted breed?

Those three are my all time favourite dog movies.

I wouldn't let a mere cleaner boss you around. He's most likely the type that has a dog in his back yard who he hardly ever sees and never walks So even though dogs are not allowed on school grounds due to safety reasons, you would break the rule because you feel that the rule shouldn't apply to your dogs? Doesn't matter if the person flagging this was a cleaner. Any one can walk up to you and tell you that you are breaking the law. How is this different from those who walk their dog off leash because they feel the law should not apply to them?

As I said before, I have boarded my dogs there and I wouldn't board them anywhere else. It's a bit expensive but I put my dogs in the suites where they have their own beds, own courtyard and no interaction with other dogs. The staff seem great. I however would not put my dogs in the regular kennel area where they have to share the space with other strange dogs.

I have boarded my dogs there. My sister also boards her dog there.

Any breed of dog can attack. I have seen a bull mastiff in my local dog park who was one of the nastiest dogs around. The whole dog park would clear out every time his owner brought him in. He was finally declared a dangerous dog.

Do we have any statistics on how many dogs in the pounds and shelters have been bred by registered breeders? When I go to pound websites I see very few pure bred dogs. If we could get such statistics, it could be very easy to debunk the mindset that those who 'breed or buy' are responsible for the deaths of pound dogs.

Only if your dog is 100% reliable in a VERY crowded place with lots of dogs and people. So dogs that normally compete in obedience or other events may be fine but I wouldn't try taking a pet dog that hasn't been in that sort of situation before. There could easily be 1500 dogs on the ground showing and involved in the events not to mention all the people. If you want to see and get close to all the dogs on show it is probably easier to leave your dog at home. I have actually taken my dogs to Erskine Park during shows to meet their breeders. No issues at all even though my dogs don't participate in any agility or trials. But of course they are used to having plenty of dogs around them in events such as the Million Paws Walk.

This is sickening. I don't get this logic. If the parents don't have any pitbull in them, how can the offspring be pitbull crosses just because they look like one? I just read the case on Austlii. It seems that the key to the decision making was the council ranger's opinion since they have the right to subjectively decide if a dog is a pit bull.

Both my dogs were highly destructive as puppies. They went through two dog beds a week, chewed holes in our walls, chewed chairs, tables, anything they could find. This stopped when they were about two years old. Now they are about four and stay inside all day without any issues. they have a sofa to lounge on, multiple cushions, toys. None of it has been destroyed. If your dog is young, give him time and as others said, tire him out.

Thanks again. My guess is that it was constipation as Erny suggested. He was so relieved to get it all out that he turned into an energiser bunny :laugh:

Thanks for the replies. All good. We stayed up with him and massaged him. He finally settled down and slept on our bed. This morning he is fine.

My dog has done poos four times since 4 pm. Now he is just not settling down. He seems to have too much energy and wants to run around and play. While he always wants to play for a while when he does his poo, this is quite unusual. I checked his stomach. It is quite soft and doesn't feel like bloat. He is not puking either. But he seems very restless. Not like he is in pain but as if something is bothering him. He tried to do a poo again just now but nothing came out. Last four times he actually did the poos. What could be the reason? Do I need to take him to emergency vet?

That's not always correct. My OH and I love walking in the rain. When my Elkhound was a puppy we would take him out on walks while it was raining, took him to the dog park and played with him, but he never got around to liking the rain. He absolutely hates it. He does go out to toilet in the rain. Doesn't have any accidents. But he holds on as long as he can. He hates swimming as well. My Golden Retriever on the other hand had the same training and she has no issues with rain and she loves swimming.

Mine are left inside. My GR tries to be an escape artist so while we have changed all our fencing to colour bond and put mesh under the fence, I still feel more comfortable leaving them inside when we are not home. They also prefer to be inside lounging on the sofa.

My favourite: All northern breeds, Tibetal Mastiffs, Newfounlands, Golden Retrivers, long coated GSDs, Leonbergers and (going by looks alone since I've never met one) Caucasian Ovcharka Least favourite: short coated breeds