Red Fox

If he pees in the house then why is he allowed access to the house? He needs to be treated like a baby puppy -ie taken out to toilet every hour and crated or supervised 100% of the time in between. He shouldn't get a chance to pee in the house. Of course he eats the cat food - most dogs would given the chance. Again, why does he have access to it? As far as barks uncontrollably in the crate. Well if he's doing that he's obviously NOT crate trained (which would = a dog who goes into the crate on command and understands that it is a place to relax.) What kind of course? Is she consistant at home in setting boundaries for the pup and following through? That could well be part of the problem. If she yells at him it might be making the bad behaviour worse. ie, pup pees in the house, she yells, pup hides and learns nothing. Pup barks in his crate, she yells, pup learns that barking gets attention. Pup runs away, she yells, pup won't come back... see a pattern there? You say it's not down to lack of training but it sure sounds like it

I'd be interested in this too if anyone has the stats. Risk of mammary cancer is also something to be considered. TL is always an option if you are worried about mismatings.

As above. A pigs ear isn't really a meal though and a 10 min walk to the shops isn't exactly vigorous exercise.

+1 +2 Ness recommended him to me and he's been great.

Huski - I see you with a GSD What about a show line laekenois? Certainly not a commonly seen dog and lots of drive.

Yep, it's around $240 here too (+ consult fee on top of that). Vet sends the bloods to Gribbles Pathology rather than direct to VetPath hence the higher cost

I have one. Bought it when my dog was a little puppy (impulse purchase at the vets lol) and found it completely useless. Not a leash that you have any control with, it would be pointless to use with a martingale collar as you can't effectively correct with it, not a particularly comfortable leash to handle either (well the handle is okay but the rest is very rough and rope like). Perhaps it would be okay with a harness for a dog that walks perfectly on leash 100% of the time... If you are after a good quality leash try something like this: http://www.k9pro.com.au/categories/Leashes...er-Leash-Range/ or http://www.k9pro.com.au/categories/Leashes...on-Leash-Range/

Try starting with puppy sitting at your (left) side then swing around stepping out directly in front and facing him as you give the command - so you are effectively blocking the puppy from moving forward. If he stays put then mark immediately and reward, build it up gradually to add more time. Next step is to step in front and then back again (returning to your dogs side). Mark and reward if he holds the position. Gradually extend the time before returning to him, then the distance, then the distraction level. A long line is helpful for adding distance to stays in the beginning too *edited for clarity

Check out http://dogstardaily.com/ Plenty of info on crate training in there - look under the training textbook section. At her age I'd certainly keep her crated in the bedroom at night. Apart from the fact that she will feel a whole lot more secure you need to be able to hear the puppy and take her out immediately when she wakes to housetrain her effectively. This may be every couple of hours for the first few weeks. Once she has gained confidence and is sleeping through the night without the need to be taken out to the toilet you can slowly move the crate to whichever area of the house you prefer

A baby gate on the ensuite door would work. If you have enough room in there you could pop the crates in too (or beds) and give them the choice.

What about the fans that attach to the crates directly? Or a floor standing fan with more adjustability? If they aren't chewers perhaps and ice pack/frozen water bottle wrapped in a towel and placed at the back of the crate?

Scat Mat? http://www.thevetshed.com.au/product_info....products_id/770

There is a big difference between a focussed heel and LLW. You don't really need your dog to be "heeling" during a walk, and definitely not 100% of the time! Focussed competition style heeling most certainly has it's place, but not during a casual walk. It's also trained very differently (and looks very different) to LLW As far as training a dog LLW, well there are as many different ways to train it as there are trainers ;) Personally, I think the most important thing is that you are consistant and confident with whatever method you choose. Chop and change, or give in (yes, even just that once because you are in a hurry!) and you will get no-where. Also, I think that as owners we sometimes worry too much with our own dogs. Are we doing it right? What if we mess up? What if we hurt the dog? What if he doesn't love me anymore, blah blah blah... Our own lack of confidence and inconsistancy rubs off onto the dog, confuses him and makes it sooo much harder. I walked my neighbours dog yesterday morning - 6 year old Lab. Same dog that she has in the past told needs to be walked on a head collar as he pulls strongly. I walked him on a flat collar using the technique I was taught (by Steve from K9 Pro) when teaching my own dog LLW. Well what'd ya know? This dog tried it on with me for all of 30 seconds, realised it wasn't getting him anywhere and walked like an angel at my side for the next 30 mins - so much so that he was even complemented on his "lovely walking" by a stranger Admittedly my confidence was about 100 x higher than it had been teaching my own dog and it certainly made a difference. ETA, forgot to say try a martingale instead if a check chain. They are easier to use (IMO) and much more effective :D

Keep an eye on the Topbuy crates, they tend to throw them out very cheaply from time to time. I picked up my 4XL sized crate for around $45(??) back in August ;) http://www.dolforums.com.au/index.php?show...203287&st=0

I plan on getting one in a few months time (once the weather cools down a little!) I'll buy mine from here: http://www.twobigdogs.com.au/dog-apparel/r...etrak-pack.html ;)

Teach her the "out" (or "give") command. She trying to tug because you've taught her it's fun, she pulls harder because you've taught her that tugging harder is the way to win the game - winning the game is rewarding big time. The harder you tug and the more you yell and dance around the more excited she will get and the harder she will tug to win. Try offering the second toy (or food treat) to her calmly rather than throwing it, then as she drops/releases what she has in her mouth to take it and say "out", give her the second toy/treat and continue the game. Don't muck around with her food. How would YOU feel if someone kept poking you and dropping bits in your plate while you were eating? Annoying much? In short you are not only making her feel insecure around her food you're pissing her off! Her reaction wasn't "out of no-where", it was leading up to that and is the only way she can tell you that she is uncomfortable with what you are doing. Tail wagging slowly side to side is not necessarily a friendly or welcoming gesture either. Try TOT for sure

That's what a crate is for Dogs/puppies and kids should NEVER be left together unsupervised - puppy is either in her crate or you are watching her 100% of the time. As far as diet - A good premium quality dry food (eg, Artemis, Nutrience, Nutro, Royal Canin, etc.) is the way to go. Rice/veg/weetbix is not going to meet the nutritional needs of a growing puppy. Raw/BARF is great but you really need to know what you're doing first so if that is the way you wish to go then research first and perhaps wait until your dog is a little older (plenty more on that in the health forum). I don't see anything wrong with giving a little milk, though I prefer goats milk over puppy milk. Just don't make it the main part of the dogs diet. Don't leave food down all day, leads to fat dogs and fussy eaters. Have your dog work for her food - yep, every single meal/treat/snack. You can do this through TOT (8 week old pup is not too young), feeding a ration of the pups daily food through other basic training, and also through feeding the pup through Kongs/biscuit balls etc (tires them out). Whatever is not eaten in the after 15 mins take it away. Pup will soon learn - eat or miss out.

I agree. If a person really loves and wishes to preserve a restricted breed then move to somewhere that it's legal to breed and sell to homes where it's legal to own. How any breeder can home a puppy into a state where it's looks alone could be it's death sentence is beyond me. To be honest though I don't think that the majority of the general public have any idea about BSL - Not like the information is widely available unless you are actively looking for it. The most mention I have come across where I live is a small section in a booklet I picked up from my local council (you and your dog - The Dog and Cat Management Board of SA) which states the following: No mention of illegal to breed or illegal to own, (though there is mention of desexing which if followed obviously makes breeding impossible), no mention that the council can sieze and destroy these dogs if they so choose to and no mention of the fact that crosses of these breeds can also be affected, nothing to explain that unless they have papers to prove otherwise that their dog can be declared by council as one of these breeds... And keep in mind that this booklet is not actively given to dog owners, just placed on the rack for anyone that cares to take one home and read it. On top of that most people seem to think that if their dog is registered/microchipped as a "staffy" or "staffy cross" that they are fine. Actually I heard a brilliant one yesterday; "Red nosed pits are smaller than black nosed pits because they are a different breed. So if dogs mother was a red nose and dad was a black nose it is a staffy cross and the council can't do anything". And how does the person know this? Because they "know people that own both breeds and know breeders." errrrrrrrr right....

Will these conditions be excluded from your policy next year? I will double check but as far as I'm aware it shouldn't make a difference. There is nothing in the PDS or in any of my policy info to suggest that would happen. Pre-existing conditions ie, those that existed/had occurred before I took out the cover cannot be claimed though.

I'm with PIA. 2 claims in 2 years - first was paid out withing 3 days! Second was over the Christmas period last year and took a couple of weeks. I have found them really easy to deal with.

And I'd also be asking that particular breeder if he actually bred the puppies himself, or if he bought them back from a BYB then registered them with a fake pedigree and a jacked up price...

Waggle currently has a 20% off all Petbuckle harnesses and accessories if anyone is interested http://waggle.com.au/harnesses-m5/dog-car-restraints-c7

Waggle have 20% off their Petbuckle gear at the moment. The tethers are quite good (you can buy them seperately) and have a fair bit of adjustable length in them. I connected mine to the anchor point in the back of the wagon with no problems http://waggle.com.au/harnesses-m5/dog-car-restraints-c7

Be a bit hard selling someone an APBT with papers when, if they read the papers it says Amstaff There are a number of APBT registries (legit ones) in the USA - and they will register dogs bred outside the USA so yes it is perfectly possible to register APBT's with a legit registry - and just as easy to make your own papers which truthfully show the dogs ancestry. It doesn't require an organisation to keep track of breeding stock. Imports - wouldn't really fancy your chances of getting juvenile/adult APBT's from the USA through quarantine, but US bloodlines from NZ, really not a big deal - can you tell the difference between an 8 week old APBT puppy and an 8 week old SBT puppy??? (Personally I think I could, but not many in AQUIS would be able to when they couldn't identify my full grown bitch - a specialist BIS winner!) Thank you, that makes sense. I didn't realise that a dog born in Australia could be registered O/S. Re selling an APBT with Amstaff papers, well I suppose it would protect the dog from being targeted under BSL...

Yes, I'm well aware of this :D However is there a breed registery for restricted breeds in Australia though with the current BSL laws, being that (according to most state laws) they cannot legally be bred, sold or aquired?