jacqui835

3 Rotties! Gee, thats keen! Then add a GSD on top. Wow!!! I only weigh 70kgs. So if i did that, and a cat crossed in front of me, i'd want to be wearing a helmet for the face plant thats bound to happen! I weigh 56kg, my dog weighs over 40kg but luckily he has learned not to pull. I can easily walk him and my sister's 2 tiny dogs - they pull the whole time as hard as they can but I barely notice. I think you could walk a lot of small dogs and still be able to stop them from causing much trouble (which is different from having them under full control), but I would probably only walk 2 large dogs in a highly built up area. If they both walked like my current dog though you could hold them both in one hand and maybe have another dog in the other. Really would depend on the dogs.

I have never met a boxer that wasn't a very high energy and boisterous dog (and this is coming from someone who has a male entire doberman). They seem to retain their "joie de vivre" until quite old - my boy plays with a couple over the age of 6 and he is the more serious despite being much younger. The vizlas are always energetic too, but unlike the boxers, they don't seem to be as inclined to jump or use their paws. Both are popular breeds and have lots to offer and I think you'll manage with either, but vizla probably gets my vote as you have young children. Greyhound - beautiful dog and would be perfect except for the cat thing. You can get ones that have been assessed and are supposedly trustworthy around small animals, but they certainly lose a few points on that front. Lab could also be perfect; quite amenable to training and if you go through a good breeder you can probably get one well matched to your family. Untrained labs can be quite unpleasant, because they are also naturally active and quite a powerful breed, but trained they are an absolute delight and an ideal pet for children as well as a great jogging partner. If you've ever seen a fit and trim lab, it's actually a very attractive breed. So I'd look at lab and vizla breeders if I were you, and then just choose the breeder and parents you like the most. Good luck

Very cute and happy looking dogs Just wondering, which park is that? It looks like a really nice dog park.

somtimes it gets "stuck" and you have to click a few times on the one you want. Happened to me with the American Foxhounds and the Greyhounds Oh thanks, finally got to watch the beautiful dobes :D

I had sound, just it was the wrong breed in the video.

No doberman video They have another boxer video where the doberman video should be.

I do not look back on those times with affection, but it's true, I really appreciate what I have now.

I used to live in Sydney renting with a dog and honestly, there was a lot of stress involved. I was one of those people who got a dog before they had a proper house, because I wanted to take advantage of the extra time I had available whilst at uni to raise a puppy. I lived at home, and planned on doing so until I had finished uni and had a job. My mum rented a house in Woollahra for an exorbitant price but they never worried about what pets she had, just said she had to steam clean the carpets when she left. She had 2 cats of her own. So things were pretty good. But you can't plan for everything. My mum got a new bf, who quickly moved in with us. Bf didn't like dogs, and had dumped his 2 (after his wife left him) at the pound. Soon he decided he didn't like me either, and I was kicked out. So with 4 months left of my degree, I was homeless and with a large dog. My bf lived in an apartment, and although he wanted me to move in, it just wasn't practical. Plus I had refused to move in with him earlier when he'd been looking for a place, and didn't want to move in now just because I needed somewhere to live. I was homeless for 2 months. Me and the pooch stayed with all of my friends and my siblings, moving constantly between apartments and houses/terraces because I was desperate not to damage any of my relationships by becoming a burden. I had a job, earned good money, but despite applying for heaps of places, I was never offered any. Would have been different of course if I didn't have the dog, but, if I didn't have the dog, I don't think I would have made it through the whole experience. I was starting to lie about having a dog, and if I admitted to having one, I lied about his breed (told people he was a lab cross rather than a dobe). It was becoming extremely difficult to concentrate at uni, I could only think about the fact that I had no where to live and I was on the verge of giving it all up, but finally, I found an ad on gumtree from someone who was breaking their lease. I sucked it up, went to meet the agent in business attire and put it on heavy. I was offered the place, and moved in the following week. The dog was on the lease as a lab cross (no-one ever called me back when I told them he was a doberman). The dog and I stayed with my bf in his apartment for the week before we moved in, and despite my fears, now that I knew I had a home to go to soon, it was actually quite nice. So end of the year, partner wanted to move back to Adelaide after he'd spent 3 years in Sydney, and I didn't have a whole lot holding me back. Again we had no luck going via the real estate agents, but I put an ad up on gumtree with a photo of all of us and again talked us up, and we were offered several places by private advertisers. We moved in together into a house on 1/4 acre. Pooch is on the lease as a lab cross again lol and things are pretty good. In short, there are places, but they are few and far between. Private advertisers are your best bet, but if you meet the agent talk yourself up and make yourself memorable in a good way. Emphasise the amount of care you provide for your dog, and hence why they won't be an issue (rather than playing the dog down). Place an ad on gumtree with photos, and most of all, stick to your word so you get good references. It was a lot easier the second time round because I received excellent references, despite breaking lease early.

My dobe does the same thing and when they have their dew claws this is not a fun experience. We tell him again and again no paws but when he gets worked up well we have to stop the game completely. I don't know if I'd call him a tough dog or not, he's not aggressive but he has never submitted to a dog or to a human other than myself or my partner. He ignores almost everything and everyone who tries to challenge him unless they won't let him and then he gets ready to fight. I imagine he would love it if I started protection training but I don't have the time to do that properly. But I should add he's not pure and I got him from a lady who visits these forums and wanted dogs that conformed more to the traditional dobe temperament standards. She'd had 20-30 years experience with them and was completely aligned with what I wanted. I went to see several breeders and though plenty had beautiful dogs but they weren't what I'd imagined when I chose the Doberman breed from Internet searches. He is a very complimented dog and I think he's perfect, but I love watching YouTube videos of American and European working dobes...

I have a Doberman and I can tell you they are not an independent breed. They like to be as close to their people all the time (my is actually on me right now), and although they make good guard dogs they protect people rather than property.I think monelite said to avoid dobes bc this is not a breed that should be left outside or alone for long periods of time. They can be dominant but they are not independent. I think the mastiff is a good idea as that's basically what they were bred for.

So it's been said on these forums that I probably don't have my dog's prey drive under control, and it's true, he has a lot of drive and though I can stop him going after small animals, he shakes from the exertion. Today we took him up to the Hills and found a deserted massive oval that said only that you needed to pick up after your dog, so we took him out for a spin. He is the fastest dog I've ever seen on a straight (with the exception of the sight hounds of course) and quite a beautiful dog to watch run. To be fair, he looks quite intense... Firstly, asking him if he wants to go for a drive...

Sorry again to revive old threads (came up as part of a search I did), but just in case you're still looking for a definitive answer... We used weed and feed on our lawn. Dog was attracted to it and ended up eating some of the grass with it on. He started foaming at the mouth and threw up so we rushed him to an emergency vet. Vet said weed and feed was fine, herbicides are fine, it's just pesticides that can be dangerous, but that herbicides can cause gastro. Poor pooch had the worst gas you've ever smelt for the next 2 days but was otherwise fine. I was furious at my partner for putting the stuff down and allowing the dog access to it, but, couldn't stay too mad because somehow he was afflicted too and between the dog and the bf, I was nearly gassed to death. Seemingly no long term effects though and both have recovered.

Hi, I'm sorry to revive an old thread but I don't want people to have to repeat themselves. I was just wondering Monelite, were you ever able to save your grass? We are having the same problem now. Dog is finally used to our new house so he has stopped marking and now just squats to pee. Problem is, the marking was actually better because he didn't destroy patches of the lawn as he is doing now. Worse, he now just goes onto the closest patch of lawn, squats and then races back inside, so it's all in the same area and the dead patches do not have time to recover. He is fed probably 3/4 raw and 1/4 dry biscuits. He already doesn't really like drinking out of his bowl and prefers water from a 'source', such as from a tap, the shower or best of all the toilet, so I imagine adding something to his water is unlikely to be successful. If that's the only way though, I'll work at it. Has anyone been able to avoid this, except for by teaching your dog to pee on concrete areas (as I worked really hard to teach him not to pee on anything but grass after keeping him in terraces and apartments, so this might be hard to undo).

Definitely not his nipples, he has those too lol. I have tried gently scraping them to see if they come off, because at first I thought it was dirt stuck to him, but they don't, and on closer inspection they look identical to freckles I have. But I will get them checked at the vet just to be sure. He only has 2 that I can find, but I'm not really sure when they appeared since they're not that noticeable. Thanks guys

For a while now I have noticed that my dog has 2 freckle like marks on his underside. Can dogs have freckles and moles, or is this something I should be worried about?

I would do anything to be able to take my dog to work with me But I work in a huge building in the CBD and have meetings with clients and colleagues all day so I can see how it would be difficult. I plan to work super hard though, make lots of money and retire at 40 lol and start a hobby farm Poochy just needs to live for another ~20 years and all will be sweet.

I think it's very difficult to say for sure, but I can tell you my experiences. My dog (a doberman) LOVES fluffy squeaky toys and absolutely annihilates them within seconds of me giving him new ones (I spend an obscene amount of money on dog toys). He is also obsessed with trying to hunt rabbits, and this is perhaps because, or at least complicated by the fact that the last 2 houses he's lived in have had free range rabbits living next door that often escape into our yard. So I'm not sure if having the toys has exasperated this or if having free range pet rabbits running around caused the problem but I would say that he has a bit of a problem with rabbits. That said, I brought home a tiny kitten, and he never looked at it the way he looks at prey animals. I told him to be gentle a couple of times in the beginning, but he was never trying or wanting to hurt it from what I could gauge, merely he's huge and clumsy at times. I don't know if the different response was because the kitten was my pet or if he recognised another predator.

Looks like an akita pup to me too.

I am replying directly to the posts above, but not quoting them as it would take up a lot of space. That's an interesting point - that doing less is potentially not an attempt to reduce the energy used to solve a problem, but rather a generalised solution. I think though that there's another factor to consider, and that's the animal's degree of self awareness and understanding of their capabilities and the world around them. For example, if my dog has a problem like his water bowl is empty or he deems it insufficiently juicy, he seeks out other sources, such as the highly desirable toilet. This is a problem that he knows he can resolve himself easily and so there is no need to get me involved. Plus, I don't like him drinking out of the toilet, so there's a good chance he'll miss out if I find out he's doing it. However, faced with a problem like a rabbit being in the front yard and him being unable to open the front door, rather than sit and scratch at it in an exercise of futility (and besides he knows scratching furniture is naughty), he comes and gets a person to open it for him. There are other occasions when he seems to have his own ideas about a situation, but checks with me anyway because, I guess we're a team and I'm the leader and he might need my back up. For example, a stranger calling him by name (they always ask his name and then start trying to call him over). If he were alone, he might respond differently, but he typically seems to take my presence into consideration. I've realised though that perhaps I need to rephrase my question. A lot of people are saying that some dogs are amazing at particular tasks - herding, hunting, scenting etc and so it's very hard to determine intelligence. To me this is a bit like soccer players being super good at soccer, but not necessarily having any transferable skills and so although it's arguable, and some people claim that they're geniuses, I would not agree. Which breeds are more adaptable and more in tune with people? (this could be breeds that typically understand human emotions better-comfort when crying, automatically bring slippers at night etc) Whether obedient or not, which dogs can learn to do more things and apply more information across a variety of settings? So far I'm guessing ACD's, Border Collies and maybe GSD's would be up there.

Which may explain the self-possessed intelligence I see in tibetan spaniels. They've been described as 1/3 cat, 1/3 dog & 1/3 monkey. They're a very cat-like breed in their traits. Right down to liking to sit on high places with front paws folded underneath, in that 'boneless' way cats do. My sister's papillons do that all over her furniture, and they leap around like cats too, the boy more than the girl. Sometimes they come home and can't find him, and he ends up being up the book case, and given the choice at night, he sleeps on the chair curled up under the table like a cat. My dog will lead me to the problem. Say for example the next door neighbour's free range rabbit has escaped 'again', my dog will come and try and get me to follow him. He will start by just looking at me, then if that doesn't work, he will whine a little. I always tell him to shut up at this point, because typically what he wants is for me to go get one of his toys or take him for a walk. If this is what he wants, I think he shuts up then. If however, it's deemed more important, such as, well yeah there's a juicy rabbit that has just become accessible kind of important, he will then begin to paw at me and even start half barking. At this point, I follow, because in the past, it's been friends or family locked outside, the cat locked outside, him having diarrhea because of drinking sea water etc. He then leads me quickly (and will run back to me if I fall behind) to the problem, at which point, I usually praise him because it's almost always something I want to know about.

I suppose it is virtually impossible to determine and there are too many other factors that come into it. I'm just currently completely in awe of ACD's...

I have a red and tan doberman and we've been getting interesting suggestions since I got him. The most common ones are, kelpie cross (they ask what the other breed is), hungarian visla (and I've been told that I'm wrong, that he is a visla...), great dane, GSP, weimaraner. The more unusual ones: a daschund (seriously, that's someone who just has no idea), a dalmation cross kelpie (he has the usual tan markings but no spots) and by a small child who fell over when she saw him because she was running around a corner and tried to stop instantly, a wolf.

Over the weekend, I met a very clever dog. It helped its owner out in many ways, automatically carried any bags he put down, brought him shoes when he was looking for them and according to the owner, he can bring him many other kinds of things too, like beer and the tv remote etc. The most amazing part? He never set out to teach his dog to do this, it just started doing it, and he barely gives it any praise for it. It was a blue heeler/cattle dog I'm not sure what the correct name is but I think everyone will know what I mean. But despite seeming to understand much of what his owner said, and showing great initiative, this breed does not feature highly on the most trainable (or as it's sometimes referred to, the smartest) dogs lists. So it got me thinking, what do you guys think would actually be the most intelligent breed of dog?

I think my dog thinks I go hunting, or that I'm very dominant and get to take food off others. I never take him with me into the actual store (because you can't) so he has never seen how I acquire the food. He has however sat with me outside at cafes and what not, and witnessed staff bring food to me. He is always very excited when I return home or to the car with groceries, and if you've ever watched a nature program on wolves, well he treats me like they treat the wolves coming back from a hunt. I think he understands that perhaps my version of burying excess food is to put it in the fridge, because yes he knows that food is stored in the fridge, but I don't think he thinks the fridge produces it - he's seen me put food in there many times. When I'm carrying food he pays a lot of attention to where I put it. Of course maybe I just think my dog is smarter than what he actually is, but he always gives me a good sniff when I come home, so I think that's his way of trying to answer any questions he may have. I always wonder what he thinks of the fact that we keep getting bigger houses/territories, he must think we're moving up in life lol. (Ironically, with each larger house we've moved to a less expensive neighbourhood, and then from Sydney to Adelaide, but from his perspective it must look pretty good!)

Oh gosh, I used to live in the eastern suburbs of Sydney, near Queen st in Woollahra and there were a lot of small dogs raised as substitute children (half had clothing etc). Anyway, one guy had three pomeranians, all ill-tempered and he didn't seem to think they needed leads. Unfortunately we came across him many times, and every time, all 3 of his dogs would charge mine barking and even nipping him. My dog would stay super close to me and fortunately allow me to handle it, but one time, whilst I was again trying to protect my dog and tell them off, he's like, oh you should just let the dogs sort it out. Oh yeah, doberman sort out the 3 poms, why didn't I think of that... Best is when they think it's funny. You're sitting there hoping to god that your dog will just continue to let you handle it and ignore the dogs even if they bite him, knowing that one bite back from yours could do serious damage, whilst the owner of the little ones is laughing and saying something like, oh my dog thinks he's actually a big dog and isn't it funny.. I ignore incompetent owners now and just protect my dog. I have grabbed small dogs by the collar and spoken very firmly with them and I don't care what the other owners say, I don't want my dog to be in the position where he's uncomfortable and feels he needs to defend himself.