melzawelza

Tammy is SO amazing - you would never guess that she was 18! she's like a pup!!! Here's to many more years of the beautiful Tammy!

This is a dog that regularly stays at my work- He doesn't look quite like a long haired rotty - he's almost wire haired!!!! We always assumed he was a cross especially when he was a pup however the owner assured he is pure (haven't seen the papers though!). He most definitely looks like a Rotty in structure and everything else now that he's fully grown, but just has the wiry coat! What do you guys think? His whole coat has the same wiry wispiness to it - but not thick and heavy like the LH rotty posted earlier. Love this thread!!

OoOoOh!!!! He has gone from cute to Handsome !!!! ( With the cute still in there )

I agree that Heathcote and Sylvania are good but i'll also throw Kirrawee into the mix. I grew up in the Shire and when my childhood dog got very sick two years in a row (Canine epilepsy the first year, pancreatitis the next) my parents had all but run out of money to continue spending on his vet bills. They were very distressed of course and Bill told them that he believed that with the treatment, our boy would pull through, and we had been taking him to them for 8 years..... so they covered all vet bills from then on for us. Our boy recovered and lived another 4 years until he needed to be put down, when Bill came and opened up the surgery at night time for us and didn't charge us the emergency fee for out of hours service. He cried with us when my boy was put to sleep. Ever since then I can never recommend them enough to anyone that will listen, and if I still lived in the shire i'd take my cats there without a second thought. This was coming up to 7 years ago now but as far as I know Bill is still there. Wonderful, wonderful vet.

I think it's very normal for 'dominance' To be fluid and change depending on the situation etc. Which I guess mAkes it hard to utilize the comments posted about in my OP, cos how do you know which one is the 'top'?!

Interesting! So for family members that were starting to tiff (- younger dog 'becoming of age' and starting to try and assert their position is a common scenario) you guys would maybe practice NILIF to get the dog's initial respect etc and of course working to stop the fights before they happen? Would you worry that you would forever have to keep a watchful eye or do you believe iits possible to 'sort' these issues so that it doesn't become a problem again? ETA: I think we can all agree that dogs that are regularly hurting each other or fighting for the kill need to be separated. But what about that blurry line of say, fights that are noisy and a lot of carry on but with no injuries? Is that a different category to you? What about if the dogs are scuffling and not hurting each other but redirected on people getting in the middle or something like that? Are fights of that nature 'separating' territory to you or something you feel could be sorted through in your household? I wonder about the fine line between 'normal' behaviour within a household and what is worrisome territory that could mean drastic measures in the future

Hey everyone, So, the recent topics about family members fighting has been really interesting, and I thought i'd ask a similar but different question for discussion. I'm currently doing the NDTF Cert III (and loving it) and in our most recent block we had a lecture from Dr Robert Holmes which was amazing. During the lecture he mentioned with family members fighting for rank you either let them have it out and sort it out themselves, or you seperate them permanently. He said us as humans tend to upset the order and that most of the time if you left the dogs to it they'd sort it out. If a fight happens you punish the lower dog (usually the one worse off in the fight) to reiterate the correct order. Too many people punish the one that seemed to ' start' the fight and thus upsetting the order. We didn't have time to go further into this, so I wondered what everyone elses opinions are on dogs that are 'fighting' for their place. I think we can all agree that if the dogs are harming each other to the point of vet bills the obvious place is to seperate. However I think this becomes a bit of a blurry line when it's dogs 'fighting' but not really harming each other to the point of vet bills, just freaking their owners out who are most likely getting in the middle. At what point do you decide to seperate permanently? What sort of things would you implement to try and stop them having to fight at all? Do you subscribe to the top dog eating first, getting first access to resources? If you do subscribe to this line of thinking, what if both dogs have always been sleeping on the bed/couches... do you kick both off or just the lower one? Would you take a different route if they were similar sized dogs to if they were largely different in size or power? I'm very interested in peoples opinions and experiences in matters like this.... where dogs are fighting but not 'to the death' or really hurting each other hugely. Lots of multiple dog owners on the forum and trainers so i'm hoping it'll be an interesting discussion!

It's incredibly upsetting isn't it. The ridiculousness of the laws are so frustrating.

I have met someone working in this AWL and the work they are doing is INCREDIBLE. I asked him that very question though Staranais and unfortunately they HAVE to kill the pit bulls - it is QLD after all. So really they are killing healthy rehomable dogs but they they have no other option.

I cannot describe how happy this thread makes me!!!! Just wonderful!!! Eileen, you sound like the beautiful home that beautiful allie deserves xx

He is pretty much the cutest little munchkin in the world (coming from someone who never used to be that into jack russells!! All of Tamara and stuart's dogs are gorgeous actually!! Megan- you do the majority of your week at the Wellington park kennels

She is lovely You will really enjoy yourselves and meet a lot of knowledgable people who's brains you can pick! I just came back a week or so ago from my 2nd block and it was even better than the first!

That is so wonderful to hear!!!!!

Is this your first block? Judi B (Erny) does the headcollar workshop and she does it brilliantly! You will enjoy yourself!

Hoping wishing that Bonnie is ok and you sourced another vet. I am just stunned at the difference between what your vet has said and what everyone else has said. Once this is all over and Bonnie is ok I would be marching in there demanding some answers !!

You could hire a trap from the council and keep having it impounded- the owners will have to pay a lot of fees and might actually think about their actions. OR keep a big bucket of water or a supersoaker in the yrd and whenever it comes in nail it. It will soon decide your yard isn't worthwhile!

That depends completely on what you want to do with your training skills. Folks that are just starting out might benefit equally well from really getting to thoroughly know one approach. It's amazing what can be achieved with a solid knowledge of "just one or two quadrants". It may be worth asking yourself what kind of training you want to do and what the market is like in your local area. A lot of potential clients might prefer a dog trainer that "pretends two quadrants don't exist". I saw an article in Dog's Life magazine today that suggested the most important thing in selecting a trainer was that they use positive methods. Whether it's bollocks or not is completely irrelevant. What's relevant is what people are being told to look for in a trainer. I'd be seriously taking that into consideration if it were me. How can anyone be a good trainer without at least understanding all four quadrants? You don't have to use them, but shouldn't a good trainer learn as much as possible? I wouldn't go near a trainer who said 'I only learn about one method and that's it!' Exactly. No where did I say the OP had to use all four quadrants in her training, however I stick by my statement that she should be LEARNING and UNDERSTANDING all of them as someone new to training so she can then make the decision for herself.

I do agree with her that no one gives a shit about chickens and other animals because they aren't 'cute' and people don't care what is done as long as they can have cheap, readily available meat. However, that does not negate the suffering of the parents AND the puppies in puppy mills!! In a perfect world they would both have equal consideration and people would be just as outraged about factory farming of chickens as they are of puppy mills, but hey if they're at least focusing on one of them that's a step in the right direction.

Has just started now. Warned that some footage may be disturbing

This thread is absolutely heartbreaking..... I am hoping for the best possible outcome for you in this hideous situation. xx

No suggestions but I would be rushing him to the vet ASAP. Hope he is ok!

Yep, just finished my second Block for the NDTF. Highly recommended from me, I am loving it!! It will also give you a balanced view of dog training which is what you need when you are first getting into it, rather than pretending that two quadrants don't exist...

She really is such anspecial girl. There's just something about her. Here's to many more years with Tam!

Gotta love the difference a few good corrections makes! Nothing wrong with it whatsoever, especially if it's on a flat collar! At that level it's more to distract than it is an aversive anyway.

I'm another than can say that Underdog are worth their weight in gold. Have done a workshop with them and learnt so much in a short amount of time. Great trainers.