melzawelza

LOVE them. just beautiful!

Yep i'd eat it!!! but i'm a sucker for dogs and free food

I voted no as I would love to own an APBT one day without having to follow all the ridiculous rules of BSL ( and I would want one from a reputable breeder which unfortunately cannot exist while there is BSL). I do what I can to change the minds of the public one person at a time and would happily be involved in anything else that would help

I'm still sobbing..... that tiny kitten.... the big brown dog's eyes..... f***ing hell.

^^^ yes, I also heard this but firsthand from the person who requested it, and they were refused

All of your lovely lean labs are beautiful!! Here is the pics of the lab I used to live with, as promised. I thought she was one of the most stunning labs i'd ever seen, and I don't think i've yet to see a lab as thin as her since. Does she look like a field bred lab to you guys? All I know is my old housemate got her from a breeder in..... lismore maybe? somewhere in northern NSW and i'm pretty sure it was a registered breeder or at least a good breeder as she said that the parents and all the pups etc had been hip scored. Anyway, photos!! I'm sure she's changed a bit since these as she was only about a year old in this pic:

I also work at a kennel and see hundreds and hundreds of labs, and I have to say it's extremely rare to see one that isn't OBESE let alone just overweight. Whenever I see a lean, fit lab I always congratulate the owner. I used to live win a young lab and her owner kept her so incredibly lean and fit. She was just a stunner and I loved seeing her out and about. The vet told my housemate to keep doing what she was doing because she was the healthiest lab shed seen in a long time. When I'm on my laptop I'll post a pic.

I also work at a kennel and see hundreds and hundreds of labs, and I have to say it's extremely rare to see one that isn't OBESE let alone just overweight. Whenever I see a lean, fit lab I always congratulate the owner. I used to live win a young lab and her owner kept her so incredibly lean and fit. She was just a stunner and I loved seeing her out and about. The vet told my housemate to keep doing what she was doing because she was the healthiest lab shed seen in a long time. When I'm on my laptop I'll post a pic.

So you guys realize that his actual wording was 'help me give my dog a hand job into a condom' ? That isn't my interpretation, that is what he actually said. I stand by the fact that I wouldn't want to be getting a dog from someone who says that to a stranger. If he had referred to it as 'assisting with an artificial insemination' or something along those lines I wouldn't have started this thread. it seems obvious to me that anyone that would refer to AI like that would not be a legit breeder of any type. I really don't see how some of you would think that a good breeder with knowlede of health, breeding, genetics and AI would describe the process as such.

I agree that working dog breeders are just as legit as ankc breeders, in fact, give me a working line dog over a show brd dog ANY day! Bu if the dogs are being bred by someone who enters premesis of companies while they are closed and asks a stranger to jerk their dog into a condom, hen I am not interested. You seem to he coloured by your involvement with working dogs which is understandable but I'm telling you now this man was no legit breeder.

Would a person breeding good working cattle dogs pull into a boarding kennel at 8am when they are closed, and ask someone they'd never spoken to or met to help them whack off their dog into a condom? I would think someone breeding good working cattle's would probably head to the vet instead if they really couldn't stand to 'waste' the dog, which is exactly what the supervisor told him to do. Or maybe they would wait till the bitch's next season.

I work at a boarding kennel in Sydney and arrived at work at 8am this morning to train the dogs. We're closed over these four days however a small side gate was open for staff to arrive. When I pulled in I saw one of the supervisors of the kennels talking to a dodgy looking old guy. He had a sort of amused/perplexed look on his face and I was thinking 'oh god, what is this guy up to', seeing as we were closed to the public! Turns out the had pulled in through the staff gate while one of my fellow trainers were arriving. He asked her to speak to a manager. She told him no managers were on over the weekend but there were supervisors, but could she help him in anyway? He stated that it was too embarrassing to talk to her about. So she went and got the supervisor Basically he told him that he breeds cattle dogs, and his male just got hit by a car 2 days ago. His bitch had just come on heat unexpectedly but because the dog had been hit by a car he couldn't mount her. He said that usually he would just use one of the dogs down the road but 'he couldn't pass this dog up because he is so good'. He then proceeded to ask our kennel supervisor to 'help him give the dog a hand job into a condom'. I was told this all when the guy was just leaving, and we could not believe it! I wanted to go after him to tell him that i'd pay for his bitch to be desexed, but I doubt he would take me up on the offer anyway. What is wrong with people?!

Can definitely see Bull Terrier in there but that's about it! Love what Jed said, exactly right!

I haven't read his books, and I found some of it quite hard to follow, but I don't know ifnthat was because I was just really losing interest and couldn't concentrate. I agree with you that ts very impotant to consider everything he was discussig, definitely, but i really don't think we needed any more ethics than one session. next to Nothing else got a look in and I was so disappointed I didn't get more tangible things out of him that I could apply to my training at work and everyday life. I too was shocked the shaping only came in when the question was asked at the end. I'lf you looked at the program for he last session you would see that it was supposed to be discussed there as well as training for performance and some other interesting subjects. none of this was even touched on on the session. All of those topics would have been fascinating and I was really looking forward to it. I feel he shot himself in the foot because he so strongly wanted to get his ethics across but I found myself literally falling asleep in some parts! I didn't take in anywhere near as much as I would have If it was presented in a clear, concise manner with less waffling. The more I think about it the more disappointed I realize I am with his involvment. I certainly learnt from him but I anticipated learning SO much more and having so much that I could go to work with tomorrow to try out or implement in the way I train. The conference itself was worth it but I have to say steve was a let down. As much as he seems like a lovely man and is essentially a genius, I was very disappointed.

I really really enjoyed the three days, but I honestly enjoyed some of the other speakers more than Steven. He's an amazing man and has some great knowledge, but he is way too stream of consciousness for me. The tone of his voice, the constant breaking in the middle of sentences to think, and the constant going off topic to something else halfway through....I was actually falling asleep in some of the lectures! Also - way too much about morals. It's an interesting subject and great to talk about but I think ONE of the lectures over the three days should have been focused on that. I'm really disappointed that we didn't hear more about his actual TRAINING ideas and techniques rather than just lots of different ways of discussing the human/dog relationship. Pretty much every single lecture was just a morals lecture and I don't think that's well balanced at all. I enjoyed him much more in the Q & A sessions because he had more purpose and less room to meander. And people were asking questions relating directly to training and dog behaviour so we got some insight into his opinions on that. Don't get me wrong, I really liked him and respect all his opinions and obvious time he has spent thinking about all those moral issues.... but every lecture in the three days being focused on that is way way way way WAY too much!!! And I definitely wasn't the only one to think that way, as when he said today 'oh, you want me to focus more on technique', there was a resounding 'YES!' from the people around me. My favourite lectures were from Drew Boyd (on maximising performance), and Robert Holmes (On the importance of looking for physical problems when there are behavioural issues present), and also the various Q & A's

The key also to improving on your voice commands is ensuring that you give the voice command before you even begin to show any signs of the physical cue. If you do them at the same time or start your hand command as you're saying the vocal, the dog will ignore what it doesnt know (the voice command) and only focus on what it does know (The body signal). You can be saying 'sit' at the same time as your hand signal for six months and your dog might still not know the voice command because it just ignores it in light of the hand signal. I've found that pretty much all dogs respond better to physical cues. How they are with vocals depends on how they've been trained in them.

of course, didnt you know by some veterinarians it's the only food that is good for a dog If the dogs are not showing any ill effect, deficiencies etc then it's pushing for the sake of a dog food sale which I dont like. I would start with what they know and build gradually on it if the dogs are mildly lacking, or go the vitamin route while they build the diet if severely lacking. Many vets cannot get their heads around the fact a dog can be healthy if not on what they sell in the front room. By the way there is a money back guarentee on hills if they wont eat it I agree, I am not really a raw food convert but I think there are at least better kibbles than science diet. I didn't know about the money back guarantee though, i'll remember that. I guess i'll tell them a few different techniques for getting them to eat it and if they still wont they will have to look into a home prepared diet instead. Thanks for your help

Do you recommend this for single dogs too? I always thought that scattering a dogs meal through your backyard before leaving for the day gives them something to do and keeps their minds entertained. Obviously if you have more than one you would never do this as it could cause guarding and fights, but what about one non-food aggressive dog?

That's what I was thinking, that it would be harder for them to avoid as well I love the chicken stock idea! As far as the kibble goes, I mentioned the raw feeding but they want to do what the vet suggested which is understandable. They've also spent a bunch on a big bag of food so they want to at least give it a go! I completely agree and this was the first thing I suggested but i'm not sure if you saw that they didn't touch a single bit of food for 8 days, and were actually becoming very lethargic and seemed quite unwell, and the vet agreed that this was not a good option. I think it's understandable that the owners don't want to do that if their dogs are visibly unwell from not eating. What does he say is missing exactly? Cooked chicken can me made into a soup with some pureed veges added as a starter and work from there. Give them a good canine multivitamin if they are really lacking nutritionally. I'm not sure, i'd have to ask. They are very committed owners and definitely want to do the best by their dogs, but seeing as the vet has told them he wants them on science diet kibble that is what they would really like to do.

^^ Pretty much ALL they eat is cooked chicken though, next to nothing else, as they turn their nose up. And the vet said he doesn't think they are healthy on that diet so wants them on a complete kibble. Thanks for the suggestions guys, I will let them know. I was thinking also maybe soak a small amount of the kibble so that it is more like a mush (I,e harder to avoid!) and then mix LOTS of chicken though. slowly up the ratio until they are maybe getting used to the taste of the kibble?

Hi Guys, I have a friend with two 2yr old maltese. They're incredibly fussy and as a result the owners have only been feeding them cooked chicken with some veggies for some time now. Their vet really wants to get them onto a premium kibble to get some more nutrition into them but it's proving difficult. I've told them all about taking the food away after 15 mins and skipping to the next meal, and they said they'd done that before to the point of getting to day 7-8 and the dogs had not yet taken one mouthful of food. They said that they had also started to become very lethargic and generally unwell by that time. I am wondering if the dogs do just genuinely not know that the kibble is food?? What would you suggest as a next approach? The owners do not want to try the 'taking the food away' approach again as they mentioned what happened to their vet and he agreed that if they were getting lethargic etc then there needs to be another way to go about it. Thanks in advance!

That is a very interesting way of looking at the situation, especially as you have stated it in a manner that allows for different possibilities like less desirable traits vs more desirable traits...very refreshing relief from the (excuse the pun) dogmatism with which I have been told about red/pink nose aggression out in "the park". Fingers crossed I hope the nose colour is only a matter of diligent sunscreen, perhaps zinc (?), application when outdoors. For those interested to know, yesterday evening shortly after I had posted this thread, the pup in question set about playing with the resident cat and shortly into their play session drew my attention when the cat let out a reasonably loud meow (in pain) noise, when I told pup to stop, he trotted up to me to sit at my feet looking very sorry for himself and a little guilty, he had a large tuft of cat hair in his mouth...needless to say I was somewhat taken aback and doubly concerned about aggression and left him to sit at my feet for close on five minutes before I verbally released him to play again...t The cat's attempt at revenge later on was similarly halted and both separated for about half an hour...today seems to be going fine. Cat and pup are as bad as each other when it comes to provoking the other to play so discipline must be meted out equally when fun and games turns to tears... From how that situation sounds I would pretty much guarantee that wasn't aggression. Puppies play hard. That time is when they learn how NOT to play, and your cat let him know. The fact that you could only call him and he came up to you shows that it wasn't aggression. He was just playing, albeit too hard. Stress less

Fascinating! Link

I would love it as i'm a big fan of crosses. The unpredictability and uniqueness is what I LOVE! But as they are never bred responsibly then I will only source them from rescue. If however they were ever being bred ethically I would be over the moon.

yes leashes can cause an issue with some dogs, if your dog is friendly i'd do away with the leash (as long as you're in a secure area) and just stay close by monitoring.