Rebanne

Goodo - then you could use the test to find which "UNamicable" dogs you could use as breeding stock. The test is not to say dogs should be "amicable", it's simply meant to be a measure. how can I use it as a test when the context has not been given? What was the test, where was it conducted, what did the stranger do if anything, etc.

I must be very strange as I don't see a problem with a dog not going near a stranger nor do I see a problem with a dog growling at a stranger, depending on the context. Which is not explained here.

In a shelter at least the animals are there longer than a day, in most cases, so "you" might get some idea on whether music etc does make a difference. Don't see how you can get a true reading from new animals every day. A lot of people, racehorse trainers come to mind, do play music for their animals but they are doing so to a fairly static population, not one that changes every day.

7 litters per bitch :D my dogs would need multiple houses complete with couches and queen size beds, not multiple backyard areas. No cages allowed, pens only to be used temporarily; so how do you keep the groups of dogs in their own designated backyard type area? Daily contact of pups by humans, how much is that? 5 minutes when you chuck them some food, or nearly 24/7 as many breeders do.

My suggestion was not a possible test for "amicability", it was an example of something that we CAN quantify. We can count the number of times a dog barks in a vet clinic in the first 24 hours. If that information is useful (and I know of several experiments where it has been useful), then we have an objective measure. You still don't know why they are barking, is it fear, stress, seperation anxiety, over excited, etc, all of which should be handled differently or you worsen the problem. It doesn't tell us how each dog got there and it does require an assumption that in-patient presentations to a vet clinic will follow some sort of statistical norm across a large enough population of dogs (e.g an average number of labs, an average number of terriers, an average number of dogs with broken legs, an average number of dogs who are blind etc etc) but we could test a hypothesis that "water spray collars and citronella collars are equally as effective in reducing barking in the veterinary clinic environment over the first 24 hours of admission" or "Classical music decreases barking in a vet clinic over the first 24 hours compared to no music at all" - and because we can objectively measure the behaviour, we can repeat experiments to see if they continue to provide similar results. How do you objectively measure how effective a "treatment" is when each and every day there would be new dogs in the vet clinic barking? You might strike a day when they are all very mellow or a day when they all set each other off. A day when all the dogs admitted have very stable temperaments or days when they are all stress heads, or a day when they are a mixture. I'll ignore the use of a antibarking collar because I find that thought unbearable but you would have to play music for a long, long time to even come close to seeing if it would work.

:D

chicken pecks are something a chook does, it is part of being a chook, all chooks peck. A test would be easy to work out. Same as all dogs pee so you could measure that behaviour. Amicability, though is in the eye of the beholder, there is no way a test could be developed to check for this, as everyone would have a different view on what amicability is, so no way to test for it. Even testing how many times a dog barks in a vet clinic in 24 hrs as Aidan suggests is totally flawed unless those dogs have lived in a vacuum. I have 4 dogs and all react different while at the vets but all are very amiable, IMO. Like it or not, how a dog has been raised, what it's life experience has been, has a huge impact on it's behaviour. You can not get around that simple fact.

I would have him muzzled and on lead for several days around the cats. Then remove one or the other for a day or two more. I always left the muzzle until last.

Yet the "forprofit" cross-breeders are selecting for temperament over looks, while purebreed breeders may well put looks first. for Dogs sake what a load of bullsh!t, this would have to be the stupidist, most idiotic thing I have ever read here.

a lot of dogs who won't chase a lure will chase live prey, the two are chalk and cheese.

Victorian owners/trainers have to account to the GRV how they dispose of their dogs

Make sure the dog has been fostered with free range chooks. I fostered one that was deadly with cats but great with chooks.

trying to guilt you it's their problem not yours. I have 3 contained cats and they do fine

I had to make an emergency trip away 3 weeks ago. I could take 2 dogs with me but I left 2 home, on their own from Thursday night until Sunday afternoon. I had a friend come in and feed them and the next door neighbour had my phone number and my friends number for "just in case". (and a key to the house) It wasn't ideal but we all survived.

actually I thought this was the law and has been for years. The unsupervised bit no, but the rest - yes.

Why when what is elsewhere has been dragged here for the sympathy vote. Hurts a bit when the shoe is on the other foot doesn't it.

no you shouldn't have bought it here! Take it back where it belongs and speak up there.

I found the hitchmate site already, am going to print it out and take it to a welder person and see what they can do. I am after a tray type carrier more than the bike type carrier because of the metal trays in the crates. With them in, it would be hard to poke a support through.

There are the 3 days of showing at Albury mid April.

yes but you still have to adjust it once on.

I got the same one wrong, I answered the same way.

I am thinking of getting a crate carrier thingee that fits on the tow bar, suitable for soft and metal crates. Any ideas on where I could get one? Do people get them made up or can they be bought already built?

raw has been talked about for a lot longer than 6 years. Maybe you just weren't aware of it. I bought my 1st book on BARF at least 15 years ago.

hmmm very enlightening

yes but that includes carriers and my understanding is you can be the most ethical breeder ever born but if you breed a carrier to a clear, no matter that all pups are then DNA tested, carrier pups either desexed or kept by the breeder, you are breaking the law. Which means a whole lot of good dogs are out of the breeding program, even though they and any pups they might produce will not be affected by the disease. But the BYBer's can still carry on.