dee136

Being country people I doubt they will go to a responsible breeder. I think a jack, kelpie, cattle dog, aust terrier or foxie would be a good fit, a typical farm dog. Being common breeds I'm hoping they can find a young adult at the pound so they avoid byb and the puppy stage, which I think might be a good idea for them.

Good on you & SIL for putting so much thought into getting a family dog. Good to know that the children are mostly good with animals. I'd add that it's not only a case of training the dog, but also of doing extra training of the children, about a dog's behaviour. And how even the best of dogs can feel exactly the same as children do, sometimes, when their brothers or sisters step over the line & annoy or hurt them. Cranky! The children need to learn to give the dog a fair go....& to recognise the signs when the dog is uncomfortable and has had too much. They also need to learn some basic rules like not interfering with their dog when its eating & not to suddenly wake their sleeping dog. The dog also needs his/her own retreat place to go to when it wants its own space & time. And the children should respect that. You can download fantastic material from the AWL Qld website....which is designed for parents to teach children how to give the family dog a fair go Called the PetSense Program. They suggest parents put the tips up on the fridge & keep reminding the children about them. There's posters, activities sheets, & charts. All free from the website: http://www.awlqld.com.au/PetSense-Program.html If anyone here is a teacher, the material can be used in schools, too. SIL, gran, me and my other half are constantly training her kids re: dogs- what is appropriate and what is not. For example no my mal would not like you to blow air in his face with the foot pump for the air mattress. Nan's jack russell would not like you to give his bone to another dog. They are getting a lot better now though. They know not to go near a dog while they or it are eating. One problem I notice is even when I visit with my 2 and gran is there with the jack, there is still not enough dog for all the boys. If something fun is happening, eg getting the sibe to run and jump things, they all want to be part of it. They need to be told to wait their turn and not fight over who gets what dog to play with. That website is great, forwarded it to SIL.

The children love their nan's jack russell, but not sure if it's the breed or just the fact that it's nan's. They are all comfortable and confident handling that size dog. They are also ok with the size of my husky, only the eldest is completely confident with my mal, the others are fine cuddling him if he is lying down and not moving, when he gets up the youngest 2 watch him very carefully. As dogs tend to get up occasionally they are not looking for a dog Chilly's size. I think the kids would be happy with owning pretty much any breed. They have never tried to wrestle either gran or my dogs, all 3 leave the kids alone when they wrestle each other, although Chilly does sit there and "talk" while they do it. Friends of mine have a staffy that is overly energetic and not that well trained and I find it hard to control him. I worry that even if they train one it may decide while on a walk that it wants to do something and they kids will get dragged on the lead. Owning spitz, mine sometimes make their own decisions regardless of what they have been told. So I guess they are looking for a dog that is more loyal, responsive and obedient with what it has been taught.

sheree_e4 --The children won't always have an adult with them when they walk the dog, they are country kids and do a lot of things like walking, fishing playing soccer unsupervised. My sister in law wont mind a stinky dog, someone mentioned smell earlier. I did forget to mention that she has 2 cats. Kinda easily done as the cats are hers and stay up her end of the big house away from the noisy boys.

Without much knowledge on these breeds, through a bit of research I'm thinking possibly- Jack russell Fox terrier Aust. terrier Cocker spaniel Wheaten terrier Cairn terrier Beagle Collie Any opinions as to why any of the above would or would not be a good choice? Also what about my bias that a female may be calmer? (their pet will be desexed)

I AGREE it would be more responsible to formally train the dog and not let the children walk it alone but the reality is they live in rural Vic and are country people. They have trained all their past dogs, don't agree with the need to pay to do what they feel they can do themselves. Also the older 2 ride dirt bikes by themselves and do a number of country boy things. The fact is the boys will take the dog out themselves to go fishing or whatever else. Which is why if something were to happen I think a staffie would be too strong for them. I can't rule out anything happening but by suggesting something they can manage I'm hoping I can reduce the risk.

Yep that's all you need to do. Also kids also follow instruction better when you tell them what to do; rather than what not to do. Say 'walk slowly please' rather than 'don't run'. We (DOLers) like dogs a lot; other people don't necessarily. People who have never grown up around dogs are unlikely to teach their children how to behave around dogs. That is comon sense. I frequently walk my dog up to the school gates and we stand there while several hundred children (primary and infants) go past. And I have not had one problem using the hand out and 'stop' method. All the kids have been gentle with my dog. It makes me sad to hear people talk about children with such venom we were all kids once! But I guess a lot of people on here were perfect when they were a kid Couldn't have said it better myself. Agree 100% I don't blame the kids, its the adults that have raised them that should know better. It is not an issue of the kids being perfect it is an issue of the parents being slack. Regardless of them being dog people a parent should teach a child not to touch something that doesn't belong to them. Also, even if a parent is not a dog person, surely a parent is aware of the risk of their child being bitten if they approach a strange dog, just as they are aware if there child runs on the road he/she may be hit by a car? With all the media coverage on dog attacks you don't need to be a dog person to be aware of that risk.

I worry a staffie will be too strong for them, especially the younger 2. I can just picture them getting bowled over and dragged down the street.

Mostly outside, but will be allowed in everyday. Coat, brushed a couple of times a week, clipped if needed. Not formal training Walked once or twice daily and weekend trips to the property their dad lives on. Fences are 7ft.

My 2 have the same diet which we have tried changing with no luck, never heard the sibe fart but the mal does constantly. They smell terrible, and sometimes the noise itself seems to go on forever. Because everyone gets so grossed out by the smell Chilly now hangs his head for a little while before he farts now. I think we have made him self conscious.

Depends on the dog I guess, I had a mega ring too, it's one of their toughest rated toys but it only lasted with my mal and sibe for a week. And that was when the mal was 1yr old and the sibe 4mths. I have 3 of the cuz "devil" toys. The first one the dogs chewed and ate the feet and horns. I cut them off the second 2 so they couldn't eat the rubber. All 3 are still intact a year on, minus their feet and horns. I have 2 of the black extreme kongs which are also still intact. And the best one is a BIG red hard ball that cost a heap, can't remember the brand but they are toys designed for the melb zoo lions. Only problem with the red ball is it can't be picked up and once it rolls down to the fence line it gets forgotten about till someone brings it back to the top of the yard for them.

Vitamin K is used in humans who o/d on other drugs as it fills the receptors that the drug they took binds too, less available receptors means more of the drug floats around the body unable to be used and is eliminated from the body without causing as much harm. Possibly given to baited animals to stop side effects (such as bleeding, convulsion etc) of drug. Would have no effect on an animal bleeding who has not been baited.

Sister in law is looking at getting a dog for her 4 kids. They range in age from 4-14, all boys. The kids used to live on a bit of land and have a fair bit of animal experience. They had a lovely female lab but she lives with their father. I was thinking possibly a cocker spaniel, jack russell, fox terrier? Something small-medium that the older boys can walk themselves, with the energy to keep up with them but the patience not to get snappy. One child in particular is a complete animal lover and could possibly end up a farmer, very responsible, loves helping neighbors feed animals etc. The kids are mostly good with animals but they do wrestle and fight a lot amongst themselves, would like a dog that would take that in it's stride and not get overly excited. A dog that is easy to train would also be good. It wouldn't solely be the kids dog, their mum is great with dogs and I imagine will do a lot of the training but I think she wants to give the boys a bit of responsibility. I REALISE IT IS MOSTLY TRAINING, but are there certain breeds that would make a good starting point to work with? As the lab is so placid and put up with a lot when the boys were younger I'm inclined to think females may be more suitable than males, am I just being sexist?

Having a mal and a sibe I get "oh, snow dog!" all the time, my problem is half the time the people that come up to touch them without asking are adults on their phones! Although I get lots of children too. I usually give a filthy look and say "do you mind?!" If they can't stop talking on their phone, ask me permission, or even make eye contact I'm happy to be a bitch about it. I'm with wolfsong, just because they are in public doesn't make them public property. How would parents like it if I were to run up to their children and hug or pat them? I am still mad about an incident that happened over a year ago. Stopped on the edge of a busy footpath with 1 of my dogs sitting by my side on a short lead when a 5yr old came out of no where screaming "puppy" (even though dog was 30kgs). As the child approached my dog stood up tail wagging (he loves kids and gets excited). His parents were 4shops away walking with other adults talking, not watching the child, they saw the dog turn his head to face the child and came running over yelling at me about having an aggressive dog on the street without a muzzle! As my dogs mouth was open, tongue hanging out he must of been about to eat their child, never mind the wagging tail. I gave them a lecture about my dog being under effective control being by my side on the edge of the footpath out of the way and questioned them about what kind of control they had over their child on such a busy street. All I got was continuous bitching as they grabbed the child and walked off. Shame, he child was very cute and I would of been happy to show him how to pat the dog calmly. I have had good experiences too though. Walking on a busy track one day a family of 5 stepped off the path & stood looking at my 2 dogs, I thought they were scared of the dogs. (Since I've started using halties I find people mistake them for muzzles and keep their distance as well as giving me dirty looks & mention the child attacked in a hairdressers by a husky) Anyway, the dad approached me as I walked closer asking if my dogs were friendly and liked meeting new people. He said they had seen me coming and thought my dogs were beautiful. When I said the dogs adored people he rushed back to tell the rest of his family and they all came over very excited to meet the dogs. Everyone had a great time, including the dogs, I was so happy for such a positive experience. Using halties has stopped a lot of people approaching without asking but I don't like everyone thinking they are horrible aggressive dogs.

Thanks. Went to both sites and had a read. Running low on food so heading to the shop tomorrow with my notes to spend 2hrs reading labels!! Lucky I have the afternoon off.

Why do you not use solely coprice? In your opinion what makes pro plan better than coprice? It was mentioned in an above post and I had never heard of it so going to look that up now. Would coprice or bonnie be adequate as their only dry food or would it be better mixed with a better quality food? (I do feed raw beef, talking about the dry food only here) I just have no idea how to tell the good from the bad. As I've already mentioned, I used to use price as a guide. All brands seem to brag about how wonderful they are so who do you believe?!

I have the money to spend on any dog food but would love to save cash provided it doesn't mean a sacrifice in quality. As far as cheaper food goes, is bonnie the best value for money? I realise everyone will have their own preference. If it helps I have a 2.5yr old mal who is at his ideal weight, but puts weight on easily, and a 1.5yr old sibe who is a couple of kilos under (hard to put weight on, not a big eater). I feed raw lean beef with dry food.

Thanks. I was using advance but changed on advice from the vet who I now think was just promoting what they sell there. I always tend to associate cheap with nasty and if it's expensive I think it must be better. Obviously not always the case, but if it's not then why the huge difference in pricing between brands? Are some more expensive than other because of people who think like me?

Someone at work told me about a brand of dry food called bonnie that she claimed has the same nutritional values as hills science diet (which I currently use), but is only a 3rd of the price. Just wondering if anyone knows much about the nutrition and quality of "bonnie". Saving 2 thirds of what I currently spend would be amazing!

Would the sex of the cat make any difference at all to the dynamic? *dogs are both male.

Thanks for all the replies! I'm not getting a cat anytime soon but mainly wanted a few opinions on breeds and how hard, if at all possible it would be to add a cat to the family. I would love a cat but realise there are a lot of things to take into consideration regarding the dogs. I have wanted a cat for a long time but then my previous dog passed away and as I am more of a dog person, getting another dog or 2 took priority. I'm hoping that as the sibe is only 1.5yrs that the behavior is something that can be changed, but I also realise there is a high chance that I might have to wait until my boys have passed on. Both dogs are obedience trained but being spitz, they decide when they want to comply. The mal is a big softy and usually reliable whereas the sibe is very independent in regards to obeying commands & can never be called away from a possum. Golden rules- only 1 dog is prey driven, the other is great with other animals, including friends cats and doesn't flinch when he sees a possum. * Adult cat would be my first choice as hopefully I can find one who has lived with dogs and as it will be bigger it won't be such a tempting tasty little morsel!

How would I go about working on the prey drive with the sibe?

I'm contemplating getting a cat and was just wondering if there are certain breeds that tend to do better with dogs than others? I have a 2.5yr old mal who is friendly with all animals and a 1.5 sibe. The sibe will probably need a lot more work to adjust to a cat as he tends to be a bit of a hunter. The cat will be inside only, but the dogs do spend alot of time indoors. Any advice on introducing the animals & creating a happy family would be great! Thought I would add that the dogs are both male, would the sex of the cat make a difference?

Thanks for the welcome. I can't believe that with the results and responses that dogs get working with the elderly that there are still so many places that don't allow dogs. We used to have a residents small fluffy dog living at our facility but it was only beneficial for that one woman as it was blind, deaf, incontinent and shy. Not sure whether the residents ignored it because it was small and went unnoticed, or because it was very unresponsive. I find that aside from 2 residents, the rest love the size of my large dogs as they fill the room with their big size and big personality. We have relatives bring in dogs and the residents that are nearby love it. A new woman moved in recently with her small fluffy dog, the dog seems a bit bewildered and has been a bit snappy but hopefully once it settles in it will be of benefit to the residents.

When Chilly was about 3mnths old I lost him. I felt terrible, had only had him for a month! I spent an hr searching for him before I found him. He had hid in a wardrobe and someone had shut the sliding door, we found him curled up asleep in amongst a pile of shoes.