Mrs Rusty Bucket

Sorry I didn't realise it was so long ago - anything could have happened since then. If you don't tell the dog walkers when you ask that you're interested in witnesses about an incident between humans - nothing to do with dogs - then I don't see how they wouldn't assume the worst and make assumptions. Also if you're not confident about approaching people to ask for help - you need to get someone to go with you who is. I'd have a hard time remembering who was at the park in 2015 or even if it was a Thursday I was there just after lunchtime. The people who show up on weekdays after lunch - are definitely not people working full time day jobs. Could be shift workers, unemployed or tourists or something else. And if they have no set hours - they could show up at any time they like.

I try to walk my dog twice a day - usually for an hour or so each time - cos we're slow and I meet people and chat and she stops and sniffs things. If we get to a place where she can be off lead - we might practice start line stays (make dog run) and other things. on the way out - she's pretty keen to get going - without pulling cos she gets nowhere when she does that. I just stop. but there's very little sniffing. On the way back it's all about - have you got any food left? can I have it? She does sniff a lot - I figure the walk is mostly about her. However once in a while I deliver newsletters and even when I stop to chat - it's still twice as quick without the dog than with. She stops a lot more than I do on my own.

The 23rd was a Saturday so there may be more people on one off visits but dog walkers tend to be regulars... I would be showing up at about the same time on Saturday or even a week day and just asking around whomever is there, whether you recognise them or not. Maybe get a friend to go on your behalf and be able to hand out contact details. I swear I thought this was about piranha fish. Or a dog that behaved like a piranha. I would also try the next park over. Ie I walk at this park and that park and the other park and most of them are quite close to home. If I had a really bad experience at one park - I probably would avoid it for a long time or only go with other people.

Muscle does weigh more than fat, but I'm thinking if it was muscle - the dog should have no trouble getting on the bed, but I would not want it leaping off unless it had lots of training in body awareness and how to jump nicely. Having said that - my dog jumps things with way more clearance than needed. I think they're just starting to learn with humans - something I've known a long time - that different humans process the same food differently - one person will put more weight on than another for the same quantity of food and exercise. And different food with the same calories in a serve - will process differently in the same human. So you might be able to maintain weight eating 300 calories of brown rice but have major trouble eating 300 calories of wheat based product - or vice versa. I suspect the same thing in dogs - ie if the weight won't come off - maybe try different food? And I've seen the same thing in horses and cattle - some are just "good doers" and you have to be more careful about what they get to eat and how much of it. Doing body awareness exercises for OP will also help preserve their dog's mobility for as long as possible. Stuff like learning to put paws on targets (eg folded towel), different paws, both front paws, both back paws, all paws, and teaching the dog to walk backwards in a straight line, and doggy push ups eg sit-stand-drop-sit-drop-stand... all help with dog understanding of where its own back end is. And that helps prevent injury.

If it's kibble and your dog is desexed - my vet who breeds labradors - says feed 1/3 less than the recommended amount for a desexed dog. The kibble people have a vested interest in selling more kibble so they don't tell you that the recommended amount might be too much. My dog is very active (2 x 1 hour walks a day) and I feed way less than the recommended amount of kibble when I'm feeding kibble or she gets fat. I agree tho - that 1m might be a bit high for a dog bed.

I'm going to be rude and state the obvious... https://www.dogzonline.com.au/breeds/information/labrador-retriever.asp Isn't the best thing you could do for your lab - is get some weight off her? At 5yo, she shouldn't be struggling to get on a bed. There's two - around that age doing agility at my club. And another at my dog club that is the same age as my dog (8yo) who can jump 1m fence with no trouble at all. If she's struggling to get up on a normal height bed - I'd be going to the vet to get everything checked out and a "you might not want to hear this" opinion on what weight would be ideal for her and how to get there. Beware the vet who tells you what you want to hear because they don't want to argue about it. I'd be asking something along the lines of "if she was your dog - what would you do?". If she was 15 yo and OP is a typo - then the problems would be understandable and I'd be asking vet for arthritus treatment and pain relief and giving her a bed set at a height she would not need a ramp.

Mine liked the peanut coating inside a sardine with olive oil. I don't think she chewed those at all. But I second DDD's recommendation for the nutrigel - it is specifically made for dogs that don't want to eat. Petbarn / Pet Warehouse (part of the green cross vet chain) have their own version of nutrigel which seems to work quite well too for dogs that won't eat - they do eat that.

My dog pretty much gets "go play" or "go sniff" but my backyard is actually one of the most challenging places to train because she got to do whatever she liked there until she was about 18 months old and then... I asked her to work with me and even now if she'd rather "go sniff" or hunt rats or whatever I just end the training session... I try to have the session only while she's keen to work, if she's quitting on me - I figure I've run it too long or not done good enough "transitions"... Dogs do seem to understand context cues, eg "out" when doing agility means something slightly different to when we're in the kitchen tho it always means "away from me". It is a real joy to see understanding of "go play/sniff" ie dog is working with me and then I say "go play" and off she goes. I also have "go say hello" and "where's (person's name)" and "who dat dere"... for send out to greet friends. She will go about 1km up the beach for "Where's Linda?" - cos Linda has roast chicken and will hand it over to naughty dogs.

I could plan commands but what comes out of my mouth is generally what I use... So I've got "shake (hands)" and "other hand"... and spin/twist for anticlockwise and clockwise circles - but I also use a hand signal like I'm stirring a cauldron... I tried to train "lalala" but what comes out of my mouth is "go round" with the cauldron signal - for which way to go round. I've got "left" and "right" (turn) but often it's "left, left a bit" or "other left". And I have "finish" for heel on left side and a signal to point whether go round the front or back (flip finish or behind finish?) and... "(other) side" and signal for heel on the right side. I use "through" or "weave" for leg weaves or just "strike a pose" with my feet and through she goes... I prefix a lot of stuff with "go"... evil hound is better at lefts and rights than I am... sigh. but mostly she gets her cues off my body and hand signals.

I have been known to use a baby wipe to clean up my dog's nether regions but I draw the line at cleaning out anal glands. I would pay someone else to do that...

Maybe an equestrian shop? Lots of juniors compete and need suit jackets in smaller sizes, or a school uniform shop? You'd have to find one that sells the plain clothing. Or a shop that sells "petite" sizing cos some women are very small. But those will probably be expensive. Myers usually has a "petite" section.

someone shared on FB a vet in africa? removing "mango" worms from a dog... that was completely gross too. Dog seemed to like eating them too. Click bait - was see what this dog does after them being removed. I wasn't sure if they meant eating them or sleeping (cos of sedative).

Maybe a photo or two - one side on and one top down with something nearby to give scale (bricks or corrugated iron or similar). I thought my dog was just broad chested cattle dog stocky... but she was actually fat dog... it mostly showed in how hard she was to train. she's a lot leaner now, I can feel ribs easily and got good tuck from side on and also tuck from top down. She's not 100% cattle dog but she's around 21 kg or under on the lean side and 23 when she's chubby and she's taller than most cattle dogs.

You might want to check that nobody else is feeding her, including foraging... Sometimes that is why a dog won't loose weight - the neighbours feel sorry for the dog and can't help themselves. I figure if the dog is not losing on what I'm giving - then cut that back by 10% for a couple of weeks, and if still no help, another 10% cut... More mashed pumpkin and grated carrot. when you say veg - no potato or corn or peas or beans or lentils? all those will keep the weight on.

Better to make contact. Sometimes people can be a bit disorganised, lose your contact details or just assume you've lost interest and then you miss out on a puppy. Maybe ask for photos of the litter just so you can see how they're growing. Once a week contact - I think is what I'd be doing - without being pushy. Just to maintain the warm fuzzy "I'm here and interested" feeling. If the breeder thinks that's too much they will probably tell you.

even google could not help me with this word: spuroitic do you mean "sporadic" or only sometimes? My dog can be hypervigilant - but I think it's usually something she gets from me. If I'm anxious - even if it's only about how she's going to be - then she is anxious too. She's a bit anxious about going for walks and it took two years on a flat collar to get her to look forward to walks after ruining everything by trying to get her to walk on footpaths with a slip collar. If only I knew then what I know now. I have several cues for "say hello to friends" or "look there's a friend" and I can say those or use the tone - even when the dog is not one we know... to get her in a happy optimistic mood. I don't let her greet a dog if I don't know that they are friends if I've done that tho. Cueing happy mood is better than her freezing up and then lunging and snarling every time she sees a new dog. I noticed if I don't say anything she's more likely to assume it's a nasty dog and do the "I'll get you first" thing. And bizarrely - the happy tone "what a good dog" will settle the other dog too if it's a bit anxious, and that helps both of them.

I suspect there are some really good agility clubs that might do foundation training in perth - given how good some of the dogs and handlers that showed up at the nationals are. This is a trainer I've seen recommended for WA - maybe ask her to suggest a club? Kathy Kopellis McLeod http://kathysdogtraining.com.au/

My friend used paw paw ointment on her bully's neck where there was some collar rub and it healed up. At least I think it was paw paw ointment. Maybe a different kind of collar or two or three different kinds of collars that you could rotate - ie a different one each day - so that the rubbing is not all in one spot? Do greyhound collars come in bully size?

closest I get to "no" with my dog is "no reward for that"... Drives my brother nuts but my dog has zero incentive to do/not do anything he says anyway. I use "its yer choice" games to teach her to make good choices like asking permission to eat something, or just leaving it alone. we're not perfect but my breakky is safe on the coffee table if I go back to the kitchen for the coffee. However - there is quite a bit of "reminding" she does when the brekky bowl is empty - cos somebody (me maybe) has been rewarding that with the opportunity to do "pre-rinse". we're currently doing a bit of adjusting on that. Trying to "punish" a dog - ie apply an aversive to get the dog to not-do something is risky because dogs (and people) can make the wrong connection eg - it's ok to pee in the house as long as the boss doesn't see me... instead of rewarding peeing outside and preventing peeing inside. And what a dog finds aversive/punishing can be interesting too - if you actually do try that as a way to train a dog "not to"... you find you have to increase the volume of it to get the same effect. But if you use largely reward based training and the most severe aversive you use is "no treat for that" - it's amazing how hard the dog will work trying to figure out what they need to do to get that treat. And then you get some stuff that reminds you -only reward when you cue the behaviour - like I taught my dog how to "shut the door" so now she shuts the door and then barks at it - because - hey treats and I can't get to my water bowl now cos I shut the door. Cracks me up. Which she reads as a reward. Oops.

This kind of thing really pisses me off. It gets charities put on my never donate again list. Especially if they're killing trees to do it. If pet rescue wants me to cough up contact details before they will let me contact a rescue about a dog or make a profile of myself before I can search their database - they're ditched. There's so many other ways to find a puppy. And all the links I've been posting about a suitable dog for someone looking for a cross breed... I won't be doing that either if they make us both "register" before we can look. They will kill their own business if it's that stupid. A lot of stuff now - I look up what I want and then I go direct to the place I want to get it from. So I don't think it would be that hard to skip Petrescue and look up the rescue directly and find their FB page. Even FB doesn't make me register to see public pages.

most disinfectant smells a bit like dog pee. After cleaning it up as best you can with paper towel and warm soapy water (or cold if it's blood), you gotta use bicarb, vinegar and finish with a lavender spray (0.25 teaspoon in 500ml water). Or look for my thread on vomit on the persian carpet. http://www.dolforums.com.au/topic/267033-dog-vomit-on-the-cotton-maybe-persian-carpets/page__view__findpost__p__6831097__fromsearch__1 Note if you want to stop the sniffing that goes before marking over something... putting a couple of drops of eucalpytus oil in 200 mil misting bottle helps. But you have to reapply daily. you can also buy a UV light to make sure you got all the pee. It glows under UV in the dark.

There's a leonburger regular at our favourite beach... But the really odd one out is a Black Russian Terrier that visits occasionally. Looks a bit like a Giant Schnauzer or even a poodle cross but isn't. Is a really nice calm friendly dog even tho he is huge.

Usually it means something good ie if you want a long sequence of tricks - you start with training the last trick, then the second to last followed by the last, then third to last followed by the second to last followed by the last trick and so on until you have your sequence.

Maybe you could ask K9pro to recommend someone if they can't fit you in. Meanwhile you might want to search "Look at That" (LAT) training and "Behavioural Adjustment Training" (BAT). LAT comes from a book called "Control Unleashed" by Leslie McDevitt. There's another concept called "click to calm" that might help. If I can - I avoid letting my dog get "overexcited" and rude and I reward good behaviour especially when its in a situation where she'd normally be rude. If she does get overwhelmed - I do not reward any good behaviour that comes after with anything more than pats and praise - otherwise - she will act naughty then calm to get treats ("back chaining").

I tend to point out dogs I know are my dog's friends with a "who dat dog dere?"... in a happy tone, which puts her in a good mind set for greeting. When I don't say anything about some dog barging up to us and being rude - it can go to hell really quickly as my dog is quite sure it's her job to teach the other dog manners. This is since she's had to deal with one of my brother's very rude dogs. Dogs she's known before that dog - all good, dogs she's met after - each on their own merits and they better do a very polite greeting and make all the correct dog language responses or she wants to scold them. And I don't like her practicing that behaviour. It's unacceptable at our local park - and mostly she only does it there and close to home. Doesn't do it at the beach unless another dog jumps on her head before I can stop it. And there's a lot more room there to see the other dog off without doing any lasting (mental dog) harm. My brother... wanted to have his current rude dog come stay at my place cos he forgot to book doggy accommodation for school holidays but he never put the time into helping our dogs be friends in a polite way. I had stopped taking my dog to visit his place because it was so unpleasant for my dog (she'd end up in the car because his dog would not leave her alone). So I said No. Sometimes you gotta say "No" for your dogs' and your sanity. It's your house and their home. But I would assess each dog on its own merits. I don't think it's as simple as male or female, or desexed or not desexed. Two bossy dogs together - not worth the stress. One rude dog which doesn't back off when told - not worth the stress either. My dog used to be able to make friends with all other dogs but it's not so easy for her now.