Mrs Rusty Bucket

I think she could lose quite a bit more and still be healthy. I got really worried with my dog - she looked a bit lighter than yours when she was heavy, and she's leaner now and i got all worried about her being too skinny - but she's about right now. Ribs are easy to feel - tho still a bit hard to see unless she's got the sun right in front or behind her (not side on). It's the spotty coat. Yours looks like she could use a bit more exercise - but that should be easier as the weight comes off. I had a vet nurse try to sell me hills science diet as better than boiled chicken and rice when my dog had a tummy upset - I got the can, showed her the ingredients and asked her to explain why each one was good for my dog. She could not do it. vets don't get a lot of training in pet nutrition and mostly the info they get is provided by the big pet food manufacturers. The stuff mostly won't kill your dog immediately - but isn't that great long term. There's not a lot of research either - and most of what is out there - is of course - sponsored by the manufacturers - which makes sense they need to know - but has problems when it comes to bias towards more profitable ingredients. http://www.petfoodreviews.com.au/blog/are-vets-nutritionists/

Sorry I can't resist. I didn't think roadkill was hungry enough to let you feed it.

regards the collar grab - it all depends but I've done it to quite aggressive dogs. One of them did turn around and put his mouth on my arm but he'd been more interested in attacking my dog - but the fact that he put his teeth on me - was enough to get council to take action and prevent that dog being allowed loose at our local park again. But the humpers, I just reach down mid hump and drag them off. Yelling "NO" at a dog can incite them to be aggressive back. With a GR x Poodle - I'd take the risk and grab the dog and hold it away from me. In fact that's the kind of dog I've had to remove from my own - a lot - and the reason my dog hates poodle crosses she's met since that one. But it was never aggressive. This one - I guess it's "broken". And I'd go the dencorub or eucalyptus spray - but I agree with the others who have said - speaking up - is probably the best option here. A big dog like that can knock ladders and people over.

Not sure if I'd notice that side effect. She (or us both) already have a bit of anxiety-aggression, especially with rude poodle crosses... And dogs that are too close to our home (she thinks she owns the entire street).

I would not be telling a dog like that "no" and I would not be letting it hump my leg either. The way I deal with most dogs like that now is to grab their collar and hold them away from me - until they notice they can't get where they want to go, when they back off, I let them go to see what their choice is... More humping and I collar grab again. If it gets extreme... I have a spare lead in my bag and the dog would get tied up. The other thing I would recommend trying is more subtle. Get some eucalyptus oil, mix it two drops to 200ml water in a misting bottle - and spray on clothes. It smells pretty nasty and would discourage the sniff before humping and probably the humping. Definitely it's a safety problem for the dog as well as the workers. If they spill paint on the dog or someone gets tripped and falls on it - there's going to be problems for the dog too.

I've had Frosty on propalin syrup for about a month now (tried the steroid tablets back in feb - not sure they did much really tho the puddles did stop). I did get a morning pee sample checked at the vet - all good there. And the vet prescribed the propalin. The main thing the syrup has done is stopped the 4am slurp fest that woke me up. I'm also much more careful about the before bed pit stop - because skipping that has led to puddles in places I'd rather not have them like on the couch. She just leaks.

I think some vets will do it if there is a council order for the dogs to be PTS if they are not debarked? I managed to train my dog to ignore the neighbour who yells at his barking dog. And the other neighbour who likes power tools and working on the car... and she's locked inside when I'm out. It got a bit loud when a possum considered moving in but it moved out when I got the tree pruned away from the power lines. My dog spent a lot of time on lead in the back yard so she could not run down the back and yell at the possum. That helped a lot with her understanding about what is acceptable behaviour when it comes to possums. And now we have a new neighbour with two boxers and I'm carefully explaining to my dog - she doesn't get to bark at them or bite their paws should they stick them under the fence (the puppy does this - he's not very bright).

My approach to this was for start line stays for agility. They're fun because you can train them anywhere and the dog has to really guess whether they get to move or not. And you'd need to add the distraction of someone coming up to give a pat etc. 1. train a collar grab - as a way to reset the dog if it moves without permission. 2. train a release cue - ie i use the word "go" but other people use "free" or "break" (as in break your stay), or "ok". "Ok" isn't always ok because you use that often in ordinary conversation and some dogs who take cues from anybody - will wander off their stay when they hear that phrase in class. 3. train a stay - start simple and close up - I used the dinner bowl as our first distraction. It was easy to control access to the reward and the reward was sufficiently high value my dog would work hard for it. Also start with really short stay times. When they've got the idea of "stay" and "go" then you can start trying to generalise - but pick only one criteria at a time eg duration, distance (from you), location - eg in front of dinner, in front of tv, back yard, park, beach, distractions - start with you moving (dog must stay)... build up to really flappy - my dog loves being released to get my hat (that I take off my head and hold out like a baton in a relay race - do not play this game in the dusk). Then add something else - second dog, more toys, another person... If dog fails when you're testing with distractions, do the collar grab and put them back where you started... you might laugh at them for stuffing it up, and sometimes I say "no treat for that" in a happy tone. No scolding or Ah Ah required. The reward depends entirely on what your dog wants most right now. Food? What kind of food?, Toy? which toy? Play? who with? etc. And train for no more than two minutes (or 10 treats - depending on the dog) at a time - then have a play. If you're both getting bored and frustrated - you've been trying too hard for too long. Have a play and stop. PS - added into my criteria for a good stay (you get treat for that) - no paw movement. If the paws moved we turn the dog in a circle and start over. PPS - reward in position. so the dog can hold the stay and get the reward. I also reward with the release cue ie get to chase me and my hat. But when we were learning - there would be four or five times I'd go back to the dog and reward to every release and chase. Any paw movement - no release and chase - and in this game - that's what my food obsessed dog wanted most - go figure.

That was what I was going to suggest - try the meds and see if they make a difference... and that would go part way towards a diagnosis maybe. Ie if they make no difference it wasn't the brain thing. I think that's when a dog's brain grows too big for its skull - it's nasty, there's fits and doggy screaming. Mostly happens to badly bred King Charles Cavalier Spaniels. My dog shakes her head so hard her ears flap on the sides of her head. She usually does this when she gets water in her ears. And sometimes when she's been gardening and got sand or dirt in her ears. It usually clears up pretty quickly and she'd only do it two or three times a day. I think it's part of her routine like stretch, 1&2, full body shake (with ear flapping). She also likes to play with her food, and carry it off to eat somewhere more private. Tho usually that's with treats or the kongs - not so much with each bit of kibble.

The dogs were off lead in an on-lead park so I don't know what stricter laws would do - given nobody is enforcing the ones they've got.

Urk. There's been cases where it's been another human that needed rescuing and the would be rescuer drowns but the rescuee manages to get out. I think it would be a matter of what could I live with. I haven't got any dependents - so I'd try to save my dog. Mind you she's had a couple of bad experiences in water... so she's very careful about swimming pools and creeks now. She doesn't mind a paddle at the beach - which freaks me out if it's a rippy beach. I keep her on lead or away from the water there. The beaches we normally go to - don't have rips.

Old cockies tend to cull (kill) the dogs they can't train. Doesn't mean the dog was no good - it just means the Old cockie wasn't a good enough trainer. I've heard a story from a source I trust about how a "top" agility competitor would get dogs she couldn't train PTS - ie if she competed with them and didn't do any good - then they'd be doomed dogs. Another competitor talked her into giving the latest doomed dog up - and then the new owner proceeded to beat the pants off the old owner with the same (untrainable?) dog. I avoid spitting at my dog. We both fart at each other - does that count?

You would need to find a way to either desensitize her to the cause or prevent it (ie she stays inside). I don't think I could leave my dog in a situation where I know something is going to upset her enough cause anxiety like the council ranger and neighbour describe. and if the problem is coming from another neighbour - they will probably antagonise and report - repeat until your dogs or you are gone. Or they are. That kind of thing has been described on this forum before - ie other people have had problems with neighbours deliberately upsetting their dogs. (that's me guessing your problem might be similar). how did the problems get solved? - with the renters - they can be reported to landlords - and evicted - usually there are a bunch of problems the landlord doesn't need and complaints from other neighbours are enough for the landlord to get grounds to move them out. one person ended up in jail I think - based on the log of events posted here partly. Ie they were doing stuff that was very illegal to upset the dogs and everything else on their neighbour's property. Beware the rural bargain with the very dodgy people next door. Tho the ones being persecuted - also moved as best I can remember. And sometimes - only you can fix it by moving. And the squeaky bark is probably here to stay - but may only come out on special (exciting) occasions. Like when you have yiros and are not sharing.

This is her website has pictures of the dogs on it. http://www.mgcelebrant.com/michele I suspect she might not have much of a business after this.

I like the idea of noise cancelling and vibration dampening - and the aesthetics are nice (it's pretty)... But the k9+caprice with none of that fancy stuff works for my dog. And failing that - the gap between the wall and the sofa. And they "only ship to certain countries" - really need to know which countries right?

I think it's brought to you by the same team that is doing the dog stuff on Catalyst ABC tv tonight. Well worth watching. Now I gotta go look for the android version.

My cattle dog cross has that and she's about to turn 8 years old. When she's really really excited... the high pitched squeally bark comes out... and yes it hurts. This could be a factor - and now she's hyper vigilant because of it. Is there any way to prevent this? I would be considering shutting her inside while I was out - but - that's what I do now with my dog. I don't think she or the meter reader could be safe otherwise. And now I've got new dogs next door - one of which (the silly boxer puppy) puts his face and paw under the fence to say hello. And my dog isn't very happy about that. We are getting a new fence. And strangely - the previous neighbour's dog would go crazy barking at her through the fence and she completely ignored it. So we can't be out there unsupervised at the moment. And I'm working on my dog being calm while we can hear the dogs next door snuffling around the fence and playing with each other. Was OH home more than he is now - or did his and your hours overlap better so there was more time when at least one of you was home. With our family dog - the dog got more attention and feeding from the kids but the one she was bonded to was Mum. And she was not home the most either. If your dog's extra barking started about when your OH's hours changed - I'd say that was a factor but not sure how you fix it now.

I mostly use kibble and mini goodos for treats. The mini goodos are full of dodgy ingredients like food colouring but I can break them up into four little bits and get really good milage for them. Last time I checked - a small roast beef - chopped up into treat sized pieces was cheaper per kilo than stuff like liver or smackos - those things can work out to $80 per kilo with very high energy as well. Pay attention to what your dog will work for. I've seen some dogs working really hard for chopped carrot. Have a ranking for those treats - and then use the highest value stuff for new tricks or high distraction environments, and lower value stuff for every day things like nice heel work on walks.

pumpkin goes mushy by itself when you boil or roast it. Instant pumpkin soup if you over do it. But I'm sure the dog won't care. Just cook it until a skewer goes through easily - will be quicker than the same sized bit of potato. I just chop it up into 1cm cubes and add it to the dog dinner I'm cooking. The skin is supposed to be the most nutritious bit but it's hard to mash. As for losing weight off a dog - the first thing I cut back on is the kibble but I will cut back on everything - about 10% a week until the weight starts to come off and then I will stop there or add a bit more. If she does the big brown eyes "I'm starving" thing - I feed her carrot. I keep the standard training treats (mostly kibble with a bit of dried roo) the same tho. Just add less and less (down to none) with her regular dinner.

So you have more than one dog all outside when you're away from home, ie she's not by herself but she still gets upset? How long have you had the 10 month old and how long has she been doing the anxious barking - ie (according to your neighbour perhaps) - is it since you got her? (will be ingrained and a bit harder to train calm), or only recently? If only recently - did something happen that might have upset her eg a grumpy meter reader or tradie visit? Or worse - burglar, tho only really stupid or high burglars would go in a yard with a dog that looks like the one in your profile. or have your hours changed? Like you were home more and all of a sudden you are away longer? Hopefully the video and the Tracies can help.

I would avoid blue staffy. If you really want a blue dog - maybe get a weimerana? Maybe look for an ACT or nearby based breeder. There's reasonably good access to Jervois Bay to the ACT. If they're not planning any puppies - maybe ask them who they like in NSW. And also see if you can actually meet up with some breeders either at a show or a breed club social event. Don't pick only from a website. Go meet up with them. http://www.actdsbtc.org.au/ Hopefully someone in here will PM you recommendations or just plug someone directly.

I ignore my dog for the first 10 minutes or so from when I get home. I'm a little less strict about it now than I was when she was a puppy. First thing I do is march out into the back yard without talking to her or looking at her directly - and make sure she does a 1 or 2 or both - because she's shut inside when I'm out with no dog door. And then I go unpack the car and do what I need to do. I might have a play session but it's quite some time after I get home. Having a really excited greeting with your dog when you do get home - is normal. But can also contribute to anxiety. So you need to balance up what you do for your dog depending on how your dog is.

Hopefully the breeder will refund your money now for the purchase at least. Otherwise contact the consumer rights organisation in your state. if he was ANKC listed - write to them as well - eg DogsNSW - or your state's equivalent, get the vet to write a letter to go with yours. If you do nothing now - this breeder can do what he did to you to other people (and dogs).

DNA tests... lol - this pedigree USA pitbull came back as mostly border collie.

panting can be a sign of stress or pain. I have one friend (?) who routinely mistakes the panting her very overweight dog does on walks for "happiness". It doesn't look happy to me.