chuckandsteve

Maybe suggest to people they raise a litter of rescue dogs. I always wanted a puppy/kitten, never had one as I have always had rescues. So I took up fostering, I have had a litter of kittens and a pregnant Staffy that had 5 pups. Kittens were quite easy as they were already 4 weeks but the puppies.... Never could I have imagined the amount of work it was crazy (although I was told on numerous occassions how much work it was didn't sink in till i did it), the amount of stuff they destroyed and ate and I wasn't even responsible for finding them homes at the end of it. It would but 90% off ever doing it because by the time you have feed them done the vet work for 8 weeks there would be very little left over in profit and if you dont want the profit then you can just do it for rescues and not add to the population. Fostering a litter is always what I suggest to people who tell me they want to breed, none have totally rejected the idea.

Awesome thanks, nice to know what it is, sorry to the first person to suggest it had never heard of it. Will try what you have all suggested when he next does it.

He has been doing it since we got him, about 18 months ago. Only once or twice a month, the really bad one he was asleep next to my bed so nothing to cause it. Someone said to me little dogs sometime have a flap on skin in their throat that can block their breathing, but this person doesn't really know anything about dogs just something they had heard. It is really bad though, most people think he is going to die when they see it happen. I've gotten really worried because the last one was so long and because they are infrequent we have been unable to get it on film. I do think it was more frequent when he use to pull on his lead, ie it would happen on a walks a fair bit. He walks on a front attach no pull harness now, so it is no longer an issue. No to the patting on the chest, it sounds like choking and him gasping for air, he is quite stressed after it has stopped and wants us not to touch him while it is happening

Hi, my Jack Russell X Pom X Malt, makes this horrible choking noise and really seems to be struggling to get air, it happens at random times although maybe more frequently when he is pulling on his knee. We have been unable to get a vets advice as there is no way to trigger it, it just happens when it happens, just the other night it went on for so long we are gettting really worried about him. So has anyone had something similar with their dog?

on news.com.au, report is a pit bull X accompanied by a picture of a SBT labelled a SBT. Great day for journalism

Knox council needs a permit. But when i got a foster told me if I had the dog under 3 months it was fine mainly because they didn't want to deal with the paper work because each new foster would have to go through the process of getting a permit and in all likelyhood the dog would be gone before they got the paper work done

The fact that you all say it is so easy is what gets me "15minutes" really? maybe for the first 15 till he gets bored of you. He has been to trainers all who told me the same thing, all that failed, the $30 harness has him walking nicely so I dont understand the problem with it, my one on one trainer told me all the things you have said and then recommended the harness and it works. She told us we were doing everything perfectly timing, treating voice pitch. I even feed wet meat from my hand (I'm vegetarian so this is not cool) because she said he was ignoring the treat because it wasn't good enough. None of the methods you have suggested are any different to the ones that have been tried. The longer you work on them the worse he gets because he gets no exercise. He does not play with toys and I will not let him of lead to run as it is too dangerous he has no awareness of cars

Not gonna argue about the loose leash thing heard it all before, paid good money to be shown and still have not seen anyone walk he loose leash for more than the first minute. But thanks for the advice on the excitement

My Staffy does the Lassie quick follow me move and leads whoever he can to his ball, which then gets thrown

We worked on the pulling on the lead for 8 months. Problem was we wasn't getting walked and the problems got worse, he would just runs circles around me on the lead having a great time, i couldn't change direction or step backwards because he never gave me the chance. He doesn't bark much only at dogs passing the house. I am sure he can hear have spent a long time checking and he chases flys which he hears while sleeping on the couch I believe. I have tired teaching the word and still use it when giving the hand signal, hand signal works on its own word doesn't. for about a year I treated him just like the other dog it got us nowhere, treating him different is the only thing that has worked

To give him the reward I was told to give him a command i know he can do when he does it treat. So I can work on a new trick but then go back to something old and known so he can receive a reward. If that makes sense its not for nothing Ignoring him does nothing he doesn't really care if i pay attention to him he has better things to do He stays on lead all of the time except for about 1 walk on the beach every few months when we get time to take him down there. How would you correct him? Not keen on hitting and I dont really like water pistol, took me a long time to get him to swim

He is quite well behaved ie dont steal food, dont get on the bed is good with kids and visitors. Bad with commands and other dogs, he will sit and drop for the hand signal, very consistently down side is he needs to be watching which is why he is bad on walks, it is hard to make eye contact. He will also stay and not eat his dinner till signal is given. My trainer said he is highly reward driven and needs to receive a reward about every 4-5 commands so he does get treats or he loses all interest. Standard training hasn't worked on him and it is very slow going, we are both learning. My other dog trained almost immediately, walks off lead, recalls everything. nothing that work on him has worked with the other dog it is a bit of hit and miss training, not your average case. I dont need an exceptional dog a just need a managable one and I feel this is the issue we are up to dealing with

Ok will get myself a clicker. Can't gureentee the collar was fitted right i guess, im not an expert. But if I can't fit it right I dont think its a good option for me. The harness works well, I have time to grab him before it is all the way off.

I have been asked that many times, he can climb fences and walk allong the top rail of a fence as well Got more than a bargained for when i picked him up. My backyard is now a fort

He can get it off, he uses he paw

He has had formal training, group then one on one, group did more damage than good. A collar is too dangerous if he gets out of it with his pulling he is magic he gets out of everything he can also remove his harness but is slower so i can correct it. He is only off lead at the beach no where else as he does not recall and likes to do a big run before he will walk beside us. It is a very quite beach 2 hrs from Melbourne so rarely are there other dogs. My trainer told me it was excitement not agression, and got me the harness he now uses, he doesn't pull on it it is just a tight lead when he walks plus it helps with him paying attention which is another issue he has. He is not great at commands will only follow hand signals but is better with conditioning ie he sits at corners to cross the road. I like the approach Aiden has given, apart from lack of walks as this has hindered us in the past, I dont know how effective a clicker would be as he doesn't follow voice commands, I think he only follows hand signals because that is where food comes from although he gets feed from the hand that is not giving the signal.

Thanks all makes sense, he is not a loose lead walking dog though he has a front attach harness that turns him sideways when he pulls, after a year of loose lead training that is the best success we have had. What do you do on a general walk though? it is impossible to not pass other dogs and also he becomes worse behaved as his walks decrease.

Hi, My dog jack/pom gets really excited when approaching other dogs, he barks, pulls on his lead and now will even nip at the other dogs feet. I know he shouldn't be allowed this close but people just walk straight up to him with their dogs as I stand to the side with him to let him through because he is small i guess. Anyway I have been told to reward him for staying calm as we approach other dogs, problem is he never is as soon as he spots them (and i mean could be more than 500m) his body language changes he is bolt upright and watching them. If this info helps: Once he has meet a dog for a minute or so he is sick of them and wants to leave while our other wants to play. We have let him off at the beach and he spotted a dog about a km away and took off before he could be put back on lead he ran to the dog barked about 4 times then turned and ran back. Any suggestions on how i address this behaviour?

Hi, My Staffy is a pretty well trained dog, (we dont expect alot, sit, drop, dont steal my food kind of dog) He walks beautifully off lead and ignores other dogs and cats when off lead, however when on lead he pulls and goes crazy to get to cats more so than dogs. Is there anyway we can address this? or a reason why?

People really like to fight here dont they. Read the posts, no one ever said it was ideal, just that a dog can thrive on it, I am sure everyones dogs get something that is not ideal for them its not a perfect world. Also several people have been talking about their dogs eating poo... Is that ideal? No but it happens and they live happy and full lives. I also said I was probably wrong about the hunting not my specialty so whats the problem there? Get over it a discussion in any form is about getting informed not abusing people. And let me ask is what a dog would hunt naturally their ideal diet? No its what they can catch I would say anyone feeding their dog a vege diet and working really hard to balance it is doing a lot better than those who feed "you'll love coles" but I dont see you attacking them.

Sorry not trying to ignore your questions, the research isn't out there on actually dog studies. Its all based on swapping omnivores to vegetarian diets. It's a little research area as there is a lack of interest, all the info you can really get is general not dog specific. Only dog specific information is from those who are raising their own dogs on it. Generally speaking I think these people are ignored, cavalier for example says her dogs are doing really well on a vegetarian diet. But people dont really want to hear that they want something official and there is nothing that i have been able to find

Please explain your theory. How what a parent animal eats (especially the male) would influence the digestive system of a pup initially fed on milk sure defeats me. Changing the diet does NOT change the anatomy of an animal's digestive system. Until we breed a dog with 4 stomachs, a lip that can grasp grasses and molars to grind them, I'll be feeding my dogs some meat. It would change the milk just as diet effects human milk but the male probably doesn't matter It would not change it from an animal based protein source into anything else. I agree no point in doing it wouldn't effect the animals at all. Was just in response to if you can breed from 2 vegetarian dogs. A pup should be able to go straight to vege diet. Just an adult eating meat needs slow swap over

Please explain your theory. How what a parent animal eats (especially the male) would influence the digestive system of a pup initially fed on milk sure defeats me. Changing the diet does NOT change the anatomy of an animal's digestive system. Until we breed a dog with 4 stomachs, a lip that can grasp grasses and molars to grind them, I'll be feeding my dogs some meat. It would change the milk just as diet effects human milk but the male probably doesn't matter. Not an expert on this I will admit it was just in response to the question posted above, there is no reason you couldn't do it. By the way I dont have 4 stomachs either

It probably is possible to breed from vegetarian dos healthy pups, its just an area that has had little research to date. It is a bit rich to assume its not possible before trying. A dog that is already on meat needs to be changed slowly, if the parents weren't on meat then theorectically the pup could go straight onto a vegetarian diet. Personally I dont see the point of someone trying to do that as I dont think animals should be brought into this world purely for experimental purposes. There are very few people as you can tell who believe in a vegetarian diet so no market for pets like that. Swapping a single dog to vegetarian needs to be done whilst monitoring the dog. The slow change over helps pick up any problems before they are actually problems should you have them. I think you need to stop thinking about the extreme cases, in the vegetarian community there are extremists as in all we are talking about doing this responsibly not in the worst possible manner. We are talking about doing it in the worst way possible, its assumptions like these tha dont allow for open discussion and wont allow for a realistic outcome to ever be reached. For the research to be produced emotion needs to be removed and looked at it for what it is not what you want it to be. People who have vegetarian dogs aren't going to let people who want to run a research project entitled "Why vegetarian dogs are bad" look at their dogs health are they?

As a vegetarian if I ate meat now I would become very sick. Any diet change needs to be slow so the body can adjust, I was 8 when I became vegetarian and was slowly switched to it. People who do it too fast become sick.