Simply Grand

The litter Quinn, my 1 year old Aussie Shepherd, is from were raised outside. There were 7 pups, they had a good set up with kennel/sleeping area, covered outdoor area, larger run area and then access to the back garden most of the day when the breeder was home (he was home with pups out and running around most of the time). All the pups are pets, although some shown and in sports, some are now outside only dogs, some (like Quinn) have access inside as well. As far as I know, all have turned out to be just fine behaviour and temperament wise. I know Quinn (obviously) and one sister quite well, and did puppy school with her brother from 9-12 weeks and can say from that personal experience that they are stable, confident dogs, comfortable around people and other dogs. Agree with everyone else that in or outside is definitely not the only important criterion, but I don't think pups living outside is in and of itself a problem for pet puppies.

Just wanted to highlight that part of my previous post, seeing as the surrounding sentences have been commented on.

I don't want to make light of it in any way YG, but that is a pretty cool image! You standing there, backed by your 10 plus hundreds of other dogs of various breed and size, all confronting this dick as he sticks his head through the dog door... Yeah buddy, you just try it!

Dbl post

I wish we could let them know how many people are onto them now via DOL!! Wouldn't it be cool of we could set up something where if they come to the house again they get a chorus of ALL of our dogs barking at them :)

I voted for Seaside Santa, although no chance of me making it there from lil ole Canberra. Ams, that first post is the cutest thing ever, nomming on Santa :laugh: Edited for phone typos!!!

I think it's totally over- generalising to say the staffys, amstaffs or bull breeds in general are not suitable for dog parks... Depends on the owner, depends on the individual dog, depends on the training and socialisation, depends on the park. Same as with absolutely any breed. OP, I have no experience owning either breed and have met lovely and horrible examples of both, I think it comes down to personal choice, maybe start looking for breeders of both and see who you click with? Whichever you go with you know a responsible registered ANKC breeder is essential because of the legislation, and either breed will respond really well to ongoing obedience training, from what I've seen they do much better with effective training, understanding and leadership from their humans.

Oh yeah, that's freaky!! My first thought was Paranormal Activity (as in the movies), sorry YG! I can't hear the details of voices on my phone (well i don't think so, I've listened twice and not sure I want to again...). I live alone and my dog door is large, a not-too-big hooman could fit through. I think I'd almost rather a ghost. Best of luck sorting it out, and on the positive side, assuming it was people, they didn't hurt the dogs and waited til you were out, so don't seem to want to hurt you.

Oh yeah! In my short but thoroughly enjoyable and informative career as a mobile dog washer, it became very clear tha if a Giant breed does not want to do what a human wants, there is nothing the human can do, all the dog has to do is plant itself. No one will be surprised to hear that I could see from the outset that the owners of the giants that were hard to control (namely a particular Newf and a particular Dane) didn't have authority over their dogs in general, their dogs were their 'babies'.

In my limited experience, noooooo Newfs are nothin' like labs! Less drivey, less biddable, more reserved and MUCH bigger and heavier. You can probably bribe or, as a last resort, physically move a Lab or GR if necessary but good luck moving a Newf that really doesn't want to :laugh:

I'm glad Costa is ok :) The poor guy's ear couldn't be saved, he will have to have it reconstructed. And the 2 attacking dogs have been pts. What a horrible situation, but it would have been worse if Costa had died, at least the guy won't feel like his fight was in vain. I don't know that I believe the dogs escaped colourbond fencing, they looked very comfortable running in and out from the house to the front yard in the footage, not like it wasn't something they aren't normally permitted to do. Obviously that's just my conjecture.

Beautiful girl Molly xx

I don't know if this helps with the guilt, but maybe think of it this way... If, while she was with you, she had decided she wanted to go and live with the neighbours, even though you completely loved and cared for her, you would probably feel pretty hurt. BUT if you (meaning those she knew as her owners) had passed on, she was human-less and then she went to a loving new home, I expect you would be happy for her, not hurt. I'm pretty sure dogs are much more selfless than us humans, so I have no doubt that she would not want you to feel guilty, nor would she feel replaced. She knows she's an individual and will always be your Molly dog. Hugs!

Just a reminder, Teddy is a Maltese x Poodle :) Mine have all peed in inappropriate places as they have started to grow out of babyhood. I don't know why really, and as I've mentioned before, I'm a totally lazy toilet trainer, but like minimax said, I've found timeouts effective in a situation like this, once they are old enough to understand the positive consequences of going in the right spot but maybe haven't quite grasped that they do not have a choice about it as far as we're concerned!! Time out for mine was: frown but don't look at them, don't say anything, pick them up and carry away from my body, put in bathroom with light off and door closed while I cleaned up the mess, then go back and let them out calmly, assuming they are also being calm and quiet. This is punishment, which I don't advocate in baby puppies as I don't believe they understand it, so ignoring accidents and rewarding going in the right place conditions them, but once they can control their bladder and start to understand that they have choices I think non-pain-causing (not a real term) punishment can be useful.

I wonder how the kid's dog came out of it, the story sounds as though it may not have made it

S/he might prefer possum poo anyway :D

You and she are still in my thoughts, still hoping for her safe return soon!

You could try going along to some shows or dog training (obedience/dog sports) clubs in your area and having a chat to any Dalmatian owners you see there. If there are any dog parks in your area you could go along there too (even without a dog) and chat to people. The owner of the litter sister of my girl (an Aussie Shepherd) even had someone stop his car while they were on a walk and ask where her dog came from, apparently he'd been having trouble finding a breeder. She was wary of giving out the breeder details as our litter was likely a one off but she took the guy's details and passed them on to our breeder, who said he was happy to chat to him. ETA - just don't be creepy about approaching random people on the street!! :)

I'd say you are one of those people who can be amazing! Lovely thing to do :)

Yep, that's exactly what I got with Riley too! He sure is 'talkative' :)

Yes to what lilli said, and I don't know Bostons at all, but... As long as you're prepared that you probably aren't going to have a quiet little lap dog and you won't get too stresses about having to keep a close eye on him, I think you'll be fine! Make sure you search through the forum to find the threads on NILIF (nothing in life is free) and TOT (triangle of temptation, for feeding) and apply these concepts from day 1. Keep his brain occupied by doing little training sessions with him, check out the Training sub-forum, and maybe sign up for Obedience training with a club to keep him busy and, learn how his little brain works and enforce the bond between him and you as pack leader. Be consistent and don't let him get away things as a cute puppy that you don't want him doing as an adult. Don't stress too much, it will be fun!! So exciting :)

What time did you leave? I didn't get down there til quite late today, about 6, so we missed you! Let us know next time you come :)

From what I've been reading each season a bitch has where she isn't bred takes a toll on her body because of the hormonal changes. Their cycle isn't like ours, their body actually reacts chemically as though they are pregnant each time even if that aren't. Repeated cycles without pregnancy damage the uterus and can lead to pyometra and maybe other things? I'm definitely no expert but have been reading in preparation for deciding what to do with my girl Quinn :) Males don't have the same issues so there is less health risk keeping them entire.

Just to add more to why I find the training bond so rewarding - from a baby puppy we have a bond, and in day to day situations I'm confident that my pups are conditioned to listen to me. In training though, both they and I are learning new things every session so I need to figure out how they learn in order to work with them effectively. So glad to be back at training with all three :)

So I'm putting this thread in General rather than Training as I thought it might be interesting for new dog owners or people having problems... As I've said on here before, Saxon, 3 yo Poodle x, is my first ever dog. He came to me very young (6.5 wks old) and was very bonded from day 1, but fortunately we got into Obedience training, we got through the levels to prep for trialling stage, and it was through the obedience that we really learnt to read each other, communicate, and I learnt how he learns best and both of our strengths and weaknesses. With the younger 2, Riley and Quinn, training has been hit and miss until now. We are still closely bonded but just being back in formal training with all three, in a positive, fun environment has been so great!! All my dogs are young and I'm still learning about dogs in general but I gotta say, if you have the chance to do some sort of training/sport with your dog, it's pretty worth it *thumbs up dude* FYI - Quinn and Riley are going through the Companion Dog levels in prep for obedience trialling, Riley has also just started Flyball and Saxon is starting Rally O, all with me obviously :)