Sharna3

I'm willing to try anything!

It is called being a responsible and caring dog owner, too few people are willing to do it and those that do are so rarely congratulated. I see the outcomes of irresponsibility almost daily so take a pat on the back for trying your hardest and caring about your fur kids "Good on you"

Thank you

Hi Sharna-

Sorry I can;t reply in detail at the moment- I'm about to leave to pick my dog up from the vets

Just wanted to say I have looked after your dogs at the kennels you use, and we havn't had any issues with them not getting along (that I'm aware of)- and they aren't even fussed about food etc. So it may be something about how they are relating to you as a pack? Dogs always act differently in a different environment when their owners are out of the picture

Hi Boxagirl,

That's very interesting ... I would love to isolate what the main cause of this is so I can work on it! Any other thoughts etc. you have would be welcome?

have you considered DAP diffusers... may assist in defusing the anxiety.

New environment appears to have unsettled the pack order and there is a bit of a struggle going on. Try not to interpret the actions using human judgements..ie one of the dogs being an *hole or whatever they are merely being dogs.

H

Yep - we had DAP collars on them and a diffuser when we first moved up and have just reordered collars (should be here tomorrow). I have no idea but maybe they were OK when we first moved because of the collars / diffuser. I'm willing to try anything!

Thank you everyone - I do appreciate all the replies.

I do take a little heart in the fact that there have been no serious injuries as with his size our Mastiff x could definitely inflict them if he was so minded. That said - its still not acceptable.

We are already on top of watching their behaviour - resource guarding (yep we are a resource to them now too so we are working on that) - looking for body language ie flat ears, stiff tails, tongue flicks etc., all with the help of our behaviourist. They are fed separately, and were right from the first signs of a problem.

I am hoping that the move is a big factor and that if we monitor them and manage them they will settle back down - it may seem I'm jumping the gun bringing up rehoming but its just something that I am thinking about as an option if it turns out it is the best thing for the dogs . Its not our plan right now. Our plan is to keep working with the dogs and our goal is for us to be a happy pack of four again :-)

So - it all started when your sibe was resource guarding the mastiffX then took control.. and now he is instigating the fights, and the sibe displays anxiety when he is around.

Is that it in the condensed version?

Exactly. And it seems that anxiety is misinterpreted by him OR he's a complete a**hole and seizes the opportunity to hurt her when she's at her most vunerable. But judging him by his behaviour previously with her, with other dogs and with us, I can't see that. But I have to consider it.

Sometimes dogs don't get along and sometimes a management plan can't work practically. My dogs are my family but if I had to permanently separate them it wouldn't work. I simply wouldn't be able to spend enough time with each and give them the life that I believe a dog deserves. Others are different and deal with the separation, but it isn't for me.

Maybe seek a second opinion and then have a good, honest think about whether you can execute a management plan for the rest of their lives. Often things are good for a month or two because we're extra careful then let our guard down then BAM!

If you get to the point of rehoming one of your dogs - and sometimes it is easily forgotten that there isn't anything wrong with responsibly rehoming a dog as long as everyone's interests are catered for - you'd need to think about:

* who would be a better rehoming prospect (personally, I'd be very wary of rehoming a mastiff x that had been in a number of fights because I'd imagine a lot of undesirables would see this as appealing).* what kind of home would best meet their needs, and vice versa

* what kind of home you can provide the dog that stays (ie what is best for their needs too).

Good luck. You are in an unenviable situation. I hope they are being kept separated until the situation is resolved?

Thank you :-) A second opinion is tough as we live in an isolated community, but I am going to try our local canine club.

As to the choice of rehoming, from a practical POV, the Husky, though older, is definitely the 'better' prospect in terms of size, breed, behaviour. The Mastiff I would worry about for the exact reason you mention, plus he has a lot of allergies and his size make him less of an attractive prospect to genuine families. That said - would we blame him for having to give her up?

*sigh* I am SO hoping we manage to bring this to a peaceful, happy solution that includes keeping both dogs happy and healthy and with us.

And yep they are kept seperated with some monitored contact.

A behaviourist should be able to offer a little more insight than that. Sometimes dogs just don't get along, but that is often to do with one dog more than the other. Did they give you a management plan? I wouldn't be happy to pay for a behaviourist only to be told both dogs are 'good' and one might need to be rehomed.

Oh, ok. Yes - sorry, she's given us lots of insight I just was trying to keep my OP from being War and Peace. The initial trigger was the Sibe food guarding and she attacked the Mastiff x. So then he learned that from her - unfortunately she thought she could guard his food too, and then he went her.

The last major fight they had before 'peace time', it only stopped because the Sibe finally submitted - I couldn't seperate them. If she'd stay submissive, I am sure it would be OK, however the latest fights it seems she displays what is I feel is defensive behaviour - he approaches, she turns side on, lowers her head and looks at him sideways. He then stiffens - if she took this point to drop to a submissive position I think he'd walk away however she stands her ground and he then must take that as a challenge and he attacks her.

She's quite anxious and he is quite confident. We are being as vigilant as possible and managing the triggers - but its being made more difficult by the triggers changing

We are also trying lots of positive reinforcements, behaviour mods, etc. Hoping it works.

My 2 bitches who had been best friends for 5yrs had a horrible fight which nearly killed one of them. They were 5 & 6yrs old. I love both and would not consider parting with either dog. So i keep them separate using toddler gates and crates when indoors, and if one is outside the other is inside. Ive gotten used to it and while its a hassle its better than the alternative. I exercise them separately too. Its now over a year later and there's been no further incidents as they have never been together without some kind of barrier between them. The golden stays inside while im at work, the kelpie cross is outside unless its too hot, then shes crated indoors in the aircon or in the bathroom behind a toddler gate. I know they miss each other but i cant risk them having another fight. The next fight might kill the kelpie. I have 2 large male dogs too that get along with both girls so they each still have a playmate and someone to go on walks with.

Yep this is where we are at now - we are keeping them seperated eg one in one out or in seperate rooms. Its a bit of a pain for us but I agree its better than either them fighting or losing one of them. The problem with this though is that the Sibe's anxiety levels are still quite high, whenever she can see the Mastiff x, even through a barrier, she starts to display anxiety and I hate the thought of her next seven years being stressful on a daily basis :-(

We are still working with our behaviourist and have hope that these two may still resolve this behaviour but it was inevitable that the last resort option of rehoming one of them has to be considered. Aside from how heart breaking this would be for us - the difficulty is trying to work out who to rehome? Do we go with our inital heart reaction and keep the dog that we had first who has been with us for years and years? Or do we look at it from a 'who could be more successfully rehomed' perspective?

Would appreciate advice from anyone who's had to consider this horrible option ... I know every situation is different but just looking for any sharing.

Thanks.

Your behaviourist should be able to give you more insight into the behaviour and what might be triggering it. With that information you can then decide whether rehoming is the right thing to do. Then, only if one of the dogs is suitable to be rehomed you need to think about what sort of home would best suit the dog.

What has your behaviourists advised? Maybe you need better help with this?

We are working to identify the triggers, but they keep changing with every instance. As to her advice, she has raised this as a last resort - she has met both dogs and thinks they are both good individuals but as she says, sometimes two dogs just don't get along, and it may not be an 'issue' of either dog, but a personality clash. When you say "Maybe you need better help with this?" - what do you mean?

So, we have 2 dogs. Female Husky - Jazz, 7.5yrs, had her for 6.5 (got her as a rescue @ 10mths). Male Mastiff - Harley x, 22mths, had him since he was 6 weeks. (Yes, I know that's too early, long story and not the point). Both are sterilised.

We got Harley as we had lost our Rotti and Jazz was starting to fret. She'd always had a packmate, and after a few weeks alone she started to get very mopey and depressed. The dogs got along brilliantly until Harley hit about 14mths. They had 4 fights over the space of a month, the first one instigated by Jazz 100% and the other two more of an even fault thing. During this period Harley got sterilised and that, plus our efforts at behaviour mod and we also went to a very good dog behaviourist, seemed to help immensely and the 'pack' was fight free for months.

We've just moved - 6 weeks ago - and the fighting has abruptly returned. They were fine the first 3-4 weeks then have had 3 fights in the space of 10 days or so. All of these fights seem to be the result of Jazz becoming defensive and Harley either misinterpreting OR taking the 'opportunity' and he then attacks her.

He has a good 5 inches and 25kg on her, so its no fair fight. He is not inflicting serious damage on her physically however she is definitely becoming more and more unsure of him which is perpetuating the cycle.

We are still working with our behaviourist and have hope that these two may still resolve this behaviour but it was inevitable that the last resort option of rehoming one of them has to be considered. Aside from how heart breaking this would be for us - the difficulty is trying to work out who to rehome? Do we go with our inital heart reaction and keep the dog that we had first who has been with us for years and years? Or do we look at it from a 'who could be more successfully rehomed' perspective?

Would appreciate advice from anyone who's had to consider this horrible option ... I know every situation is different but just looking for any sharing.

Thanks.

So, we have 2 dogs. Female Husky - Jazz, 7.5yrs, had her for 6.5 (got her as a rescue @ 10mths). Male Mastiff - Harley x, 22mths, had him since he was 6 weeks. (Yes, I know that's too early, long story and not the point). Both are sterilised.

We got Harley as we had lost our Rotti and Jazz was starting to fret. She'd always had a packmate, and after a few weeks alone she started to get very mopey and depressed. The dogs got along brilliantly until Harley hit about 14mths. They had 4 fights over the space of a month, the first one instigated by Jazz 100% and the other two more of an even fault thing. During this period Harley got sterilised and that, plus our efforts at behaviour mod and we also went to a very good dog behaviourist, seemed to help immensely and the 'pack' was fight free for months.

We've just moved - 6 weeks ago - and the fighting has abruptly returned. They were fine the first 3-4 weeks then have had 3 fights in the space of 10 days or so. All of these fights seem to be the result of Jazz becoming defensive and Harley either misinterpreting OR taking the 'opportunity' and he then attacks her.

He has a good 5 inches and 25kg on her, so its no fair fight. He is not inflicting serious damage on her physically however she is definitely becoming more and more unsure of him which is perpetuating the cycle.

We are still working with our behaviourist and have hope that these two may still resolve this behaviour but it was inevitable that the last resort option of rehoming one of them has to be considered. Aside from how heart breaking this would be for us - the difficulty is trying to work out who to rehome? Do we go with our inital heart reaction and keep the dog that we had first who has been with us for years and years? Or do we look at it from a 'who could be more successfully rehomed' perspective?

Would appreciate advice from anyone who's had to consider this horrible option ... I know every situation is different but just looking for any sharing.

Thanks.

Hey, Lavendergirl, I'd guess you aren't a groomer? I did it for years and some dogs are absolute little shites and some are big shites!

That's often why the groomers get the job 'cause the owner cant be bothered to teach the dog to be handled and groomed. My big mistake when I started was letting one owner stay while I did her 'precious', snappy, snarling little dear. One day the owner had to go to the loo up the street, dog got a good shaking, plonked back on the table, roared at and it was 'nearly' an angel after that lol.

In other words you traumatised the dog. You are exactly the type of person I would not want within a mile of my dog and there are plenty of groomers like you. If you could not handle the dog tell the owner you are unable to take the dog for grooming and why. You have no right to abuse the dog.

ER... I smell "troll" ... Lavendergirl, your posts have been unnecessarily harsh and reek of deliberate antagonism. Uncool. Unless you have a constructive point... Please refrain.

If he's allergic to chicken avoid eggs as well. You can try rabbit. Adding olive oil helps and you can try adding goats milk to his meals as well.

Hmm having tried rabbit. Olive oil / goats milk is something I could try for sure.

Defintely go your Omega oils. Great for conditioning and will help with his allergies as well. I've been using Omega 3, 6 & 9 from Natural Animal Solutions. Alot cheaper than Vets All Natural and got great results for my girl.

I was adding fish oil, I will look for the Omega oils, sounds like a multi benefit solution to me.

You need to up the fat content of his diet. Roo mince is very lean.

Oily fish would be a good way to do it. You could also try duck or turkey.

I'm hesitant to try another protein, plus they aren't particularly easy to get. But oily fish I will try because I know he tolerates fish.

Thanks guys, I really appreciate it. This forum is great, made great by its members!

can he eat minute/rolled oats? adds weight to my lot quickly soaked and some livamol added.

I could try rolled oats... I think the VAN has them in it... What's livamol and where would I buy it?

The other thing i need to keep in mind is that I'm moving to Port Hedland soon and it's very remote. So need products I can get over the net.

I go thru pookinuk.com.au - it's a flat $5 to a lot of places and pretty speedy delivery.

If he was ok on the Eagle Pack sardine you could try giving him sardines or other oily fish ? We feed raw tuna steaks as well as sardines. Ours also get eggs sometimes and a spoonful of natural yoghurt,I would be really careful though if he has multiple allergies and only add one new thing at a time just in case. I'm sure others will have suggestions,hope he picks up soon.

Hi Coogie,

Thanks :-) he does love sardines, but he eats so much... But tuna steaks sounds good - where do you get those? I took him to the vet today... They just suggested mixing dry food in with the mince because the only other thing they could think of was chicken... Which he can't have. Frustrating! But I will mix the EP into his food at least til he puts his weight back on. My poor boy has dropped 4kgs. I feel so terrible.

It's so sad but for rotti's I'd say 10 is the golden goal... Sadly, anywhere from about 8 onwards this breed is considered "senior"... The cross may help or hinder, depending on cross with what? And the overnight... Definitely hear you there! My beautiful boy was fighting fit until he hit 9.5 then literally his health changed in a week. That said, as long as shes happy and eating/drinking, no pain, she could be around for years yet! Enjoy your amazing girl x

Hi all,

I have a 19 mth old English mastiff cross.

He's allergic to chicken, beef, lamb and pork. He was on eagle pack anchovy and sardine, we switched him about 6 weeks ago to vets all natural and kangaroo mince as we wanted to see what impact, if any, a RAW diet would have on his environmental allergies (yep, has those too).

His allergies seem to be calming which is excellent, but on the negative side, he seems to have lost weight, I figure either a final growing stage or it's the leanness of the kangaroo.

Can anyone suggest what I can feed in addition to his VAN and meat, or should I just increase his meal size?

Any thoughts suggestions would be lovely.

Thanks.

Dogs really are the best people.... Xxxx

For me... With my Harls, it's morning time, when he comes into my room and gently nudges me to say "wake up mum, it's breakfast time!" and insists on a sleepy cuddle first... How lucky are we, to be loved by dogs ...

Hi All

Long time no post, hope you can help me.

Our Mastiff x 'puppy' has started displaying some negative behaviours and I want to bring in an expert because the few things we've been doing are not helping. Plus I want to make sure we're not doing something that is making it worse.

Basically - him and our Sibe bitch have had 3 fights now and the last one was really quite full on - and though I realise part of it is challenging for pack position, I want to be able to set the pack hierachy in a passive was as he is now 50+kg and the sibe is only 26kg. She is also now a little fearful of him (no surprise there) but not fearful enough that she has accepted a position below him!

So - would like recommendations of decent behaviourists in Perth, if you know any?

Thanks in advance all

Same for us. Our dogs are outside sleepers unless its windy. Or cold. Or hot. .....

Anyway - we tell them "Bedtime", and take them out for a wee, then back in and its "on your bed" and they understand play time is over etc.

No set bed time though - its just whenever we go. Lets face it, they sleep whenever they want anyway!

I have never owned a traditionally docked breed but my brother has always owned boxers and his last pup came from NZ because he wanted a docked tail - also have friends who bought their boxer from a BYB so they could get the docked tail

Isn't that the scary thing though? that ppl will go to BYB who will dock inhumanely, because breeders - who previously did it properly - now won't because they are decent, registered breeders?

I had a docked Rotti and love the breed tailless ... that said, it wouldn't stop me from owning the breed again with a tail.

Although my mastiff x has his tail and its a weapon of mass destruction and he does hurt him a lot as it whacks around, so sometimes I look at him and think would he be better off docked. Its contentious!

Hi All,

Does anyone know of a company in Australia that converts ashes into gemstones? I know a few businesses in the US that do, but I can't risk sending Bastian that far away from me ... so hoping someone can help me with a place here in Oz???

ZiwiPeak is supposed to be a top food. Haven't really heard anything negative about it.

Can you not buy the Eagle Pack online? My little itchy dog does well on Eagle Pack Holistic as well.

We were buying EP online through Pookinuk - but they had consistent issues with supply, and trying to get an update from them was like pulling teeth. So then I end up on the phone to every Better Pets & Gardens store I can think of, as City Farmers don't stock it, and driving all over Perth to pick it up.

Funnily enough - visiting Geraldton this weekend, had a browse through BP&G and they had 6 bags of the EP HS Anchovy...so I bought half their stock.

If I can get it... I will stick with the EP, as he likes it a lot and it works, and just supplement with raw roo ... but wanted some thoughts from others so I have a back up plan if the EP keeps being impossible to find!

He's on the Canidae Salmon at the moment but I had to buy that online - does anyone know a retailer in Perth that sells it?

Did you receive my PM re Canidae agent?

I did. Completely skipped my mind when I wrote that note. Your PM was fantastic - lots of great info - def going to try a few of those places. Thank you so much for that~

Thanks all :-)

Roo he can have but the challenge is finding roo meat that isn't mised with beef / chicken / lamb. A lot of foods just have 'offal' as an ingredient too, or 'liver', which doesn't help. The ProPlan one sounds good but the 'animal fats' concerns me.

Yes - he's been great on the EP Holistic Anchovy but its just too unreliable.

He's on the Canidae Salmon at the moment but I had to buy that online - does anyone know a retailer in Perth that sells it?

I can always fall back on the royal canin hypoallergenic but if I buy that it just means I don't eat for a week!

Regarding raw: considered it - but what can I feed him? I looked at BARF etc. but all their varieties contain multiple protein sources, eg their Kangaroo BARF contains beef too. So not an option.

Also looking into a NZ produced food - ZiwiPeak .. they have a venison version - any thoughts on that?