Aidan3

I don't know much about common food allergens for dogs, or baking. I would like to bake some biscuits that have a long shelf-life, and that most dogs could eat quite happily. Shelf-life is the main priority. The flavour doesn't have to be too exciting, but palatable. Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

I've spoken about this with a lot of my dog behaviour professional friends, and it seems that herding dogs in particular seem to like the world to run a certain way. They appear to be fine with whatever is going on, then the arousal will tip beyond a certain point, then they use a bit of aggression to get everything back under control (often without doing any actual damage, but it depends a lot on how the other dog responds). Find yourself a competent professional (if you mention your area, recommendations will be given here) who will help you recognise and manage these situations. Once you're good at this, you can begin behaviour modification. What you try to achieve with this is to help him feel like things are under control and that you will take care of things for him.

Agree with this. x3 Even a faulty ballast in the fluoro light fitting can be a problem, we don't hear it but they do.

I would get him to a vet as soon as possible, but I just thought I might comment on the Valium - this is a really small dose so I would check that with the vet. I would hazard a guess the dog calmed down on his own.

When my old boy was fighting for his life and the damage to his brain made one eye go wonky and he couldn't turn his body around, he put an enormous effort into lifting his head so that he could look me in the eye with his good eye.

My girl is from working-lines, so she was never going to be "normal" by most definitions. On top of this, she hasn't got the ideal temperament for a working dog either. But she is special in the most genuine way, I love her dearly.

I think we should also add to this discussion the changing societal expectations of dogs. What does "perfectly normal" even mean?

20:00 - 25:00 for a more in-depth look at this

Suzanne Clothier highlights a dangerous misconception in the dog world. Dr Ian Dunbar (whom I respect and admire greatly) isn't the only person who makes this sort of off-the-cuff remark so I'm not sure that it was necessary to single him out, but the point Clothier makes is spot on. http://www.suzanneclothier.com/blog/perfectly-normal

Lessen the distractions for a while. It's different for every dog, but sometimes just working on simple things in the back yard can help. Or grab the leash, do all your "we're going out" things, but do some work before you actually leave.

I know, I really do. I have a hard time convincing clients to remain calm, some people find it really easy, others have a really hard time with it. It helps to be a psychopath

One poster said she kicked any approaching dogs, another agreed with her. Another claimed to use a riding crop, and clarification was sought on this. It's reasonable for the discussion to turn towards boundaries of acceptable behaviour. It's not a cut and dried issue. Neither of my dogs ever approach other dogs without invitation. One of my own dogs has exemplary manners and social skills, the other is reactive. We walk in off-leash areas daily and I've never had to use anything more than body language to prevent problems, but I believe this has quite a lot to do with my 'good' dog who will intercept and peacefully move on approaching dogs. Calmness is preventative.

Such as who? Big difference between hitting any dog within striking distance and what LMS did. Also a big difference between preferring not to put dogs into an aroused state by getting carried away and considering someone else to be "totally in the wrong" for doing so.

Whilst being pretty non-confrontational myself, I can think of several people i've met who wouldn't hesitate to punch you in the face for kicking their dog/s. Exactly. If I'm to accept someone else's right to defend their dog from an unwarranted attack, then they must be willing to accept my right to defend my own dog also. They'd want to be sure the defence was necessary and appropriate and that I agreed with their judgment.

Defending your dogs is one thing. Kicking or hitting any dog who gets within striking distance is another completely. I'm not sure if anyone is actually doing this (and I doubt it) but some of these posts read that way. Lilli, effective control means that someone can call their dog off. Not that they will. It would be very easy for someone to argue that they didn't hear you and therefore didn't realise there was a problem. I wouldn't be prepared to take that risk, the world is not always a just place.

Language isn't high on a dog's list of priorities, but sometimes it makes us feel better

My old boy changed, they tend to find what works for them (or what they hope works for them). If being submissive is working nicely for him, he'll keep doing it and it's really not a bad thing at all.

I wondered about that too. I picked up a dog like this once, after spending a night with him in my house I can see why he would have been dumped, but he was reclaimed very quickly by his fretting owners at the pound.

I have some of that tubular anti-fatigue matting that is often used on boats and in your grand-dad's shed. I also have it in the crates, doesn't stink up the car or get muddy and wet.

BH&G did a segment on aquaponics recently. The system they designed would have killed all the fish in short measure, if not from overstocking, from zinc poisoning. They aren't well liked on the gardening forums either.

City vets, if it is a hospital that has after hours service, are usually quite active at night. I don't mind leaving my dogs in at my local animal hospital overnight because they are checked, on average, hourly.

My GSD tried to eat a drinking glass. There was a lot of blood. My Golden ate a kid's poo.

I added a '2' to my name.

How old is she, kja? I would probably go back a few steps, it doesn't sound like she is earning the freedom right now so I'd probably use a long line until you get through this. If food isn't motivating her, look at what happens if you cut her morning meal in half, it could simply be a lack of desire. Or it could be that a different reward is more motivating. There are a lot of different things to look at. Cues, other things in the environment, difficulty. Keeping track of a few numbers might help, recording success or failure for every time you call her. You should get about 80% success, if it's anything below this, something is making it too difficult so you need to adjust your criteria.

Can you think of any other possible explanations for your observations?