furballs

This is awful, I hope the guy and his dog were ok. I haven't experienced many aggressive dogs where I go but people tend to band together and tell people with aggressive dogs to leave. This is the kind of story that makes uneducated people think that a breed is aggressive, which is so wrong. My Rottweiler got bailed up by a chi at our dog park and she didn't know what to do... :p Moral of the story though is if that chi had carried on like that with an aggressive dog things would have gotten nasty. Dogs of ALL sizes should be controlled to avoid these situations. And some dog owners, well I can't say what I really think of some people on this forum, suffice to say that some people should be desexed at a young age.

Wow what beautiful dogs you all have and great stories you've shared for Tinka and Woosie Maverick - what a star Hector - very handsome Zero - you are beautiful (go the dockers) Angel - what a clever dog :p Sharon and Dusty - what a gorgeous pair you are

I have known several people owning an excess amount of dogs, 3 or 4 under the same vet not all registered with council due to exceeding a 2 dog legislation, but they seemed to get away with it and not like the vet had dobbed them in. I guess the vet wouldn't know if they had permits for 3 or 4 dogs anyway???. Personnaly, I think my vet would turn a blind eye to the 3 dog rule if they know it's for a good cause They are really nice people and I know from previous experience that they haven't dobbed me in to the council A good vet loves and cares about animals...........why would you go to one that doesn't

Not really! I got sick of trying to find clickers all over my house so we had the cupboard installed. Now I know where everything is.... except I still can't find a clicker when I want one because I never put them back in the tub after I've finished training! At least the rest of my dog stuff is organised. Maybe I could teach Zero to go and put the clicker back in the right box after we've finished our training session! I have two cupboards full of dog stuff and can never find anything :D

I have a wonderful dog, she is a Rottweiler and defied the odds by being an absolute sweetheart with other dogs even though my Border Collie attacked her when she was 10 weeks old. I foster pups and my Rotty likes to think she is their "mum". She is so big, but so gentle with them. I have never known such a fantastic dog before. Everyone who meets her loves her. Would love to hear other amazing dog stories Does anyone else have a dog they are really proud of?

I am ashamed to say, I fed my German Shepard Pal tinned food for the first 8 years or so of her life. She was a very healthy, happy dog and lived to be almost 16 years old. I only feed my dogs top quality dried food or homecooked food now but looking back, she was the longest living dog I've had and it certainly didn't hurt her in any way.

Shell - you are amazingly organized OP - you can always donate your stuff to dog carers....

You've only been a member of DOL yourself for a month! And whilst yes it is frowned upon buying a dog (or any animal) from a pet shop doesnt make the request BS! It very well could be but again who are we to judge unless we have eveidence as backup! It could be that the OP'er has been reading DOL for a while or that they have never read it. At the end of the day coming onto DOL and ask for advice is so much better than just dumping it at the pound or just dumping it full stop. To the OPer contact some of those links that Jaxx's buddy posted. Good job Jaxx's buddy. Aziah I'll pm you so as not to derail thread. Sorry, only been on here for a month, I've read a lot of threads and thought that making assumptions without backup was ok seeing as it happens so often here. My mistake.

I've just been reading this post, it sounds to me like someone trying to take the p*ss, they joined up yesterday, created a thread on rehoming a dog and bought it from a petshop. From what I've seen on here those are both big no-nos to DOLers. Just my observation.

If only little Goldie understood she was going to a new loving life :D Poor little thing, I'm keeping an eye out for her as I live close to the airport.

I haven't used a crate before either, do you guys use the cage type? And if so, do you put something over it so they feel safer or are they happy with just a cage with a bed in it?

I would never tie my dogs up where I can't see them either, I used to do it years ago and one day came out of the shop and saw a bunch of kids walking off with my dog, lucky I came out in time or she would have been gone

Hmmmm... time the councils started employing rangers with at least some basic knowledge of dogs...! Or at least a brain I love your Doberman x Shephard, looks just like my pure Rott

Research shows that being desexed too young can cause Thyroid problems, my dog has an underactive thyroid which was only diagnosed last year. Since she's been on medication she is a lot happier. No she hasn't been diagnosed by a behaviourist as she doesn't show any signs of what she's about to do, it just happens so quickly without ANY warning. I'm not sure if a behaviourist would be able to give advice without seeing what she does. I did have a particular dog training organisation come around to deal with her and they told me to call her, then when she comes throw things at her so she won't go near the other dog.....this sort of put me off spening another $500.

My Rotty is definitely creative, when she wants something, she will think of new ways to try to get what she wants. I am forever moving things so she can't get to them because just when I think it's out of her reach, I find it on her bed This morning she was up at the front door playing with the door knob with her paws, obviously wanting to go out for a walk. She also moves the dog beds around the house sometimes, not sure if that counts as creative or just plain naughty

This is appalling, the poor pup. My pup excreted pure blood in a gel type form when she was about 10 weeks old and threw up. I took her straight to the vet and they were all saying, oh, that doesn't sound good and looking at my like that was the end of my puppy. They immediately gave her a parvo test just to be sure, it was negative so they put her on antibiotics for a severe gastro infection. Why is it so hard to find a good vet, I'm lucky I have one of the good ones, but you hear so many stories about bad practice. Why would someone become a vet if they don't like animals? Anyway, big hugs for you pup and I hope everything turns out ok (and you find a good vet).

Of course not, and the reason mains aren't always of good quality if because some breeder with no idea on what they're doing has got themselves a few dogs on the main reg which they've bred because one is male and the other is female. Even if the dogs they've obtained are of reasonable quality, unless they put it with something that will compliment it, you could end up with poorly conformed dogs. exactly

That is certainly strange that your puppy preschool doesn't include dogs on the first week. I'm no training expert so couldn't really comment on your vet's way of doing things. I would just want to introduce my pup in a positive way as much as possible

Why should it be put on main if its good quality? Pet owners/newbies to the breed are just as entitled to a 'good quality' dog. A dog should only be placed on the main register if it's going to a responsible home for showing and maybe breeding down the track. Main register pups are not always of good quality, as a pet owner you would like to think that you are getting a very well bred dog, doesn't happen

I disagree - puppy pre-school is not all about socialisation. It is about teaching the owners the basics. The one I went to had us all sitting a distance apart and our puppies sitting quietly with us - the instructors would talk then we'd do an activity and then more talk etc. In the last couple of sessions the puppies were allowed to have some playtime (with instructors matching dogs). The idea behind this is that if the puppies are allowed to play from the start then they do not focus on the activities as they think puppy pre-school is all about play. You have said as I have above that a small part is the owner learning things. My own experience at puppy preschool was that the puppies were nervous and over the 4 weeks they all learnt to play well with other puppies. We also learned how to walk on lead, sit, recall but at the end of the day this can all be learned at dog training. The OP wants to know how to make her puppy like vets, puppy preschool at a vet where they can have loads of fun and interaction will certainly achieve this.

Puppy school should be about the puppy getting to socialise with other pups. A small part of it is the owner learning how to do simple things with the pup. Also make sure they have a requirement for all pups to be vaccinated.

Yes, absolutely what SBT123 says. I always spend a lot of time touching my dogs all over, rolling them on their backs, putting my hand in their mouth, etc, etc so they won't feel any extra stress when going to the vet. We don't have appointments at our vet so we just have to wait until they're ready to see us.

Thanks. I do intend to take it to puppy school! The vet does offer it. Yeah, its only about 5 mins away so im hoping they are still good. Haven't been there since 07. They had a lady vet who was very good. Maybe you could take your own treats for the pup and ask the vet to give it to them if they don't normally do this. I've had some really "unworthy" vets in my time but the ones I have now are fantastic. Google good vets in your area.

My BC attended puppy school at my vet so she loves going there. My Rotti just loves people so loves going there anyway...lol. My vets always make a point of patting the dogs to make them feel relaxed and always give them a treat. They also get a treat when we are paying the bill. End of the day, try to take your dog to a nice vet

I understand exactly what you are saying which sounds fairly normal behaviour as a dog matures where submission grows into greater confidence and some behaviours appear for the worse. All I am saying is so often the first recommendation is to desex or being entire is blamed for the behaviour change. Maybe being entire contributes to the behaviour, but the behaviour is trainable. Some believe unless the dog is desexed the behaviour cannot be improved which I disagree. I don't know if a dog running away from a potential scrap is always the safest option, as weakness and flight to a dominant dog becomes prey and can sometimes make the situation worse. Confidence can avoid fights often where the attacking dog thinks twice when the other stands it ground and a fight doesn't eventuate. With entire males that normally get on well together, the only time I have seen serious aggression with dogs that are essentially friends have been in the presence of a bitch in season. I just feel that too may behavioural problems are blamed upon entirety which many of these issues IMHO are more training and management problems. Well, in my experience, most fights come to and end when one backs down and submits to the other. So again, I'd rather have a dog who takes 'flight' from a fight with a dog I know nothing about, than want to take it on. Most dogs fight for hierarchy, not just to kill and I think in the moment of confrontation, if a dog was wanting to take on Orbit, him running away submissively is going to be the best course of action as by acting submissively, the other dog is more likely to feel its won by chasing Orbit away, and leave him, rather than seeing him as a challenge, and then suddenly as prey?? It's true that most dogs will scrap it out until one backs down which normally happens pretty quickly. My BC was desexed at 6 months and attacks other dogs, not just a normal attack, a very scarey psychotic attack with so much anger that the other dog doesn't see it coming and doesn't know what to do. The other dog is usually laying on is back yelping but she keeps going until I remove her jaw from them. I believe my BCs behaviour is due to being desexed too young, she has developed so many health problems which, after reading about it, seem to be caused by young desexing.