SpotTheDog

At a glance: Work on integrating him with your cats. Not all dog/cat households can achieve the harmony that Sunnyflower describes, but as long as you're supervising their interaction, time together will help their bond instead of hinder it. It won't happen overnight but gradually they'll become less interesting to him, and they'll also learn to stand their ground, and he'll become less interested in them. (I have a system in my house: cats on the bed, cats on the couch, dog on neither. The cats sleep in their own room at night and a babygate separates that room from the house during the day so they can go in there and it's a dog-free zone, so they have space away from him.) If you take steps to integrate them, it WILL get better. You may never have a setup where you can 100% trust them - I would never trust my dog outdoors with my cats, for instance. He's out and they're in; they're out and he's in. (Right now they're having their evening mooch about my cat-proofed yard and the dog's asleep on the floor behind me.) If you work towards integrating them they'll gradually get used to each other. It takes time, and you have to reinforce the rules - and those rules are two-way: dog never allowed to chase or pester the cats, and cats never allowed to swipe at the dog (justified retaliation notwithstanding - if the dog's being a total pest and gets a smack on the nose before I get there, I don't give out to the cat - but there are plenty of occasions where the cats will have a go at the dog when he's pretty much minding his own business but just got too close to them in passing, and I will give out to them for that.)

dobesrock I feel so much empathy for you and for what happened, and for what your family had to experience. If my dog turned on one of my cats I don't know what I'd do. There's the whole inter-species thing but again there's that thing where I know, for a fact, I could never look at him or trust him the same way again. Whatever my decision would be, I have nothing but respect for you for taking the responsibility and wearing the decision you made for your own dogs. You made it, you own it and you'll wear it and your grief and your heartache and the shock and the guilt and the 'what ifs' for a long time to come. Others may not understand but to me that's still a commitment to your animals and I admire you for keeping to it.

Ozpetshop is where I got mine - a large, in red, $145. Added a bag of treats to qualify for free delivery (and it's not like I don't use them!) I then bought a cheap single doona in Ikea for $18, doubled it up and threw it over the Snooza for winter. The only drawback of the bed is it's noisy - when Gus turns and drops on it it makes creaky poofy sounds. The single doona over it quiets that. He also *loves* it. It was like he knew it was his bed the second I took it out of the box it was delivered in. Gus isn't a huge dog, he's medium-large at about 30kgs, so he can both curl up in the centre of the bed, and stretch out flat on it. It lives in the corner of my study. Was considering buying a second one for the garage and dog-run when I'm out during the day - his bed out there is a combination of all of the previous beds he destroyed - on a few layers of cardboard is the frame of a trampoline bed, with pieces of old carpet folded over it. I put towels over that occasionally and he tolerates them for a day or two and then carries them out into the dog run and wools and shreds them.

Snooza make a lot of different beds - I bought Gus the D1000 after he ate his way through anything made from plush, foam or fabric, including trampoline beds (though they were the standard heavy material ones, not the BFBs. He hasn't done anything to the D1000. The material is really heavy duty, like someone's woven a fabric from plastic instead of material. It washes up well and he likes it. I shopped around and got my on the internet for about $140 delivered I think, versus about $300 in the petshop...

Boots and a garden hose are a fair bit different to bullets, don't you think? Yes, absolutely. (And I'm probably a better shot with boots and a garden hose than that cop was with his sidearm.)

Souff, I wanted to genuinely ask about this - my bitsa dog has a long, whippy tail (steel cable around the knees if he catches you with it, and a coffee table clearance device if ever there was one). Is the anti-docking law so strong over here that if my dog were to mangle his tail, I would not be permitted to request that my vet perform a controlled amputation under anaesthetic? It seems perfectly logical to me to request amputation of the tail to, say, a 1/3 length if it has been badly damaged, because logically it will difficult to facilitate it healing what with it being banged off everything when the dog wags, and his ability to reach around and bite at it if it itches and so on. What happens in an adult tail amputation?

That's just a trainwreck. The poor beagle is incredibly frightened. The blue and white dog is boisterous, rude and obnoxious. The fawn dog looks anxious. It displays less aggression towards humans than the blue dog, but is more full on with the beagle and reacts hard to the beagle's distress. It looks like it'd rather be somewhere else, but it's waiting for the blue dog to tire of harassing the beagle and leave first. The bloke with the garden rake does absolutely nothing except stir the blue dog up. Scared beagle, scared owners, scared fawn dog, and highly strung blue dog in the middle of it all who, while wagging madly, still may go off like a firecracker given the wrong stimulus. Wouldn't like to be dealing with it myself, but think it's unfortunate the cop chose a 'shoot first questions later' approach. Would have far rathered seeing animal control out there with a couple of catch poles. Saying that, if I found two uncontrolled dogs in my yard harassing my pets, my first instinct would not be to make an effort to be understanding of the interlopers, especially not if they were stressing my pets out. If they were just in my yard and behaved as displayed in the video towards me, I'd be happier trying to win them around with food / leashes etc. However if they were in high drive and one of my pets was out there and at risk, I'd be more likely to be out with boots and the yard brush and the garden hose I'm afraid. (Saying that, if they were pestering Gus, I'd have more faith in his ability to manage the interaction. If they were harassing one of my cats I'd be out there roaring like a train and swinging the nearest thing to hand.)

Have no idea if anyone else has read this, makes interesting reading... http://www.totaldog.co.uk/dog-articles/tal...dangerous-dogs/

2 mins 05 seconds, he's cycling along and his dogs are all ignoring the furiously jumping and barking dog whose owner can't recall him. Made me laugh uproariously (and a bit sheepishly - coz if I had to compare myself to one of the two humans in the video, it wouldn't be the dude on the bike! )

I'm really glad this topic can be discussed so openly and without judgement on these forums. There are other forums where if you said you weren't bonded with your dog people would howl that you were cruel and horrible and so on. Forming a bond with Gus has been really difficult for me. I can't quite put my finger on why - perhaps it's because he brought more disruption and chaos to the household than he did positive contributions. He didn't come bearing companionship, just work and disobedience and hyperactivity and just when you finally thought he might be getting better, he'd have a day of obnoxiousness that made me want to cry and kill him all at once. However we've done classes, and obedience, and some basic training on straightforward commands, and I'm going to enrol for the pre-agility foundation classes that teach you to teach the dog to focus on you. He is definitely getting better - definitely. We have morning cuddles and evening cuddles when I get home. I force myself to be patient and understanding with him and more often than not these days he rewards my efforts with good behaviour and affection and that's really wonderful. He also seems to enjoy his life and that's important to me. I still don't know quite why I felt like I did though - I'd been assuming it's because Gus is my first dog as an adult and I have all those childhood memories - which, importantly, are childhood memories of adult dogs and the disconnect between those memories and my reality was too much to deal with. It's been a rough eight months since I got him on a personal level, and I often felt like I couldn't cope with the amount of additional work Gus embodied. It doesn't help that my cats presented such a contrast - my cats are unusual because they're very well bonded with each other and with me, they're quite obedience to commands (in, out, on, off, up, get down, stop hanging off my flyscreens like a monkey, stop licking the butter you horrible creature, so on). My cats are also quite intuitive to my mood - they provide cuddles and comfort if I'm low, and mischief and play if I'm in a good mood. For months, Gus's only input into those scenarios was to come barelling through demonstrating precisely the opposite emotion. He'd be boisterous when I was exhausted and chilling with the cats, and when I was in a good mood and they were playing he'd become anxious and clingy. Now though it's markedly different - he chills when we chill so we all chill together, he plays when we play, if the cats are boisterous and he's not in the mood he just sleeps at my feet, if they're chilling and he's feeling playful he'll indicate without being a total pest and he and I will head out for a game so it's all good. Like most others here though, he's wanted for nothing - best food, best meds, best bed, doing all the training and caring by the book. In fact, I'm glad there is "a book" as it were, because I can't imagine what direction our relationship would have gone in if I didn't have access to all the information and services that are out there for me. If something isn't working I can just go to the internet and get advice and options. It's helped me solve everything to date. If I didn't have that, perhaps he'd be one of those dogs tethered in the back yard 24x7? I don't think I'd ever do it to him, but it's given me an insight into possibly how those tethered backyard dogs end up with the life they do - no connection and no work must only result in no improvement and no life.

Hey SecretKei, that's a real pity. However I still think you can have a conversation about this with the vet without necessarily having a fight about it. Unless the vet is a difficult human being (which does happen sometimes to be fair), I think you should book an appointment for a checkup and a conversation about vaccinating, and explain your concerns. There should be no barriers to civil and reasonable discourse unless he's a very argumentative person (or you - are you a very argumentative person?! :p ) You've obviously done your research on this. Come at him from a scientific angle and support your concerns with the facts of your dog's past history reactions to vaccination. I have two cats here who I won't be vaccinating again. They had their kitten shots and reacted worse each time. If I were to vaccinate them with an F4 or F5 shot now, I'd have to do it on a weekday and book a veterinary appointment in advance for the following morning, at which point I know they'll need an anti-inflammatory painkiller and an anti-histamine shot. My yard is cat-proofed so they don't roam, and when I go away I pay a daily housesitter so they don't have to be kennelled. However I brought it up with my vet and explained my concerns, and they agreed to work with me on it if I ever wanted to try again. They even offered to break the vaccine into component shots to be administered on consecutive days so we could identify precisely what was causing the reaction. It's good to know I have that option if my circumstances change and I have to vaccinate the cats due to travel or boarding or a higher chance of encounters with other cats. Bring both of your concerns to your vet - both the clinical issue around the vaccine, and the unforutnate knock on effect that has on your opportunity to train at the truly excellent dog club (and hey, big-up the club and praise the trainer to the vet as you've done here - everyone likes to hear it when their business is doing a good job). You may find the vet agrees to the titre testing to fit within the club rules, or works something else out with you. Just remember to play the game. Don't have this conversation over the phone, because if you do, you're depriving the vet of both the money for the vaccines and the money for his time on the phonecall. If you do this during a consult, you're basically paying him to have the conversation with you - and I assume the training class isn't free, so you're also paying him to talk to you about the options around you spending more money with his business, essentially. Oh - and don't say "I've read on the internet..." when speaking to anyone clinical in any area of human or animal medicine if you want them to do something for you. Not ever. Nah. /shakes head furiously.

Ummm, situation-specific stuff (though you may want to look it up in your specific state or shire to get the precise financial figures:) Registration fees are cheaper for a desexed dog, and the owner is a pensioner. If the dog escapes and is impounded, the reclaim fee will be cheaper if the dog is desexed, which is again relevant because the owner is a pensioner.

Absolutely falling off my seat at the cuteness.

I do think a BM could be a very sweet companion for a 6 year old boy, but only if the mother steps up and controls the dog, trains it, feeds it, commits to vet care, so on, so forth. However if she doesn't want the dog this is definitely a disaster. Look at the first absolute basic with a bull mastiff - that's an awful lot of dogsh*t to have to pick up out of your yard so your six year old doesn't step in it, especially for a woman who didn't want the dog in the first place...

Heh me too. One decoder for the Gus hound (yes, I know that's not an Asteroid belt, I can change my mind if I like). Hound's first birthday is 1st May so this is his present.

Oh HEY, I have a FANTASTIC idea, how about you post both versions to me and I'll post back the one that doesn't suit him? :D (Will make a proper choice this week )

I absolutely believe that dogs are predisposed to personality traits depending on their breed. However the way that predisposition manifests itself in urban mythology is the problem. A predisposition towards a personality trait is absolutely not, in any way, shape or form, the same as a behavioural guarantee. There is no guarantee that a german shepherd will attack a burglar just because it's a german shepherd. There is no guarantee that a golden retriever will be an excellent family dog with your small children just because it's a golden retriever. There is no guarantee that a pitbull terrier will suddenly turn and savage your children just because it's a pitbull terrier. Many people don't seem to be able to see past breeding for characteristics - look at all the greyhounds shot because they won't chase, all the labradors who don't make it through assistance dog training, the shepherds who fail police dog training, and the pitbull terriers tortured and abused to make them more aggressive because they just aren't savage enough in the fight ring. Find a breed you like. Make yourself aware of the predisposition of your breed towards certain personality traits. Train and nurture with those traits in mind - either encouraging them, or discouraging them, or planning to thwart them from the outset (e.g. roofed dog run for your husky, or fence capping to prevent them leaving the yard - install it on day one instead of hoping and waiting until you come home one day to an empty yard and an answering machine message from the rangers - if you're lucky.)

I am. Wide asteroid belt. But can't choose between brown leather with aged brass, or chestnut leather with shiny brass. (Gus above.)

My cats show more awareness of time of day than the dog does. The cats become extremely fidgety from 9pm onwards, though I estimate this is entirely to do with hunger, as if someone else has fed them earlier in the day they don't display the same edginess. Something I find quite amusing is their response to the cue that is me closing the lid of my laptop. I usually have my laptop on the couch with me, as I speak to overseas friends and family using Skype every evening. When I'm done I close the lid, and usually switch off the TV and get ready for bed - hence if I close the lid on the laptop, cue six cats rousing from various positions in the living room and trotting off down the hall to their bedroom.

The origin of the breed did have that in mind - the two breeds were crossed by Wally Conran for a blind woman who lived in Hawaii and wanted a guide dog, but had a husband who was allergic to dogs. Conran's aim was to breed a dog with the size and temprament of a labrador but with the hypoallergenic and non-coat-shedding aspects of a poodle - so all the benefit of a guide dog, but without the sneezes. By definition that would be a dog suitable for a job that neither the purebred lab or purebred poodle would be suitable for. However, BYBs and puppy factories latched onto the concept of the 'large non-shed family dog' and, in spite of the fact that at least half the pups won't be non-shed, the breed took off like a rocketship. But look at them - labradors: even-tempered but potentially single-minded dogs who can show great loyalty to one person but also appear completely oblivious to everyone and anyone as they go about their business during the day, and poodles - highly intelligent dogs who can be like an emotional sponge for negative atmosphere in a household and can also be highly strung and anxious. Get the right cross, you have an even-tempered, highly biddable, medium-large, loyal, highly-trainable non-shedding hypoallergenic dog. Hooray! Get the wrong cross, and you get a medium-large, single-minded, oblivious, intelligent to the point of mischief, anxious, highly strung dog that sheds all over the house and costs a fortune to groom. Both of the people I know in my immediate circle of friends and acquaintances who own labradoodles - well they have the second version.

I shall pass on your compliments. Have to think about it. He currently wears a brown leather staffy collar, but outgrew it more quickly than I expected - got it at six months, went through four holes on it until now, plus it doesn't suit him, he's too much of a soft sap for pointy studs. Needs something more playful and stylish (like his owner). (Or actually like his owner would aspire to.) Training collar - got a pic, or do you just mean the wide collars or is it a martingale type design or somesuch? (scuse ignorance) /edit: durrrrrrr nevermind just saw them on the website Thinking to be done!

Ah, sounds good. All that's left to do now is make a decision on what collar And pics? Why naturally...

I've been coveting these since the day I saw them, but have a question: Gus was, to the best of my calculations, born somewhere between 1st April and 1st May 2010, which makes him almost a year old. Measuring his neck with a tape I think he'll come in around 46cms for a collar. Question is, he's been steady around the 27kgs mark for the last six to eight weeks. Given he's a bitsa bull-arab type, I can't figure out if he's done growing or not. Obviously I don't want to buy him a collar he'll grow out of, and at this stage probably a little leeway will be enough, but I'm still not sure. Thoughts? Anyone?

Had this brought home to me at the weekend - hubby snapped the leash on the hound on Sunday morning and took him for a walk (I'm the dogwalker, hubby works away and nearly never walks the dog so I thought it was kinda cool). Way back he walks into the servo for the Sunday paper and a can of softdrink. He didn't want to tether him outside so he brought him into the servo shop with him. They told him he couldn't have the dog in there. He put the paper and the drink on the counter and said 'Okay I'll just buy these and then we'll go'. They wanted him to get out first and then come back in to be served. Thankfully common sense prevailed and they allowed him purchase the two items and clear off out, but still.

Celtic theme - the Celtic nations were the Isle of Man, Ireland, Scotland, Cornwall, Brittany and Wales, so you could choose traditional names from any of those places. There is no 'celtic' language, so to say something is the celtic word for a particular trait or colour or whatever is a misnomer. Irish and Scots gaelic are similar - you can recognise words in either language if you speak one - but Welsh and again Cornish are markedly different. It depends entirely whether you want to spell words phonetically so they are pronounced properly, or spell them properly so they are actual words, but risk mispronunciation, or use a phonetic interpretation of a name (for instance - Kelpie, the water sprite, isn't a true scots gaelic word, because neither scots or irish gaelic have a K in their alphabets - it's a phonetic bastardisation that probably comes from cailpeach, the scots gaelic word for a young domestic animal used to refer to heifer / colt / bullock etc.) Anyway...