parrotpea

great suggestion - tibetan spaniels look gorgeous :) Not a fan of cocker spaniels, but tibetan spaniel is definitely going on the list :)

She is most definitely not dog aggressive and I resent the inference that I would bring a new dog into my home if it was going to be attacked by my existing dog

She has been shown, and has regular contact with doggy friends, both at my house and at other peoples houses. Has never shown more than a growl in defence of food, she won't share, but she doesn't fight over food that I have ever seen. She normally eats her rabbits within about 3.2 seconds lol so there is no time for sharing.

She does not just have free reign to roam around. She is supervised whilst outside.

As I have already said, whilst supervised, I am happy for her to kill rabbits. They are a pest and an environmental nuisance.

I would appreciate constructive suggestions about how to train her re: rabbit hunting :)

If she growls in defence of food, rather than walk away from it, then she has shown that in certain circumstances she would be food aggressive. That's completely normal, but it does mean that you would need to keep her separated while eating from any other dog you bring home., in case the new dog didn't back down after being growled at, or in case she growled at another dog in order to eat its food.

Nobody brings home a new dog to be attacked by an existing dog, but that doesn't mean that a new dog will never have a fight with an older dog over food. Sometimes a prey animal caught in the yard can lead to problems between dogs.

The most constructive suggestion I could give if you are serious about teaching your dog the difference between rabbits and other prey is not to bother trying. If you were trying to train your dog not to chase any prey, there is help available, and management is the best and easiest way to stop this. Keeping the dog confined to a yard and exercised on lead. But to teach a dog to distinguish between different animals would require you to have close access to a range of animals for training. And that would not be ethical.

There are much better ways to eradicate rabbits from a property than to allow a dog to catch them.

Thanks for the clarification GM. Every time I have seen another dog growl, she does back away, and shows her belly. It is just that her two closest doggy friends submit to her that she tells them what the deal is and knows she can get away with it. And she is completely responsive to me around food, I can take anything from her, get her to leave it - unless she is in full prey drive, then it is about 50/50.

I am not trying to have her eradicate rabbits from my property, I have a range of rabbit control methods in use.

So in regards to your management strategy, in order to 'exercise' her prey drive, I need to work on getting her to chase a ball - which she is completely hopeless at!

Not a Springer :) The show lines require a fair amount of grooming and the field bred dogs are high drive and need serious work - otherwise they will hunt all day.

Thanks TSD. The reason Springer was an option is that my neighbours have one, from show lines, he is just clipped all over every few months and given the odd bath - he doesn't look fantastic lol, but he is not at all matted, just a bit muddy. He is absolutely gorgeous, and definitely a fairly low drive dog - hangs out with their free range chickens all day. He did go through a phase of wandering - but they sorted that out by giving him some exercise and shutting the gate.

I would seriously think twice if training isn't part of the deal,your current dog does things that are trainable

Training will also be required for any of the coated breeds & trips to the groomers.

What is your dog like around other dogs ??

Would she share her catch with another dog or fight for it??

The last I heard, showdog, fighting for it constitutes a form of dog aggression.

I also never said that training wasn't a part of the deal. I said that I wasn't willing to do *large* amounts of training. Please read my post before making your snarky replies.

She is most definitely not dog aggressive and I resent the inference that I would bring a new dog into my home if it was going to be attacked by my existing dog

She has been shown, and has regular contact with doggy friends, both at my house and at other peoples houses. Has never shown more than a growl in defence of food, she won't share, but she doesn't fight over food that I have ever seen. She normally eats her rabbits within about 3.2 seconds lol so there is no time for sharing.

She does not just have free reign to roam around. She is supervised whilst outside.

As I have already said, whilst supervised, I am happy for her to kill rabbits. They are a pest and an environmental nuisance.

I would appreciate constructive suggestions about how to train her re: rabbit hunting :)

bump :)

I don't mind her catching rabbits - so how would I teach her to differentiate between rabbits and echidnas? I wondered if it was a bull breed trait that causes her not to leave something alone if it is causing her pain. I don't know of any neighbours dogs which will hurt themselves the way she will - most dogs, if they get their mouth pricked by echidna spines, will back off, from what I have seen with friends and neighbours dogs.

Sandra I could totally see that happening....

OSS - that is good to know about the whippies.

donatella - Ruby is very good with animals she knows - ie, my two cats she is fine with, even if they happen to get outside, she knows them and is fine with them. One more than the other - one cat tells her in no uncertain terms who is boss, the other cat tends to be more playful with her and then occasionally ends up regretting his choice as she gets a little exuberant. She has never ever hurt either of them though, I think it's the ragdoll nature, that he won't tell her off at all.

Oh I love pugs clyde! Sounds like a pug would cope with Ruby then! I would be less worried about a pug getting overpowered by my staff. Ooh pugs are definitely on the list :) That's interesting about the shedding - why would the colour affect how much they shed? (With two medium -haired cats in the house already in the house, hair is certainly a consideration!)

Oh and I forgot to mention that it would be a predominantly inside dog.

I am currently thinking about adding another dog member to my family - not immediately, but in the next year or so. I have always had staffords, and have a two year old female currently. She has a VERY high prey drive! I also have two inside cats.

I moved to a large property about 12 months ago and have h ad a few issues with her chasing and attacking wildlife. She is a fantastic rabbit and mouse catcher, which is great, but if she finds an echidna, she will just bite at it, and tear her gums and lips up, and will kill it if I don't intervene.

So my very long-winded story is to explain that I am interested to know what kinds of dogs tend to have a lower prey drive, and less tendency to cause themselves injury.

I love snuggly, cuddly dogs. With low maintenance hair. I work from home, and have two young children. I am not keen on doing *large* amounts of training, but I do walk at least three times a week.

I am leaning towards whippet, pomeranian, cavalier, possibly a brittany or springer - a whippet does appeal to me the most, but I am a little concerned that it might injure itself going after a rabbit and running into a fence or something (I have read somewhere that can be a problem).

Persephone - i don't know if they gave her IV fluids, but they said to make sure she was drinking, and syringe water into her mouth if she wouldn't drink.

She's looking a bit perkier now she's home, has drunk some water and had a bit of chicken mince.

Just got the call from the vet after leaving her there this morning. Big stinky infection under the tongue and in lower jaw. No sign of an abscess thankfully. Looks like she's run into something or had a big knock to her central lower canines (? the ones in the middle) as there was a blood blister on the gum.

They've given her a big does of AB's and anti-inflammatories and hopefully she perks up a bit and starts eating and drinking in the next 24 hours so she can have next lot of meds and not get dehydrated.

Poor girl

Going to pick her up in an hour and get some roast chicken and livers for her. It's been over 24 hours since she last ate, and probably nearly that long since she's drunk anything. Fingers crossed she is happier once she's home.

Cross-posted with you emgem - from the little bit that she would let me look in her mouth I could see a blood blister on the gum of her lower jaw so some kind of mouth injury is likely - I'm on a property so plenty of sticks and bones around.

Called the vet and he seems to think with the smell and swelling its most likely an infection from something stuck in her teeth or grass seed and that unless she becomes distressed then to just bring her in first thing in the morning.

Thanks - I was just second guessing myself, I appreciate the replies

She also does not want to put any pressure on her jaw - she's not laying her head down

I just went to feed my almost 1 year old stafford, Ruby, and she is not eating her dinner. Of course this is very unusual for her, so I had a look at her, she is dribbling a bit, her tummy feels quite warm, and she is swollen under her lower jaw - just the front half, and does not want me looking in her mouth.

Her breath also smells a bit strange - what should I do? Should I just take her to vet in the morning - its 12.15 am here.

Has anyone heard this?

My Dad heard it on the radio and I wondered if anyone here has any further info......

I had a closer look today and could see what looked like a splinter tip sticking out, got the tweezers out - pulled - and out came an inch long whisker! I'd say that would explain it!

My 4 mth old dobie pup has a pea-sized solid lump on his muzzle - above his top lip, where his whiskers are. It's under the skin. no visible redness.

I'm going to get the vet to check it out early next week - there's nothing else wrong with him - but any ideas on what it could be?

I am so sorry to hear this I hope your babies are home again soon

I would think you will be looking at around the $300 mark for transporting the pup. I got a quote for sending a pup from Qld to Vic and it was $200.

Got my saturday numbers today but still no sunday numbers - they must be on their way though if you got yours tollers

How lovely

I haven't got my numbers for either day yet.

Anyone got their numbers yet? This is the one that was done through Ozentries right ?