Scarlett Dog

Not planning on missing playgroup- it's her only real chance to play on leash with other dogs (especially since she's been kept quiet after being desexed) The plan was to head to Woofstock early, stay for a couple of hours and head back for playgroup. As soon as Scarlett's in the car she's asleep anyway. It depends on the weather :confused:too

Don't take it for granted that he'll stay that way. As RSG says, many bull breeds grow less tolerant of other dogs as they mature. we have no intention of reducing the amount we socialise her. We are aware it's an ongoing thing. We have met a number of adult dogs who aren't tolerant of younger dogs

Whites Hill/Camp Hill is ALWAYS busy and lots of people just sit down and read the paper rather than watching their dogs. Not great. We tend to find the dog parks no one goes to. Highgate Hill has always been quiet, Wakerley was quiet too. We've taken Scarlett swimming @ Colmslie, with her being prone to sensitive skin i wouldn't let her swim in the Brisbane river for a while, there's still lots of debris and stuff around.

i was thinking of going but didn't want to race around before 12:30 playgroup ;)

wowsers! how can i do that before he is fully vaccinated?? Vets will tell you not to socialise until 16-18 weeks (after their final vaccination). From all the research I did as long as you're around vaccinated adults or puppies who have started their vaccinations you should be ok. Just avoid places where they can pick up parvo etc like dog parks. We weren't counting but i'd say we probably got close- i think the actual number's not important, just try where you can. We took Scarlett everywhere with us. She didn't have to play with every dog, just meet them. We had pre-school Saturday, went to friend's places with dogs )who we knew were vaccinated), went to pet stores, hung outside shopping centres and thankfully our training group has a Sunday play group for puppies (the main reason we chose them). We decided if we wanted her to be able to do something as an adult, we'd start doing these things as a puppy (this includes being around lots of dogs, children, crowds). I'm happy to say we have a very social (almost) 7 month old BT.

I've seen that pic on the facebook group for pets that have been found after the floods. I thought one of the two dogs in the pic had been reunited with it's owner?

I'm not a fan of the dog whisperer. Has anyone seen My Best Friend's a Bear?

My suggestion, arrange as many puppy play dates as possible- Pre-school is a great place to start meeting other dogs and people. We were told that 'bull breeds' should meet 80-100 dogs before 16 weeks. It's tough!

i've used it since Scarlett was old enough. All my previous bull terriers have had major skin problems thanks to fleas. I have never found a a flea on her and she's had no side effects

I switched from the Snooza pet futon to the D1000 and it's fantastic. It's tough enough for my bull terrier and super comfy (nice and cushioned and doesn't flatten quickly like the futon). It's really easy to wash too.

yes, we often get comments like "she's very well behaved, for a put bull". My husband gets quite short his response recently it was "She is a very well behaved dog, her breed isn't relevant. But if you must know she is not a put bull, she's a bull terrier." As if we'd ever consider taking a HA/DA dog out where there's plenty of dogs & people.

Scarlett started at almost 13 weeks (the previous class started the week before we got her). I've seen 8 week old in class and I'd say IMO 13 weeks isn't too old from a training perspective. From a socialisation perspective it's never too ear;y if all dogs are vaccinated. You can always start with some of the basics yourself.

Scarlett has struggled at times with distraction. We use raw kangaroo fillet. She will do almost anything for it. We use it when we're out and other dogs are around. A little messy for us but well worth it

I know it's hard to be tough with such a little puppy but they are much smarter then we give them credit for. If he is hungry enough he will eat when you offer them the same food they got in the past. If it goes on for too long you can always get a quick vet check if it makes you feel better

I wish I had know this before Scarlett was desxed two days ago... Poor baby HATES the cone

People ask me if Scarlett's a Pit Bull. When I say she's a Bull Terrer they often think they're the same breed. Aaah no moron, they are not the same breed

We've been told that our pup shouldn't do more than 10 minutes at a time... nothing to say you can't do multiple lots of exercise through out the day. 6 months was when we were told we could start doing longer periods, so not to damage her growth plates or cause her muscles to develop too quickly.

It's worrying how 'fashionable' some dogs are. We had half a dozen blue SBTs in our puppy preschool.

i was at a dog park (which is a race occurrence of me but no one else was there) and a guy and his small foxy type came in. His dog was snapping at Scarlett's face and carrying on (the poor girl was so confuses, she's used to polite dogs!). Thankfully the guy was responsible enough to turn around and leave with his dog. He apologised "he gets like that sometimes".... and you're taking it to a dog park, why?

oh that's such a scary thing to have happen. I think even if I read what to so I'm not sure how great I'd be under pressure. Panic central no doubt!

thanks everyone

We are fortunate to have a large deck and outside laundry. Depending on the weather we have section of a small part of our yard that connects to the deck/laundry. That way she has somewhere to toilet or lay in the sun but plenty of shade/shelter. We just made sure there's no where to get stuck or hurt herself and no icky plants or anything like that. We spent the few weeks getting her used to the area and spending more and more time out there by herself. She's only home alone for 5 hours and even when she has access to the house she still likes being in her own area.

Hi, I've just started on shaping with my bull terrier and she loves it and we have had more success than I'd expected. The thing I've found difficult is how to break it down into really small movements and where to click (I'm trying to avoid confusing the poor puppy). I've read 'When Pigs Fly' by Jane Killion. Has anyone else got any suggestions for other good books on clicker training & shaping? It's not really about teaching her trick but making the day to day things easier.

I'd never crate trained any of my previous dogs- so glad I did this time around. Toilet training was a breeze, no separation anxiety when she was left alone, no problems if she's having a sleepover somewhere- her bed goes with her. Scarlett loves her crate, it helps when her crate is in an air-conditioned room in summer too!

We certainly don't want to put her in that situation again. It's just to know sometimes until you're in the midst of it! They seem to be of the opinion that if our dogs keep meeting it will get better but from what we saw it would seem the dogs have a few issues. I'm happy to tell them the truth about it not being good for our puppy- I just don't want them to take it personally or think we treat our dog like a pricess or something. We're just trying to be responsible dog owners