Salukifan

Rosie is a 4 year old pedigreed German Shepherd dog from working lines rescued from a high volume breeders. She has spent much of her life on a chain, which had become embedded in her neck. Rosie was rescued with her litter, all of whom have found homes. We are now seeking a foster carer or adoptive home that can help Rosie make up for the lost time she spent as a breeding dog. Rosie will require socialisation and training. She has a sweet nature and is a playful girl but can become protective of people she has bonded to. Some ongoing training to deal with her resource guarding of her owner may be required. Her ideal home would be with an experienced dog owner or adult family without cats and possibly with an exisitng dog to serve as a companion. We seek a home where Rosie will be fully included in family activities, allowed inside and treated as one of the family. She will blossom in the right home.

As an experienced dog owner, I read those kinds of posts and conclude the rescue has no idea about dog behavior. That's the challenge I suppose. Generate interest from the right prospective homes. I'd be wanting a factual description of the dog. Her circumstances alone are enough to pull heartstrings on me.

Did you read the conclusion?

I think the conclusion to the article sums it up nicely: Denial of risk is not the way to deal this. Analysis of risk vs benefit is.

And the question no one ever seems to ask is WHY? It's not magic that's involved. If I fitted a dog with front leg hobbles it would 'walk nicely" too. This is the same principle applied to the dogs shoulders.

If he's wearing the harness loose, it sounds like it won't work as it should when needed. He's also very likely to be able to get it off. For situations like this, one lesson with a decent trainer would give you a good head start. There is a reason horses are led by the head, not by the body - control the head, control the animal. A harness gives a big dog more scope to pull. Much as I dislike halts - i think a halti and a flat collar might give you better control (and confidence) than you have now.

This. The creator of this situation is obvious - shifting the blame elsewhere is typical of people who think laws don't apply to them. If this post was aimed at getting sympathy for the dog owner, that's a fail. If the dog had gone the ranger, then again, the blame would be on the dog owner for creating the situation.

There are better options than these harnesses - that's the point of the article. They are promoted as "kinder" than traditional control tools. Fact is they aren't and it's another factor people need to consider when selecting how they walk their dogs. I agree that any walking is better than leaving a dog in the backyard 24/7 but the benign reputation these harnesses have is undeserved. That was the point of my post. The fact that the RSPCA now promotes these as the default option of anyone walking their dog is deeply concerning.

"good"?

I have this pet theory that a lot of animal welfare people actually have very little knowledge about the animals they advocate for. This kind of advertising supports this. I've gritted my teeth when poor canine behaviour is explained away by the phrase "he's a rescue". No folks, he ceased to be a rescue when you adopted him.

The lesser evil AND training. Too many of these "training aids" go on the dog for life. How often do you see double leads on dogs in these or on haltis. The combinattion that does my head in is these "tools" and extender leads.

If I were looking for a BB, I would go straight to Laurie and Mel Edwards of Eddybul BB's. Their website is here If they don't have litters planned - they will know who does.

Depending on the country of origin, the process to import a dog starts up to six months from the date of import. Any idea you can flit to and fro any country but NZ needs to be rethought. Unless you are Johnny Depp Whippets are pretty tough. Yes, they like chasing balls. Returning with them is optional but some do. They love long walks and zoomies on the beach. Some love to swim - mine do. My reservation with a Spaniel and beach walks is that they do take a long time to dry and water and spaniel ears can be problematic - they were bred to work upcountry for the most part, not for water work. I have a friend with working ESS and they have far less coat than the show ones. They aren't crazed exercise addicts - they have an off switch. I have never met a Cocker Spaniel that wasn't fond of the sound of its own voice - they "twitter" and they bark.

What do you mean by typical and atypical... one that conforms to the breed standard for temperament and one that doesn't?

Love them to pieces but if I was after a friendly, social able dog with others, they wouldn't be my pick.

Whippet!!!

Anyone using, or advocating the use of "no pull" harnesses, needs to read this article Training dogs not to pull on the lead is bread and butter work for dog trainers. My advice if you are not achieving success in a group class is to get a recommendation for a decent trainer and pay for a one on one lesson. I expect you'd have a "eureka" moment within 10-15 minutes of DECENT instruction. There isn't a tool on the planet a motivated dog cannot pull on. Training using the correct tools is the key to success.

Please read this article Dr Christine Zink is the "go to" sports vet for advice for many dog sports people. When she came to Australia some years back, she was already expressing concern about the delilitating long term impact on dogs of ANY harness that restricted shoulder movement. Anyone using or advocatng the use of such harnesses needs to read this article and reconsider IMO. As a short term control option they may have their uses but you should not be walking a dog in one all the time.

Yep, they do but mine have been set up in my "dog room" and left there. I don't use them for travelling, trials, shows etc. And yes, awesome price. Lots of folk I know use these. EM, if that's a spaniel in your avatar, these would be big enough for all but Springers I think.

I have four I bought from Deals Direct. They are fine and I haven't had any issues with quality. That said, they are static - I don't fold, move or set them up in different places. These are the ones I have and they are currently on sale

I prefer "my dog, my responsibility". That's less popular. When "breeders" take responsibility for health testing, for careful placement of pups, for taking them back when things don't work out and for helping with rescue more generally, then we might begin to talk about "my choice".

I hear lemon trees like dog wee. :)

No argument here. It's what I use too.

Oakway, Royal Canin Junior IS puppy food. This is their feeding guide

It might be the quantity rather than the food. Try reducing one meal to a snack and see what that does. I only switched my boys from junior to adult when I had trouble maintaining their weight on the higher fat food.