Steph M

I love walking Gus and I refuse outright to give that up. Our area is notorious for roaming dogs, I've never had a dog go for me until I moved here. I love the area in every aspect other than that. I get so angry that a few d*ckheads who can't manage to lock a gate put me off walking my dog to the shops or the local park, so I now get in the car and go to a nicer area. I'm not suggesting anything about where you live, I know nothing about QLD so please don't get me wrong, only going from my own experience, but if you're finding your own suburb impossible to walk in then it might be worth chatting to a few people and seeing where they go and which parks are good at which times. It might help you get in under control to have a few positive experiences too, is there a dog walking group near by or anything that might be doable? Meetup.com have a few pretty good doggie groups?

Lollipup, you are the master. Haha.

Gus gives his a hiding and throws it around, has left it out in the rain and all kinds of things and it's got no sign of a splinter at all. They're fab things in my mind. We got given a free cow hoof at the pet shop (actually, Gus pilfered it from under the treat stand and the woman wouldn't let me pay for it after he put on the cutes and started dancing around showing it off to everyone) but my god does it reek now. I want to throw it away when he's not looking, but I'm torn he loves his stolen good so much. Ick.

We started off on the RC, but found Gus didn't really like it and unless it was mixed with yoghurt he could give or take it, poop was good and he was growing well but didn't really like it. I wasn't overly keen on the stuff in it either. I changed him to the Artemis 'fresh mix' and I can't wait to get off it now. Was fine for the first few weeks, now all we get are sloppy yellowish poop but he LOVES the food. It's awful, I've tried less food, yoghurt but it all comes out the same and just does not agree. He is still growing fabulously and in good nick, but the poop is bad and wrong, and he farts so loud he actually wakes himself up and moves away from the smell, I kid you not. Both have been mixed with meat, offal, sardines or egg and his 'lunch' is now a big raw meaty bone, which means we're going through it even slower... probably next step will be the Holistic Select Large & Giant Breed Puppy. It's trial and error and my only advice is as financially sound as buying the mega bags is, best not to do that straight off the bat... Let me know how you go if you beat me to the change, the only thing I don't like is the beet pulp in the Holistic Select. Argh!

She sounds very sweet! I had no idea they were such a kiddie dog, sounds like she is already one of the gang! Lucky! Is your son head over heels in love too?

Gus (in a car seatbelt) was fascinated with out the window at 8 weeks old coming back from the airport, so needless to say now (still seatbelted in!) he loves to hang his head out the window and nap on the backseat. I daresay he would adore a road trip. Haha.

I wouldn't fancy knocking on their door terribly if the dog were going to answer... you were en route somewhere, you shouldn't have to stop and tell the owners their dog bit you. If the dog scratched at the door and they casually let him in, they probably know he gets out. I would be very surprised to hear my dog scratching at the front door. Not sure what the ranger will do, but you certainly shouldn't feel bad. It's you this time, a (so I assume!) healthy, able bodied guy. What if the next person isn't so lucky? If my dog bit someone I would expect the council around, I'd be pretty mortified too. Hopefully they get their butts into gear and confine the dog properly.

What about Ebay? Probably not top notch, but sure you can order a heap. Haha.

We met one at the park, her and her littermate were totally mad. Labradoodles I think. One was running about in circles yapping and biting the air and latching on to her owners jeans and her leash and being hard to handle in general, the other was standing next to the owner (on leash, thankfully) growling and taking snaps at other dogs and people, they started walking and she had her hackles up growling at everyone she passed. Could be circumstance as well as breeding, but interesting to have 2 such undesirable polar opposites from litter mates who were raised together. I got chatting to her (from a distance) while she was getting out of her car and we were heading into ours and trying to keep out of her way, next to hers and she said they were both nuts but she had committed to them now. They were 5 and she was saying she hoped they evened out at this age. Eeek.

Perhaps the local council too. If they're understaffed and over capacity that might warrant a nasty fine ;)

Where does the definition of good cause or reason lie though. Who decides a valid reason? I can't imagine a volunteer panel would come to much agreement in some cases and I don't like the idea of handing industry people such a power. There's a fair bit of nastiness and side-taking that seems to go round and that would have to crop up... What about bitches who get out and get themselves pregnant etc, or a roaming male who drops in? There's only so much you can do and I have a feeling it might just increase numbers of abandoned pregnant bitches by the general public.

I used the same Ebay store as Hank! Fab and fast, pretty cheap and Gus loves his though when he drops it off the bed when I'm reading I regret buying it...almost have a heart attack haha.

I just found this as well, old news but how horrific! http://maribyrnong-leader.whereilive.com.au/news/story/yarraville-dog-gets-in-a-scrape-at-salon/ Wouldn't touch it with a ten foot pole.

I would have thought hard about smacking her in the face had that been my dog. I'd heard some pretty awful things from a friend who worked in the Yarraville branch along the same lines. I will certainly be doing a lot of research before I board Gus anywhere around here. Thanks for the heads up, I didn't realise this person had more branches, let alone a new name. If it's not inappropriate, what is the new name? Just so I can steer WELL clear...haha.

I felt much better today when I saw a kelpie 2 metres away steal a woman's meat pie and was able to call Gus back from joining the fun. a) He didn't steal the pie, which in all honesty could have been any dog. Who brings a pie to the park and then tries to wave a dog away WITH the pie? b) He came back rather than sharing the pie with the culprit. It's the little things....haha. Aww, don't feel like that. It sounds like you are doing a great job. Hardly anyone is an optimal trainer. I'm not! FWIW, I gave up doing half the things DOLers say you should do because normal people are confused about it and the awkward discussions that follow are more trouble than they're worth. It's easier to just try to be as considerate as possible. That means you watch other people and adjust your behaviour to suit them. I usually find if I am communicative people are very willing to follow my lead and we make friends, both dog and human. At the end of the day we are sharing a space. If their dog comes over and sticks its head in my treat pouch while I'm training, that's okay, because I DID bring treats into a park and start doing interesting things with them, so I'm prepared for these very scenarios. It's a good training opportunity for us. Most people are apologetic, which I appreciate, but if we couldn't handle being interrupted I shouldn't be training in an environment where interruptions are likely to happen. I like your view of that! And you gotta have a sense of humour about these things, I suppose being too serious gets you, your dog or others nowhere. I've met a load of really lovely people down the park, and more than a few have offered me some pretty good tips and are openly helpful. If Gus is being a brat and not coming back, they will stop and wait rather than take off so I guess we're lucky in that respect, but I don't wanna push it too much! Haha.

Glad I'm not alone! We go at our own pace, but I get the feeling we're miles behind sometimes!

I usually find they sit pretty smartly for me when they have ascertained that I am carrying treats! Effective training is quite difficult for the average person. They are flat out getting their dog to walk nicely on leash and come back when called. They might not share the same definition of effective control as I do, but that's okay. I have high standards, and I am prepared for most people we meet not sharing those standards. They have their own standards for behaviour, and as long as they don't make life painful for us I'm cool. I don't remember ever needing a dog to sit within 8 cues for my peace of mind. At the end of the day, lots of people need to use dog parks so their dogs can run safely off leash. If that means we may need to be a little lenient in what we consider effective voice control, I am okay with that. I would not like to think of how many people and dogs would be excluded otherwise. Sub-optimal trainers need to exercise their dogs as well. You sound so much more accepting than some posts on here. I'll be honest, sometimes I read these threads and feel like a massive failure. Haha. I feel like I'm not following the right guidelines or definitions and I'm not where we should be at this age, but offline I'm thrilled to bits with how we're going. Gus is 4.5 months now and I happily take him to the off lead park daily and let him have a run and a play and a sniff, he's getting better with his recall but nowhere near 100%. I don't feel he's pestering anyone and have never had anyone complain, if he really decides not to listen, which is getting rarer and rarer, he's easy to catch and will happily be redirected after being shown a toy or treat etc, but it hasn't been much of a problem. It's a lovely fenced park with a core group of regulars and while he sniffs and plays I chat to the owners and everyone wins, he still recalls on my terms and we both get what we want. For 4 months he's doing incredibly well, I hardly have any problems now but wouldn't call him 100% reliable, but would say I had effective control most of the time, not always on the first go but we always get there. I'm a pretty major novice, and while we're getting into obedience when our local club has an intake next month, I don't want to feel like I can't take him out and let him be a dog in the mean time. If he was a real PITA it would be different, but we work well enough together for me to say yes, he's allowed off leash and when he comes back when asked it's like Christmas! I get right down and tell him how fabulous he is and shove food in his face and so far so good. I'm that loopy woman down the park, for sure. There's always one. So I don't know what my definition is, because as a novice/sub optimal trainer I guess my definition is different, my trust obviously is at a different threshold but I think that's part of why it's so hard to enforce laws like that, I wonder if there's a checklist or solid definition the council go by.

Gus has discovered with enough will he can get himself on the bed. The ultimate contraceptive! I feel that pain too. They're long lost siblings for sure!

Was funny, I was like a proud mother, it was funny to watch, like he had no control over it, it levitated of it's own accord haha.

Sleep humping, Aliwake! Nixon is the gift that keeps on giving, he sounds so funny! Nothing i've heard of, but I imagine if they can growl, run and chew in their sleep they can hump? Gus did his first leg-cocked pee today, at 4.5 months he's ahead of schedule a bit there. Here's hoping no humping for a while though...

Argh!!! Who lets a dog tongue kiss their baby. I know what goes in that mouth...and the dogs too! Haha, I kid, but really....

That would be so fab if it worked!

She could even be a flattie or flattie x.

Our flat coat gets all kinds of crazy guesses, and tbh a few people walk off thinking he's a 'black coated retriever' or a 'black golden retriever' etc because it's too hard to correct them on the run. Once we even got 'smooth curly coated retriever' Ooook. Lots of interesting 'what cross is he?' guesses too.

What a crock, if it's always been doggy and no one's been bitten I doubt the extra few hours will bring out the vicious man eaters. Plus, if your kid is terrified there's pleeeenty of other beaches about. The odds are definitely in his favour there.