Steph M

Yes. I've heard of people misusing crates or locking dogs in ones way too small. Ever seen a dog with a flat collar that's cut it's neck? Or a check chain left on that's caught on something? Everything has the potential to be misused.

YES! Absolutely! As said a few pages back one is redundant without the other!

Gus! Not cool bud. I figure they break on the way down....not a smart dog.

But not every method works for every dog, and training the dog to walk on a lead and get out of the house is also in the dogs best interest. All I'm saying is I think sometimes we have to pick the lesser evil.

Gus swallows them whole.... :/ Only one of mine was smart enough to crack it :laugh: the others just walked away..

Way more eloquent than me, SG! Haha.

OK but the point is some people ARE training their dogs, using a front attach harness, whether you deem it right or wrong, its still ONE method which may work for some. Honestly if the harness is the difference between a dog getting out of the house for a walk to the park a day or not getting out at all and being crammed in a courtyard all the time I feel like the latter has the potential to be much more damaging on more levels. Not every training tool suits every dog, its said here often and it stands just as much. I can understand the concerns, and if they're not for you that's totally fine but there's been some very valid reasons for using them listed here.

We do work in conjunction with a trainer, but at the moment I use it as a backup as well as a training tool. I can't afford to be toppled at 39 weeks pregnant, but I still need to walk my beasts. Mostly Gus doesn't bother pulling but if there's a really good tree or a possum poo or a person looks at him and coos there's a risk I'll go over if he yanks me unsuspectingly on his collar, my centre of balance is whack at the moment. Haha. I have to say using it as a tool has done us immense good, it gives us a chance to catch and reward good behaviours and he doesn't really pull in it now, it takes the fun out of it, as soon as he goes on his harness he clicks into a different mode, whereas if I leash his collar he thinks its whatever goes mode due to some less than stellar training as a pup, I'll admit. The long term goal is of course to move into a flat collar but I feel no guilt at all using a harness for half an hour a day so we can still walk together. I don't rely entirely on it and see it as an endgame, it means I can reward him for being good and I don't have to panic if he sees something exciting because he's finally learning to check in for a treat rather than act like a knob, no mean feat if you'd walked him 6 months ago.

Are you trying to tell me you don't even get the sad eyes or purposeful sighs while you eat? What witchcraft is this?!

Guy sounds like a bit of a dickhead tbh, off lead dog, asked to leash it, refused and was arrested. Sounds about right. No idea whether he was bullied but sounds pretty fair to me. As for the car, stupid mistake but public demanding an apology? Really?

How about a really meaty brisket bone? More meat and fat than bone and the coles ones are usually pretty cartilage-heavy!

Same. I wonder if for some dogs who might not get walked at all without one that this is the lesser of two evils. We use one, Gus wears it when on lead for 30-60 mins a day, tops and I don't think it does him any real harm.

And using tools the wrong way makes them harder to use the correct way should you need them later. It never ever hurts to ask for help from a good trainer.

Ah! Makes sense, I guess what I was getting at (now I've thought a bit more and got a clearer idea) is that what most public people consider to be mental stimulation, IE a walk, a drive, a Kong or a quick basic training session might not be enough for a dog who really needs a specific job to do and has a lot of drive for a certain thing, even if you're at it for hours. I can assure you you do a lot more with your dogs than I do with mine! (admittedly not sharp critters) I'm looking out the window and my OH has somehow hauled Gus the flat coat into the hammock with him and I suspect both are staying there all day, haha.

But what if they don't have a job to do? I know that an off switch must be trained to some degree in most dogs. Can they be happy without significant mental stimulation or "work"? All dogs needs mental stimulation. It comes down to how intelligent the individual dog is. A smart dog will require more. (Regardless of breed) But there's stimulation, playing a game of hide and seek etc and there are dogs who have centuries of drive to work behind them that need that harnessed in some way. For example mine get mental stimulation from a Kong or a milk carton full of treats in the morning combined with a nice big walk in the afternoon and maybe a swim, they're pretty simple creatures and I'd tick that box and say they get enough stimulation for them each day, whereas if I owned an LGD or a really driven Collie I'd be failing them pretty hard with just that in a lot of cases. I don't have a job for a collie, or right now the time or energy to simulate that work. Long story short I'm thinking mental stimulation and work are two different things. You can fulfill one and fail the other.

Even if its borderline I'd probably still do it. Haha. My lot aren't picky.

I think everyone here has met a working dog who has perhaps not been trained to have that off switch, as they don't come preprogrammed in my experience. And no one wants to see a dog who needs a job left without one, that's miserable for everyone. Best to prepare for worst case scenario than best!

If not for weight I'd say a flat coat! Mine would looooove living nearer to a beach (or in a tent on a beach) but is just as happy to couch with his people...or any people... Admittedly not the most agile creature although there is at least one I've seen doing agility! Biddable, happy go lucky and easy motivated but alas a little heavy.

Oh I totally don't mind the joining in, we just stop the game and Gus has a play or a sniff and everyone goes on their way, but when they take off having pinched the toy and owner can't catch them that pisses me off. Plus if someone is up the other end of the park in a corner and you let your dog race across the park to join in I think that's poor form, ball or no ball.

Ooh ooh. I have one. Playing ball! Sometimes I use a toy to do some training with Gus or to play fetch when hes pooped and we are both drying off before hopping in the car, we pick a corner out of the way and do our thing. If your dog steals my dogs toy and takes off so neither of us can catch hom!/her and you laugh about how cute it is I'll get really crabby! Gus just looks sad, and if he were likely to react I wouldn't do it at all but toys are a large part of how we train and I shouldn't have to worry about you not being able to call your dog away from mine and his toy. By the same token, don't play bloody fetch in the middle of a group of dogs. Asking for trouble!

Great idea!

Our dogs are beasts with our fruit trees, apricot, apple, nectarine and lemon all get molested. As does the loquats and cherries that birds steal and drop over the fence... We used to have a walnut tree when we visited mum and they would quite happily crack them open and eat them too. Not ideal, but they seem pretty happy outside under a tree having a nibble.

Same all applies to our flat coat too! Haha haha!!

Well because of just that, I guess, nothing had ever happened there before, its an unprecedented event. You'd assume there was a reason for it? Anyone who's watched the news has seen streets cordoned off and its generally not out of spite or for fun. Cops probably could have handled it better but with a lot going on I guess something could fall by the wayside. Not ideal but if it were me I'd just take my dogs out for a coffee and realise I'm not the most important thing going on today.

And boohoo she couldn't get straight home, did she not think something bigger than her was going on? Cops don't just turn people away from their homes for kicks.