Things

Well sure if you knew confidently it wouldn't correct itself, but if it was only slightly out at the time and you were pretty confident it'd fix itself after some time. I dunno, just speculating :)

I guess if the breeder was intending on letting the pups show they'd hang onto them for a bit to see if it corrected itself before registering them.

By showing is it just assumed you're intending to breed, or do people do it just for fun too? I remember my mother used to show dogs years ago, but never bred. In which case if the jaw corrects itself after time and the dog looks perfectly fine, not sure why you shouldn't be allowed to show (but perhaps not breed) it. Interesting anyway .. I guess you also get the smaller regional "just for fun" dog shows, too.

What if the jaw does correct itself after time? I mean fair enough it's probably still not desirable for breeding, but can you "re-register" for showing (just for the fun of it)? Sorry for the threadjack

My pup at the moment is exactly as you describe, around lots of people he'll stick like a magnet, when walking down the street he'll sorta be on and off, then around other dogs he just goes insane. But upping the rewards is definitely the way to go. I make my own liver treats and go through about 2 livers a week just rewarding him to walk nicely. As a result though he walks without watching where he's going, just staring at my hand the whole time :laugh:. Interestingly enough my father works in defence, and says when he sees the dogs in training they do exactly that. However you don't really notice the subtle differences in their walking style. When he was younger he'd drag for sure, but now, even though he does still like being out ahead, I don't have to tense my arm at all to keep him back, he kinda just keeps that slight bit of tension there and sticks with it. If he knows I have a treat he'll stick to my side quite reliably, walking perfectly beside me. As they get older though I'd imagine the food dependency will wear off a bit. My boy doesn't care for toys at all, but he'll do anything for food :)

Who says what you can or can't do with your own dog? :)

Yeah I can't wait to try the IDC harness out. I got it from dogify which seem to have decent prices, and free Aus shipping, though pretty limited in colours. Will work on the velcro patches at a later date :D

I'm just at the stage now where he doesn't consistently pull, but still easily gets distracted. He'll walk nicely (although clingy) to my side if he knows I've got a treat for him (he's extremely food driven, lol), but gotta start somewhere I guess. A lot better than he was anyway. Hopefully though he's actually getting the idea and won't start up again on a harness.

Not really practical to be lead collar/harness free in public though

Yeah I just bought that same harness after seeing people here recommending them, hopefully I chose the right size though :D Do you use them for just regular walks around the block too? Did you train them to walk loose lead with a regular collar first? Did they start pulling again with the harness?

I've just bought a harness for my boy for a few of the reasons you mentioned. There has been a few times where I was struggling to grab his collar, so the whole handle thing seems useful, but also because where I attach the lead to his collar has ruined a big patch of his guard hairs from rubbing when walking. I'd be interested to hear about what the risks are too.

I think I'll hold off for a bit and sus it out first - I have also ordered a harness as his lead on the collar is near enough giving him a bald spot from the rubbing! But harness also makes it a bit easier to grab him if I need to, instead of trying to find the collar in his fluff :)

Yeah unfortunately I'm finding Townsville doesn't really have many options. The dog parks are basically just fenced off areas inside normal parks. Canberra is on the list of places I'd like to live. I've lived in Melbourne before (before I had a dog) and there were a few good parks, the people were nice and generally had control over their dogs, but it's a bit too big a city for me (though I lived in the outer suburbs which weren't too bad). Canberra is kind of a mix between the awesome cold climate, not as dense a city, and the outer suburbs would be a beautiful place to live. Although the bushfires are a bit of a worry - but we get cyclones here too occasionally, can't win

One thing you missed, what size(s) would you prefer? :)

I think the real answer is basically .. as much as you're willing to do. My Sibe is perfectly content with a brisk walk around the block or esplanade in the evenings, a few games in the yard, and will just lounge around most of the day. If I'm going out I give him a bone or some other food thing he can go to chew on, which keeps him occupied for majority of the day, as a result he doesn't jump the fence, he doesn't bark, he seldom digs holes, and his destruction extends to a $12 sprinkler I left laying in the garden. However, some other people will say that huskies need to be running 24/7 to be happy, and will tear up your yard, destroy your house and jump fences unless you go for a 5 hour run every day. It depends so much more on the personality of the individual puppy than breed characteristics IMO. You could get a dog that's jumping off the walls constantly, or one that's happy to lounge around. If you have a preference there's a good chance the breeder will have a rough idea which puppies are more active than others (of course you have to be weary of health issues too).

Thanks for the reads, of course I'm not going to do something that is detrimental to my dog or anyone else's, either physically or mentally, but I do feel he could use more socialization with other dogs. I'll probably end up doing an obedience course with him anyway, but dogs need non human friends too :)

He has been to puppy classes and I was able to recall him without a lead around the other dogs, but it was a very controlled situation. The puppy class seemed to lack socialization a lot. I have seen him playing with a much smaller dog, and he was in no way aggressive, but he forgets how big he is sometimes. I wouldn't trust his recall in a place like a dog park, but on the other hand it's really one of the only places with such distractions I could teach him. He walks on the side of caution if we pass another dog while walking, but he's fine with humans/bikes etc. He's just so eager to play so I want to try find a playmate or 4 he can get along with.

Ah yes, good point. Thus why I was asking about maybe restraining him for a while until I see what others dogs reactions might be? A lot easier to control him when he's not being chased :)

Yeah, though no signs of sexual instinct yet, he still pees like a puppy too :laugh:

No, that's the problem, I only moved here a couple months ago, so I need to find him some friends

Manners around other dogs I meant He has no problems around people, but I really want to expose him to more dogs.

Holidays are over now so should be OK in that regard. There is a park just around the corner that I take him to pretty often, I went out and bought a 25m length of rope which I just tie him to and let him roam/run on and practice recalls. It's not so much I need to give him more exercise or a large space to run, but I don't think it'd hurt him to learn a few more manners around other dogs too.

As long as there's treats involved and no major distractions, pretty good. But that's part of the reason I want to get out there with him, I don't really know anyone in the area. He grew up around a smaller dog and a cat and never had any aggressiveness towards them, but he is easily over excitable. I'm more worried about him trampling another dog more than anything :) He's around 8 months.

So tomorrow I was planning on taking my "pup" to a local dog park and seeing if he can make any friends. I've been to dog parks before with other people and all has generally been fine and the dogs having a blast, but I have heard some stories as well. How do you go about "introducing" the dog? Stand inside with the dog still on the lead until you feel he's "comfortable" or? If you have a larger dog and there's a smaller dog in the park, do you wait until they leave or just be cautious etc? Just don't want it to be a bad first experience :)

Makes me so glad we have a way of letting them go without any pain, suffering or knowledge of what happened.