BarbedWire

No digressing. Just a lovely and caring Grandmother does the best for her family and dogs. I hope you have lots of fun BUT we would love photos. what's Puppy's name? :D Thanks VM. Puppy is called Agatha. Sorry I don't know how to do photos, but she is seriously cute.

Thankyou for all the replies. Some of you are obviously very knowledgeable and I appreciate your taking the time to share you experience. I think it is all sorted now as I am more confident. Mainly I wasn't sure if my older dog's behaviour was bullying. I remember once at the dog park (I don't go any more) someone brought a young pup in and my older dog did the same thing and I was most uncomfortable about it, but the dog park numpties told me that the pup had to learn to stand up for itself. I took my boy home. This pup will be part of my extended family and she will be coming to stay when her family goes on holidays so I don't think two homes will be too confusing for her. I am telling her first family what the rules should be. The alternative would be that she spends the whole day alone as my daughter and OH work and their children are at school or in childcare. I often wonder how young families ever get a dog these days. Doggie people advise that young children should not have puppies which is probably the time when mothers are at home and can supervise a puppy. Once the children are older mother is back a work so then they also can't get a puppy because it will be home alone. I am just the grandmother helping out my family and trying to share with my grandchildren my passion for dogs. Sorry I am digressing and have gone off topic in my own thread. :D

Thankyou. When the pup goes home it is an only dog. My daughter, its owner, works four days a week so it will have three days each week in its own home. I am separating the pup from my dogs and leaving it outside a bit by itself, although only for about thirty minutes at the moment. It only came from its littermates last Saturday so it has had a lot happening over the last few days. I am crate training and house training it so it is being closely supervised. I expect to be minding it at least until January when it will be four months old. Thankfully my older dog is becoming calmer about the whole situation, so life is settling nicely. I think he understands that he is not allowed to be rough with the pup.

Thankyou. This is very useful. My older dog is also twelve but he is getting quite cranky about lots of things. I will keep them apart. I had thought he would be okay with the pup and I thought I might have problems with my younger girl but she is okay and mostly ignores the pup although she invited it to play chasie with her the first day it was here.

At what age is it okay for a child to be responsible for an on-lead dog? Our local obedience club allows child handlers from twelve years old. Sorry about your distressing experience OP.

Would you consider it to be bullying when the bigger dog walks over the top of her and almost knocks her over. This is what my older dog has been doing and I've been telling him off. The pup is starting to hold her own more now. When he monsters her she barks at him, but then she bites his tail and he gives me the most pained look as if to say 'do I have to put up with that'? I don't know how to tell him it is okay to tell her off when she chews his tail.

Yeah, she's only here during the day. She has just been trying to pull my curtains down and chew my glasses. She's so cute though and so tiny.

Hi I am minding a new puppy (8 weeks old) during the day and I want some advice about what behaviour is acceptable from the resident dogs. My older dog Thumper is hassling the pup, which includes shadowing her wherever she goes and almost knocking her over. I would think this is unacceptable but I don't want to make him jealous by being too harsh. I am telling him to leave her all the time and I am separating them quite a bit, only allowing him to interact with her when I am there. However I don't want him to get jealous. Advice please.

I have seen dogs work like this before. They do seem to enjoy it. Okay so how does one access Steve's services if one doesn't live in Sydney. Are there any books or other written information available?

How do you stay calm Sarsaparilla, I would like any tips! My girl has been attacked twice now by aggressive off leash dogs , the second time she was extremely badly injured - to the point where the vet was of the opinion had she been another breed she would in all likelihood not have survived. I found it impossible to remain calm when my dog was pinned to the ground by the throat by a larger dog, whilst it's mate took chunks out of her side and back. I yelled and kicked as hard as possible to get them off even though I know people say to stay calm, I just lost it and was in a red rage. It didn't cross my mind that the attacking dogs might bite me until much later, you just do what you can at the time. I am lucky my girl is not reactive. She is rather more wary with the type of dog that attacked her. I don't think a calmer reaction would have changed much in my case - but I think the overreaction gave me the strength to boot the offenders hard enough to make them let go. I have a very bad knee, if you had asked me prior to the attack, I would have said I could not kick anything hard physically nor would I have the necessary meanness to really boot a dog, well that changed in the split second they pinned my dog. I am not happy that I did it, but would again in a heartbeat and now walk with a pole for the express purpose of defending myself and my dogs if I need to. Sad, but necessary round here now.I do try and stay calm if a dog rushes us with obviously friendly intent even though she is understandably not keen, I am trying not to transmit my nervousness. I sent photos of her injuries and the vet report to the Council, tracked down the owner eventually and got her to pay the very large vet bill for my dog's surgery- I have not seen her with the dogs off leash again since, but no action was taken against her. Apparently not enough independent eye witnesses. I don't stay calm. I wish I had when my dog was attacked because I think I made him reactive. Some people are able to stay calm and I envy them. Usually men they just have an air of authority. I don't. When I say 'don't kick another dog' I am talking about people who think it is okay to kick if a dog comes into their space. They seem to think it would be okay especially if it is a smaller dog with an idiot owner. If another dog approaches my dogs I aim to retreat calmly. I don't run I just move away smartly. That's my goal anyway. Given that my boy is probably going off his rocker by then it can be difficult to do. If your dog is actually being attacked then do whatever you can to protect it even if that means kicking. Personally if I kicked anything I would probably fall over (I have balance issues) and I wouldn't be much use to my dog on the ground. Like other posters in this thread I avoid all other dogs like the plague and I get very angry with people who think it is okay to let their dog off leash in an on leash area. One idiot whose dog was allowed to roam the street told me that I needed to take my dogs to training.

With all due respect the dog mentioned in the OP is a German shepherd. BSL has its own forum.

Totally agree SG. The guy may never feel safe again and his quality of life may be gone forever. So many times it is the elderly who are attack victims.

I'm pretty calm. I think if you read my original post again, I'd done everything you suggested. If owners won't call off their dog - especially one that is snappibg, growling, and lunging at my dog, I have no qualms about getting cranky. And defending my dog. With a well aimed kick to the opposing dog if necessary. Also, as I sm lame in one leg - running away is NOT an option for me. I have to face it and unfortunately, so does my dog. My comment was not aimed at you specifically or anyone else on this thread. It was just a general comment. Sorry that you are lame.

Just another thought. I think that when people call out that their dog is friendly or it won't hurt you they are often just trying to defuse a situation and to calm people down. I believe it is important to stay calm if you can. I think dogs are made reactive by owners who overreact. In hindsight I wish I had been more calm when my dog was attacked.

Some dogs will actually turn on the person who is threatening them. A council worker was once in our horse paddock and our dog confronted him. He picked up a stick and threatened to hit her and she lunged at him. Fortunately no damage was done. The point is that if you threaten to kick a dog it might turn on you. It is best to defuse the situation if possible although I know that it is not always practicable. My dogs have been attacked and it is terrifying. Mostly I walk with eyes in the back of my head and I retreat from any off leash dog and I cross the road when I see on leash dogs. Just for the record I could not kick anything. It would be physically impossible. I run away dragging my dogs with me, once when a staffy was actually on top of my dog and I was dragging them both. The staffy finally released its hold and my dog was not hurt but she is now reactive. I am reactive too and I am terrified of loose dogs. The last time we were rushed it was a husky coming out of a driveway. My dogs were on leash. When I called out to the owner to grab her dog, she at first just stood and watched but then came and grabbed it and told me nothing would have happened if I had not called out. By that stage I had actually backed on to the road and I could hear a car coming around the bend and I thought I was going to be run over. I reported her to the ranger. edited for grammar

Sorry I don't get this about threatening to kick other dogs. How would you feel if someone kicked, or threatened to kick, your dog? Surely there are more appropriate responses. I think it's that the polite request was completely disregarded. Stressmagnet may not have planned to carry through on the threat, but sometimes you have to be rude for people to take you seriously. If Ernie had gotten riled up and bitten the other dog, he would probably be the one in trouble... As the owner of a reactive dog I have come up with some creative one liners that work 9 times out of 10 (way better than "he's not friendly, stay away"). They include, "back up, he's got kennel cough", "be careful, he bites people" (when its them in danger they are much more obliging) or "he will draw blood" works pretty well. People tend to give you 'the look' and then leave pretty damn quick... pull those bad boys out next time and you can avoid confrontation a lot easier (at least in my experience) :) Like this reply. Ringworm would be a good one because people can catch that too.

Sorry I don't get this about threatening to kick other dogs. How would you feel if someone kicked, or threatened to kick, your dog? Surely there are more appropriate responses.

Maybe in some countries they don't need backyards because they have never had the luxury. I guess we could say that children don't need playgrounds either or even that families don't need bedrooms. They can all sleep in the living room. My dogs love their backyard which I define as an enclosed grassy area. Every morning they run around to investigate any new scents from any overnight trespassers and during the day they like to lie in the sun and just listen to what is happening around them. I as a dog owner need to provide them with a backyard because I think it keeps them happy and healthy.

You are assuming that it is because of your dog. They might be doing it because of their dogs! Agree. I used to think this until I had a reactive dog. Now when I cross the road to avoid issues I usually call out that it's not their dog but mine that I am worried about, especially if their dog is a larger breed dog. I know what it feels like to have others shun you because of your dog's breed.

Agree with this. Does anyone seriously believe that people are going to drive around the suburbs looking for houses with a mark on them? It would be worse than looking for a needle in a haystack. eta re bolded first paragraph

A different angle on this topic. What if you want people to be able to access your property in an emergency. I once spoke with a couple of ambulance officers and one told me that once they were called out to a man lying unconscious on the ground with his dog guarding him. They were not able to help him until the ranger arrived to remove the dog. The man died. Another instance an ambulance officer was attending a woman on a bed who had had a heart attack while a dog underneath the bed was biting her ankles. She soldiered on and saved the woman's life. Personally I do not want dogs that would attack anyone. I like them to bark to let me know if someone is there but that's it. No more! I think it is my role to protect my dogs, not the other way round. ETA the sign on my side gate says 'Dog on premises'. My gates are also padlocked. I don't want anyone letting my dogs out. But the front door is accessible at all times.

I go crazy too DDD when I hear that. I also remember thinking how clever 'Kerr's cur' was. He was an inspiration and one of my friends still has her 'It's Time' badge. I think he helped so many women achieve dignity. His wife was almost as tall and influential and their marriage was an inspiration to me.

I second the above post.

Thankyou all for your suggestions. Unfortunately scissoring is not an option as I have arthritis in my fingers. Leah has given me some names which I will follow up so hopefully it is all sorted.

Thankyou everyone. My main worry about continuing with what I have been doing is that he could end up with bald patches on his back. The hair there is really starting to thin and it doesn't grow as fast as the rest of his coat. GrufLife, yes I wish you did live near me. It would be so wonderful. Leah I think the dog in that photo is gorgeous and looks so elegant. It just wouldn't suit here. Thankyou for your offer re Facebook. I will PM you my details.