BarbedWire

I agree about the right timing, and some people just have an air of authority about them don't they? I'm a hothead who lets fly first and then later I regret it so I achieve very little I'm afraid. That poor kid I refer to in my OP probably did not know what had hit him. I felt bad later. Welcome to DOL. I think this thread has probably just about run its course, but I did not want to leave your post unanswered since it is your first. :)

%

What a wonderful post Yonjuro. So much wisdom, especially the bolded part.

Yes it's sad. People always think German Shepherds (the breed I have) should be massive. However, usually I find they are either grossly underestimating their dog's true weight/size, or their dog is overweight. There's no way I'd be alpha rolling a dog I didn't know. Our dogs don't care what I do with them, but there are some dogs I have known that would certainly take exception. When we were at the vet not that long ago a puppy class in, and one owner of a very small dog was talking about how they were biting their puppy to show it who is boss. I almost died laughing on the spot. I hope the pup has had its rabies shots. :D

That's a good word T. If you say bah in a deep growly voice it sounds like a bleating sheep. :D

I find it sad that people just filmed the attack without helping. Surely someone could have done something.

Guess who's had Bark Busters in... *sigh* The last time I saw someone alpha roll their dog, I asked them if they'd like to try it on my Rotti/Pittie girl - with the warning that she'd tear them a new one if they tried it... they declined the offer, and stopped doing it to their own dog while I was there at least. T. I thought Cesar Milan did the alpha roll and it's barkbusters that chuck chains around and say bah. :) Both I think nowdays. Have seen this from CM fans & Bark Busters clients. Horrible, regardless. Reminds me of the time years ago, a friend tried that with a new entire Mareema male that had just come out of quarantine. We both know who got alpha rolled. It must be catchy because I say 'bah' to my dogs when they are about to eat something I don't want them to eat, such as other dogs' or cats' droppings. It's a good word to express disgust.

Because of the marketing I think a lot of oodle owners think they are easy care which they interpret as meaning they don't need grooming. Having a matted coat would be so painful. It would be like having your hair pulled all the time.

Thankyou for this Yippee Girl. This is what I was thinking of in my OP. I was once at the groomers and a woman brought in a rotti to be washed. It was incredibly obese, must have been about 80 kg and the owner was so proud of it and seemed to think an overweight rotti was what all rotti owners want. I wondered how the groomers were going to manage such an enormous dog. They would have needed special lifting equipment and an enormous tub.

I have a book here (Train your dog the easy way) by Danny and Sylvia Wilson who are the founders of Bark Busters I quote from page 10: Although food is sometimes used as a basis for training, we believe that training a dog in this way will not make for success, because your method will not be meeting the dog's need for a pack leader. Then further down the page: You can successfully use food to help in training when you are teaching new tricks. The idea of a pack leader was so in vogue at one time, and Cesar Milan has popularised it even further. I remember about 20 years ago being given information from my local dog training club about making sure you're the pack leader by going first through doors and eating first and making your dog wait. Today the same club is all about rewards based training. Personally I think alpha rolls are scary stuff and I wouldn't be game to try it especially if I had a big dog who was agitated. Edited to change an error. The author's name was Wilson not Weston.

Over the past few months DAS doesn't seem to have as many dogs as usual. I have no idea why. Not many if any are being transferred from the RSPCA. Previously there were about four each week. I wonder if it is compulsory microchipping making a difference to the stats because I don't think it is being policed. Maybe there is another reason. Perhaps dog ownership is declining.

I wonder what was the reasoning behind the introduction of the minimum age.

and no one did anything? How awful for her. I agree Rebanne. Isn't it some sort of offence to follow someone up the street shouting? I would be so terrified if that happened to me. I would be notifying the police and the rangers and ask for advice.

Guess who's had Bark Busters in... *sigh* The last time I saw someone alpha roll their dog, I asked them if they'd like to try it on my Rotti/Pittie girl - with the warning that she'd tear them a new one if they tried it... they declined the offer, and stopped doing it to their own dog while I was there at least. T. I thought Cesar Milan did the alpha roll and it's barkbusters that chuck chains around and say bah. :)

Another instance I can think of is being at the dog park and a guy had a westie that was filthy and matted. I told him with a smile that his dog needed a bath. He replied that you don't wash dogs. That's sissy. How do they survive in nature? I don't go to dog parks anymore because I can't stand moronic owners. And I suppose that poor little westie is still ungroomed.

I did think of offering to pay to have the maltese clipped, but I am not really all that financial either.

I wish I could be cool too, but I am a bit of a hothead where animals and children are concerned.

You handled that well BC Crazy. The JRT was dragged for about six metres. I like to think the boy was as shocked as I was. It did appear to be unharmed afterward. Amongst other things I did say I would report it to the RSPCA. I think that possibly they might have rehomed it. I do hate seeing dogs, especially small ones tied to bikes though.

I disagree with that. A vet isn't liable for signing off a dog as environmentally safe, they are signing off on breed, so if they can't scientifically prove a dog is a Pit Bull and they need to employ a visual test which the Amstaff fits, they can't scientifically prove that a dog isn't an Amstaff to prosecute a vet for an incorrect breed assessment so they have nothing to worry about. It just takes a vet brave enough to sign a piece of paper and not hide behind lip service to free a dog unfairly subject to euthanasia by appearance. If someone had a dog fitting the visual description and produced a vet declaration as an Amstaff to an ACO, compliance would be more the nature of the exercise not questioning the vets breed assessment. An ACO can't seize a dog fitting the visual description when the owner produces an Amstaff declaration as ownership the dog then complies with legislation whether in fact it is a pure breed Amstaff or not? BSL is about Pit Bull restriction as the other listed breeds don't exist if they do it's a miniscule number, so perhaps it should be about freeing the Pit Bull from the list, not the abolishment of BSL? The GSD Club freed the GSD from the list when subject to BSL by breed promotion proving to politicians that the breed was safe where they consequently overturned the restriction. What people don't understand is abolishing BSL means the introduction of more supposed dangerous breeds and that will never happen.....the first one who gets chomped by a Dogo or Fila it's going to hit the fan big time......no one is going to abolish BSL entirely for the introduction of breeds that are not here in the first place to cause a safety concern. It's not only about Pit Bulls, it also about opening the gate to the rest on the list and who in reality is going to do this to appease a small number of anti BSL supporters versus the greater community? Someone told me about 5 years ago that a Pitbull breeder ran a litter off Amstaff papers.....not sure the truth in it, but the breeder for some time now has produced working line Amstaff's......bit naughty, but pretty smart legalising Pit Bulls from another angle :D This is a very interesting discussion and I am out of my depth but (see bolded part) I just wanted to know what do working Amstaffs do?

I have been thinking about the topic of how you respond if someone criticizes the way you raise your dogs and I thought it might be interesting to discuss the opposite. What do you say if you see someone abusing their dog? By abuse I don't mean physically bashing it but more the abuse that comes from neglect or ignorance. As an example the other day I was out walking and I met a girl of about thirteen with a maltese which was badly in need of a groom. Its coat was severely matted and dirty. I tried being friendly and asked if I could pat her dog. I then realised she had a speech impediment and was very difficult to understand. I then knew that it was going to be impossible to communicate so I said nothing about the dog's coat. I am sort of wishing I had. A matted coat can be quite painful. Another example is a family who lived in the next street to me and who had a JRT. When they rode their bikes the JRT would be tied to one of the bikes. I always felt sorry for it as it raced along as fast as its little legs could carry it. Then one day when the boy of the family was about fourteen I saw him coming along with the dog and, when he speeded up to go down a short hill, the poor little dog lost its footing and got dragged. I was horrified and told him off. I never saw the dog again. I don't know if they got rid of it or just left it in the yard. I am interested to know what you say if you see a dog you believe is being misused in some way or do you say nothing?

So sorry to hear about this. I hope you are recovering well. You have such lovely photos to remember your girl forever. She was obviously so loved.

What a super gorgeous little dog she is. Well done dogmad

I apologize if I'm going too far off topic but I don't want to start a new thread. :) Perry's Mum, could you tell me more about Koolies, especially the ones that don't want to work. How heavy are they and are they barkers? Are they good with children? I really want another dog to trial (I have one more left in me) and I think my children would love a Koolie if anything were to happen to me.

Thankyou so that column heading means %rehomed after removing the reclaimed ones from the figures.

I agree with HW. People do probably think I'm a crazy dog person, but I really don't care and if I was told I was, it would just go in one ear and out the other. That being said I am critical of the way some other people care for their dogs. :laugh: And their children :laugh: