kelpiecuddles

Nic.B over there the laws are such that the owner of a dog who kills a person is charged with manslaughter.

If he's a smart pup go for it. My kelpie was in the advanced class with the adult dogs at 14 weeks being used for demos. She would have been totally wasted on a puppy preschool class. If he's smart and enjoys training just enrol, if he gets bored quietly wander away from the class and take some time out and wander back when you are ready, it won't be long before he's concentrating longer :)

What method does the school encourage you to use?

If you are able to share a bit more about what part of Melbourne the person lives in that might help too, as I can probably be a bit more specific about the likely demographic in that area. If it's Glen Waverley, wheelers Hill type area you are talking a lot of wealthy migrant chinese.

I come from Melbourne and I would say there would be a lot of Julie Chens in Melbourne, especially where I grew up! From a general demographic perspective I can tell you that a lot of the Asians in Melbourne are quite well off and absolutely adore their little dogs, lots of poodles and poodle cross type little fluffies in my old stomping grounds, many of them are fairly new to the country and may speak pretty broken English so don't let that be the only thing that turns you off.

She's a smallish large or a largish medium LOL. A large is generally a safer bet than a medium

I tried to get one today but work only had small and XL nothing in between. She has a nice firm harness in the same shape as a front attaching but the loop is at the back, I'm thinking I might attach a ring to the front myself and just use it as a front attaching, she's only a marginal puller anyway, it doesn't even worry me handing the lead to my four year old to hold while I hunt for things in my bag, etc as even she can hold her, she only goes to the point of a little pressure and then stops, doesn't keep pulling.

Thanks guys, if it's too high value we get drool everywhere :laugh: She's very focused on whatever her nose wants to do so it needs to be enough to keep her interest but she needs to be calm as Iwant my son to be easily able to use them without her trying to take his hand off to get the treat LOL. We'll try the dried sweet potato and see how that goes :)

Just wondering whether those who have dogs who are a little food crazy would share what they use as training treats. If we use something really awesome like real meat or liver treats she gets so excited that she forgets what you are asking her to do LOL. I need to lower the treat value to the level of 'yes I still really want what you have but it's just exciting enough that i'll keep on task' :laugh:

just looking for some feedback, if you were dealing with a dog with only mild pulling issues(gets a bit excited when other dogs seen and will pull a little but doesn't pull hard, still easily held by my son...) would you go for a front attaching style of harness or something like the sporn that goes under the armpits? I'm planning to work with her myself for a permanent fix, but looking for an option to help in the meantime so that my son can easily lead her and work with her himself...

Not my thing either but I love that one Clover posted!

I agree with what Steve said. If the results of the tests have been inconclusive then you don't know what caused it. It may even have been something to do with the vac even though the vet felt it would be fine. Until the bitch is bred again you won't know whether it was a one off or an ongoing issue.

What about using something like Advocate which does the main worms and heartworm plus fleas, etc as a spot on

Inch long would be too small for anything but very small dogs, I'd be worried about mine trying to swallow something that size whole. I'd consider using it as a treat if the price was OK but I refuse to buy in to any 'advertising' that claims something horn-like is automatically good for your sexlife. :laugh:

Personally I think it's great that for many breeds the price is similar to BYB ones, it gives me great ammunition when people say "Oh I'd never afford a dog from a registered breeder" and I can say well actually you'd be surprised, have convinced a few people to look more seriously at a well bred pup that way.

Right so someone goes to the pound and can't get a small puppy for a decent price so instead they figure they'll take that cute staffy/mastiff X, cos he'll be just as easy to handle when he grows up right? It's all well and good to say there are plenty of others but if the person looking hasn't had a dog before and the ones they can afford are completely unsuited but they are still intent on getting a dog what then? I mean it's not the way I go in to dog ownership or probably most f the people on this site but we all know that it's how plenty of others get a dog! ETA: Don't forget we aren't talking about a small rescue here that matches dogs to owners, etc, etc. I don't now about this RSPCA shelter but most of the ones I have experience with don't require much more than a credit card to get a dog.

Maybe it will sell for that somewhere with the right market, you certainly wouldn't sell it for that around here(and nor would a pet store). If there is a market that is prepared to pay that sort of price for a cute pound mutt then all power to them, I just hope it doesn't alienate those who might have considered a pound dog but change their minds due to the perceived cost.

I saw BYB cross bred puppies for sale for $50 here the other day, I think I could easily pic up a puppy and desex, vac, worm and chip for well under $1000 if I was so inclined!

Thanks Ams :) Managed to work it out as you would have guessed

Here you go, I uploaded it tp mine as a public pic, share away :) https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100004016017631

Ams how do I make a single photo public in facebook? I'm trying to solve this for people

OK so it's a bit funny trying to share it from that site. I would suggest anyone who wants to spread the word click on the photo in this thread, save it to your computer and then simply upload it as an image to anywhere you want to share ;)

I don't think I'd be recommending a prong collar without a bit more information about the dog first. I don't necessarily have a problem with them but they only suit some dogs and some owners, just like any tool. Also the owner needs to be trained properly in their correct use just like any aversive. If you put a prong collar on either of my dogs it would make a total mess of them as they are very 'soft' dogs to work but I would have willingly used one on my old dog who had a much stronger personality. From my understanding you train high drive working animals and I really do feel that the methods use to train animals like that aren't always going to suit many other breeds. GSPs generally aren't shrinking violets but I'd still want to be sure that the owner understood how to use one properly and that they were being guided properly by a trainer who knew what they were doing.

Oh and Lakey, try not to stress about the platelet levels, 15 isn't actually too bad! Mine sat at around the 20-30 mark for a couple of years and the doctors were OK with that level, they did recommend that I shouldn't take up boxing but they weren't too concerned, under ten they said they would start to get concerned and most people I know who had their spleens out ended up in the 3-5 sort of range first!

Tassie I can travel anywhere, you just need to make sure you get all your shots regularly :) It's not recommended within the first year or so but now I can do anything and go anywhere the same as anyone else.