sandgrubber

I don't mean this as a DIY dog training suggestion . . . getting help is worthwhile. But if you want to see how strong lead handling can curb aggressiveness, you might want to check out a few Dog Whisperer DVDs from your local DVD shop . . . it's amazing how quickly and effectively someone who knows how to read and handle a dog can get leash aggressive dogs to snap into line.

I breed Labradors. 1. Food aggression is unusual (unknown?) in my lines. I would seek advice from someone who can observe and give recommendations . . . I don't feel comfortable making a recommendation without observing . . . could potentially escalate to something you wouldn't want to live with. Good to get a handle on this one. 2. Jumping up is a problem in most all Labbie pups. Teaching them to sit when greeting people is a good solution. The problem tends to fade as the pup ages unless it is encouraged by people who "reward" the pup for jumping up. 3. Toilet: I wouldn't worry about occasional messes at 16 weeks. That's like expecting a kid to be toilet trained at 2 years. Take the pup out to the lawn at regular periods . . . before or after feeding . .. give it some time . .. . lots of praise when it does its business. Ignore the mistakes. In my experience, Lab pups want to be clean from as soon as they are old enough to walk to the other side of the whelping box. But sometimes they can't hold it or forget.

In consultation with my vet, I vaccinate pups who are ready to be placed as close to 8 wks as practical. I recommend a second vaccination at 12 weeks. 8 wks is better than 6 wks because there's a chance that the immunity conferred by the mother's milk will attack and disable the vaccine. This wears off over time. Newer vaccines are said to be more resistant to maternal antibodies, but what the hell, manufacturers say a lot of things that are only partially true, so better safe than sorry. In theory the 8 wk vaccination should be adequate, but because parvo is such a horrid disease, it's better to go for a second round of jabs some week later. As I understand it 12 weeks is a little safer than 10 weeks for the same reason that 8 weeks is better than 6 weeks. I recommend keeping an ear to the ground . .. if parvo is going around, or if you have a breed that is especially succeptable (I've heard that Dobes and Rottis are), I'd say better safe than sorry and go in for the 16th week jab, knowing full well that it's probably a waste of money.

I've been working my way through Cesar Milan DVDs and am confused about walking. He consistently uses a very short lead and holds the dog close. Also implies that proper "mental exercise" requires that the human be dominant and in the lead. He says walking is important for letting the dog be a dog. I have relatively well behaved, relaxed gun dogs with no issues regarding aggression, destructive behaviour or the other problems that are featured in Dog Whisperer episodes. Most of them were raised by their natural mother . . . as well as by me. I have always walked them as a pack, either off lead or on 1.8 m leads. They go ahead of me, though one usually lags behind. I let them smell things . . . as I view sniffing as an important mental exercise for a scent-oriented dog . . . and part of letting a dog be a dog. They get corrected if they pull, which they don't do much, but otherwise the walk is pretty much free form. . . .apart from sometimes having to untangle leads. Is the disciplined walk always better . . . or is it just an excellent tool for dogs who are showing a need for guidance. That is, should I feel guilty about the fact that mine walk more like the "before" training dogs than the "after" training dogs insofar as walking style goes.

I'll be interested to see what others say. I think 'multi-dog' situations are as varied as families . . . not sure you can generalise. Here's a sketch of my multi-dog scene I stick to Labs. Four girls, mixed ages - three entire, one fixed - plus occasional visitors. Apart from occasional humping and other rucus they get along well, groom one another, play a variety of games that don't make sense to me, don't squabble over food. When a 'newbie' comes into the yard, they all gang up on him or her for five minutes or so. Then if it's a pup or playful, the youngest and the newbie go for a romp or a splash, and soon they're all happily chewing up dog toys, or sleeping in the doorways, or the other things dogs do to pass time.

Isn't Montana one of those states preferred by armed paramilitary groups . . . the setting for Brokeback Mountain. I lived in Colorado for a few years, and understand the concern many people have about the dog in the yard next-door (and the people who own it). Breeding dogs to fight is an AWFUL thing to do. And unfortunately, there are people who think dogfights and viciousness in general are 'cool'. Keeping DA+HA dogs in the suburbs is inviting trouble. But pinning it on a so-called 'breed' doesn't make sense. There are plenty of vicious mutts out there too. I wish they'd just come down like a load of bricks on people breeding dogs to fight . . . unfortunately a lot of APBT's have been bred that way, and some remember what they've been bred for . .. but not all. Apart from hitting dog fight breeders hard, I think they should base the rest on evidence of aggressive behaviour and forget the rest. For what it's worth. Hot air ain't worth much, I'm afraid

I have crap broadband so can't indulge in vids . . . Just to say genetics works both ways. I had a Labrador bitch who didn't like water and had no interest in retrieving. Her sire was the same . . . his owner says that when she walked the dogs out to the dam he'd piss on bushes while the others were out swimming and chasing whatever they could find to chase. Surprise surprise. Her pups don't like water and don't retrieve. Lovely head, bone, coat, etc. though.

I have a girl who has a warty-looking patch on her temple. It's been there for at least three months and has not changed. I've had two vets look at it: both said let it be unless it changes or starts interfering with anything -- eg, growing into the eyes. One vet had some Latinate names for it . . . one meant growth of the outer skin layer, the other growth of the middle skin layer. It would be possible to get tests done to tell which it is, but what's the point.

Thanks for the answers. Exactly what I wanted to hear. I've been balking at the price for the 1902 as a tool for training two dogs . . . from K9 Force. Sounds like it's worth the investment.

Hi Midol, Good to hear about your successes. I'm about to start e-collar training for the same reason as you . . . to get reliable recall and be able to let dogs off lead. Could you please fill in a few details . . . or if you've stated them earlier, give us a lead about where the thread is. How many dogs are you training at a time? Are you using a two-collar system? What brand are you using? Are you using a 'system' or working it out on your own. Keep us posted.

Actually . . . have a look at The Third Chimpanzee (Jared Diamond, 1996). Diamond is a much respected scientist and a brilliant writer. He develops the theory that some of the nasty traits that make human history so brutal are found in chimps as well . . . though chimps lack the means for full scale war and genocide. I think another place to look in understanding dogs vs. wolves is the process of domestication. Balyaev's work on foxes was amazing . . . see http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/807641/posts

Thanks, guys, for the correction of my understanding . . . I guess I've come to associate "she'll be right" with certain people's attitudes to safety gear in the building industry . . . glad to know that "don't panic" is the normal meaning.

I've been reading through the tire-jump incident thread in the training forum . .. I've lived in Australia for 12 years now. I have a gut feeling that something goes wrong in management of risk. Having trouble figuring out whether this is a universal problem, or something peculiar to Australia. On one hand there's the "she'll be right mate" attitude that ignores, particularly, but not only, when competition is involved. On the other hand, there's a "nanna" attitude in legislation that, in a spotty fashion, puts in severe measures to try to manage risk. For example, in many places in WA, it is illegal to have a kennel -- even whelping facilities -- within 10 m of a dwelling, and in most of WA it is illegal to have more than two dogs on a property. I hit the "she'll be right" attitude in unwillingness to contemplate the possibility of a major, severe fire coming hitting kennel zones in WA. "We've had fires before, we coped" . . . although the fires encountered were piffling little blazes of 10 or fewer ha I'm not objective enough to know whether this tension between obliviousness to risk and legislative overreaction is worse in Australia than elsewhere . . . or whether it's an inevitable dilemma . . . found everywhere. I'd love to hear other's opinions . . . or is this too philosophical for DOL?

If you're SOR, there's a wholesale export placed called, I think, Advanced Pet Foods in Naval Base. They sell a good quality biscuit called Vitality for $35 for a 20 kg bag, and bags of mixed biscuits . .. probably not quite as good, for around $20 for 20 kg. The local rescue people use them . . . if you're interested and need more info, PM me and I'll hunt down an address and phone number

Ah well. If you get her desexed in April, you shouldn't have to repeat the drama. I hope she turns out to be a good girl for you . . . despite getting off to a troublesome start.

Ah well. If you get her desexed in April, you shouldn't have to repeat the drama. I hope she turns out to be a good girl for you . . . despite getting off to a troublesome start.

no joke. GEESE attack everything and they're pretty scary when a flock circles you hissing and flapping. I once knew someone whose grandfather was killed by a swan.

Also . . . if you want them to eat veg, let them get a bit hungry. Feed the veg first without the meat in sight/smell. Or mix the veg with meat. Many dogs are happy to eat veg if they view it as the only thing or the best thing on the menu.

If you want to use ointment, I'd suggest something like Aloe Vera, which is extremely bitter and won't be something a dog is keen to lick off. I think paw paw may simply be one more reason to lick. Mine all love Illium neocort . . . another thing people often put on irritated skin.

The nutrition debates, human, and even more so dog, are so thick with rubbish that it's hard to get down to useful solid evidence backed information. Making sense out of it makes rocket science look simple. Someone recommended Give Your Dog a Bone (Billinghurst, 1993) to me, perhaps six year ago. Although I found the concepts appealing, almost no evidence, other than anecdotes and vaguely cited documents, was given. Inflammatory statements, implying conspiracy between vets and petfood industry, left me scratching my head. Likewise Lansdale. I find vets are all over the place . . . some pro-commercial, some open minded, some pro-raw foods. The dietary trials that form the basis for the formal literature on canine nutrition don't begin to address complex questions, like "show condition" or the merits of mixing fresh and prepared food; even trace nutrient requirements are poorly established. They often know how much must be fed to keep a dog from showing obvious deficiency symptoms in six months .. . . but what will keep it healthy throughout its lifetime? Personally, I think we're all shooting blind, learning from trial and error, doing the best we can. Some people are arrogant about diet, others not. Some people just take a line and stick to it, others worry and pile on more and more goodies, others experiment with this and that. Personally, I feed what I do because I can observe that my dogs love raw foods; also that chicken carcasses are cheap as chips and seem to be a good basis for a diet. Minimizing processing and buying locally are good from the perspective of sustainability. I hate the idea of importing pelletized meat by-products into Australia, a country that is awash with meat. I feel good about using a few supplements (the main one being a by-product of culling feral carp) and giving my dogs a bit of veg on the side. But I'm not surprised to see one of the pups I bred come back to me looking great . . . despite having been fed nothing but high quality imported biscuits in carefully measured amounts.

ditto that . . . though it's past tense . . . the dependent one recently passed away. I got her at two years. She had mama-itis all her life. Nothing to do with training . . . she was house trained, but little more when I got her. I'll never know whether her early life made her dependent . . . I tend to think she was wired that way. Dependency may be related to responsiveness, but I don't think it's a close relationship.

Ever heard the joke about why dogs lick their balls? Answer: Because they can. Maybe the same is true for bums . . . for some dogs. If there are no other symptom, I'd not worry about it. Keep watching, smelling, etc. It may be the equivalent of chewing fingernails for some kids. Who knows what goes on in a dog's head.

I planted a few butternut squash this year and it looks like I'll be getting 50 to 100 kg of a vegetable I rarely eat. I know some people feed it to their dogs. What's the best way to convert it to something they'll eat -- not as a main course -- something to go along with their raw meat and occasional egg, yoghurt, etc. Cook it? Dice it and feed it raw? Are the seeds ok? Must it be peeled?

I also run a boarding kennel (also do most of the work). I prefer gundogs. I love to watch dogs play, and don't like fights. Gundogs are usually happy campers, and have a fine time gadding around with other dogs of most any breed. Mind you, it's common for gundogs to be gawdawful diggers. I breed Labbies. It's hard to generalise about drive. My foundation bitch had only food drive (which she had by the bucketful). She wouldn't fetch. She wouldn't chase anything. She wouldn't swim unless it was very hot and I went in with her. Others are fetch mad. I think with gundogs as pets, prey drive is easily transferred to toys.

I can't resist. . . It's four foot drive. I think they just like to run in a pack . . . sled or no sled. They are energetic dogs, and I think most of them get cooped up or chained when they're not mushing. If it were prey drive, I'd think it might switch to real prey, with the result that the sled ended out crashing through bushes in a jolly chase of some animal.