Jefe's owners

We are out. Wife is at Uni and I'm going diving! Sundays are a lot better for us.

We will be there. Looking forward to meet you all.

As long as all the pats etc comes from you... and you use NILIF...( and the triangle of temptation) no, I think is not spoiling... and you will be all it matters to the dog!

Triangle of temptation

to be honest, I didn't mind that the guys who apporached us told us to leave UNLESS we remove the prong collar because is not allow in those grounds we just did want to have have a good time without offending anyone..but when he mentioned RSPCA (togehter with the police)and TAKE AWAY YOUR DOG i just look at Jefe and felt like if someone was trying to take away 1/2 of my hart. We have been living with him for a couple of months and we feel so complete. In a spare second I could see myself having what would be the worst time of mylife visiting Jefe in a council kennel, trying to take him back, knowing that his place is around us, being happy. Now, we know that we are not welcome everywhere, the only place we wanted to be was HERE in australia, with a special dog...we are already here...jefe is sitting beside us....nothing else matters.... Thank U everyone one for your time, I hope this subject benefits those who like us are in the same situation, we will keep ourself inform, K9 has been a great source of knowledge and no doubts that what we have learned it has been reflected in a dog that is very smart and MI NIÑO GRANDE! Nosotros (us)

Now, I have a question about this... I have started doing this with a bone shaped toy, is small, portable and he seems to love it... and the response so far is great... now, is that pray drive or food drive?

I was going to post this on the social forum, but this is more training and legal stuff related, and I'm so upset about it, so here it goes... We woke up this morning and very happy, coz we were going to the "Rotti Fun Day".. .. we arrived to the Bill Spilstead complex and everything looked ok. Lots of dogs and lots of rotties... (gotta love a rotti)... there we confirmed that: 1.- Jefe is gorgeous 2.- Jefe is a gorgeous and small rottweiler 3.- Jefe is a gorgeous, small and underweight rottweiler (we are getting there though) When we arrived on site a lady approached us and made mention of the prong collar being illegal and that I should remove it. I told the lady that they were only ilegal in victoria and left the collar on and decided not to pay more attention to the matter... It was all very good, with Jefe participating in a couple of agility exercises, which surprised us both how easily the dog performed the exercises... the weaving poles and pipe tunnels in one go... (well after some initial hesitation), the A frame I think is called also one go.... all that made me wonder if the dog had done that sort of work before? but lets leave that for a while.. after less than 30 minutes on the site I was approached by to gentlemen, one identifying himself as the director of the Bill Spilstead complex and the other as something else... I don't remember names (note to self, next time write down names, positions, phones, email, etc) and they told me that they had received complains that my dog was wearing a ilegal collar and that I should remove it from the dog. They told me, among other things and I quote " X is the director of this site and we know about this. The collar is ilegal, and if someone calls the police you would be arrested, or if the RSPCA catch me they would fine me and possible take the dog away from me", as I was in no mood for arguments, and not wanting to cause any troubles, I removed the collar from the dog and left the flat collar on. One of the guys wanted to take the collar from me, but I never let go (ITS MY COLLAR AND YOU WOULD ONLY TAKE IT FROM MY COLD DEAD FINGERS were my thoughts), so no success there. I found amusing that nobody seemed to mind the check chains on most of the dogs, not only on the rottis fun day event but also the dog competition on the same site, nor seem to care about the dogs being dragged with the check chain ...yet everyone seem to mind the prong (and I'm pretty sure there was at least another rottweiler wearing one). Having removed the collar the two men left, but the damage was already done... the missus and I were both upset and this was no longer a fun day. so we put the collar back and decided to leave. On our way home I was still feeling very frustrated, so I decided to ring RSPCA. and I was told the by the call centre operator (name witheld) and I quote again "Pinch or Prong collars are not ilegal. The only ilegal collars in NSW are electric shock collars. The RSPCA does not condone the use of pinch collars, or check chains for that matter, and would only intervene when there is evidence of dog abuse". Fair enough... more on dog abuse later on the post... Back into agility talk... Seeing the dog was very good at the agility stuff, we got pretty enthusiastic about it and thought it would be a great way to exercise the dog, so we decided to check our local dog training club, WHICH WE ARE NOT MEMBERS OF AND NOW WILL NEVER BE, about agility training. When we arrived to the club there were both basic and advanced classes being run. We were informed that they don't run agility in there and recommended me XXXXX XXX agility training. Back into dog abuse and check chaing talk... As I was walking nicely with Jefe on a lose leash as always, we couldn't help but notice the check chain in most of the dogs, and how they were being choked when practicing the 'Heel'... :rolleyes: poor buggers... in one instance there was this idiot with a Jack Russell, who pulled the leash so hard to get the dog back in position that the poor thing actually made a full circle around the man ON THE AIR... ... and there was this lady with a Rhodesian pup (about 8 months, not too big) that she was pulling the leash so hard that she was wearing a brick glove!!! this pup was also being dragged... and all this in front of the trainer and the %#^*&*$ did nothing about it! If that was not dog abuse I don't know what it is! As this club is member of the RNSWCC, I guess the RSPCA is doing nothing about it. What upsets me the most was that everybode on the RFD seemed to accept the check chain (or better called choke chain) and the abuse going on, yet some people seemed horrified to see a very happy and playful dog wearing a prong collar. :cool: I have never had the need to apply any pressure or force on the leash when using a prong collar, in fact I have never applied any correction to the dog either and the dog will correct itself. I'm sure that every owner on these forums that uses a prong collar will have similar experience with their dogs... So, here come the questions. Does anyone has a writen confirmation that the prong collar is not ilegal in NSW? I know they are illegal in victoria as I found the respective legislation. Does anyone have any information that the prong collar is ilegal on some councils? I plan to carry a print out of such information with me all the time, for future events... ;)

Indeed, an absolute CLASSIC moment! Ten out of Ten! And I have got it on tape!!!!! Thanks Steve for a fantastic training session! I had already started working with Jefe on it... so far I have gotten dizzy and the dog has bitten me twice... but we do have a fast sitz! BTW, see you at Rotty fun day today! Jefe will enter the "waggiest tail" and "waggiest bottom" competitions!

I'll be there as spectator... looking forward to it. And no, I have not hugged a dobe today... but I have hugged a Rotti

Jefe will do anything for a pat and a praise... :p so these days we rarely give him food treats when training. Actually, only when we want him to jump into the ute.. and the last times not even that. We tried a few different types and liver treats seems to be his favourites.... and schmakos bacon flavored as well... but we didn't get as close result with food treats as we do with praise and patting. ;)

Nutrience Advance, is the only one I can recommend. Not cheap (probably the most expensive ;) ) but by far the best food I could find...A 18kb bag of large breed kibble is AU$101 and last 4 weeks. My last two dogs, Cuervo (Rottweiler X Doberman) and now Jefe (Rottweiler) just love it. Jefe was rescued a couple of months ago, and he's doing fantastic. he's gaining about 1 Kg a month and his coat is much better. And he seems to be very happy. But I have to agree. dogs vary and the results of using one kibble or other will also vary. Find what work best for your dog... this can be trial and error. I personally believe that my dog WILL eat whatever I decide to give him, just like kids...(*) , complaining is not an option. (*) Disclaimer, I DON'T HAVE KIDS!

Don't stop the Roo meat... too high in protein but almost no fat (besides dogs love it). Same with the vegies. All you need to do is add some fat to its diet. The only way your dog is going to put weight is that its calories and fat intake is higher than its daily needs. Puppy food is very good for this. We've had great results with our recue rotti. The base food is dry Nutrience Advance for large breeds. We complement this with puppy food which has a higher fat content. Then we would add something to make the food more interesting, like beef or chicken mince, silk balls, etc, we always vary those. As for ocassional treats (other than schmakos for training) we would give him lamb shanks, seaweed bones (can't remember name), but we hide those as a surprise on its kennel, bed and other places we want him to feel very confortable and relaxed. Hope this helps.

I don't understand the "eat most of her daily allowance at dinner" bit. it is that if you were supposed to feed her 1k of food a day she would eat that amount? Here's what we would do: supposing you want to feed the dog 800 grams of dry food a day. we will split that in two serves of 400 grams, morning and night. The bowl with food will be given to the dog, you let the bowl for 15 minutes. if it doesn't eat, then you take it away. then the next time, repeat the process, 400 grams for 15 minutes. if she eats all and is still hungry good! a hungry doog is a heatly dog... she will most certainly eall all the food next time. If she would not eat the food, then take it away again... Remember, half daily food ration X 15 minutes, twice a day Stick to that routine and she will start eating that you give it and when you give it, that's the way is supposed to be. And that is a good routine independently of what you intend to feed it, whether is dry or raw food. I don't like feeding the dogs once a day, as I think is way too much food, and could lead to digestive problems. Also, you eat normally three times a day, don't you?

Now, if she is happy and healthy and everything looks alright, them maybe you shouldn't worry about it Maybe she is a small dog?

I agree with the "tough love" approach... when she is hungry enough, she WILL eat. You can also try to make the food more interesting by adding raw meat, or other stuff, but that might defeat the purpose if you want her to eat dry food.

Nutrience Advance for Giant breeds.

Well, reading these post reaffirms our decision to book with Steve... We just can't wait :D