Blackdogs Posted December 15, 2011 Share Posted December 15, 2011 I was reading a topic in the news section about citizens being rewarded for collecting dog poo by going into a lottery. (Great idea!) It made me think of other ways we could reward responsible dog ownership. What if we were to have a system whereby dogs trained to a certain level and temperament tested received a pass to certain privileges. For example special dog parks, beaches, doggy restaurants etc. They could be given a vest for identification purposes. Sketchy idea that I've not thought through, but if effectively implemented the system might go some way towards giving people with well trained, sociable dogs safer places to go. Thoughs? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tdierikx Posted December 16, 2011 Share Posted December 16, 2011 Great concept... but I'm a bit worried that we have to resort to "rewarding" people for doing the right thing... nothing does anything for nothing these days - so mercenary... grr! T. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackdogs Posted December 16, 2011 Author Share Posted December 16, 2011 Great concept... but I'm a bit worried that we have to resort to "rewarding" people for doing the right thing... nothing does anything for nothing these days - so mercenary... grr! T. I know what you mean. Although it might help those who are already responsible to have safer places to go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weasels Posted December 16, 2011 Share Posted December 16, 2011 I thought some councils gave discounted registration for dogs who have passed an obedience course? Not my council unfortunately but I'm sure I heard that somewhere, in SA I think? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackdogs Posted December 16, 2011 Author Share Posted December 16, 2011 I thought some councils gave discounted registration for dogs who have passed an obedience course? Not my council unfortunately but I'm sure I heard that somewhere, in SA I think? I didn't know that. That's not a bad idea either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whiskedaway Posted December 16, 2011 Share Posted December 16, 2011 I thought some councils gave discounted registration for dogs who have passed an obedience course? Not my council unfortunately but I'm sure I heard that somewhere, in SA I think? I didn't know that. That's not a bad idea either. Yes my council gives it. One of my dogs has it, the other doesn't (because they go to different obedience clubs and the one that the older one goes to won't give the certificate out) but it's only a $5 discount. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melinda10786 Posted December 16, 2011 Share Posted December 16, 2011 My local council provide discounts for dogs who pass obedience courses, and you can provide their certificate. I'm not sure what the discount is though, its not mentioned on the renewal forms, you just send the certificate in and council work it out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kajirin Posted December 16, 2011 Share Posted December 16, 2011 My council does discounts, instead of $45 a year Scout is $25 as he's desexed/microchipped [should be $20 but they've taken off his training certificate for some unknown reason]. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Esky the husky Posted December 16, 2011 Share Posted December 16, 2011 I like the discounted rego idea. Esky meets all 3 criteria so we get the maximum discount that we can :D The only problem is that dodgy owners who simply don't register their dogs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
**Super_Dogs** Posted December 16, 2011 Share Posted December 16, 2011 My council rewards good owners with registration discounts for a certain level of obedidence. Only for entire dogs as desexed dogs are only $25 (entire dog registration is normally approx $80 and you get about $20 discount - I think it should be more discount!!!). To get the discount you need to do an annual test by an obedience club or a life long discount for certain odedience or agility titles achieved. They only recently introduced the life long discounts for titles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atanquin Posted December 16, 2011 Share Posted December 16, 2011 My council registration is free for dogs who are desexed and microchipped other wise it is $75 a year Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mita Posted December 16, 2011 Share Posted December 16, 2011 I think you've brought up a good idea. It's pretty much established that people respond better to carrot rather than stick. And it's good to see DOLers posting examples of where this is already being applied. Here's hoping it leads to more being set up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mim Posted December 16, 2011 Share Posted December 16, 2011 My council touts that they reward good dog ownership with gift bags containing toys, treats, vouchers etc but never in my life have I seen or heard of this happening. I think it's a good idea though. We also have reduced registration costs for desexed dogs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cointreau Posted December 16, 2011 Share Posted December 16, 2011 There is more to being a good dog owner than obedience training, there are some clubs I would never go near. I have not done any formal club training with my girl but I certainly consider myself a good dog owner and have a very good dog. I walk her regularly to different areas, always pick up after her, she doesn't bark and cause a nuisance for my neighbours, she gets veterinary attention when required without hesitaion and never tries to leave home because she is bored. I would appreciate the council just acknowledging I am a responsible dog owner, discounts for Rego wouldn't work here because it is one payment for lifetime cover. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jacqui835 Posted December 16, 2011 Share Posted December 16, 2011 I completely support this idea and was talking about it in one of the other threads. I don't think the incentive factor is so important as is the whole, people will see more dogs in more places behaving well. People need to understand what is possible, and what is expected for the average dog owner. As it is now, people almost think it's the norm for dogs to pull on their leads, to not come when called, to steal food off strangers, jump on everyone they see etc. If you have a dog that walks nicely on the street, or sits when it's told, comes when it's called etc - well people stop me and ask me how I trained my dog - like it's some sort of miracle or I own a special breed that can be trained. They can never believe that I have trained him myself and never sent him off to boot camps, or how young he is, or of course that he's entire and yet ignoring their dog going crazy on the end of the lead. I don't know how this happened, but this is what perturbs me most. Of course I know that some people here have dogs that are DA and not normal, but most are. Most dogs can be taught to walk on a lead, most can be taught not to jump up and we have people on these forums with spitz breeds and hounds with good recall so there's no excuse for the rest of us and I think society needs to see more of that. The people with the badly behaved dogs need to become the exception. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jacqui835 Posted December 16, 2011 Share Posted December 16, 2011 Desexing your dog doesn't correlate to any improvement in behaviour. Statistically, many of the people who can't be bothered to train or socialise their dogs are hardly going to desex them - so it's a correlation but not a conclusive factor. If people focused more on training and looking after their dogs, desexing would become less necessary because there wouldn't be so many out of control roaming dogs. Desexing is treating a symptom, not the cause. Funnily enough I doubt these people are registering their dogs either. Pay to desex, or pay more to register? Probably just don't register, in most cases, any dog having unplanned litters is not a dog that anyone cares about too much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dory the Doted One Posted December 16, 2011 Share Posted December 16, 2011 Desexing your dog doesn't correlate to any improvement in behaviour. Statistically, many of the people who can't be bothered to train or socialise their dogs are hardly going to desex them - so it's a correlation but not a conclusive factor. If people focused more on training and looking after their dogs, desexing would become less necessary because there wouldn't be so many out of control roaming dogs. Desexing is treating a symptom, not the cause. Funnily enough I doubt these people are registering their dogs either. Pay to desex, or pay more to register? Probably just don't register, in most cases, any dog having unplanned litters is not a dog that anyone cares about too much. I've come across quite a few people who thought that if they desexed their dog it would calm him down. You mention training to them, their eyes will glaze over because they think that desexing them should fix the problem up. ...not saying your wrong... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~Anne~ Posted December 16, 2011 Share Posted December 16, 2011 Yes, lets introduce more restrictions for dog ownership. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rebanne Posted December 16, 2011 Share Posted December 16, 2011 Yes, lets introduce more restrictions for dog ownership. must admit that was my thought too. I would prefer councils actually reinforced the laws they have now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tommygirl Posted December 16, 2011 Share Posted December 16, 2011 Our council gives Dogs Qld members a 50% discount. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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