Aroura

The guy I took Tessa to training with all those years ago was also an ex police dog trainer with a so called great reputation. Fact is, not all dogs respond well to police dog training. He was very harsh and now, 4 years later, Tessa still shys when I give her commands sometimes, despite alot of reward training since then. If your dog is shy, it probably isn't suited to the kind of training used for police dogs. Have you tryed reward training? Maybe you could excite the dog into barking, then over the top reward for doing what you want. I don't know, but personally the type of training mentiond sends a shiver down my spine. :-?

Thanks guys!!! I knew I could count on ya'll for help :wink: Pei, thanks for that info reguarding cancer rates, that kind of info is really important to me, seeing as before I was so anti breeding that was my main reason for getting our animals desexed, I was even going to get my rats desexed! I couldn't afford it though... Courtneck, I think number 7 is a very valid point! To many parents buy their kids dogs and let the children have their "one litter" because the kids want it. Not as though kids aren't hard enough work as it is, then the pups get pulled around with by the children which often don't understand that dogs have feelings too, and the dogs end up going to the pound because the parents can't find homes for them and can't afford to keep all of them. Its so sad :(

I got the first one right, but the second one wouldn't work for me. I know which dog I think it is but when I click on the picture just a blank screen comes up :tard:

THANK YOU SO MUCH ROWIE!!!! :buzi: I didn't read all of that last sight, but it seemed really good!!! I'll go through it all and start writing the letter when I have a little time on my hands. I'm really gratefull, I've got confidence that this letter can make a difference, and thats such a great feeling!!! :jumpie:

Thanks Rowie, I think it would be a great idea for anyone to write to their local paper. I really don't think that people know all the consequences of breeding their dog - people need to be educated. Sure, not everybody will listen, but for those that do, great! Maybe they will desex their dog, that will save so many dogs down the line, dogs that may otherwise go to homes that may also breed their dogs etc. The more educated the public is, the less dogs will be put to sleep each year.

Thats a sad story Rowie :( The possibilitys of things going wrong are endless. I HATE it when people say their dogs "deserve to have pups"... how do they "deserve" the pain, even the possible death, of having pups? What good do they get out of it? I really don't understand some peoples reasoning.

Its an excellent thing to be able to laugh at yourself, I only wish more people could take themselves less seriously!!!! :lol:

After going to the pound the other day and seeing all those dogs waiting for that fatal needle I've decided to do something about it - and I'm calling on you guys to help me!!! What I need is facts, facts about why desexing is such a neccissary thing, why bitches should not be allowed to come into heat even once, what the consequences of breeding are. ANYTHING! Does anyone know the statistics on how many dogs are put to sleep each year in australia? How much is a dogs chance of cancer increased each time she comes into heat? Also, why desex male dogs? I need every bit of fact I can get so I can convince this towns people to listen and desex their dogs!!! I'm going to write a letter to the editor, last time I did this was like in year ten when I changed the future for armidales dogs, by writing about the awful state of the dog park. I sent it in and the next day the paper called me for photos, the day after I was on the front page of the paper! Only about an hour later I had a call from abc national radio for a live interview, then about a month after that I was in the first page of an Australian/New Zealand wide popular dog magazine and to top it off that magazine offered me a job as an editor!!! Unfortunatly mum took the call and I was so angry at her for not letting me take the call that I never chased the job up. Anyway, my point is, hopefully if I can make even half as big an impact as that I could save, what over time may become thousands of dogs. So with the help of you guys, I'm sure I CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE!!! So, what do we all think? Is it a good idea?

LOL, you poor girl!!!! Thats so embarressing!!! :oops: :lol: Sorry to laugh, but its pretty funny too :wink:

Oh and everyone has seemed to mention all the other costs - worming, vaccination, registering all the pups, stud fees. Does she have papers? I'd have her spayed - I know how much of a hard decision it is, having made it myself. I paid big $$ for Lily, she has champion bloodlines and even the breeder who sold her to me said she'd love to see Lily have a litter of pups under her supervision (she wanted to be sure I picked the best stud etc). As it turned out, Lily picked up a few aggression problems, and that, coupled with the realization that even though I could sell each pup for close to $1000 I still couldn't afford to breed her, I had to make the hard decision to desex her. Besides, if you think her vulvas and titties are big now, wait till she has a litter! I don't really like the sounds of it when I hear people say that they want to see "just one litter"... to me that sounds that they are breeding for their own reasons, other than that they have a perfect dog that will produce excellent pups. I find in most cases it is a case of people want to see a litter of gorgeous little pups running around their house, which indeed is very indeering.... until you think of those pups sitting in the pound a year later about to be put down, or with scars of abuse chained up in somebodys yard, just because someone wanted to see "just one litter" from their darling dog. I'm not putting you down at all, I'm just saying that there is ALOT to think about before deciding to breed a dog, and if you do think it is still worth breeding, try to gain her a champion title first, if she's not good enough for that she's probably not good enough to be bred from.

Alot of dogs wont bark until they are at least a year old. Lily never used to bark for ages, then, sure enough one day she let out a couple of barks when the other dogs did and now she'll bark whenever she feels the need. Another thing, Duke may not bark when you're in the house as he may not feel the need, though I'm sure if you were away and someone was banging on the door he'd get more protective and guard the house. I really don't think you've anything to worry about, give him time and he'll get more protective instincts and you'll begin to wish he'd shut up! :lol: Kiwi, that sounds like a terrible idea!!!! Its more than likely only going to lead to an aggressive, unpredictable dog that may attack someone and have to be put down!!! I think your trainer needs some re training!!! :o

[quote name='Sanvean']I'm so glad she came home! You must have been so relieved! It's awesome that you guys all microchip your dogs. Is that all throughout Australia, or just in your city or province?[/quote] Thanks, I was relieved!!!! She's so silly on the roads. I was so worried. Also, she's a gorgeous dog and if someone awful didn't realise she was desexed they would have pinched her in a second. I had a chat to Willem, told him not to be so careless and if she did get out not to just walk away with her running around the neighbourhood and if he did let her out and something happened he'd be paying the fines! I'm going to see a counsiller next week, while I'm there I'll ask how to handle Willem etc. I'm not sure if micro chipping is law in all Australia, I know it is throughout nsw, though I think it is everywhere else as well.

Thats ridiculous!!!! What are some people thinking? Ban cockers because their ears are too long!!! :o Oh, and the most stupid part, banning dew claw removal... what the? Don't they realise that dew claws cause more harm than good? All of our dogs are dew claw-less and proud of it! I realised the extent of how unneccissary they were at training when one dog had to undergo major surgury because their dew claw had been ripped and become infected. Then there's all those dogs with over grown dew claws, which curl around and regrow into the dogs leg, causing major pain and infection. Stupid laws, sometimes I think they make these laws just to make it look to the general public that they are doing something other than sitting on their arse all day, and they expect us to beleive that??? :agrue:

Its very good, it just got me thinking... if people are putting their pets to sleep because of SARS maybe you could send the poem into your newspaper or something to get people thinking? You never know how many lives you could save just by restoring and reinforcing the love people have for their dogs.

Oh Tessa was DEFINATLY a rat!!! She's so smart and agile, and such a good food scavanger, I don't see how she could have been anything else!!!! Lily would have been a great, lolloping giraffe :lol:

Yes, that they are. But their digestive tracts are too short to digest whole veggies and their teeth aren't designed to grind them, which is why we have to blend them up.

Its nice that you cared :wink: Oh and of course you got attached!!!! There's no way anyone in their right mind could take care of a puppy like that and not become attached!!! Hey, don't worry about what the other forum says, at least you didn't buy from a puppy mill, or worse still, at least you don't run a puppy mill!!! :o

Actually, I had first hand experience with that panic today with the peace of mind I'd get my baby back! Of course I was still worried, mothers instinct when they're babys lost is to panic, I was lucky though, she came home on her own. I was so angry. Dad took me to uni today and seeing as I only had three hours and dad loves studying he stayed in the library until I finnished for the day. We got home to find no Lily... I was so angry!!!! Ok, Willems schizophrenic so I do make some exceptions to what he does, but when he goes out and just leaves Lily running the street, THAT IS JUST NOT ONE OF THE EXCEPTIONS I'LL MAKE!!!! We have perfectly fine doors, he was careless enough to let the dog out - he should have made sure she was back in before he left! I rang him at his friends as soon as I got home and he was just like "I don't know where she is, she started following me down the road and I told her to go home and she disapeared". Argh!!! :x Well, I went back outside to look for her and she must have heard me calling her before because there she was, like an angel trotting across the road to see me :fadein: I was lucky this time, but I swear it wont happen again, I'll kill him if it happens again!! :evil: I'm gonna have a good long chat to him and tell him that if it happens again.... I don't know what, but he'll get the picture. Sorry for going a little off topic, but I just had to vent!!! My little baby running around for three hours :( Anyway, my point was, no matter how angry, panicd etc I was, I still knew that if she was found I was only a phone call away :wink:

Sorry if you mentioned elsewhere, but what situation was that? I know there are some situations where you'll get a pup under 8 weeks, i got Tessa when she was only 4 or 5 weeks old.... i got her from the pound and am still angry at how someone could dump such a sweet young pup. So what were the situations?

She's done obedience, but i think her main problem is that she isn't as interested in the reward - treat/ball, as she is in running away and playing a chasing game. :roll:

Thanks, i don't have any troubles with LILys attention when training, she's very focused. Maybe it could help Tessa with her agiility as well? I was also curious as to whether it worked as a secondary reinforcer alone or whether you have to reward with a treat every time you click it?

Microchipping is law here, so all our dogs (and cats) are chipped. Tessa was done that long ago i can't remember how much it cost and Lily was already done by the breeder when i got her. I highly reccomend it for anyone who loves their dog and doesn't want it lost or stolen. IT gives me great peace of mind that if one of my dogs does dissapear I"ll get it back. It doesn't cauzee much pain, no more than a regular vaccination would.

Ok, here's the problem. I don't have a licence yet (yes, I know - SO SLACK!) so dad always has to come out to dog training. Before Tessa would just run off to find dad, who was walking with the other dogs, whenever I let her off to do some jumps etc. It was a little embarressing and pretty annoying, but I dealt with it. Anyways, now dads doing obedience with Puddles, so he's in the same grounds as us but surrounded by lots of other dogs. Tessa knows he's there, and is pretty good with her agility, but she's a hearding dog at heart (part kelpie) and every now and again she'll run off into this other massive group, run around and annoy everyone while I'm there running after her! Its so embarressing. She's not the type to get into fights, but last weekend she came across a dog that she didn't like and they got into a fight and I was so angry and embarressed I ended up putting her in the car and spending the rest of the morning doing agility with Lily, who doesn't even do agility!!! Any suggestions to stop Tessa running off like that, I'm nearly at the point on giving up at agility full stop. I've tried having treats and everything else to make her want to stay, but every time she runs it gets reinforced with the chase, which she finds amusing. What should I do???

HAHAHAHA -------- I LOVE IT!!!!!!!!! :lol: :lol: :lol: I'll have one Beagle Chrysler please :wink: Oh, and that dream Ducatti I've always wanted (that one Trinity was riding in The Matris Reloaded...) ...... forget that, I'll take a Dudoggi!!!! :lol:

Yeah, speaking of raw pork, was it you K you said what disease it carrys? I read it in a post one day but can never remember the name :o