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Hi Egg, obedience classes will work wonders with Duck when she gets old enough (6 mths I think for the first real classes?). Try practising the recall "come" on the lead, that can work (but might be too much concentration for a little puppy- heck, it's too much for my 7 yr old dog! :D ). You just have to make sure that YOU are more interesting and exciting than anything else!!! For the comp, I'd just go over everything she already knows, and regardless of how she goes, it'll be great practice for you both. :wink:

Oh she will know what to do all right, you will have trouble keeping the men from the door... but if this is her first season then surely she is too young to be bred from? I believe, from what I've read, the ideal age for bitches to become pregnant is 2 yrs and no younger. :-?

:evilbat: It's pretty bad isn't it! Now that I know the govt introduced puppy mills, and they have metamorphosed into the hellholes they are today, what are they going to do about it???? Governments are the same the world over though, even the "good" ones have their skeletons... It's not so much admitting a mistake, it's that a lot of them deny it or justify it without actually apologising and trying to fix the problem they created in the first place.

Anne in Chains? :wink: Well this dog is 13, getting on a bit. Probably nothing... ? Surely the punishment should lie with the Princess but of course that's often not the case. :o

I love Bull Terriers, I've never met one that's ever been aggressive (and one used to live next door and we used to play with it all the time). What will be interesting to see is what's going to happen to Princess Anne (and husband)- can't really imagine her going to prison, I'm sure she can cough up a fine from her millions though. I hope (in vain) that she doesn't get away with this solely because of who she is... I'm not going to profess why this dog attacked and attacked previously, but surely if your dog has done so before, you take precautions in public, no matter what the breed!!!

Oh that is so sad... I hate how it is the puppies who have to suffer and not the awful puppy millers/BYBs who don't give a rat's about anything except money, and often get no more than a slap on the wrist if they are ever caught. How can anyone say that these people are humane and ethical? (not referring to people on this board, but the general public who aren't educated about the danger and cruelty that coexist with this sort of practice.)

This site made me upset the first time I looked and no better the second time... pass the tissues guys... I am with K on this- being an animal control officer is a hard enough job as it is without others slagging him off for posting the truth on a website. I for one could not do what he does every day. It's important that as many people as possible are educated about horrific acts like this (and the recent attempted eating of a puppy in Australia), maybe one day it will make a difference!

note to my last post: Of course if you adopt from a shelter then you're already doing a good thing! :) It just annoys me that people can label any sort of dog as half Lab or half Rottie when it's usually not so clear-cut unless you have the parents as well...

Oh the puppies are cute all right... but I think they should be properly labelled because if you are a prospective owner and want a particular breed, and you end up getting something different, you might be a bit annoyed. Then again anyone who wants a purebred should be going to a reputable breeder who knows [i]exactly[/i] how their pups are put together and won't just pop them out like rolls from an oven. :o

Go Deep! :) I don't know what to think of this guy now if what he said was true... but being too damn lazy to take down photos of his emaciated rescue dog is a poor excuse. You don't go selling dogs you've supposedly RESCUED either, not if you have the welfare of the dog in your best interests... :mad:

Poor Sadie, there is healthy thin and there is starving emaciated thin. She is STARVING, SICK and needs someone who will love her and feed her properly. I assume that is not the usual look for a gamebred ABPT?! I especially do not like what he says, "I had to sell her last year, I just didn't have the room for her. Someday I hope to find another like her. " He sold her because he didn't have the room and wants to get another one!?!?!?! He should not be allowed to own a dog ever again.

That was well said Jamie. I do know that my lovable, beautiful mutt was a product of irresponsible breeding/ownership. Thankfully he is healthy and has a great temperament. He wouldn't exist if his parents had been fixed, but I'm glad he does, so it's like catch 22... but I would have found another good shelter dog regardless, or bought from a reputable breeder... :wink:

Thanks Jacsmom they're back where they were before now! I also had a bit of trouble with my PM box, I deleted some msgs and logged on later that day to find out they wre back!!! Has the admin been :drinking: ? :lol:

Addenda to previous post: I've just moved house but the dog isn't coming until he gets his microchip renewed (next week). Would it be too much for him if I began to change his diet (gradually) as well as moving house? I'm thinking it might be too different for him right away to change both of those major parts of his life (I rate a distant third to sleep and food!!! :wink: )... what do you think?

Thanks Newfiemom, like Carol I've always fed my dog canned and dry pet food from the supermarket, and he is super-healthy, but the more I read about what goes into pet food the guiltier I feel!! I guess if I can prevent my dog from developing cancer from dog food (if there is a link), or some other nasty disease, then I should do it. The only thing is BK does not need to be any more energetic than he already is... watch out for SuperDog if I switch to BARF.... :D

Yeah, it is a damn shame. Heelers were born to WORK, not to look pretty (even though they are!!! :wink: ). They are thankfully still the dog of choice of almost every farmer in the country who don't give a rat's what it looks like, as long as it can do what it was born for- herd cattle! The prettiest heeler wouldn't stand a chance with a farmer if it couldn't perform... Fancy docking its tail!! That is disgusting. I am against it in any breed of dog, let alone in heelers who need it to do their job properly... :evil:

Just off topic for a sec... I posted a reply in this thread to a post made by Amocat. They have since vanished (my post and Amocat's post)! Is the board playing up, did they get deleted (??) or have I mixed up my posts? (the post is not showing up in the "show all posts by...": either) :oops:

Absolutely!! I know that if I was attacked my dog would jump in and defend me to the death, and I would do the same for him.

I reckon one of the best things to do if you become a parent (to a human, not a canine!) is to get a dog. (that is, if you are a dog lover and can take care of it properly.) I think having the dogs around as I grew up taught me a lot about caring for dogs, respecting their space, trying to decode their feelings and taking care of something that was living and breathing and dependent on you- it instills a feeling of responsibility. I've seen kids tease dogs by pulling ears and all that sort of stuff, but never any rock throwing or anything like that (thank god). Is it just this new computer or do we have new emoticons?? 0X (that's an alien BTW on my screen)

I think the main difference is between adopting a cross bred dog (or any dog, really) from the shelter and buying a cross bred dog (and *mostly* getting ripped off) from a "breeder" is that you save a poor dog from death row if you adopt :)

[quote name='Horsefeathers!'] I believe some people are just plain born bad, though that doesn't mean they can't overcome odds that are stacked against them if they are aware of it (such as my choice to totally abstain from any form of alcohol, or mind altering drugs, even OTC, because of the history of addiction amongst EVERY member of my immediate and distant family... reckon there could be a genetic link? Not worth it to me to experiment). However, dogs don't have the ability to reason the way we do, so if one has a "hardwiring" problem, well, you know...[/quote] I agree to an extent that some people are just born bad. But we as people can refuse to succumb to family addictions- eg. children of alcoholics will either become alcoholics themselves or never touch a drink in their lives children of smokers also can go from extreme to extreme (these are from personal experience- I can't speak for everyone). It can depend on the socio-economic background and how or where a person is brought up or educated- and sometimes it makes no difference at all- so maybe genes do play a part if there are no other obvious reasons. :-? Dogs can't make that sort of choice, most of what they do is linked to how we bring them up. But I do believe that some of them may be genetically "bad". Say you have 5 pups from the same parents, all brought up the same way by yourself, and one is just "bad" despite the same treatment given to him as the others, who are model pets- what causes it if a good upbringing is undertaken and the pup is not suffering from any physical problems? Is that a feasible scenario or an impossible one? Has anyone ever experienced anything similar?

I also liked what they said about breeding and responsibility: [url]http://www.operationk9rescue.com/breedinfo.html[/url] Scroll down past the photos to read. You have probably read it but I thought it was worth posting anyway. :)

Wow- I never realised how different American Bulldogs were to their British counterparts- how muscly are the legs!!! I like the look of the Pit better- they seem a bit more in proportion and the Pit in that photo has really lovely colouring :wink:

I do agree with you Horsefeathers- bad breeding (especially for fighting- if that's all the dog knows and gets praised for being aggressive to other dogs, then that's not its fault, but the fault of the breeders/owners :evil: ) certainly does not help with temperament and you can't blame everything on poor socialisation. But if you have a well-bred dog and it's not socialised properly then it is also going to have some problems. I'm sorry to hear that about your dog Penny... and you are such a good person to take in animals born from your sister's irrepsonsiblity!

Oh I love a happy story about dogs. :) Though one day I hope they don't have a use for an animal shelter; well, we can all dream...