DogPaddle

It would probably be best to use a shampoo low in additives like scents etc. but human shampoo has been fine for mine and I've not heard anyone but pet supply folks say otherwise.

On a very good day, when we have been practicing, they are [i]capable[/i] of doing a sitstay for their treats (on the ground) and being released individually by name - I always do Kavik first though because he just eats his treat.

I see my boy is not the only one with food inspired intelligence and drive. :lol:

Ah K, you are so deviously clever.

I was definately under the impression that the AmStaff folks balked at the suggestion of changing the breed but I personnally only knew 1 decent but not good AmStaff breeder and knew 2 crappy ones distantly. Whenver I have suggested it here there is a flurry of objections. :niewiem: Oh well. All of this doesn't help with the original post much. She is still stuck with whatever the contract holds her too and we don't know if the dog is overly dog aggressive or just has whatever is considered "normal" dog aggression in Amstaffs. We have to rely on the origninal breeder to make responsible decisions, lets both just hope for the best.

Feed her in her crate. Leave the crate open and available to her throughout the day with her bed or a comfy blanket in it. Store her toys in it. Give special treats in it. Keep the crate in the living room or some other room with a lot of people traffic. Tell her "crate" and lure her in with a special treat and let her leave as soon as she has come all the way into get the treat. Never give treats anywhere but the crate (at least until she is crate trained.) Start her off by having her go into the crate ("crate") and then tell her "stay" leave her in there with door open in a stay for a short time, treat, release. Gradually increase length of time in crate. Eventually have her sitting in the crate in the time between comercial breaks while you watch tv - have crate right beside you. Gradually increase the crates distance from you and start swinging the door closed in increments. Eventually have the dog crated across the room with the door closed for at least 15 min. Then start leaving the room for short periods. Try not to let her out while she is fussing, if she fusses. Wait for a calm period. If she is paticularly fussy you may need to be quick, even 2-3 seconds without fussing to start with. Gradually increasing. Never crate as a punishment. Never leave the dog crated for more than 8 hours and much less at the beginning. Make sure she has been out to do her business before any significant period of crating so she is not stuck in there uncomfortable. BTW why are you crate training her at 1 year old? Does she have problem behaviours?

That was a good survey. They touch on many key points.

Careful, competent breeding should allow one to breed out aggression without affecting the others. There is no reason why aggression and intelligence would be linked unless you find an intelligent dog that is not being stimulated enough and is becoming aggressive through lack of stimulation and frustration. It may not be done perfectly all the time but morons who breed soley for a big head aren't doing a great job either so might as well give it a try. As for Danes - not only would they be easier to own if they were a touch smaller but they would likely be healthier and live longer. So, I think it would be great if they were bred 2-4 inches shorter on average rather than some (of course not all) breeders just breeding the biggest Dane to the biggest Dane - they'd still be Danes. In fact, I imagine they would be closer to older styles of Danes as we tend to see dogs with their unique traits overaccentuated now. As for people being prepared for the breed they get - I agree with you completely. A lot of problems could be solved if people carefully researched their breeds. Even if dog aggression is reduced overall in pits potential owners should still be aware of and prepared for the dogs heritage should it express itself.

If I am going to give the boys a special treat I often put them in a sitstay, place the treat in front of them on the ground, wait a few seconds and then tell them release. Kavik goes for the treat right in front of him . . . so does Zaphod, leaning his body across his treat. In this way he eats Kavik's and then, as he leans back, also eat his own treat. He is very fast. I am pleased that he is so clever but he must know he is being naughty. I will have to remember to have them sitstay further apart to give Kavik a chance.

Gah! :x I won't even use the "come" command if I have to give the boys a nasty med or trim their nails or give them a bath. I don't want "come" associated with anything negative - It has to be a safe good word that they will come for EVERY time.

That is so sweet. Candy is a dear little caretaker. They certainly know who their family is - and take steps to care for them. I walk Kavik and Zaphod seperately because of this. Kavik is fine, Zaphod is making progress but might get snarky with another dog even in passing (safely leashed of course.) I'm worried if the other dog snarked back Kavik would rush into take charge of the confrontation and I am simply not able to control both boys if they choose to have a confrontation at the same time.

I think its great that you are concerned and are looking into things. With a contract in place you may be quite limited in what decisions you can make. While it is true that Am Staffs are permitted more lattitude in the area of reactivity to other dogs there are limits. Certainly discuss your concenrs with the breeder he/she may be quite interested in your observations. And while a "dog aggression" is considered OK currently among a large portion of pit enthusiasts people might want to begin to look to the futre. Breeds change (GSD have gone from squarish bodies to slopy back ends and are now moving back again) as society dictates, if people want to keep having these dogs then they may want to consider modifying breeding programs to reduce overall reactivity. As human and canine population density increases dog reactivity may become more and more impracticle. Good luck - whatever happens.

Ah Scotty, I new I could trust you to come on and make us all look bad by being all civil and freindly. :D I think it would probably be good if tried the civil approach but I have such a hard time taking poop even if it is gift wrapped. It would have been so much easier to take had Angel come back and said something like "Man, I screwed up Big time. I've done my best to fix it - as much as possible." But to come on and (originally) make like it was no big thing and to get angry when people weren't happy about it and to claim that spaying pregnant dogs is banned in Missouri . . . well my snappier side just couldn't resist.

Huh, weird, I wonder why that is. I suppose its convenient as the front end is usually peoples prefferred petting end. Zaphod prefers a good butt scratch though - must be all that semi-loose fur. :lol:

Ok, maybe its just appearances but it really does seem that Zaphod's but and flanks shed 2x as much as the rest of him. Anybody have any idea why that might be?

While I do believe genetic diversity plays a role in animal health I think that there are way to many dogs out there with HD ect. Maybe its just around here but shelter dogs just aren't trouble free more often than purebreds IF you eliminate the millers and bad bybers from the purebred side - now those are some of the most unhealthy dogs I've come across. My mum got a dog from a nice enough lady, but she was a byber and the people who bought those pups now know each other because their vets put them in touch with each other. :o UT infections, kidney problems, behaviour problems, bad teeth. :x

Hillside said: [quote]As far as an abortion pill not being available, you STILL could have had her spayed, even with pups. [/quote] Very true. I believe we've discussed this a number of times here before. I know that every vet I've talked to here will discuss spaying a bitch with an unwanted litter - it prevents future litters and removes the unwanted litter. We had to have this done to CrazyCat as she was pregnant when we started our foster with her. They spayed her quite late in her pregnancy and she was fine and we only had to find a home for one cat.

I concurr "meal" would probably be better but at least it has "chicken" as a first ingredient rather than "poultry by-product meal"

INGREDIENTS: Chicken, brewers rice, corn gluten meal, oat groats, pearled barley, vegetable oil preserved with mixed-tocopherols, egg product, soy flour, dicalcium phosphate, natural flavor, calcium carbonate, potassium chloride, salt, vitamins [Vitamin E supplement, niacin, Vitamin A supplement, calcium pantothenate, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin supplement, Vitamin B-12 supplement, pyridoxine hydrochloride, folic acid, Vitamin D-3 supplement, biotin, menadione sodium bisulfite complex (source of Vitamin K activity)], choline chloride, minerals [zinc sulfate, ferrous sulfate, manganese sulfate, copper sulfate, calcium iodate, sodium selenite], ascorbic acid [source of Vitamin C]. AWB7 First two ingredients bode well but the third is corn gluten meal, additionally there are no protein ingredients between chicken, the first ingredient, and egg product, the 7th ingredient. They add salt and "natural flavor." They use soy flour - probably to bulk the food up. On the up side it does start with a good recognizable meat and it has no by-product. I would consider this a fair, middle of the class dog food.

I think your right Sizzle.

Well then any of the adoption fees on petfinder should be WELL below that, you can even select the size of dog your looking for on their search page and narrow it down the breed and gender too if you want. There seem to be a whole lot of young Fox Terriers in your area on Petfinder. There are a couple beagle pups, those are sort of small but still big enough to play with your lab. They can be a bit noisy and some of them are a bit hard to house train but if you are comfortable with that you should be ok. [url]http://www.petfinder.org/pet.cgi?action=2&pet=3588608&adTarget=468doggeneral&SessionID=41d5b22617aa65c5-app2&display=&preview=&row=0&tmpl=&stat=[/url] [url]http://www.petfinder.org/pet.cgi?action=2&pet=3807353&adTarget=468doggeneral&SessionID=41d5b22617aa65c5-app2&display=&preview=0&row=25&tmpl=&stat=[/url] [url]http://www.petfinder.org/pet.cgi?action=2&pet=2655072&adTarget=468doggeneral&SessionID=41d5b22617aa65c5-app2&display=&preview=0&row=25&tmpl=&stat=[/url] [url]http://www.petfinder.org/pet.cgi?action=2&pet=3802386&adTarget=468doggeneral&SessionID=41d5b1440bfb9d36-app5&display=&preview=&row=0&tmpl=&stat=[/url] [url]http://www.petfinder.org/pet.cgi?action=2&pet=3728025&adTarget=468doggeneral&SessionID=41d5b1440bfb9d36-app5&display=&preview=&row=0&tmpl=&stat=[/url]

That is odd. I, unfortunetely, have not heard of this so can't really help. I know the epiglottis can become hard in people when they have a flu or something but it goes away when the infection clears. Sounds almost like the opposite of sleep apnia where the epiglottis is soft and causes breathing problems.

There are better goods but Eagle Pack is a pretty good food. I think Canidae's kibbles were pretty small, how small do they have to be?

Petfinder is great. They show over 800 young dogs or pups for adoption in Virginia. As for price, the price of the puppies is miniscule copared to the cost of shots, licences, emergancy vet care, and decent food, not to mention, toys, beds, collars, obedience class etc. If the adoption prices are a problem I would seriously reconsider getting a dog.

She doesn't even realize when we ask about health that we are concerned about genetic faults, even recessive ones. She thinks we are only concerned with "diseases." I suspect she is completely unaware of the common health concerns when breeding yorkies: portacaval shunt tracheal collapse Leggs