imported_Kat

aww I'm delighted for you and of course Montie :wink:

In work we had the most fantastic African Grey that was picked up wandering down a bad area in Belfast singing the wrong political song for the area! He was picked up by the USPCA and brought to our surgery. Now that was a bird who was more intelligent and socila than a lot of humans. He kep saying Tommy and Tommy boy and so that was what we called him. little bty little that bird developed a vocabulary that would rival any adult. He had sucha personality. If we had a dog in a cage he would whistle at it and click and say "wanna go for a walk, walkies come on lets go". The poor wee dog would have been up wagging the tail furiously all excited thinking it was going for a walk. He really was a bad wee bugger like that :lol: :lol: He sat in the waiting room in a big cage during surgery times and would say "well hello there " in a very sultry voice. The wee old women that came in with their poms and chihuahua's were always looking around for the voice lol! He would do a fantastic imitation of the phone ringing too and I would be up and down like a yoyo, then when it did ring, he would imitate my voice perfectly only more high pitched and say "hello Mr Archbolds veterinary surgery, how can I help you". :roll: he was a wild distraction and a pain in the a$$ too! If I was sitting eating my lunch, he would go "Katrinnnaaaa giz a bit" then as an after thought he would add please, and if i said no he would tell me to feck off, and start screaming at me so we ended up having shouting matches and I really do mean full blown swearing and yelling! :lol: Oh yes he was a bird in a million, and ended up in a court case battle, where his original owner's husband had sold him for drink money. The person who he sold him to let him escape by accident, but in the end they got custody of him. The saturday afternoon when I had to take him out of his cage, he knew something was up. He screamed at me when I tried to take him out and was pleading with me saying please no no. It broke my heart and I had to resort to a towel over his head to get him out :( Parrots are amazing company if they are reared properly and handled well. What I will say is that you must give them loads of time in the early stages then provide them with plenty of stimulation and preferably let them have free flight in a room or a large cage. Tommy had a kong stuffed with fruits inside it and wee treats, but he would have preferred to be having a conversation with someone or an argument :wink:

Chill gang, its a spoof!

Zoe, can you not get onto the PSPCA? I know that its like talking to a brickwall at times, but maybe if you really were persistent and stand your ground they might check the place out?

Hey Shar, don't treat one dog as being dominant over the other. Treat them as equal in your eyes and with your methods and voice tone, otherwise Apollo will get too cocky (as what sounds like he is doing now), and really start to show dominant behaviour over not only Zeus but also you too. Even be more dominant over Apollo if he is hard headed and use a stronger voice tone, but they will get on much better if treated as equal as possible. Good luck! :wink:

Bichons that I have come across are smart. They are actually a smart breed though I have to confess I don't have any affliction for small dogs in general really. Due to their ability to work out a situation they can be very manipulative and need a firm control. They are not a great pet for young children from what I have encountered and are more for older people who don't have too many other dogs. Preferably bichons like being top dog on their own.

Good luck wee Fifty! :D Hope all goes well :wink:

This is very debatable. Personally I am fine with dissecting animals in general as I have done countless post mortems at the surgery. In school we dissected a few beasties and of course uni we have had a fair few to dissect. Now there was one time in uni in my 2nd year in animal physiology class where we were to be involved in a rather gruseome experiment that involved examining the brain of frogs and mice while the animal was stunned. The guy we had was Dr Laming who I persnally think enjoys being vindictive.. Well that particular day the wee frogs were hopping about in their wee water bath and the mice were chewing at the bars. I couldn't help but feel sorry for them and looked at my friend Andrew. We opened the cages and tilted them slightly to give them a headstart when laming was next door in the wee lab, and they went free :D He came back and he is a calm guy who would remind you of Prof Snape in harry potter really and shows little emotion. He was furious as he crawled on his hands and knees trying to scoop up frogs and mice. Not one of the class attempted to help him either and that day is still brought up in conversations :wink:

Voted again! Ahead by 15 votes whooo hoo! :D

Hi there Miss J, welcome to Dogo and ignore the predators that jumped to conclusions *meaningful look>>>>>> :nono: :grab: we aren't a bad lot really, and I'm glad you could join the gang :wink: Start a new thread and post about your furbabes :D

The others have covered it all pretty well. If she barks or growls don't reinforce the behaviour by yelling at her. Instead first try to ignore her and the situation and distract her. She knows obedience and you can make good use out of the obedience training by getting her tuned into what you have to offer her. If she is more absorbed in you (and a treat!) than the surrounding situation, wait until she is sitting and also ignoring the situation and treat her. Don't treat her however to stop her growling as this will only reinforce the behaviour. Be positive, but don't be over-brimming with false happiness as dogs can also sense fraud. GSD's are a very sensitive breed from what I have encountered working with them, and they tend to latch onto one person for security and can be off-hand with other people. Additionally remember at this age her hormones will be totally unbalanced and she could be coming into her first season, which will also make her temperamental. Finally get a vet to check out her eyes and make sure that she has no congenital eye disorder like a retinolatrophy. This is a condition where the retina is dysfunctional, almost hazy and anyone approaching a dog in surprise from behind or the side, will scare that dog and the first inclination of the dog will be to adopt the defence mode involving a snap. Good luck and keep us posted :wink:

I really am brain dead today, and can't think of words with having a horrid cold thats making me go hot/cold :o I'm doing my thesis results (just for a change) and am trying to think of a collective term that will include: stability with startle stimuli, dominance acceptance, playfulness and interest in problem solving test. The obvious that I am thinking of is [i]curiosity [/i]but that wouldn't feature as being a component of dominance acceptance really. :-? Any help will be gratefully appreciated. thanks! :wink:

I'll echo that one Mouse :wink:

Just as Kendalyn says its a little hernia, usually harmless. When your puppy is on your knee, put her on her back, and push in the hernia into the little groove and rub it in circular motions. This will help to build up muscle layers around it and may prevent surgery when you have her spayed. Congrats and good luck with your new pup :wink:

Oh near where I park my car for uni, there is a guy that lives with two big Newfies, a brown and a landseer and they are just big mad cuddle bugs :D I always park my car near his house in hope that he will be walking them to get a cuddle hehe :D

Voted! and brought her up to joint 1st whooo hoo! :D

Very briefly, personality is a very anthropomorphical term to be applied to a dog. In the world of canine behaviour, "behavioural traits is a more accepted term". If you wish to test social behaviour of your pup, then you can use a number of tests which have been documented in books. I am in the middle of writing a thesis on social behaviour in border collies but my tests used can be applied to any dog breed/mix if you have some asistance. [b]Sociability[/b]: Get a stranger to stand in the middle of a room and with the owner out of sight, get a 2nd person to place the dog at the perimiter of the room. Crouching low the person in the centre should call the dog in a happy voice saying puppy puppy or something similar, but avoid formal commands including here and come. Score the dog according to body language on a score of 1-5, with 5 being used for a dog that has erect ears, mid to high tail position and readily approaches the stranger with a wagging tail, with no growling/barking. Score 1 at the other end of the extreme if the pup refuses to come with a low/tucked tail/ears back and/or growling intimidating posture. [b]Manipulative dominance acceptance[/b]: The stranger will pick the pup up supporting it fully across the abdomen and hold it for a count of 15 seconds. High struggling/restlessness gains a low score whereas a content pup with minimum struggling scores a high score. [b]Playfulness[/b]: The pup is invited to play with a tennis ball proportional to his size. Interaction with non-threatening body language gains a high score and a low score will be entered if the pup possesses the ball or refuses to play. [b]Stamina[/b]: Set up a small box with a piece of cheese/sausage inside and cover the box with soft mesh. Place the pup near the box and record his reaction. High interest scores 5 and low/no interest scores 1. [b]Startle stimuli[/b]: Place the pup at the perimiter of the room held by a person, while the other person shakes a can/tin with pennies/stones sharply, then immediately places the tin on the floor. simultaneously turn the pup around and score his reaction. High investigative behaviour scores 5 and cowering/no interest scores 1. This is just an example of some of the tests that you can use with your pup, but if this is for a truly scientific project then do relate to scientific evidence/journals, as my thesis won't be published until after the summer if it is accepted! Good luck and congrats with your newest addition :wink:

Hey Court, Border Collies were the only breed used. I had to decide on just the one breed due to time limitations, but as I say I would greatly love to extend the study given time and resources to include others breeds that are diverse in activities.

People in N.Ireland are twats and shops go berserk if you bring in a dog that isn't an assistance dog :roll: . However I would take Meg to Pets at home and Jolleyes. Also to the hospital where she visits, and the usual parks, dog club, shows etc! In continental Europe they are so much better and let dogs into shops and on trains etc in a fair few countries including the Netherlands, so if Meggie was to come with me she would be brought everywhere :wink:

Finally I have completed all of my behavioural stats for my thesis and for anyone that may be interested here are the findings: Firstly a quick reminder of the observation groups. Border Collies including working farm dogs, obedience, agility and pet dogs were observed and scored on a scale of 1-5 for social behaviour in 5 separate tests revolving around social behaviour. Result summary: Stats were completed using a canonical discriminant analysis on unistat, which is a very sensitive statistical method and will pick up small consistent variations between categories. The results showed that working farm dogs scored lower in comparison to the other 3 groups, in that they had a lower level of social behaviour and were less eager to attempt a problem solving test. Pet dogs showed a rather varied array of social behaviours, and made it nearly impossible to predict which group they should fit into, if their behaviour was just assessed primarily. Obedience and agility dogs scored similar and portrayed similar mediocre-high social behaviour, but again few judging by their behaviour thought they were an agility dog, when they were really an obedience dog! That is to say their behaviour reflected behaviour that was more typified by the majority of the misclassified group, in which they thought they belonged to simplify the above statement. I have many points for my discussion as to these results generated including contact and exposure just to name a few factors, but I shall inform those of you that are interested in due course after my thesis has been accepted at the end of May. Its now full steam ahead to get it all written up! :wink: If I was given the funding and resources I would extend this research to include another breed that would match the abilities of the Border Collie, and it certainly is something that I will consider seriously in a few years time. I have immensely enjoyed doing this research from the planning of it last june to where I am now nearly a year on and actually writing it up. I am greatly satisfied as are my professors and I very much hope to have it pubished in animal behaviour and Nature journals after it is accepted and marked.

Hehe I confess to having dog addiction disease. :D Furthermore what is interesting is that Sander will now go "ooh look its an airhead (Airedale) terrier" :lol:

Sorry I haven't had a chance to find the research journals with being hectic the past few days. These were proven studies conducted in Utrecht and Amsterdam universities that we were given lectures on. I will find them when I get a chance but i can assure you it is not propaganda. I am not narrow minded nor do I wish to start arguing. Everyone is entitled to their opinion , and I may be more opinionated than others especially where dog training is concerned. I will openly admit that. Using an ECT collar however causes aversion behaviour as viewed with dogs body language, whimpering cowering and ears back with a tucked tail position. In surveys the dogs associated their handler with a shock and were less motivated and less quick to learn a task than dogs who were not shocked. I will look for the papers later tonight when I get back from work, and let you judge for yourselves, as right now I am just back from my formal and am in no frame of mind to start explaining journal articles.

what total BS she has spouted all over that sh!ite site :evil: :evil: :evil:

Border Collies are a bit more difficult and usually because of their working nature get short sharp one syllable names. Commonly though are Glen, Shep, Tip, and Mac (very scottish borderish where they originated on the borders with N.England)!

I will have my head taken off for this by quite a few, but on the whole I find that breed people are a lot less approachable than obedience and agility. I do agree though that trying to talk to someone before they enter the ring is not a good idea. I personally don't like it myself either as I like to spend time with Meg and only Meg doing motivational training with just the two of us before we go in to compete. In between competing I don't mind at all if people want to talk or stroke Meg. I enjoy interacting and answering questions, as do most other obed/agility people that I know :)