PFT's thread; (video added 24/nov)

[Stewie'sSlave]

Poor Monty and Woody! I've never witnessed a bad dog fight. I would be so scared!

About a couple weeks ago on one of our walks, we came across a chihuahua (And there's not many in my town, 2nd one i saw anyways.) And as we got closer the lady swooped up her chihuahua lol. Like I know Stewie is bigger than a purebred chihuahua but you don't need to be afraid of him lol.

[pawsforthought]

Oh my god -__- lol.

Not only are there (for example) Staffie owner stereotypes (ie. OH YOU ONLY GOT THAT BREED AS A STATUS DOG)

But people like that are inadvertently reinforcing the 'little dog person' stereotype as well. It's irritating because in SOME people (I would argue, in those that perhaps aren't AS well informed in the doggy world) it's creating a sort of little dog owner - big dog owner rift.

This is just through observation of course, but it's definitely evident where I walk my dogs. Status dogs are rather abundant here, and although I don't like to judge, and I know, for example, a bunch of teens where I walk who have two staffies and ADORE them (and then went on to get a Yorkshire Terrier later on XD) but I also know OF people who hit their dogs and things.

I think also that some people in areas like this may be swayed toward a particular type of dog in order to show their disapproval of a different breed, if that makes sense?
Staffies make great family pets, for example, but a lot of people don't want one simply because of their reputation and the types of people sometimes associated with them.
But the people here aren't the brightest.... XD

[Oliver & Henry's Mum]

Gaby, I hate to break it to you, but dogs have been status symbols throughout History. This is not a new phenomenon, but perhaps you are truly noticing it for the first time. With many ancient breeds, Asian ones come to mind, such as the Pekingnese, to own one was a symbol of one's wealth, which equalled power.

Most people react to dogs in the manner in which they have been taught. Some people are "dog" people, and others are not. There is a lot of grey area in there as well.

The best way to dispell myths and predispositions is by raising good canine citizens.

[lucky&babesmom]

Gaby I so agree with Deb . I love all dog I do have breeds I tend to like more ,I can't explain other than I really love the howl of a hound . But now I have 1 part hound , a part lab and part collie /German Shepard.

I love them all but just have thing for hounds if that makes sense. Oh well guess I got side tracked. Mainly its I agree with Deb LOL!

[pawsforthought]

Gaby, I hate to break it to you, but dogs have been status symbols throughout History.

I know, I think I have a tendency to be too trusting of other people, even strangers, but after years of living here, that tendency has calmed I know to be wary of other people now, though I still try to give everyone a smile as I walk by, and I go out of my way to be polite. That can't hurt.

I don't think it's that I'm only just realising it as such, more that after a year of studying psychology, and a month or so of delving even deeper into the psychology of society, I've become a lot more analytical of the reasons as to why people behave in certain ways. I think it's my passion for my subject that has led me to applying it to real life situations (which is actually very good for the subject... )

I agree with what you say though, I always find those children that are polite and know to ask to approach a dog have parents who urge them to do so XD

[Oliver & Henry's Mum]

As you well know, I am a huge proponent of good manners. I insist on it with my sons, but being polite does not mean being oblivious. Strangers are just that, strangers. I really do not see how being polite and being too trusting go hand in hand, but that is something within yourself that you are learning and developing.

Wouldn't it be lovely if we could trust everyone who was polite? Growing up is the end of the innocence unfortunately. In schools here, they even teach phrases such as "Stranger Danger". It is the polite man, with a leash and a supposedly missing puppy that often lures children away from what they know is their safe zone and into the woods, or wherever.

I too studied basic human Psychology in High School. My sister studied Anthropology in University, and I learned a great deal from typing essays for her. You have just begun to scratch the surface.

I totally agree with you about children and how they react to dogs, big or small. Elliot was fearless around every strange dog, which is dangerous and I had to teach him not to do that. He was only 3 or so by the time he realized what I was trying to teach. At 15, he virtually knows every dog in our neighbourhood, their names and their history!

Since the only people around here that we see with Pit mixes treat their dogs badly, and have them for protection (as unfortunately most of them are making their living through criminal activity), Elliot knows enough to avoid the owners! I think that is the "take away" in all of this.

Before anyone jumps on the bandwagon about dog profiling, and my comment about Pit mixes, it is NOT the fault of the dog (breed, mix or otherwise) but is the fault of the owners. These nefarious people use these dogs for intimidation and as a symbol, which is so unfortunate.

Humans are certainly an interesting study, and it's a lifelong journey.

[pawsforthought]

Well, you may or may not know that Monty is the dopiest dawg in the world.....

I have SOME proof of that here to show you. Well, I've never been able to make Monty bark in order to teach him 'speak'

SO today.....I decided to get him to whine to the command instead. He whines in the car (instigated by Woody, he never used to do this) on the way to walk them, and it's SO annoying, so I will continue to teach him this command, and then 'quiet' and make sure I have a treat with me in the car from now on.

Anyway...I started today, and have been doing it for about five minutes up til this point, so bear that in mind!

Here's Monty's attempt at 'speaking' (recorded on iPhone, hence the weird shape)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2uVbTbSK1M

[Oliver & Henry's Mum]

Gaby, that video is adorable!!! His second attempt was a perfect "smile"! I love the teefies.

We do something similar with Henry as he has such a shrill bark when he's excited indoors (normally when the doorbell rings or someone is coming up the path). It is his "alert" bark but it almost makes our ears bleed, it is so shrill!

We have been working on the command "Indoor Voice". Just before he lets out a sound, very similar to Monty, he boots out one of his hind legs in an attempt to make a sound, but not a loud one. It is still very much a "work in progress", and we try to nip it in the bud if we know someone is approaching prior to Henry knowing.

Thankfully, Oliver just tends to say "roooo-rooooo" these days. Before Henry came, Oliver would bark at the doorbell much as Henry does now. If we manage to stop Henry from doing it, Oliver will then give a quiet indoor bark, to replace Henry's shrill bark, but is silent if Henry is barking. It's as if they are a "tag team". Silly creatures.

Monty does look like such a happy boy!

[pawsforthought]

That sounds do adorable Deb! XD I'd love to hear Oliver's 'rooo-rooo' haha. It's funny, Monts and Woods are so different but they are fully related bros. Monty has a very shrill bark and Woody has a much deeper bark. The lady who owns their sister made a remark about Aussies loving the sound of their own voice, and I said maybe Monty is embarrassed of his 'voice' in that case as he just won't bark! (only when someone comes to the door, and even then he seems to shock himself when he does it, looking around like 'no one saw that right?')

Monty and Woody will form a tag team like you said! If I try to send one into a room the other goes too and I call him back and the other follows too and they go either side of me do I can't stop them easily. It's like a comedy sketch sometimes! XD

I taught Woody rollover last night (getting back into the tricks you may be able to tell xD) and I thought he wouldn't do it as he doesn't tend to like baring his tummy but he wasn't bothered at all! And then just to prove me wrong about him, Monty had a go and learnt it just as fast! he is a dope though. You can see that in 'attempt two' where he's trying to figure out what I want him to do. You should have seen the process of teaching him. He tried spinning, paw, beg, lie down, all sorts! I almost feel sorry for him when he does all that and doesn't get a treat still! Lmao

[Oliver & Henry's Mum]

Monty is funny being embarrassed by his own bark. Puppies are like that when they first realize they can make such a sound. They even seem startled by it. I am hoping that Henry's bark will become a bit deeper in time, as Oliver's has.

I have no doubt that Monts and Woods will tag team.

The dogs are funny when you are attempting to teach one a trick, and the other one watches hoping to be equally as rewarded.

I understand why many people have one dog at a time, but having two (at least) is just so much more fun. The way they interact with one another, and how their individual personalities become more apparent is enjoyable and makes for some wonderful laughs.

[pawsforthought]

I love having two dogs! For one thing, having Woody has brought Monty out of his shell an awful lot!
They seemed to get on straight away too, Monty always had a 'thing' for other Aussies which is weird. He doesn't share the same interest for Border Collies, so he can obviously easily differentiate he went MAD when he saw his mum when we reunited them

Here's a short video of Monty and Woody on their first ever meeting (on the ferry)
http://www.youtube.com/user/barkbarkwoo ... GreEsa2lTI

[RubyJeansMom]

Gaby, I don't know how I missed this, but I'm glad I saw it!
Woody is absolutely adorable, and Monty is being such a good big brother.

And I just love hearing your, very proper, British accent!

[pawsforthought]

Oh lord, I hate hearing my voice in videos, especially ones from a couple of years ago or more. I sound like such a prat!

But yeah, Monts was a good bro. He still is! He never really seems to realise when Woody is 'bullying' him (he only bullies him, no other dogs ) And just sort of grins. Although, when I rescue him from Woody he gets all waggy and happy as if to say thanks. Lol

How DID you track it down? I was meaning to unearth this thread again but I never really say much in it anyway :S

[pawsforthought]

I don't know if any of you guys know, or remember (if I have said it before) but Monty hasn't been eating his food lately. Our issue is, because we were giving him the cereal free James Wellbeloved, of which there were only a couple flavours to choose from, he became 'bored' very easily with it and he just stopped liking it. We have been mixing tuna into his food, but he'll still leave some kibble as he'll eat the tuna and spit the kibble back out!

So anyway, we ordered a 15kg bag of Lukullus food from zooplus. It looked good, and I'd done some extensive reading of reviews of it and found almost only praise for it! I asked a friend of mine on a different forum, who is a vet nurse, if she'd look at the ingredients and analysis for me and she said it looked fine. There had been another food we were looking at that we'd gotten a free sample of at Crufts, called Markus Mühle, which had good reviews in England, not so great ones in Germany, and a lot of people said it had a grain content that was unnecessarily high. I asked my friend to compare the two foods and she pointed out the grain content of the latter food too, and said Lukullus looked better.

Lukullus apparently change the meat they put into their food per season? Something someone said on a forum I was looking at (where I originally found out about this food as it was being recommended there to someone else looking at Markus Mühle!) Because of the different meats available in different seasons blahdy blah. Anyway, I thought since Monty gets bored so easily, this could be a good one to try!

Sorry that's so long winded that description! What I'm getting to is, it arrived today, and I gave the boys each a BIG portion as their food ran out the day before yesterday so they only got a small amount of food yesterday (some nature diet on its own, as we had thought the Lukullus would be arriving yesterday and it didn't..) but they had already had a big breakfast today.

Anyway, Woody ate almost all of it, and looked extremely full when he'd finished. (He has this really concerned looking expression when he's full...ahah) Monty left the same amount he usually does when there's tuna mixed in! Considering I gave him more than usual, and there was nothing added to the food, this is very promising! They were going MAD sniffing the bag too when it came!

I got home and let them out and they ran straight to the bag, not me

This is day 1, I know, so I'm not letting my hopes get TOO high, but Monty hasn't reacted to another food with such excitement! I'm hoping he remains liking this one, as I even like the smell of it myself, the James Wellbeloved always smelt a bit horrible lol.

They have Charolais Beef and Trout this time

Again, sorry for such a LONNNG post! But I've explained it all and it's out of the way, so I can just top you guys up every now and then as to how he is still liking the food!

This is the food (the Chicken and Salmon one)
http://www.zooplus.co.uk/feedback/shop/ ... lus/156066

I know it isn't the best dog food EVER but for the price I think it's a pretty decent one!! Especially if Monty continues to like it and it doesn't upset his stomach.

[Oliver & Henry's Mum]

I loved the video. For some reason, I always forget that Monty was first! What a sweetheart to just lay there and accept this young snippet, who clearly feels safe for having Monty there.

I'm sure you'll sort the food issues with Monty. He doesn't look as though he's starving himself, so be careful not to overindulge his fussiness. By the way, I would also be extremely careful about switching their food without a transition period. If one or the other one has diarrhea, you really won't know if that's down to the sudden change in food, or if it's going to be an ongoing issue.

I would give this new food at least 2 weeks, and perhaps stop implementing his kibble with goodies. No dog will starve themselves, and Monty looks rather healthy to me. Just my two cents worth.