My parents have always just bought basically the first available female puppy they could find. And for the most part that's worked. I'm looking to get a herding dog thats a little more medium energy, will bark at coyotes, assist in catching ground hogs, and accompany me around the farm and maybe teach her to herd goats. Do I go to a registered breeder and get a puppy that may have been raised in doors but I'm more sure it will be what I want or just get a crossbreed that was raised on a farm? Where or how did you get your dog?

I belong to a group that rat hunts with our dogs in Washington, D.C. We do this because our dogs are breeds that are genetically hardwired to hunt vermin. So we are letting them do the job they were designed to do. Here is a recent video of one of our hunts. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6sJd9AGUtbg&list=LL&index=1&t=316s

How does a person deal with the people you work with???? who are constantly back stabbing me for reason at all…

"Enhancing Military Working Dog’s performance:...Department of the Air Force Guidance Memorandum 2023-01 DoD Military Working Dog Program now mandates the provision of physical, social, and cognitive enrichment programs for MWDs, emphasizing the importance of holistic care in maximizing their potential...Olfactory Enrichment...Visual Stimulation...Auditory Enrichment...Bubble Play...Herding Ball...rotary dog walker and exercise kennel runs...holistic care and development of military working dogs. By prioritizing mental, physical, and psychological enrichment." https://www.37trw.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/3700303/enhancing-military-working-dogs-performance-the-341st-training-squadrons-new-en/

I’ve got a beautiful Kelpie/Collie/Cattle x dog around 3/4 years old in the suburbs. He is ball obsessed and food obsessed and used to love wrestling and playing with every other dog.

In the last 6-12 months he is much more selective about who he plays with, but is also being much more assertive and dominant with other dogs in other houses and when they visit our house - he will often nip around their faces to assert himself.

However lately he has been especially aggressive and reactive to labradors at the park. Other dogs he will be fine with saying hello and sniffing, but labradors and sometimes retrievers are often a trigger for him. He will snarl and snap at them to tell them to back off and one warning usually gets them away, but today another Labrador was also reactive and it almost got ugly - luckily they calmed down.

Any tips on what we can do to help bring his nipping and assertiveness under control, and what we might be able to do to reduce his reactiveness to other dogs he doesn’t like?

Hey guys so I got a interesting question for you all.

I've been working with a working dog kennel for 7 years now breeding dogs and waiting for a realy special puppy that kind of dog that comes around once in a million and been trying since 2017 and finally hit the jackpot the dog has exceeded every expectation he's as confident as they come and overall ebrrythibg perfect. Unfortunately he developed happy tail syndrome he got a small wound on the tip of his tail and because he's always wagging its gotten worse and worse and worse. You CANNOT keep this dog still in the crate he hits his tail on the side. In the house he walks it on the walls and door frames. I can keep his tail safe during the day but we all have to sleep eventually and at night he hits it on everything in the room and his crate if I crate him. Been a ongoing issue for a while we've tried bandaging and all the known methods if you guys have any suggestions please let me know. Now the ultimate question is the vets reccomending amputation down to the first or second vertebrae. Similar to how Rottweilers and dobermans are docked. I love this dog with all my heart and if that's what he needs to prevent further infections I suppose I have no choice but do you think it will greatly affect his ability in bite work ? When the decoys swing him on the bite will he be able to balance etc etc or could he adapt ? He's a super special puppy and I'd hate to lose the opportunity to take him far.

So my 6 year old mal started having some pretty dull teeth about a year ago. Fast forward to now and one on the bottom has fallen out, then others are all looking very worn and one of her K9 teeth on the top is having to be pulled next week because it’s so broken. None of it seems to bother her, her health is fine. What could be causing this?? The vet didn’t really say much other than aggressive chewing could cause this. Will having teeth removed cause quality of life to go down? She’s a very aggressive chewer and rough player with her sister so I’m scared we are going to make her depressed or something. Has anyone else had this issue with their dog?

So I have a 11 Month old GSD. I started having her wear an e-collar about a month or two ago. I just started using it this week. When I use it, she begins to act very sad. She will often go hide in her crate and just look at me with big puppy dog eyes.

Is this something that I should be concerned with? Or is this something that she'll get used to?

Breeder I met recently feeds her Belgian Mals this dog food and raved about it. It is very affordable, but only some feed stores carry it in my area. Anyone feeding this to their dogs? Currently using Pro Plan 30/20, was on Victor and before that Taste of the Wild. Pro Plan is pricing me out so looking for an alternative. Ingredients list looks good on their 30/20. Thoughts? Looking for best nutritional bang for my buck.

I recently started my doberman in bite work. we’re apart of a (mostly PSA) club, but a couple members are titling in IGP. Initially I wanted to pursue IGP, but PSA has really stolen my attention within the last year and now I’m torn which direction I’d like to go.

my dog has been primarily pet-household trained so we’re building him up a little, but luckily he’s nothing short of a slight monster even at 4 years old. It seems that as of right now, he’ll do great with either. he’s thrilled as long as he gets to work.

So — I’m curious. What’s your experience been like in one or the other? what do you like (or dislike) about them? Any insight is appreciated!

This is going to be a long and multi faceted post:

Premise: I have purchased a property in an urban area to be used for urban agriculture and tool storage for my landscape business. I would like to introduce a working dog(s) to the property to help secure animals (3 goats, and chickens) and equipment to be kept on the property. Theft and vandalism are potential concerns of mine.

1: what breed of dog would you recommend? The dog will be responsible for patrolling the property when I am there, but the hope is that it will also be able to patrol the property in my absence after training. The dog will also be around animals, so it is important that it does not view them as prey. There will also be employees on the property. Therefore it is important that the dogs are SAFE towards approved humans.

2: what quantity of dog would you recommend. Would it be lonely/unfair to have only one dog since it will hopefully eventually patrol the property on its own during the night? Would you recommend 2 dogs for security and companionship? If so, same breed or different breeds?

3: it seems imperative that I purchase a puppy. First it seems unfair to take a dog used to constant human interaction and expecting them to spend long hours (up to 16 hours) without human interaction. Second, I believe that it is important for the dog to not have any previously learned unwanted behaviors. Please tell me if this seems accurate.

4: what specific training exercises would you recommend? Obviously a regular patrol exercise, some kind of attack or aggression exercise, food/treat refusal. Any other specific skills come to mind?

5: what resources are available for training dogs for this type of application? I have seen great resources posted on this sub for general training. However this seems like a more niche application.

Any feedback, suggestions, experiences are welcome.

so i took my 4 mo puppy to a dog socialising thingy, he was doing good, he's gained a lot of confidence. but theres another 3-5 mo pitty that began barking at him and my 4 mo just sat there growling baring his teeth. i split up the fight, my dog tried biting, but afterwards completely fine. idk who was in the wrong here. he'd never done that before to any dog, normally he's submissive, but now he was more dominant. he was wrestling, which is something i've never seen him do before. i'm pretty sure he was defending himself because he didn't initiate the fight, the pitty was barking in his face with dominant body language. any advice?

Hey all,

So I have a pair of GSDs, M 14 month, F 10 month. They are definitely worming line are board being house pets. I'd like to start working with them on some scent work. I'm not super interested in titling them, though it's not out of the question for the Female,

Do you have any good videos to watch on scent work? I'd like to give them something to do that will work their mind/nose.

Thanks in advance.

so me and my 4 month old pup were practicing heel and i accidentally stepped on his toe. he didn't shriek or yelp or anything he just stepped backwards. when i told him to heel again, he didnt go anywhere near my right side. now even from a distance he doesnt come anymore to heel. he listens to come, or sit, etc. but heel is a big no. he heels on my left side, but not on my right anymore bc i stepped on his toe. posting on here because i normally get good advice.

its freezing outside about -30 or colder, need tips on how to exercise 4 month old puppy. he doesnt really chase toys for longer than 15 min sessions or less, sometimes hes just too lazy to even show interest. i need to socialize him as well and want to get some obedience done outside of the house to get him used to distractions. or even just mental stimulation. ive tried hiding treats in toys or in crate, kongs, etc, he just either finds them in 20 seconds or completely loses interest. i wanna keep him active but even he gets freezing cold outside after like 1 minute (he starts to lift his paws up from the ground as if theyre hurt, sometimes even limps). any recommendations are appreciated.

I have a female 4yo Belgian Malinois and it was moved to live in my family house and the dog started to like my mother and always following her, more than it followed me. It doesn't botters me, but it started sleeping outside her bedroom and last night I came close an it growled at me.

I stood in my place but the dog wouldn't stop so I went for the leash and the dog went to me thinking I was going to give it a walk, but instead I leashed the dog down stairs, grabbed its neck (not choking it, just firmly) and told it NO and that it was wrong.

Gave it 15 minutes and went downstairs, the dog was submissive so I gave a treat and unleashed it, the dog wanted to go upstairs again but I just told it NO, and the dog just went to its bed under the stair to sleep.

ok so i got this rescue puppy that i wanna turn into a working dog. but he is so submissive.. the rescue doesnt know where he came from so who knows where he was before, but he is js so submissive that its hard to work with him. his breed is border x gsd x lab and hes 3 months. but sudden movements, strangers, weird noises, he gets spooked, and he refuses to walk anywhere he doesnt know. hes not absolutely terrified though, but he is just in a fearful stage and idk what to do. any tips will be helpful

TL;DR - fearful puppy, how do i make him confident