Lada Daddy

I nkow I am incredibly late with this post, but maybe it will help some... APBT's, in my opinion will NOT make good K-9 candidates for many of the reasons voiced here. To be a good K-9, prey drive, and ability to respond well to relatively harsh training methods are key, and As someone else said, stray dogs or dogs on scene could be a problem with an APBT. Sure they could actually do the work as well or better than most breeds physically, but not really worth the risk, plus the public opinion thing counts here too. Most departments will not let APBT's be k-9's either..something to think about. If yo want a BUlly Breed for this work, the AmBull is probably the best candidate. Large, imposing, athletic, trainable, and the bite work is relatively easy for them. There is a department in Utah that has AmBulls in their SWAT unit...See the leerburg board for details... ANother often overlooked breed is the Bouvier. In Europe they are doing very well in K-9 work. DEFINITELY do not use a MAL if you haven't worked them before. THey are a handful! GSD's if you can find one that is suitable are the K-9 of choice in this field, but if you are looking to be a little different and the department allows it, try the AmBUll, or the Bouvier.

Those are the right ingredients, but my bag says Performance, and has different fat/protein ratios...Hmmm....More Purina nonesense? TDG...THANK YOU!!! That is super informative and I will definitely look into that stuff. IT is SO hard finding the right combo's and getting it so the girls will eat it without having to supplement every meal with raw... Again, AWESOME info and thanks again!

Actually, having worked on anti-BSL campaigns and such, I am not all that shocked at all....Labs are in the top 10 of the CDC's list of Dog "bites" requireing medical attention. GOlden retrievers are in there too I believe also the top 10. WHether that has more to do with how many of them there are or not is a question, but they are right up there...Labs, being large dogs with relatively large jaw structures and muscular function in the head are capable of a lot more damage than people think mostly....Anatomically at least they are very capable dogs, and especially now, should be treated as such in my opinion...THere are no "safe" dogs...Only "safe owners" By the way Leslie..A Pharoa/Pit BUll mix??? That is the most interesting cross I think I have ever seen...Beautiful dog too!!

Cruiser is quite the MAN!!! I love dobie's especially Reds...At least you were there and next time a win!!!! Group 2 is nothing to sneeze at either..CONGRATS!!!

Most of the IWPA people I know are using fully enclosed kennels, Chain link, 15x15 or so and ~ 6-8 ft high...Doggie aint getting outta those..LOL For tie outs some are using railroad ties either vertical or rebarred into the ground with winch cable (Strong and light...with a swivel makes a GREAT tie out and can be used on Runners too) for the tie out, or Runners....Besides the kennels, the Runners seem the most popular...Axles are just seen as over kill, unless of course you are using Civic axles and then you are on your own...LOL With teh Winch cable and a runner, the dog gets plenty of exercise, you can even use a springpole in conjuction to give them something to do and they have plenty space, can't get at each other, and you can provide a decent shelter at one end for them too....Inexpensive, easy and very effective...

Holly corn bread batman...That doesn't sound good at all...LOL I don't eat that much corn... I am not thrilled with the Purina thing either...We havea factory right by my work and you can always tell when they burn a batch...ewwww....But for the money, the performance and the palatability, I haven't found anything besides going to a full BARF diet they like as much...They loved getting Beneful at my mom's but I would kill myself before feeding that garbage to them...LOL Good site though...REALLY good info on that one...HIGHLY recommended reading for everyone (ME included...Thanks!!!)

Oh and I grabbed my bag of Pro Plan...The first ten ingredients are in order: Salmon, brewers rice, canola meal, beef tallow preserved with mixed-tocopherols, tuna meal, salmon meal, brewers dried yeast, "natural flavors", salt, potassium chloride This particular blend has no corn at all. Hmmm...ProPlan Performance blend...WHere did you get the corn thing? Do they have different ingredients in different places? I am VERY interested about that...

Per daily feeding...My older one gets 2.5 cups per day, and the younger one gets 3.5. I am getting 40lb bags for 23.95...Yes there is a lot of corn in it, BUT it also doesn't have any ash...which apparently my girls are allergic too!I Swear finding food for apbt's is difficult! Poor little sensitive stomachs...And all to save the carpet form dog explosions...LOL I tried Solid Gold when I first got my pup, on their performance blend, when she was just about 9 months...Not only would she not eat it (I think she thought it was yucky or something) the fat content isn't high enough. Her optimum fat content in her food is 18-20% Proteins at 20-24...I do supplent occaisional Raw so I make up for it in some fashions, but supplementation on top of $45 dollars a bag for 40lbs, just isn't feasible...I agre however that Solid Gold is a superior food based on ingredients. I highly recommend it for anyone regardless of breed, IF the doggies will eat it...I guess mine have Beer taste on tap water budgets...LOL Thanks for the stuff though, I do appreciate it!!

In regards to adding a "stronger" bloodline into the GSD's, GSD's have some inherent difficulties genetically with hips, repiratory, etc etc, and just adding in another dog's blood into the mix will NOT sure this malady. Over breeding, dilution of original "conformation standards" and breeding away from purpose are all causes of these things, and a species line as long as GSD's will not be cured by introducing new blood. The Malinois has SOME of the same problems, but has a much higher drive, and is probably closer to the original GSD purpose as anything. THe Dutch Shepherds are equally as imposing, but have fewer hip problems. THe only advice I can give on curing this problem, is for breeders byb or otherwise to STOP BREEDING animals that have these problems and start caring more about the breed than their pocketbooks.

Edgar, I hate to break it to you, but there are a TON of Shelter dogs and rescue dogs in Sch. I treally isn't hat difficult to train for. I have TWO rescue APBT's that have competed, one is not very athletic and still got High score at her Sch A trial. The other is a super gamey dog who had a lot of trouble with distractions and now she is consistently in the top 2-3 everytime she competes! AT 2 YEARS OLD. RESCUE DOG!!! I would compete with her against any "purebred, expensive, papered" GSD, Mal, or AmBull, all of whom I love with a passion, but Rescue and Shelter dogs are every bit as good and sometimes better for it. THere are sources to get "papers" for dogs to pass the weak scrutiny given for competitions. When I started my little on ein Ring, they made her do the Blue Dog thing, but I did some homework, got her papers and now she has her Brevet in addition to her Sch I, and is well on her way to getting her Sch II (hoping for another high in trial). So if you wanna denegrate shelter dogs, try again. I will put the talents of my shelter dogs against anyones Breeder dog and win more often than not and there is nothing special about my dog's pasts. As far as Axles and heavy chains go....If the chain weighs more than about 20 lbs total, you are risking vertebrae damage on the dog. Period. Weight puller or not, a 2 inch link chain is NOT necessary if you buy a quality steel link. 1" has never been a problem for the myriad IWPA owners that I hang out with. And NONE of them use Axles....One uses an old bus but that is different...LOL And many of these dogs are in the 3K club and over....My little one gets crated every day, my older one is a fence jumper and there are other ways of dealing with fences. There are "no-jump" additions that come off the top of the fence inward at about a 30-45 degree angle that a dog (even one that has routinely cleared 8 ft privacy fences) cannot get over physically. Just do some more research and you will find the solution you need to keep your doggies safe and secure!

I started my girls out on Nutro Max, and switched over to Pro Plan performance blend for the high fat content for my little monster. I have had VERY good results with it and it is MUCH less expensive than the "salon" dog foods. There is very little bad in it, filler mostly, and the fat/protein ratio is outstanding if you are going to do any heavy training with the dog. Just be VERY careful about over feeding stuff like this, and if the dog starts doing a lot of "foot icking/chewing" drop the fat content down quite a bit. In doggie diets, they get most of their energy from the fat, and protein is secondary in that respect but ultra important for building and maintaining the muscle and tissue health....Good luck with your new pup and have fun!!

My faves obviously are APBT's (own 2), but they were not my first choice surprisingly enough, although I will never be without one again. I want an American Bulldog like crazy, but hard to find good ones that haven't been "overbred" for specific characteristics and are now ruined, And if I ever get my land, will have two Boer Bulls to keep the Mountain Lions off my APBT's LOL... Also looked into Bouvier's, Greater Swiss Mtn, Bernese Mtn, and of course anything decended from Mollossers.