Longclaw

We have a brick pinning down the lid of our bin :laugh:

Thank you everyone, this is all really helpful :)

Great stuff, thanks guys!

My friend is thinking about moving to Brisbane and is trying to suss out the best council areas for dogs (she has four). Does anyone have any advice or info?

Oh my god Caz I am so incredibly sorry for your loss. xx

If you haven't got any PMs yet, maybe get in touch with Teebs? She might not be able to do it personally but I can't for the life of me remember the user names of the other DOLer(s) in that area, and Teebs will know!

As if that would ever happen! *cough*

Same thing happened with our Ziggy elkhound. His owners surrendered him to the pound saying he was 'not there to find a new home', but Norskgra rescued him regardless and we adopted him. Had him less than two months before his health declined and scans showed his body was riddled with cancer. Giving him his peace was incredibly hard and for a long time I was so bitterly angry on his behalf, that his lifelong people weren't the ones stroking his paw and giving him comfort in his final moments. I have never regretted adopting him, lovely old boy that he was, but he deserved so much better from his family. efs

The baby and the seal iggy seem to be both looking at Boomer in the same way. :laugh: Ahahahahaha, they are too! Boomer has some awesome expressions! :laugh: Awww :laugh:

So saddened by this

In the Aussie spirit of calling a red-head 'Blue', I have a hankering to call a future greyhound, Turtle. I suspect even Mr'Let'sCallHerSparkles'LC will object to it though.

That is, indeed, the most unusual name for a boy dog I've seen in a long time!

If a dog is temperamentally unsuited for a pet home, it should not be placed in a pet home. Greyhounds aren't and shouldn't be treated any differently, and the orgs I have been associated with are stringent in not place unsuitable greyhounds up for adoption. I don't see this as a barrier for improving the retirement outcome of the breed in general. You are probably right in that if the demand for retired dogs met or exceeded dogs available there wouldn't be an industry, but I'd like to think that there's room to create a much higher demand for the dogs. We've already seen demand go from virtually zero to rehoming hundreds (thousands Australia-wide??) of dogs per year through the efforts of GAP and other reputable rehoming programs. If that demand can be tripled again, coupled with a shift in attitude, funding and breeding practices, we might be getting closer to a minimal-waste industry. It's a huge ask, but I don't know that it's unachievable. They are an ideal breed for so many household situations.

I can agree with that :) That's the day I dream of. I'd love to see the day when racing is a smaller industry and every racing grey has a family already lined up waiting for their retirement. When those families can have photos and track the career of the dogs, perhaps even from the time they are puppies. Can you imagine? I would sell a kidney in exchange for a photo of my Tommy as a puppy. The future-adoptive family could even be considered one of the dog's 'connections' and, whilst not taking a share of prize-money or sharing expenses, could be included to take a share of the excitement of the racing and any wins. By the time the dog is retired and ready to go to their new home (via the adoption group, which would be well funded and involved right from the start of the process), the dog and family already have a connection. But that's a huge shift, and probably too far 'out there' to become a reality in my lifetime.

I am an expert at teaching literacy to my dogs. Unfortunately, they thought that Reader's Digest meant that you're supposed to actually eat the books... it's ok, I'd copied down those recipes anyway...

I'd be surprised if that figure included any greys dumped at pounds. Only a small percentage of them make it out alive, in spite of the efforts of wonderful rescue groups. I saw what looked like a reasonable suggestion the other day: having owners charged a compulsary one-off 'retirement fund' fee in order to register a dog for racing. That money then goes to the industry-affiliated rehoming organisation to pay for the dog's rehoming (if suitable) once the race career is over. The idea still has holes in it, but it's worth thinking about and refining. There is no easy fix for this. Racing won't be shut down overnight, and god help the greyhounds if it was. I actually don't have a problem with the racing itself, knowing how much my greys live and breathe running, but the gambling, money-making aspect that leads some people to view the dogs as disposeable does need to change.

I'm giggling uncontrollably about Baloo's show stack :laugh:

I thought it was pretty restrained too, LC? I think some posters are worried that he has suffered severe psychological damage and that I have comprised forever the chances of older women being able to engage in meaningful conversations. :rofl: Yeah it's not like you used the C word :laugh: You mean... CAT?!

:rofl: We had someone drive past once and yell out "Why don't you get a bigger dog?!" but we get the saddle the most. I don't mind though I just think it's funny. I'd love a dollar for everytime I get " Where's he racing at, can I get a bet on? " followed by laughter. They get a blank face from me and a " Dapto mate, get on him his names Lounge Dog, odds on " followed by me dragging Stan's lazy butt up the road :laugh: ETA I may have mumbled d**ckhead as I walked off. We get that quite a bit. MrLC loves it, gives him an opportunity (like he needs one :laugh: ) to launch into the fact that they are rescue greyhounds and that they make wonderful pets when they're finished on the track. Pretty much anyone who makes any kind of comment at all about the greys is invited to come and have a pat. It's just MrLC's way :p eta: on the scale of rudeness, "no, it's quite easy" is pretty bloody tame, MM. I don't think you have to worry about scarring the man for life ;) I don't say it every time just when I get the wink wink elbow your mate type. Oh, I know, and I am the same... not MrLC though!

:rofl: We had someone drive past once and yell out "Why don't you get a bigger dog?!" but we get the saddle the most. I don't mind though I just think it's funny. I'd love a dollar for everytime I get " Where's he racing at, can I get a bet on? " followed by laughter. They get a blank face from me and a " Dapto mate, get on him his names Lounge Dog, odds on " followed by me dragging Stan's lazy butt up the road :laugh: ETA I may have mumbled d**ckhead as I walked off. We get that quite a bit. MrLC loves it, gives him an opportunity (like he needs one :laugh: ) to launch into the fact that they are rescue greyhounds and that they make wonderful pets when they're finished on the track. Pretty much anyone who makes any kind of comment at all about the greys is invited to come and have a pat. It's just MrLC's way :p eta: on the scale of rudeness, "no, it's quite easy" is pretty bloody tame, MM. I don't think you have to worry about scarring the man for life ;)

How would a Havanese cope as an only dog? This would be in a household where both owners currently work full-time. I know it would depend a lot on the individual dog, but are Havs more or less likely to deal with being alone during the day?

A couple of years ago I would have said that two was our upper limit. Now we have three... and it's great! I think we could easily take on one or two more on a temporary basis, but I would have to think long and hard about adding another dog permanently. It would depend a lot on how expensive the resulting divorce would be... :p Seriously though, for me it's about time, energy and facilities. I wouldn't want to add another dog permanently primarily because, after recent events, I would want our house paddock set up differently and that won't be happening any time soon, major lotto wins aside. We also have three cats. They are all lovely, but I think two is a more sensible number for us.

True story. Was once on my bed with a member of the opposite sex when the white creature in my banner below suddenly jumped up on the bed and tried to get between us when we were getting closer. Dreams: mine definitely seem to, too! Must post the video of Tali Borzoi having one. As for the second part of your post... we call this chaperoning, it happens alllll the time :laugh:

Ahh, we have a dog like that. Sometimes it doesn't matter what we do, she will still wake us up and insist that she needs to go outside. We manage most nights by taking her out on a lead into the yard and having her toilet on lead right before bedtime. We also take her out on a lead if she needs to go out in the night, which allows us to see if she has indeed needed to go, or if she was just wanting to go outside for the fun of it. Also because we have a large house yard, so if we let her out on her own she will often just run around barking and avoid being caught again :laugh:

I do not believe that dogs feel humiliated, or that they would laugh at another dog that is wearing silly clothes. That's what humans do. Dogs couldn't give a crap. It CAN be cruel, as other have stated, if the clothes cause the dog to overheat, or cause more than minimal restriction of movement, or if the dog just downright doesn't like wearing a coat/clothes. I'm not personally a fan of dressing up dogs to look like little girls, but that doesn't mean it's abusive or cruel. A lot of dogs who wear costumes LOVE the extra attention and treats they know it will bring them. My Tommy Greyhound adores his flash ouside coat, because he knows that when it comes out, he is going to go for a walk or a car ride somewhere. Both greyhounds leap up and run over to me when I bring out their longjohn pyjamas during winter. Nissa even picks up her paws for me, in the correct order, so that I can put her pjs on her faster :laugh: Yes, my dogs' coats and pyjamas are worn because the dogs get cold during winter (we had snow the other day - yay!) but whilst function and comfort are the primary concerns, they are not the ONLY things I think about. I'd rather dress them in warm, comfortable coats made in a nice colour and pattern than in equally warm, comfortable coats in baby-poo brown. My dogs don't suffer just because what they are wearing isn't ugly :laugh: Love that present carrying costume, it is very clever. I've seen a similar one, on a larger dog, with pirates carrying a treasure chest. I also love the Imperial Walker whippet coat I would absolutely dress my greyhounds in costumes like these if we were going to to breed promotion at something like a Million Paws Walk because, funnily enough, it helps people to see them as fun pet dogs rather than creatures-that-are-only-good-for-racing-but-you-wouldn't-have-one-in-your-home-besides-they-wear-muzzles-so-they-must-be-vicious.