Sandra777

Agreed.

I really hope your baby is OK. I don't have children however there is no way I would have a dog that couldn't be trusted with all non-threatening people, especially children. From what you have described this really was unprovoked and for me there is only one answer to an unprovoked bite. It's horrible and it's not the dog's fault (as someone has said, it's not "punishment"), but for your own peace of mind and the welfare of your child there really is only one thing I would be doing in this situation. Your dog could easily live for another 5 to 6 years - trying to keep him permanently separated from a two or three year old toddler is hardly going to be a good life for yourself, your child or the dog. I'm sure the dog must hate the situation too - and he probably feels how upset and confused you are right now which is likely to make him more upset too. This is one of the worst things about owning dogs - doing what is best for yourself and the dog.

I prefer to let them do as much as possible, but I will always get my hand in there when she is chewing the cord off and pinch the cord right by the pup's tummy "just in case". Never had a hernia or worse; and only once or twice had one bleed too much. I always hook a finger through the sac if it comes out intact and pull it back off the muzzle, then leave it to the bitch for at least 30 seconds for her to get organised and do what needs to be done. I have found that on the two occasions the bitch whelped either the first one and two pups without anyone there that both bitches were much more protective of the pups for the first day or so, but if there's someone there right from the start I've never had one that wasn't quite happy to accept that these are "our" puppies and all have been perfectly OK with them being touched - not that we mess much with newborn pups anyway. Certainly up to try manipulating a pup out or applying gentle traction if a fatty bomba is hard work!

In the mid '80's I bred a litter, 8 pups. By the time they were a year old 7 had been stolen from their homes & only 1 was ever seen again (she was found dead). The 8th lived his entire life behind a 6 foot fence or in the constant company of one of his owners. It's been happening for years and is heartbreaking.

Female-female hatred is more likely to produce a life-long feud if things go bad, male-male hatred tends to be considerably more a management-oriented and often there are a very clear triggers, and once these are removed the pair will go back to their 'normal' relationship. With bitches the reasons for their disagreements can be really subtle and they are very good at biding their time and holding a grudge - they aren't called bitches for nothing! Someone once said that dogs fight for food or sex whereas bitches fight just because they want to :laugh:

Male-Female is almost always going to work, it's very unusual for them not to 'get along'. They might not become deeply bonded soul mates but you are almost guaranteed of no major aggression/dominance issues. The bitch will almost always end up being the boss and the dog will follow along behind :laugh: In some breeds male-male or female-female is virtually guaranteed to end in tears, but with Shih Tzu's I would think this is much less likely and with a desexed male and an age gap it's likely it should be fine. So much depends on the temperament of the two dogs and your management of them. If the breeder who said 2 dogs is fine is experienced and knows your dog AND the prospective puppy then it's quite likely they will be able to guide you to the pup most likely to fit with the current dog with no problems.

You won't get locked in - but don't go OUT after 9.30pm or you will get locked out :laugh: Caretaker lives on site so all will be fine..

May be an obvious question but is the DNA test for the exact condition that the dog physically displays. There are many forms of cataract in the world :D

It's the government's job to create laws that will actually do what they are intended to do. What makes you think that I and every other responsible owner of "targeted" breeds have not being doing everything we can to protect our chosen breeds - both from crazy governments and irresponsible owners? That in a nutshell is the problem, you feel that it is their job to create laws that will actually do what they are intended to do, however modern politics is about creating laws that give the "public" the "sense" that all is well and the government is on the case. Passing a new law is cheap and has the required effect (it makes the public feel safer ) actually changing an outcome through proper management, costs money and takes time. No government wants to invest money (a negative on their balance sheet now)in to a scheme that will have an upside that comes to fruition in the next governments term in office. Thanks for the lecture on modern politics. As someone else has suggested it seems that all that'd left is to roam the streets with AK47's targeting irresponsible dog owners. Your argument is bizarre - think you should go have a nice hot cuppa and a lie down.

It's the government's job to create laws that will actually do what they are intended to do. What makes you think that I and every other responsible owner of "targeted" breeds have not being doing everything we can to protect our chosen breeds - both from crazy governments and irresponsible owners?

Exactly what I was going to comment. Yes undescended testicles have a very high chance of becoming cancerous - but you're not going to wake up in the morning and find your 7 month old pup has advanced inoperable cancer from one. Wish vets would LISTEN to owners - "I don't want to desex him until he is mature" is not the same as "I am not going to desex him"

x2 Aborting the pups then spaying her later is a waste of time, may as well just spay her now and have done with it, it will be less stressful for her and for you - stress which could quite easily get her demodex going again. Lesson learnt - no unsupervised outside time for an in season bitch in your yard :)

It's not so much the public IDing the breed that I was wondering about, but a member of this forum stating that the dogs shown were "definitely" purebreds. Really no hope if someone who is obviously interested enough in dogs to spend time on here thinks these were "definitely" purebred Staffordshire Bull Terriers!

Good grief - what sort of Staffords do they have where you live! The brindle one with the flea allergy looked like a BYB SBT, the red one in the cage was no SBT and I doubt it's mother had ever seen a SBT even from the other side of the road. Couldn't figure out if the brindle one shown again was the one with the flea allergy or a different dog because the second time they showed a brindle one (in the cage) it didn't look quite as Stafford-like as the one with the flea allergy, but that could be a matter of camera angles. Whatever they were, they shouldn't have been out on the street unattended and I hope the owner gets her arse sued off.

Saw this on the news this morning, hope the pug & the woman who's finger was bitten are OK. Bashing, hitting, punching or screaming is not ever going to work - it just makes the attacking dog more determined not to let go of the dog which it will perceive as fighting back. Rope around the neck (or leash or belt), or grab the dog's own collar if it's not one of those stupid studded things, straddle the dog and hold it in one place with your calves/thighs (this is for the able bodied only) & tighten until the dog lets go. Push in towards the dog it has a hold of and this will help block off the air flow. Only problem is that the dog that is being attacked will quite likely be able to bite you in it's efforts to defend itself. Sad day for more dogs owned by idiots.

Is PJ a Border Collie? If so, I would not desex him until he is fully grown & mostly mature - probably somewhere around 16-18 months, but this will depend on his lines & his breeder is the best to guide you as to when this is with their dogs. I have never owned a neutered male dog & have had no "issues" with them being anything other than dogs (canines). Most of the problems people have with adult male dogs are training issues. Honestly, if you live in a reasonably good part of suburbia he has virtually no chance of coming across an in season bitch so he may never figure out what his 'male urges' are anyway :laugh: If you live in a less nice part of suburbia this could be a different story of course! I have been unfortunate enough to be in the company of vets who have practised for 4 or 5 years and who have, in practise, NEVER seen an entire adult dog or bitch

I agree with this post, I posted earlier in the thread pointing out the exact same thing. If we actually figured out the number of dogs owned in Australia, the number of those who then attack etc, the percentage of attacks would be miniscule. Horrible stories like the attack on the jogger are a rare occurrence not a common one. Better to gain insight into the "Why and how" of what happened with the attack and leading up to the attack than to have a knee jerk reaction and blaming entire breeds for the shortcomings of 3 specific dogs. In much the same way that we cannot generalise all Muslims (some of the most peaceful and loving people I have ever met) for the actions of the extremists within their religion, we cannot generalise bull breeds or large breed dogs for the failings of few within their ranks. Agree in a way - but the bolded bit is again making the assumption that the fault lies with the dog - the fault in virtually all cases lies with the owner. Would like to agree there. No matter what any dog's temperament, it is always up to the owner to control and manage that dog, regardless of breed, size, religion or sexual orientation :p Even if we did all agreed that bull breeds were vicious, the ship on banning them has sailed. There are sh*tloads of them in this country and no law will make the dickheads who pop the poor tempered ones out like hotbuns change their ways. Much better to adopt a model that is proven to improve bite stats in general, rather than trying to legislate a particular breed out of being, especially when many, many breeds are involved in severe attacks every year. I would dispute this - from what I have seen I strongly believe that the majority are CROSS breds, very few actual purebred (as in prove-able purebred) dogs would be involved. Is this because crossbreds are more numerous or because the type of person who is likely to not give the dog the correct environment is more likely to acquire a cheap crossbred mutt rather than pay even BYB prices for a pure bred????

Hate it when they're ill and you can't figure it out.

I agree with this post, I posted earlier in the thread pointing out the exact same thing. If we actually figured out the number of dogs owned in Australia, the number of those who then attack etc, the percentage of attacks would be miniscule. Horrible stories like the attack on the jogger are a rare occurrence not a common one. Better to gain insight into the "Why and how" of what happened with the attack and leading up to the attack than to have a knee jerk reaction and blaming entire breeds for the shortcomings of 3 specific dogs. In much the same way that we cannot generalise all Muslims (some of the most peaceful and loving people I have ever met) for the actions of the extremists within their religion, we cannot generalise bull breeds or large breed dogs for the failings of few within their ranks. Agree in a way - but the bolded bit is again making the assumption that the fault lies with the dog - the fault in virtually all cases lies with the owner.

Thanks for the info... should be OK - we don't do camping in the rain for all breeds shows :laugh:

Honestly, if you are that concerned about the pup, take it yourself & re-home it or find a spot in rescue for it. What actually is the pup - somehow I find it hard to believe someone is giving away an actual Mastiff. What sort of cross is it - the look that is going to fall foul of BSL?

Thanks Caesars Mum - do you recall if the sites powered or unpowered??

Can someone give me any info about the camping facilities at Alstonville for the Lismore shows at the end of this month. Price? Power? Showers/Toilets? Is there tons of room, we plan on travelling on Friday am but might go Thursday pm if space is tight & get a better spot. TIA!

Certainly not too old to start a show career! After getting the Main/Limit reg sorted your best bet would probably be contact the Amstaff club in your state and see if there are any breeders/showies near you who might be able to give you some pointers in person. Most main cities/big towns have show training classes for all breeds so this is another good resource.

Crazy photo :laugh: