Sue

Hi all. Finally one of my dogs has deemed to lower herself to motherhood. She is due around the middle of June. I don't have any children and live a very quiet life and while none of my previous puppies seem to have noise or fear issues I wonder if I should be doing more to socialise them with sounds they might hear in a "normal" household? Has anyone tried the audio CDs that are being produced to provide desensitization to babies, loud noises, etc and were they any good? Cheers

The damage seen in the photos does appear quite severe. If the puppy is that aggressive then it should be PTS. Obviously something in its genetic makeup or head trauma, has damage the pup beyond help. But quite frankly I fail to see how a 4 month old puppy could do that much damage to a person unless they were totally drunk, laying on the floor or being held down while the puppy was allowed to maul them for a considerable time. Hmmm I wonder how much of the damage was done by the good ol' sister. If only a camera was present to truly document the assault. RIP little puppy. Your life will be shortly over and the humans who bought you into this world, and the one that owned you are firmly to blame.

So glad the dogs are home safe, if not fully sound. I personally wouldn't leave the matter there and would be writing a letter to the CEO, Mayor and Councillors of the local authority letting them know how what transpired and how she was treated by a staff member. It isn't on that your friend felt threatened and her dogs were potentially put at risk from an unnecessary and rushed operation. If she gets no response, the newspaper is another avenue though having a bull breed she may not wish to go public.

I've been to Fraser Island twice on tours and the most dangerous thing was the first bus driver. An absolute maniac who ran private tourist vehicles off the road. We went so fast that we didn't see any wildlife at all. A second trip a couple of years ago with a different company was brilliant and I was thrilled to see two dingos in the scrub beside the beach. It's such a pity that any attack results in the death of these wild animals. Why parents continually allow there children to wander away is beyond belief. As for those who feed the dingos, encouraging them approach humans for food - totally insane. Time to stop shooting the dingos and start fining those who get bitten. The population is large enough to supports itself, far smaller populations of animals flourish just fine when left without human intervention.

Well mine aren't that abnormal then, thank doggy for that! They have mated day 9, 10 and 11 and now he isn't interested anymore. A bit concerning considering she is still teasing the poor huntaway - oh and believe me I am out there watching her like a hawk when she is toileting. Any opportunity she gets she rushes to the fence and gives him the come on. But thinking back my old bullie girl would flirt like mad for the entire time she was in season, way past any conception/ovulation time, so maybe they are both husseys. Oh the joys of being a dog breeder.

Are my dogs just weird or do other dogs do the same. They refuse to show any interest in having sex until after they have eaten a big tea and are put out on the front lawn to frolic. An empty stomach and the back lawn just will not do it. It was embarrassing today as I invited a fellow breeder down early this afternoon. She had never seen a natural mating take place. So I made her a coffee and we sat in the lounge watching the dogs on the front lawn – who showed absolutely no interest in doing it. New neighbours moved in today with a huge male huntaway. He ambled over to the fence and my little girl went all googly eyed and wanted HIM. Obviously bigger is better. My boy lost his mojo and went off to sulk. So I put both my dogs away and said goodbye to my friend. The sun went down and I feed the dogs their tea. The neighbours went inside taking their dog with them. I let my little full bellied critters out again and walla right in front of the fence of course. And what should come wandering back outside to watch over the proceedings, yep the huntaway. I quietly threatened it with a surgical procedure involving rusty loppers and it toddled off. So I got to sit in the dark beside the fence supervising the tie. The neighbours must be ruing the day day they signed their lease! God I hope the fencer arrives tomorrow and replaces the chicken netting with the solid wooden one I’m paying for.

One very brave little boy.

Probably did quite well on fish and seagulls judging by the amount of debris that had gathered around the house. Small fish would have been hiding amongst the flotsam as it is a protection for them from larger fish. No doubt larger fish would have been caught in what looked like fishing nets in twinned in the flotsam. Easy pickings for a savvy scavenger.

By the sound of it all dogs were off lead in a park and none had a history of aggressiveness. Fights happen, and sometimes they get very rough.

7.5 million would be better spent offering free or low cost desexing to everyone in Sydney rather than spending it on buildings to house cast off animals. For that they could desex at least 35000 animals, even more if the SPCAs own vets did the work, or even using vet students, thus making a real difference to the apparent pet over population problem. Imagine if they only focus on the female animals. 35000+ animals out of the breeding population.

Hi everyone, can anyone tell me what magnification a microscope needs to be to check mobility and quality of doggy semen? Does it need to be a microscope with a built in light? Thanks

I think Staranais was referring to muzzling to prevent her dog eating a 1080 poisoned carcass. 1080 survives in the carcass for a number of weeks and has been the cause of death for a number of dogs. If a poisoned possum falls into a waterway and is washed downstream then dogs some kilometres away from the poison drop zone can also die if they eat the carcass. All because someone wanted to make a fur industry in NZ, then got sick of it and released the possums into the wild.

My dogs love their possum patties of course in NZ they are a huge and very destructive pest and the only good possum is a dead one. I'm sure kiwi's will be more than happy to send some back to replace the ones which dogs kill in the park. Don't know how inbred they are though, lol.

Here's two of my mini bulls showing off their clothes. Apart from these they have jackets to wear int heir kennels when it is really cold.

Her head looks like a Great Dane's! As for Bull Terrier, well if she can use a computer I wouldn't say there's too much bully in her, far too bright to be related to my dunderheads.

If you sent away an anonymous sample for a pedigree Bull Terrier the results should come back as Bull Terrier as the dominate breed followed by British Bulldog as the secondary breed, then Dalmatian and Staffordshire Bull Terrier. A Miniature Bull Terrier should come back the same as Bull Terrier. Unless of course they were crossed with the Jack Russel or other terrier which caused PLL to be bought into the breed. If only I had the money to test the theory.

Yes, I've always wondered about Major's intelligence. I hand reared him as he could not get himeslf on a teat but had no problem with a bottle. That should have been the warning of things to come! He's asleep now, no doubt reliving his swim to freedom. And no, we will not be going to the beach again! It's bad enough taking him to a stream in town for a swim without going through todays drama again. But he does love swimming, so it would be awful to deprive him of his thrill. Maybe a harness would be better for long line stuff.

I’m on holiday so I thought I would take morning tea to some work mates. It’s a forty minute drive but the town contains one of only two dog friendly beaches in this area and it’s leash free too. One of the dogs has sore feet (Major) and salt water is great for healing things so he was a certain to go. I also decided to take Ziggy who can be trusted off leash to come when called. So off we go. I have morning tea then head off to the beach. Major was returned to me a couple of months ago totally untrained. He will not come back at all so I use a seven metre lunge line so he can have some freedom and get into the water. He loves water. The weather has been bad for a few days and the sea was very rough. Large rollers are coming in. Ziggy happily runs around, staying out of the waves - but not Major. He heads straight for the wash and splashes around. Then he notices the rollers and decides those are for him. He runs to the end of the lunge lead and straight into a wave, gets rolled over, jumps up and heads back for the next one. Then disaster. Somehow the clasp gets stuck through the collar and it comes off over his head and he’s free. Does he come to me when I call for him, no way. He heads straight into the huge waves and starts swimming to Oz. No matter how much I yell he just keeps going. The waves are pushing him across the beach towards the cliffs. I am panicking thinking he is ever going to drown or manage to swim around the cliff to god knows where. The waves were bigger along the cliff face and they push him up against the cliff and onto some rocks. One wave rolls him over and he ends up upside down, cast between two large rocks. Just as another wave comes over him and he struggles upright I reach him and grab hold of his tail. I drag him back over the rocks to the beach and get the lead back over his head and get it all sorted. That was enough beach experience for a day so we head back to the car, me soaking wet up to my knees and him totally happy and wanting to go back into the waves. Obviously there’s not much going on in his skull at all. I thought he was a goner. On the positive side – his feet got a good soaking.

OMG, so this isn't unusual. I had one of these too. Was sitting in the whelping box with the pups watching them feed. The biggest puppy suddenly fell off the teat and went stiff and freezing cold. From a normal, suckling pup to "dead" in a second. I picked him up and rubbed him hard. Went went floppy and then came round. He lost a lot of weight afterwards but never did it again. It was very scary at the time.

Does breeding a bitch young actually change her bone structure and increase the size of her pelvis? I wouldn't think so. Her conformation is set from birth. If the head is too big, or the rear of the dog not wide enough to whelp naturally in normal circumstances, the breed needs to be altered and moderated. I'm not in favour of breeding restrictions as most pedigree breeders make the best decisions for their dogs.

Thanks for your replies. I'll pick up some of each tomorrow and trial them to see which has the best results. Maybe one foot for the betadine and one for the condies crystals. I had read in the net that cancer can be a cause. Lets hope not.

Something like these? Dog boxes for utes I'm sure there would be a supllier in Oz. Friends have these for their Bull Terriers.

About 8 weeks ago I had a dog returned to me that I bred. He's been through the mill a little, totally over vaccinated, over medicated. His home life was very stressful. He has suffered from mange, infected skin, and terrible foot problems. At one stage the owner rang and said they were considering destroying him as the vets believed that he had no immune system left. I asked to have him back so that at least my vets could look at him before a decision was made. The owner rang a few weeks later and asked to return him but heard nothing more after leaving it in his hands to decide the right time. When he was returned I was shocked by his condition. He was underweight, had an infected rash and his feet were swollen. He was extremely nervous. Things had taken a very sad turn and the dog would have been the last thing on the family's minds so his weight and nervousness may have happened over the preceding week. My vet read the notes I had had gotten sent from the previous vets (a huge file!) and looked at the dog. We decided to not do any treatment and just let his immune system recover, feed him well (I raw feed), let him rest and relax. I've done that for 8 weeks and he is looking great except for his feet, which get slightly better then regress again. I took him back to the vets yesterday and he has been diagnosed with a long term infection in his nail beds. He is on antibiotics for six weeks now. Apparently this is very difficult to treat so I am wondering if anyone has had this issue in their dog and can advise complementary treatments that will help. I do hope to rehome him but need to get him well before then. Otherwise he's another keeper in the home for decrepit hangers on! :D

That's not a whelping box, that's a whole condo! Some lucky dog was very much loved.

New SPCA Chief returns dog Yells of delight filled the air as a terminally ill Lower Hutt boy was reunited with his beloved dog. Ruby, a one-year-old cavalier king charles spaniel, went missing more than a month ago. She was handed in "seriously underweight and with other health issues", according to the SPCA. It put the dog in "protective custody" and refused to return her to her owners. The family hired a lawyer to fight for Ruby's return. The standoff came to an end on Saturday, after new Wellington SPCA chairman Craig Shepherd intervened. Brooklyn Griffen, 9, screamed with delight when he and Ruby were reunited, his mother Julie, Hutton, said. "He screamed so loud. He's hardly let her out of his sight since." Ruby had also perked up, she said. "It's like she's come to life, she's so happy, she's running around all over the place barking. It was like taking a kid away from their family." Ruby had a genetic illness and had always struggled to put on weight, even when treated to special dog food, she said. Ms Hutton praised Mr Shepherd. "He was actually really nice. He said, `I'm sorry, it's gone too far, and I hope we can move on from this'. He's even invited Ruby out to his farm," she said. Mr Shepherd said he acted to resolve the situation, after taking the reins at the SPCA on Thursday. "I asked to look at the file, and I made a judgment call. "I was sorry things got to the state they did ... perhaps they might have been resolved earlier." As part of the conditions of Ruby's return, a vet will monitor her. "Hopefully it's the best solution for Ruby and for Julie." Ms Hutton bought Ruby for $900 on Trade Me as a friend for Brooklyn, who suffers from a mitochondrial disorder. This means he cannot walk, gets sick easily, and has serious physical and developmental problems. Doctors do not know how long he will live, but he is not expected to make it to adulthood. Prosecutions taken by Wellington SPCA during 2009: A Porirua dog owner fined $750 and disqualified from owning a companion animal for 10 years after admitting he ill-treated a dog. The man went away for a week without leaving it food. A Naenae dog owner given 200 hours' community service and disqualified from owning a companion animal for 10 years. He pleaded guilty to failing to supply sufficient food and obstructing an inspector. The cross-breed was tied up in a garage with a bag of food dangling above it as punishment for chasing a cat. The dog was rehomed. A Naenae dog owner given 60 hours' community service and disqualified from owning a dog for five years after failing to supply sufficient food. The emaciated cross-breed was given a new home. Still before the courts: A Lower Hutt dog owner charged with wilfully ill-treating an animal, ill-treating an animal and failing to supply it with sufficient food. Prosecution pending: Elderly dog with skin problems and arthritis seized. Lower Hutt owner may be charged with failing to seek veterinary treatment and ill-treating an animal. The dog was euthanased. Formal warning: Ad Feedback A Wellington man, with psychological issues, given a formal warning for ill-treating two kittens after he admitted killing them. Their bodies could not be found. ___________________________________________________ Lovely picture of boy and his dog in link. But nosey old me still wants to know the name of the genetic illness.