Katdogs

1,061 now :)

FwIW sometimes local newspapers - the freebies - will let you put in a 'found' notice for free. You're a wonderful person for caring and pretty Destiny was lucky to find you.

Cindi Toni Grace Marc Todd Tim Neill Angry :grin:

It's eaten a big fistful of grass and now a carrot! Will it want an apple?

It is certainly a quick little critter, and smarter than five adults and two kids! Thanks, I'll find it some food. The cat has gone all slinky and sneaky looking, I think I'll shut the door and let Peta/Peter rest for a while.

It's a strange day. It took three households of neighbours and almost an hour, but we caught a white bunny (with a grey nose). Now what? Kids next door won't accept roast or stewed as an option. I can drop it (him? her? How do you tell?) to the pound in the morning but will it be ok in a cat cage with a bowl of water until then? Jodie wanted to help catch it. Stevie tried to give it one of her teddy bears. The cat is just watching... ETA hey TD you missed so much fun wabbit-hunting!

I found a Lab girl on Belmore Rd Riverwood (the Punchbowl end) and she's now safe at Fairford Road vets. Fat but young, bouncy, very excited and friendly. Barked at the cats when she saw them at the pound, but stopped when corrected. Knows Sit but nothing else, certainly no road sense. She was chipped so hopefully will go home ok, but thought I'd post it here in case anyone hears of a lost Lab. We're right on the boundary of two other councils as well, so might be out of her area. Would you believe, once I had a lead around her neck, the young bloke who was yelling and kicking at her to get out of his yard, wanted me to hand her over so he could sell her!

I don't think the Friday night 7.30 report is nation-wide, they have state-specific programs. I would think it will be available on line though.

A little rescue that does a fantastic job quietly (not on DOL :) ) has had a huge day today. Have a look at Labradog's facebook page (hope I can paste it ok): https://www.facebook.com/pages/LabraDOG-Rescue-and-Rehoming/233661823383733 WELL DONE Amanda, Tim V/AWL and Hawkesbury Pound And best wishes Honey for a bright happy non-mangy Labby future full of food, mud and people to love.

And that's what I think rescue dogs need most.

That's great! Sadly, there seem to be a lack of them round these here parts. If anyone knows of a place in Sydney that does this, I'm keen too!

Hmmmmm, this sounds familiar. Are you in SW Sydney?

Sorry, essay here, but it's something I've been wanting to vent about a bit! What was the reason why you stopped training your dog? I stopped group training after a couple of months the first time when Stevie was young, because of the incessant food rewards making my LabX even more food-obsessed. Also because I didn't like the 'get that check chain off' when we'd been using it for a while and Stevie saw it more as a 'working time' collar and behaved anyway, than a real check. So our first class was spent mainly trying on limited-check chains and then the hard sell to buy one - it wasn't a great introduction. I went back when Stevie and I were both more settled and stayed for quite a while, but Stevie was bored, and I felt no support at all for improving any further because I didn't particularly want to compete. I was asked to help out as a volunteer instructor a few times when there weren't enough trainers, but with no support, no real training, at the important lower levels when Stevie and I had only had to spend a couple of weeks doing those 'routines'. The next week I'd be ignored by other trainers and treated like a wannabe. Never given any information on the club itself, how it worked, the meetings were virtually secret, then some favoured people would get jumpers with logos given to them because they'd transferred from one club to this one! In four years of registering I never did get a newsletter or any information about the club. I also found that because Stevie was the least reactive, most stable dog in the group, we were always put next to the DA wild dogs - even at the highest level of classes, there were what I'd call 'dangerous' dogs that would take a swipe or want to go full on at us. The trainers never asked them to go to individual training to sort out the issues before coming to a happy leash-free social type setting. There were some terrible fights. No warning system such a coloured collars. Some of them wore muzzles, but would use their bodies to push and shove, and the owners had no control at all (but somehow managed to get promoted into these classes?). I saw Stevie being humped by two (not really DA but very excitable) Wolfie cross siblings while she sat and stayed as requested, with a pained but patient expression (a bit of anthropomorphism perhaps) and thought 'no, she doesn't need that any more'. It was about the fifth week in a row where she was used as the dummy. Also I have a Kelpie who was being ignored so we found better things to do on a Saturday afternoon that suited all of us. The club would have broken the Kelpie, she would never have behaved 'their' way even though she is a very well mannered, obedient dog. Do you feel your dog is well trained enough? Compared to many dogs I see in public, yes. Steve's still quite rude about begging from people with food, and has the Labby 'I love everyone why don't they want to play with me when I run to them' attitude that we watch all the time. Both dogs have great recall. Jodie still doesn't walk well on-lead but I've had the best instruction on that (with you, Cos!) and the problem is still with me, not her. I can trust both dogs with other dogs, kids, kitchen benches, taking food from them, and not rushing through gates and doors. None of that is covered at obedience club anyway. Did you not get results from previous training attempts? The eight one-on-one training sessions we did at our home when Stevie was about six months old was invaluable and worth every cent, because it set some ground rules for her and me at a time when I realised I had no idea what I was doing with this intelligent bored dog. She loves and respects that trainer even though he's not really a purely-positive sort of guy. Is training too far away/ too often/ too expensive? Saturday afternoons is a bit inconvenient, but Sunday mornings at another club are too far away and too early. A weeknight would be great, with floodlights, but I'm not sure where to find one of those clubs nearby. Are you simply too busy? That too, yes. Also the dogs are clever enough to behave for everyone else and in the training environment. They misbehave more at home and on 'boring' walks. Did you find training boring? YES there's only so many times you can do drop, stay, recall, walk around. Stevie would yawn and start sniffing for dropped treats, and I'd have trouble hearing the instructions and get distracted by all the other dogs walking past the park. The agility equipment we both really enjoyed was kept for special invitation only and only one or two of the trainers liked to use it. I liked the little tiny bit of Rally-o I saw at Dogs NSW, that sort of thing might make it more interesting, especially if there were a few jumps or ramps or tunnels involved. What would prompt you to start training again or would you not start training again regardless? Getting a pup might prompt me, but I'd probably not go to the obedience group for socialisation and training until the pup was already stable and more mature. I've found that with my dogs and the fosters I've had through, we've been able to get reasonably good behaviour from even the silliest teenaged untrained dog through NILIF, TT, having our girls show good behaviour and expecting it from other dogs, rewarding good behaviour when we see it, and a handy spray bottle for extreme cheekiness/jumping etc. The only thing I still have trouble with is loose lead walking in strange areas, and I think that's a problem with me. ETA For those that wish to have smaller class sizes and more experienced instructors, would you be willing to pay more to go somewhere where this is offered or do you think it can/ should be accomodated within a cheaper price structure? I would pay more, but not as much as I did for the one-on-one training. The club idea is that you join then it's only a couple of dollars for the lesson. They're all volunteers.

Nowhere near your level of rescue, but we stopped fostering when we realised our own dogs were being affected by the turnover, and also because the Maggot failure didn't need extra feet bowling him over. We should now foster again but when I think about how perfect Stevie is now, just right to teach a puppy manners, I'm going to get my dream black Lab boy now, hopefully by Christmas. Sadly there will always be dogs to foster. I can't do it without balance for my whole family.

Interesting. Once it was made clear on Facebook that the general readers know about lab rescue groups (two wonderful groups ) and that the poor mangy looking girl was being looked after closely by Labradog, the pound rounds entry changed from 'so sad, please support' to 'direct your support to Labradog'. The dog was never on a kill list.

My labXGolden has always got on well with all dogs, and we've had Shih crosses, JR terriers and many labs stay with us. The dog we got as her companion years ago is a kelpie. Although they're great, the two dogs have such different personalities they virtually do their own thing all day. Maybe a little zoomie wrestle in the mornings, but just companionship, not friendship. I think Stevie would be better with a Lab or Golden. Then again, she'd rather just have her people home more than another dog!

TDierikx has an older Kelpie type pup just BURSTING to do some work. I'm sure she'll see this thread!

She's beautifully shiny and healthy looking. Nice pants!

Just read some of the comments on FB for the first time. ETA as well! Mange fixed with a couple of baths? Fence jumping? Amstaffs settle with their new family within hours, it's in the breed?

He looks like a smart boy, and quite relaxed about this new job he has!

No, but the advertisement I saw by searching shows a shocking lack of thought about desexing (and spelling and grammar), so not really a 'rescue'.

Thanks Lillypilly and Mita. My only what-if is whether he would have preferred his old wandering life, but he didn't seem to miss it and adapted to being an inside dog very quickly. When he was still walking a bit (then carried a bit then walking a bit) we went past the end of the street we think he came from, and he stopped and looked and pondered - but then happily kept walking with us. Cynthia, if you still look at DOL - this is the thread I threatened a few months ago. I said you were an inspiration!

http://www.dolforums.com.au/topic/201945-is-this-right-the-streets-waif/ Two years ago I found a little dog and took him to the pound. I letterbox dropped and put up posters but nobody claimed him. Canterbury Pound in winter is a godawful place, and it was a nasty wet winter. He got pneumonia. The pound let me have him under duty of care and I kept him crated and separate from the other dogs for six weeks or so, through three rounds of antibiotics and a lot of painkillers. You don't name creatures about to die, so I just called him 'Mate' (c'mon Matey, I promise there's nothing hidden in this peanut butter). Finally his cough resolved enough that the lovely young locum vet (who was truly shocked by the NSW pound system) was game enough to desex, take out six teeth and clean his ears properly, after blood tests showed there was nothing seriously wrong with his system and his heart was as strong as an ox. He was chipped with a real name (Monte, my MIL's choice, I was hoping she'd take him). He was mine. Then, just when he was about to be advertised through Seniors Rescue, the little monster bit me. Then again a couple of weeks later in similar circumstances - thinking what he had was food and he was keeping it. There was no way this little dog could be around strangers, especially children who might grab back a biscuit or pencil. We've managed him ever since. He very quickly got the name that he responded to - Maggot - due to his joy in writhing and wriggling on his back on our bed, big black eyes in a cloud of white fur. His arthritis was awful and unfixable but he was ok with Meloxicam every day. He slept with Stevie, and he just adored my husband. In fact he was always good with males - groomer didn't need to muzzle him, and vet thought he was a champion - it was just females he bit. Me, my sister (who admits she was an idiot and did the opposite of instructions), and the girl at the pet food place who gave him a treat (now a first-year-out vet who'll ALWAYS listen when warned against giving treats!). It's not that he didn't love us. He'd have a little growl at anyone who came too close to me, and just yesterday tried to protect his beloved Aunty TDierikx from a potentially vicious puppy. Over the last few months he's been struggling in the cold, even though he had two of the best pyjama outfits ever made - by a lovely DOLer, in blue camo and fluoro pirate skulls. He needed to be picked up out of bed and taken out to wee, before his legs would get working enough to get him to breakfast. Then he was fine for the day, especially if there was a sunny patch to lie in or a warm lap or best of all someone home sick to cuddle up to in bed. Then dinner then more lap then bedtime with Stevie. We had a pillow or mat in every room so he could stagger from room to room and keep an eye on us, if it was a more active day. Sadly his bent and broken front paddle legs could no longer compensate for his floppy wasted hind legs. He face-planted a few times over the weekend and couldn't arrange his legs to wee properly, let alone poo. He wouldn't try to climb up just one step to get BBQ chicken this morning, even though he really wanted it. The vet said he could see in his eyes how it was his time - I'd kinda hoped there was a miracle cure, but I'd seen the look in his eyes too. He had a mint slice this afternoon, lots of tummy rubs lying in the sun, and a good bark at a cheeky dog in the vet waiting room, and is now at peace. So to answer my question from two years ago, I think I did the right thing. Maggot had a great 'last few weeks', two years of them. He was relaxed and peaceful (and loved) at the end. And he was respected as well, by all who met this tough little old man. Vale the Waif, my little Maggot-man.

I was feeling terribly sorry for whoever hit Matilda, but the later report implies all the cars kept driving past

#%%^^** just rude