Diva

My old girl Rose threw the yellow pages phone book at me once. She liked to toss stuff, and we had been doing object exchange. She wanted to swap the yellow pages for the dish of cat food in my hand. :)

I agree, I could never do it Nope, I couldn't either. They can sleep in the bedroom, but not on the bed.

Borzoi Nothing much, maybe go up and say hello. No difference whether alone or not. My Borzoi are not territorial or worried about visitors. You do get the odd exception who guards. Not my current lot, unless it was late at night when they would bark, and it is quite a distinctive sounding bark in that situation. It would depend on the visitor though, some behaviours and age groups more likely to make them alarm bark than others and they are very observant of body language. During daytime, nothing, unless I gave some clear indication the visitor was unwelcome. Someone just walking in normally wouldn't bother them, I would need to act worried or upset or the person give off bad vibes. In the middle of the night and if I was asleep, alarm bark for sure, and probably some growling from one of them. Bark, from one, and general upsetness from the other. If it was serious, quite possibly bite. A lot would depend on how I acted. I only have girls atm which also makes a difference, the males I have had were much more obviously protective. But even the girls are braver than they look and I think they would have a go in a serious situation. How much pressure they could take before backing off I really don't know. But I certainly wouldn't take on two adult Borzoi protecting their owner, they could do a lot of damage if they felt the need.

Not my dog, but the OP stated they wished to avoid chicken, including fat, as the dog already gets so much of it. They also mentioned the vet supervised elimination diet they did to identify the allergic foods. But now they have a fresh meat supplier who delivers and is affordable so the problem is solved.

As well as the suggested things I would adjust her diet too. Higher fat content for winter.

I was going to post more protein and fat but not carbs last night but was worried I didn't have a reference. I do love it when science confirms experience and you have the article on tap Espinay )

This is one of the most concerning aspects, not enough transparency and too much left to the individual discretion of an RSPCA or AWL inspector who is not from a govt agency and therefore not bound by the usual administrative and other appeals processes. Lots of little rules to trip ordinary people up with red tape but but not enough focus on the important outcome - breeding good healthy dogs. I do wonder if that is because the real intended outcome is not good breeding, but no breeding. I have had my eye on a property in NSW, I think I will sit tight where I am and wait and see how things go.

Sorry my first post should have read..... Hello I feed my dogs raw meat AND chicken wing tips and carcass, i do feed raw beef :) :)

OP says raw meat :) doesn't say what sort though I am sure she or he is capable of ignoring my comment if it is already covered in the diet.

Red meat occasionally would be good. Just chicken with fish occasionally doesn't sound like enough variety in the long term.

Thanks, hers was along the side of the toe, rather than on the pad. I ended up cleaning with salty water and using Betadine, but not wrapping. It seems to be healing well and I have stocked up on stuff in case it happens again. The seaweed dressing sounds interesting, haven't seen that one before. Sounds like they are specifically designed for bleeding wounds.

Oldest I have had was 22 months, regular 9 month seasons after that. Large breed. Kept with other bitches so it was not that, just a later bloomer.

Unfortunatey they all have chicken fat in them.

I have considered swapping mine for a clean house, an untrampled garden, and a dog hair free car and clothes......

Yes, I understand that. I guess I feel like we need to be fighting on all grounds, keep the exemptions, but also get the rules for the bigger establishments as well targeted and sensible as possible. Some of this lot reads like a uni grad AR activist wrote it on a weekend. Feeling disheartened it isn't better.

I think you missed my first point, exemptions are precarious, and when there is no sound reason why, for example, an 8 year old dog can be considered legally too old for breeding if owned by one person and not legally too old for breeding when owned by another, well it doesn't make sense. If you think Dogs Vic is politically influential enough for a nonsensical difference like that to hold for the long term in the face of lobbyists with a different agenda, well I just hope you are right. Personally, I think getting a meaningful and defensible rule from the start is a better and more durable public policy position. Jmho

It is great that there is such an exemption for some Dogs Vic members, but if I were in Vic I would still be concerned because exemptions are easy to remove or water down over time. Just a change of govt, or a change of minister, or one bad reg breeder exposed, and it could become politically palatable to remove the exemption. I like a lot of the rules, but some are just arbitrary. Best to get them as workable as possible from the start. Things like not breeding from males over 7 make no sense in terms of the genetic health of a breed, dogs that have reached an older age in excellent health are likely to be good genetic stock. If they intend that a male doesn't end up a puppy farm breeding machine for life, the rules should be drafted to achieve that without precluding a healthy oustanding 10 year old being used by a breeder who values that longevity. That is just an example. And yes I also found the carpet cleaning rule well over the top, someone has some serious control issues. The general trend in best practice regulatory models is outcome focussed regulation, this heavy handed input prescription is very b grade..

100 points. Can't earn points until 6 months old. But no minimum age for titling, used to be a certain number of points had to come after 12 months of age but they removed that requirement.

Sounds like the dog might be reflecting back all the dysfunction and stress in the house, despite his behaviour I feel a bit sorry for him. And a lot sorry for the little girl who loves him. But it was beyond acceptable behaviour, it is a dangerous situation.

My instinct is report. The dog is dangerous and not under effective control. Going for your face, coming back and going you again, left under the control of children - an accident waiting to happen if the adults don't change the management. And you are used to big dogs, not someone likely to misread his intent. But the family fall out is hard and complicating, not sure what you can do there. I'm assuming the parents are unlikely to respond well to a discuusion about the incident.

It seems sympathy for old poodles who meet traumatic ends is limited :cry: I don't know who put their head through the fence, but I feel very sad for the poodle, and especially for the owner. I would be physically ill if a dog of mine sustained such an injury.

The day they opened the fridge.......an empty egg carton, an empty cream carton, and a half empty tub of margarine

There are some 'interesting' points that Victorian breeds should probably read closely. I know there are currently some exemptions in place for Dogs Vic members, but just as well as on first glance as amongst the very reasonable stuff there seem to me to be some leaps in regulation and red tape and a lot of business for vets. And exemptions can be removed very easily over time. Like this one: 'Minimum quantity and nutritional quality of feed must be detailed within the health plan developed in conjunction with, and signed off by, a veterinarian for each classification of dog in the Business.' Bad luck if you prefer to raw feed and the only vet near to you just wants to sell you what they retail. and 'All breeding animals must have a complete health check as detailed in the Business’ health plan including: •behaviour/temperament consultation, by a veterinarian with certification that the animal is suitable to breed with and the offspring are likely to meet the purpose for which they were bred (for example, pet);' what if the purpose is show dog, is a vet likely to be able to certify the offspring will be show potential? and no more litters for giant (>70cm) breed bitches after 5 years of age - that would exclude some of the most influential litters in the history of my breed, historically our bitches are bred seldom, but often older. and no more second degree matings - no grandfather/grandaughter anymore. and this one made me laugh 'The whelping box must have solid sides that can be easily disinfected, and must be of a height that will allow the bitch to exit readily but will prevent puppies under 4 weeks from falling out.' Falling out??? I have an extra high sided whelping box but for my one litter I had to drop some of the walls before 4 weeks - the little darlings were scaling the walls at 3 weeks and getting both out and back in. No walls the bitch could easily exit would have held any of them by 4 weeks. Yep, interesting And I am not even really opposed to sensible regulation. Key word being sensible.

If you have a recommendation for a good chiro I would try it in your circumstances. A good chiro will do no harm and might find and fix the issue. My guys get regular 3 monthly chiro checks as preventative medicine. If I go in between it is because I have noticed something - like a less flexible topline, not standing square, footfall off, or throwing a leg. They are real but minor issues, and usually the kind of things only a show or perfomance/racing person would notice. Most vets would just prescribe anti-inflammatories, that is if they can see it because a lot have no eye for gait at all. I would rather catch a problem early and fix the cause.

Next time I see you I will take you up on that. I cleaned her foot again this morning and it is healing very well. I guess the good blood supply to the area that caused all that bleeding also helps it heal fast. PuddleDuck, oystershells? ouch!