Mags

Mats worked well for us and keeping everything tidy so they don't have to navigate around stuff.

My thoughts also. And to me. And even if some think it judgemental you have every right to be judgemental when it comes to placing a puppy in a pet home. You bred it you get to decide what constitutes an acceptable home for it. Don't think I would have bothered responding to their judgemental comments though. Don't breed dogs but do breed cats (registered breeder of Maine Coons) and all pets leave here desexed no exceptions - makes it really easy. Aware that its not that easy with dogs and do wish you luck as once they leave home you have absolutely no control over what the new owner will do with them. The best you can hope is they will ring you if it all goes pear shaped.

Can see why she thinks the white dog looks guilty - particularly when the other 2 have "dobbed". To know whether or not this is the dog that made the mess you would have to have caught him making the mess (serveillance cameras work well). As you said he might just hate the fuss or become scared (through previous experience) when someone makes a mess.

Unfortunately some breeds just seem to attract idiots and sad to say ACD's are one of them. Must have been horrible for the lady that was attacked, not what you need at anytime, hope she recovers OK and hope the council takes action against the idiot owner. Do feel sorry for the dog who has had to bear the consequences of having an unthinking owner

Our wonderful Katie came from greyhound rescue and I would certainly recommend them - they took the time to ensure we got a dog that suited our situation - we have cats and already had a tiny male dog that we rescued a few months before. Katie came to us on a trial basis to start with and we could not have been more pleased with her. She is a beautiful gentle soul who loves our cats and her tiny canine companion. We can't thank Peter and Janet, from Greyhound Rescue, enough for rescuing this little lady from Hawkesbury pound, fostering her and letting her join our family. Goodluck with your search for the right grey to join your family.

Thanks for sharing - we need a few humans who need saving to read this.

Bloody hell the PM endorsing puppy farmed dogs! never thought I'd see the day.

Surely the problem here is that someone - not the registered owner - surrendered the dog and they didn't bother checking for a chip and contacting the owner????? The dog could have been stolen, spiteful ex partner etc. What the hell is the point of mandatory chipping if chips aren't checked for and the rightful owner contacted if a dog/cat is handed in.

Check out the import conditions from NZ here http://www.daff.gov.au/aqis/cat-dogs/countries/cat1?name=New%20Zealand And it states they must have been resident in NZ for 90 days prior to import - you will need to check and see if that is after the Quarantine period.

I read a newspaper report that also said the piglets were still suckling off their mum.

We already have our retiremnet breed though it will be a while before I retire - but perfect breed now too given our current life style. A greyhound, a rescue that came from greyhound rescue.

What the hell!!!!! Greys - I have to walk my sweet Katie in a muzzle because of lazy useless politicians who can't sit enough days to change legislation and set regulations re: a change in muzzling laws that are a relic from last century.

Bloody hell of all breeds to want to ban - lovely sooks. I am however really sick of the owners of SWF's that think it funny that their dogs aren't socialised and are dog agressive. Would love to ban them.

Glad you both came off OK though you clearly have damaged your throat - hope you are feeling better soon.

Oh geez - where the heck did that figure come from - I know people that have tried vegan diets for their cats (they were vegan) and needless to say it was a disaster for the cat. What part of obligate carnivore do these people not get. If you can't cope with feeding a cat meat then don't get one - a pet rabbit or cavy might make a better pet for this type of person. Only slightly less comfortable with the thought of a dog being on a vegan diet - again choose a different spp as a pet.

How easy an adult is compared to a puppy depends on where you source them. From a breeder and they will probably be a breeze. From a rescue and you may have quite a lot of work - but well worth it in my opinion. We have taken on 2 young adult rescues this year: Katie a grey who is 2 yrs old and my ideal dog at this stage of my life. She is a beautiful calm dog that after a few months has learnt that having fun is OK here and whilst she is still scared of hands, especially hands holding anything that looks like a stick, is very quickly learning you do not get hit here. She is terrific with our tiny dog and the cats, good with people, and calm and clean in the house. She did take to digging up the yard when she arrived but that had a lot to do with my OH thinking her doing normal dog things was good and rewarding her for digging without knowing just how hard a grey can dig. She rarely digs now. She was fostered with greyhound rescue for a few weeks after being rescued from the pound, which was ideal for us as we knew she was small dog and cat safe when she arrived, and were warned about her issue with hands. Bertie our other rescue was in very bad shape when he arrived being about 30% underweight and was not house trained, didn't know how to walk on a lead, was matted to the skin, had a retained testicle, was being eaten alive by fleas. Its taken 8 months to get him physically back into good condition. He still has issues as he was physically abused not just neglected but has learnt you don't get hurt here so is learning to trust again. He is a friendlt jaunty little chat with an amazing view of life given what he has been through. He is now toilet, crate, lead trained and is coming along well. I suspect he may go to live with my mum in time but we still have quite a way to go with him. Mum and I have decided we will start walking the dogs together once a week or so, so she can start training him herself. Whilst Katie was less work then taking on a well socialised puppy, Bertie has been considerably more work. Still glad we took on both these dogs as Bertie deserved better than being put down and as I have already said Katie is our ideal dog at this time in our lives.

Lovely pics - so glad he made it to a wonderful forever home that was just made for him.

I had no clue either - was thinging very bad boston, Frenchie flashed through my mind but really had no clue as it didn't look like any breed I knew

Pictures were too small for a start and I didn't have a clue about most of the bully breeds/crosses so that's what I said.

Really sorry to hear about Amber - hang in there and hoping things will be OK for you and your lovely girl.

Cat breeder not dog and have also rehomed rescues and I am fussy - if I'm not happy with someone and I might not even know why just have an uncomfortable feeling about them then the answer is no. But it has nothing to do with their politics, football club etc. It is based on what sort of home they will offer and for how long.

Is she good with cats and annoying small dogs? if so she is welcome here What a lovely girl.

Does the general public even want to be educated. They want easy, they want instant and they don't want any work. Doesn't matter what breed of dog they get the chances are they will have issues as they buy on impulse from places like pet stores (puppies that have already had a less than ideal start in life and are unlikely to be socialised), don't have a clue about the animals requirements, don't bother putting in the work (and owning a dog is work)to teach the dog what it needs to be a good companion, don't deal with problems, often don't even recognise there are problems. And if they finally do decide its all too hard the dog is dumped at the pound or out of the house to lead a solitary life in a backyard with minimal attention. For many there seems a total disconnect between the animals they want to keep as companions and their ability to keep them. And what is even worse they will blame the animal or the breed & then go out and get another animal cause the last one "had something wrong with it" not of their doing of course. I don't know what the answer is but it is clear there are people in our society that should not own companion animals, and what is even more unfortunate they teach their children this lack of empathy for other living things and produce yet another generation that should not own companion animals.

Wonderful pics thanks for sharing - love the cockatoos, how privileged are you having them in your garden, sad they are now a threatened speecies - amazing birds

Re: Shiloh shephard - aren't they pure GSDs just taken down another breeding path to produce a different look - in their case a reversion to what the original breeders memory of shephards were many years ago. And the shiloh shephard people are very focused on temperament. It appears similar to what traditional siamese breeders have done and why we now have a cat breed known as Thai's which are traditional (ie: old style) siamese. To me, whether you agree with the premise or not, that is very different to crossing 2 different breeds and ending up with a strong prey driven cross bred sold under a fancy name coming from a breeder that is unlikely to be temperament testing, let alone any other sort of testing, socialised puppies or doing anything else a responsible breeder would do. Anyone that is happy to have their puppies sitting in a glass fronted cabinet exposed to everything at 8 weeks isn't someone I would trust to buy a puppy off. And I can imagine these "rare breed" puppies are worth big dollars. Why not take him to Renbury and see if he will take on the same cross for a lot less money and stop a dog being PTS needlessly. That is if he insists on this cross