~Lisa~

Our guys get fed between 6:30-7:30 and that's it for the night. They know to go to the toilet straight after, but if they forget they will go on cue. Now that the greyhound is older she often has an extra trip at 10ish, or goes out earlier in the morning.

I wish I hadn't watched the footage, I can't stop thinking about it. Sickening

I agree Scrappi&Monti. I think it helps their confidence with animals in general and also their ability to read animals' behaviours. I loved growing up being surrounded by animals and can't imagine raising my boys without a dog, to me it is a vital part of childhood.

Just because an animal is able to be so patient doesn't mean it is fair on them. I am fairly certain all 3 of my dogs would sit still and allow my toddler to use their tail as a paint brush, but it is my responsibility to my dogs to ensure they are treated with some respect, and not made to do unpleasant things just because they are too gentle to lash out.

I'm with you!

Glad to hear Stella is improving so well! Hopefully won't be much longer until the head tilt is gone too :)

My greyhound girl had this last year. She needed to be carried out to the toilet and supported while she was going for about 3 days, then we had a day or 2 where she could make it outside by leaning on me whenever she had a more significant wobble. She had minimal appetite for a couple of days (maybe the nausea from the constant movement?) but was drinking ok with help and had a water bowl next to her bed so she didn't have to stand up to drink. I would say she was 100% recovered by about 2 weeks. She was 90% better after about 5 days and could eat/drink fairly normally and was walking with a minor head tilt but I didn't let her outside unless she was on a lead for the 2 full weeks, in case she attempted some zoomies and tripped over. Luckily being elderly and a greyhound meant she was pretty relaxed about sleeping in a comfy bed most of the day. The hardest thing for her was not being allowed on the lounge until she was well enough that I knew she wouldn't fall off.

My dad was told his English Pointer was a Boxer. When he corrected them on the breed he was told 'well they sure tricked you, that dog is a Boxer!' :laugh:

Thanks PK, she is such a gentle girl, it broke my heart that she couldn't go for a toilet break in her own yard without being attacked. Thanks melzawelza, that's interesting. I guess as more places are starting to ban roaming cats the legislation might change to keep up.

Thanks for posting that legislation melzawelza, I'll have to look into whether it is the same for ACT. I am shocked it isn't the same Australia wide, it is absurd to me that a dog could be held at fault for harming a cat/rabbit that trespasses on it's property. The last cat that came into out yard ripped my poor greyhound to shreds, a couple of dozen stitches and 2 hour surgery at midnight on a Saturday wasn't cheap... I was too worried about my girl to think about who should be responsible for the finances at the time (and have no idea who the owner of that cat was anyway), but I wonder what the consequences are for a cat owner in that situation.

I understand the concept of there being twits and nasty dogs on the street. My elderly greyhound had a few dozen stitches after a cat attacked her in her own backyard, I understand they can be vulnerable. She didn't have a muzzle on but her lack of teeth leaves her in a similar position. I don't see how that relates to a 'fact sheet' which has been so poorly written it would surely be nothing but a disservice to it's cause. I think Maddy and melzawelza have said it well in their lasts few posts. What they say is far more consistent with what knowledge I already had on the topic. I have been keeping up with this thread because I'm interested to learn more about both sides of the argument, but when someone is posting facts that aren't facts, and backing it up with saying their facebook buddies have old dogs so that must mean no one kills young dogs ("my friends keep their dogs until they are old so no one kills young healthy dogs for no reason")... It seems this quote from Maddy sums it up in the end.

If this 'fact sheet' is the best they can come up with I don't think they will convince anyone! Just the first few things to jump out at me are 'We already know injuries and litters are just a fraction of what was guessed during the Inquiry' Since when is 'We already know' evidence of anything? Who already knows, how do they already know? What evidence is there that "they" know anything? What "fraction" was it? The fraction could be 99% of what was guessed, it is still a fraction. This isn't a fact at all yet they have it listed on a fact sheet. Anyone can read a report and say 'I already know this is wrong', that doesn't prove anything as fact. 'The figure of "50-70%" of greyhound pups being euthanised is a fabrication, with less than one-tenth of that number being the actual figure - and most of that figure is for illness, old age and other' Even if they were going to prove that the actual figure is less than one-tenth... they have just claimed that some of the greyhound PUPS euthanised were done so for reason of old age. Not a great way to state something as fact. 'Many rehomed greyhounds were previously counted as part of 'wastage' when they were actually healthy and happy pets' How many is 'many'? 1,000? 15? It's just a meaningless thing to say, the word 'many' is completely subjective. Looks like you can't read. They're saying that most greyhounds have died of old age, they were not killed. I have heaps of old greyhounds here, I am like most people in the industry, we prefer to keep our old greyhounds for ourselves as pets, we don't like giving away older greyhounds to rehoming groups. Plus, when people try to give older greyhounds to rehoming groups (I know for a fact, because I've been trying to save other trainer's retired greyhounds by helping to rehome them and their older greyhounds were always knocked back by these rehoming groups apparently because people don't want old greyhounds, they want cute puppies or young greyhounds. Just yesterday I asked a rescuer group if they could help my mum rehome 7 of the pet greyhounds (aged between 5 to 11) because the owner died 2 weeks ago of lung cancer and my mum is too ill to take them on herself due to her age, and the rescuer group said they can only help with the younger greys because they find them easier to rehome.) If you look on my FB page friends list, you would see hundreds of them posting on their own walls, pics of their old greys lazing about on their lounge in the house. Most of these friends have between 1 to 18 pet greyhounds EACH. They've never given them away to be rehomed. This is why you don't see many older greyhounds in full sight, because trainers don't generally take them all out for walks in public. I certainly have never taken any of my 8 retired greys out in public as I don't trust the off leash/uncontrolled dogs (esp pitbull types, staffy types, doberman types, german shepherd types etc ) as so many pet owners are just plain irresponsible and don't care about training their pet dogs to be good dogs. Years ago a unleashed Doberman took off from his owners while walking along a highway and he crossed the highway to charge at me walking my 3 greyhounds and it was only my frantic screams while I was trying to get the muzzles off my greys so they could defend themselves against this raving 50kgs monster, that brought a passerby to my rescue with a big stick to beat off the Doberman. He was still trying to mouth at my little grey's throat and I was screaming at the stupid owners to pull the dog off, they finally managed to pull him off but told me off for having greyhounds even though mine were on leads and muzzled.They didn't see anything wrong with their dog charging at my dogs unprovoked. This is just one of the few incidents that's happened to me so 10 years ago I quit taking my greyhounds out in public and just preferred to let them potter on my acreage and gallop about in my paddock. They're happy and safe. And certainly living a longer life not being mauled every day by irresponsible owners' dogs. Ahh, I'm actually quite glad you explained that to me. I thought I was pointing out what nonsense it was that they used the term 'greyhound PUPS' (a pup being a young dog) and then said they had died of old age. But you must be right, the actual problem is that I don't know how to read. What a terrible shame it is that my illiteracy has stopped me from bothering with the utter drivel that was the rest of your post

If this 'fact sheet' is the best they can come up with I don't think they will convince anyone! Just the first few things to jump out at me are 'We already know injuries and litters are just a fraction of what was guessed during the Inquiry' Since when is 'We already know' evidence of anything? Who already knows, how do they already know? What evidence is there that "they" know anything? What "fraction" was it? The fraction could be 99% of what was guessed, it is still a fraction. This isn't a fact at all yet they have it listed on a fact sheet. Anyone can read a report and say 'I already know this is wrong', that doesn't prove anything as fact. 'The figure of "50-70%" of greyhound pups being euthanised is a fabrication, with less than one-tenth of that number being the actual figure - and most of that figure is for illness, old age and other' Even if they were going to prove that the actual figure is less than one-tenth... they have just claimed that some of the greyhound PUPS euthanised were done so for reason of old age. Not a great way to state something as fact. 'Many rehomed greyhounds were previously counted as part of 'wastage' when they were actually healthy and happy pets' How many is 'many'? 1,000? 15? It's just a meaningless thing to say, the word 'many' is completely subjective.

Surely it is the individuals responsibility to keep their dog safe? If an OAP has a tree fall through her fence, and has no way of fixing it immediately it doesn't make it ok for her to just let the dog out in the yard regardless and blame someone else if it runs away or is stolen. It's up to her to keep the dog secure and safe. If I left my key in my car while it was running, with the doors open and went into the shops of course a thief would be in the wrong for stealing my car. Pretty sure the majority of people (including an insurance company) would say I was also at fault for leaving the car that way Actually, in Victoria it is illegal to leave your car running unattended. I'm pretty sure it's illegal to leave it unattended when unlocked. You most certainly would not be covered by your insurer as it's all about mitigating your loss. And by knowingly leaving an invitation to thieves, you are partially at fault. I know you wouldn't be covered by insurance, I actually said that. My point is I see leaving a dog unattended on it's lead in a similar way. Of course no one should take your car/dog. But if you leave them right there with their keys/lead you're making it much more likely to happen. I believe it's my responsibility to keep my dog a bit safer than that.

Surely it is the individuals responsibility to keep their dog safe? If an OAP has a tree fall through her fence, and has no way of fixing it immediately it doesn't make it ok for her to just let the dog out in the yard regardless and blame someone else if it runs away or is stolen. It's up to her to keep the dog secure and safe. If I left my key in my car while it was running, with the doors open and went into the shops of course a thief would be in the wrong for stealing my car. Pretty sure the majority of people (including an insurance company) would say I was also at fault for leaving the car that way