Aphra

To my mind there is also a bit of a difference between a growl and snarling or baring teeth. I don't object to a dog having a growl when it is scared or uncertain, I'd rather a dog tell you its uncomfortable and give you a warning rather than go straight to snarling and teeth. So lumping those three together is a bit unfair. And as someone upstream noted, by putting the undesirable behaviours last in capitals it makes it psychologically easier to give the dog a negative score than a positive one. It's really easy to just skim over the positive behaviours and not notice the detail. I don't think I'd trust any of my own dogs not to take after pocket pets, even my cattle dog who can be trusted with kittens. The problem with temperament tests like this is that they are pass/fail as opposed to informative, but then, I suppose the point of them is to be able to justify killing dogs, in which case it's probably a really useful test.

I don't believe there is, they're not a common breed, except amongst BYBs. Perhaps the Association of Mastiff Breeds might be able to help? I have no idea how active they are, or if they do rescue though. http://www.mastiff.org.au/ Do you know anything about the dog's temperament?

Actually, yes I can, although my evidence is anecdotal, based on our rescue group and the other groups we know and work with. We take dogs from pounds, we rarely get to meet them before we take them, the pounds themselves don't do anything other than the most basic of temperament assessments (i.e. does it show obvious human aggression/serious dog aggression), but 90% of the dogs we get are nice, well tempered, normal dogs. The most usual behavioural issues they exhibit are those which the general population of dogs exhibit, such as jumping up, pulling on the lead and a general lack of manners. But visit any park and you'll see non-rescue dogs showing pretty much the same behaviours. Dogs end up in pounds for lots of reasons which don't always have anything to do with the dogs themselves. Marriage break-downs, housing issues, other kinds of changes in circumstance, country dogs chasing stock, people having children, farmers and hunters breeding litters and then not being able to rehome all the puppies, backyard breeders dumping unwanted puppies or breeding stock, and yes, some dogs with behaviours which owners can't, or more often, won't be bothered fixing. One reason why dogs stay in pounds is the inability of their owners to pay the pound fines to recover their dogs. We know that a percentage of the dogs we take had homes who would have taken them back, but couldn't come up with several hundred dollars to pay a find and spring their dog. You might characterise them as irresponsible for the dog ending up in the pound, but quite a number of dogs did have homes who wanted them back, but didn't have the resources to do so. I'm not convinced that killing a dog because the owner wasn't as good as they might have been is a useful outcome. We've had a handful of challenging dogs, we've euthed a handful of dogs for health or temperament, but on the whole the 300 plus dogs we've rehomed in the last couple of years have all been nice, sane, healthy dogs who have gone on to make good companions. Our experience is not because we're really good at picking dogs or because we get to cherry pick a wide range of dogs, it's just because the general pound population are basically nice dogs. All kinds of dogs get unlucky and end up in the pound.

I don't know who is writing Steve Coleman's media, but they might need a refresher course. The people who did his YouTube video need a bit more than a refresher ... This comment is just stupid, given the amount of flak they're getting, and they admit that one of the single most effective tools for getting animals adopted is too much like hard work? The RSPCA with what, 12 million dollars in the bank, can't find a couple of vollies and a digital camera to take some photographs and do a simple write-up?

IN NSW contact Fair Trading (http://www.fairtrading.nsw.gov.au/default.html) and ask advice. I think there is a Small Claims court system which you can use, but you'd need to get advice on how that works.

This kind of information is really useful. I'd encourage you to send it to a rescue organisation. It's not just that the more information the better, but it's a way of them getting to know you .. it's all about relationship building. A dog like Phoebe would probably tick most of your boxes ... she's not a particular breed, but has many of the characteristics you're looking for. http://www.petrescue.com.au/admin/groups/10024/listings/170359

Have you tried the breed club? There is also the QLD Gundog association. I wish they were in Victoria!

This is a really good point, and I"m going back to rework our questionnaires as soon as I get time. We do tell people that if they're interested in a type of dog rather than a particular dog, to fill out the questionnaire telling us about what kind of dog they are looking for, but I don't think it's all that clear you can do that. I've been rewriting our questionnaires anyway, to try and make them a bit friendlier. I did a poke around the internet at what other group's questionnaires and foster care applications looked like. I was a bit taken aback when, having read lots of them all at once (and I include ours in this), that the general tone was unfriendly. It was more, "prove to us that you're worthy", rather than, "let us know about your general dog or cat-owning fabulousness". Thinking about it, it kind of sucked all the fun out of looking for a new pet. I don't reckon we've got it right, but I'm trying to be much more conscious now of the tone of our material. Thanks for the tip megan, it's an excellent thought.

There are good and bad rescues like everything in the world. I think you'll find the bad ones are easy to spot: if you think you're being pushed into taking a dog, or they don't want to answer your questions, or if things seem a bit suss, then they possibly are. More to the point is finding a rescue group who are sympathetic to your needs and who you find some common ground with. For example, we don't have an over 25 year age limit; we try very hard not to make blanket assumptions about people's level of responsibility based on blanket criteria such as age. But all rescue groups operate a bit differently based on the value-systems, experience and, yes, prejudice, of their individual members. If you have an uncomfortable experience with one group, try another one. If you find a group who seem to be saying the sorts of things you like, contact them and tell them what kind of dog you are looking for. It's quite possible that even if they don't have the dog you want, they have a good prospect coming into their system, or know of one with another rescue group. Like pretty much any area of human endeavour, if you make the effort to build a bit of a relationship with people, talk to them about what you want and are worried about, you'll find most rescue groups willing to help. If you're after a particular breed of dog, then by all means talk to breeders and find the right breed. With the right breeder you'll get lots of help and support. If you're more interested in particular attributes than breed, a rescue might suit you. Look for a rescue group who are happy for you to ask lots of questions, who offer a trial period, and who wills support you once you get your new dog home, both during the trial and beyond. Contrary to popular opinion, most rescue dogs are good citizens who just got unlucky. If they have issues they tend to be minor ones that you see in dogs around the community, such as jumping up, pulling on the lead, selective hearing. Most rescue dogs aren't broken, or bad, or ugly, or big or dangerous, or whatever. Just as an example, and bear in mind that we're a really small group and don't have huge numbers of dogs coming through. I rehomed an incredibly cute, 3 month old Shih Tzu X puppy this morning. We have a Cairn Terrier and a Mini Schnauzer looking for homes (although I think they are both spoken for), both dogs are house trained, have terrific house manners and are great with other dogs. I have no idea why either of them would be in a pound. I'm beginning to think that its almost as important to match a person with the right rescue group, as it is to match them to the right dog or cat! Good luck with finding the right dog for you, try not to get too anxious, this should be a fun experience. Trust your instincts and find a breeder, or a rescue group you can trust to hel0p you.

Thanks for that! I have a colleague who has been looking for a Dane for months, he's an experienced Dane owner. I've sent him Blue's details.

I wish HTML links included in the profile were live (such as YouTube videos of the animals). And am I missing something or are there bits included which you can't edit? I see a heading "Philosophy" but it doesn't come up if you go into Group Profile > Edit. And you also can't seem to add a logo. I'm a bit cranky with it at this stage, if there was an alternative I'd go to that, I just don't have the time to be struggling with buggy software. I was really stabby about having to download Chrome, because all I need is another bit of software to learn.

When my Neos were alive, they hated my Cattle Dog with a burning passion. So I maintained two groups of dogs and did it for several years. I had two dogs who got on with everyone, but I always ran two lots of dogs. It wasn't entirely easy and it took a bit of thinking, but everyone got to have me time, free time and house-time. I'd be uneasy about running a pack that size anyway, even if its only two dogs who have an issue, once a fight starts if any of the others take sides things could go very wrong quite quickly. You're doing the responsible thing, so I hope you can resolve the issues and keep everybody safe.

Um, the lock jaw thing is nonsense and has been disproved so many times as a biological and physiological fallacy, I'm a bit surprised it is still being raised. Possibly what you mean to describe is the natural terrier tendency to grab and shake and their tenacity. I don't quite know what you ate talking about with the history of German Shepherds, they were banned in Australia, mostly because of anti-German sentiment post-war, amd the erroneus belief that hey were relayed to wolves. You do realize that the RSPCA are against BSL? In fact many people have questioned he dog's breed, early reports called it a "mastiff x or pit bull x mastiff". All dogs have "violence in them." Aggression is a survival characteristic, it allows any animal to claim resources, dogs, cats, humans, monkeys, whatever. Many breeds of dogs have been used for dog fighting, sadly, dog fighting has been a common past time in many cultures through history. However, I really don't think that extreme pack drive or whatever is the drive which creates dog aggression explains anything about this tragedy. The most likely explanation is high prey drive, high arousal and limited socialization. It is unfortunate that this inquest missed the opportunity to really investigate what happened, which would have really helped in preventing something so awful happening again. Of course photos of the dog were taken, that would be part of the forensic investigation. They might not be released, but they certainly exist. The dog was not registered, the owners maintained the registration of their previous dog which was a German Shepherd, or at least registered as such. And as for the ATTS, the vast majority of dogs of any sort won't be tested. In fact Pit Bulls are one of the more tested breeds in the breed statistics. The whole point of opposition to BSL is that a dog, of whatever breed, should be treated as individuals, and judged on their individual temperaments.

I'm both deeply disappointed and disturbed that instead on inquiring into the circumstances under which the dog was kept and managed, the coroner concentrated on the breed of dog. More punitive legislation and heavier penalties aren't going to make anyone safer; statistically your chances of being killed by a dog are vanishingly small anyway. Clearly BSL has little to do with logic, evidence or even common sense, but it is disappointing that a court-appointed official should buy into the prevailing hysteria. http://www.headingforhome.asn.au/shadow-dogs-and-ancient-contracts-are-we-barking-up-the-wrong-tree-when-opposing-bsl/

Cambridge Declaration on consciousness http://fcmconference.org/img/CambridgeDeclarationOnConsciousness.pdf

This is just not true. We are a really small rescue group, but right now we have a 2 year old Cairn Terrier, an 8 month old Maltese X and a 12 week old Shih Tzu X and a young Schnauzer looking for homes. We have just rehomed a Griffon X puppy. In the past we've have purebred Tibetan Spaniels, Whippets (several), Wire Hired Jack Russell puppies, an Australian Terrier puppy and a mother Papillion X and her wee baby. We've also taken our share of big dogs, working dogs and gorgeous indeterminate crossbreeds. I've seen some really rare breed dogs in pounds as well. Not that people only want little fluffies; people want all sorts of dogs, including high-energy types. Dogs in pounds are pretty much a representation of the population of dogs in the rest of the community.

I think that might be related to the form we filled out ages ago to migrate our details. It asked what areas you rescued from, and because we take dogs from NSW, I ticked that. Then in the new that seemed to translate into location. So I just went in to the Group Profiles > edit > and then right down the bottom to states, and unclicked NSW. Now we only show up as located in Victoria.

Nina deserves all the recognition she gets. I think there's a wonderful "Australian Story" to be made about rescuers. There are people who have been doing the work for years and years and years, week in, week out. The RSPCA and LDH get all the public recognition and (frequently undeserved) kudos, but there are many rescuers who have just quietly gone ahead and done the work who really deserve recognition.

They've fixed the bit where the active listings are first, yay! And I think the feature is back where you can load a bigger image than appears on the screen, and when you click on the image you can see the bigger version. That was in an early version of Pet Rescue and it's a nice feature. I'm sure it will just take a bit of getting used to really, although I'm finding it a bit more annoying to navigate than the previous version. Things take more steps instead of the page being laid out in pretty much one screen, now you have to scroll through two or three. I do think there is an element of clever people building something shiny and very cool, but without consultation with people who are going to be making the most use of it, which is the rescuers. I've seen any number of database projects where everyone is all excited about the front end and give hardly any thought to the workflow on the back end. One feature on the front end which I think could be better thought out is the need to click on "advanced search" to be able to choose age and size of dog. I think most people come to choosing a dog with an idea of age and size (ie I want a small dog and I don't want a puppy). I also know from having been part of extensive user testing for big database projects that very few people choose advanced search options, so I think there might be some frustrated potential adopters getting floods of dogs they're not interested in.

You can search by size, gender and age under the advanced search settings. All Pet Rescue does is bring together the animals available for adoption by lots and lots and lots of rescue groups all over Australia. They are the ones who provide the information, so it's probably not realistic to force every rescue to list that kind of information when there will be no consistency of application. Pet Rescue have a deliberate policy of not making a breed-based search available because they believe people should be choosing a dog on the basis of its fitness for their lifestyle and not breed.

Frankly, the whole anti-vaccine thing, animal and human, makes feel all stabby. I don't vaccinate my adult dogs every year, but if you've ever seen a puppy dying from parvo, despite every effort to save it, you might reconsider your stance for babies. We lost one last week and it's an awful experience to lose a sweet baby so young. Because of vaccination we've been able to eliminate smallpox and almost polio from the human world ... diseases that killed and caused extraordinary misery. Maybe dying from internal bleeding and multiple organ failure is natural; but I'm pretty sure if your average baby puppy could choose, they'd elect for a vaccination.

A must watch I think. From the Rescued with Love blog: http://www.rescuedwi...u-re-the-voice- & Saving Pets blog: http://www.savingpet...-kill-shelters/ Edited to add the details for Insight: http://www.sbs.com.au/insight/episode/overview/501/The-Tail-End

If you're running a feed from Pet Rescue into your site, you'll need to update the link, because each group has a new member number. But all you have to do is swap the new number for the old one, all the coding is the same. All the animal ages have reverted to 12 months, and you'll need to fix them manually.

Pet Rescue's Facebook page say a sort function for animals is coming in the next day or so. Big ticks for that! At least it's not just me. I thought I was missing something important.

It looks great, but has anyone worked out if you can sort the list of your animals so you get the most recent ones up front, or only see your list of active animals? At the minute I can only see a list of everything rehomed and active, alphabetically, which is incredibly tedious to sort through if you want to update listings.