Aphra

Contact Just Andrea from CPR. She's based in Canberra and I highly recommend Just Andrea and CPR.

Pretty much as Plan B said really. The difference for rescuers is that you want their personal information public, without the protection that working for the RSPCA offers their staff. Few rescuers have offices, they generally work out of heir own homes and use their personal phone numbers. Staff at the AWL or RSPCA don't have to expose themselves like that. So while you will be providing your personal information once, we are doing it multiple times a week. We're so concerned about privacy, our own and other people's, we crop faces out of happy home shots and never identify our adopters publically unless they do so themselves (for example on Facebook). There's no reason why you can't email the group and introduce yourself before you provide any information and just say you'd like to know who you're talking to. And you don't have to tell them any details you don't wish to. You are also entitled to ask them how they store and use any information they give you. By the time you get to a home check you'll probably have spoken to the rescue group several times, so should feel much more comfortable with them. If not, go with your gut and choose another group you do feel comfortable with.

I was cynical too soon. There are two sets of grants (big ones and small ones) open to animal welfare organisations. http://www.dpi.vic.g...-grants-program

I'm fairly sure this fund was part of the new animal welfare legislation (including restricted breed legislation) which was rushed through Victorian Parliament last year. In this context illegal puppy farms are those commercial dog breeders who haven't registered as a domestic animal business, so it's really about economics and not dog welfare. The radio snippet I heard was to the effect that since anticipating the income from "illegal" puppy farms was difficult, the government guaranteed $400,000, with an expectation that the fund would be worth around 1.3 million if enough people were fined. Given that the Government could afford a $100,000 to fund a "dob in a dog" hotline, it's not exactly generous of them. <sarcasm on> I assume that the money will go to the RSPCA and the Lost Dogs Home. Clearly they would love to rehome so many more animals than they do, but struggle so hard for funds, this will make a huge difference to their kill rates.</off>

What an unfortunate situation and very sad for everyone. I've been writing a blog post on choosing a rescue group, so I've attached a PDF of my first draft which might be useful. choosing a rescue group.pdf

There are some good statistics and case studies out of the US about dogs involved in fatal dog attacks (which this could easily have been). In the majority of cases (21 out of 33 incidents in 2010 from memory), the dogs involved in attacks were what the study calls resident dogs, as opposed to family dogs. In terms of breed, from the same document, I haven't found any comparable case studies in Australia, but there are quite a lot of useful statistics around if you go looking for them. I can't see that the breed of dog in this incident is of much relevance in comparison to the circumstances of three dogs who are probably not much socialised with humans, in a high state of arousal by being free in an unfamiliar environment and in a pack.

Rove came to us in March of 2011, and it took him nearly a year and a half to find his forever home. He's now the guardian and best friend for three severely disabled children, who love him very much. His new owner tells me that he keeps all of the kids under his eye and will make sure that wherever they are in the garden he places himself so he can see all of them. One of the children had been having seizures, but since Rove arrived in the family he hasn't had any at all. Maybe that's coincidence, who can tell, but I like to think it's Rove's gentle spirit helping his children stay safe.

I have some information, but because it second-hand, I can't vouch for it. I also don't want to pass it on publicly because I can't vouch for its truth, but if you'd like to PM me I will tell you what I know, with the caveat that I have no evidence, only hearsay.

They're great! I love the one for Delta, her personality really shines through.

Forum didn't let me post the rest of these so here's the rest of the post. :-) I made a video just for the long termers ( ) and asked our Facebook fans to share it around as well.The trick seems to be showing them in happy interactions with other dogs, and in Rufus' case, highlighting his cuddly nature. Clearly Steven Spielberg is in no danger from me, but if I can make a video anyone can. I take the clips on my iphone, edit them with Windows Live MovieMaker which comes with Windows and upload them to our YouTube channel (http://www.youtube.c...dingforHomeCVAR).

I don't know if other rescue groups have some long term dogs in care who have trouble finding homes. We've got some who because of size, breed (active working breeds) or just because they're not pretty have been with us for months and months. I've been playing around with making videos for them and it seems to have paid off, at least in terms of increased interest. For example, we've had Rufus since the beginning of the year and although his brothers both found homes poor Rufus was left on the shelf. But within ten minutes of his video going up ( ) we had two really good applications for him and he has a meeting this weekend.Poor Rove has been with us for nearly a year, but after his video was posted he had a really good enquiry the next day ( ).Apart from a bit of time learning the software it's a pretty cheap and seems to be an effective marketing tool. If anyone has any other tips for helping find homes for long term fosters we'd love to hear them.

The Mastiff thing drives me completely nuts. The rule seems to be: it's its brown or red = mastiff x. Brindle = staffy cross. A bit hairy = Wolfhound X. Fluffy = Malt or Shih Tzu X. But as a rescuer the breed thing is hard because people insist on knowing, even if we tell them it's just a best guess. A lot of the dogs we get are clearly the progeny of several generations of mixed breed dogs; which is fun because you often get some gorgeous and very much one-of-a-kind dogs, but people still want you to guess a breed. Even when we try to be generic, such as "small hound" or something for dogs which are clearly houndish in type you get asked about what kind of hound. One of our adopters did one of those genetic mutt tests for a puppy she adopted from us. The results are bizarre and I have a lot of trouble believing they are anything close to accurate. These are the puppies, the pound listed them as GSD x! These are the two girls at about six months, they're bout about the size of smallish Kelpies, so medium dogs. Etta Elsa We listed them as Whippet X terrier. They had very houndish body shapes but hairy coats. Etta's owner did the mutt test and the results came back as .... have a guess before you read on! Grandparents 1: Irish Wolfhound + Mini Bull Terrier Grandparents 2: Koolie + Koolie Even allowing for the sheer physical impediments to the first mating, both breeds are relatively uncommon, so it seems very unlikely.

We'll often suggest an older dog for people with young children. We point out the benefits of a settled, older dog who is more happy to just laze about and go for the kind of slow walks that people with small children tend to do. :-) A mellow, child friendly older dog is a much better option than a puppy, and we've had a few families take on older dogs because they want a dog but don't have the time or energy for a puppy. By the time the kids are old enough to want a younger, more active dog, the family has gained some valuable doggy experience and the older dog will probably be happy to rescind playtime and strenuous activity to the younger canine in the household. Often the people with young kids who come in looking for a dog haven't had a dog before, so a quiet senior is a really good way for them to learn about living with a dog. I use the analogy of horse riding; green riders need seasoned horses; seasoned riders can manage green horses.

Senge Chow Chows http://www.sengechows.net/ Lovely dogs and very, very commited and ethical breeders. If they don't have any puppies available, they'll be able to give you really good advice about which breeders you should be talking to.

Code of Practice For The Operation of Breeding and Rearing Establishments Note Number: AG1011 Published: May 2002 Updated: April 2009 Breeding and Rearing Code Survey Have your say on the content of the revised Breeding and Rearing Code Survey. Complete this survey between midday April 12 and COB April 27 by clicking on the link or email the Bureau of Animal Welfare on [email protected] to receive a hard copy. http://www.dpi.vic.g...-establishments

"I adopted Sam around May last year. I wanted to let you know he is doing very well, and in fact he recently competed in his first sheep dog trail, and came third. Breeders have approached me, and said a full male dog with his potential, would fetch $3-4,000.00. Funny what people throw away. Keep up the good work." Sam was dumped, along with another Kelpie pup, presumably a litter mate, in the middle of nowhere in the NSW Riverina. The husband of a friend of ours found them and asked if we'd take them. Both were exceptionally good looking and good tempered puppies. Sam's brother Odie is doing well and we hear from his family regularly.

It's a good question. In general our preference is that people bring an existing dog to meet a prospective new dog; we have found that some people can have a tendency to overstate their own dog's sociability with other dogs. A few times there has been outright hostility from the get-go and it's clear that the relationship is never going to work. On occasions where the current dog is a bit over-excited by new surroundings we've organised another meeting, and they often work better because both dogs are a bit familiar. We try and give the dogs as much time as possible to get to know each other, and because we're not in a shelter situation we that luxury. We parallel walk the dogs on a long, quiet stretch of road for as long as necessary until they both settle and then let them meet, so we generally get a reasonably good idea of how they are going to get along. However, there have been occasions where people haven't wanted to bring their dogs (don't travel well on long trips, etc) and we're willing to be flexible. In those instances our concern will be that the prospective adopters are sufficiently dog-savvy to recognise and correct any issues as they happen; or are sufficiently motivated to get help if the relationship isn't working out. We have a two week refund period which we will extend if necessary, to give people time to make sure things are going to work between two dogs. In the end our concern is the safety of both dogs, and our preference really is to be able to over-see them together, but sometimes that isn't possible. You'll probably just have to work with rescues until you find ones who understand your issues and are willing to be flexible; every group will have their own policies for their own good reasons. Establishing a relationship with a group or groups and talking to them about your own dog and your understanding of her behaviour and how you'd address any issues which might arise would be a good start.

It's quite a lot of surgery so the first question I'd be asking is whether it's really necessary. It might not look great, but if Jess's not in pain and is using her leg reasonably normally then perhaps doing nothing is a better option than invasive surgery? If the leg is causing pain or difficulty, then another option is amputation. Most dogs do well on three legs and it is much less expensive surgery with reasonably rapid recovery and less chance of infection or complications. With all due respect to your vet, I'd be asking for another opinion. Specialist vets are very keen on complicated solutions because it's what they do (I suppose it's the old adage about every problem looking like a nail to a man who only has a hammer). Good luck with whatever you decide.

Somedays we feel a bit like the Southern arm of Australian Cattle Dog Rescue, which is perfectly fine by us since we're both fans of ACDs. Right now we have a bit of something for everyone, so in the interests of finding homes for our cattle dogs, please feel free to share them around. First up we have Jackson. Jackson is a bloke's dog. His dad was a shearer who died and poor Jackson found himself homeless. Jackson loves nothing more than a ride in the back of a ute. He's a very strong dog, physically and mentally, he's pretty much your old-fashioned, hard-headed Blue Heeler. He's a bit of a bargearse in fact. :laugh: But he has a lovely, stable, affectionate temperament and is one of the most dog social Heelers I've come across. He's probably best suited to a rural property with someone able to manage his strength! http://www.petrescue....au/view/135608 Next up we have Queenie. Queenie is a mature sweetie. She's about 4 and she's got all the energey and intelligence of a cattle dog, but with a lovely, calm, sensible approach to life. She's very loving, social with other dogs and just happy to be with you. She's not noisy and would make a good urban dog. http://www.petrescue....au/view/151902 And then we have Mulga. He's only a baby at about 5 months old, and is so soft natured and affectionate he'll happily curl up in your lap for a cuddle. He's friendly with other dogs, safe with cats and very smart and well behaved for such a young one. He'll be on the small side for a Heeler we think, but on the large side for adorableness. Quick somebody adopt him before I'm a foster failure. :-) http://www.petrescue....au/view/152964

I suppose since this is a thread about the ethics of a rescue group my comment isn't really off-topic. I'd be interested in you explaining this comment a bit further. I'd be disappointed if, as a very recent participant in the rrescue forum, you are led to believe that on less-than-satisfactory group is an indicator of the whole. It's also a rather large generalisation in a forum full of people who work incredibly hard to try and do rescue well and probably deserving of some further detail.

A couple of months ago I picked up dogs from interstate transport and by coincidence another rescuer was there picking up a dog which was coming to her from this group. She is a relatively inexperienced foster carer, although clearly very committed and well-meaning. She said that once the dog was organised to go to her, despite efforts at contact by phone and email, she'd heard nothing more from them. In fact she only knew the dog was coming on that run because the transport company had contacted her. To be fair, the dog had been vet worked before coming to her and it seemed to be a nice dog, so I hope things turned out well (I did give her our contact details if she needed assistance). Even as a Victorian though, I've heard the same story from a couple of other people, that they offer no support to fosterers once the dog is in their care. I am particularly concerned that a number of dogs which are Stafford or other bull breed xbreeds are being sent into Victoria. It's nothing against the dogs, they are probably perfectly nice creatures, but the combination of Victorian laws, inexperienced carers and dogs which fit a particular "look" seems to be a reckless approach to a dog's well being.

Just to add that they probably aren't that rescue savvy because it's a long-standing contract with the Shire and they only operate locally. They may not even know about Pet Rescue.

MRAS is the Macedon Ranges Shire pound rehoming service. They have a contract with a local kennel for pound and rehoming; rehomeable dogs and cats are made available for adoption for the cost of desexing and vaccination. They are not a rescue group it is the Macedon Ranges Shire's pound service. They make a great effort to rehome as many local animals as they can.

A good Neo shouldn't have a short fuse, they should be very stable in temperament. The breed standard says, "Steady and loyal in character, not aggressive nor liable to bite without reason." And while they are protective, they are are guardian breed, not personal protection dogs, and there is a difference I think. My male Neo lived to be 7 and my female is almost that old and still doing OK, despite having incredibly poor conformation.

http://www.patriciamcconnell.com/product/love-has-no-age-limit Patricia McConnell - Love has no age limit So here you are, right next to a new dog who just entered the house, and whose life history you know little or nothing about. Now what? How do you welcome an adult or adolescent dog into your home and incorporate this new individual into your family? This booklet is designed to help you ease the transition from "new dog" to "family member" by guiding you through the first steps of this new relationship. Love Has No Age Limit includes information on what to do as you enter the house, how to handle the first few days, what to do and what not to do as you get to know each other, and tips on everything from the car ride home to the first vet visit. It includes advice on training and a section on solving common behavioral problems to helps prevent the most frequent dilemmas that people encounter when adopting a new dog. A single copy is only ten bucks, but there's a substantial discount for rescue groups who buy more.