Maddy

Have to do the "no more, all gone" hands, otherwise she stays in creepy landshark mode.

This. Also, fences, kids, working hours, the usual stuff to consider for fostering. As far as I know, there aren't really any other breed rescues for dogs near Launceston. I can think of only one other and I'd be very wary of them (won't mention the group name on here but it's a working breed). On the other hand, if they like cats, Just Cats is a huge group near Longford and they always need foster carers for cats. I've heard some questionable things about the woman who runs it but by all accounts, she's a bit hard to get along with so it's no surprise people have complaints. Only other local option is the RSPCA up in Mowbray and they seem to make the application process as hard as possible and will turn people down for absurd reasons, like not being at home 24/7.

Permoxin spray on the dogs will do the job, as long as you don't have cats to worry about. It won't repel but it will kill if they land on the dog. Anything with imidacloprid in it will do the same. The other thing to try (for around the house) is QuickBayt. At the start of each summer, I mix it up and paint it in sheltered places outside and within a few weeks, the fly population is reduced to virtually none. As new ones come in, they go to the QuickBayt, eat it and join their friends in fly heaven.

With the greyhounds, in my experience, it's not so much that they're fragile (mine have all seemed fairly sturdy), it's that they have no sense of self-preservation at all. When they're running, they seem to think they're immortal and magical and they can fly and leap through solid objects. In reality.. they crash into things, they trip over, they badly misjudge jumps or the size of their own bodies when ducking through small spaces. Zero spatial awareness but zero f***s given. We've never had an injury that required the vet but watching them goon around like maniacs has probably taken ten years off my life. The whippet.. Probably the intelligence. She's heaps of fun to train because she's greedy and smart but if left alone for any longer than a few minutes, she'll go around the house, checking to see if we've forgotten to put away anything she likes to play with. She can climb like a cat, move around up on higher surfaces to get at things and because she always seems to have specific things in mind, she can be up, have grabbed the item and be hiding under the bed with it, within five minutes. I lost a lot of stuff before finally realising that most surfaces had to be left pretty much bare of the sorts of things she liked, even if we aren't going out for long.

Where can I buy it at a similar price? I'm seeing 20kg BH at around $90 (is this before price rise?) And 13kg IC at around $110 You're comparing two different varieties of product there. The 13kg Ivory Coat is a grain free product. Black Hawk only seems to sell their grain free formula in 3kg bags. Cost per kilo for Ivory Coat grain free is $8.45 for the largest bag, compared to Black Hawk's grain free price of $9.65 per kilo. Feeding a formula with rice in it is certainly cheaper because rice is a hell of a lot cheaper than better quality ingredients Ahh I see, I was looking at price only, did not see that Ivory Coat was grain free. (I feed advance) Thanks :) It's slightly more expensive than TotW (another grain fee) for a 13kg bag but I guess it depends on whether or not you feel buying Australian is worth the extra $10. So really, in comparing against products that are similar in terms of quality and ingredients, price is pretty average. I looked at prices and p/kg for another BH formula (lamb and rice) and bulk price difference was $2.15 per kilo. Assuming they will stick to that pricing formula for the grain free product, a 20kg bag should cost $150. 13kgs worth of grain free BH works out at roughly $97.5 so again, IC does cost more but the difference is actually only $13 for identical amounts.

Some of the comments are illogical and the language is so cliche. For example: She gets rid of pups because she doesn't like cleaning up after them. The cleaning up is worse for a pup than an adult dog. (I have a pup here and the cleaning up is non-stop. Hopefully she will grow out of it SOON) The daughter's reaction. What mother could make light of a broken-hearted daughter? If it was real I think she would leave that part out or even choose to forget it. She also mentions the dog looking at her accusingly as it is driven away. If it was real she wouldn't mention this or she would not read it this way. She would say the dog was delighted to leave. Then she jumps to Juno shedding hair all over the sofa when the original beef was the dog escaping. She kept her first dog for 10 years. Why the change? Albus was aggressive. Why? Because she thought he had staffy in him? The heartless way she talks about her dog attacking the elderly neighbour's westie. (There would have been legal repercussions). Then she rehomes same dog to a family with 2 cats and 5 children. No-one could be so irresponsible. The same for the dog that attacked livestock. The neighbours would have been screaming at her unless they were her own animals. "If I'm naughty Mum will you rehome me too?" A child would not actually say this. It is just something that some adults say the child must be thinking. cliche: doe-eyed little puppy, a dog is a man's best friend, etc There is no originality. The 4 dogs misbehave in all the usually reported ways - being too messy, escaping, aggressive, digging, killing livestock, counter surfing, and none of them repeat the misdemeanors of the earlier dogs which you would expect. An ad (video) for Dogs' Trust pops up on my screen saying that a dog is forever, not just for Christmas. I don't know why these ads pop up and whether everyone gets the same one, but it suggests to me that the article was sponsored by a dog rescue group. Puppies might toilet inside but they tend not to maul sheep, jump fences or attack other dogs. "Mess" does not just mean chewed up papers or poo in the house. Also, the Dogs Trust video was not a paid ad on the page, it was placed as a video there because it was relevant to the story. This isn't a story about someone who just casually discards adult dogs because she's grown tired of them, these dogs have all had some serious behavioural issues (not that those issues excuse her dumping them). I don't know why some people feel the need to see conspiracy or trickery behind every corner. It was an article written by a woman about her experiences as a (bad) pet owner, not some veiled pushing of agendas or anything else.

Where can I buy it at a similar price? I'm seeing 20kg BH at around $90 (is this before price rise?) And 13kg IC at around $110 You're comparing two different varieties of product there. The 13kg Ivory Coat is a grain free product. Black Hawk only seems to sell their grain free formula in 3kg bags. Cost per kilo for Ivory Coat grain free is $8.45 for the largest bag, compared to Black Hawk's grain free price of $9.65 per kilo. Feeding a formula with rice in it is certainly cheaper because rice is a hell of a lot cheaper than better quality ingredients

Perhaps because some people on here sell it and feel they have to defend it? Ivory Coat is just as 'Strayan and not only is comparable in terms of ingredients, they have a much wider range of proteins. Price isn't much different, either. I personally think Ivory Coat is a much better product, I would feed it to my dogs I wouldn't feed them BlackHawk That's also my opinion by looking at it objectively, it's more or less the same. I don't feed much kibble because the greys don't seem to do all that well on it but Ivory Coat and Taste of the Wild both seem to work reasonably well. TotW is much easier to get down here (a local shop sells it) whereas IC has to be bought online and the shipping costs added so while IC is Australian (which is great), we go with what is more accessible.

It's a hard life, being a dog whisperer with a PhD :laugh: For anyone who missed the story.. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-08-31/greyhound-racing-nsw-cover-ups-tip-offs-revealed/6736034

Idiot Dog has to toilet in a concrete and pavers area and I've found regular bleach to be the best way to keep it smelling decent. I use just the cheap Coles brand stuff and put it down undiluted, leave it 10 minutes and then hose it off. The whole area also gets washed with the Karcher once or twice a year. Only problem with using bleach is that you need to be wearing old clothes when hosing it off or splashing it around because it will obviously bleach things. Otherwise, it does the job very well and the bleach smell is completely gone within a few hours.

But the dog didn't bite her hand off? She was bitten by the dog, it caused damage that resulted in doctors having to remove her hand. If major tendons, nerves or blood vessels were severed and surgery to repair them failed, removing the whole hand is really the only option (and for a child, a lot less painful than going through multiple surgeries and rehab to try to save it).

Perhaps because some people on here sell it and feel they have to defend it? Ivory Coat is just as 'Strayan and not only is comparable in terms of ingredients, they have a much wider range of proteins. Price isn't much different, either.

Plenty of people claim they can do it with greyhounds but I have my doubts. I suspect in most of those cases, the dog has been taught (often through punitive means) that it can't express its drive around the owners. But when the cat's away (so to speak), cats may become fair game. I've taken surrenders who were "taught" to live with cats and then went on to kill cats. Or chickens, or other small pets. I think if the drive is there, the best you can do is stifle it somewhat and honestly, that's an accident waiting to happen. I currently have a dog (surrendered from a pet home) who is apparently "safe" with cats if he gets told off for trying to get at them. But to me, that's not safe and the dog will never go to a home with cats.

I've found that despite the long shelf life on the packaging, it usually disintegrates into dust well before that date rolls around. Last week, I actually binned a half full bag that was good until next year but had turned into brown dust, even though it had been properly re-sealed and stored in a dry, dark place. And it's not as if I buy huge amounts and store it- I use it for training treats so only buy the 1kg bags. Oh, yes. I find Scottie wont eat it if its been opened lonfer than a few weeks. But what i neant was sealed it has a long shelf life. Ah, with you now. According to their website, it's good for eight weeks after opening but I'd guess it's more like four weeks and even then, only if stored carefully. Annoying thing is.. their treats are basically the same as the kibble and they come in sensibly sized packets but.. treats work out at being $140 per kilo Sorry dogs, I don't love you that much.

I've found that despite the long shelf life on the packaging, it usually disintegrates into dust well before that date rolls around. Last week, I actually binned a half full bag that was good until next year but had turned into brown dust, even though it had been properly re-sealed and stored in a dry, dark place. And it's not as if I buy huge amounts and store it- I use it for training treats so only buy the 1kg bags.

For $245 and up, it'd want to be (it'd also want to come with custom skins because it's quite ugly)

I've had a foster dog who had an area of white hair caused by skin damage but the amount of damage required to do it also caused obvious scarring. I'd assume that an injury (chemical, physical or otherwise) serious enough to damage the pigment producing cells in the follicles would do some sort of damage elsewhere in the skin but.. There are other reasons hair follicles can cease to produce pigment and they might be worth looking at?

Once with Kiff (before we added the third gate), he escaped when the back door was left open and someone forgot to close the middle gate. He'd wandered across the road and was just checking the neighbour's driveway for cats so was pretty easy to catch. The second time was after the third gate was put in and it was the Idiot Dog. I was out at the time and the OH had just come home with groceries- he pulled in the driveway (not remembering to close the driveway gate behind him), came through the middle gate (which he'd left open because he had a lot of groceries to bring in) and then opened the back door. He's used to letting Idiot Dog out because the front gate/driveway gate is normally kept closed so he didn't even think about it while he put the first lot of groceries inside. It wasn't until he came back to the car for the next lot that he realised his mistake. Very fortunately for the OH, the Idiot Dog is blind in one eye and is scared of stepping onto the road so he'd followed the cul-de-sac around to the opposite side of the road and was busy doing panicked circles out the front of the house there when the OH found him. If it was possible, I think I'd be tempted to put in a fourth gate. The thought of my dogs getting out and ending up hurt or dead terrifies me :/

This. Idiot Dog has fairly difficult epilepsy (daily seizures, very sensitive to medications besides PB) but we still vaccinate to the triennial schedule and have had no problems. In my opinion, never again vaccinating your dog just because it has epilepsy is not a sensible option. I know some of the Jean Dodds/anti-vacc people believe it helps somehow and they are entitled to their opinion (as I'm entitled to mine) but before putting your dog's health at risk, I'd strongly suggest discussing it with a vet.

One of my dogs needs twice-daily medication so leaving them alone for that long would never be an option for me. What we have done in the past is have a trusted family member come and feed/check on them twice a day. I still worry about them but they're greyhounds so probably spend the whole time sleeping anyway.

We get the occasional wandering dog hanging around our front gate (because we have rabbits) and usually, I just call the council to come pick the dog up. I wouldn't be comfortable having a strange dog in my yard or house. For me, it's just too much potential risk to the health and safety of my own pets. I've noticed the same issues in local pet lost and found groups though. The worst one was a dog being offered for give away because after several months of the finders keeping the dog in their house, the owner had not magically appeared. Funny that. Edited to add.. If ever, god forbid, one of my own dogs got out, I would want them taken to the pound so that I could actually find them. As a child, I lost my cat for several months after someone "found" her (she was wearing a collar) and just kept her. I only got her back because my mum happened to walk past their house and saw her there

Unless the owner of the accommodation had a fairly relaxed attitude to their chickens being chased down and shaken into feathery, dead mess, I don't think I'd risk it. Shitty Whippet and Idiot Dog probably wouldn't be too bothered if they definitely couldn't physically get at the chickens but Jelly Bean.. she's a regular killer of slow/stupid birds (mostly starlings) and she's one of those dogs who'd eventually figure out a way into an enclosure if she was given a chance. Personally, I wouldn't want to stay anywhere with any sort of potential prey items sitting around for the dogs to obsess over. I could think of nothing less relaxing and enjoyable.

Boomerang tags attach directly onto the collar and that's why i like them so much; no danglies to get caught on anything. Mine have multiple collars worn for different activities and never wear a collar at home so easily transferred danglies are needed Maybe get something like I use on mine? I bought a pack of ten pretty cheaply and added a small split ring to each one. That way, it's easy to move tags around or have different sets of tags for different things.

For the foster dogs or walking my own dogs, I use the Blackdog martingales. I've never had one break and they seem to last forever. For fancy looking martingale collars, either Meggie Moo or The Eclectic Hound. Tag collars, I just make myself because it's cheaper and I can make exactly what I want to match their coats.

Blackdog do a 4.8m lead? It's only a 20cm difference and their leads are very soft.