Maddy

And in summer.. that's totally inappropriate. I'd rather have a dead lawn than have my dogs drinking warm, dirty water.

An interesting thread from another forum about magical rocks.. http://community.dog.com/forums/p/9448/120868.aspx

Tried them and noticed absolutely no difference. Nice idea though.. money for rocks..

Provide some stats that suggest careless breeding (like.. 30% of show greyhounds carrying the gene for neuropathy- not being alive after 12 months definitely impacts on function) and then perhaps you'd have a valid argument. If being willing/able to chase well is not the breed's function, then I'm afraid I'm a little confused about what they're intended for. A dog needs to have drive, they need to have the ability to see that drive through. They are a hunting dog- see it, chase it, grab it. The vast majority of (racing bred) greyhounds I've dealt with have had sufficient drive and ability to do what they were intended for. Those that don't are not bred from. To be blunt here, this argument makes me distrustful of people who breed for show. If they are unwilling to admit (when it is painfully obvious) that they need to go back several steps to address some major issues, then they are either unable to look objectively at their breed (in which case, they shouldn't be breeding) or they are knowingly ignoring the issues (in which case, they shouldn't be breeding).

Yeah I thought the same. I'd have thought visual identification methods would be pretty simple- does the dog look like a fairly typical example of its suspected breed (coat type/colour, build, head, size, mouth, etc) or have considerable characteristics of a particular breed if it is a crossbred dog. If it has no defining characteristics, it's likely just pure mutt and breed identification is sort of pointless. I'm not sure what else you'd be making that assessment on, if not to a basic breed standard. Ritually slaughtering a chicken and interpreting the coils of its intestines using tarot cards? Maybe I'm doing it wrong or something.

http://www.facebook.com/HomesforhoundsAU

Besides a few purebreds (and a couple of molosser type mixes), most just looked like random bully mixes to me I assume the point of it was to determine "pit bulls" by appearance? If it was, meh. Anything that was not obviously a purebred to me just got labeled as a bull breed cross.

Can you please refer us to this law. I thought that type of trade restraint was illegal. I currently pay about $1-2 a tablet for 10kg+ praziquantel tablets so if that law does exist, it's a bit pointless.

I had the same experience when we were trying to find a kibble suitable for a grey puppy. The amount of poo from BH was just insane (some that looked like they should have come from a much bigger dog) and even though he was eating a lot, he was dropping weight steadily. It was a terrible experience. Decided just to feed raw in the end (no vegetables or other rubbishy additives) and he's doing great. It also ended up costing less.

So far as I know, it is illegal. You can accept donations, you just can't solicit for them. Although that seems to be a fairly minor point here, given the many and varied concerns. Then again.. it's donations that could be going to rescue groups who actually have dogs so.. yeah.. maybe not so minor.

I'd agree here. Even for big dogs, there are some really decent options for kennels. Our greyhounds have Hound Houses (sort of like a cross between a trampoline bed and a tent) and they love them. The mats tie in on all corners (to prevent naughty dogs taking the mats out for excursions on the lawn) and are made out of canvas (but still surprisingly soft) so we've never had one shredded, despite having some accomplished bed shredders here. If it has to be crates for some reason, I'd second carpet under the tray (if you really need the tray there) and then maybe something like a Snooza Durobed (with some of the stuffing removed to flatten it a bit) and then some blankets.

That's probably because they make so much money off of their clients that have them... My vet is very much against BYBing. Although his opinions are probably coloured by the fact he does a lot of vet work for our local RSPCA which includes having to put to sleep young, healthy puppies simply because there's no room for them. Being a rescuer, if his stance was anything else, I think I'd be finding another vet. Although even if I wasn't rescuing.. I don't think I could support any business that openly supported BYBing. typo

When you get bathed against your will and it ruins your accumulated smell of grass, marsupial poo and whatever that thing was that you rolled in on the front lawn Or the fact that you have three trampoline beds, three canvas kennels, three crates, one blanket bed and one jumbo cushion bed to sleep on but the horrible humans get annoyed because they didn't bother to put something in the middle of the back lawn for you so you had to drag freshly laundered bedding out and dig/kick it into a grotty pile before you can have a decent nap (you do have a trampoline bed less than two metres away but that's beside the point). Or the crate mat (the new crate mat) that you so carefully tore into billions of tiny pieces of foam finally got cleaned up. So now you have to play with plain old dog toys. Having to eat fresh steak for dinner that hasn't been cut into bite sized pieces- as if you're some kind of animal. Poor, poor hounds

Very definitely. Infections are painful, besides being taxing on the immune system. Discomfort means the dog might not be able to sleep as well, move about normally, it might also impact on interactions with other dogs and with people. Our old hound had an infected bone in his toe and before we had the bone removed, he was more grumpy than usual, touchy about his foot, not keen on getting out of bed and disintested in his food. Bone came off, different ABs and he's back to his usual grumpy self :D

I find that attack very concerning but then, from what I understand of the situation, the co-ordinator of that group also finds it very concerning and is looking into it further. In this case though, you were given some very sound advice but chose not to follow it. This wasn't an unfortunate accident- I'm sorry to sound harsh here but the situation was preventable. I don't rush to judgement on anyone- I'd not been stalking you on FB or following you around groups to get information, I just believed what I was told. It's just disappointing when someone promishes they will do things properly but then they don't because they get caught up in the excitement of getting dogs in and it all goes downhill from there.

Well.. don't I feel like a horse's ass Things like this do nothing to make established rescue groups welcoming of newcomers and I know that personally, I don't think I'll be quite so inclined to- ugh, can't even finish that thought. This whole thing is just depressing. So much advice (even if some of it was snarky), so much care from those who are passionate about the breed, just sad. And the page actually started in 2011.. I feel a bit like I've been suckered into a lie and that's not a nice feeling

Lol THIS! Youtube comments make my eyes bleed. i dont; no wat u men by ths tey r alwasy purfactly ligib1e wth xlent dickshon.

OMG!! I read some of the comments below the original clip. Sheesh - and I shocked and disheartened by some of the things people on DOL say. Yes, the dog was beautiful and gentle, but I don't think they were doing the child any favours by letting the interaction continue. Which comments were those? I had a brief read through but Youtube comments.. they're usually so profoundly stupid that I can't get through more than a couple without the assistance of a lot of wine.

Yeah.. I didn't notice much of the actual clip because I was too busy being annoyed by the messages. I wonder if they apply the same logic to women who become pregnant from rape. I mean, they said it themselves, "god doesn't make mistakes"

The tests for small dogs are based on the greyhound's prey drive, not its defence drive. When a dog is acting aggressively through defence it will normally give the intruder an opportunity to retreat. When a dog is acting aggressively through prey drive there is no opportunity to retreat given to the intruder. I can't comment on what happened with this particular dog, but I agree that dogs that show prey drive towards other dogs are not suitable to be offered to the public as pets. All greyhounds need to be carefully tested for prey drive towards small dogs. If they fail, they are a liability, legally and socially, for the owner and for the group that sold it as a pet. Exactly. There is a huge difference. Yes, this is so true. I know we are referring to Lucky (Greyhound) in this thread although this applies to any dog regardless of size, breed, age, type etc. Yep. And I think it's also worth pointing out that testing should come before desexing unless there's urgent reason to desex. By all means microchip and C5 a dog as soon as it comes in (for obvious reasons) but shelling out $200+ for desexing without knowing if a dog can be rehomed is an expensive and unnecessary way of doing things. For smaller/private rescues, the money isn't usually flowing freely so you really have to be careful about where your resources are going. I think I had wrote a rough timeline for what I think is the best way of doing it but damned if I can find it on my own site now Basically though.. chip/vacc, test, desex, recovery, re-test with the last testing done at 6-7 weeks into care (and dog ready to be listed at 8 weeks into care). You might still find problem behaviours after that point (some dogs take a while to really settle) but better to at least try to get an accurate picture of the dog.

We do have a way to separate them thats why we had no issues with the cat but we will continue to help the breed and we will continue to rescue when we get moved and settled. Life threw a curveball we dealt with it and kept the dogs safe. We had networked before getting the dogs so we did have support from other rescues and one has made the decision to help us and we are very grateful for that. This is a good rescue that didnt feel the need ot down us to make them feel better about themselves. We would never not do right by the dogs. No one is downing you, but it is a good lesson on the "cover all your bases and think before you leap" - which everyone tried to get you to listen to, but you were too stubborn to accept. In hindsite, if you had listened to the advice of the wise, experienced rescuers you could have started off your rescue in your new place and had a fantastic first experience, not one that started on the wrong foot and gave the wrong impression to the rescue world, like this. I'm afraid I have to agree with this bit. From the time I decided to start rescuing on my own to the time I actually took in our first foster for GHT, it was more than six months. In that time, I wrote up policies, prepared forms, got my information together for incorporation, sorted out my legals, went through every conceivable scenario that I could come up with and worked out management plans- prepared as thoroughly as could possibly be done. Even now, 3+ years on, there's still stuff that needs to be finished (applied for DGR and will now need to change a clause in our constitution) and every day, it feels like something small pops up that I'd missed. That said, because so much work went into getting it set up to start with, we've never had any issues come up and it's been smooth sailing. Although we plan to move to acreage within the next two years so.. oh god, the many and varied things that will need to be done just to keep paperwork up-to-date, nevermind the logistics of it all.. But anyway.. you get what I'm saying? If you slow down and set yourself up right to start with, minor details can be sorted at a later date and you won't have to deal with drama. Drama does not make for a good rescue environment so you need to plan to prevent it. An important place to start is with the dogs, themselves. Get your assessment prodecure figured out- dogs testing, cat testing, temp testing, behavioural issues, management of dogs who fail, management of dogs to improve their outcomes (i.e. training, behavioural work, etc.), record keeping of assessments (for legal reasons), things that could go wrong in testing (dog somehow getting to the cat, etc.), preventing anything that could possibly become an issue. And that's just for testing.. It's a HUGE amount to think about but that's why time to do it is so important. It's not just time to prepare but also time to learn everything you need to know- breed laws, dogs laws generally, welfare guidelines, breed-specific information (you don't need to become a greyhound encyclopedia but I've found it helps), health information, as much training knowledge as you can get your hands on, nutrition, how to address problems with recently adopted dogs (because bad word of mouth can ruin your rescue before you really get started) and so on and so forth. I'd agree that some people could have been a bit more gentle with you (Dol can be a bit scary even for a regular newcomer, let alone one who wants to start a rescue) but it doesn't seem like you've really taken their advice on board. Some people here can be rougher than an elephant making love to a cat but their advice is sound and they do know what they're talking about. No one wants to see you fail, especially not when it's a breed we all care deeply about.

The tests for small dogs are based on the greyhound's prey drive, not its defence drive. When a dog is acting aggressively through defence it will normally give the intruder an opportunity to retreat. When a dog is acting aggressively through prey drive there is no opportunity to retreat given to the intruder. I can't comment on what happened with this particular dog, but I agree that dogs that show prey drive towards other dogs are not suitable to be offered to the public as pets. All greyhounds need to be carefully tested for prey drive towards small dogs. If they fail, they are a liability, legally and socially, for the owner and for the group that sold it as a pet. Exactly. There is a huge difference.

Would you rehome a dog of a breed that requires drive testing without actually doing that testing though? Personally, I would not rehome a dog if I was of the opinion it might kill another dog that came onto its property- to me, that's not acceptable. Also, to be very clear here, this was not guarding behaviour, it was prey drive.

But my dogs would do the same, I think a lot of dogs would. I dont know if I see that as bad rehoming, just bad luck. The other dogs owner should have kept their dog contained. Perhaps but the fact remains the dog should have been tested. A greyhound that would chase down and kill smaller dogs is not a greyhound that is safe to rehome. I'd completely disagree that it was bad luck because it was entirely preventable.

Did you end up taking her to the vet Greylvr? No real need to see a vet for ear mites. A drop of Advocate on the outside of either ear, give it two days and then give the ears a thorough clean. If the ears smell or the dog still looks uncomfortable, it's probably a fungal infection (which can be caused by the ear mites). I did have one question, if you don't mind me asking this, Greylvr- what do you intent to do with dogs that are not safe around small dogs? Well actually we didnt see a problem placing them not around small dogs but you guys do have a point in that if these dogs are going to go out in public placing a greyhound that would like to eat small dogs may not be the best idea because I know there are plenty of idiots who let their dogs run loose wouldnt want an accident to happen and have it effect negatively on the breed. I will be talking with the rescues I have networked with and other rescues to get some guidance on this issue from people that have been doing it a long time and I have formed a trust with. Oh and yes we got advocate for all the dogs which seems to have done the trick. I think you'll find most greyhound rescues will say the same thing- dogs that aren't safe around small dogs are not suitable for rehoming. Even with the best intentions, accidents can happen and they reflect badly on the breed. I'll give you a few examples here, based on my own experiences- Back before I took over GAP Tas, the co-ordinator at the time literally knew nothing about greyhounds, she'd never even owned one. I was fostering a lovely boy for her and while on walks, he seemed disinterested in cats. Now, bear in mind these observations were not the result of structured testing and I made that clear to her- "Shows no interest in chasing cats while on walks, still needs to be prey drive tested though as that's not my job" (which it wasn't, I was just a foster carer). Instead of testing him, the co-ordinator just rehomed him to a rural area- after all, not much trouble a greyhound can get into there, given everyone contains their dogs anyway. Except they don't. Two smaller dogs came in under the stock fencing and the dog in question chased them down. The owners of this greyhound were utterly horrified and the fallout was considerable- Panterka and I had go drive down there (across the other side of the state) and pick him up because by that time, the previous co-ordinator had buggered off, leaving behind a trail of shockingly bad management. Now, in theory, it probably did seem like a safe environment- the owners had good fences (for stock and big dogs), they lived in an area where lots of people owned horses (so wandering dogs were usually dealt with swiftly) and they didn't really need to exercise the dog off their own property. But look at the outcome.. I had to have to owner fill in a return form and it was horrible; handed it over to her, she read it, burst into tears and ran from the room, leaving me, Panterka and the owner's husband standing there. Horrible, horrible situation and it should NEVER happen. Point is, even in the most ideal situation, you can never be 100% sure that the dog won't get a chance to hurt another dog. Inevitably, the owners will decide to walk the dog in public and then.. well, the possible outcomes are not good. Thanks for sharing very good point. Probably worth mentioning here that I actually own a greyhound who is not safe around small dogs and although I love her, it's difficult and I sometimes question whether or not I did the right thing by keeping her. She's mellowed a bit in old age but even now, I'm not sure I'd trust her enough to walk her out on the street.