Maddy

The majority of the enquires we get that mention colour specify fawn as a preference. The lighter the fawn, the better (but not actually white.. go figure). Behind that, blue or brindle. Black greys are definitely the hardest to find homes for- Grace (black) was with us for a year before going to a home, despite being a clean, quiet, well-behaved dog with an excellent temperament. In contrast.. Ru (white with blue) has had several enquiries already, despite being a naughty, nutty, teenage boy who is going to require a lot of patience and commitment from a home.

A hydrobath suitable for taller breeds, definitely. This includes a ramp and door of a size that a larger dog can actually use. I couldn't vote either so my ideal would be.. Stainless steel tub, an arm to attach a grooming sling to (for the dogs who freak out and can't stand up properly, need the back end supported a bit), a solid anchor for clipping a lead to, sides that are high enough for larger dogs to not be constantly trying to step out. Attached baskets for shampoo and grooming supplies would also be good, along with a towel rail, to minimise the need to leave the dog unattended. Also, hot water with the hose fitted with a mixer to make it easier to get the temperature right. Non-slip floor and also non-slip surface for the ramp- trying to get a large, damp dog back down those stainless steel ramps is scary. Also, if possible, one side that is high and solid, the other side that is lower but can be adjusted up for the dogs intent on climbing out. Castors to make it easier to actually move around. Twin tank would be ideal, not too concerned about where pumps or tub are manufactured as long as they come with a decent warranty.

Peanut butter works because of the oil in it. Probably easier to just use vegetable oil to loosen it up. Soak some cotton wool in oil and then use that to soak the gum and the surrounding fur. I wouldn't be putting eucalyptus oil anywhere that could be licked, by the way. It's toxic.

Can't be much worse than the generations that came before them- letting dogs "experience" having at least one litter, dogs (and cats) being allowed to roam because "it's what they do" and so on and so forth. Awareness of rescue is only on the increase and I can tell you from personal experience, not only is it becoming generally unacceptable to buy puppies from petshops or crossbreeders but there's also plenty of gen Y people actively involved in rescue (I'm one of them). Younger generations have access to the sorts of information and services never available before so I don't think it's really fair to tar us all with the Paris Hilton brush- there's irresponsible people in every generation.

In the Tamar valley area, definitely. A friend's dog got one on her lower back, wasn't found until the paralysis got to her hind legs. She was very lucky it was found at the vet and identified correctly. Different sources will give different ranges for them, all over them considerably far apart (central highlands, Derwent valley, east coast, Tamar valley) so it's probably safe to assume they're everywhere here, confirmed cases have been well outside of the area they used to be confined to. The species is actually different from that generally found on the mainland- Ixodes cornuatus (Tasmanian paralysis tick), rather than Ixodes holocyclus. Pictures here- http://medent.usyd.edu.au/photos/tick_photos.htm Tasmanian paralysis tick Australian paralysis tick

Why wouldn't an excited (but friendly) dog not paw or mouth at a child if it hadn't been trained otherwise? I have a lovely little greyhound pup at the moment (incredibly sweet dog) but if you saw the bruises on my legs, you'd think I owned some kind of blood-thirsty, man-eating hellhound. Inappropriate behaviour =/= aggressive dog. As for the rest.. no one said the outcome was nice- sometimes animals causes injuries to people, intended or not. Personally, I'm loath to cast stones until the facts are available (and let's face it, a news article that didn't even initially have the correct breed is nothing to be basing judgement on).

You'd have to imagine horrific facial injuries to a one year old in a pram isn't caused by a dog being boisterous. I don't know about that. Children have delicate skin that damages very easily and even playful mouthing/pawing could cause bruising and considerable damage. Add to that someone handling the dog roughly (which some dogs see as part of a game) and yes, I can see how a playful dog could cause some nasty injuries, with absolutely no malice involved.

Another vote for the Black Dog collars. I've never seen any of their stuff rust. I actually have one of their brace leads hanging off a gate out the back- it's been there for.. about three years, in all weather, and not a spot of rust to be seen on the hardware (and the lead fabric itself, although faded, is still solid). To date, we've never had to throw out a Black Dog collar.

Edit.. Somehow ended up in the wrong thread

I thought this thread was about a dog attacking some people? If you want to go off topic with pants-on-head-retarded insults ( Geo) take it to PMs or start a new thread so the rest of us don't have to wade through the crap. Back on the topic of the thread.. good to see the new laws are working out so well for Victoria. Who'd have thought a registration tag wouldn't stop a dog from biting, though..

1. Tall/skinny 2. Quiet 3. Smooth coat and at least just single coated 4. Capable of living well with other dogs (in groups over three or four dogs) 5. Cuddly but not pushy or over-the-top. The greys usually fit all five. The only other breed I'd seriously consider right now is a borzoi.

It wasn't a possum or any native Australian animal. See the links posted further back in the thread- local animal.

Dogs- I wouldn't wash them and then re-apply. Washing strips oil out of the coat and it's the oil that helps the product disperse through the coat. Advocate works really well so if you use some of that, you really shouldn't need the tablets unless you start finding fleas on the dogs. Bedding- You can actually spray it down with permoxin. Although as far as I know, permoxin isn't safe for cats so if you're worried about the stray, best to just hot wash and then tumble dry. We use permoxin on a lot of dog stuff here- the Hound Houses get sprayed inside and out with it, coats get sprayed with it after being washed and I do the skirting of the dog room and any little cracks or crevices. House- Flea bomb can be bought at most supermarkets. Coles have the Mortein ones and they work well. Yard- Malaban is a concentrate to kill fleas. Mix with water, spray onto surfaces. Most pet shops should have it- the PetBarn down here defintiely has it. It can also be used for washing dog bedding. You might also want to flea bomb under your house. There's no dog access to under ours (it has a locking hatch) but we put flea bombs in there a couple of times a year, just to be safe.

I've spoken to a rep too (and only a week or so ago) and he also said it was fine. He did mention that the probiotics in it might be gone but.. As long as the bag is unopened and not considerably past date (I'd draw the line at three months for dry food).

http://www.china.org.cn/china/2011-11/09/content_23863939.htm I guess if you'd never seen a koala before..

I bought commercially produced pet meat once (VIP) and tossed it after I saw what colour it actually was. VIP.. nature does not make meat in that colour. We feed mince that we buy from a local pet meat place. There's nothing in it except meat- which is exactly how pet meat should be.

In theory, it's a good idea. In practice.. not so much. I actually know one of the people listed for Tasmania on one of those databases and the care he takes of his animals could never be faulted. The RSPCA (as I'm sure we all know) is not always right and they can cause terrible damage to someone's reputation without a register, nevermind having people recording it all and posting it publically, giving the "offending" party no chance to defend themselves.

I use Advocate on my own greys and my foster dogs and we've never had fleas (we had one dog come in crawling with fleas but the Advocate fixed that very quickly). Couldn't recommend it highly enough. I do keep a couple of boxes of Capstar in the cupboard but it'd have to be really bad (like a severely infested dog) before I'd use them in favour of Advocate. I'd consider them something to provide more immediate relief (for the dog) for bad infestations, rather than an actual method of controlling fleas. The Advocate also kills a lot of other things, too. Both of my greys are mostly white so in summer, they attract flies (who eat their ears) but Advocate also seems to kill flies if used every fortnight, rather than just monthly. Admittedly it's not as cheap as other options but for what it does, it's well worth the money. Typo

Stupid generalisations disgust me. You do nothing for the argument with exaggerations, generalisations and what is basically racism- besides lose credibility for your own cause.

The Troy Wormex is probably a better option. It covers all the usual stuff as well as hydatids (which a lot of wormers don't cover). I ordered some from here a few days ago, it's about $10 cheaper for the 40 pack than most other online stores. I'd like to be able to use the Drontal (easier to administer) but we're currently worming five dogs on a schedule to prevent hydatids (as they're raw fed) so the cost was just way out of our range. If you read the product description for the closasol, you'll notice it doesn't cover whipworm or hydatid tapeworms- this is why it's so much cheaper.

Mine is just the registered name of my second greyhound. Probably should've used the name of my first but that was "Booma Bozo" >.>

You got another dog when you had all those problems with your existing pets?

Sally just kind of.. foster failed (she actually failed prey drive testing). I put off having her PTS for months.. and then one day noticed I was buying stuff for her, too. I think the matching name tags for Kiff and Sally was when the OH finally noticed but by then, she was part of the family anyway and I doubt he would've wanted to see her PTS. He's already agreed on the next dog, although I'm still undecided on what I actually want (borzoi suck me in but then I think of all the grooming >.> ).

I agree, to an extent, but what about all the hundreds of thousands of people who keep 'exotics' that we never hear about? MOST people buy them, keep them in good conditions their entire lives and then the pets die. I don't see how them being 'exotics' makes it wrong. This situation could have been just as awful had he released 56 non-exotic Bulls! In my experience, people who tend to keep exotics usually keep them in a better fashion than most people keep domestic pets. Besides Zoos, we in Australia are allowed to keep NO exotics at all, yet I know lots of people who keep Corn Snakes, Boas, Iguanas, Chameleons etc and these people would protect their pets with their life. The fact this particular man was allowed to keep any animals at all in the condition some were in, or even in the mental state he was in, is more the point here I think. A big cat has considerably more complex needs than a small lizard. You really can't compare one to the other when discussing the issue of the keeping of exotic animals by the public. Tigers do not belong in small cages in backyards. No wild animal deserves that sort of life, really. Unless theyt're being properly bred for release programs or being used to improve our knowledge of behaviour (again, to help preserve wildlife), they dont belong in captivity. As far as I'm concerned, it's really as simple as that.

I think I may have to have a lie down Well, make it a nice loooong one, then - don't hurry back Don't you have some judgements you should be making about other peoples' parenting back in Off Topic?