WoofnHoof

LisaCC is also here although she may have gone for the holidays, she might know more she is in the Armidale dog sports club so might know who's who in terms of breeders.

Just noticed this thread juice I wouldn't have the foggiest idea of the kind of dog you're after but I can go and take pics or vid or whatever if you want?

Don't know if this has been posted yet but it's a fascinating study. It's really exciting that we are finally starting to ask the right questions when it comes to learning about animal cognition. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/27974861/ A comparison between wolves, Canis lupus, and dogs, Canis familiaris, in showing behaviour towards humans. Heberlein MT, et al. Anim Behav. 2016.

For me it's less about the size of the yard and more about the experience and dedication of the owner to provide the necessary level of interaction for a spitz. My sibe has never had a huge yard but really only gets destructive (chewing up blankets, doesn't damage walls etc thank goodness) if he is feeling "ignored", they do like to feel part of everything :)

Awesome love to see beautiful sound happy dogs and they can work too! :)

Awesome! :)

I own desexed dogs for the same reason I own geldings (desexed horses), entires are not as easy to manage and if I don't need to breed I don't see the need to deal with extra hormones if I don't have to. Since the current research supports waiting until after 12 months that is what I will do next time (unless I want to show in which case I will have to keep it entire), but my sibe was done at 6 months and is now 10 with no apparent ill effects thus far so I am happy with that. There are pros and cons either way in terms of health so really it comes down to weighing up those pros and cons as they relate to your situation and the animal in question.

Sorry to hear of your losses

I met one, he was huge! 5F6A4588dppt by kirislin, on Flickr 5F6A4590dppt by kirislin, on Flickr Oh yeah I'll have one of these too. Thanks :)

I WILL have a white shepherd, have to wait for the current dogs to shuffle off their mortal coil though as they are hard enough to manage as it is at the moment without adding any more. I will need to have another chi at some point, having severe chi withdrawals since I lost my little one a few years ago. Love my huskies might have to have another one but will need a break from the lack of biddability for a while before I'm ready to go there again lol Vallhund - as above lol Other breeds I would really really love to own Dally - Such fun and sweet dogs. LGD - any breed but I really like the CAS's, awesome working dogs. St Bernard - if you don't just want to cuddle them like a big teddy bear there's something wrong with you. Bull terrier - I'm not usually a bully person but that roman nose gets me I love it. Rottie - love em Dobie - love em Kelpie - super fun and trainable Bernese mountain dog - like the saints just so cuddle-able Foxie - gorgeous and virtually bulletproof That's all off the top of my head, there's probably more though lol

Sorry to hear this MW

Something to also be aware of is the way the number is entered can change whether or not it comes up. I had a horse microchipped and put on the Hendra register and when the vet entered the chip number she wrote it as it appeared underneath the barcode on the packet, with spaces in between runs of numbers. When I went into the registry to check status the number wouldn't come up as I was entering it as an unbroken string of numbers without spaces. I had to contact the company which administers the registry to alert them to the issue, they changed the horse's number to remove the spaces for mine but it is a potentially concerning issue for sure.

That is an awesome idea :)

Huskies are a lot of fun, but they aren't just a normal dog, they are a lifestyle choice, one you have to be ready for. I thought I knew better than the breeders whose websites said (in caps!) that they can't be let off lead, I thought I would just train it really really well and all would be fine. LOL. Huskies are very trainable, they aren't very biddable, some people get lucky but it's not common. I didn't think much about the shedding until the first real "blow" (huskies don't just shed their coats, they blow them, probably so named because the hair literally blows everywhere), since then it's just been a continual of picking dog hair out of food/drinks/everything, and eliminating anything black, fleecy, or otherwise obviously hair attracting fabrics from my wardrobe. I am lucky that I don't have an escape artist but he will test things, and I need to keep him mentally stimulated so that he is less inclined to start looking for things to keep life interesting. They are characters for sure. At one stage he got bored and decided to take my wallet and hide it, I knew he had it as I found some chewed cards in the yard, but I could never find the wallet, I had to replace my license, credit card everything. Then about 6 months later I had to go into hospital for a week and I had a friend just coming by to feed him and check on him. When I got home I found he had brought my wallet back, chewed and dirty but very carefully placed. So if you are happy to have your life turned upside down then by all means get a husky :D

I find it hard to understand how Baird can listen to coleman openly stating he will be killing tens of thousands of greyhounds because according to him they are hard to rehome, yet shutting down the industry because a fraction of that are put down for not being fast enough? If they are hard to rehome then it's a fairly large fraction that are put down for not being fast enough, after all they don't race until they die of old age, they all stop winning and become wastage at some point in their lives due to the nature of the industry, unless they go on to breed or the owners actually really do love their dogs and keep them as pets. As for other welfare issues, diversion is not a useful tactic, not sure why people still do it, do they expect that suddenly people will let one issue drop and chase after another just because someone has pointed out that there other other serious welfare issues in the world? I'm not a fan of fishing I think it will eventually go the way of the dodo and live baiting, but I don't see the point of shouting "what about xyz?!" in response to focus on one issue.

Are you in Brisbane? No I moved to Armidale NSW last year, need to change my profile it seems lol :)

My husky LOVES lure coursing, wish there was a club here.

I see what you mean but as I said above, polcing our own is fraught with difficulties. I know it is. But we have to try or the bad eggs take us all down.

All of us are part of animal industries, we buy pet food, we engage veterinary services, just because we don't make money doesn't mean we aren't part of it all.

I've had good results with Joint guard and Sasha's blend. Joint guard chews are a bit easier to get into them.

Sure it could well be the thin end of the wedge, which is why I argue for a proactive stance and demonstrable zero tolerance for cruelty within any animal industry. Defensiveness and reactiveness is not an effective strategy here. As someone with an interest in wastage issues in equine industries I'd really love to know how the greyhound industry manages only 7% wastage.

I would be very surprised at a wastage of only 7%, does that mean that 93% go on to live long and fulfilling lives? Would love to know how they achieve that.

I don't have an objection to regulation but there's an awful lot of regulation already. Other posters have pointed out that GRNSW is a NSW Government body, which automatically deletes it from the self-regulation category anyway. Where was GRNSW in this? Pedigree dog breeders belong to their state ANKC body. Has a Code of Ethics but it is not a regulatory body. Dog breeders have to comply with whatever state laws there are about dog breeding so where is self-regulation in this? State bodies are, at best, just dog clubs. They have no policing powers whatsoever. I don't think there is a lot of regulation, there are plenty of laws which are rarely enforced (until the shit hits the fan), there are government bodies increasingly looking to outsource these responsibilities, and there are a lot of little groups coming under the umbrella of "industry". While the dog clubs are their own entities they still come under this umbrella as far as public and government perception is concerned. Certainly there are links, some clubs are linked to some sports and showing more so than others, everyone uses the same services such as vets and products, that's what makes it an industry. Ideally we want to have an industry representative group which covers all canine pursuits, everyone contributes and everyone helps to keep the industry clean. Just as farmers contribute to their industry groups even though the way the different sectors operate may be very different and subject to very different pressures, an example of this may be something like meat and livestock Australia. Feels like there is a lot of regulation to me - little of which has to do with the science of the species but more and more as if dogs are humans. We have to make constant choice on best practice over regulation and the younger people coming through are educated by taking for granted that because its a law or a regulation it must be what is best for the dogs. I dont agree with self regulation when some groups are offered exemptions from behaving like the rest of the "industry" Greyhound racing was and is in most states still a prime example of this and even though it was sanctioned by state governments it was policed and regulated by their own board. They had their own codes which counteracted state codes all breeders have to comply with and complaints are kept and dealt with in house. Vicdogs is similar in Victoria as their breeders who own less than 10 fertile dogs have exemptions to having to comply with breeding codes . this is why the MDBA will not apply for these exemptions for our members until some things are changed within the system. The RSPCA and AWL have no third party accountability and if you have complaint about any of them it is also handled in house. Bit the same as the church with complaints of sex crimes. The same happens in the horse world as well, most horse owners have to comply with space requirements for housing horses (1 acre per horse usually), doesn't apply to racehorses, when EI happened racehorse owners were paid $60 per day to keep a horse in work so that racing could start up again straight away, even when the virus was spreading racehorses were allowed to move when the rest of us couldn't, horses died because they couldn't get to a vet surgery, racehorses were vaccinated as a priority. Money talks. It isn't fair but if racing goes down so do the rest of us so we have to try and work with them.

I don't have an objection to regulation but there's an awful lot of regulation already. Other posters have pointed out that GRNSW is a NSW Government body, which automatically deletes it from the self-regulation category anyway. Where was GRNSW in this? Pedigree dog breeders belong to their state ANKC body. Has a Code of Ethics but it is not a regulatory body. Dog breeders have to comply with whatever state laws there are about dog breeding so where is self-regulation in this? State bodies are, at best, just dog clubs. They have no policing powers whatsoever. I don't think there is a lot of regulation, there are plenty of laws which are rarely enforced (until the shit hits the fan), there are government bodies increasingly looking to outsource these responsibilities, and there are a lot of little groups coming under the umbrella of "industry". While the dog clubs are their own entities they still come under this umbrella as far as public and government perception is concerned. Certainly there are links, some clubs are linked to some sports and showing more so than others, everyone uses the same services such as vets and products, that's what makes it an industry. Ideally we want to have an industry representative group which covers all canine pursuits, everyone contributes and everyone helps to keep the industry clean. Just as farmers contribute to their industry groups even though the way the different sectors operate may be very different and subject to very different pressures, an example of this may be something like meat and livestock Australia.

Sounds great except that ethical is not an objective judgement. Who gets to say what that is? The community. The view of the community will depend on what they see, and what they consider acceptable. Killing animals for food or medical research is different to killing animals for entertainment or testing cosmetics for example, one is (largely) considered necessary, one is considered frivolous and unnecessary. The goalposts change over time but that is why we must stay ahead of it, develop ethical principles which are in line with community expectations and enforce them, and continually review them. And make them known, as I've said before PETA is heard because they are the loudest voice, and they have a point when they show people the 20% and ask "why is this allowed to happen?", we have to work together to eliminate the 20%, and show that we are doing it on an ongoing basis.