RuralPug

When it is raining, my older foster (obviously thinking that she will melt in the rain) sometimes pees on my wooden deck. I mix half a cup of biozet laundry powder in a bucket of warm water, pour some into a clean kitty litter tray, and use a broom dipped into the tray to scour the deck, which breaks down the urine enzymes and therefore any smell. Or you could spray with Urine Off or another similar product.

Thumbs up to that! There is also Pets of the Homeless who provide food and medication for pets of homeless people in Melbourne (and have sent goods to homeless assistance programs interstate). And for those who have not heard of it yet, Fix The Nation provides free desexing to low income families, plus a last litter program, under which parents are desexed free of charge and returned to owners while their puppies or kittens are desexed and vetworked and adopted out. This group is new, but already is operating in at least 4 Australian states.

Talk to the breeder about whether he needs a Snugglepup or not - and if she will send a blanket with him that has his littermates' scent. The breeder is the best one to discuss your plans with, he/she can start to habituate the puppy to suit your plans so it is not such a huge change. I recommend All Paws Forward for private training in Ballarat - you can choose their classes or ask for one on one. Ballaraat Dog Obedience Club has an excellent puppy training class and puppy preschool. Edited because my links disappeared! Edited lots of times but cannot get BDOC address to link - sorry, please google!

Another option is to donate them to organisations that supply the homeless with toiletries etc. Pets of homeless people get arthritis etc., too and are are less likely to access supplements to relieve it.

^^^^^^^ What Rebanne said, exactly. Unenforced laws are pointless where $$$$$ is concerned.

SM if you have a good knowledge of horse genetics, then you also understand the principles of dog genetics. I think what you are really asking about is colour genetics in dogs. So first you want a basic knowledge of the colours available (black, brown, yellow and white) and the patterns available and then you are asking for an understanding of the varied combinations of these (dilute/extent of pattern/age affected) that gives the huge variety of coat colours and markings and how each of these factors is affected by the others. There are a few sources detailing basic colour genetics in dogs, most of them are based on Clarence Little's work on alleles on loci. Google can probably lead you to these. But because of the huge range over the species, plus the awkwardness of different breeds having different names to the same colour and/or pattern, or worse, same names for different colour/patterns in different breeds, once you have grasped the basic loci it is probably best then to move directly to the details of the breed that most concerns you. Here is a paper that will give you a basic grasp. Then start to google your breed, asking questions, if you have any, of breed experts. P.S. Your picture, on the face of it, seems to be a colour affected by the G locus, as in Lippizan horses. The name of that colour is most likely what the matured colour is expected to be. Best of luck!

What are the adults supposed to do? Keep the child on a lead or in a crate while the dog is visiting? The adults are supposed to closely supervise ANY young child with ANY dog, but especially if the dog is a visiting dog and even more especially if the child has not been trained to understand dog warning signals. If they are not able to supervise closely the dog and child should be separated. I would give odds that the dog gave many warnings before biting, but the adults either weren't paying attention or didn't understand what was happening. Another tragedy with a child and a dog both suffering the consequences of adults failing in their duty of care.

Both OP's dogs are Chinese Crested (powderpuff coated variety). Adults are normally 4 - 5 kilos maximum. I agree that possibly the adult is being given too much. It is very easy to overfeed small dogs.

Ruralpug Probably your best option would be to contact the Victorian Club nvsdc.org.au and ask them, chances are they might know the old owner and also know who might be able to take on the dog. Thank you so much!!!

Sorry if this is OT...but a friend of mine (in VIC) who bred sibes in the past has taken back a record breaking sledder (in his youth) as his NSW master has suffered a series of strokes and ill-health. My friend is now elderly and cannot give this male sibe (aged about 7) the stimulation he is used to as a sledder and he is not happy. Neither of us know a great deal about sledding but we wondered if he would be an asset to sledding people in training younger dogs? Not sure what his endurance would be like these days but his health is just fine. Also, to be honest, in the very slim chance that his former master ever leaves a hospital/rehab situation and can cope with a dog, he will be going back there. So I'm guessing that we are looking for a temporary (with a view to maybe permanent) sort of private foster home where his sledding experience could be used? We have no idea where to start looking. Any ideas?

A really determined dog can wriggle out of nearly any garment. Sigh. I would be visiting the op shops for toddlers or babies fleecy or woollen jumpers for a low cost supply of small sleeves which can be easily turned into chi jackets by cutting of the sleeves and snipping leg holes. The aim of having a fair few sleeves to play with is to keep trying different things until you find the "design" that is difficult to wriggle out of. There is a how-to on this page. With a chi, you could probably do much the same with a wooly sock. Also try to get her to associate jackets with good times by doing fun things like cuddling and active playing and treats when she is wearing the jacket and taking it off at other times. Hopefully jacket toleration will grow from this.

Thank you for your determination to breed happy, healthy pups. Because your bitch is a dilute colour in this breed you DO need to be concerned about the colour of any chosen mate. If you avoid blue, blue pied, fawn and fawn pied sires( all dilute colours) then you have an excellent chance of avoiding producing puppies with alopecia or immune system problems. Because your bitch is a dilute colour, you would also be wise to avoid sires which have a dilute coloured parent but are not dilute themselves. Once you know what colours not to use, then your selection of a sire should revolve around finding the dog that has the features you most wish your puppies to have and that has excellent qualities in areas where your own bitch may be weak. No dog or bitch is 100% perfect and it is important not to double up on weak traits. For example if your bitch doesn't have the correct black nose leather of a good SBT then be sure you select a sire which does. As beginning breeder, you are no doubt aware that there is a LOT to learn and I would advise you to join the SBT breed club in your state. You can meet a lot of experienced breeders and also find information on a lot of prospective sires. I would recommend that, rather than acquiring your own male and finding all the problems which may happen when one entire male and one entire female share the same home, you contract to use an outside male for the breeding. Plus there are advantages in using an outside male, the foremost of which is being abe to use a different male for a subsequent breeding.

I agree with your comments about the changes to country ag shows due to Show Commitee politics...Unfortunately animal exhibits means higher insurance/public liability premiums than non-animal exhibits, thus certain judging competitions that don't attract a huge audience become too costly while others such as show jumping horses or sheep trialling dogs are considered big audience getters and the gate fee percentage would cover the extra insurance overhead, in the opinion of the Show Committee anyway. In Victoria, older Dogs Vic members will remember when a whole heap of agricultural societies discontinued their dog show sections.. Dog exhibitors had been upset for years that people entering a pony, a sheep or even a jar of jam were commonly issued with an entry ticket and a free parking voucher while exhibitors in the dog section were expected to pay hefty gate and parking fees on top of their substantial entry fees! Dogs Vic finally made a rule that no affiliate could charge more for gate and/or parking fees, than they did themselves at their main ground, which at the time was the Showgrounds in Flemington (which Dogs Vic and its affiliates used all year round outside of the 10 - 14 days of the Royal Melbourne Show). Since their gate fees were zero and their parking fee a peppercorn $1, to match those fees for their dog exhibitors stripped a lot of revenue from agricultural shows and quite a few stomped off never to hold a dog section again. In fact, after a few years of poor attendance etc., some of them stopped their ag shows altogether. They had forgotten that the dog exhibitors not only paid considerable entry fees, but they also constituted a large body of people who spent a lot of money at the shows, on food, rides, products etc. and while there may not have been a huge audience for the actual judging, wandering through the dog area to look at all the breeds and talk to breeders was an immense drawcard for many members of the public.

In this instance, make sure that any rescue they are thinking of adopting from has a two-week (minimum) refund and return policy. Two weeks should give a viable testing period, I know that some allergies get slowly worse with exposure but that seems to be covered with the sister being back-up owner. Avoid pounds, shelters and any rescue that only offers a couple of days or no trial, the sister will not be able to take on an unlimited number of failed candidates LOL. The child might be fine with one dog, but not another, especially since most of the low-shedding heavily coated breeds are not all the common in rescue although heaps of their crosses are.... the crosses are not necessarily low shedding of course. They will have more likelihood of getting a purebred poodle, bichon or maltese through rescue if they are willing to take on a senior. It sounds like their mind is made up, but I can't help stating my opinion that some doctors are less than informed, if it is an allergy specialist that has made the recommendation then fair enough. Personally I think in many cases children will grow out of atopic allergies, especially with mild exposure.

My information has always been that there is no need to freeze good quality fresh meat before feeding, unless of course it is organ meat or from an unregistered-type butcher. If you have dodgy meat (been at room temp for more than a few hours or in the fridge more than a few days), then I dare say a couple of weeks in the freezer will handicap most bacteria etc. Edited to add - after freezing any dodgy for two weeks, you need to feed as soon it it is thawed. I freeze most of mine before feeding raw, simply because I find it more economical to purchase in bulk. ( And some of mine, if I don't watch carefully, will deliberately bury theirs as it is apparently tastier when fours days old and stinking! I try not to let that happen, as it sorts of defeats the whole purpose of getting good fresh stuff in the first place!) It is quite interesting to note that there is actually a very good argument for freezing KIBBLE before feeding as this will kill the storage mites which commonly infest even the best kibble, and to which a surprising number of dogs have an allergic reaction. It doesn't kill their bodies or byproducts though, so it pays to get the freshest kibble that you can and freeze it early...) Sorry, a bit off-topic.

So sorry that this happened to you. Was the kelpie on lead or did the owner simply not recognise the aggression signals? It is more likely the owner's fault than the dog and please don't blame the breed, there are more well-behaved kelpies than badly behaved ones overall. For the benefit of anyone else hesitating to give permission for another dog to approach your dog - if they are both on firmly held short leads and stopped at least a metre apart while the owners observe their behavior before permitting introductory sniffs, then there is always time to avoid such a disaster. I would be making every effort to expose this puppy to busy situations and well-socialised dogs - take him, unentered, to dogs shows and walk him about there for a short time, or join an obedience club. This setback still has the potential to be overcome. Unless the skin on Visla ears is particularly fine, I think 2 weeks is not not enough for a complete hair regrowth, so do not lose hope just yet.

Snakes are one very good reason that I have indoor only cats these days. I won't tolerate any snakes in the house yard, but respect their right to be in the bush and creek banks etc. Predominately here we have copperheads and eastern browns which are fairly timid and you'd have to tromp right on them to get bitten, we have the odd tiger when the creek is up, they tend to stay put if you walk near them so you are more likely to accidentally threaten them and get struck. When I was in Woomera, we had mulgas - they were an entirely different kettle of fish and more than once we had co-workers chased by mulgas in a bad mood. The big ones rear up with flat heads like cobras. We had no tolerance for them in town limits at all.

I agree with you 100% in the case of your breed, and many other breeds. However, I would like to hear input from breeders of this breed or similar livestock guardian breeds, before agreeing that his breed is too young for this. There are developmental differences and I suspect that this would not be a problem for a correctly reared livestock guardian breed in a safe environment.

I tend to agree with Aziah about over analysing, although I think this is a MUCH better attitude than the common "ignore and allow to escalate" that creates problem dogs. I honestly think your plans are excellent and as long as you keep observing, you won't have any escalating problems. The other othing to remember is Annie's resource guarding treats from another dog does not mean that she will resource guard from a toddler, it only means that she might and I think you are doing everything right to avoid that sort of behaviour escalating into anything of a major problem. Keep up the great work! New babies are totally exhausting, so please be ready to shift the burden of keeping both dogs mentally and physically exercised to your other half for the first few weeks after the birth at the very least.

I had four different sizes of hessian covered trampoline beds. Tired of constantly replacing the covers, I had two sets of canvas covers made for each bed. I went to a tent maker, chose heavy duty blind awning canvas and he sewed them up. Each cover has lasted for an average of eight years - ones that get direct sun about five years, the ones that don't about ten. That was in the nineties, I'm not sure how much it would cost these days, back then it was about $10 each altogether.

I can't remember the source but when looking a a probiotic for dogs, not all brands of yoghurt are equal. Dogs share some of the same gut bacteria as people, but the balance is different - dogs need more of the bifido strains if I have that right. No yoghurt is harmful, but some cultures are better than others. I will try to find the source article which made me read all the fine print on yoghurt labels. It is easier to use a good brand of purpose designed canine probiotic if you have a dog with chronic gut problems.

It is not given as a binder but as an easy to digest food that will allow the digestive system to "rest", therefore the body can concentrate on healing itself, which 9 times out of ten just means readjusting the balance of gut flora. When the balance is adjusted, digestion returns to normal. In the other 10% of cases it is less likely to harm than fasting. Plus if it is a bacterial "swarm" (think of those TV commercials where the good bacteria fight the bad bacteria in your gut) the lack of sugars etc. can help by reducing the favorite "foods" available to the overpopulating bad guys....

I was really relieved to find that the topic heading wasn't literal...that missing word boggled my brain!

I know that money is tight, but you can probably extend that kennel/run considerably by getting 10 meters or so of dog wire and a few poly pipes and bending the dog wire into a covered extension over the poly pipes in between the kennel and the built run. You can attach with twisted wire or similar. If he digs, make sure that the wire is on the "floor" as well. The extra space will mean you will have room to put puzzle toys and things in the run to keep his brain busy. A cheap puzzle toy to make is an empty plastic bottle - remove the lid and any plastic ring around the neck and put a couple of ounces of treats (cat kibble in popular with my littlies). But - especially in the beginning - make sure he little brain is tuckered out before you leave for the day. 10 mins of obedience training or tick training is worth 30 mins of plain exercise!

When I saw this idea on Facebook, building your own Oscillot-type frame in the pen to stop climbing, I thought of this thread. The materials can be bought from any large hardware or plumbing supplies store, a a child could assemble it. Just make sure that the pipes you get for the frame a smaller diameter than the pipes that run over the top. No dog can climb out because the loose pipe will spin, so they cannot get a grip.