RuralPug

Pretty stupid making more laws when they don't enforce the ones already in place - or, worse, enforce them subjectively so that breeds damned by the media are prosecuted, dogs owned by the mayor's niece are not. If leash laws were enforced with vigour and loose dogs collared with alacrity then 90% of attacks wouldn't happen. There are already laws in place here and there where a person can be banned from keeping animals under Cruelty to Animals legislation - result the next animal is "owned" by the spouse or other family member and is not registered anyway. To prevent instances like people not being able to read their dog's warning signs (as in the Malamute in school incident above) more education is needed - both of dogs AND owners, especially about getting a properly socialised puppy in the first place and learning how to read a dog.

There are bad apples in every barrel. Do you throw the babies out with the bathwater or do you try to educate people to take responsibilities for their own decisions? (sorry for the mixed metaphors - I don't usually wash babies in barrels ) Edited to add: Facebook and other social media is not evil of itself. It is just a tool, and like a sledgehammer can be used for good or bad. It doesn't mean that we should restrict the sale and use of sledgehammers to protect the innocent.

I could imagine a scenario where the dogs had been stolen (for whatever reason) by heartless thieves who would not be moved by the public outcry, but who had neighbours, relatives or associates who were so moved thus returned the dogs safely to their home, but anonymously to avoid reprisal by the thieves. It's all just speculation in any event. Let's just celebrate that the dogs have been returned and are now safe.

It all comes back to education. I was conversing online with a BYB who thought that they were an excellent breeder producing "hybrid vigour" because "its well known that by crossing two breeds you will get the good points of both breeds and none of the bad" He was advertising a litter, one pup to go at 1/3 price because it had a heart murmur (grade not stated). I congratulated him on transparency (didn't say that a reputable breeder would have run the pup to determine likelihood of early mortality, you pick your battles ok) and and I said that he surely wouldn't breed those parents together again - which led to his comments on hybrid vigour. I asked did he think that there was a little genetic policeman at the chromosome separation saying 'good gene go ahead' and 'bad gene go back' and if so, was the policeman on a coffee break when the heart murmur gene got through? (jolly laugh emoticon) He said yes, of course there was a mechanism like that and called me naive for not knowing that. I begged him to please study any high school biology text to learn the truth, but no, he loved his pets too much to ever desex them ('how unnatural' he said) and no, they couldn't possibly have been the cause of the heart murmur... I lose battles like this frequently, but soldier on in the hope that at least ONE person in the watching audience knows something. I am careful to be respectful, and always assume that the bad breeding practices are due more to ignorance than greed so try very hard to keep negative emotions out of the conversations. Then I go elsewhere and vent. End vent. Please resume normal programming.

Fantastic post moosmum!!!

Thank you for that! Sounds like it works the way the bequesters intended then. Good to know!

Yes yes yes!!! Education FIRST, marketing second. Breeds have been RUINED (yes, I'm shouting!!) in this country and others by becoming too popular and it is left to a handful of ethical breeders to try and keep the breed sound.

Those who want to read the final report:SA DOG & CAT pdfs and download the file labelled FINAL REPORT etc. All those who made submissions are listed, but IMHO they only read one of the submissions and I bet most of you can work out which one it was too!

It's possible, but you would have seen him actively resource guarding (growling if she approaches your bf, placing his body in between the new dog and your bf etc) if that's the case. More likely your bf (through no fault of his own) reminds her of something unhappy that happened to her. Time and patience and associating him with good things will overcome that. Poor soul for taking it personally - that in itself could be sending bad vibes to the dog. Tell him to relax a bit about it!

Thanks for that info mackie and kc. There are very likely good pet shop environments as well as bad ones, they are a hell of a lot better off there than in a freezing concrete pen surrounded by pups with parvo and god knows what else. Not all rescues have the money and facilities to rear litters so I guess this could be one option for them. Funny about them just having the popular pure breeds there though, I guess in the end they do have a business to run so are going only to accept the sure sellers. Mostly I am very glad that they are desexed before they go that helps a lot to stop the vicious "I paid a lot so will breed a couple of litters to get my money back" cycle.

Reading the blurb on beaglerescue's page it must be an old pic because he says he has got that extra weight off them. So is there anyone here who could give this guy a hand to get a more recent picture for these dogs?

In store doesn't bother me as long as they are getting proper socialisation as well as proper housing etc. and are not on public display to trigger impulse buying. Decent quarantine facilities are mostly sadly lacking in rescue and I applaud them for providing such a facility. But what does bother me: the link qquoted in the orignal post says "as we have many pets available which aren't listed on petrescue". Does that mean they are selling undesexed puppies as well as dogs/cats that meet Petrescue criteria? I don't want to jump to conclusions here, it seems that a lot that is good is happening there, but I just want to be reassured that they aren't taking and onselling those quarantine cases without any oversight?

I agree give her more time plus try to work out precisely what behaviour is triggering her anxiety. For instance, if she comes up close, then panics when he makes eye contact with her, get him to avoid that. Or if it is his hand moving to pat her, avoid that. Maybe he moves too swiftly for her, it could be a whole heap of things (including facial hair or hats ). If you watch her carefully enough you will see what is the trigger and can advise him to back off on that. She will then feel more reassured and will gradually become more accepting. Puppy farm dogs need a lot of extra time and patience due to their lack of socialisation.

Check out the National Animal Rescue Groups Association Inc. It is a registered QLD based charity developed to support pet and wildlife rescue groups throughout Australia. Every worker in that group is a volunteer, so none of your money goes towards wages. Here is the public website NARGA Edited to add: All of the groups in your initial post are worthy, I'm not going to say that NARGA is any more or less deserving. You are choosing where to donate, I'm just bringing to your attention a new organisation that you may not yet have heard of .

Only a little off topic...can anyone enlighten me please... one of the big Melbourne shelters was advertising recently for hospice foster carers to take on pets for the rest of their lives that had come under testament (i.e. deceased owners had left a bequest to the shelter in return for caring for their pet for the rest of his/her/their natural life.) I imagine that these would go to hospice foster carers so that the bequest conditions would be met (where, I assume, the pet would normally be PTS by that shelter because it sneezed once or looked scared ) - but does anyone know if those foster carers are supplied food and vet care for those pets or do those items come out of their own pockets? Thought I would ask here before I emailed the organisation (who would probably only ignore me anyway). Edited to make more sense...well, I tried!

Can't resist.....should resist...must resist...aw to heck with it... What instruments do the Band Breeds play?? Ok, that wasn't funny and it is a serious subject, so: The breeds you list are banned by the Commonwealth from being imported into this country basically it was easier to do that than to make all the states have similar laws enforcing responsibility on dog owners and especially on dog sellers in choosing the correct families into which to place their dogs. Not every breed is suitable for every situation and it should not be about enough money to buy = right to own. The government is trying to protect the community. although those who want to breed and rear human aggressive and dog aggressive dogs will continue to do so regardless of import law.

Excellent!

Martingale here for teaching the big dogs, always. You really need to get her focused on you really really quickly - find out what drives her, treats toys or just praise and get her learning manners for reward. Spend as much time with her as you can - if you have a pack give her one on one time a little more than the others at first. Teaching her leash manners is best left until she WANTS to please you. Also get her used to a tether (very solid tree or verandah pole etc) for short periods (15 mins max) to reinforce that pulling does not equal freedom. Obviously use a nice strong tether... TOT is very handy to reinforce that! Edited to add: excess energy will need to be released in play until you can safely walk her. Throw a ball, toss a rope toy or frisbee, try a flirt pole or tug toy...often if they are not ball chasers they WILL chase your other dogs who are, so are exercised that way. :)

Great progress! Let us know how Goliath gets on.

Hi Boolers can I give you a heads up please... A grey mare has been stolen from SA (I have shared details on the South West Pets and Livestock FB page) and was sighted yesterday being floated towards Warrnambool according to the mare's owner. These are the details of the sighting: POSSIBLE SIGHTING IN WALLACEDALE VICTORIA YESTERDAY! HEADED TO WARRNAMBOOL! BLUE AND WHITE OLDER STYLE FLOAT WITH A BLACK PRADO! If you could spread the word for eyes to be peeled, please? Thanks!

Some are true and some are hoaxes. The original fence marking ones were only true in the UK however it would seem from police reports that spotters in some localities have picked up on the practice, probably got the idea from the internet warnings. Personally I would imagine that the hardened dog theives wouldn't use such obvious markers...with GPS locators in most smart phones they would just click a button and could send the precise coordinates everywhere. Sigh. Hoax or not, anything that makes Joe Average take more care in keeping his dog with him or securely contained is, in my mind, a good thing.

Oh sorry, double post. Gremlins urk.

Dedication and consistency is EVERYTHING with pugs...When you are cooking or need dedicated time with the kids, either appoint another dedicated watcher to monitor him or pop him in his play pen. Think about toddler locks on the cupboards. You're doing everything else right!! I will PM you shortly with more help. :)

You know her schedule...why not accidentally bump into her when walking one or two of your own? As you walk then together you can "notice" the lameness again and exclaim that you knew of dogs with just that problem and the pain had completely done away after the vet had treated them for patella luxation or whatever ... make it all seem accidental. She may have never have mentioned it to her vet, often the lameness only appears with exercise. She may not understand that the dog is in pain and that is why they are lame...I have met very caring owners who had no idea that there was associated pain because their dog went happily hip-hopping along.

You may need to adopt rather than foster, given the situation. If you foster an older dog and it is adopted just when Roo starts to bond/depend on it it is possible that may intensify the problems. All reputable rescues have a trial time, if it doesn't work out in that time, yes return that one and try with another. Just my thoughts...every situation is different.