RuralPug

HP, is she smooth coated? You can't tell by looking if a smoothcoat bitch has been spayed or not (I assume she has been, but whatever) so next time you get that sort of red-neck, just say innocently "But she's been desexed - all non-show puppies from her breeder are desexed." If if she is long coated or wire, then the average joe blow cannot tell anyway. No chance of them trying to track her down for a back-yard snatch later that way. (Oops, do I sound paranoid? Sorry)

I haven't had a pug with kidneys damaged due to toxic shock or anything but I did a lot of research recently when a routine (I do annually for all 13y.o.s & older) blood test showed the beginnings of renal failure in my almost 16 y.o. gal (who has since gone to the bridge via sudden death). I feed mostly raw and one of the best sites I thought for tweaking a raw diet was this one: canine kidney diet. Even if you don't feed raw it is worth reading up on the whys and wherefores. Meat is high in phosphorous which is hard on damaged kidneys, but dogs need meat, so the solution there is to add phosphorous binders to the diet (crushed eggshell is a very good one). The old low-protein diet had the idea of lowering phosphorous intake, but lowered the intake of a lot of other good stuff as well. Another thing to consider is maybe take the strain off the kidneys a little by adding fermentable fibre (which makes bulky stools) such as pumpkin so that the lower intestine actually does some of the detoxifying work leaving less for the kidneys to do. Of course you need to encourage her to drink more to help flush those kidneys as well. You'll need to do a bit of research and a bit of fiddling, but you will be able to sort something that suits you. I believe there may be chat groups and forums of owners with dogs with kidney problems, they can live a very long life (depending on how bad the damage and how early you catch it) with the right care.

This is great stuff. So if you sell a pug to some one and they turn it into the RSPCA when it is 8 years old (RSPCA then sells said pug for more than you did as the breeder), you as the breeder would then have your name published (where local newspaper?) as selling a pup to a home that dumped it and you would be fined (how much maybe 5x times the sales price of the pup?). If the shire thinks that you seem to stand out as not the best breeder by their standards or if 'people' complain about you, then they will pull your license to breed. Would certainly take Shire control to a whole new level, maximizing policing of those nasty breeders. This is better than just making it illegal to sell dogs, as you could with this law get breeders for the life of the dog they sell, and for up 16 years after their last pup was bred due to the harassment they received for being a nasty dog breeder! Yes!!!! I just love your plan. Ticks all the right boxes. The bit about making breeders responsible for what the owners of the dogs do is just fabulous. Something they will have no control over and this can be used against them for the total life of the pup. Wouldn't you just love to see their faces when they hear for the first time that a pup they sold 10 years ago was dumped at the shelter and they are in big trouble now! This is just brilliant! Nope the fine is for selling without microchipping, any fines for abandonment etc would be directed to owners as per common law. Responsiblity remains as per the law now. The difference I am proposing would make it easily to detect exactly who is making the first sale, whether or not they are registered breeders, if they are selling they must put their names on the chip. The details of impounds etc could be published in goverment gazette for whoever is interested. Right now there is absolutely no solid data on the source of these unwanted dogs. I expect that if Heaven Puppy Inc. large scale farm has 800 dogs which are chipped as its breeding dumped or impounded in the course of a year over various shires and I have a single one chipped as mine and that information is publicly available that people are going to be screaming blue murder about Heaven Puppy Inc. If the powers that be want to come after me for my one single one not having done anything about the breeder with 800 dogs dumped they are going to look pretty stupid, publicly. They already have the power to grant and to take away licenses - I want something in place so that the great unwashed can see any abuses of that power clearly and easily. I am not suggesting new powers. I am simply suggesting an additional breeder ID recorded and making the breeder ID part of microchipping which is already a regulation in many states AND having that ID publicised for impounds, seizures, surrenders etc. My secret agenda here is to make the councils and shires and especially the RSPCA open to public scrutiny in at least this one way so it will be glaringly obvious who is in bed with the puppy farmers and who is unfairly targeting ethical breeders. It is my attempt to shine a light into dark corners, by making the name and shame information publicly available. I want to say "look at the facts - here they are, see the records." We don't need extra laws, om the whole. What we need is a way to put pressure on the enforcers so that they have to do right thing because the public can actually watch in this way.

Some years back you could buy flavoured water for your dogs which was really handy if you took them to a show or something - some dogs won't drink water anywhere but at home even if you bring water from home and the same bowl from home, they would rather dehydrate. But they would devour the flavoured stuff. It came in flavours like, bacon, chicken, lamb etc. I haven't seen it advertised for a long time, though. Other posters have advocated flavouring the water in various ways - with milk, with honey, etc. so why not add broth to your flavouring arsenal as well? You would really only need a tablespoonful in a litre of water. It would need to be unsalted broth though or you will do more damage than good hydration wise!

One law I would like to see put in place and enforced is HUGE fines for selling any dog or cat unmicrochipped, including the breeder's name and contact details on the chip. All advertised pets to have chip numbers included in ads, similar to including rego numbers or chassis/engine numbers on vehicle adverts. You can give 'em away legally but no selling unchipped. Impulse buys are reduced, because you have to chip or transfer the existing chip into the purchasers name first. And on every impound and surrender and every rehome and every complaint the breeder's name should be published right along with the owner's details on the chips. So easy then for councils and other bylaw enforcers to see where the problem ones are coming from, and who should be allowed to keep their licence because they carefully suit pups/dogs to owners and take back any change-of-circumstance pets needing rehome. Not a total solution, by any means, but I think a start to ensuring responsibility is taken by the (puts flame suit on) "manufacturers of the goods" for their initial placement.

Tears. Hugs. Gallop free at the Bridge, little April.

Thanks so much everybody for your replies and PM's which i have passed on. Hopefully she has accepted the invite to link up with a Darwin based doggy chat group - DOLers are GREAT people!

Mine have a huge one to share, but only use it if it is really, really hot. Hmmm, maybe that is because I am on it myself when it is that hot!

Anything is toxic in large enough quantities. But one or two drops of pure tea tree oil should be strong enough scentwise if it is going to deter, and not enough to be toxic.

Who remembers the Victorian Airedale (I think) kennels who had brilliant names for their dogs? Certainly always gave me the giggles. Durn getting old ...the only one I can remember right now is the one she named "Th'chexin Th'mail" (I've probably spelt it incorrectly, but say it aloud and you'll get the point!) EF typos

Yay!! That's the kind of update we loooooove to hear!!

On behalf of an online aquaintance (permission granted to cross post): Our family (mister + me & the 2 pug fur kids) are moving from Adelaide to Darwin in a couple of months. Obviously the heat is of primary concern to me with our two, and aircon is the number one priority for our housing (for them not us LOL), but was wondering if there are any helpful tips/things to be aware of that Darwin pug owners could share with me. thanks! I will pass on any responses - thanks in anticipation!!

I must say Gracie is stunning and Guiness such a lovely boy. Having chauffeured a Group 6 exhibitor up there, I gave Katrina a hand with her RC boys and their rubber chicken but when Guiness tried to mount me I knew I'd overdone the "get him excited" instruction!

Tease!! ;) Now we want to know all about the happy chappie!! Lovely pic!! :D

Let's not panic yet....remember the death of a close family friend or inlaw (I forget exactly) kept her away from DOL few days back...maybe it's the funeral keeping her away now?? Trying to look on the bright side Sending healing vibes just in case... Edited to add : It was both a family friend (#104 p7) and an in-law (#38 p3) all that AND Bonnie sick!! Extra hugs on the way :rofl:

They are both good, for some reason individuals can respond better to one or the other. Just anecdotal but I have noticed the larger breeds here seems to do better on Sasha's Blend, the smaller ones on Joint Guard - admit it's not a huge sample base though LOL.

Training treats I use : bits of cheese for high value, for everyday bits of apple or (dons flame suit) cat kibble. Sometimes I chop up a roo stick or emu stick into slices and offer those - they keep for ages but are a real pain to chop.

Be glad to be rid of the damn thing - I'll help him pack it...ask him if he can remove the whole of Kings Way as well. Hey while you're shopping for gifts how about a garden ornament? There is a concrete arch here that just getting in the way... ...... ...... ;)

(My italics). Unless you thoroughly steam cleam the entire room before you leave there WILL be trace dog dander left, no matter how clean or non-shedding or well vaccumed your dog is. This does present a potential hazard to someone with severe allergies. If you didn't know that before, well, now you do - so any future sneaking of dogs without the proprietor's knowledge would be a loud and clear statement of your lack of respect. Please DON'T do it. Unless you travel with a high pressure steam cleaner...and use it. EFS and sense

My BIL used to manage a motel. He was a dog lover and at first allowed people to have their dogs or cats in the rooms provided they were sensible and didn't cause a nuisance or hygenine problems. He kept one block totally pet-free so that people with severe allergies etc could stay without being endangered. A few people let their dogs mark soft furnishings carpets etc. and a few left dreadful messes not cleaned up so he changed the policy to asking for a special pet deposit which was refunded after the room had been inspected. A few people went out and left their dogs barking, whining etc until all hours in their rooms, so he added another clause that said if pet was causing a nuisance it would be removed by management (went to kennels nearby). He still had problems - someone sneaked their dog into one of his "pet-free" rooms and one guest had a very bad allergy reaction and had all fees refunded after close inspection revealed dog hair in the room. So now absolutely no pets allowed, not even in cars, because people have proven how untrustworthy they can be and it affected his livelihood. So at least one motel ban from a dog lover who absolutly bent over backwards to try to accomodate pet lovers. If it was you who sneaked the dog into to a pet-free area and almost cost the next guest his life, thanks a bloody lot. You do give the rest of us a bad name. Forgive me if I don't have patience with people who break the rules with absolutely no respect for why the rules are there in the first place and then giggle about how clever they are doing it. :rolleyes:

Impossible to generalise about socialisation levels without knowing all the details of the pack, the environment, number of visitors/employees/family etc. etc. etc. The fact that you are comfortable with the breeder and her asessment of their personalities etc. is a plus. It is not impossible to socialise an underexposed fearful older puppy or dog. I have done it myself, it just takes a lot more patience and gentle re-conditioning. Individual cases vary I would think. Best advice is to go and assess the pup yourself. If you don't think you can do it without falling head over heels in love send someone sensible who can do an assessment for you. (oops didn't mean that to sound quite so um, harsh...hopefully you know what I mean )

I feel your pain. Whenever you're ready, come back in here...it truly helps to share. Run free at the Bridge, CoCo.

It sounds to me as though the rescue needs to learn more about getting proper surrender papers signed - or are you saying that the pups were stolen from the breeder and handed into rescue?

That particular toy has triggered her "help a baby of the pack" instinct. She wants to make it happy/comfortable, but doesn't know how. I would remove the toy, she is not getting any joy from it.

My dogs chew their way through chook wire alone LOL however if you can't afford the heavier dog mesh then sheep fencing plus chook wire should hold them. I would have ringlock all around if it was affordable in those quantities. Check with your local shire before getting electric fences - some have really wierd rules when there is no hooved livestock on the paddock. If they are only going to run in a paddock under supervision, and have reasonable recall, then just sheep wire should be okay. Ringlock for the unattended dog run though is best IMO.