Rascalmyshadow

Awesome thanks! Have PM’ed you

Thank you I’ll see if I can get to Kmart over the weekend and I’ll have a look in the book store for the Jean Dodds book at the same time. The dogs are both small (6kg and 4kg) so I’m hoping it won’t work out too expensive even if I have to use the BARF patties. I would be happy to pay you something for your treats even if it’s just to cover postage, how do they get stored? Oh and how does the webinar work, does it just play through you tube or similar, do you have to pay or sign up to anything.

I was going to make a mix up myself but I’m going to go into town tomorrow and price the BARF patties, at least then I know they contain everything the dogs need. We have tried bashing necks, wings with a hammer and Rascal still won’t eat them and Hugo chews a little bit then swallows so it makes him vomit it back up. If I had a mincer it would be so much easier.

Both their teeth and gums are good, Rascal is 9 and has never liked bones, I’ve tried bashing necks and wings with a hammer and he still won’t eat them, I’ve tried ribs and other meaty bones and he won’t eat those either. He is not overly fussed by food and would rather go without than eat what he doesn’t like. I’ll try the siggestion of searing the outside, maybe a chicken wing and see if that makes a difference.

For those that feed 100% raw how do you feed a complete balanced diet if a dog won’t chew/eat bones. I am thinking about changing the boys from a tin/dry food diet to raw but Rascal won’t chew bones at all and Hugo very minimal. The last dogs we fed raw would happily eat almost anything so it wasn’t an issue.

Another question on ethics, I used to be friends with someone who was fostering through a rescue group, she was given lots of donated food, coats etc, not only was the stuff being used on the foster dogs but her own dogs as well. Is this ok.

I am in south Gippsland and unknown to me we found out there are ticks around here. The dogs haven’t picked up any on our property but did pick up about 20 each at the local botanical gardens. As soon as we found them I collected a few and took them to the vet, was told they were just bush ticks, not to worry and just treat the dogs with Advantix. Within days Hugo became very ill and required two emergency vet visits, he had severe vomiting, lethargy and a high temp, he was put on meds and I had to syringe a hydrating liquid into him every hour around the clock for three days, then add food into the mix. We thought we were going to lose him, although he didn’t pick up paralysis ticks he had a severe reaction to being bitten (he is anaphylactic to bee stings).

Ok thanks for clearing that up and I know there are so many people willing to hand over ridiculous amounts of money for xbreed mutts, I just never thought an ethical rescue would encourage that.

I was taught when it comes to business/selling products ( yes I know dogs aren’t exactly a product) the value is only as much as a consumer is willing to pay. If the majority of people don’t think a xbreed rescue dog is worth as much as a purebred pedigree dog that has fully health tested parents along with guarantees for genetic issues, shouldn’t the price reflect that.

Looks like a legit rescue with all vet work done, they have changed their ad a little to say the price reflects market value and the money will pay for other vet bills, guess people had been querying the price. I’m just a bit shocked I could get a tiny purebred chi with papers for less. The pups are a mix of multiple breeds they are just very small. They want $1000 for the mother (also a xbreed)$11,000 for rescuing a few little dogs is a pretty good profit!

Just curious what people think, I noticed in the last few days there is a litter of 5 very small xbreed puppies for adoption, not the type you see as puppies often in rescue. Their adoption fee is listed as $2000 each, does that sound like someone trying to make a profit or is it a fair ask???

Yes keep the ears plucked, a tiny amount of hair is ok but too much and it will hold in moisture causing bacteria and yeast to grow. Also stops any drops you’re using from penetrating the areas necessary. If you do it weekly the hair will stay loose enough to pull out easily. Vets that say don’t pluck make lots of money from ear infections.

An amstaff, they are robust, love to run/wrestle, tend to be tough pups, would keep up with a boxer and are generally really nice dogs.

I am not an angry person much the opposite however I have spent a lot of years working with and rescuing dogs. I have handled so many dogs that bite their owners, I have had owners beg me to take them because no one else can safely handle them, I have seen many dogs spending way to much time in muzzles, dogs banished outside 24/7 cause they are too risky around the kids, I have had to be the one to hold them while they are euthanised because the owner has been scared of them or just mentally can’t do it. I am not a perfect dog owner myself and do my best to keep educated on better understanding their needs and behaviours, I wish I could go back to having a houseful of my chosen breed but I decided to have kids and they are not an easy going tolerant breed so I have one and until my kids are all old enough I will not have another. Having kids means making sacrifices and I feel your lack of understanding combined with your child’s age and behaviour make for a miserable dog and possibly dangerous situation for your child, even at the best of times there is some amount of risk with young kids and dogs because kids are so unpredictable. Your obvious worry that your child will be bitten is a good indicator that you are not ready for a dog.

Really!!! You have lots of very good advice from many experienced dog people and you choose to ignore it all, either you’re arrogant, a troll or just plain stupid. If you are legit I feel sorry for your child and whatever dog comes your way.

Please do not do that, as Persephone stated that puts a dog in a very bad predicament, if the dog feels threatened and can’t defend itself the outcome could be very severe once the muzzle comes off. Years ago I regularly groomed a poor little dog like this, it took a dislike to the husband so it was kept muzzled while around him, he would get the wife to muzzle it before leaving home, I would remove the muzzle for grooming and he would not even take the dogs lead until the muzzle was back on. Over time the dogs aggression got worse and worse, so did it’s stress levels, it became so bad that even with the muzzle it couldn’t be in the same room as him. He assured me (he was a genuinely nice old man) he had never done anything to the dog, I think the wife was the root of the problem. The end result after numerous years of what I deem cruelty was a dead dog, and that’s the unfortunate reality.

I disagree that a cat couldn’t work, they fit all the requirements the op has mentioned ( besides the orientals and Burmese would be too full on and/or vocal). Choosing the right breed makes a huge difference. We have four cats, the Ragdollx is tolerant to everything (like most Ragdolls) he took to my adhd/odd daughter immediately, allowed her cuddle him, put blankets on him etc. 5 years on and he sleeps on her bed most nights, yep he would scratch if hurt but I would rather a child learn from that than a serious bite from a dog.

I don’t think the situation sounds ideal for many dogs, if you are so worried about the interaction with your son I wouldn’t bring one into the home at all. Maybe was until he is older and more able to understand what is ok and not ok. A large robust cat could be a better option as long as you understand if he’s too rough and gets scratched it’s not the cats fault. Not sure why the confused symbol????

Lol very cute.

I have had mostly good and only a couple of bad experiences, generally I have done as much reasearch on the Breeder and their dogs as possible before even contacting them. My choosen breed is poodles so over the years I have learnt which ones are (basically) registered puppy farmers and which ones are legit good breeders. Look into what health testing is required for your chosen breed and make sure you see proof it is being done, don’t rely on a breeders word. My worst experience was purchasing a 10 month old Samoyed that apparently wasn’t quite up to show standards, had him flown to Vic, within 24 hours knew something was wrong, booked him in the following week to be castrated and have his hips and knees xrayed. He has such severe hip dysplasia on both sides the vets advised us not to wake him up, he was pts on the spot. I had done my research on the breeder but after much pushing found out the dog never belonged to her and she was just the go between to make it easier for the person to rehome him.

The whole experience dealing with breeders can be very daunting especially if it’s a breed you haven’t owned before. I have noticed certain breeds seem to be worse than others, over the years I’ve never had an issue dealing with poodle breeders (and a couple of other large breeds) however at one stage we wanted a different small breed, I contacted numerous breeders and either they didn’t reply or they were straight out rude and because we had kids we were apparently unsuitable owners. After trying for a few months we gave up and bought a cross of this particular breed, the experience was so bad if it had of been the first time to deal with breeders I probably would not own another pure bred dog. If breeders want people to buy their dogs/pups they need to be approachable and give people a chance, not just write someone off in one sentence. It is still customer service and often it is seriously lacking.

You are mostly right, rescue dogs unless they have lived in someone’s home for 3 months minimum you can’t be certain what you are getting and personally there’s no way I would spend any where near the amount of $$$ on such a risk as I would a dog with known history, unless they had been in a foster home for some time and been vigorously tested in numerous situations with other dogs, cats, kids, livestock, men and they were guaranteed to be suitable and safe. My Mum is a perfect example, went against my advice and adopted a very large Great Dane Bull Arab mix from a well known shelter, apparently she tested cat safe and dog friendly. Guess what she hates cats, tried to attack my mums elderly girl, is fine with other dogs when off leash but is aggressive when on lead. My mum is now stuck with a 50kg dog that needs a lot of careful management, she lives outside permanently and the cat can’t go into the backyard. As a past rescuer/foster carer every dog that came through had a vice and it was a matter of matching them to a home that could accommodate, the only way to do that is to keep the dog in care for long enough to see what is issues were, many rescues move their dogs through too fast and shelter dogs behave very differently once they are in proper homes. In saying all of that buying a pedigree pup doesn’t guarantee you won’t have issues, my old standard poodle girl came from a great breeder, parents fully health tested, both came from long lines of show dogs, at 8 years old she was PTS after trying to manage serious aggression issues, I did lots of research before getting her and had owned and rescued numerous poodles, we did everything right however it wasn’t until a year or two later I found out there were issues in her lines, and even though she was healthy and very sound in every other way nothing we did would have changed her temperament.

Had our first bad encounter with an aggressive off lead dog since moving, I have spoke with the council but not sure if I should report it to the local police as well. I had Rascal and Hugo on lead (and my daughter in the pram) had just entered the local footy ground and a large dog ( from about 30-40 metres away) took off from its owner and charged, it went for Rascal, luckily he has quite a bit of coat so it missed skin which gave me time to kick it in the ribs twice, sent it running back to its owner. I yelled at the owner to put it on a lead ( yes I swore) so she started carrying on. If I had of been a lot further in my pregnancy or I was one of the elderly people in town with their little dogs the outcome could have been quite different and I have no doubt this dog would have done some damage.

Its a difficult situation, I gave up rescuing after many years because it was no longer mentally or financially sustainable, we could have paid our house off if I had never rescued, instead I let guilt get the better of me. I could have charged more especially since I only took in poodles and the odd little fluffy, I chose not to because every one of those dogs had some sort of vice and I preferred to have as many homes to choose from so they would find the perfect one, if the price had been too high many of them would have unlikely found the homes they did.

$350 for a dog with all vet work is a very good price, I used to charge a similar amount when I was doing private rescue and I rarely zero’d my vet account. The last dog I rescued ( a few years ago now)took me almost 12 months to get rehomable, he needed a special diet, had monthly vet visits, had multiple visits to the skin specialist, had major dental work, ear infections, eye infections, most of his body was covered in yeast and he arrived crawling in fleas, on top of needing castrating, he cost me around $3000 and he was just one of many. I do think the rescues charging $600+ for xbreeds is a bit much, also the one rescue group that charges $500 but you have to purchase another $250 of products before you can adopt, it’s nothing but upselling. We were going to adopt a kitten through this particular group (animals are in pet shops and vet clinics) the kitten was $200 but we could only adopt if we spent another $250 on products and they were not flexible on those products, even after I told them I had three other cats and all the necessary stuff at home. Ended up going to a much better local rescue group payed $120 for our girl and that included the next flea treatment, worm tablet and a weeks worth of food.