Crisovar

Uhm, why do you think the OP should pay the entire bill? If her dog had not been there, I doubt there would have been an injury. I agree with lorraine, people get talking to rellies, around the water cooler at work, etc. And can I add that situations and peoples attitudes can change. Currently going through a situation with a tenant which started out fantastic for about 5 years and has now turned sour. If the puppy didn't stick its foot under the fence it wouldn't have happened.

Uhm, why do you think the OP should pay the entire bill?

I do not think you have any responsibility under the circumstances to pay anything. Keeping the peace is important though, but seriously $4000 is a huge bill, I really don't know what I would do.

Once again we have a case of someone else possibly being expected to pay for the lack of responsibility of another. Pups owner is responsible for keeping their pup safe as far as I am concerned, OPs dog was in its own yard and all reasonable precautions had been taken to keep her dogs and other people and animals safe.

Definately food for thought, I don't know what the answer is, I do know that somehow we need the public to start taking responsibility for their actions. There have been some interesting threads on here recently, and it really does seem that more and more people expect someone else to clean up the mess. Ownership of animals is a big responsibility, one not to be taken lightly, but when things get tough there is always someone else to blame or to pick up the pieces. I think it is sad that baby puppies have to have their reproductive organs ripped out to prevent some idiot allowing them to breed. I think it is ridiculous that people beat their chests and wail fowl when local authorities destroy unclaimed and unwanted animals. Equally sickening are the people who use emotional blackmail to try and get rescuers, shelters and councils to take on the unwanted litters that they were too damn lazy to prevent. We live in a world where no one wants to accept responsibility, yes maybe we are making it all too damn easy.

If the dog is genetically programmed for a good coat you are almost there, after that it is feeding and grooming, and ensuring no internal or external parasites. Fleas can ruin a coat almost overnight. There is no substitute for a good diet and regular grooming to distribute the oils and keep the coat clean and improve skin circulation. A diet that does include some fat, oily fish, chicken skin, lamb breast etc, dogs do need some fat, regular brushing with a good bristle brush and keeping the dog fit through regular exercise than all the lotions and potions in the world. Many people feed a completely lean diet then have to add supplements to compensate.

The child is a product of parents who have not taught it how to interact with dogs, if that makes a child evil or a monster then we live in very sad society.

I work with dogs of all shapes and sizes every day, I find the the so called DD frustrating because of the crap that the people that buy them believe. Educating people that they are being told a pack of porkies about these dogs is not going to happen by insulting the dogs. There are some purebreed dogs I personally wouldn't own because I happen to find them very unattractive, if I was to come on here and say that XYZ were bog ugly everyone would be up in arms. Breeders of PB are not going to win any friends insulting the dogs, they are dogs end of story, how they look and if we find them attractive or not is personal opinion. The facts are, they are not tested for hereditary diseases, they are sold with no life time backup, bred by people with little or no knowledge about the breeds they are crossing, and are not in any way shape or form genetically superior to any other breed. There is no way to guarantee that they do not shed, will not affect allergy sufferers or if they can wash and iron. Ugly is a matter of opinion, some of the ones that I deal with are actually lovely looking dogs, they do not look like any breed in particular because they are not, they may be unsound, they may have naive gullible owners but they are dogs, like any other.

Before you run down crossbreeds, I suggest you be aware that many people on this forum have crossbreeds and that stupidity and eating whatever they feel like trying isn't limited to crossbreeds. There are also many attractive crossbreeds. I have no doubt Rivergum are puppyfarmers but running down crossbreeds wins you no points. Im not running down crossbreeds? I have a crossbreed myself. What I am saying is that the oodles from this place are extremely dumb dogs. Granted I have only met two, but they were both from different litters several yrs apart I tend to think they are typical of what these ppl produce. Perhaps you should not be so quick to assume.. Maybe they both belong to someone who has not trained them. 2 dogs 2 different litters but same home, coincidence maybe.

I agree with Jed and Ellz, rehoming older dogs is a hard decison and done in the best interests of the dog. Good breeders don't take this lightly, and do it when necessary, without this we would have less good breeders for the public to buy their well bred, well raised, healthy, happy pups from. As far as taking back dogs, good breeders do this or at the very least assist to rehome the dog to a suitable new family, but theyhave to be aware of the need first. It is alarming the number of people who do not even consider contacting the breeder when things go pear shaped, your breeder should always be your first port of call. Some rescue groups also do not attempt to contact breeders, even in cases where the breeder is known.

Have a look in the BARF and Raw Feeding threads, heaps of info in them.

I find that when I use the 30, he is not nearly bald -still has quite some fur on him, i'll post it the next time I clip him. And the 30 doesn't make him look poodle like either. He is supposed to have fur, he is a Schnauzer, I don't quite get why you want him to look so skun. A #10 is certainly as short as I would go, most that I do I use a #7 and they certainly don't suffer here in the Qld climate.

Yes i know, big mistake. Never again! The itching has settled down today "phew". Thanks all for the suggestions. He is still a bit irritated, just went to the supermarket looking for the Curash powder, never used it before so don't know what it looks like and asked the staff there. They didn't know what it was. Is it like baby powder? And what is apex cream and where could I get it? I've clipped the body using a 10 before but i think its too long. I prefer the 30 clip - i know the schanuzer is usually a 7F or a 10. A 30 clip also means he is cooler in summer (with less fur) and that he needs clipping less often. When winter comes, I use the 10 blade and probably let it grow out a bit to keep him warm. Never again am I using a 30 on the tummy! Is it harmful to give him a shorter clip using the 30 blade - i mean in terms of fur molecules or blood circulation. I notice his body is generally very warm after a clip - with both the 30 and the 10 blade. His body isn't actually warmer, it feels that way to your touch because you have removed the coat hence the insulation between your hand and his skin. Same as with hairless breeds they "feel" warmer but the body temp is actually the same.

What number blade are you clipping with? If your blade was hot you may have burnt your dog. If you have some Apex cream put it on and it will soothe the clipper burn/ itch. If he is getting itchy after clipping, a soothing bath with Aloveen shampoo will also help. I bathed him with Aloveen before I clipped. I'm not clipping against the hair and I'm pretty sure its not heat from the clipper. I think I clipped it too short - using a 30 blade, read somewhere that thats what to use for the tummy area (can't remember where). So mad at myself for causing the irritation I've clipped with the 30 blade on the tummy before twice and both times were fine so not sure why this time is different. I can't put any cream on him as he keeps licking. I only clipped the tummy today, his coat is still pretty short so I left it alone. For the future, is there anything wrong with using the 30 blade on his actual coat? I think the 10 blade leaves the hair too long. A #10 is heaps short enough, you wouldn't need to ever use a #30 on the body if that is what you are doing? I use a #7 for the body on most of the Schnauzers I groom. They are supposed to have some coat :wink: #10 for the tummy is fine too, Curash powder is good if they are irritated, unless they have really sensitive skin if the blades are cool and sharp and the dog is clean you shouldn't have any problems.

I think the way we keep dogs is vastly different. When I was growing up our dogs went where we kids went, if 6 kids were playing under the tamarind tree after school there would be at least 2 or 3 dogs, they socialised differently, they had heaps of fun doggy things to do. One of my dogs and an old cattle dog didn't really like each other so we took it in turns sending one home. Our dogs went tadpole fishing, played hide and seek in the cane fields, swimming in the river etc, they were not bored and rarely needed structured exercise, Maybe modern lifestyle, smaller yards have contributed to the problem. I do however strongly believe that the way that dog bites etc are handled these days is different. If you teased a dog and it bit you, you got a kick up the backside, end of story. Now it seems that the public expect stuffed inanimate objects that their kids can do whatever they like to and the dog dies if it snaps. Sleeping dogs, dogs eating, dogs with bones were left alone, you were not cruel to dogs, it was common sense. We have sadly little of it these days.

"Her right leg also has a seven-centimetre gash that may require a skin graft during surgery this evening." (a) Doesn't sound like the bite of a small dog; (b) She was holding the Foxy in her arms, from which it bit her face and fingers. How did it bite her leg? BTW, when was the last time a big dog was mauled to death by 2 small dogs? Not the dog's fault, of course. Big and little dogs have no concept of size when it comes to fighting. However, big dog owners have a greater responsibility to prevent this sort of situation from occurring as the consequences (ie the death of an animal) are so much greater. Crap, it is the responsibility of all dog owners to contain, restrain and train their dogs. I suffered terrible injuries as a child from a small dog, any dog is capable of injuring a person or an another animal, theya re DOGS not stuffed toys, regardless of their size they are still dogs.

"Her right leg also has a seven-centimetre gash that may require a skin graft during surgery this evening." (a) Doesn't sound like the bite of a small dog; (b) She was holding the Foxy in her arms, from which it bit her face and fingers. How did it bite her leg? BTW, when was the last time a big dog was mauled to death by 2 small dogs? Not the dog's fault, of course. Big and little dogs have no concept of size when it comes to fighting. However, big dog owners have a greater responsibility to prevent this sort of situation from occurring as the consequences (ie the death of an animal) are so much greater. I have a scar longer than that from a dogs dew claw, it was an accident, the fact that she has has injuries from being in the middle of 3 dogs fighting means very little I'm afraid, you get in the middle you risk injury easy. It certainly doesn't mean her dogs intended to injure her. My horse injured me when I rescued him from a tangled rug, was he dangerous, NO, but I put myself in a dangerous position.

How many ACOs do you know personally, you have just made a pretty large and totally unfounded assumption. I could assume lots of things about you from your recent posts. Wonder if they are correct. I think you need to take a chill pill.

Sigh

What was a Rotty and RB cross doing loose in her front yard anyway? What if a child had come past and tried to swing on her fence? Would the dogs have lunged at that intruder too? At the end of the day it's not how DA some breeds are, it's the damage certain breeds are capable of doing if something provokes them. And before you ask: She described her first dog as an "an RSPCA special" that she had owned for 10 years. "It's meant to be a Rhodesian Ridgeback-cross but it's got lots of different varieties in it. The other is a rotty (Rottweiler)," she said. The dogs attacked another dog that invaded their yard, that does not mean they will bite a child, how many times does it have to be said. Every time a dog fight or DA thread appears we have the same comments. It matters not what breed the dogs were, another dog entered their yard. I'm not sure what the point is mentioning the breeds in your post. My small dogs wouldn't take kindly to a strange dog crawling under my fence, they certainly are not child eaters, same goes for my 40 kg boy. On neutral ground or supervised it could have been a very different story.

What a lovely old man, there is something very special about old horses, they are one of my favourite things. My old boy trotted over the bridge just prior to Xmas, he has left a huge gap in my life, he shared his afternoon feed with a young magpie and often a pair of ducks would wait patiently to see what he left for them. Treasure the photos and every day you have.

All power to them, let's hope they succeed and bring the spotlight on to the RSPCA tactics.

That is the chance we take if we live near livestock with dogs. The fact that the dog was roaming through some freak event doesn't make the damage they cause any less a disaster for the owners of the livestock. Unless you happen to know the dogs personally and it is obviously an out of character event, you don't have time to find out why they are creating mayhem in your paddock. I have rung neighbours and warned them I have chased their dogs off and that they will be shot if they return, luckily it was daylight and the dogs were easily recognisable. One lot took my words very seriously and have been excellent about it all, another lot I think it will end in tears.

How many "accidently escaped and played with stock" incidents should livestock owners have to endure. Personally I am sickened by some of the injuries inflicted by "just playing" "just likes to chase them" pet dogs. How many sheep, or horses should we watch be injured whilst we try to work out what the dog is up to. If one of my dogs managed to end up in someones paddock with their stock, as much as I would grieve its loss I would accept the reasoning behind the gunshot. As animal owners it is our job to keep them safe, for me that means keeping my dogs secure, and my livestock safe. Tell that to the foals and lambs that didn't get a chance even to stand, to the sheep and goats with no tongues and windpipes flapping in the breeze, to the horses with broken or degloved legs, then tell it to the owners of the same.

The virus is shed in Faecal matter, so you can literally walk it in to your home, drive it in on your cars tyres.