Souff

I also think the term is over used, and probably misused. It has little to do with dogs resting heads on other dogs, that is more a matter of fraternity and personal comfort. To me the dominant dog is the one who can walk into a room, and all the other dogs will look at her/him and seemingly say, "What was that you wanted, boss?" The others do not take the lead, they fall in behind. The natural order. Recognise it and respect it, because otherwise there could be tears. Dominant dogs command respect from other dogs in secret doggy language, and when a younger one decides to make a challenge, then everyone will know who is really in charge, and you will perhaps have another vet bill for antibiotics for the torn lips and bleeding ears. Sigh. Souff

I don't think anyone here is advocating that Steve .... the tough decision should have been taken in the neo-natal stage. These pups have such a lot going against them but it is too late to turn back now. If others can learn that it is kinder in the long run to take the hard decision early on, then something will have been achieved by this thread. Deformed animals should never be exploited by humans in any way at all, and their long term prospects must always be put ahead of the emotions of humans. jmho. Souff

Virtual candles are just perfect, HM. Excellent idea. I am off to light one in the garden as well. Souff

I am sure there will already be a post on here, but I just wanted to ask everyone to please light a candle for all the dog lovers in Japan, and there are many, and their pets. When that candle goes out, light another one. They are going to need all we can give. Souff

We live in a very grim world where animal welfare organisations can take to using deformed baby animals as exhibits for PR purposes. Circuses and sideshows are no longer allowed to have the "fat lady" or to put the deformed dwarfs out there as exhibits. Those hideous practices were outlawed years ago. But now it is seemingly OK for animal welfare organisations to exploit deformed baby animals for their PR purposes. The gawking general public can now get their kicks by looking at legless puppies on the internet. Disgusting. Nothing else. Simply disgusting. REAL animal welfare organisations know why birds toss deformed young out of the nest, and why mammal mothers will dispose of deformed young, and they should respect the natural and logical reasoning behind these happenings. REAL Animal welfare organisations know that such animals are destined to a short life of pain, yet those that sell themselves as animal welfare organisations today will sell their actions as "helping" these poor little dogs, when in fact they are not helping the animals at all, it is simply helping to generate publicity for the organisation. Exploiting deformed puppies. It is so very hard to have respect for the people running these shows. Souff

But these dogs are not in the show ring. They are in advertisements. There is no way that breed standards can be enforced on sellers, except by canny buyers who know the breed standards. You wouldn't believe what some people THINK they own when they buy a puppy and part with a lot of money ..... and then along comes Souff and says something like, "the seller told you it was a WHAT!!!! ? " And until somebody educates our Dept of Fair Trading to know what purebred dogs really are, according to their breed standards, unscrupulous advertisers will continue to get away with fraud and puppy buyers will let them get away with it. Souff

And no doubt the owners of dogs with naturally short tails took a kick too. Wish we could curtail the activities of the shortsighted in this world, including politicians and narrow minded dog owners who cant see that improvements to a breed can help the dogs as a whole. Unfortunately Jemima cant be curtailed, she just loves the limelight too much. Souff

Seconded!

oops

Still broken and painful, and not cosmetic. If somebody did something similar to what was done for the Boxers, the Dals might have a solution to their problem. Sometimes life is about thinking outside the square, not sitting around and waiting for somebody else to fix a problem. Souff

30 minutes to check a dog? Your boss must be slower than a wet week. Take a packed lunch to that one!

Vets are not a charity and they have more than their fair share of people who skip town without paying. They have to pay their suppliers of the anti-venene and it is not cheap. They also have to pay their staff and all of the other overheads in the place. For anyone who wants to use something a whole lot cheaper, something that has been proven to work,and something you can have in the frig at home, just Google "Vitamin C for snakebite". Country vets have seen the results. Most vets wont tell you about it, because there is no money in it for them, yet ironically, it was an American vet who made the discovery about 100 years ago. The pharmaceutical big boys don't write up much about his discovery though, no money in it for them. The knockers will tell you it doesn't work. Those of us whose dogs lives have been saved, know that it can work and we didn't have a $1400 bill. Our bill was less than $30. Souff

Ho hum. Broken and painful tails on young Boxers are cosmetic too I suppose. Souff

pssst Raz, me and PE are planning on being immortal .... That photo slams home just what other people are living through.

Put her in a wheely bin. Only in the UK. No, PE, only in AMERICA Souff

Would be nice to be able to say "Gee, that couldn't be right" ..... Souff

Next I suppose somebody will be taking council's planning department to court for putting a dog offlead area in a known possum habitat. "Endangering native fauna." But I suppose that they would just use the cop-out that the insurance companies use: Act of God. Or in this case, Act of Dog!

Sooner would be preferable. Like now.

Cool

Wings probably got iced up. It is VERY VERY cold over there right now. Souff Shame on you, Souffle. It's nearing the end of the Mayan calendar that's doing it. Let's head off to Bugarach and wait for the alien invasion to save us from the Apocalypse. Tom Cruise will probably be there bunkering down with his tin foil hat. Sorry, can no do. Am waiting for the UFO Society to call and they wont talk to me on mobiles. Too risky.

Wings probably got iced up. It is VERY VERY cold over there right now. Souff

To do this there has to be more than 1 sicko in Leicestershire and for the sake of everyone else's dogs I hope they catch them soon. This is a revolting thing to do to any animal. Souff

They just don't seem to .... the scenario is as old as dogs themselves. Souff

The conspiracy theory fans will jut love this and the US military will be blamed for doing top secret nuclear practice runs I spose. Sonic booms, magnetic force fields, little green men with pointy heads ........ oh dear. Souff

Toxic algal blooms happen along the NZ coast and the dead fish wash up on to the shore. If dogs eat the dead fish they can die too. Souff