Souff

Every animal hoarder has neighbours and family members and friends who know what the hoarder is up to, and they CAN prevent the problem from exacerbating. They all have eyes and the ability to see, they also have mouths and the ability to speak ..... and they should be speaking up LONG BEFORE the problem gets to the disgusting levels that we have seen in the media. Neighbours stated that this woman was coming to a storage unit to feed ten (10) cats ..... that in itself should be enough to get the authorities there to check it out. Ten cats, not living with their owner, is an unusual situation in itself. What if she rented a few storage units around town and filled them with cats too? The hoarder themself is unlikely to seek help. Those around them MUST seek help, even if only for the sake of the animals. Souff

Will be an interesting few months ahead in Queensland. The pet shop industry will already have worked out how to rort the system and it will be up to others in the decision making process to be aware of this and to put safeguards in place. To date, only registered purebred dog breeders have been visible and accountable - the others (the majority) have been lurking in the shadows and have been answerable to no organisations. No system is perfect but if this makes some of the others visible, and a little bit more accountable, then that has to be an improvement. Lets hope that the policing is adequate, because that will be as important as what is written into the legislation. Let's also hope that the Queensland Government are not completely snowed by the self-interest of those who see themselves as "peak bodies". Souff

Merry Christmas to all at RSPCA ACT .... may your financial worries not be too big (and thank you again to Mita for her interpretation of the media article) and may you continue to lead the way in how RSPCAs operate. It really sounds as if you are going back to what the RSPCA was intending to be about .... animal welfare and the PREVENTION of cruelty, i.e. education. In an ideal world purebred dog breeders and the RSPCA should be able to get along harmoniously. We once did. But we saw too many things that had a stink, we saw the rorts, the conflict of interests, and many of us walked. Then, when the RSPCA decided that they needed to get governments to bring in jackbooted legislation to try and make criminals out of dog breeders, well, that's when the good ship lollipop really fell apart. A uniform doesn't have to be hated, it can be respected. Methinks that Michael Linke and his team are gaining respect because of improved policies. And you never know, but, if you are respected, the donations bucket might just fill up faster! Souff

Beautiful dog, beautiful cart. Pat on the back for OH please, and a huge pat for your Newfie for not getting stuck into all those bikkies in the cart ! Hardly anyone ever mentions that dogs like Newfies and Rottis were regularly used in harness, and loved it, delivering things around the place on a daily basis. Thanks for the reminder and the lovely photos. Souff

Happy Christmas Troy! Seasons greetings to you and yours! Thank you for being so saintly patient through yet another year ... hope you had a few laughs along the way (cos Souff did) Clyde was very nice putting all those lovely Christmassy icons together ... all ready for Souff to copy/paste .... what a good little elf that Clyde is :D Souff

Such is the power of the media, and the gullibility of many who watch television. It would be nice if the term "Genetic Vigour" had been used instead and if people were schooled to understand that we do not have an unlimited supply of genes for the dogs. That the gene pools of purebred dogs should be protected, not decimated. It is a while since I did the projections on the future of purebred dogs in Australia but it was something like 20 years .... less for many of the smaller breeds - such is the impact of the amount of de-sexing and crossbreeding in this country, and all the legislative deterrents that are being put in place by legislators, urged on by people who think they are "helping to save a dogs life". In their quest, they are helping to wipe out the future of healthy purebred dogs in this country. Gene pools cannot rebuild themselves, they need our help to have sufficient numbers to be healthy, to survive. Souff

Totally agree Kinsella.

If people keep putting good breeding stock on limited registers and if people keep on de-sexing those dogs which should have been retained in the gene pool, then not much will be in the favour of ANY of the gene pools because there wont be anything much worth breeding from, in this country anyhow. The countries who do not have limited registers will fare much better. Mixing up the gene pools is not the answer. Depleted gene pools only exacerbates the problem. Souff

Good to hear. There is no other reason to crossbreed dogs today. Breeders who are breeding to improve a breed do it from the same breed's gene pool, by using different lines from within the same gene pool. There is absolutely no need to raid the gene pools of other purebred dogs. Dogs that are crossbred are a total waste of the genes from the original gene pool, because those genes can NEVER be put back into the original breed's gene pool. The breeds need their gene pools to be healthy, not to be raided by people who think that they would like to cross breed dogs. Souff edited for S & G

And with conflicting bone structure, which has formed part of the little English dog's disabilities. See original post.

It's no joke. Hybrid Vigour is a highly respected term in the world of cross breeders. I think the eminent Mr Don Burke can be consulted about it. Anyone who wants to cross breed dogs should consult him, he is a leader in that field I am told. Souff

Not at all still here. That was quite rude. Clearly you have nothing more sophisticated or educated to say then some smart ass remark. I am trying to be friendly and have a discussion with you and because I don't share your views you are being absolutely rude. Grow up. What is rude about the term "hybrid vigour" ? I think you are being naughty telling another poster to "grow up". I might have a word with Troy about that. I didn't say the term was rude it is the way you constructed your sentence. Especially after I posted what I did explaining that I wasn't in this for a fight I just wanted a healthy discussion. Report me that is fine. If telling someone who I feel is acting childish instead of participating in a adult discussion is "naughty" then I am happy to cop it on the chin. I still do not know what you are on about with the "hybrid vigour" remark. You had disappeared off the board and I just thought that as you were a dedicated fan of crossbreeding you had gone off to get some of the oft quoted stuff on "hybrid vigour". I honestly don't see how that is rude. You must have a different perception of things to me. Souff computer must be in repeater mode!

Not at all still here. That was quite rude. Clearly you have nothing more sophisticated or educated to say then some smart ass remark. I am trying to be friendly and have a discussion with you and because I don't share your views you are being absolutely rude. Grow up. What is rude about the term "hybrid vigour" ? I think you are being naughty telling another poster to "grow up". I might have a word with Troy about that.

I understand that there are forums just for crossbreeds so maybe that is a good place to be. This site is for purebred dogs etc.

What sort of "knowledge"?

I think Poodlefan has told you already that the American dog was an old Chinese Crested, a purebred dog, and I will make no comment on the aesthetic appeal of that breed. All of the pedigrees were NOT originally crossbreeds. And there is no such thing as "PROPER crossbreeding". Souff

Similar dogs that I have seen are fed minced food. Mush. Yes, the dog gets its nutrition but there is little to no chewing. This results in more dental problems of the teeth in the back of the mouth, and sometimes these are in the wrong place as well. These poor dogs do not have a normal life but have no end of care given to them by dedicated carers. Don't start me on the ethics of it all. Lets just say that I am not a right-to-life fan when the odds of a normal life are too far against you. Souff

I have seen enough who have jaws almost as bad as this dog's, where they cannot close their mouths to eat and chew food properly, where there tongues hang out of the side of their mouth permanently, and have the teeth outside the lips smashed off because they run into brick walls and things because their balance is bad probably because something else is twisted in their head ....... and that is only part of their problems in the head area! The body and joints are disaster areas as well usually. Nature intended teeth to be INSIDE the mouth where they are given protection by a hard bony jaw - teeth were never meant to be OUTSIDE the head of any mammal. This dog is a VICTIM of CROSSBREEDING. This dog is a VICTIM of CRUELTY. Neither situations are something to be celebrated - they are a both a sad reflection on humans who are supposed to be responsible for the welfare of animals. Even if he is the result of an accidental mating, there are humans walking around who could have prevented that accidental mating. We have an obligation to ensure that badly contorted bodies like Doug's NEVER HAPPEN and we can do that by either desexing non-breeding dogs or selecting the correct genes for the puppies. Probably this jaw and skull is a mix of a brachy breed (and there are a number of breeds to choose from) and a non-brachy breed. That people are celebrating the ugliness of this poor unfortunate dog says to me that we have more sick minded people in the world than I realised. Souff

Very true. Adverse reaction to anaesthetic happens and has obviously not been taken into account by the Greens politicians calling for mandatory desexing. Such dogs will be in the minority but I believe that they deserve to live and if we know that dogs from these lines dont take anaesthetic well, we should not be exposing them to anaesthetic if there is an alternative situation for them. I am speaking from personal experience and was standing next to the vet in emergency C-section operations only to see the problem that he was having keeping her alive - as an adult - after she reacted badly to the anaesthetic. Had she been anaesthetised as a young pup I don't think she would have stood a chance. As I have said many, many times before "blanket legislation" (one rule for all dogs) can never work. Nature has too many imperfections and too many variations for any legislation like this to be able to be applied safely across all dogs. In short, such legislation is UNWORKABLE and anyone sending in submissions against this proposed legislation would be wise to mention this. Souff

To all those people that think it is just fine to crossbreed dogs ...... dogs like Doug can be the result. You can see the badly twisted jaw and the odd eyes, but 10 to 1 there are a whole lot of other physical problems for this poor dog to suffer, amounting to a shortened life and PAIN. The publicity only focussed on his ugly looks. What a pity they didn't do a full physical and list all of his physical problems and highlight just how CRUEL it can be to crossbreed dogs. Souff

Similar case here after a bad leg break and it has taken over a year to get things back on track. Definitely track down a behaviourist and get some help. Having another dog around for short periods should help too so perhaps see if you can 'borrow' a friend's dog for a few hours now and then. Souff

..... and Souff's mother was a butterfly I see a lot of hound characteristics in her but I don't see much that reminds me of an Amstaff.

Sounding very positive!

It makes me mad that some people think they can blame anything on the Rottis and excuse their own poor dogmanship. Sending big Christmas hugs to all the gorgeous Rottis out there! Souff

That is a good move and hopefully more councils will do the same. It still takes dog owners to be aware that not all dogs love each other on sight though. Souff