tdierikx

Oh - and I don't want any of my dogs running with any strange dogs... T.

I feed my 4 separately - and would want them to be separated completely for feeding. Zeddy and Pickles can run and sleep together if needed; Trouble and Pickles can run and sleep together if needed; Harper can run with Pickles, but don't let them get too excited doing zoomies or someone will get hurt, and they can sleep together; Zeddy and Trouble cannot be together at all; and Harper and Zeddy need to be separated because Harper knocks poor Zeddy over sometimes. Never run Pickles with 2 of my other dogs; and don't run Harper and Trouble together because they play crazy zoomies and it's dangerous for all involved. I'd hate to have to entrust all 4 of my dogs to an unknown boarding facility... aarrgghh! Can I fly them over to you if I need boarding for longer than a week OSoSwift? Wonder if Dogtainers do bulk rates... lol! T.

I need to find some pics of my Rotties... digital cameras were only new for a few of my guys, so there may be the odd pic on one of the hard drives I have lying around here... or I may have to scan some actual photos on the nice big printer at work... Even now when I see a Rotti out and about, I ALWAYS ask the owner if I can have a cuddle - and those that say yes, their dogs never disappoint... I get the full face wash and smooch... *heaven!* T.

Reality and the truth have never been known to sway PETA followers... sad, but true... T.

There are good and great boarding kennels out there... but if you've never boarded your dog before, really how are you going to know which ones are the ones you want to trust with your dogs? Almost anyone with the kennel space can get a boarding license, but we all know that the license isn't the bit we really want to know about with regards to the business of caring for other people's pets... I'm lucky that I have a friend with kennels who I would happily trust to look after my dogs if I needed to go away for a short while - and even my neighbours are happy to look after my dogs at my house in an emergency, like when I had to go to hospital a couple of years ago. All that said - I haven't been on holiday for years... I actually prefer to stay home with the dogs... lol! T.

It's amazing how many people refrain from making complaints about roaming and aggressive animals because of fear of reprisal... but if they aren't reported, how in hell do the powers that be know there IS a problem? Catch 22 really - if you don't tell anyone who CAN do something about it, then how do you expect them to DO something about it? Seriously people, if the problem in your areas is that big that it impedes you being able to enjoy a walk with your dog, then for dogs' sake, report it! If the powers that be get enough complaints about the same issue, then they may be more likely to bloody well follow it up. T.

It's amazing how small a Rotti can fold itself up in order to fit on the furniture without anyone rousing on them... *grin* I remember once when I had the 5 Rotties, and I got a new lounge... my mum asked me what I was going to cover it with, and I immediately said "Rotties"... she just gave me "the look" but kept her thoughts to herself for a change... lol! I'd happily own more Rotties in the future if the opportunity presented itself - the best breed bar none in my book... I only have crossbreeds at the moment, but that's what happens when you get involved in fostering - always end up with at least one "failure"... lol! I wouldn't trade any of my current lot for anything though, so will bide my time until I can have another pure Rotti... Zeddy is half Rotti, does that count? T.

I think I have vastly underestimated the number of nutters who exist in society. :laugh: Ummm... yep... ditto here! T.

I was trying to keep it a secret lol MUP - you have worked damned hard - revel in the accolades girlfriend, you deserve them! Actually a lot of the area pounds down that way have a great rescue network working tirelessly in the background to help get dogs out of those pounds and into rescue/homes. Without great people like MUP, ninahartland, Rhonda & Marshall, et al, that area's impounded animals would effectively have no future. You all need kudos for your great work. T.

Beautiful video koalathebear... you made me cry... but good tears... Thank you! T.

What "value" do you put on a companion animal? What is a "fair replacement cost" of a such an animal? The dog was a Cav cross, so going by the "retail price" of such a mix, maybe $600-1000? Not a huge incentive for the kennel to change their practices to any great degree, is it? But this was a dog whose owners cared enough about it to try to select a place for it to stay while they had a short holiday - somewhere they thought that it would receive proper attention and care and be safe while they were away. Instead, they were faced with a dog owner's worst nightmare - a call to tell them that their dog was killed by another dog while in care... The truth of the matter is that anyone who receives a call like that is going to be somewhat traumatised - and that really needs to be addressed when trying to ensure that those responsible take strong note of the fact that their negligence has caused this trauma. The only way that a business will change it's practices to ensure that an incident doesn't ever happen again is to hit them where it's going to do the most harm - the wallet. Money will not bring the dog back, and it won't change the owners thinking about their dog's last moments of fear and pain... but it might just send a very strong message to that kennel business (and others) that they need to be a lot more careful with the lives they've been entrusted with. T.

If any of my dogs did something like that, they'd be at the vet being euthed long before any "authorities" were called... that sort of behaviour is NOT acceptable under any circumstances! Buggering off nonchelantly after the fact is seriously bad form by the owner of the offending dog. Serious consequences should be visited upon them. T.

Says it all really... PETA have a philosophy of NO pet ownership for anyone - so why are we surprised that they kill as many as they can once they get their hands on them? T.

Lol sorry first time I have heard of the term 'cranky or slutty bitches' being applied to female dogs :laugh: I clearly have never owned an entire female. Seriously - some females can be a nightmare to live with when in season! It's like they've been possessed by some evil spirit a la The Exorcist... scary! As for slutty - well... I've had bitches that would back up to anything with a pulse when in season... most embarrassing when one has visitors... *grin* T.

I'd say it depends on whether the person who owned the rodents decided to complain to the authorities/media about a dog attacking their pet rodents. I don't want to sound judgemental here, but if my dogs showed intent towards another friend's small pets, I'd probably not take my dogs to that friend's house. It only takes a momentary lapse of judgement and disaster could happen - then bye-bye friendship, etc... Unfortunately, society has decided that dogs out in public MUST be completely bomb-proof - they are not allowed to show any form of aggression (or even over-friendliness for that matter) in any circumstance - for fear of upsetting someone or something... *sigh* T.

I think this thread needs to become a Carter appreciation thread... what a handsome boy! Feel free to post lots more pics cartersmum... *grin* T.

Wonder where my friend Juice is .... she can attest to the fact that I adore her Bull Terrier "Bon" and her previous Bull Terrier "Mason" in particular. I thought Bull Terriers were Bull Breeds - funny about that. As Yonjuro said, only in the last fortnight I was trying to assist his friend's Rotti cross. As I have said numerous times before, I spend plenty of my spare time assisting dogs - of all sizes. Still, I can talk till i'm blue in the face - and i'm probably blocked by the right people now who will just accuse me of lying if they saw this post - i'm happy if they are happy. :) I'm not trying to pick on you dogmad - just letting you know how some of your postings on the topic can come across. I am someone who used to have a complete fear of small fluffy dogs... because I had encountered so many that just weren't nice at all... and most had shown varying levels of aggression towards me. I have been pleasantly reappraised of the ideas I used to harbor about small dogs through meeting a large number of very nice small dogs - but I'm still quite leery of any small dog I don't know rushing towards me. The thing is that I don't jump at every opportunity to espouse my thoughts about small dogs and present my experiences as evidence that all small dogs are nasty snappy things that will bite first and ask questions later... funnily enough, it wouldn't be completely true - regardless of my first hand experience with so many nasty ones. Again, just for clarity's sake, I agree with your thoughts about irresponsible owners of large or powerful dogs... but please don't pass comments that come across as tarring us all with the same 'bogan' brush. Many of us large and bull breed dog owners are just as responsible as you are. T.

Here are some shots of Teddy's littermates when they were at my place... Tiger - with Harper Tori Tango Toby They are all so different... and Toby has the biggest boofhead on him, but has the gentlest nature ever! T.

Who couldn't want to cuddle those two dogs? Beautiful! T.

I can see where dogmad is coming from with regards to dogs of size and strength not being under any effective control - I agree fully with that part of her regular gripes on these forums. What I don't agree with are some of the generalisations about certain breed types that can be a part of what dogmad posts here. Stating that she'd report the same things "if it were a Jack Russell" that attacked just doesn't cut it for me I'm afraid... because we all know that the likelihood of the media reporting a "savage attack" by a small breed dog is pretty slim. There are also my face to face conversations with dogmad on the topic of certain breeds that reinforces my opinion that she just really doesn't like ANY strange bull breed type dogs... I keep threatening to introduce her to my Zeddy to show her that not all bull breed mixes have a thing for her small dogs, but she hasn't taken me up on the offer... *grin* T.

I've also been involved with rescue for some years now, and agree that it's part of the package to desex rescue pups before adoption. My personal preference for my own male dogs over the years has been to keep them intact. I've never had any issues with intact males - and the only male dogs I've owned have been Rottweilers (to date). My preference for females is desexed, but that's because I don't really want to deal with cranky or slutty (and messy) bitches with any regularity. I currently have 4 female dogs, and the last 2 additions are "failed" rescue fosters - neither was desexed as a young pup... Pickles had her first season before desexing (and her growth plates had started to close), and Harper has just been done in the past couple of weeks at 10 months of age (her growth plates are starting to close). There was never any worry that the rescue girls weren't going to be desexed - I'd prefer they stay one-of-a-kind dogs thanks. My 2 older dogs were done as adults between the ages or 2 and 3, and had each had a litter prior. As for temperament or physical changes after desexing - haven't been any major changes in any of my 4 girls apart from Pickles becoming more settled and "grown up" - but that may also have been due to her just gaining maturity as well. She can still be as silly as the next dog when it suits her... as can nearly 14 year old Zeddy... lol! None have gotten fat or lazy, and all are in astonishingly good health - so much so that my vet hates me for not visiting more often... *grin* T.

Dogmad is an incredibly lovely lady - I know because I've met her on a few occasions... and I would happily call her a "friend"... *grin* That said, she does definitely have a "thing" about certain breed types - and even moreso if they are not under control (which I can actually understand). T.

Tell me about it... A couple of weeks ago in the rain and dark, I pulled over to try to get 2 loose Dalmatians off a busy road (managed to catch one and keep him safe from the traffic) - other drivers were blaring their horns and scaring the dogs even more, making them do more erratic dashes in and out of the cars. FFS people - 5 lousy minutes was all I needed of relative calm to catch the other dog and stop her holding up the freaking flow! I had to give up because it was impossible to get near her when the cars kept scaring her and making her dash off again. She so wanted to come to me too. Peak hour is not a good time for a dog to be scared and loose near a busy road... *sigh* Upside is that both dogs ended up safe - I took the boy to the nearest vet who called his owners to come get him, and they managed to find the girl and get her home a couple of hours later. I was ready for the inevitable dog meets car scenario too - and the vet clinic was only a 2 minute drive away if I had to get there fast with an injured dog. T.

The problem with the block button is that it blocks ALL content from a particular member... however, some of the participants in the aforementioned stoushes actually usually post stuff that I find interesting and useful... Such a conundrum... block and lose the chance at the majority of stuff posted that isn't breed bashing related... or use self control and don't pay any heed to the negative stuff that is actually quite sparingly posted... Think I'll take the self control method... my mum would be so proud of me... *grin* T.

That's fine by me if it can prevent any newcomer who has come to the forum for advice being castigated and conescended to by others. Especially Dogmads obsession of bagging big dogs & especially Bull breeds. As soon as I see a thread by them, I know what it will be about. It's upsetting seeing that on a dog lovers forum. You need to block her then. It is getting tiring reading the same reply after everything she posts. As tempting it is to reply negatively to certain types of postings - I find that they tend to decrease more readily if they don't get any attention. I understand where you are coming from though mantis... and I'm not fussed on seeing posts that appear to be bagging out certain breed types at every opportunity either - but getting into a slanging match about it each and every time is also very tiring. T.