tdierikx

My letter started as follows... "With the current media announcements that you are adopting a "Spoodle" puppy, may I offer both congratulations on deciding to add a dog to the family - and some regret that by choosing a "designer" bred dog, you may be inadvertently popularising a breed that is known to be "farmed" for the pet market. As a volunteer for a rescue group in Sydney, I have had the sad experience of having to help rehabilitate ex puppy farm dogs that have been used for breeding crosses such as a "Spoodle" - and while I am sure that you and Mr Mathieson have chosen a breeder who may not mass produce puppies for sale - please be aware that for those who may follow your lead and may now want a "Spoodle" puppy, their pups (most likely to be bought from pet shops) may not be bred as lovingly as yours. If it is not too late, may I please ask you to reconsider your choice, and maybe look into adopting a rescue dog instead? So many totally lovely and healthy dogs in Australia end up in pounds and shelters annually, and the rescue community is doing their utmost to save and rehome as many of these animals as possible - with no funding or assistance other than recouping the cost involved to desex them" I didn't mention that I don't vote Labor... lol! T.

All of the Rottis I've ever had have been complete lounge lizards... given the choice between a comfy couch or the back yard, they preferred to laze on the couch... and I've had several Rottis over the years. My Lab, on the other hand, was hell on wheels until she turned 5 and started to calm down. PP are you home a lot, or are you away from home for several hours a day? I work, so my dogs are kept inside (in areas they can't do much damage to) with plenty of toys and stuff to keep them occupied while I'm out. You could consider a large crate or the like if your girl is causing issues with the neighbours too... T.

Great idea! I'll send one this arvy. I just sent one too... T.

I'm sure I could rustle up a Cavalier/Poodle pup from a bitch rescued from a puppy farm... at least the rescue pups will have had a much better start to life than what she's looking at getting... *sigh* T.

Gypsy is a Mini Foxy X... Caspar - Staffy X ACD... Dutch - AmStaff... need to ask KnucklesDutchnUs for permission if you want to use his photo - and they may be able to furnish a photo of him now he's grown up... Buster - Staffy X Kelpie... Zeddy - Rotti/Pittie... T.

We had a mini pig piglet in rescue last year - he played well with some Shih Tzu cross pups we had at the time, and slept snuggled up with a Cavalier at night... T.

The breeder should have the first right to rehome the dog. It's not ethical to try to make more money on a purebred dog. I don't see it as "unethical" to rehome a pure breed dog for more than a crossbreed if it comes into rescue... as long as you don't expect to charge the same as a breeder does for their dogs. An extra $100 or so can be used for so many other things for other dogs in care. There is an area for comments about the dog when entering microchip info on the NSW CAR chip database - in Pickles' case, we put in that she has an unsteady gait due to a brain injury... just in case someone picked her up and took her to a vet for unnecessary procedures due to her funny walking style (ie. they thought she'd been hit by a car and hurt). I don't see why details like "contact breeder xyz on abc in case of surrender" can't be added in... or something like "breeder rehoming contract in force, contact xyz on abc in case of surrender or stray situation" T.

If our rescue gets in a pure breed dog where the breeder detail is known, we call/contact them first - if they decline, then we desex and rehome ourselves. It's a simple courtesy after all... We also contact the breed clubs if we have a pure breed dog in rescue that needs rehoming - most clubs are great for helping find the right home for the dog. We have also passed on certain breed dogs to their specific breed rescue group. T.

I have used peppermint oil with good effect before... put a drop on the collar (not on the skin side) and it has a calming effect on the anxious dogs that get sick. T.

I know of at least one Sydney pound that scans on surrender - and if there is any discrepancy with the chip detail and the person doing the surrender, the dogs stay at the pound in question until the rightful person is contacted - they are not available for adoption or rescue until the issue is sorted. Our rescue had our name on 2 crossbreeds where this was the case - we couldn't take them until the co-owner on the chip had signed them over as well. As for rescue or a shelter charging more for a pure breed dog - I'm not averse to that myself. We've had pure breed dogs at our rescue on occasion, and even though we might have a lot of other dogs available for adoption, the phones always ring off the hook for anything that looks pure. People love a "bargain"... *sigh* Oh - and being second contact on the chip doesn't designate ownership... I'm always second contact on my friends' dogs - purely so that there are more possibilities for contact if the dog is lost. T.

I've usually found that if certain types receive correspondence asking for further information on a tenuous subject, they will ignore it, hoping it will just go away... they prefer their followers to get swept up in the emotive - and in some cases illegally gained - "information" they spout... T.

I'm not sure you can be on the fence, all animals (we already know in humans) can be born with mental instability. Yeah - but that doesn't necessarily mean they will be feral... like I said, my old girl was a nutter as a pup - she had no social skills that didn't involve biting and holding on until she heard a yelp - human or animal. A lot of early training, love, and attention to detail diverted those tendencies towards things that were much more rewarding. Who knows how she may have turned out with someone who just plonked her in the yard and didn't train out the worst bits of her nature? T.

I've never noticed a difference between the sexes per se... but different dogs can smell different I suppose... My current 3 are girls and all smell the same - which is no odour really - unless Zeddy needs her glands done... ewww! T.

Have a really good look at this pup. I love how he stands and looks really confident - and he was a right handful as a foster pup... *grin* (he's actually a Chi/MinPin) How about this girl? She was as cheeky as... (she is a Mini Foxy X something else small) This girl's mum looked Staffy/AmStaff cross... ... and here is her sister... And here are 2 of my current dogs... the black girl is a Rotti/Pittie and the blonde is a Lab/Dingo - the Lab will do much more damage in a fight too... T.

My pure Rotti heart dog was 11 when she went to the Bridge... her nephew was 13 when he decided it was time to join her. They both had quite advanced arthritis by the time they went, but it didn't seem to slow them down too much if there was a tennis ball on offer, or a cat to remove from the yard... *grin* My current Rotti X girl just turned 12 and shows no sign of slowing down - even though she is getting greyer around the muzzle by the day it seems. She has a little bit of arthritis in her knees - but that only slows her down a little bit when we have cold weather - she can still easily jump up onto the bed or couch and play zoomies with foster pups... hehe! T.

That poor scared white dog with the beautiful light brown eye markings in the pound cage... I got something in my eye at that point... probably not with us any more... *choke* I'm glad that I'm in NSW right now - one of my girls fits the "look" on the "standard" sheets... and "dangerous" is the last word that would describe her... I know this may be a long shot, but does anyone think that it might make any difference if some famous dog "whisperer" that is coming to Australia soon could be convinced to have a chat with the committee in charge of this whole stupid debacle - he knows the breed better than any of them, and may have some salient points they could use to determine "dangerous" rather than just how a dog looks? Quite frankly, my Labrador can do a hell of a lot more damage than my Pittie cross - just ask the police who tried to break up their last fight... the only reason they didn't report my Lab as possibly dangerous was that the fight was in my back yard, and the Lab showed absolutely no inclination to attack a human or the other dogs on the property. T.

Jakey seems to be a little fighter... let him lead you, OK? Gentle cuddles and some ice cream from me... *grin* T.

A well bred Labrador, Goldie, or Rottie pup would be fine IMHO - check out some of the breeders on the DOL breeder pages for listings... call them and have a chat about what you are looking for, and they may have something to suit that particular family's needs... I can't speak highly enoough of the folk at Goldir Rescue also - they match dogs to families very carefully, and have heaps of very happy forever families. Check them out at http://www.grr.org.au/ - give them a call, and I reckon they will be able to find you a match... T.

I'm a little on the fence about animals being "born bad" - there are a lot of factors that influence behaviour patterns - both positive and negative. That said, if you have a very young pup that displays overtly aggressive behaviour, then the sooner you start working on the issue, the better - preferably with a well qualified trainer. My 12 year old girl was not exactly the most evenly balanced critter when I first got her at around 5 weeks old from a BYB FTGH ad in the Trading post - we started her behaviour modification training right away... and she has developed into a well balanced and friendly dog that interacts perfectly with everyone and everything in public places. Without that early training, who knows what kind of monster she could have been... T.

There isn't much that is cuter than a Lab puppy, is there? Congrats Tua and all! T.

Figure 3 on page 4 is a pretty pure looking Stafford... doesn't look like Pit Bull at all... T.

I'm just glad I don't live in Victoria. They already have the most draconian dog laws in the country... typical that they would add more idiotic ones... grrr! T.

I'd love to see the written standard they have developed... with the pictures... T.

Way to go Charlie - not letting your condition get you down! Hugs from me and happy "woo-woos" from the girls... T.

Male or female... some people still look for a certain breed type to "improve" their machismo rating. It seems to be about a "tough" looking dog, rather than good stable family pet, for those types... *sigh* Personally, I like the larger breed dogs, and bull type breeds do feature in the list of dogs I really do like the look of... but the last thing I'm looking for is a dog that will dominate me or any of my family and friends - that would be just stupid IMHO... Anyone still doubting the nature of a well cared for and loved Pittie cross, come on over and meet my 12 year old girl Zeddy - she will help you get over the prejudices about what the "breed" is like... if you can handle 30kgs of lap dog... *grin* T.