tdierikx

Ring council and complain When I worked at the kennels, I stayed on site for a few weeks, none of the dogs barked at all at night time, and if they did (even one bark) the next door neighbors would be on the phone to council about it! The friendly local council contact has numerous voicemails (with timestamps) at all hours of the night with the choruses of barking at a pitch that he reckons it's hard to hear the actual speaking. There is also a diary with decibel meter readings that is being sent in every week. The police have been called regularly for noise complaints after midnight - not that they care much about it, or are actually willing to do much... Community mediation has been suggested, but considering that the owners of the boarding kennels seem to take great delight in yelling abuse at anyone on our side of the fence, I don't see that as a viable option... grrr! Is it a bad thing to wish that someone's business venture fails just so you can get some bloody sleep at night - it's OK for them, their house is way down the other end of their property from their kennels - THEY get a great night's sleep by all accounts... T.

Happy Birthday Rex!!! T.

Try being next door to a boarding kennel whose proprietors have no idea how to keep their charges quiet... barking 24 hours a day from about 30 dogs who aren't exactly happy about being dumped into kennels while their humans go for a holiday... You don't even want to hear the excuses that the proprietors have come up with as to why their charges bark non-stop. Maybe exercising the poor buggers for more than 1 hour a day would be a start... or moving the fence fighters to kennels next to non-reactive dogs so they won't set each other off... don't let 5 bloody dogs loose in the area directly in front of the kennels where all the others can see them... grrr! T.

I forgot about the chewing on the house stuff... I must fix the hole in the kitchen wall and put in new door frames... errr! Suggestion: my neighbour brought home a chunk of railway sleeper for her Goldie/Lab cross to chew on... it worked a treat, and they don't have house damage... *grin* T.

My 4 year old Lab girl is STILL pushing boundaries... but she's been doing that since she was 10 weeks old... I'm used to it now...lol! T.

I find it's amazing how quickly one can crate train a puppy. I have crates in my bedroom where my rescue fosters can see me or my adult dogs on the bed - they tend to settle pretty darned quickly if they don't feel abandoned and lonely... they hardly ever poop in their crates (wee a bit though), and the current lot have got the routine of storming for the back door and out into the yard as soon as the crate door opens. They squeal a bit for a feed, but that only lasts a few minutes while I'm preparing their bowls - then they are totally happy to spend time in the yard exploring or playing. I'm sure that when these (currently 9 week old) pups go up for adoption, I'll be fielding the calls asking whether they are obedience trained and/or fully house trained, whether they are good with kids and cats, etc... ummm... they are 9 week old puppies for dog's sake! My standard talk to prospective new owners of a pup is that how the adult dog turns out is a reflection of the amount of time, effort, training, love, attention, and respect you give the pup. Give it all of that, and it will be returned a thousandfold for many happy years... T.

Happy to hang out in the corner with you fine folk... *grin* T.

Funnily enough, my dogs are the ones that get the invites to come over for dinner... I'm just their chauffeur... lol! Seriously though - what person in their right mind brings a dog to a get together without an express invite to bring the dog in question? T.

We got through last night pretty unscathed - even though some yobbo neighbours had been letting off fireworks since the minute it got dark enough to see the pretty colours... grrr! I had the TV up loud tuned to the fireworks on Sydney Harbour, and Zeddy was more settled than normal - only popping her head up from beside the couch when the local bangs were too close for comfort. Trouble slept through it all as normal - and the foster pups were totally unfazed by it all, even when they were outside going potty... I didn't get to bed until after 1am due to the neigbours and their seemingly endless supply of fireworks... and back up again at 5:30am when the foster pups decided it was time to go outside, have breakfast, and play in the yard... *yawn*... guess who is going to be having a nanna nap on the couch later? T.

I have the black metal crates with metal trays for my foster pups - they have bedding and water in there (they get fed outside) - and a toy or two... my current 4 fosters share - two pups in each large crate... T.

Well - when I was feeding and playing with both of your dogs at Christmas - there were absolutely no signs of any lumps on Jodie's face - and we had lots of kissy cuddles. I'd be going with the most probable diagnosis of an infected follicle or gland - Jodie could have been rooting around under a bush for her ball and spiked herself on something, and it's just got a bit of dirt in it and gotten a bit of an infection... see how it responds to the AB's and cream... ... and you know that Stephen is great at giving the possible worst case scenarios for things that may be simple - Karen or Julie would have most likely given a better diagnosis methinks - they practice (and see) much more than Stephen does nowadays. Just think - if Jodie had a secondary cancer lump that came up in a matter of a couple of days - she would definitely be showing other signs of an underlying bigger problem - especially for a skin mum who is attentive to her babies as you are. Besides - who did the FNA on the lump? They may have gotten it in the wrong spot... has happened before... When you go back for the followup, try to get Karen or Julie to look at Jodie - they will work out what it is pretty quickly I reckon, and put your mind at rest. T.

And this is exactly why many people here will be reluctant to participate in your study... Personally, I would be reluctant to have a DNA swab done on my dogs to be potentially used in another study of which I have no knowledge of the desired outcome. My girls have been brought up to not be overly friendly to strangers when I'm not at home - however, they are totally differently behaved when not on their own territory. How do you measure that? I see the potential for misuse of your results by certain lobby groups to "prove" their points about certain types of dogs. Dogs are also like people when it comes to developing certain behavioural traits - environment plays a MUCH larger part than genetics in how an animal will "turn out"... T.

Way to go Grover and his excellent vet! T.

Funnily enough, most of that comes from good socialisation and training... very few dogs are born that way... You don't need to do a PhD thesis to know that... *sigh* T.

No dog is going to fit the description given by Erny without some effort on the part of the owners... if you train it, it will more likely do what you ask of it... if you love it, it will return that too... if you leave it in the back yard and don't interact with it, it will be more likely to be antisocial... Personally I like my dogs to have distinct characters and personalities... a little bit "broken" is my perfect dog... *grin* T.

Came across a couple who were looking for a white male staffy... anyone got any ideas where they may source one? They are currently looking at rescue, but the only white staffy we have is a girl, and they have their heart set on a boy. Nice couple whose old white staffy boy recently passed away at an advanced age. T.

Silly dog hasn't licked any spider spray has he? T.

I'm not an "Average Joe", so I wouldn't want someone else deciding what kind of dog would "suit" MY lifestyle... my girls are pretty much chalk and cheese in their breed mixes and temperaments - but they BOTH suit ME just fine thank you! I'd be a little suss about someone offering to take behavioural data AND a DNA swab of my dogs to try to determine which breeds tend to display certain behavioural traits - environment plays a huge part in how a dog will "turn out" behaviourally IMHO... T.

Aren't blue Staffords about as "rare" as rocks nowadays? The average Joe looking to buy a dog doesn't really think much about breed standards or health testing - they just want the pretty puppy... *sigh* T.

Sending another hug for Steve... he could do with one methinks... Crossing everything that Grover comes good nice and quick, and you find out what caused it... so that it never happens again! T.

Crossing fingers that Grover made steady improvement overnight Trish... Hugs from me to Steve, and hoping that he's holding up OK... T.

Jasmine certainly is the luckiest girl to have found herself with you guys... she and Jack do make a great pair! T.

Well said Muttaburra! T.

I'll second your opinion on that! Grrrr! T.

It's truly amazing the crosses you see in rescue... the strangest mix I've see so far was a Staffy/Maltese. Funnily enough, a lovely couple came in looking for a Staffy (for hubby) or a Maltese (for wife) - I said that we may just be able to fill the bill with ONE dog... lol! Needless to say they both actually fell in love with the "fluffy Staffy", and they adopted her. She is now living the good life heaped with lots of love and attention from her new skin parents... T.