Dame Aussie

I really hope this dog has actually been to the vet.

There are health reasons to not desex pets also so yes some people will "have a problem" with doing it..... if you want to desex, go for it, but I won't accept being told what to do with my animals just because some people can't stop their dog from getting pregnant. I have had undesexed animals for years and not one pregnancy, it's called being responsible.

I'm so sick of people getting away, literally, with murder in this country

Oh great! Will send one off later, thanks for posting! :)

Oooohh....that's exactly what we've been looking for but we have a house we'd need to rent out at the same time......sooo tempting!!!!!

Well of course people can do that but at best it may be a band aid solution to a continual problem. If we were talking about the OP observing possible neglect of dogs in a suburban back yard I suspect we would be recommending he contact the RSPCA. The minimum requirements of food, water and shelter are likely not being provided in this instance and though we have sympathy for people in a homeless situation we still have to consider the welfare of the dogs. I think the initiatives such as Mita described are great. The problem is that if the RSPCA take the dogs they will probably just be PTS when as far as we know they were more than happy where they were. There's plenty of water and shelter on the streets and most homeless people I see with dogs always have some kind of food for the dogs. Just because the dog doesn't live in a house doesn't mean its neglected, that's a strong word and I suspect most dogs that spend every minute with their owner feel anything but neglected.

Yes. Puppy pics are compulsory :)

We got our second dog from the pound and brought our girl along to meet him then. As soon as they met they just went nuts play fighting and the day we brought him home I think they played for about 4 hours straight....I wouldn't recommend that for such a little puppy, our boy was big even at 4 months :laugh: but I think as others have said just let them sniff and get to know each other with supervision.

Love it, not the part where he got punched obviously, but it sounds like he did a good job on the guys face

Bloody hell, too much of this going on, it's going to get to the point where you can't even let your dogs out into their backyard before a thorough check

F10. Was the only thing we used at the shelter due to parvo. It is expensive but you do dilute it quite a bit depending on what you're using it for.

I have a 4 yo and a 3.5 yo and wouldn't change anything :) we didn't plan it that way, we got her and then he came up as a rescue and we couldn't say no :)

Agreed, but I'm afraid that not all owners are responsible. We've come across bitches in season at the park, and that's not fair on the bitch or any of the dogs. People either just don't think or care. A lot of people don't even use dog parks, me included, due to attacks, so what's your point? My dogs can't be happy because they don't go to the dog park? Well I use dog parks all the time and it looks from where I stand, so do a lot of people in my area. We have never been in a situation where there has been an attack. My point is yes, my dogs would not be happy if they don't go. You do what suits you, and I'll do what suits me and my dogs. It's just the way they are brought up. It's our quality time together. Maybe you live on the wrong side of town? :laugh: Yeah that's right, blame me for where I live for my dog being attacked by some idiots aggressive dog. Nice. I think you will find that a lot of people, in all kinds of areas (shock horror), don't use dog parks for all kinds of different reasons and have dogs that do things like obedience, agility and herding with other dogs instead. Also I would remind you that I never judged you for using them or said that your dogs would be happy if they didn't go.

I also think people are still ignoring the fact that the dog can still bark and still makes a noise. Just not as loud.

Agreed, but I'm afraid that not all owners are responsible. We've come across bitches in season at the park, and that's not fair on the bitch or any of the dogs. People either just don't think or care. A lot of people don't even use dog parks, me included, due to attacks, so what's your point? My dogs can't be happy because they don't go to the dog park?

Are your dogs desexed? That's quite a big operation to put our dogs through for our own convenience. Not trying to be controversial, just putting forward some alternate thoughts :) Lol yes my dogs are desexed. Not so much for my own convenience (apart from the mess with the little miss) more so for their safety and to make sure less puppies are in this world that don't need to be. Not trying to be controversial and all... but the way I see it most of the time a barking dog is the result of inaction by an owner. I understand the OP is elderly etc but I've recently seen a similar issue with a youngish girl who had a kelpie in suburbia and was not willing to work the dog like it needed to be and ended up re-homing her to a farm where she is doing much better. It was the best thing for the dog. At the end of the day the dogs needs have to be taken into consideration before what we want. You say you desexed your dogs so they won't get pregnant/impregnate another dog....I could say that the reason you did that was because you couldn't be bothered keeping your dogs secure/safe and took the easy way out by desexing....the same way you're saying owners can't be bothered to stop barking and take the easy way out by debarking. Quite contradictory.

Possibly due to barking, but it's no excuse, this kid of thing makes me absolutely livid. Disgusting human beings, if someone did that to my dog they'd regret it. ETA: I'd be moving too.

Strawberries are meant to be good teeth whiteners :). I didn't know that!! More strawberries for them then :laugh:

I LOL'd :laugh: This is what ours do with things they haven't had before.

That sounds way over the top to me! Obviously I'm no vet and haven't seen his teeth but that just sounds ridiculous and I wouldn't be risking two anaesthetics a year just to keep teeth perfect if they aren't that bad to start with.

I haven't found anything my dogs won't eat :laugh: They especially love their 'nana. :)

A lot of the time white poos are due to a lot of calcium, ie: bones in the diet. If you regularly feed bones this would most likely be the reason. I always notice white poos whenever we feed a lot of bones :)

Spot on

How is the dog attack mentioned in the story at all related to desexing?! That's laughable.

I think it's the kids who aren't kept away from the dog rather than the other way around.