Tim'sMum

Just about sums the person up though, doesn't it. Unfortunately people, who don't know what he is like 'off camera' (just ask people who had to or still work with him)......still listen to him and accept his advice as knowledgeable. He is supposedly a Horticulturist, yet can't even get gardening tips correct...so when did he become a dog expert, especially on intricate points of breeding?

No sas....the first warm days of spring are when they start to come out of hibernation and look for a mate. Early September is not uncommon to see snakes about. We have skinks that are just emerging in the last week...and snakes will follow. Loulou is just being true to her breed I guess GB....brave and fearless little dogs that they are.

Poochiemama....you will discover that some people can only what can be described as 'anal' when it comes to fenced dog parks. According to them... Every dog must be watched every nano-second of the time you are there...and woe betide any dog owner whose attention is dstracted for even one of those nano-seconds, even if they are bending over picking up a poo. Your dog should be under your control at every nano-second you are there....which means you probably have to be able to run the equivalent of the '3 minute mile' to keep up with your dog while it runs with the pack and happily socialises. Your dog must be totally 'bomb-proof' in that it loves, adores, worships every other dog it meets at the park...even if that dog is wary, humps your's continually or is intimidated by your dog. Owners of these other dogs are to be snarled at and villified for having an unsocialised dog, of course. Owners who keep their dogs on lead are to be treated with deep suspicion....and it is 'de rigeur' to assume that their dog is dog aggressive and unfriendly. That's the perfect world of dog parks! Now, the reality is.... There will be people who bring their dogs to the park...and that dog is intimidated or overwhelmed by the number of other dogs and may get into an altercation. It may be their very first visit....who knows? How does anyone know how their dog will react to a park full of many dogs, all hyped by the experience, until you take them? The only totally laid back dogs I see at our local dog park are two Wolfhounds, who usually just sit or lay down. Everywhere else you look, there are dogs of all breeds, all shapes and sizes....running, playing, chasing a ball, socialising. sniffing bums and having fun. It's a frantic place at times. You are obliged to pick up dog poo...so yes, your attention might be diverted while you do so. If you have more than one dog...and they head in different directions, you have to try to watch both and be close to both at exactly the same time, which is not easy. This is why I keep one of my dogs on lead...and let the other off lead. No, the one I keep on lead is not dog aggressive, but she can be a intimidated a tad more easily than my other dog and does not have the recall that the other one does. She may not be terribly bright, and as a rescue, came to us with no training, no manners, fearful of other dogs at times and with little socialisation...but we love her and have made huge inroads with her behaviour, although it may never be perfect. ;) I have had other owners come up and ask me, if I need to keep my dog on lead...should I even be in the park at all? If she is on lead...she is under my control. If another dog comes up to her and their body language tells me that it is not a happy meeting then I have far better control than if she was off lead. NO dog is perfect....and each dog is an individual and will prefer some dogs to others. The occasional altercation will happen when you get so many dogs in one enclosed relatively small area. The variety of dogs can be mind blowing...from rare pedigree breeds, pound rescues to puppy farm puppies and cross bred BYB dogs. You cannot expect every dog to be of 'sound breeding' and have a totally even temperament. Even extremely well bred pedigree dogs may have their rare 'moments'...as much as some people will try to tell you otherwise. If a dog is intimidating yours...step in between them, be confident. I did just that recently when an owner was panicking about another dog getting into the face of his dog. The 'intimidating' dog was a young boofhead Amstaff who was just being a bit pushy and the dog being intimidated, a timid G. Retreiver, was cowering at his owner's feet. The owner kept going 'shoo' to no effect. I stepped between the dogs and firmly told the Amstaff 'No' acouple of times until he backed off and I found his owner and alerted him to his dog's behaviour...in a friendly and polite manner. It was appreciated. There is usually never a need for nastiness. The way to cope with dog parks is to perhaps expect the unexpected. You should certainly be vigilant, you should get to know dog body language, you should expect that NOT every dog is going to be perfectly behaved 100% of the time. You should understand that there will be the gammut of owners there too...from the highly experienced dog handlers, arrogant owners who think their dogs are perfect or who are ignorant of dog behaviour as well, the 'middle ground' of owners who love their dogs but may not be totally knowledgable about dog behaviour (the majority and me included) and then you have first time dog owners...the newbies. If you have a bad experience at a dog park, the alternatives are to avoid it entirely, or try again, first checking that the dog that has attacked your dog before is not there. You cannot assume that every other dog is perfect or that every other owner is in total control 100% of the time.....and there is absolutely no point about being anal and pontificating about what other dog owners should or shouldn't do. There is no 'elitist' rule that only purebred, therefore with known temperament dogs are allowed in dog parks. Anyone can and does go to dog parks. Dogs can be off-lead or on lead. Visiting these parks, there is always a risk....so you either accept that risk or you dont.

Thank heavens Loulou is OK. I guess that is the nature of JRT's and snakes....they just can't help themselves from having a go.

Warning bells are ringing here. The dog would certainly be unsettled, being in a new place and left with strangers but I would be extremely cautious if I were you, as you are obviously quite fearful of him. Do not make eye contact with him, have confident body language and IGNORE him if you have to go near him. Personally....I think you should be telling the owner, your housemate, to organise something else for this dog. Leaving you to care for a dog that may be aggressive, and seemingly quite a dominant dog is a huge ask.

Our previous neighbour had to move when the house she rented went up for sale. She was getting a bit desperate, trying to find somewhere she could rent with her impeccably behaved Staffy, Ned. I wrote her a reference from a neighours point of view...outlining what a good neighbour she was, how well maintained she kept the house and garden etc., but mainly praising Ned as a lovely dog who was well behaved and very, very quiet. The reference got her a rental house that was not advertised as 'Pets OK'. The rental market is ridiculous around here. My Chiropractor and his fiancee rented a local small 40 yr old cottage on a main road and were told they had to leave....and were led to believe the house was to be sold. They were paying $500/week. Fortunately the only pets they had were 2 chooks, who have gone back to live with one set of parents, while they moved in with the other set of parents. 2 weeks after moving out of this house it was put up for rent again...at $620/week. Good tenants of 5 years, who had spent their own money repainting the house, were turfed out for no other reason than the Agent wanted to put up the rent by a wopping 25%. They have since found out, via a former neighbour, that the landlord, who lives overseas, knew nothing about them being turfed out of the house so the rent could be increased. Is it any wonder that people are forced to surrender their pets in such an unscrupulous rental market? :D

Hmmmm! So true Ceilidh. At our previous house I was a 'lost dog magnet'. I even found them sheltering under our front verandah, as if to say 'Yep, I know the lady here will look after me!' Calling the Ranger was always the last resort for me. If they had a tag I would contact the owner straight away. If no tag, and the local Vet was open, then I would walk the dog there to be scanned. If chipped, the Vet would then take over and hold the dog until the owner/s were contacted and picked up the dog. If not chipped they would contact the Ranger to pick it up. A few years ago I found two dogs, both owned by the one person on a Sunday afternoon. I kept ringing the phone number on their tags to no avail...just kept getting message bank. Eventually, as the Vet was closed, I rang the Ranger, who said that the Pound facility (another local Vet) was closed so could I please keep them overnight. One was a rather nice dog, but the other kept trying to bite me and wasn't keen on my dogs either. It was an interesting night. The Ranger arrived next morning and took the dogs. He rang that afternoon to say he had tracked down their home. The owner was overseas and had left a friend to house-sit and look after the dogs. They had got out when the friend had been out all day. Dogs get out for all sorts of reasons...tradespeople, even burglars leave gates open. Storms knok down fences. One dog that I found escaped when the cleaner arrived and stupidly left the front door open. With accidents like this, I think it unfair to fine an owner whose dog is normally well contained in adequate fencing...especially when fines are pretty exhorbitant with some Councils, like ours. I know one dog, a beautiful pedigree Staffy, who was stolen from her yard. Someone jemmied open a key locked gate to take her. She was dumped two suburbs away...possibly because she had been desexed not long before and you could see the operation scar quite noticeably. After being dumped she was then hit by a car. The Council ranger picked her up and took her to the local Pound, which is also a Vet and her owners were contacted via the microchip. Not only did these owners have extensive vet bills to have her badly broken leg pinned....but they were FINED for 'allowing the dog to roam', despite a Police report stating that she had been stolen and the gate had been jemmied open. It may be the law to contact the Council Ranger straight away but there also should be some flexibility....and it should not be just a case of revenue raising by fining the owner, and/or fining the rescuer who may hold the dog briefly until the owner is found.

I wish I had got this dog as a puppy...but she is a foster failure and was past puppyhood. I would leave the door open too, which I do in summer but on a cold rainy night, the draught is not good. Both usually do 'pee on command'. I take them out just before I go to bed....but 'Miss I don't like getting wet' really balks when it is raining. Putting the leash on would incite a riot....leashes mean 'walkies'.

Dogicide = what you contemplate when.... It is peeing down with rain and one dog walks downstairs 5 times in half an hour, obviously needing to go outside to toilet. Each time, you walk down two flights of stairs, open laundry door (with the doggy door which both dogs refuse to use )...dog looks out, sees it's raining and runs back upstairs. One the 6th attempt, you thrust dog outside and shut the door....then tentatively open it, hoping dog has gone down to the grass to pee/poo or whatever. Dog is standing there...wet and forlorn and bolts inside. Dry dog. Go back upstairs. Dog yet again goes downstairs. Again you manhandle dog outside...muttering 'It's only bloody rain, you are not going to melt/drown/die!' Shut door again and wait. Eureka....open door and dog is not there. Dog is peeing on the grass! Dog finishes peeing and bolts back inside. Dry dog...again. Return to cold cup of coffee...contemplate committing 'dogicide' if said scaredy cat dog wants to go outside again in the next hour.

Love the steps MM....they are a great idea for little 4-legged people.

Can you provide a source though? If not, it's best to be clear upfront that what you're repeating is hearsay only and not fact- that's what I'm getting at. Either way, it's clearly a terrible thing but spreading misinformation (as this can only be considered, given no sources are apparently available) as fact really isn't productive. Does it matter? There are two scenarios. Foxes either stowed away on ships from the mainland or were deliberately released. No-one knows with 100% surety, so arguing the point is a waste of space. The fact is...foxes are there in Tasmania and must be eridicated to stop an environmental disaster. Ellz...here's hoping that your fox will be caught, trapped, eradicated. I imagine baiting, as they do around here (buried 1080 baits) would be difficult as Tasmanian Devils could also dig up the baits?

I'm having problems with Danni at the moment. She had a chunk of beef knuckle bone yesterday and is now badly constipated with probably a bit of the bone (it seems) in her lower bowel. I had her at the vet at lunchtime. He put some sort of suppository (forgot the name) in her bum and said bring her back tomorrow morning for an enema if it doesn't work. It hasn't worked yet...and I suspect we have a long night ahead. UPDATE this morning....we have poo!

Any breed dog, not just Boxers and SBT's can show fear, run...or even lash out if put into a situation where they are amongst strangers and in an unknown environment....and as in this case, suffered a trauma. It's called fight or flight! Yes, these two breeds can be dominant, but so can many other breeds. These two breeds can also be pathetically friendly and totally goofy big boofers. Each dog is different and until you see that dog, get to know it, spend time with it...you have absolutely no idea how rehomable it is. Making presumptions over the internet, without meeting the dog in question, without speaking to those who know the dog and have cared for it....and basing those presumptions purely on a dog's breed or combined breeds is really no different to BSL....as I pointed out previously.

I did get the gist of what 'weak nerves' means Jed. It just seems to be a rather archaic term though, although one obviously used by breeders. To explain it's meaning......a 'weak nerved' dog shows avoidance or aggressive behaviors in response to non-threatening people, situations or objects. I can understand that with a breeder, this is a trait that is not wanted but....in a rescue dog from an abused background some of this sort of behaviour can certainly manifest intitially. As I will say again....unless someone has met the dog and has observed it's behaviour over a period of time, they cannot judge if the dog is rehomable or not. ;) My Kelpie X (a rescue) could be described as 'weak nerved'....as he shows avoidance of objects and situations tha by rights should be non threatening. He is often a 'big girl's blouse' in new situations, like currently with me trying to get him to use the new doggy door. Just putting a new tick collar on him makes him creep about pathetically like he has been beaten. Yet, he would have to be the most brilliant dog I have ever owned. :D

And another macro...just to show I am not totally obsessed with flowers. I do far better with subjects that don't move....like my BIL's cat..Gypsy.

Being obsessed with macro....I really wanted to capture the amazing patterns in flowers and nature. A sunflower was a pretty good subject.

Jed....I remember the trepidation of going home from hospital after 2 days, with 50 stitches in my noggin after surgery for a parotid tumour. I looked like Herman Munster! The good things about going home were a comfortable bed, no lights on at night and yakking nurses, not being woken at 'sparrow's fart'....and no more hospital food. I really do think that recovery is usually better achieved in a home environment, even if it seems a bit premature.

Poor nerve or weak nerves, which is what I believe was meant, is inherent in the dog, . If I was breeding b oxers with poor or weak nerve, I would desist, or change lines. Weak nerved dogs are often dangeerous, and fear biters. If you want more understanding, check out the BSL forum, there is a thread there on weak nerves Thanks Jed. The expression 'weak nerves' is a rather strange one. It brings to mind Victorian ladies having the vapours and needing smelling salts. Still.....I get the impression from those in the know..ie: Iffykharma, that this dog is certainly capable of being rehomed responsibly after a bit of training. Any responsible rescuer, with a mixed breed dog who has been abused, would and always should be somewhat careful about where they rehome that animal. It is not uncommon for rescued dogs to be untrustworthy with cats. Neither of my dogs (both rescues) have been exposed to cats. As for small children....any dog that is boisterous (as both SBT's and Boxers can be) should be considered as not entirely suitable either. If, for some reason I had to rehome my dogs.....I would stipulate a home with no cats and preferably no small children. Both dogs can be boisterous, especially when they do zoomies around the house and my Staffy would probably spend her time trying to sit on a baby. She is not all that light, has a thing about wanting to be physically close to people and will even attempt to park her bum on my Mum's lap...and Mum is nearly 90 with osteo-arthritis. As for other dogs....my Kelpie X is very friendly with the majority of dogs but the Staffy is choosy with other dogs when it comes to who she likes and who she doesn't. I see nothing wrong with a rescuer specifying certain conditions with a new home....you see certain specifications quite often on Petrescue etc.. Not every dog is totally 'bomb-proof' 100% of the time. I felt SBT123's call to have the dog PTS, just because of the breed mix and certain quite normal specifications for rehoming, totally uncalled for and shows the same attitude that brought BSL into existence....'The dog is a certain breed or breed X and comes from an abused background, therefore it is always untrustworthy, so it should no longer exist!' Not having met the dog just compounds SBT123's arrogance.

Umm...Clifford was a Pitbull or Pitbull X was he not? He was certainly not an SBT. I think we all know what happens with Pitbulls at the RSPCA. 'Weak nerves'.....is that a medical condition. I am assuming you mean timid ? Should we PTS every dog that is timid? Thanks for the explanation Iffykharma.

Have you met the dog SBT123? How many rescuers here on DOL have taken on difficult dogs and with a bit of love and a lot of training have managed to turn that dog into a well behaved dog? My own Staffy (foster failure from Staffyrescue) would have been PTS under your criteria. It seems the RSPCA can do nothing right. If they did PTS this girl, people would say they didn't try. So they are trying to give this dog a chance...and the likes of you are saying....'Wrong! Kill her!' Honestly? :D

One more day on your road to recovery Jed. Hope you are sleeping and eating well. Still thinking of you. RIP Maggie....she was a stunner.

Rubbish! :D Just like any dog....with training, which she will be given, and time, she can learn. She is obviously a still young and poorly socialised Staffy X Boxer....with both breeds being quite boisterous. That does not mean she does not have the ability to learn how to be a well behaved and sociable dog.

Jed...they are lovely tributes to your beloved dogs. We all share your heartache. I hope each day has you feeling a little better.

I was just checking for updates as I do every morning and there is a post written by.....JED! I had to look again, was I seeing things? No! It's you! Wonderful to see you back Jed.

Even cuter than the previous pic that I saw of him Gayle...if that is possible. Congratulations on your new addition!