megan_

I agree with MEH. This article could have been written by an ethical breeder, or it could have been written by a puppy farmer. I'm not going to post links, but most of them have a *very* similar rant on their websites. You know the deal: * purebred breeders hate us because we are competition and our dogs have hybrid vigour * animal rights activists want to stop us and stop all puppies from being born etc etc. There IS such a thing as an unethical breeder, and they ARE the scum of the earth. There is a new trend on dog forums too: If you ask a question, or hold someone to account then it is "breeder bashing". If you want to reduce breeder bashing, then workign to get rid of the unethical ones is the right place to start. No need to bash the general public. ETA: This line says it all Fill in the blank; "back-yard breeder" (or "BYB"), "puppymill" (a phrase coined by the animal rights terrorists to divide and conquer us...it's working, by the way), or a modification, such as "showmiller". I read it as "we're all breeders, let's stick together". If I was a registered breeder, I wouldn't want to be associated with a BYB or puppy farmer.

I think Starainis' (sp, sorry) dog lives with her - she is her pet. But that is in NZ. I want someone to post pics of a SAR chi!

EAch to their own. The reason I won't buy them is because there have been numerous cases of dogs getting very sick both here and O/S from eating pet food sourced from China. Something about adding melamine (sp) to them. You have to remember that the QA standard for pet food are a lot lower than human food. The first time I fed my dogs O/S pigs ears my boy landed up being hospitalised (he could barely walk and couldn't even hold down a sip of water). Maybe it was just a big coincidence but I'll never feed them again.

Different breeds don't always suit eachother. Sure, you can supervise, retrain (good luck with changing a dogs DNA...), time out etc etc, but why not get dogs that actually suit each other? I grew up with a staffy - loved her to bits - but I don't let my two play with them because their playing styles just don't suit and it usually ends in tears (the tears of my dogs, because they are so much smaller than a staffy). I think the whole "deed not breed" "breed doesn't matter" thing has gone a bit far and people interpret it incorrectly. Breed plays a very big part in how a dog behaves.

PF is saying that people should get their dogs from rescues. The rescues get the dogs from the pound and then put them in foster homes. People then adopt the dog from the rescue. Why is this a better approach? You *can't* tell what a dog's behaviour is going to be like in a pound environment. When a dog is living in a foster home, the foster carer gets to see what the dog behaves like in the real world and can find a suitable family for it. For example, my girl would shut down in a pound enviroment. People would think she was sweet and shy. In the real world, however, she can be very aggressive. I imagine that a young family would see her in the pound and think she is soooo sweet and would be so gentle with kids. The kids would pay the price for this mistake.

I dont' see why there can't be a mix of pet classes and obedience classes at a club? If people found the pet classes interesting and actually saw the results and how they improved their relationship with their dog then they might be more interested in the obedience stuff too.

I would love to see clubs focus on teaching good pet citizens, and not on formal obedience (which has its place, but it doesn't meet a lot of people's requirements). When I went to a club, lessons were an hour long, the instructor insisted that we all stand in a neat line with only 1m between dogs (and there were 2 very reactive dogs), we had to teach about 12 exercises including a "step, step, auto sit" routine (and this was for beginners class). Many of the people there were repeating the lesson cycle for a 2nd or 3rd time, hoping to pass. The focus was on passing the class and not on learning (in fact, I was told my non-reactive boy should always be between the two very large reactive dogs so they wouldn't fight in front of the assessor and could therefore pass). I would like something that focused on socialisation (and how it isn't just letting your dog off leash and hoping for the best), how to let your dog off leash safely (proper recall training, not "sit, stay, come"), how to enter an off leash park safely (don't let your dog off leash at the entrance, don't let your dog hang around the gate etc), lots of socialisation (instructors dressing up in funny costumes, mock parties etc), "look at that game", how to ensure your dog gets adequate mental and physical exercise in a suburban environment (games to play at home, how often you should walk your dog). Cosmolo - when I went to your classes with Lucy, the first lesson was my idea of heaven! The dogs all knew sit beforehand, and we spent the lesson on socialisation (and ignoring other dogs) exercises. It was a lot of fun and all of the dogs were a lot more relaxed and owner focused at the end of it. I think if the above happened, classes would be fun and much of the drama that comes with dog ownership could be avoided.

hmmm...I get my Black Hawk delivered to my door for $20 for 3kgs. Nutro is $33 for 3kgs where I live... If you ask for a sample they give you a huge pack. It lasted a week for me (but then I have two mini schnauzers, not labs).

Hard to say, it is just a marketing term. My dogs did well on Nutro, but it does contain wheat. I switched to Black Hawk (no wheat, articial colours or flavours) and they do much better on it (which for me equates to smalller #2's).

I'm pretty sure the bow wow ones are from cina. I get baked ones from pet stock that are locally produced. Given the dramas with chinese made treats over the last few years I wouldn't feed my o/s treats to my dogs.

Ithey are very soft so should be fine to sleep in. With the exchange rate I'd investigate getting them direct from canada

I wouldn't call any of the foods you've mentioned appear premium?? They are all very high in fillers. I wouldnt feed my dogs science diet if you paid me. Ep holistic, Artemis are super premium IMO.

Jells Park is also great. I have heard a few people say that they have spotted many snakes about though.

Ruffey Lake Park is really worth the drive - trust me. Lovely long walking track (complete with water taps along the way), gorgeous vegetation, plenty of offlead areas for the dog/s, and a great big lake for them to swim in. There is also a large playground for the kids, plus a stack of newish public barbeques (free to use) if you feel inclined to bring some snags down! Do you know what it is like on a weekday at 6.30am? My girl doesn't like other dogs. I keep her on lead but I don't want to run into uncontrolled dogs.

The Great White North Coats (from Canada) are very warm, soft and water-proof. In fact I hardly use them because they are too warm for my dogs.

I agree with Nekbet, but I feed a raw/dry combo. Add cooked pumpkin to help fill out meals - dogs don't absorb it so it won't make him fat, but will fill him up.

Are you still looking? Not foresty, but my dogs love the Botanical Gardens. There are loads of different little paths for them to explore and it is an interesting walk for the humans too. It is very peaceful early in the morning. It is all on-leash. Wattle Park (neare Box Hill South) is also great, but it is a State Park so on-lead is essential (there are endangered frogs). There is a very nice picnic area with old trams for dogs/kids to explore. Being a State Park, there are no bins so you have to take your trash with you. There are also one or two places near the Dandenongs. I'll look them up at home tonight (a friend wrote a great book about bushwalking in Melbourne with kids, but I use it for the dogs!).

I think that rule is for during the day - not for when the pup is asleep. It seems that in the US, some people crate their dogs all day when they're at work (10+ hours) and then at night too. I think the point of the rule is that you shouldn't crate your dog for long periods during the day. IMO, the rule only applies to when they are a few months old. I certainly wouldn't crate a 10 month old dog for 10 hours during the day.

I always wondered how dogs got lost at airports during transit as I always believed they were safely tucked away in their crate. Now I know why - people are taking them out for a play!!

Sorry to hijack your thread further dug dug, but I'd like to wade into the onlead debate. I train my two dogs in agility with erny ( and the agility instructor). I think I know the kind of classes of which PF speaks - people are trained lots of equipment at once, no handling or body language skills and they think agilit is all about the obstacles, with very little focus on flatwork. Erny's school is nothing like that. In the groundwork classes, we learnt one, maybe two pieces of equipment at a time. 80% of the lesson was about handling, body language, hind leg awareness, focus etc. When a dog demo'd that they were safe off leash, they could then work offleash. My boy has been doing this since week three. At the end of most lessons, each dog would get a turn off leash, with the other dogs outside the fenced area for safety. This was necessary because 3 out of 4 of the dogs in our class have issues and owners undertook agility to help with these ( focus, confidence etc). Two ( a rottie and a weim) were reactive and couldn't be off leash safely. Fast forward 6 months and they both work off leash right next to other dogs without incident. In fact they don't even seem to notice them. They both focus on their owners and drive through the obstacles. My girl - who two years ago was pumping out puppies in a age - has been doing agility for 5 months. She sometimes has fear aggression started off on leash too. At first she was scared of everything- even the pause table. She now completes an entire novice course off leash- around other dogs and people- and really loves it( her tail wags like crazy the whole time). Her confidence has grown so much since starting agility - even her groomed commented that she was a different dog. I guess the point of my ramble is that I'm really glad that erny has given us the opportunity to learn agility even though our dogs don't fit the traditional criteria - it has made a massive difference to these three dogs. One final note about safety. Erny is a safety nut. Our class is really small(4 dogs, 1 trainer and 1 assistant) so on leash work is closely supervised). We do the slanty pole weaver method so you can't pull your dog into a weaving motion. We Are now all off leash, do lea outs, and all dogs move very quickly( with the exception of my spechul girl). This was typed on my iPhone and I can't get the auto correct Off, so I apologize for any typos.

Could you go to a vet that offers the GE finance option? A lot of the major vets have the application forms at reception. If you pay it off quickly the interest is minimal. FYI - The problem with people paying in installments isn't just non-payers, but cashflow. Cashflow is vital for small businesses.

Yeah i feel bad for the people but i bet you 100% that its the owners fault no dog is ever nasty by itself its always the owner. That just isn't true - genetics play a very big part in a dog's makeup. This is why people need to make sure that they purchase dogs from stable lines.

I think it is a lovely idea. For the people who haven't maintained contact, I'd give them something small and useful (eg a small toy). That way they won't feel embarrassed or creeped out (at least I wouldn't). If I got something big or exe I would feel like I "owed" the breeder something.

These fluffies sing: http://www.cleanrun.com/index.cfm?fuseacti...amp;string=bird

Why did the dogs bite the people? Does anyone know what events preceded the attack? The dogs came up from behind and attacked.they didn't see them coming.