LizT

There are a couple of kids I see at the park when I take mine that are VERY big for their age, it causes no end of problems for their mum. The boy is not old enough to start school yet - starts school next year, but looks big enough to be in school already and she gets questioned about why he is not in school all the time - apparently people threatened to call authorities about it and a little girl who is not yet two but is as big as my 4 year old - so people assume she can talk well etc and are baffled when she doesn't answer their questions. It's something that goes on into teenagehood too. My sisters husband is a big bloke, and when my father first met him, when he was about 17, dad was concerned why this man was hanging around with a bunch of teenagers and thought he was someone "up to mischief". Poor Dad, I don't think he believed us at first when we said he was still at school and the same age as my sister.

I don't think I even tried to take my kids to meals anywhere that wasn't "kid friendly" until they were at least 10+. :laugh: It is always so much more enjoyable if there is a kids playground they can slink off too if ( incentive) they have eaten their dinner first. When my sister got married we dressed our two year old son up in a little toddler tux and he came to the ceremony, then after family photos and before he got real tired and cranky another Aunt, from the other side of the family, came and took him home with her. It was, simply put, not an event for a child. And he was the only child permitted to the ceremony because, at that point he was the only one in the immediate family and my sister knew he would deal with that without fuss.

I totally agree Ellz, don't the General Public deserve to have a dog that was bred with the betterment of the breed in mind and not just for the money in puppy sales. Don't they deserve to be able to find these dogs as easily as any other when they are in the market for a companion animal or working dog?

When threads run beyond 20 pages, they often wander away from the OT and bring in some emotional exchanges. So? As in much face-to-face communication, a lot on DOL is not true dialogue, but response to triggers. If someone says something that pushes your buttons, you respond to that statement. Deep listening is pretty rare in any format. And even in face to face conversation we rarely get to finish what we are saying entirely, often losing some of the original intended meaning, before someone interjects or we get sidetracked and distracted and run off in another direction because conversations face to face can evolve quite rapidly.

That's an excellent suggestion until they can make a safe and secure run for him.

I don't know if they have similar rules to us in that regard. Surely though if you are going to Vet, do it before the breeds compete, instead of messing around like this afterwards. This seems more like a bit of grandstanding to try and show that they are acting on the bad publicity they have received. I agree but it is more costly and time consuming to check ALL the dogs entered just so that they can ensure that the BOB will be up to the required standard of fitness. Peppered with a bit of grandstanding too I'd imagine.

:laugh: Look what my kids just stuck on the back of my office chair! Gotta love' em. ;)

Trouble-maker :laugh: It's us "breeders" who will be financing your retirement! Selflessly keeping our economy running with fresh grist for the mill. I'm funding my own retirement Aidan... the taxes paid in the future by today's kiddies won't be contributing a cent. :) My kiddies will be buying the stuff the companies you own makes. It's a gold-clad plan, we just have to cough up enough productive humanimals to feed it. I also remember reading somewhere that todays children have a much larger take in todays retail market compared to even 20 years ago.

I'll do my best! ;) Yes, I see your point but...Sandgrubber but why put staff in the position of having to judge whether the person is having a snack and will or won't pay? There are Store security/Staff who will pull people up on this matter. You have no more way of proving that you will pay than they have that you wont. Until you have gone through that checkout it belongs to the store and not you. Fact. BTW I've seen plenty of people help themselves to fruit, such as grapes and give their kids a handful, this is never paid for. I know it's only a few grapes but....if everyone picked just one flower at the Botanical Gardens would there be any at all for us to enjoy? Also saw a couple of kids about 12 open a packet of donuts and scoff the lot while their parents were shopping.

Have you ever tried to shop with a 2-3 yr old?? Its the worst thing ever and if I have to give my son something to eat to shut him up in the supermarket ,I will. I am after all paying for it!! Seriously some people ought to mind there own business. I'm sure all the child haters would prefer my toddler to be happily munching on something than screaming the place down. Sheeze, you just can't win. AND don't ask me to bring food from home as the supermarket workers think you may have stolen it . AND don't ask me to feed my child before or after I shop, they are not machines that are programed to eat when you want them too, as much as I would love that!. I would of course prefer not to have a hungry kid with me at all when I shop ( just to keep you happy) but thats impossible. SORRY !!! Geez no need to blow a gasket. If you had been following the thread you would have noticed that Liz is not a child hater and has some of her own. Perhaps she can explain how she manages it. I think the bigger problem is the people who don't pay for things they eat. When OH worked at Woolies they used to have to throw out a lot of yoghurt because kids used to come along and break the lids on them. Hmmm...yes, I wouldn't have been able to feed the family if I hadn't taken my kids to the supermarket with me. The trick is to never go shopping hungry. That applies to mum too. It's amazing how much junkie snack food one buys when they are hungry. ;) As to keeping the 2 -3 year old happy I found a "special" toy, reserved exclusively for outings and not from the regular rotaion made a huge difference. Also when the kids were that young they sat in the trolley and played with the toy and did not run around the shop attacking produce and stock. The "outings toy bag" is is also helpful when visiting others or going to appointments. I'd keep a spare bag with "outing toys". Also when shopping I never purchased too much in the one trip as it gets boring and tedious for everyone. With kids you are often out and about running errands and a quick duck in to the supermarket is better than a huge massively filled trolley. Also easier to deal with when you get home and have to put it all away.

:laugh: Poor cop, he must have thought you were out of your tree till he took a proper look at Abby.

Maybe because Dogs are easier to relate to and by far more forgiving when we say something stupid. ;)

Ugghhh...what a mess this is going to be.

His Grandma rocks!! :) :laugh:

. perhaps even the lying down/getting up has a discomfort factor to it ? has she been Xrayed for HD or elbow dysplasia ? a good behaviourist,IMO will observe them walking her , and assess things/refer to someone/help owners learn required skills if needed..not just say 'she doesn't know what to do ' There may well be a physical problem that can't be easily seen and requires more indepth investigation. However, when I was a kid of about 12 I had a Labrador/GSD that would lay down and refuse to move when we went for a walk around the block or out and back the same way as we approached the house. He wanted to continue going for a walk and didn't want to go home. He would quite happily get up if I took a step back in the direction we came and even if we rounded the block he would still lay down as we approached the house from the other direction! Clearly a child of 12 didn't make the walks anywhere near long enough for that fellow. ;)

On another side note my OH is dyslexic and while I try not to laugh sometimes he cracks me up with his misuse of words. eg. Telling me about someone who is quite well off and uses effluent instead of affluent. Telling me about his elderly grandmother who instead of being sedentary is sedimetary. And when I'm forgetful I'm getting 'oldtimers' instead of alzheimers. ;)

I agree apartently oru barin fxies ti all pu adn fisl ni teh balkns nad nujmubels ti. !! :D

I think we could be headed down that road. Re-home is a dirty word to the OH. :rolleyes: But then again, no-one here is really a candidate for it either. :) If one of the dogs were to upset the balance of things here it would probably change that.

I don't think a horses personality has the same dynamics of a dogs, or that a horse would particularly care if the people in it's life were to change suddenly. Yes, horses bond with some people and other horses but in my experience they re-bond pretty darn quickly with whoever cares for them and carries the feed bucket and brushes. :) That said, in this household we have a habit of not offloading our horses and keeping them even if they were not exactly what we had in mind. :laugh: I think that why I opted to 'free lease' this time round, so I didn't have yet another aged horse to look after, again. ;)

My parents GSD (not a dog I lived with) used to start howling and you'd wonder what was wrong, and a few seconds later a Police, Fire or Ambulance would go past the house. Neither of the GSD's I have had reacted to sirens on vehicles but our current boy starts to whine softly just as the CFA siren comes on.

Cool. The Irish certainly have contributed much to the World of Dogs. :)

Que? :laugh:

Given that the bloke's comment was so far off the mark, I wondered if there was an outside chance of something cognitively wrong. Good on you for checking with your OH & coming back to tell us. I hope he's got a support system, like family & friends. This kind of thinking where associations don't match up....& where he's forgetting things....can make him very vulnerable. That's sad that he is so confused. Also could be problematic because so much is taken on face value when people say things.

The argument that bad breeders advertise on these sites so ANKC breeders shouldn't advertise in the same space is a false economy. If all the ANKC breeders advertised in the same spaces then more people will see their ads. Exactly. You put Registered Breeder, parents and pups health screened etc. next to BYB ad and see how it compares.

Gosh Zorro, if it weren't so scarey it would be really funny! I've understood some of the confusion with other breeds but a Cocker, that is a real worry.