LizT

Very true Koalathebear I distinctly remember reading on this forum a thread a few years ago about a Rodesian Ridgeback breeder who culls puppies born without a ridge...clearly not a deformity issue, however she stated there were great difficulties in homeing a non ridge ridgeback (I would imagine most people who want a Rigeback also want the ridge?!) This was her difficult decision as a breeder and one she had to deal with. As breeders we all have to make decisions regarding the future of litters we breed, pre and post birth. I ceratinly wouldn't make a judgement on another breeders choices if I haven't walked in her shoes.

Actually I think originally they were bred in an attempt to create a non-allergenic breed to be a guide dog...failed for that purpose though as of course only 50% of them retain the poodle non-shedding type coat. Really can't see them becoming a true breed in their own right in the near future though, because of the issues already identified by others in this post. If only Wally Conron had attempted to train a highly intelligent standard Poodle as a Guide Dog.....the outcome would have been so different!

;) :D :D Smart Kid. Thanks Steve. She wants to read more about what is being said about the three little Chi's but she is part of an "anti-bullying program" at school so I probably shouldn't let her LOL :D

Over the years I have learnt from both my experiences with horse and dog trainers to; "pay attention, learn what you can, glean what you like (ie. separate the wheat from the chaff and USE BOTH for different purposes) both are useful but different. Apply what works for you, discard what doesn't but put it aside for another day and another situation. BTW "Life is a dance...but we all have a different drum to beat

From the mouth of a 10 year old child, who recently read the book "A Dogs Purpose". "The breeder should have noticed something was wrong and put them to sleep so they would have a better second life :p because their life will not be fulfilled in their two legged dog form". "It's hardly cute...just very sad." My daughter asked me to put this in after she saw the video.

So sad.....on so many levels.

Me too!

You are right about no dog being 100% safe with fowl. Our Schipperke killed a chook when she was about 3 years old. SHE was raised around them and never showed any interest in them as they wandered about free range about the garden. We were able to keep her away from the hens from then on in UNTIL she was about 14 years old and we moved to another poroperty where the setup was different. After being there for two years she killed 4 chickens in a row over a period of 10 days. We tried a number of different things from not letting the chooks free range (but their pen was too small to not let them out some of the day) to muzzles (which she kept getting off!) but she eventually got sent to live with my mother in her twilight years. She had stayed with mum on a number of occassions and loved it there...no chooks and no muzzle.

I guess it has to be looked at as a case by case situation. I had my 14 year old German Shepherd PTS because he was suffering from a collapsing sacrum, resulting in the gradual loss of use of his hind legs. There was no way I was going to put his noble creatures arse in a sling. He had lived a long and active life and I wasn't going to denegrade it in his twilight years. Perhaps it's a different case for one who would have no chance of enjoying any quality of life because of a birth malformation although...personally...I don't think being left to drag your rear end around is very fair on any age animal, friction isn't going to be any kinder as he gets larger.

So what breeds did you have and what are you thinking about?

One of my Cavalier bitches (my first) used to pee as a puppy whenever we spoke to her, patted her or basically alknowleged her existence! She was far worse if someone greeted her when they came home. It got to the stage where we purposefully would ignore her when we came home for a few minutes while she passed through the excitement stage and settled down, then we would greet her. FOrtunately she out grew this excitable weeing, but she was almost a year old before it stopped fully. My mother had a poodle X that did this ALL her life if you spoke to her in a "cutsie high pitched voice" that got her excited she'd pee!

It would appear my "Desexing Contract" with "$100 Cash back" incentive works! The other siblings were also desexed this past week!

The couch has been taken. And the bike. :D I think though, that I might look into Freecycle for the cot and cradle. They are too nice to put out on the roadside.

I was at the Emergency room of a Hospital after a fall from a horse last Sunday night and they would only let me go home if the pain could be managed and I could show them I could walk. Whilst I knew my youngest daughter would be fretting it also was a strong incentive because I knew my dogs would be worried too! When I got home late Crytsal in particular was sniffing the pain/damaged site despite nothing being put there. She knew there was damage. And all week she has been making a fuss and won't settle in her crate at night so she gets let out and lies beside me. Sweet caring little thing she is.

I guess you must have become very attached to her. I know I could never raise a guide dog puppy. Poor Mindy having skin allergies. I know of quite a few Labs that have skin problems. One belongs to a Vet nurse which is probably lucky for the dog!

The couch has been taken. And the bike.

Wow you poor thing Whippetsmum! I had one like that once. It was a German Shepherd pup and he continued to be car sick until he was 7 years old. Despite giving him ginger to help settle his tummy. He didn't throw up with ginger but d r o o l e d sooooo much ! YUK. It was only when I met my OH that he stopped being car sick! Harley ardored by new beau so much that he even willingly got into a car and jumped up on the back of a station wagon for the first time just so he could go 'rides' him him.

Congratulations of your new family member!

Well the suite went out at 8.20 am at 2.30 pm some bloke has asked if he could take the couch for his poolroom. New home found. LOL

I guess if the road is the only entrance to the park and it's clearly signed No Dogs then there's no excuse. Such as in the case of the National Park at Loch Sport on the Gippsland Lakes. Our dogs used to play on the lake literally metres from where the park began but if we went to Spermwhale head for a drive through the park the dogs stayed at the house.

I'm pretty sure ALL National Parks have a sign outside that reads: "No Firearms" "No Dogs" "No Cats" I was travelling home from a Dog Show in Lancefield along the Calder Hwy and wanted to show my daughter the "Organ Pipes" but couldn't drive in because I had dogs with me.

This is a problem my sister in London has to deal with at the moment. She is getting a Miniature Poodle puppy in two weeks from a Registered Breeder that both parents are health tested and cleared and yet, the puppy will not be vaccinated. I know ( I hear you). She has a "communal lawn' out front of her house and I've told her "under no circumstances" take the puppy out there to toilet. His house training will have to wait. Of course she has made an appointment with her local vet to have him vaccinated the day she gets him but I've explained to her that it will take many weeks before he is covered.

No, it was a comment from the OP , originally ... from GABBA Ah. So it was.

Makes me wonder why you didn't want to hold them for a week like he asked. I am sure the new beds didn't turn up at the hotel by surprise, the assets manager that ordered them was responsible for the removal or disposal of the old beds and could have planned for them to be recycled or reused, but failed to do so. If the value of the goods are not worth as much to the charity as the value of the labour involved with collecting, processing storing and selling them, who does it help? Finding an instant removal and storage solution for a lot of old furniture is a difficult thing for a person or a company to do. You need resources to jump at opportunities, and the resources are not always there ready to jump at that short notice. I agree that freecycle is a good way to distribute unwanted goods. Why not use technology to communicate what you have to offer people in your community, instead of expecting a charity to do that work for you for free? I use freecycle for anything that is slightly damaged, or that a dog has slept on. I usually receive a token amount of money if I put old furniture on eBay, and have sometimes waived the price. I have been given chocolates and scratchies by grateful buyers too. I didn't expect the charity to "do the work for me for free". I had the lounge sitting in my front room for three weeks because there was no scheduled pickup until today. If I just wanted it gone, I could have got my guys to put it in the trailer and take it to the tip up the road. Or just put it out the front as "Hard Rubbish" is coming up next week and people have been putting stuff out for weeks. Or let my daughters boyfriend take it, he wanted it for a "camp couch" in a paddock! It would have been gone in a very short time. And now will be. Traditionally if you had furniture that was too good to throw out you gave it to the ******. I guess nowadays everybody wants money for things and don't give anything away...hence the birth of technology based sales of second hand goods via oultlets such as Ebay. I know people who pick up stuff off Hard Rubbish and sell it on Ebay. I'm not one of those people. I have better things to do. Certainly if you have something that you consider too good to give it away then Gumtree and Ebay are great outlets to sell off unneeded goods. Especially as you say in this age of overconsumption. The lounge could easily have gone on hard rubbish in the first place and no effort for me to have it taking up space in my front room. I certainly wasn't leaving it there to take up space just so "someone could do the work for me". And I'm pretty sure if the nuff nuffs collecting had worked out how to get it though the door it would have been on the truck no problems. The pet hair was only what was "under the couch" that I hadn't vacuumed off.