melzawelza

It could be anything, but if it's a boofhead dog, the bloody media will always label them as APBT or Mastiff. Bingo.

Yep, cuts and abrasions on a toddler. That's a dog with pretty good bite inhibition right there. Why does this even make the news?! Toddlers are injured much worse by other things (including their parents!) daily and that doesn't make the news

No Pav, it's not me injuring your dog, it's the person who isn't controlling their dog in the first place. That sort of thing upsets me to read, I've offered you moral support on previous threads of yours where you have had this problem If I weren't worried by the small community 'everyone knows everyone' and the fact that my kids might end up teased through the fence, or worse, in retribution, I wouldn't have a problem going straight to council. Can you honestly say if you were in my place you wouldn't worry about that? If my neighbourhood was not a single block, I would do this. My other option aside from around this block is along the highway. If you saw the way people drive on this highway you'd not want to walk there often. In any case. Greyt and those who say it's time to report, my feeling is with you. It's time to take this to council as the friendly warning approach has clearly failed. From tomorrow camera comes with me ready to record anything that happens. Council will be contacted the moment I have any evidence. Make the report tomorrow even without evidence. Tell them what's been going on and see. A lot of Councils will act on a first report without evidence by visiting and speaking to the owners and/or sending a letter warning them of a complaint. If you're lucky that might be enough to get them to behave and you won't even need to take videos. Have the camera at the ready regardless, but you can definitely report it tomorrow without that.

As someone who loves this breed and is trying to do what I can to overturn these ridiculous laws, I agree wholeheartedly. There is no excuse for what that dog did. There will be a reason, but it is still inexcusable. And as soon as people start trying to excuse it and blame an innocent victim, it looks like this is something that is accepted in the breed. Pit bull owners should be decrying dogs, owners and incidents like that one the loudest.

If your Mum wants to chat some more, there is a Facebook group called SCWT Down Under. Thanks for that Sheridan! She gets on facebook every now and then so I'll let her know to check it out. I said to her, even if her dog wasn't a Wheaten, it looked very much like one and from what the breeders were describing had an incredibly similar temperament too - so either way it sounds like the Wheaten is a dog for her in the future! This dog died when I was only a year old (I'm 24 now) and I still hear all about her. :)

Exactly! How is it a side issue when looks determine whether or not a dog is determined a restricted breed?, looks is the "issue" if we like it or not according to the legislation and all the belly aching in the world is not going to change the cold hard facts that if you have a dog that fits the description of a restricted breed and you can't confirm breed origin, then you have a problem, so why are people breeding dogs vulnerable to falling victim of the legislation?? To begin with, these dogs were bred prior to the legislation so it's a moot point. But the main issue is that, now that Victoria has BSL, they should at least have an objective method of determining which dogs are pitbulls or pitbull crosses. If they want to be silly enough to risk public safety providing yet another test case for the BSL hypothesis they should at least ensure that they are killing pitbulls and their crosses. How many non-pitbulls is it acceptable to kill along the way? Whatever reasons people have for breeding dogs that look like pitbulls is their business. People have all sorts of reasons to breed all sorts of dogs, purebred or crossbred. That is not illegal. Obviously if you breed from stock that is unrelated to pitbulls you shouldn't have a problem. Yet we do have a problem, because the legislation is that bad. Good points! And that's why this legislation is so ridiculous - there is no fool proof way to identify whether a dog of unknown parentage is or isn't a Pit Bull. When you add in that Amstaffs are NOT restricted it becomes even more insane and messy.

Nice day :) I missed lots of the stuff I wanted to see like herding and the greys, and didn't see much of the utility stand too which was sad, but it was a good day. I took my mum who had a lovely long chat to the two lovely ladies with Wheatens. She got a dog out of the pound 30 yrs ago that she is convinced was a wheaten (I've told her it's pretty unlikely but she's convinced!) and she loved meeting them all and talking about them with the breeders. She's even more convinced and they were so open, friendly and encouraging. Exactly the kind of image that promotes purebred dogs so well The SBT were just so stunning. God the pedigree dogs are just a far cry from the generic 'staffy' you see everywhere. I'm an Amstaff/Pit kind of girl generally but I could certainly fall for a pedigree SBT.

You can rego under six months, you just don't HAVE to. From memory the age of registration in VIC is 3 months. My council (in nsw) wouldn't take my money They took this to mean a minimum age. Your Council are wrong. You can get fined if the dog is 6 mths 1 day old and not registered. The legislation states BY the time it is six months old.

You can rego under six months, you just don't HAVE to. From memory the age of registration in VIC is 3 months.

If you really want to be upset about all this then have a look at the below: http://www.savingpets.com.au/2012/06/the-final-moments/ Bear and Kooda's final moments.

Pebbles, no - It would have made no difference if the dogs were registered or not as they were born after the amnesty date, therefore are not allowed to exist.

That was sooooo cute. Doesn't Cocoa know that bok choy is delicious???? :) Also, Cocoa is beautiful - my favourite colouring. LOL! The next night we were at my mums house and she was chopping up cabbage and Cocoa got all funny again - slinking away but wriggling, I guess because they smelt similar. She ended up eating a heap of it though so that was short lived :laugh: I love her colour too :)

LOL awesome (cept how does playful body language & waggy tail = scared ) Although I hate that stuff too, so I don't blame her ;) Lol watch her body language closely. The waggy tail is because she's nervous and the playful body language is because I am speaking to her and encouraging her to come and investigate, and she wants to please me but is scared of it at the same time. She tends to go silly and do zoomies if she's ever in conflict like that. She does this also when I have crinky plastic bags out as once I popped one and it scared the shit out of her. So whenever I have them she sort of runs up all waggy and playful and they goes OH NO NO I'M SCARED and runs away, so I call her back and she slinks back all waggy trying to please me then OH NO I'M SCARED AGAIN. And so on and so forth She was beginning to lose the fear by the end of the video though so her body language relaxes and becomes more genuinely playful. Oh and thanks for the kind words guys!

I don't want to be cocky here... but I think I win :laugh: The other night I discovered that Cocoa is scared of.... wait for it... BOK CHOY! You know the green chinese cabbage? I managed to get a video of it :D ETA: ^^ Click the still image to see the video.

I live in the Sutherland shire - can possibly transport to rescue if they're legit and any can help.

Damn, if I had the day off I'd pick her up and hold her for you, that's right near me. But I won't be home until 6

I teared up too Rach reading it and seeing her little picture. You've done a good thing here mate.

Grain free would be fantastic! Looking forward!

As a blanket statement, I don't agree. IMO, it would depend on the situation, event, the dog and what you're trying to achieve. Generally speaking though, an appropriate mix of aversives and rewards can work even better than either of these things individually. But again - no blanket statement being made by me .... it depends on the situation, event, the dog and what I'm trying to achieve. Agreed Erny. Anyway, any good trainer who uses aversives won't use them to teach a new behaviour. That's mental. The aversives are added once the dog understands the task being asked of it and only if the dog is not complying. I don't get how many 'purely positive' trainers go on and on about the science and forget that positive punishment and negative reinforcement are two quadrants of operant conditioning and their use is supported by the science.

Sorry, what? The fine is $550. They don't have to have their dogs euthanased at all, the Council have no power to do this whatsoever unless the owner CHOOSES to surrender the dog. Somehow I don't think this is being conveyed to the dog owners though... Try telling that to Orange City Council. They try it with every dog "attack" and also any chance they get where they think someone might have a restricted breed. I've been dealing with that council b/s for close to ten years now. I've helped save numerous dogs but sadly there are a lot out there that we didn't know about and couldn't help. Just a couple to mention were a supposed "Pit Bull" that they seized, when they had no right to as the owner had not been issued with an NOI and that dog was subsequently found not to be a restricted breed, by way of breed assessment. Then there was the Rotti that council claimed "attacked " a jogger and told the owner they had to hand it in or they would be fined for having a dangerous dog ( no NOI ) Thank you for helping those people in Orange, a lot of people have so much trouble understanding their rights so having someone with your knowledge helping them is absolutely invaluable.

Thanks for the reply, I can actually see the big bumps when I'm looking at her, so I think a vet visit is in order. Bit of a worry really

It was clear from the videos Cookie wasn't in pain and I think it's appalling that people are laying the boot in with K9 Angel has been so damn compassionate and given the kitten everything she could. She followed her vet's advice to the letter and she is an experienced rescuer - there is no way she would have allowed to kitten to go on while in pain. Cut it out, it's unhelpful and not welcome here. I'm so sorry K9Angel, I'm in tears at work here reading this. Thank you for all you did, I'm sure if Cookie could speak she would have thanked you a thousand times over for all you did for her.

Sorry, what? The fine is $550. They don't have to have their dogs euthanased at all, the Council have no power to do this whatsoever unless the owner CHOOSES to surrender the dog. Somehow I don't think this is being conveyed to the dog owners though...

I can't select any of the options. My dogs don't have access to food all day, they don't fuss to get food, affection is not demonstrated through treats, and they don't get table scraps. They get food as a routine and have to sit politely for it. Yes, I started the survey but abandoned it at this point as my dog eats set meals and has to sit politely, or work for her food. She is not given treats for free ever, only food in training sessions. The question assumes that I'm an idiot that gives my dog whatever it wants. I'm not :laugh: so I had to stop there and not complete the survey.

Bump Anyone got any advice?