sundays-child

Suddenly I'm a bad pet owner? I cannot believe what a bunch of bitter and twisted old narks you are. From someone who studies psychology, these forums are an absolute cesspool for those that wouldn't even dare say such things in person. Cowards with mundane lives hunting in packs for an ego boost all the while hiding behind your usernames. Charming. Signing off now, back to my normal forum free life. Thank God.

Hi, I'm not really sure what you mean by pot calling the kettle black? My cat isn't on other people's property - she sleeps on my front door step during the day and this is where she is being chased from. We live on a 917m2 block with a long frontage. The dog is coming into our front yard, down our drive and up to our doorstep. My cat isn't moving from our property. She's 11 years old and from her going outside at 11 am to sleep on the porch and coming back inside at 4 pm I'm yet to see her harass the neighbours.

The dog has been reported as such and as stated nothing can be done about it. The council has a hands off approach. Perhaps things have changed since you left the Highlands. Unfortunately my cat (like most) is a creature of habit and likes to nap outside during the day. If I could train her to stay in the backyard I would but unfortunately I can't do so. She had a biscuit feeder attached to my porch for her to graze from during the day which has now been taken my the dog. Both the cat and the feeder had been here for 6 years. I can hardly keep a cat locked indoors for 24 hours a day and I shouldn't have to. That's the point being made here. The problem is not the feeder, it's not my cat and it's not me. The problem is the neighbours dog.

Hi Frufru, we live in the Southern Highlands (Mittagong/Bowral area) The council is Wingecarribee. Mind you I read on my Cockers registration papers that unregistered dogs can incurr fines up to $2,000. My dog is an indoor dog, fully vaccinated, microchipped, registered and spoilt rotten. If I didn't register him by 6 months they'd hit me with a fine. My vet told me they couldn't desex him until he was a year old as his testes hadn't dropped properly yet. I had to pay the undesexed registration cost to avoid fines. Funny world.

Well just a follow up for all interested. After Good Friday's exhausting day of trying to get the neighbours dog out of our yard we had him back on our property yesterday. This time along with the 10 week old puppy. There they were having a good time eating all my cats food on my doorstep. I panicked not being able to see my cat but thankfully she was hiding under my car. I was on my own and couldn't get out the door as they had me bailed up inside. I grabbed the broom, opened the door and pushed it at the big dog just to have him growl at me and take off across the road with the entire cat feeder!!! If I wasn't so frightened I would have laughed. The little puppy stayed on the doorstep to pick up all of the left over kitty biscuits. I quickly grabbed her and brought her inside to ring the council - furiously mind you. They told me that a ranger might not get out here as they had other jobs. I told her that this took major priority over anything else as this is ongoing and not to be sneezed at. About 15 minutes later the ranger shows and starts taking photos of the big dog still roaming around outside the neighbours property and going into other people's yards. We spoke about what would be done about this and apparently there is nothing the council can do. They aren't able to confiscate the dogs - which is disgraceful given the neglect they are receiving. The ranger was unable to capture the large dog and told me that if he went and once again spoke to the owner he would have to give over the puppy. I decided it was best that the puppy be taken back to the pound. I hoped the owners might not think it worth the drive and minimal fine and she might end up rehomed. Of course, the ranger left this brute of a dog roaming the streets just to have it come back to my yard again and again throughout the afternoon. A few hours later the lovely neighbours drive into their driveway followed by their big dog. They must have realised their puppy missing and began to search the streets. I felt so angry I was going to go out and give them a mouth full but decided it wasn't worth it given I have a dog of my own who likes to play outside in the afternoon - you just can't trust these people. Anyway, the lovely wife starts knocking on people's doors and I see one of my other neighbours point towards my house. He must have seen me put the hose on the bigger dog and grab the puppy. Gee thanks! She comes over and asks if I'd seen a staffy pup. I told her I had and that the ranger had come to collect her. I decided to play it smart and asked her if she owned the big brindle dog. She said she did and I told her that the dog was giving me a lot of trouble, stealing my cat food, chasing the cat, barking at my dog. It turns out she knows all about his antics and whilst apologetic isn't able to keep him secured in their yard. The puppy belonged to her Mother who lived in Cootamundra, a considerable distance as you can imagine and was very unhappy to find that the puppy was at the pound (for a second time). Apparently the daughter had been minding the puppy whilst her Mother was in hospital and she had now returned to pick her up. Not my problem! The good news is, the puppy is being taken back home to Cootamundra and the big dog is being returned to the breeder (breeder of what I have no idea) as quote from the owner "he's a dangerous dog and we can't control him so we're giving him back" Well thank God for that but here we are the following day and guess where the dog is. Roaming the streets again and standing in the rain. Ho hum. If he isn't gone by next week which is when she promised to return him to the breeder I might track down this breeder myself and ask them to come and collect him. I would have to say I am more furious with the council than the owners. They have allowed this dog to terrorise us for weeks and on seeing the dog in my yard with their bare eyes, they left him here for us to deal with. Unbelieveable. I will be writing the council a letter but you just can't change city hall. Fingers crossed the dog is gone within the week. Hope everyone had a better holiday than I did! I wonder if I'll ever see that cat feeder again

The ranger advised me that the owner is "well known" by the council so he's obviously got a record for this type of thing. I have already encountered problems with him in the past when he thought it would be amusing to ride his quad bike into my driveway to scare my cat. I wish I put the hose on him now! Ho hum, there's one in every street. I recently saw an intact male staffy run up their driveway. I have a feeling they might be backyard breeding. He's a real pig and the wife isn't much better. It is obvious from the dogs lack of reaction to my trying to shoo him away that he has next to no human contact. Very sad. The best outcome is that the dogs are taken away and because they are both young they should be easily re-homed. Not to mention that he deserves a huge fine for the complete hassle he has caused my neighbours and I. Surely if they continue to fine him he will hand over the dogs or fix the fencing issue. The problem is they aren't likely to fine him on my heresay. I doubt the dogs are registered so perhaps they could fine him for that. I wrote a letter to the ranger today expressing my frustration with this on-going saga. I assume that unless they come out and collect the dog at the time of the occurence a fine isn't warranted. I no longer walk my dog because of all the strays and roamers in the area. Unfortunately because it's a regional area I think the council tends to be a bit more relaxed about the strays. I checked the Wingecarribee shire council website and there's nothing about fencing rules or fines. I'll keep up the emails and phone calls and see what happens. Fingers crossed. Thanks everyone

Thanks all, I will keep ringing them and hopefully something will come of it. If not I'll have a letter from my lawyer drafted as we have already had a pack of dogs attack my cat. This is always in the back of my mind and any off leash dog is a threat. Appreciate the help

Hi everyone, I was hoping someone might know the rules on dog fencing. We have an undesirable neighbour who owns what looks to be a mastiff x staffy (a hopeless guess as it's a real mix). He allows this dog to roam the streets on a daily basis. The dog is constantly in our front yard chasing my elderly cat and barking at my Cocker Spaniel who has his afternoon play in the backyard (thankfully behind a fence, albeit one that the neighbours dog can easily jump) The dog would be no more than 8 months old but it is incredibly stupid and won't be shooed away. I have tried clapping and shouting at it and have now had to put the hose on it. We have rung the council on numerous occassions and yet nothing is done about this neighbour. Two weeks ago the dog came running across the road from the neighbours house to our front yard. Following the dog was a tiny little puppy and I mean tiny - no older than 10 weeks. They were both in the middle of the road and when the puppy saw us she came running across the road right up to our front door. I got the puppy inside so as to not allow it back on the road (people tend to do 70 on our street and we are on a corner) We rang the council and the ranger wasn't able to come and collect the puppy for 5 hours. I fed her, toileted her, played with her and sat with her while she napped. I even deflead her as she was itching like crazy. I had to keep my dog away from her as he is 7 months and quite exuberant and I felt he might accidently hurt her. They were both incredible sooks so as you can imagine the whinging from both was unbearable. I had to go from room to room for 5 hours calming each down. Anyway, the ranger finally showed and took the pup away. There was no way I was going to go to this neighbours house as the big dog was always patrolling their driveway and the owner is a thug. I felt the 5 hours of disturbance in my house was worthwhile as I secretely hoped they would either fine the owner and enforce better living conditions for the dogs or even better place the puppy in a better home. To my horror the next week there is the big dog again roaming the streets with this tiny puppy in toe. My elderly neighbour next door rang the council this time as the big dog had growled at her friend who had a small maltese with her. So, along comes the ranger once again and gets the puppy into the truck but spends 3 hours trying to get the bigger dog. No such luck. Then the owner shows up. A 20 something year old pig who hoons up in his ute and says "Where's me dog" (quote) He was told by the ranger that the puppy was in the truck. He simply grunts and says "yeah well where's the big one" Lovely, the dog doesn't even have a name. Of course he simply received a slap on the wrist and the dogs were surrendered over to him. This however is an ongoing sarga with the larger dog roaming the streets, chasing my cat, barking at my dog on a daily basis. Today, Good Friday the dog was in my yard doing the usual and there I am 6:30 at night, in my pjs putting the hose on it and yelling like a loony in the vain hope it might go away. The dog was here yesterday, the day before and no doubt will be tomorrow. I have rung the council over and over again. Each time they ask for the same details and nothing is done about this guy. Obviously this owner has no fencing for these dogs and allows them to roam free - even a 10 week old puppy. They are no doubt un-registered, un-dexed, un-vaccinated and unloved. Why is he allowed to continue this? The dogs are very thin and sadly I think they come here to eat the cat food I put out during the day for my elderly kitty. I feel sorry for them and would feed them but can't risk my cat and dogs life. It's a big dog and he's unpredictable. It is incredibly frustrating as my pets are put at risk. Why is it that I spend huge amounts registering, desexing, vaccinating, fencing and doing the right thing by my pets and creeps like him get away with neglect. Shameful. Any ideas what to do? Are there any fencing laws for dogs? The best possible outcome would be that the dog and the puppy (and any other dogs they have) be removed from the household and placed in good homes. Wishful thinking. Appreciate any help Thank you

Thanks JeroJath, My vet actually recommended that so I might try it out.

I was looking up the Aloveen range as recommended and came across another brand called Epi-Soothe. This comes in a shampoo and cream rinse conditioner. I also found Dr Harry's Hypo-Allergenic shampoo and conditioner. A lot less in price and all natural ingredients - Oatmeal Extract, Sweet Almond Oil, Wheatgerm Oil, Lavender Oil and Aloe Vera. Has anyone tried any of these two brands? Appreciate the help!

Thanks Kitty! I'll see if I can purchase that online or at Petbarn. I'll pop into the cocker forum later tonight, thanks for the tip

He's fed raw beef, raw lamb and steamed chicken. No gluten from what I can see. The vet feels it isn't a food allergy as he is too young. As he did have dandruff prior to his bath, I'd say he's got quite dry skin and it's flaring up resulting in his scratching. Can anyone recommend a good shampoo and conditioner to soothe the skin but still keep his shiny coat?

Hi everyone, Our English Cocker Charlie (10 weeks) is having a terrible time with itchy skin. A bath seems to have cleared up the flakiness but he is still scratching at himself and whinging while doing so :D He has been treated with Frontline and is 100% flea free. His diet consists of raw meat, steamed chicken & vegetables, sardines in olive oil (daily), scrambled egg, home made lactose free yoghurt and an all natural puppy food. This is all alternated throughout the week. We didn't want him to end up fussy like our older girl so we have tried to be as diverse with his diet as possible. Unfortunately, I feel that has backfired - Charlie will only eat the expensive Canadian sardines and not the generic Thailand ones. I can't say I blame him though, the generic look awful. He went for his 10 week vaccinations yesterday and the vet also feels it is not allergies but more a dry skin issue. He recommended using Alpha Keri Oil. Has anyone else tried this? I was also thinking of bathing him in a homemade oatmeal soak. His coat is very soft and shiny so I really can't understand how his skin could have any issues but I'm no dermatologist! Any advice would be most appreciated. Thank you!