Staff'n'Toller

We're not the cheapest around, and in the city (not WA) but yes those prices are crazy. For instance microchip is $47 with full CAR rego, desexing is $200 (under 10kg) with pain relief and anti-biotics. 'Guardian' heartworm and allwormer cubes at cost price are about $8 each per 10kg, they should have been using those, there's no way they can assure compliance with further proheart injections once the new owners take him anyway. We run a remote program and all locals pay Melbourne prices. We run cat adoption too and run at a loss for that, but you add it up using cost prices and utilise Vet's time when they are being paid but have nothing else scheduled to do. It's a welfare service run by a private practice as a community service, not a private animal sales.

Wow I've never worked anywhere that did that, I don't think I could morally. We've taken the dispensing fee off our Linctol as we feel bad that it's so much more expensive than Benadryl.

"It was the white one." PS: I like it how the busy buddy is as far away as possible... :rofl:

Love it. :) Nice to see you back in the training thread.

Hehehe it was nearly me too! I think if I end up with another medium sized dog I will scrap my false floor and get new gates made or extensions to the old ones. Wasn't planning on it 'til the end of the year though. ;)

Are you unhappy with them? Or changing vehicles?

My Staffy girl is 13, I know from earlier xrays she has bad elbows and bad hips. As soon as she started to struggle I put her on Rimadyl. She is on Onsior now, I would rather she had a good quality of life rather than a slightly longer one that is more uncomfortable. Metacam is good as you can reduce down to the lowest possible dose that seems to have an effect. Be guided by your Vet about this though. Gypsy used to be on Cartrophen very regularly before her stomach tumour, now just green lipped mussel, as that and Onsior work very well for her. Also she swims every week at Doveton in the warm water pool. Have you had Georgia Davis out? She suggested some ladder walking for Gypsy (ladder laid on the ground) and things for keeping nerves stimulated. There are lots of Glucosamine + Chondroitin supplements around, and fish oil helps with the absorption of them. :)

She's not stubborn, she just hasn't had enough practice to know exactly what it means yet. :) She's still a baby dog, always use a happy tone, vary the treats, make them super tasty. Start your recalls in the house with no distractions. Only do one at a time. Call her to come to her dinner. Don't make her do anything else, just come back, play/eat and she gets to go off again. Never ever call her to tell her off. Keep practicing. Make it easy for her to succeed.

Woolies @ Canterbury Gardens in Bayswater generally always have Caprilac, occasionally they don't have it, and occasionally it is short dated.

Where are you situated?

The issue is mostly Erny, that people are just not honest anymore. How does a Vet know you are taking the dog back to the address you say you are? What if you give a false mobile no. because you really like the look of the dog and think you might keep it? Also, I would be LIVID to the point of calling a solicitor if a Vet Clinic had scanned one of my dogs and then let Joe Citizen just waltz out the door again with it, what if they then demanded money for me to get my dog back from them? That is the whole reason why I chip my dogs. Soooooo many things can go wrong, leaving a microchip positive dog at the Vet is just the way it has to be. People seem to be very worried still about dogs going to the pound, 8 days is a long time to find your dog if you are concerted enough to go down and look through the pens.

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...and why don't the council or RSPCA do the right thing and use a firearm to end that suffering right now? Allowing this suffering to go on, once it is known, THAT is cruel, in my book. Generally the police do have that permission. They can't discharge a firearm in town but they could take the dog outside of the town and do it.

Maybe. I apologise for being harsh earlier, but I think the reason given is a poor one. It's a lame excuse, as if the dog is to blame. Perhaps the OP can help them get to the bottom of why they don't like the dog. Whether they want the dog to do something that this one won't do, or whether this one does something that they don't like. They are not going to be able to decide whether the new home will be suitable for the dog if they cannot explain why it doesn't suit their home. They might be lucky and get a good home for this dog, or they might put it in a worse situation than it is in now. Oh I tend to agree - my post certainly wasn't aimed at you GM, was just trying to add something useful. :p I do tend to agree with Jed as well, that they should stick at it and try harder. Cuddling on the couch with the kids and not bonded seem mutually exclusive to me??? I just have the experience at home where my Mum (who has anxiety) says the same thing of one of ours and my reply is always "well there is nothing that this dog is doing that is wrong, you just don't feel the same way towards it". Then I find her massaging his ears and talking to him like a puppy. :laugh: I'm in two minds though, dogs are intuitive - and much more than we give them credit for - maybe this dog feels that the people don't like him that much, would the dog prefer to be somewhere else? Maybe it would.

I agree and sometimes this is highly underestimated. I've personally had Border x Kelpie, Bully x Kelpie and Stafford before my Toller and OMG the gundogs are sooooooo different to herding breeds or the bull breeds. There are tonnes of things I love about him I just notice massive 'group' differences, they are very stark to me. As a Dog Trainer I can put that into words - perhaps the OP's friend is struggling in this way but can't describe it in enough detail.

Ahh ok, thanks for the info.

Ours have always been in the laundry on beds at night with a baby gate. Very recently I have introduced crates with open doors and the older ones took to it beautifully. I crate trained the younger one and he would be fine with the door locked all night, Crate Games dvd is the best for this sort of thing, then building up longer periods locked in the crate (during the day would be best) with his people around, then he could be locked in the crate at night - if that is ever needed. If it's anywhere like our area, he's probably just being constantly woken at night by the night animals and then up at the crack of dawn. :laugh:

Maybe the dog has some underlying anxiety- either separation anxiety or about whatever goes on outdoors overnight.?

Can't see any grid lines. Love your pics. Love the dog, would love to do that with my dogs, wish I knew something (anything) about horses. :laugh:

That is great news, so happy for you.

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Animal Aid started FIV testing all their strays at impound some time ago and found an astounding amount were FIV positive, so I can see why they may not wish to do it. Yah it is...the incidence was actually higher than previously thought and I guess with totally feral cats you'd have to expect that rate to be the same or even higher. We've desexed quite a lot of the 'secret cats' near us though, since the Pet Rescue poster came out we've had some of our good clients admit they have a cat they sort of own and bring it in.

Animal Aid started FIV testing all their strays at impound some time ago and found an astounding amount were FIV positive, so I can see why they may not wish to do it.

Thanks for the replies, I find it interesting to see how people manage their dogs. I don't have a problem at the moment per se - the barking is controlled, our fences are extended, I have no complaints from neighbours - we are very 'on it' as far as what he is doing in the yard during the day and my two are locked inside at night. I think he will need more management if I move though, similar to what you do LP. And if there are two of his kind with me in the future well even more reason. I think if he had more house access he would be doing the same, it's just that he has a rather good sized yard with well established trees and well established birds. ;)

I wonder this a lot..to myself. :laugh: Why, do you ask? Well, my previous three dogs (only one is still alive now) did nothing more than bark a bit and dig some holes in the early years. Otherwise they were quite happy in the yard with restricted house access. The Toller however, is a bit loopy, barks at stupid pigeons, the kids in the kindergarten next door (admittedly it seems like they get more unruly and the supervision LESS every year) takes running leaps at the fences and boundary runs/flushes invisible birdies. Soooo...we love him and it's ok here, as there is someone at home all the time but in the near future this may change, I just wondered what others do when at work/uni etc etc. :D ETA: Let me know if I've missed an answer.