poochiemama

Some great suggestions, I am starting to get a clearer picture of what the website could be... With articles on common issues facing the dog owner, with good links, , hopefully written in a way as to engage people. I will probably do one on toilet training tonight, after reviewing some of the available articles. As the readership picks up, I could have guest writers eg reputable dog trainers, who could write about some common issues. It's really at brainstorming stage at the moment...

Thank you for your thoughts. I suppose that's why I have asked for opinions on here as to how to make the site most useful rather than just my thoughts. But I think a blog is different from a website in that it does need to be a bit more personal. A lot of dogs end up in pounds because people are unprepared for the reality of dog ownership. Yes, that includes dog hair. I specified that I was referring to long haired dogs. Anyone who is serious about owning a dog would not find it a huge surprise that yes, some dogs do shed. Links to toilet training.... I think that's a great idea and will incorporate an article and links to that. Thanks again for your feedback, I have a huge amount of respect for the hard work that you do.

I Would LOVE to hear your story, please send it! :)

Thanks guys. Yes at moment it's Labrador focused cause its only day 2 and there are 3 posts, one of which is my personal story of my dog who is a labrador. how about we give it some time. I think featuring real life stories of people who have rescued dogs is a great idea... In fact someone I know has asked if she and her dog can be featured... Could be a regular thing if there is enough interest :)

Thanks Steve, support has been great and nearly 200 people have looked at the site so far (a little scary :)) Thanks for your kind words

Thank you Aphra, I've checkout the website for Yes Biscuit and agree that the content is great . I'm going to focus on producing new content for the blog on a regular basis. Please keep checking back to see the progress if you have time. Fingers crossed it will all work out ;)

Thanks littlesev :) ! I've just posted a very personal account of my dog Charlie - it's terrifying to hit 'publish' and see things so close to your heart go out into the blogosphere, so the support is reassuring. thanks for taking the time.

Thank you for the support :) It gave me courage to add another post to my blog, about my dog Charlie, please feel free to read. I don't actually think the blog is anything like the existing sites. I would certainly never put up a photo of a rescue dog without that organisation's permission and as I said, it would be up to the individual organisations to write a blurb about that dog, so that it's fully within their control what they want to say. I have links to petrescue etc on the blog and they have already received a few hits as a result of the blog. I can't see how that is a bad thing. If someone does not want to promote their rescue organisation on the blog, I fully respect that. In the interim, I'm going to continue to write things that I hope people will find useful.

Thanks everyone, I do appreciate your comments, especially in terms of keeping the language clean - it is something easily fixed and I will clean up the page. As I said, it's only day 2 of the blog, and this is why I posted on the forum, to receive feedback. I certainly don't want to offend anyone. I must say I'm surprised that people are questioning whether we need a new website and if I'm honest, found some of the feedback a little unfair. I think the more we can get the word out, the better. This is a blog, rather than a website - it will be a bit more personal and hopefully there will be more of a human connection. I'm also hoping to provide some education on the blog, which most of the websites eg petrescue fail to do as well. I had some very constructive feedback about the sort of topics the blog could include eg a guide to adopting a dog, things to watch for, normal settling in behaviour. This sort of feedback is very useful and I fully intend to cover these topics as best as I can. All I am hoping is the blog will eventually inspire someone out there to rescue. I've always found these forums to be incredibly supportive and hopefully it will continue to be a source of inspiration and support to me.

Btw I am not sure that I gave any advice on rescued dogs... My post was really about some of the things I found challenging as a dog owner and what I found rewarding, rather than advice per se. Also did not find a lot of swearing other than saying a dogs wagging tail is the best reward after a shit day... Hehe :) sorry if any offence caused by that word , I do appreciate your feedback

Hey! Thanks so much for your feedback. I agree there is a huge amount that I could add eg guide for adoption. But bear in mind I only started the site yesterday! Would love feedback on what else you would like to see on the site. I am trying to keep it a little humorous, although I take it very seriously.

Hey! Thanks so much for your feedback. I agree there is a huge amount that I could add eg guide for adoption. But bear in mind I only started the site yesterday! Would love feedback on what else you would like to see on the site. I am trying to keep it a little humorous, although I take it very seriously.

Hi everyone, I'm setting up a little blog to promote dog rescue in Victoria (or it could be statewide, will see how it goes). Just want to send you the link; I am aiming to profile a dog a day that needs rescue on the site, it's a fresh website and hopefully it will get more readership as time goes on, but I'm trying to help in a small way. If you are interesting in featuring your dog on the site, please let me know. Would be good to have a nice photo of the dog and a little blurb about them. I can edit the photo to make it 'pop' more and if it's a particular breed, will include information about the breed of dog. Also looking to feature people who have themselves rescued a dog - their story and how rescuing a dog changed their lives, along with a little profile of their dog. You can contact me on [email protected] The link is: http://www.humanrescuesdog.wordpress.com Looking forward to hearing from you.

Please don't feed airdried/smoked bones - my dog used to have them as treats then ended up with a major bowel obstruction; he was very unwell.

Thanks everyone I appreciate your responses. I am going to continue to feed raw for now. But it's not about 'imposing' my lifestyle on the dogs... I think it's our responsibility to ask questions about what we are feeding our dogs, be it kibble, raw, meat , whatever.

thanks! i found it.

I've fed my dogs raw for the last year and on the whole, they've been doing well (although they could lose some weight). But recently I've found myself increasingly appalled by what I'm reading on factory farming of animals and animal cruelty in the meat industry. It's really made me think twice about eating meat. I can't bear the thought of puppy mills, and I thought to myself that many animals are treated just as badly in meat industry. Anyway I'm turning vegetarian and now am wondering about whether I should feed dogs vegetarian too. But I wouldn't want to deprive them of anything. Just wondering if anyone has thoughts on this.

Just wondering if anyone has experience with this kennel? just thinking of boarding our pooches there... thanks

I bought one from Amazon.com : Solvit Deluxe Bench Seat Cover for pets... only $33 and works beautifully, looks nice too. Looked at the backseat buddy but couldn't justify the price, although it looks like a great product.

I love Bones Will Rain From the Sky - another Patricia Mcdonnel one

well I wasn't impressed at paying $300 at emergency vet, when a quick google search told me what he had. !!!

Just to let people know about this problem - my dog came back from boarding kennels with a limp tail , couldn't move it. I was freaking out and took him to the vet, who thought maybe a door had closed on his tail or he'd somehow strained it. But after reading about it, I think it might be 'cold tail' - a condition very common in hunting breeds, and is a result of taking a bath and then being in the cold (the kennel had bathed him before sending him home), or overexertion or prolonged crating. It usually resolves spontaneously and with antiinflammatories. Charlie's tail is starting to wag more today, thank goodness. Just thought I would let people know because it's quite scary and the vet started talking about maybe having to amputate his tail if he'd fractured it etc. http://www.woodhavenlabs.com/coldtail.html

Anyone????

Just wondering if anyone has had experience with bed for tails? I heard great things about them but just wanted to confirm with the doggie community on dolforums.

Hi, I had the same problem and I invested in two kuranda dog beds, I got them from www.kennelsolutions.com.au and they're marvellous and completely unbreakable/untearable in my experience. We used to have these beds inside, and the pooches loved them; now we use them as outdoor beds. But they don't have filling in them unfortunately. In terms of beds with fillings, I've heard the snooze d1000 beds are tough, but I don't have any experience with them. I think most beds with filling will end up being torn. Do you want the beds for indoor or outdoor use? I also think sometimes dogs grow out of these behaviours, I guess it depends how old your GSPs are.