Skitch

... Really? What did you study and how long ago? I studied vet nursing at TAFE SA Gilles Plains and we also used ex racing/trained greyhounds.. but NEVER for non recovery processes and I was under the impression that this is something that had never happened at TAFE SA because the animal courses there do not require the students to learn from animals by performing non recovery operations. I think over all the greyhounds at TAFE were very well cared for when I was there.. they had their own air conditioned building with runs, a big outdoor pen to run around in and apart from having to endure a bit of poking and prodding from students they had a pretty good life! I was quite pleased and excited to see the greyhounds I studied with (Rosie, Bambi, Patch and Magic in case they were the same as yours!) up on pet rescue for rehoming via GAPSA just recently.. I nearly wanted to adopt them! One of the greys I studied with was put to sleep because he unfortunately bit a student but there's no need for me to explain why that was appropriate.

Hmm.. I live in SA and I dont think there is any law that says you MUST hand a dog over to the pound. We've found dogs that have been obviously abandoned (we live in the country) and although we always rang the local pound to say we had found the dog and ask if there were any that had been reported as lost matching the description and have them take a record of it, we opted not to hand the dogs over to the pound and the pound staff never asked that we did? We put up posters, did mail box drops, etc (our town is pretty small!) but in all cases the dogs owner was never found and we ended up rehabbing and rehoming them ourselves after a good try at trying to locate any previous owners they may have had. There is also no mandatory microchipping law here so I'm not sure how the old owner would go about 'signing over' this dog to a new owner..? If it's not registered and not chipped, there'd be nothing to hand over and nothing to even prove the dog was 'owned' in the first place. Personally I'd abort the puppies and desex the bitch in the process given the circumstances.. I dont think rescue bitches should be allowed to give birth if it can be avoided, there's just no telling how the puppies will turn out.

I think most breeders hear the term 'outside dog' and assume that the dog will be left outside and will have reduced interaction.. which in some cases is true, but not all! However.. I dont think a daschund is an appropriate breed to be kept 100% outside. That's just my opinion though!

Siks3, I'm sorry about your fathers little Foxie and you are right about two male dogs..especially if they have not grown together...........but as soon as I saw Akita.....it didn't surprize me. Now before everyone pounces on me.......I have known dozens of Akita's in the past through friends having them as well as being at Akita shows when the breed was very popular.......and I have not met ONE I would trust. They are a big powerful breed with very few having good temperament with other dogs and sometimes with people. I think it is very sad you have to give the Foxie away....especially as he is an old dog and has had the trauma of loosing his owner (your father).......and now he is about to lose you too in being re housed with someone else. Sad situation all round. I disagree with your male dog perspective Tapferhund, the males growing up together from pups are more likely to fight in my experience than an older/younger combination. Akitas are not a whole lot different to working line GSD's, Rottys, Malinois, Dutch Shepherds and some Bull breeds that have genetic fighting drive, more than likely you are comparing more classical Akita's with watered down pet versions of the breeds I mentioned. Any breed with genetic fighting drive if pushed too hard with bullying or being shoved around unfairly will defend themselves and make a good job of it, lets not put Akita's in the traditional Pit Bull charade with more unsubstantiated comments of negativity based on breed. Well I disagree with your perspective 55C ! In my experience same litter males growing up together , same litter females growing up together are less likely to fight than bringing two older male or female dogs together and expect them to live happily together.......although I have this situation too.....with no problem. I have had up to five entire males run together...even when I have had bitches in season ...and all with no problem. It comes down to leadership by the owner imo. The only time I would separate was when no one was at home. Other than that they all lived happily together. The OP had an old small dog and a younger (I'm assuming) larger dog. So do you honestly believe an old dog would be annoying (bullying) the younger dog? Truth be known the poor old foxie didn't want to be bothered with the Akita continually annoying it . As for your comments that Akitas are not a whole lot different to the working breeds you have mentioned......along with these breeds having genetic 'fighting drive'....... .........what a load of codswallop !!!!!!!!!!! Akita's were bred to hunt bear as well as other large wild animals....whereas each and everyone of those working breeds were bred to herd! Quote from an Akita website. Perhaps if the OP had done some research on his chosen breed the poor foxie might have been spared from being mauled. The Akita Inu have a reputation for sometimes being aggressive towards smaller animals or other dogs, particularly those of the same sex. Read post No. 9 The OP states that the foxie started it. Read post No. 3 where OP says "Yea mate I heard the poor fella screaming I had to lift my akita off the ground and choke him to get him to let go." So how would the OP know the foxie started it when he didn't SEE it but only 'heard' it??? What the hell does it matter? The dogs had a huge fight that resulted in the foxie nearly dying and requiring some extensive vet work.. the owner has paid the vet bills, restored the foxie to good health and found it a new home where it will be much safer. What more could you ask for!? What would have you done in this situation?

What an incredibly harsh and insensitive thing to say. First of all, having an incident break out between two dogs could happen to anyone, even the most experienced of dog owners. Unless you keep both dogs separated at all times, you never know what completely random thing could happen to affect one of the dog's behaviour - unexpected illness, new stimulae, toxins ... dogs are living creatures and cannot be 100% predictable. Second, from what I can see, the OP is doing the best possible given an incredibly difficult situation. I know some would say PTS the Akita but that sounds profoundly unfair and extreme given the circumstances. I'm no expert but I'm guessing that it's going to be far easier to find a good new home for a Fox Terrier than it would be for a male Akita given the fact that there is undeniable bias against and fear surrounding large breeds in the community. Your comments above would appear to be clear manifestations of such viewpoints. In any case, it's really unfortunate that this thread has to devolve like this. Can't we just sympathise with the poor OP and give helpful suggestions instead of making OP feel worse? Tapferhund if you really feel so strongly about Akitas and scenarios like this and believe that people take it upon themselves when they select breeds like Akitas - couldn't it be more appropriately discussed in a new thread? I'm sure many would like to engage and discuss over there. Agreed! Tapferhund what would you like to see the owner of these dogs do? Would you rather that they rehomed the akita? Or would you prefer that they kept both dogs and risked another incident? I think given the situation the owner is doing the best thing possible if they are not able to keep the dogs separated. Your comments are incredibly harsh and judgmental.. completely unnecessary.

This is why my lot are crate trained.. anything above 35 and everyone is indoors in their crates while we're at work. I'm very lucky to live practically over the fence from my work place so coming home on breaks to let them out for a drink and a run is never an issue. With that said, I think MOST breeds would actually be quite okay outside with access to lots of water and shade.. but one of our dogs is elderly and the other is an italian greyhound so I like to err on the side of caution and just keep them both in when its hot.

Boomer ONLY likes toys that squeak! Anything else he'll just ignore. It's funny to give him a non squeaky toy and watch him try and work out where the squeaky bit is though..

Oooohh.. I will be watching this thread with interest too! :D

Definitely the 'norm' with most breeders. They dont want you tromping anything in on your shoes/clothes/hands/etc before the pups have atleast had their first vaccs they are very vulnerable! Parvo is too easily transmitted and very common this time of year.

I was there this morning.. That place will never get any better i dont think. Now, Whyalla has a LOVELY set of beaches. (You just have to look past the red dust ) I live in Pirie . We moved here for work.. it's not as bad as everyone makes it out to be but yeah.. it aint so great either. LOL ROFL I dont think the Port Pirie beach should even be classified as a lake! It's so dirty and stinky.. and the smelters are like.. RIGHT THERE lol. I saw a dolphin at the Pirie beach the other day and my first thoughts was "Shit.. it must be sick!" rather than "OMG WOW A DOLPHIN!" Lol.

People never believe me when I say my Italian Greyhound is lazy and he doesn't even really like to go for walks! "Oh but he's so skinny! You must run him alot". Nup.. three times a week he gets a run in the park tops? He'd much rather sleep all the time. lol Also.. no, they are not underweight! Iggies are meant to be skinny (yet toned!).

I drag both of mine in the shower with me! Lol

Soft crates are great.. until your puppy decides to chew through the doors or just chew a huge hole in them in general! Not sure if I just had bad luck.. but my dogs seem to prefer their crates to chew regardless of how many chew toys and kongs they have. Blah Soft crates are definitely easier to move around though.. the ones we have just popped up and down in a matter of seconds!

Damn! Sold out.

I'll be in town that weekend so I might pop along with Boomer ! I'll be 33 weeks pregnant by then so I guess it will depend on how I'm feeling lol.

Ohh okay. I've not heard of those before! Is it okay to 'pop' them or should we just leave them be?

Hmm.. I dont think they're black heads. My iggy gets black heads pretty often but these seemed different? Like when you look at them in her skin they look like something that's gone in on an angle.. and when they pop out they look like *something* rather than just a blackhead if that makes sense! There's also a whole line of them going directly down the middle of her tummy.. that seems weird to me. Maybe they are blackheads.. hmm.. I'll take that pic tommorrow and see what people think .

My friend has a gorgeous chihuahua dog. She's about 4 years old and entire in case that matters. Today while I was over there she was having a snooze in my lap, on her back with her legs in the air as she often does... when I noticed a little line of black dots in the middle of her tummy. I thought they looked a bit weird (it was obvious they weren't skin markings) so I asked my friend to turn a light on and scratched at one of them. Scratching at them didn't do much but when I 'squeezed' them (kind of like you would a pimple) the little black specks actually popped out of her skin! Looking at a few of them when we got them out, they reminded me ALOT of human head lice eggs (I used to work in a hair salon! Lol). They were sort of dark and oval shaped with a lighter tip if that makes any sense. They are very small about the size of a poppy seed. Does anyone know what this could be? They dont seem to cause her any discomfort at all and she certainly wasn't bothered by us poking and prodding at them while she was sleeping so I dont think they're causing her any pain. There's still quite a few there and I think it would be best to get them out.. but I thought I'd ask to see if anyone knows what they could be first in case it's best not to disturb them. I honestly couldn't tell if they were seeds or eggs of some kind just by looking at them. My friend thinks they've been there for a long time though but he's never worried much about them.. Thanks in advance . I will take a photo when I'm there tommorrow and add it to this thread too!

One of my dogs ate a whole tub of fish food not long ago.. didn't notice any bad symptoms besides stinky fish breath LOL

I've been feeding our cattle dog mix raw eggs 2 - 3 times a week for the entire duration of her life (11 years!) and have never once had a problem.. maybe we just got lucky? Dont know really.. but after 11 years I dont think I'll be stopping anytime soon lol.

Personally I dont think raw eggs are bad for dogs.. mine get them atleast once a week. They love them and devour them shells and all!

All raw diet here :D. Lots of different meats and bones and plenty of offal (kidney, liver, etc) several times a week. Makes for very healthy dogs with non stinky breath and shiny coats!

perhaps- but there are LOTS of things one can transport in a traytop or ute which can not fit into a stationwagon. Motorbikes/hay bales/furniture/building materials/large boxes........ Very true.. it's the reason we have both a ute and a station wagon! The OP did state that they were going to buy a ute specifically to make it more convenient to transport their dog though. If the only reason you're buying a ute is to transport the dog.. a station wagon is a FAR better option in my books . But in either case.. I would never leave a dog on the back of a ute or in a station wagon unattended for any length of time. I know plenty of people do it but to me it's just not worth the risk!

If you were going to buy a ute but are worried about containment issues.. why not just buy a station wagon?? Much better option for safe dog transport if you ask me. ETA: Although.. I certainly wouldn't reccomend leaving ANY dog unattended in a station wagon or a ute for that matter!

HAHAHAHA! Omg ew. I have a similar story. One of our dogs raided a bin and proceeded to rip up a sanitary pad in the middle of the loungeroom floor! We had guests over and you can imagine how embarassed I was when I opened the door to find her sitting there with her face all bloody and what was quite obviously a pad between her paws! Sooo gross.. but luckily everyone saw the funny side of it haha