Shakti

Oh what a great day it obviously was and the photos are just wonderful! Evolving you are a marvelous photographer and I would happily pay to have you take some pix of my lot!! I absolutely will do everything in my power to get to the next one!

and again........good grief!

Good grief Rebanne! I am merely asking that people especially more experienced DOLers be aware that sometimes the personally vindictive nature of SOME posts may scare off many newbies here who would otherwise stay and learn from all the knowledge that is here. I apologise for my original post but truthfully no one needs to exactly search hard to find a thread which has someone asking for advice or help and being lambasted!

Rebanne, I have edited my first post to remove any reference to any particular thread. It is an overall observation about nastiness and cruelty NOT about people getting advice which they disagree with. Everyone has the right to agree or disagree with advice offered - that is NOT what I am talking about. Rebanne - you may believe that *too many are not interested in any advice unless it suits them, and are not prepared to listen to people who have been in dogs for a long, long time and often have some real gems to share.* But I think the fact that people post in here indicates that they ARE interested in advice. They have every right to act on it or ignore it but I believe people asking for advice should be treated respectfully and not humiliated and attacked.

There is no intention here of re-hashing any thread in particular - just a comment that many, many DOLers have become too scared to post here asking for advice due to the way that many people have been treated due to their genuine ignorance or circumstances etc. The latest thread is simply ONE example of the kind of vicious attacks that have sadly become far too common,

Hi everyone, I have been watching other threads where people have asked for help and suggestions Amidst all the constructive and useful suggestions of which there were many , there were some downright nasty innuendos based on absolutely nothing but the writer's own skewed vision of the world- these personal thinly-veiled attacks do nothing to help the dogs in question nor do they encourage people to come here and ask for advice If these spiteful, personal assumptions about people and their motives continue we will scare people off coming here - they present the facts and ask for help only to have baseless assumptions made about their personal lives and character - how on earth does this encourage people to be honest about their mistakes and get some help for the dogs that they obviously care about? Are we about helping dogs or bashing people!???

Thanks so much Whippets - now I know exactly what breeds you would consider to be protective and yet not aggressive - so much help - thanks ever so for posting!!! PS I think MaCe is more of a deterrent than Mase but what do I know???!!

Hear, hear Casowner! I have learnt a lot from this thread and look forward to learning a great deal more. People who want to make personal attacks or snide innuendo - please either stop or go to PMs!!

This thread should be renamed as NO Justice for Tango. This is just so sad and flies in the face of common sense!

I second that Ellz. I always say when I am despair and am certain I am the world's worst Mum - having the dogs so obedient and looking at me with love reaffirms me!! LOL

She could always just call her son *boy!* LOLOLOL Seriously so glad that the meet and greet went so well - your gut instinct is obviously doing a GREAT job!! So happy for youand I hope you hear about the trial soon!

Dear Troy, Yesterday I had occasion to ask that a thread I had started which specifically asked for advice and suggestions on what to do with my GSD that had recently started air-snapping and had progressed to snapping at people be locked. Many many posters were compassionate, knowledgeable people who made constructive suggestions and offered me their understanding. However a small yet vocal minority began casting aspersions on my character, my reasons for becoming a foster carer for troubled children, for rescuing animals from other states etc etc. While obviously this was upsetting it is NOT the reason I am writing this open letter. What has really stirred me to action is the number of PMs I received from other people saying they had a similar issue with their dog and *were too scared to post for fear of being flamed!* In the past I have witnessed some terribly cruel and unprovoked personal attacks on this forum especially on Newbies who come here with very little knowledge (in some cases) seeking help and advice from these *more experienced dog people* The response that they sometimes get is so withering and so vitriolic that they leave the Forum never to return. This begs the question - what happens to them and their dogs after they have left? Do they continue muddling through? Do they give away or dump their dog? Is their opinion of *dog people* enhanced by the response they have engendered here? I believe this forum is a precious and vital resource not just to be used for back-patting and self-congratulating but also to share wisdom, discuss problems and sometimes seek a second opinion. Perhaps the answer is to have a moderator (or moderators) who can be notified by members when a post has been posted that is considered to be a personal attack or that makes unfounded accusations, resorts to name-calling etc and then have the post immediately removed and the poster given a warning. Three warnings and you are out of the Forum would be I think one way of combating the increasingly nasty tone of some of the posters here. I do not want to name the many people who wrote to me privately saying they felt ashamed to be a member here or who were too scared to ask for advice but, with their permission, I will forward their posts to Troy if he requires some authentication of my claims. This can be such a welcoming, supportive, knowledge-rich environment - we should treasure it and protect it and not let it degenerate into a clique-y, mob-mentality bunfight!

Thanks very much for that Powerlegs - now everyone who wants to is very welcome to re-read that entire thread and see that I NEVER said I was going to get another dog, NEVER suggested rehoming Ben and was in fact just asking a question! Yes Dogmad I did. That is where I got the pregnant cat I currently have from. No - I would never get a protective breed with ALL these children. Good grief! Do you guys really enjoy kicking someone whio is already feeling like shit - who came on here and asked for any constructive advice or suggestions to do the very best for her dog - and is now being accused of fostering kids for the money, of purchasing a second dog who is more protective and just blithely giving up her GSD as well as recklessly volunteering to save animals from Death Row in other cities? I swear - I can see why some people prefer to simply give their dog away in the paper or have it PTS rather than face the judgemental, nasty, shit-stirring crap that some of you have dragged me through tonight. If this is how you treat people who care enough to buy a Registered purebred dog, have it microchipped, registered, wormed, flead, vaccinated, socialise it at Puppy School, attend a General Dog Obedience Clas, join their breed Club, attend seminars. training days and train for Competitive Obedience then God save the ordinary dog-owner from those of you who have just managed to make me regret that I was ever honest about the issues and my options in the first place! Edited to apologise to all the people who have offered advice and genuinely tried to help. i am just so very sad about this whole situation and the nasty innuendo that some of the minority have tossed up in this thread has really broken my heart!

Dogmad - I was never looking to get another dog. I started a thread ASKING what breeds,...... you know what? I have already answered this question in this thread so feel free to go back and re-read it.

Thanks very much Jed and Inge. Lots to do and boy, it does feel good to have some possible options to explore ie thyroid etc. Greytmate - it is a pregnant cat due to give birth in a few days - am pretty sure she is MUCH happier in the peace and quiet!!! I am going to request that Troy lock this thread now

Thanks Inge - yes your post was very clear! No - Ben has snapped at several people ranging from toddlers to on one occasion an elderly man. He doesn't actually snap with the lungeing snarl at me but when he is licking my face he does these little snaps in the air which is very disconcerting. Also my concern is that even in a household with no kids they may well have children (or other people) visit them

DianneD in Victoria foster care pays less than $1.00 per hour I am not doing this for the money and I hope I am mistaken in your insinuation? By the way, it is not only the foster kids Ben has snapped at. I only mentioned that to explain that our home situation is probably more *fluid* than most and that MAY be a contributing factor

BigDaz - I wish it was that but he has snapped at a two year old toddler who had her back to him playing with bubble mixture as well as at a very gentle deaf fifteen year old girl who had been patting him just moments before. Plus with all the training he has had it is not acceptable for him to be making judgements as to people's character and snapping at them when I have told him *by word and action* that these people are part of our family. Kamuzz I don't think i should say who his breeders are but they are well-known and I believe very reputable. I have contacted them about this situation and hope to hear from them soon. They have been very supportive and we only lost touch when we moved inter-state.

Winterpaws I do not know what you are referring to sorry. I have NEVER rehomed any of my animals before although I have occasionally asked on here for advice about re-homing relatives or friends animals as opposed to them simply advertising them as being FTGH Winterpaws you may not have read all this thread but I do not believe that simply putting him in a foster home is going to help the situation or Ben. ETA I do not want to get into a public slanging match over my priorities - I simply wanted some advice and opinions as to what might be the best option for my gorgeous boy! I have received that - thanks to those who offered compassion and a big thanks to all those who offered some constructive suggestions which I will certainly follow up on.

Thanks for the suggestion Pockets - I am a member of the GSD Club but when I spoke to the woman in charge of re-homing she said it would be difficult to re-home him as most people inquiring through her would not be able to handle a dog with his issues. I have also contacted several of the instructors at the club individually for their opinions etc so that may yet pan out. My main concern is that he may have brain lesions (as has been suggested to me) (or some neurological issue) and that no matter who owns him, these issues will only continue and probably worsen.. I have already emailed a veterinary Behaviorist to see if we can do some tests to eliminate the possibility of brain lesions or some other such illness which would not show up in the general exam and am waiting to hear back.

At this moment and for the past six months we have had..............1 female cat with us. I offer a lot but have not actually been taken up on any of my offers. The use of the word *all* does rather imply hordes and hordes. The issue is not so much numbers as it is I think different faces ie the family unit is not static. Anyway this is all just conjecture on my part - I guess I just wanted to get some more opinions from the knowledgeable people on here in the hopes that maybe we could find a solution

Dear Dogmad, We have an unused Granny Flat which I use to house any fosters I may have. That is not an option for Ben to be locked in as it is basically one room plus a toilet. Thanks for your concern though!

A workmate of my husband spotted a relatively rare breed advertised on a site and wrote to enquire about its breeding, availability etc. This is the reply she received..... Thanks for the mail, i am located in USA in Texas you will only pay for the fight . please by 5hours time i will go and resister in an agency and the agency will contact and you will give the flight money but to the agency not to me i am only giving it for adoption to you. i am doing this because our pastor says we should gives this coming Easter and we ought-to give. My Regards Does anyone actually fall for this spiel????????

hi k9angel - he is absolutely a wonderful dog and I have everything crossed that the perfect home comes forward very soon!

showdog - I object to being misquoted as i have NEVER said I wanted to buy a guard dog. I started a post ASKING what breeds people would consider to be naturally protective as opposed to aggressive. Ben was never intended to be a guard dog and I do not rely on him to fulfill this function BUT I was surprised on the one occasion I did feel threatened that Ben preferred to run rather than stay to defend me. Not disappointed in him or wanting another dog or anything of the sort - just surprised that my assumption had proven to be incorrect. I can also assure you that I can say with 100% certainty that he has not been teased by kids because he is NEVER left unattended with them. I wouldn't leave ANY dog unattended in this sort of situation both for the kids' sake and for the dog's. Ben has snapped at adults who he has been happily being patted by - the adult has turned to leave and Ben has snapped at their hand. Again I have managed to react in time to ensure no one was hurt but I think it is a symptom of him being overwhelmed by too many people in his life and his home.