YOLO

These are Monochorionic twins (same sac & placenta) but not necessarily Monozygotic (identical.) This is not uncommon in litters. In some cases this can lead to Twin-to-twin transfusion, which in litters can be one cause of a runt. As for your two having a special bond, they would presumably share many things in common, and would have grown accustomed to close contact with eachother and possibly recognise each other’s tastes and scent.However, as other people have said, it is possible that this is a rare case of mosonomy, where the twins are identical but one is missing all or part of the y chromozone. (In which case the girl would probably be sterile.)

Yes, this may be the only way, to keep a muzzle on when he is unsupervised. I'd still recommend plenty of chew items, but to stock him eating the lawnfood etc, a muzzle might be the only way. Leaving a muzzled dog unsupervised is incredibly dangerous and stupid. I tend to agree its dangerous, especially when you have 2 dogs and one of them is Gus lol, so I dont think I would muzzle him, but crating could work... after reading everyones posts mental stimulation would be our friend here. Having actual food around is out of the question unless both dogs are seperated. There are different types of muzzle. You would need a basket style, one that allows panting and drinking. But yes, not recommended for extended periods.When the dog is home alone, distractions such as tots and chews may help, but ultimately separating him from potentially harmful “edibles” is the only option.

My personal opinion is that you should view artificial turf in the home as a replacement for paving, NOT grass. Compared to paving it is cooler, more aesthetic, less prone to weeds, ants, and mineral staining. If you have urine, it needs to be eliminated. On natural grass, there is plenty of soil for it to be absorbed into, it will be washed from the surface (by rain or watering,) it will be broken down by the microbes and fauna in the soil, and ultimately the nitrates can be used by the grass itself. With an inorganic surface, the urine won’t disappear by itself. Depending on how your garden is laid out, you may be able to hose it into the garden (otherwise into the drain.) Occasional rain should also do the trick. There are different constructs of turf. Some use infill, including mixtures of sand and rubber, which might be worse for trapping odorous liquids.

Yes, this may be the only way, to keep a muzzle on when he is unsupervised. I'd still recommend plenty of chew items, but to stock him eating the lawnfood etc, a muzzle might be the only way.

No, thats my point. For the sake of simplicity, let’s assume an open population. If we could somehow sterilise 90% of all male dogs, it would not significantly impact the population. However if we sterilised 90% of bitches it would have a substantial impact.

Except some posters think they shouldn't be in on lead only areas as well, and what exactly is your point?We're not talking about "big" dogs, or "scary" dogs, nor dogs of particular breeds. We're talking about dogs that for whatever reason are now capable and willing to attack and kill other dogs. I just don't see the need for SUCH dogs.

I don’t think this is dietary issue. Many dogs are opportunistic feeders, constantly on the lookout for food. (Certainly all the big dogs I have owned have been.) However your dog’s case is extreme as it doesn’t differentiate between “food” and “not food.” In all honesty this is more likely to psychological. My Suggestion is lots of HARD tasty things for him to chew on. BIG beef bones, rawhide chews, etc. You could also try some aversion therapy by putting hot chilli on other items you think he may eat.

Thanks Nic. The snake is literally about 4 metres from the house, so way too close to comfort. I also have to rush out when clients arrive and redirect them to my work area so that their dogs are not at risk. I am worried a clients dog will stick its nose in the garden bed like they always do and be bitten for his troubles. We have pretty much been living in lock down here for the past week. Wires have said the snake needs to be out for them to catch it. They've said they cant do anything once he goes down his hole under his boulder. I'd quite happily enlist someone to blow his brains out, illegal or not, but I wouldn't put that on someone elses shoulders and don't want a gun. I have no qualms doing what I feel is necessary to protect what is mine. I didnt realise that about the Agapanthas. All my elderly ' clients last week have said 'oh, that's why they're called Snake Hiders'. I am going to rip the whole lot out but it's a big job and requires a man and a bobcat machine thingo and largish $$'s. I went and bought my daughter 4 pairs of gumboots last week and have a pair stationed at each exit. Do you think she can remember to put them on going outside? *mad eye rolly man* Can snakes be flushed out with water? If you put a hose down the hole and fill it with water, would that possibly cause it to come out and allow the catchers to do their stuff?What about a trap? I know reserachers use some form of pipe trap to catch snakes for research purposes.

Stoopid idea. Just saying Actually no, shotguns with the correct load are extremely effective against snakes. Asuming the shooter is properly trained, this is probably the safest and easiest method of dealing with a problem snake.The alternative, of allowing a child or pet to be fatally bitten is "stoopid."

Nephew’s wife bought one of these poor “handbag” dogs. Apparently a mini Chihuahua that was the product of successively breeding runts, until this thing was miniscule. It would shake uncontrollably in the presence of other people, couldn’t walk straight, had to be fed on puppy mush, broke its legs jumping off a table, and asphyxiated from a respiratory infection when it was about 3 years old. Tragic end to a sad little life. People trying to deliberately create these poor things should be prosecuted.

Whilst I'm not a big fan of council rangers, please don’t think they enjoy this aspect of their job, nor that they are insensitive to the inhumanity. At other councils, rangers are forced to load dogs into chambers and gas them. Whilst shooting it at the tip sounds barbaric and inhumane, a bullet through the head is probably more humane than gassing and no less so than lethal injection.I have lived in regional towns where I couldn’t take my dog for a walk because of the uncontrolled dogs roaming the street. The dogs here were un-registered and uncontrolled. Unfortunately (in the absence of any rescue options) the only other choice here was to impound the dog, keep it in the pound for a few weeks, and THEN euthanize it. It is a sad fate for any dog, but it is the fault of the uncontrolled breeding and irresponsible owners.

Gees, I hate to generalise, but doesn’t this just sound like the stereotypical yobbo dangerous dog owner? Dangerous dogs are a product of their breeding and their owners, but there’s no excuse for dogs like this. I don’t care if you think you can “control” your dog, if it is likely to this when not controlled, it just shouldn’t be. People who feel the need to own such dangerous weapons should really invest in some psychological treatment.

shotgun just saying

Dogs can be (and some are) bred to promote aggressive tendencies. Let’s not forget that many cute white fluffies were originally bred as ratters and with irresponsible breeding some of those aggressive tendencies can re-emerge. Failure to properly socialise and train dogs can also reinforce these negative tendencies. Unfortunately, what most responsible owners don’t want to acknowledge, is that there are far too many morons out there who actively seek dangerous and aggressive dogs. Just do a Google search and you will find plenty of nuts asking questions like “I want to get a dog that will rip the nuts of anyone that comes through my front door, and won’t be put down by a few gunshots, should I get a pit-bull or a Rottweiler or what?” As usual it is these jerks and their dogs that give the breed a bad name. The difference I suppose is this: If an irresponsible owner buys a “white fluffy” from a bad BYB, and doesn’t train and socialise the dog properly, they may end up with a psychotic little nutter that will bite someone, and which they will end up dumping at the pound. If an irresponsible owner buys a “pit bull” from a bad BYB, and doesn’t train and socialise the dog properly, they may end up with a psychotic nutter that will savage someone, possibly fatally.

Unfortunately in such cases it is the squeaky wheel syndrome. Ring the RSPCA every day that you see no change or improvement. You might also try the local council, and possibly even the local media. Ring your community talkback radio and send photos to your local newspaper.

I think this is it in a nutshell. There are no specific laws or time-limits, but the laws regarding cruelty & neglect apply. Personally, depending on the location and severity, I would get hold of the local rangers or police. The alternative is to get a hose and squirt cold water into the car…

You could try playing the radio, it supposedly helps although I have no direct experience. Depending on the age, the best thing is another dog to play with. I don’t really like to suggest it, but I know that many vets would suggest medication…

And how exactly do you suggest councils and shelters pay for vasectomies? My understanding is that the procedure is far more expensive. Shelter staff are not misguided nor amateurs, I have met the most incredible shelter staff from all over the country. Have you ever worked or volunteered in a shelter? I gather not from your comments, perhaps you should, either that or keep your stupid misguided comments to yourself! As I SAID, I have “not heard of vasectomies being widely done in dogs.”I don’t know whether it is more expensive, I can’t see why it would be, unless the alternative castration process is being performed by unqualified staff? Maybe ask a vet. Not really the point, but I should point out that a volunteer is by definition an amateur… Anybody who thinks that neutering males will control population is MISGUIDED, it simply does not work that way. If you read any of my posts, you would realise that I am vehemently opposed to irresponsible breeding. As such I fully support the mandatory sterilisation of mongrel BITCHES. In any (higher order) animal population the growth of the population is controlled by the reproducing females. That is Biology 101. Anecdotal comments about BYBs seeking entire male dogs are pointless. To be a BYB they require an entire bitch, to double their production they require a 2nd bitch, etc. Potentially a puppy farm could run a hundred bitches and still only require the occasional services of a single male dog. Shelters sterilising male dogs in the interests of population control is pointless. It’s not completely impossible, but to achieve population control we would need to reach a point where the vast majority of male dogs were sterilised. It’s pointless because if shelters could ever reach such a level, the control would long since have been applied by their sterilisation of bitches.

Why do simple posts always have to turn into pure vs cross breeds? I find the above statement to be a wild generalisation,and unfair for the reasons Corvus brought up.It may well be mostly true when dogs are bred only to supply "popular markets" and for profit. A lot less true when dogs are bred for a specific role in which case dogs are still selected for specific traits and more often than not,evaluated in just the way you mention above,for success at "work" and in the situation in which they are usually kept. Its pretty much how most breeds came into being and still does happen today. That’s a rather circuitous and self-defeating argument. It’s like saying that since most dogs are descended from canis lupus, we are should all just buy wolves.I can’t think of many current examples of dogs being cross-bred for a purpose (as opposed to “fashion”) except perhaps some working dogs, but even there I think that most of the breeds are well established. The overwhelming majority of cross-breed pups stem from either irresponsible owners allowing their own questionable bitches to breed with whatever comes along, BYB and puppy farms breeding scores of “white fluffies” for the pet store market, and those corrupting breeds in the interests of fashion (eg Silver Labradors, White Retrievers, etc.)

Have not heard of vasectomies being widely done in dogs, but I wish those misguided amateurs at the shelters would get hold of the idea. The health problems they cause by castrating dogs are substantial, well-documented, and completely outweigh any so-called benefits. At least with a vasectomy, they could cling to their myths about population control, but do minimal damage. For the avoidance of doubt, let me be clear on this. Sterilising males does NOT control population. Go and talk to a farmer, in the business of breeding sheep or cattle. Ask him how many entire Rams or Bulls he keeps to serve his herd or flock. If anything, it is worse with dogs. If you have an entire female on heat, and she is not secure, then if there is an entire male roaming within miles of your bitch he WILL find her.

Ironically, there is an argument that randomly bred stray/wild mongrels will suffer from less congenital ailments; a combination of a broader gene-pool and some Darwinian theory. However such breeding also tends to promote dominant/ aggressive/ predatory characteristics. Most genetic characteristics can be bred out, that’s why we have different breeds to begin with. Therefore to the extent that these are genetic ailments (and can be detected) careful breeding will progressively eliminate them. Obviously not checking or breeding indiscriminately will NOT lessen the incidence and will continue to propagate these ailments. As for people “carefully selecting their crossbreeds,” that is simply a crock. Firstly you have no idea what specific characteristics a cross-breed will develop, unless you have been able to rigorously evaluate several older adult full-siblings, and that is virtually never going to happen.) Simply because you have seen other “A x B” dogs, and the BYB claims theirs are also “A x B” doesn’t mean they will be even similar. And to get back to the OT, here’s the rub. Breeding random cross-breeds is barely more “profitable” than pedigreed, UNLESS they are cutting corners. That’s the big JOKE of this whole argument. I am paying $1,300 directly to my breeder (and I know what I am getting and consider the money well spent.) If I paid even as much as $1,000 to a pet-shop, how much of that goes to breeder? Probably about half, maybe $600. No way have they properly cared for the bitch and pups for that sought of money. To see some pups in pet-shops for $500 is just frightening.

I named my first dog Ralph, after the piano playing dog on the Muppets. However I have a cousin Ralph. He bought a rabbit and named him after me.

I’ve no doubt that many horrible things can be done to a bitch by feeding her poison. “One dose” of strychnine will kill, others can paralyse, etc. However the notion than any such atrocity would ever be “approved” is beyond nonsensical.

Have taken the plunge and put a deposit on a little black girl...

I really don’t want to prolong the argument, but feel I can’t let that pass without comment.There is no comparison between jeans and dogs, I won’t even go there. The point is that someone CAN’T sell you a pup for $100, unless they have been completely and utterly irresponsible. (Not talking about somebody discounting a pup to a good home, that is not selling.) I suppose if somebody’s dog got knocked up by some stray that jumped the fence, If they had never undertaken hip, elbow, eye, DNA checks If they allowed the pregnancy to proceed, and raised the pups without vet care of any kind. Didn’t bother with worming or vaccinations, Malnourished the bitch during pregnancy and weaning Sold the pups before they required their own food. And either devoted no time to the bitch and pups, or thought there time was worthless They might be able to manage it. I am thinking of becoming a breeder when I retire. If I do it will because I want to further the best characteristics of the breed, I certainly wouldn’t be doing it for the money.