BigPaws

I recently took out pet insurance so I don't ever have to be in that position.

Mine stay inside with the aircon on but the plan is that they'll be able to get to an outside area with their pool and toys through a doggie door, but still have access to the airconditioned house.

I'm not sure how much help I can be, but I am interested in being involved

People who hurt those who are incapable of defending themselves are cowards. It makes them feel powerful. I think you will find that people who physically abuse animals, also do this to their own children (because they can). These types of people are the most gutless people in existance in my opinion. They have no right to treat animals this way. :D

Sorry I haven't read through all the posts after my last comment. Steve, I didn't realise you were talking about answers that don't require any new laws. I think the only answer without legal intervention is education. If possible, find influential people who care about this and get them to tell stories about dogs from puppy farms who get put to sleep because it's their best option. I know there aren't any well known vets in Bondi currently who promote responsible dog ownership, but it would be fantastic if someone in such an influential position could help the general public understand the issues here.

Rusky, anyone can abuse, breed and abandon. Even Registered Breeders! You're right about not being able to control people, but I fail to see how you think the number of puppies can be controlled. As long as it's legal to sell live animals via Gumtree, ebay, etc there will be a market and there are unscrupulous people who will take advantage of this. If you did a Root Cause Analysis of unwanted puppies, what do you think the root cause is? It's selfish humans. Why should individual dogs suffer because people are basically idiots?

In response to the people who say "all pet dogs should be desexed" Please correct me if I'm wrong, but I can't imagine that any breeder could possibly understand what a pet owner feels towards their dog. I am a pet owner and have an entire female. She is kept entire because it is the best thing for her health. It is not easy keeping an entire female when she is on heat and definitely not something I would choose to do. I could not live with myself if for some reason I had to rehome one of my dogs. Breeders do this all the time. Dogs should be desexed based on what is best for the individual dog. If a person is not capable of doing the right thing by that dog, then that person should not be allowed to have that dog. Desexing dogs based on the stupidity of humans is no different to saying that 90% of humans should be desexed as children because their offspring will be abused in some way.

Anyone who cares about the welfare of individual dogs would not condone mandatory desexing. I'm talking about higher risks of some cancers in certain breeds. Mandatory desexing will not stop puppy farming. Responsible people who register their dogs will have them desexed. People who farm them will not. As long as these people are allowed to advertise their pups in newspapers, online, etc, people will buy them.

Steve, I don't believe that any kind of restrictions on dogs, such as BSL, mandatory desexing, etc is going to end puppy farming. From my perspective, we need laws on pet ownership. Animals should be treated with respect and only those who can give an animal the home it deserves and needs should have them. Animals should not be treated as a possession, but they so often are. We need to have a system where every puppy is registered with a central body and any health/temperament concerns are listed for everyone to see. It must be so easy for a puppy farmer to convince unsuspecting people that they are selling well bred dogs. It must also be easy for registered breeders to sell "less than perfect" pups for a good profit.

As a pet dog owner, I could ask those questions, the breeder gives the answers, and that's that, I'm happy? I think people who deal with dog issues, breeding, etc on a daily basis tend to forget that the average person buying a puppy isn't going to have any idea about health issues, etc and they see a breeder as being the knowing one with all the answers.

It is a great product. I was initially surprised by the price, but bought a 5 litre bottle of Apple scent. As I was pouring it in the washing machine during spin cycles when doing dogs bedding, it can run out quicker, so now I spray the bedding when its on the line. Given I paid something like 50 dollars for the bottle, it has in fact only just run out about 2 months ago. It lasted me nearly 2 years. I'm sure I would have spent more if using other products. I just wanted to clarify my response above, I have used both Odourgo and UrineFree. I found Odourgo to be very good as a dilutable product which can be used for washing floors and spraying on furniture. My house still smelled of urine though. UrineFree is used as it comes and is not diluted. I have found for urine, this product is much better.

My house most definitely smells doggy to people who don't let their dogs inside. I bathe my long haired dog regularly and she doesn't smell at all but I can smell my dogs on my furniture. You know what? I would miss their smell and wouldn't have my life any other way. I don't complain about people's houses smelling like their granny or their kids so I don't expect them to complain about my house smelling like my beloved dogs. ETS as VJB says above, Odourgo is good. I've recently been using Urine Free which is very expensive but I have been using it on urine spots for about 2 months and it completely eradicates the odour.

Hi everyone, I'm new. I wanted to say what a beautiful puppy Pea is I went to a place called thepetchef yesterday to get stuff for starting my dogs on a raw diet. I was wondering if anyone else in Perth has used their prepacked products and your thoughts on them?

I tried using the vaccuum cleaner on one of my dogs previously but she was very uncomfortable and hated it. I imagine it probably hurt. Maybe certain breeds are ok with this and it depends on the coat?

I guess if you are willing to lick the blades of grass that you've put the chemicals on, then they are safe for your dogs. Maybe you could try pulling the weeds out by hand, I never use chemicals on my property, hell, I won't even use flyspray.

I have a microsuede lounge and it's sooo nice to sit on. But unfortunately it gets very dirty from the dogs and the material is very hard to clean, in fact impossible to completely clean. Next time around I will be buying a leather suite so I can wipe off the doggie marks...lol

I've seen a soft and comfortable version of the elizabethan collar too, although I've never used it.

What a clever and lucky little dog, he looks so happy doing all his tricks!

Mine wake up about 10 minutes before my alarm goes off and they snuggle up to me on the bed. It makes it so hard to get up and go to work when I have these cuddly dogs around me (and on me). Wouldn't change it for the world though

Thanks, I was hoping to hear from some Leonburger breeders

My quote button doesn't seem to work I totally agree that puppy farmers are the primary cause of this issue and need to be stopped. Any organisation can become corrupt when the wrong people are in charge. It might be best to target the individual RSPCA branches that are doing the wrong thing, rather than attacking them all. After all, without the RSPCA, animals have NO rights.

I think it's terrible that any animal is mistreated and potentially euthanased. I know a lot of people here are very much against the RSPCA, but I think you should look at each individual state instead of putting them all in the same basket. I hate that dogs are put through that stupid temperament test and if they fail they are killled, but lets be realistic, there are not enough homes for all of the unwanted dogs out there. Maybe if more people would consider fostering dogs, we could save more of them.

For all our dogs that are healthy, there are some that are either born with problems, or develop them. Please spare a thought for those less fortunate dogs who will not live a normal, healthy life. Please also spare a thought for those wonderful, lovely people who have left us

I would like my next dog to be a Leonburger. I would appreciate any information from breeders and buyers with regards to health, diet and temperament. Thank you.

You can put up temporary fence pretty cheaply using star pickets and fencing rolls from bunnings. I have a 6ft fence jumper but she doesn't try to get through the stuff I've put around the boundary which is the standard dog fence and star pickets from Bunnings.