trojka

did you get my fb message?

Oh come on, are you serious? Firstly, everyone has a right to their own opinion. Secondly, he has said that he doesn't value any life over another, but even if he did, what business is it of yours? And lastly, he wouldn't make a very good snake catcher if he didn't value a snake's life at all. Actually, Snake catcher has made a lot of recommendations on what to do, in this and other threads. Personally, I had no trouble finding them and I very much value his experience. He even said that he didn't have an issue with people disposing of snakes humanely. But seeing the photos of the snake that was cut in half by the bird netting, can anyone honestly say that they think this isn't cruel (no matter how much you hate snakes)? Also, a lot of people obviously do call a snake catcher quite successfully when they want a snake removed, or snake catcher wouldn't have a job. ;)

I have one and as far as I know you can get them at pretty much any pet shop.

I am also in Bendigo (well, close enough) and live with my OH and our boofhead Lab x.

This one? http://www.topbuy.com.au/tbcart/pc/Lightweight-XXXXL-Soft-Travel-Pet-Crate-for-Dogs-122x82x98cm-p69056.htm

I agree with contacting Righteous Pups. They are here in Bendigo, and do a fantastic job! I'm sure they will be able to at least point you in the right direction. It seems that you are predominantly looking for a dog for your son to grow up and interact with (although, of course it will be a family dog as well), and therefore I would be looking at what dog is best suited to his needs, and that may well not be a Mini Foxie or Tenterfield. I admit I have rather limited experience with both those breeds, however, they certainly wouldn't be the first that come to mind when thinking "bombproof dog for an autistic child". Personally, if I were in your situation, I would much prefer a slightly bigger dog that is capable of, and trained to, look after your son to a degree. I also agree with the suggestion of considering a well bred Staffordshire Bullterrier. Great dogs, very robust, tolerant of and patient with kids.

This. ;) Oh, and this Well done, DD, thanks for providing me with a much needed laugh. And I'm glad to hear you're feeling better and the iron fist has returned. Time for a visit of said fist soon. :D Maybe get your revenge by leaving a few saladas dipped in coriander-lime-mayo lying around for him to nom? ;)

x2 I'd just like to add that it doesn't take a 50+kg, super aggressive dog. My dog is only around the 30kg mark, but strong and fit. I'm probably about twice his weight, but he has managed to pull me off my feet when he unexpectedly lunged at a dog behind a fence. Using a prong (under instructions of a qualified trainer) gave me back control, and with that came confidence and calmness, which allowed me to teach my dog what I wanted from him.

I have. And every limb I could fit it over too. On my neck, I didn't even get a red mark. I got a mark on the top of my arm but that's because it was too loose and slid over my skin as I pulled it around (hard) so the prongs were on the soft part of my arm. Once I took some links out and fitted it properly to myself, that stopped. The check chain i put on my arm caused a bruise, and while admittedly, I do bruise easily, i will now never put one on my dog. I have too, and a certain member of this forum even has photographic evidence. ;) Same thing as when I tried it on my arm and my leg. Definitely not what I call painful, even though I think it's fair to say my neck is probably a little more sensitive than my dog's, with his fur and extra skin. You know that reasoning is flawed, don't you? There is no possible way to judge that objectively. To me, this is part of the problem. It's impossible to use any one example to base a decision on because there are too many variables. It's impossible to use a collection of examples to base a decision on because there are too many variables. Seriously, if you want to present a good argument that's going to convince anyone sitting on the fence or on the other side, you have to leave the individual examples and emotive roundabout arguments behind and stick to facts. As far as I'm aware the only established facts about prongs is that they are associated with behaviour indicative of distress and that they are effective correction devices. It would cost next to nothing to do a survey of dog owners and establish how many people actually use prong collars and how often. I would be surprised if the numbers suggested they were in wide use. That alone is a reasonable argument for not banning them IMO. Much more reasonable than "they save lives" and "they are sometimes the best tool". Banning prongs is going to lead to the banning of all control tools and therefore the banning of pet dogs?? Can anyone spell "hysteria"? I can't see the other side coming up with any facts. To me, Zero's success story and those of many others, including my own dog, are facts. Another fact is that many of us have a tried a prong on ourselves, whether that be an arm, leg or neck. And I assume that another fact is that the naysayers have never done so or even seen a prong collar in real life, let alone being used. I invite anyone to come and try it out. :D

I have never fed these, but was wondering if they might wear the teeth down I couldn't tell you, to be honest. So far it hasn't with my boy, he has excellent and very white teeth. They do "dissolve", just very very slowly and therefore are a lot less messy, and they don't smell.

I got them from here: http://www.deerfarm.com.au/ It's a deer farm in Victoria.

I second the deer antlers, best money I've spent in a long time. I bought two, but after a couple of months of power chewing, he's still gnawing away on the first one.

I had the same problem, but figured that, as the crate was a cheapie, it would probably not be worth getting it repaired. I ended up just cutting the door flap off and used it as a den (well, my dog did). Just a few days ago I got a wire crate though, and I'm very happy with that. It wasn't much more expensive than a new soft crate would have been, either.

I second all the advice above. Go with a rescue organisation or a shelter that has been recommended. I have spoken to Blue Cross on the phone about a few of their dogs and they seemed very knowledgeable and helpful, and most importantly they seemed to know their dogs very well and were very honest. Thanks to that, I was spared a 3 hour drive just to find out the dog wasn't suitable anyway. When I called AAPS on the other hand, they couldn't answer any of my questions about the dog (just kept repeating what it said in the ad, well I've read that myself, that's why I'm calling you). I found the lady on the phone rather rude and she just told me to come down and meet the dog instead of answering my questions. After reading this thread I'm glad I didn't waste my time, as I would have probably been deemed unsuitable as well. Another shelter I've had a good experience with was Animal Aid in Coldstream. We went there to see a specific dog, we met her, they gave us lots of information on her, answered all our questions and we then introduced her to our dog. Unfortunately they weren't a good match, but the staff were great and offered their help in finding a more suitable one.

Isn't it a shock. 35 years living in England & 25 years here & as far as pets are concerned its like being on another planet. So much fuss & rules made over it all & it does not make for better or more responsible owners. Or better pets. The general intolerance & expectations from cats & dogs can be a shock & popularity & the way some pet birds are kept, a lifetime in a tiny cage not big enough for a walk or wing stretch & out in extreme heat is horrid. No country is perfect & people have different ideas about rights & wrongs but I would like dogs to be welcome in more places & not perceived as dangerous beasts so much. That, to me, is the point. It doesn't work. And it seems that all the posters that have spent enough time overseas, or even lived there, agree on this. This sounds like a very good idea that might be a step in the right direction. It may encourage more people to train their dogs and make them well behaved members of society, giving them and their owners more freedom. And this, again, may help reduce some of the misconceptions and prejudices non-dog-owners have towards dogs being in public places. What annoys me the most is the public transport issue. I live in a biggish country town, but not in the center. My car has just broken down (again, but that's another story) and I have no way of even getting my dog into town. I also have no way of going down to Melbourne to visit friends, because, again, I cannot get my dog on the train (even though if I could get him to Melbourne, I could apparently take him on the train and tram there). I obviously won't leave him alone for that time either, so I am technically stuck here. If my dog needs to get to the vet in an emergency, I can only hope and pray that a friend or neighbour will be available soon enough, or that I can find a taxi driver willing to take a dog in his car. I am still trying to find a way to get around the VLine issue, so if anyone has an idea, please let me know. With cafes I haven't really encountered any problems, but it has honestly never crossed my mind to ask, either. The only time I give a cafe a miss is when they don't have tables outside, or only in the courtyard (meaning I'd have to be able to walk my dog through the cafe to get there). But then I'm a smoker as well, so like to sit outside anyway. My dog lies quietly under the table the whole time I'm there and doesn't bother anyone, so I don't see how anyone could have a problem with that, and I have never encountered someone who has. When I used to take my girl I had when still living in Europe on the tram/train/bus or to a restaurant, she would lie under my seat or the table and nobody even noticed she was there. Here, when people comment on how well behaved my dog is for just lying there, I find it rather amusing, because to me, that's just normal. For dog friendly accommodation, I have found takeabreak.com.au very helpful. You can specifically look for pet friendly places, and most of them also describe what they mean by that. I have found many that let dogs stay inside and/or have fenced yards.

I just found this photo of one of the Bergamascos I knew and thought I'd post it. It's not a great photo, but I think you can tell that her coat was very soft and fluffy. She passed away about 2 years ago at the age of 17.

I agree. If you had planned to desex him at 12-18 months I'd stick with that and do some training in the meantime. My boy was desexed at 4 months (he was a rescue), but it didn't stop him from developing the above mentioned behaviour. And the first time I had seen him squat down for a pee in ages was in front of Nekhbet's boy Skoota He's a gentle giant, but his presence was enough to make my boy think twice about cocking his leg. Can anyone recommend a behaviourist for the OP?

Personally, I would contact a behaviourist and in the meantime not let him practice that behaviour, whether by putting him on a long line or by not going to the dog park (is this the only place he's ever done this?). He is an adolescent now and might just be getting a bit too big for his boots or testing his boundaries. I have a slightly dominant boy here, and recently had a behaviourist help us with his reactivity towards other dogs. When she saw him pee on the fence of the fence charging dog he had just had a go at ( ) she immediately asked if he'd ever peed on a person or another dog (he hasn't). When you walk him, do you let him mark wherever and as often as he wants or does it happen on your terms? I no longer let my boy mark constantly, he has to walk next to me and behave, and when I tell him to "go sniff" he can go for a sniff and a pee.

Where can you buy deer antlers? I ordered them here: http://www.deerfarm.com.au/ Thanks! I will look into that! I hope my dogs find them appealing as there seems to be no meat on them. But one can only try Hehe, no, there is no meat on them, they are antlers. But they do have a darker substance in the middle (I guess some type of marrow), which must be appealing. My boy loves his, and I love the fact I can give it to him inside the house and it doesn't smell or make a mess. Plus he's had it for about 2 weeks now and it's still almost the same size it was at the beginning, even though he's spent hours chewing it. Definitely worth a shot, and if your dogs don't like them, you might be able to give them to a friend with dogs.

I told you so! Evil creatures they are...

Where can you buy deer antlers? I ordered them here: http://www.deerfarm.com.au/

funny story one of the ferrets got out the past week, OH went to get the laundry (it's in a room off the garage) and suddenly one of the ferrets threw hiself at the window ala suction cup garfield style he went on a rampage and cleared out garage of rodents and was high on the smell of victory Saying that he was standing on top of the rabbits cage ... who was staring up at him egging him on .... my rabbit is psychotic I was looking forward to a potential visit until you said that....

maybe you should try feeding him ferrets? speaking of which, after the rabbit in the jumper I would now like to see a photo of a ferret in a straight jacket, please. to the OP: sorry about the ot vermin blabber.

bahahahaha I was about to ask you if this is the dog-bashing psycho rabbit, but I guess not seeing you still have that one

another vote for deer antlers. they're great, non messy and last ages.