BlackJaq

You have obviously never seen stock killed by fox vs. the inside of a real slaughterhouse/home killed lamb. There is a huge differnence, trust me. And I do not believe brumbies are in any way "wild", they are simply feral domestic horses. Even ones that have lived in the wild for years can still be successfully tamed and broken in, just liek the mustangs in the Us who have probably been feral even longer. If somebody has a bunch of horses down the back for 50 years and never looks at them and lets them breed willy nilly and starve to death, they do not magically become wild either and I do know a guy with a mob of horses like this and yes, they are exactly like any other horse, just unhandled. Their foals, if raised tame, become just like any other horse, same as brumbies.

I would like to point out that brumbies are nothing like foxes. They are a domestic animal that has become feral, not a wild animal that is called "feral" because it has been introduced and let go here. Basically brumbies are still just domestic horses who grew up without human contact. I find this a completely different scenario. If instead of brumbies an example of "feral" zebras in Australia was brought it would be a more suitable comparison in my opinion, since zebras are wild animals just like foxes. However, to my knowledge, there are no "wild" equides such as zebras present in Australia in a feral population.

Thanks :) I am near Orange in the Central West, so Newcastle is still a bit far or me but maybe I will get lucky and find somebody a bit closer at least

Yes, working on other solutions would obviously be what most dog lovers would do. But for the majority of people dogs seem to be some kind of backyard accessory unfortunately Lots of bigger dogs are in the same situation, too, it's not just littlies

Wow, I had no idea! I am looking at going to an introduction day near Lake Macquarie (NSW) in March, is anybody else here going by any chance? Would love to get some professional training but the closest clubs seem to be in the ACT, which is a good 5 hr drive so not really a thing I would be able to do regularly

I just thought I would bump this thread and maybe some more breeders might come forward and tell their stories? I really enjoyed reading about people's experiences and stories so far!

Maybe you can encourage her to give them kongs with food inside and other interactive toys to keep them busy? Otherwise I can only recommend training and mental stimulation and, as has been suggested already, letting them come inside, especially at night. I doubt there will be a quick, easy solution that requires minimum effort on her part, unless she gets them debarked and even that may not work permanently....

Is ferretting still legal here? I must say though, I have never seen a "feral" ferret

Ah so she would be trialling with another dog (brace mate?) I assume this would be a dog unknown to her most of the time? Interesting, but probably achievable lol! Looks like the retrieving might be the easiest part :laugh:

I bet you do. Some breeds seem to attract a steady stream of idiots and no genuine breed lover would sell them a puppy knowing full well they are idiots lol I have considered one day getting into breeding my breed of choice for work, rather than show (there would be showing, but lots more working lol) but then I realized that a working bred dog would likely be "sharper" than what pet dog owners have come to expect and then I seriously considered whether I would find enough homes for working bred dogs. The answer I came up with was "probably not". This does not mean I will not ever look into it again but I am getting stomach cramps even now trying to imagine myself screening for suitable working homes. No point going to all the effort of breeding and raising dogs with intent to work them and then selling to pet homes, where some of their early experiences (hunting related stuff like game scent and basic conditioning for the intended work) might actually be to the detriment of their pet owners. I admire any breeder who does a great job finding good homes for their puppies. As I said, I get ulcers just thinking about it...

It sounds like you are probably better off without those puppy buyers anyway... They are beautiful puppies and a beautiful Mum as well!

I have seen a few Kelpie looking carcases on the side of the road that appeared to have fallen off the backs of utes around here.. My dogs are always strapped in with a harness....

So we've finally progressed far enough with our dummy work that I have introduced some jumps and also carrying of the dummy, both at home and in town (for distraction training lol). I have not actually looked into field trialling too much so far o was wondering if anybody can give me a basic rundown on what the dog needs to be able to do? We will be starting off lead training within a week or so, depending on how Foxy goes for reliability I am mostly training for her to retrieve shot game when we are actually hunting but figure we might as well give field trialling a go if she is any good ;)

Is there somewhere where court documents can be viewed or is that not something that is done over there?

Yes, that was my thinking also.

Interesting. Certainly puts things in perspective. If injuries were indeed minor (the article implied missing limbs and guts spilling out) and the circumstances were such as described above, I expect that many large dogs, pure bred or indeterminable breeding may have acted similarly. I must agree, not every dog is suited to every Joe Public and people need to review this "I am entitled to own whatever dog I like" attitude if we want to stop further BSL being brought forward. I feel terrible for those who have been attacked as well as the dogs and the owner. I must admit I did recoil a little at people's attitude towards the dogs, especially if wounds were, as has been said, very minor and the circumstances were as described above.

I used to know a lady who has since died who kept a fox in town (small rural town). It was not well contained but tame with the family and family dogs apparently. It used to climb/jump out of the yard and was a likely suspect in a lot of pet rabbit killings. I am a little sad now that I did not ask her more about it but apparently it lived like a lot of pet cats, coming and going as it pleased, allowed in the house etc etc Not sure what happened to it eventually but I would not be surprised if somebody shot it, I'm amazed it survived as long as it apparently did, being out and about all the time

LOL

Can't wait until they set up a class for Labradoodles!

I think a lot of that may simply have been learnt by experience. The dog gets caught and reprimanded if you can see it. It doesn't when you don't. Dogs aren't stupid, the "bing" moment will arrive sooner or later. I'm most interested in this one. This one indicates a higher level of reasoning that I wouldn't have really thought about ... but then I presume service dogs have a lot of training with spacial awareness and are maybe taught to think of their human as part of themselves when it comes to things like obstacles? I know "normal" dogs don't think about anyone else when it comes to getting through small things so it's really a training thing and not a natural thinking thing. I wonder how they train for this? I think the spatial awareness is already there is all animals and people, people are remarkably good at adjusting this subconsciously for different situations. People learn to cope with things like high heels, or the use of a walking stick and these things become part of our embodiment in space. I wonder if the use of the special harness helps the dog feel as if the handler is part of their body? I found this very interesting as well. My horse is extremely aware of the fact that she can fit under certain obstacles (branches and such) but I cannot when I am riding her. She has adjusted her awareness to include me and will not walk close enough to trees for my legs to get caught or under low enough branches that I will not fit under (unless I specifically direct her to take that path, then I will lie down low over her neck or whatever). I did not teach her this purposely but rather we got caught on things (gate posts) and I guess she felt the pull on the saddle/on her back and also I might have cussed a bit lol She obviously got used to leaving that bit of extra space, even without me training for it specifically. No idea if this might work the same way with dogs since you are not in as close a physical contact with them (i.e. if you run into a beam they probably won't feel it at the same time unlike the horse when the leg/stirrup gets caught)

Have you asked your vet about her condition at all? When we are used to seeing a dog fed on kibble it can happen that we get used to seeing them a little plump and chubby like and some of them can trim down a little on a raw diet. I also believe it won't hurt them to be a bit on the lean side when they are young but I mostly have large dog experience, slightly smaller dogs might be different :) (Not lean as in all ribs are visible and spine is hanging out, just maybe the last 2-3 ribs visible and a well pronounced waist lol)

Thank You!

I have been looking for a link for somebody to try and educate them a little on their responsibilities when trying to sell puppies. Yes, it concerns a buy, swap and sell page :p So, is it actually required by law that puppies be 8 weeks old? Do they have to be vaccinated? When do they have to be chipped by? And where do I find the legislation concerning this? :p

Have not heard anything. I'm reasonably sure it would have been at least mentioned on the news if she was being charged for anything?

I had to go watch that now that you mentioned it. Wow. Not all dogs are as easily pushed around as pitbulls it seems... Maybe he should stick to what he knows... Then again those poor beasties probably suffer enough without his "training"