Alkhe

There's a DOL poster who breeds them, I can't remember her name, but from memory she's in WA and the only Australian breeder?

Pardon my ignorance but greyhounds seem to be the only dogs I see muzzled, I can remember them wearing muzzles when I was quite young, is there some special reason for this or is it an historical ruling that has something to do with greyhound racing? I've never seen a report of a greyhound in a dog attack. I've never been rushed by one while walking my dog, I have a whole list of rushers who should be wearing muzzles and their owners handcuffs but greyhounds aren't on the list. A friend of mine owns two greyhounds and they are the most laid back friendly dogs. It's a pretty archaic reason, and a little from column a, a little from column b. Essentially, greyhounds are considered livestock under the various pieces of legislation, rather than companion animals, and are therefore subject to different rules. They're considered livestock due to the racing industry and the various rules and regulations around it, so.. yep, the muzzling is for both those reasons. It's not because they're aggressive or dangerous - but many people will just see a muzzle and assume that the dog is aggressive and muzzled for that reason. Many greyhounds do have strong prey drive, but that's not limited to greyhounds at all- the reason that only greys have to be muzzled is due to that legislative peculiarity. It's such a shame that it gives such negative publicity to such a gentle, loving breed.

Don't worry about it - some people you just have to take with a grain of salt. You could post your own full name, address and birth date here and someone would argue with you about it. If there's a slight snag, someone will sink a hook in and it will snowball. It's not a reflection on you though, so don't worry about trying to be friends with everyone here! :D

I dunno, there are people who are passionate about what they do, sure - but there are also some vultures who like to dig in and nitpick, for far longer than is necessary. (I'm not talking about you, OSoSwift, though!)

Just read through this whole thing.. Welcome to the forum, Lasareina! Baptism by fire much? ;) Glad to see that you're sticking around

I'm saddened that you've been asking the wrong questions for many years, too.. I'm so glad to read the other posts, which show that temperament really IS an important consideration for people. Regardless of how explicitly it's outlined in whichever breed standard you're breeding to. The purebred dog world is made up of people, like those who post here. It is what people make it, and what people make of it. I can't help but think it's a complete cop out to say that others are to blame for not telling you to focus on temperament, or anything else.

AHhhh, welcome to my world! I'm allergic to some dog saliva too - the worst for me are Labs and GRs. Most others I can handle the saliva of, but those give me hives too. It's the fur, dander and everything else of most other dogs that I'm allergic to, though. Siiigh.

The woman at the park bought a westie x malt or something from a BYB, after we'd been talking about finding her a suitable rescue dog, because "you never can tell with rescue dogs.. you just can't tell what they'll be like". Yeah, those damn rescue dogs, just ticking time-bombs, the lot of them. Rolly eye man.

Omg she is ADORABLE and so tiny! <3 <3 <3 Congratulations!

My god, I saw this at the place I had left my dog for a groom a few weeks ago, too. The girl left a dog on the bench with the cord thing around its neck to come and serve me, and this thread just zoomed STRAIGHT into my mind. I am NEVER taking her back there. Nawnim, you absolutely did the right thing.

Yup, I hear you - there's never a shortage of SWFs either, which has become my specialty! I always get the fat male SWFs to slim down :laugh:

Gawsh, he is so adorable too - he's going to be such a handsome dog! Man, this thread is making me seriously kelpie-clucky. ARGH. Not that I could ever have a kelpie cause I'm realllllllly allergic to them... these guys are all so cute though!

I've never owned a Boston, but I know quite a few and man, they're active little buggers! If you're not particularly active and have knee trouble, I wouldn't personally be looking at one.. Boston Terriers are HUGE in my area at the moment, I live in hipster central and there are so many of them (and Frenchies!). It's Bostons, Frenchies and oodles.. and a few people I speak to regularly at the park have said numerous times that if they had any idea of the activity levels and exercise requirements of their Boston before they got him/her, they wouldn't have. Which obviously speaks loads about the amount of research they did before choosing the breed.. but hey, they're the instagram dog of the moment, people want Bostons and Frenchies because they're cute and cool etc. So that's my anecdotal input into this topic! But I do think it suggests that there is a lack of awareness about the true nature and needs of the breed, that may play into things like breed suggestion quizzes etc.. but they really don't seem like the kind of breed that is happy with a walk and then a cuddle on the couch for the rest of the time. :)

Great work Aphra and BCE. Barney looks as though he has found his love match. The bit I've quoted and highlighted from your post is the scarey bit, though, isn't it. So many dogs just don't show their true personalities in the pound. Luckily, there are increasing numbers of experienced rescue people and pounds who work with them to be able to see past the unnatural environment and surroundings. Have fun, Barney Oh totally - it's so sad. My current foster was considered "deaf as a post" and "stone deaf" in separate vet reports from 2 vets in a pound. He's not deaf at all, though! He had basically just shut down in the pound environment. If he is hard of hearing, he certainly doesn't show it and if I hadn't read those vet reports and been told he was totally deaf, I wouldn't have even considered the prospect.

The other thing might be to start out with an existing company? I'm not sure whether they operate in Brisbane, but Lonely Pets Club have some walkers who service my area, and I'm pretty sure it's some kind of franchise. So you could give it a go with someone else first, before deciding that you're definitely ready to take on the risk and $$ of insurance and running your own company etc? That way you get to do the walking, without the business side of it, until you decide you're definitely into the idea?

My god, I wouldn't have believed that was the same dog.. great job!!

Aw, that's such a gorgeous photo of Nutmeg - and I really love the chair too! (sorry, I know that's completely irrelevant.. we're chair-hunting at the moment though, so I'm particularly attuned) :laugh: I totally understand how hard it is to let them go when they've been with you so long, too My current foster has been with us for about 3 months now and it's going to kill me when he goes. I've loved them all, but this little guy is just PERFECT. And our first one was with us for 6 months. SO hard!!

Ooooooh so chequeredblackdog adopted Smudge after all! I was wondering whether that visit was just a friends visit, as in, you guys are friends - but I guess not! ;) Congrats cbd, and koala, for doing such a great job with them :)

I'd cancel the holiday too, and spend the time with him. Fiona Apple cancelled a tour last year to spend time with her old dog - this is a lovely article: http://www.theguardian.com/music/musicblog/2012/nov/21/fiona-apple-tour-dying-dog

I have a Bissell Carpet Washer which is an absolute life saver - there are different attachments to put on it for hard floors and carpet (we have both) and it's really easy to use and not hard to clean either. There's a specific pet stain one, but I'm not sure how it differs from the regular model, which I have. Highly recommended! I can't find the exact model I have, but it looks a bit like this: There are numerous different kinds, and I got mine from Harvey Norman. http://www.bissell.com.au/Products/c/deepcleaner/Category.aspx

I got a lab :) I definitely had a gut reaction to each of the questions, even though half the time I couldn't rationalise it.

My reasoning would be that for the majority of breeds that originally were utility/working breeds, ear and tail docking were performed for preventative reasons as you mentioned. But the work and activities etc that justified that prevention is no longer as prevalent, so there is no longer any need for docking for most dogs and the procedures are just cosmetic. But dew claw removal is preventing the risk of the kind of injuries that some dogs can obviously still get, just from getting them caught on things, etc. So it's not like the preventative removal was ever linked to particular activities that the dogs no longer really do. My Whippets hunt ... In which case my post applies to your whippets. Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

My reasoning would be that for the majority of breeds that originally were utility/working breeds, ear and tail docking were performed for preventative reasons as you mentioned. But the work and activities etc that justified that prevention is no longer as prevalent, so there is no longer any need for docking for most dogs and the procedures are just cosmetic. But dew claw removal is preventing the risk of the kind of injuries that some dogs can obviously still get, just from getting them caught on things, etc. So it's not like the preventative removal was ever linked to particular activities that the dogs no longer really do.

I hate stories like this! I'd give her a copy of The Other End of the Leash to read - it's a lovely book and really explains the underlying reasons behind positive reinforcement training and examples of her experiences with various 'types' of dogs. Also, maybe some Karen Pryor, or Sophia Yin? Sophia Yin is very accessible and "fun" :)

I just read through this whole thread - congratulations Perry's Mum! I agree with Rural Pug, in a few weeks or months (in my experience, probably weeks) you'll look back and vaguely remember the teething problems you had.. I was just thinking yesterday of how hard it was to get one of my fosters settled in. It was a nightmare 2 weeks of howling, general disruption, friction and scuffles.. I became acutely aware of people out walking their dogs peacefully, thinking GOD WHY AM I DOING THIS - I just want to go back to my NORMAL life. (Ie, without this foster dog!) But after a few weeks it was like a totally different scenario, all dogs settled into the routine of having another dog there, the foster dog much calmer and more relaxed.. it will happen :)