Alkhe

I looked into that before getting my latest puppy It's just not that simple and obviously depends if you're allergic to pet hair (dog hair in particular) and to what degree. I have what I would describe as a moderate to strong reaction, depending on the dog and how much allergen is around. There are drugs I can take, but they cause drowsiness. There are drugs that don't cause drowsiness, but are less effective (not good enough in my case - may work fine for others). And for me, I just don't want to be taking drugs every day of my life if I can avoid the need for that by selecting a non-shedding breed. There is also the option of a series of desensitisation injections. But it's expensive, goes for well over a year, and isn't always effective. So seriously if you have allergies, and you can avoid the cause of those allergies, then that is by far the simplest way to go. I don't have issues bumping into other dogs in public, but my allergies would not allow me to share a home with a shedder without drugs. So I don't. Problem solved and no drugs required. Yup, they didn't work for me. For most of my life I thought that the only dogs I'd ever be able to have were Poodles (which I grew up with for that reason) - I was HIGHLY allergic to pretty much all dogs for most of my life, but seem to have been getting better in recent years. The drugs I can take for it are basically antihistimines, and it's just not practical or workable on a daily basis. I don't want to be popping hayfever pills every day, and my allergies turn into asthma, which is just a nightmare. I was hospitalised numerous times as a kid for asthma and still get it. I fostered a greyhound a few years ago and he was a REALLY bad shedder. He was mostly white and came to us in really bad shape so was even worse, he shed less and affected me less as his coat got healthier. As much as I loved him and wanted to keep him, I just couldn't deal with allergies like that on a daily basis; it is just too hard to feel like sh*t constantly and .. it's just impossible. I have constantly steaming eyes and conjunctivitis like symptoms, some dog saliva gives me itchy rashes, and the asthma.. It's amazing how many people assume that 'non-shedding' = fine for people with allergies. It depends on the allergies, and the dog - most of the dogs that are purportedly non-shedding still give me allergies, including Bichon Frises, Japanese Spitz, some Malts/Shih-Tzus etc. I foster for a rescue that mainly takes SWF types and thankfully have been fine with most of our fosters so far (except the Schnauzer x). It's doable in the short time, but it's just not workable to expect people to suck it up all the time.

Nope - dogs don't think like that, they don't have the same thought processes as humans. While people often misinterpret dogs as being 'guilty' (think of those videos with dogs that have destroyed something, and owners going "Fido.. did you do this?? WAS THIS YOU??") or anthropomorphise in various ways, it's really dogs reacting to the behaviour of the humans. Ie their tone of voice, their body language, etc, but that's all it is. Dogs aren't vindictive or anything like that :) (And thank god, otherwise I'm sure none of my foster dogs would ever have trusted me or loved me at all, cause god knows humans have given most of them enough reason to want to get back at the human race!)

I think this is my favourite thread ever!! :laugh:

Totally agree - it will only make things worse if you end up with a bad relationship with these people. Do what you can to control your dogs and prevent them getting injured, or breaking through the fence. Reinforce it, put something in front of it, whatever you need to do. What his dogs do is his problem, you just have to worry about yours.

And that's the scary part. I am terrified to finish my degree I am studying now and not being able to find a job! It's naive to think just because you have a degree, that you're automatically handed a job on a platter. It's tough out there! I remember my sister telling me about a friend of hers from high school who studied something to do with animals, and couldn't get a job. Ended up working in a completely different field, sadly. Happens with too many degrees, I think. Either that or you get a job in the field and discover you actually hate your "dream job" Yeah, there are just no guarantees! My advice to anyone who is currently doing a degree and who wants to use it in a particular field of work, is to volunteer somewhere, or do any kind of lower paid or entry-level job in that kind of field. Any experience at all is SO important, whether it's knowing how to write a business email/letter, conduct a meeting, talk with clients, pay an account, send an invoice, read a P&L statement, whatever it ends up being. It's the nuts and bolts of things that are important so much of the time, rather than the 'theory'. I feel like a fraud giving advice at the age of 27, but I've been in this position before and I'm also just about to finish my Masters of Law and want to work as a lawyer. Along with the other million people who will be graduating with some kind of law degree at the same time. My tact is to be able to show that any employer won't have to invest as much training me as other graduates, and that I've got a bunch of experience already working in a law firm.

I actually think that people think the starting salaries for most graduate jobs are more than they actually are. People think doctors, lawyers, vets etc are really well paid - it's really not the case. Sure, SOME are, but for most people starting out it's more like $40K, if that. And it's not a case of your salary automatically increasing as you climb the ladder - if indeed there is one to climb. My first job out of uni (BA(Hons)) was into the State Government which was about $42K. I was stoked to get any job at all, and to me that seemed like heaps of money. Everyone who expected to graduate their Bachelors and walk into a six figure salary was sorely disappointed, regardless of what they studied. In fact, everyone who expected to walk into ANY job was sorely disappointed, and a lot of peoples' egos took a serious bruising. Just as an aside, I think I (and everyone else I worked with in government) was hugely overpaid for what we did, and the value we added to anything, the level of productivity.. obviously every department is different, but by and large having worked in 3 departments, that's my overall impression. I hated every second of it, hence leaving.

:laugh: snap!

What kind of careers/jobs are you looking at, LisaCC? Just curious as to where it leads, that's all! I don't think I know anyone who's done an Animal Science degree. Maybe one person, but she doesn't use it. I'm not sure what area Lisa is looking into but I graduated last year and am working in animal management. Majority of graduates work in the agriculture industry, lots of good paying jobs! So farm advisors, nutritionists, sales, parasitologist, etc. Several graduates are now studying PHDs in either Ag science, animal behaviour or animal welfare areas. There is some laboratory or drug company work both human and animal. Then you could also go into the environmental side of the degree. Also several people have gone into public service dept Ag or environment. So really really broad lol Ooh - interesting. I had no idea about what subjects or topic areas it really involved, now I'm going to have a look! (Says she who is finishing the last subject of her masters. must not get distracted! Must finish!)

Good luck little Nutmeg - with any luck I might see her running round at Brighton beach one day!

What kind of careers/jobs are you looking at, LisaCC? Just curious as to where it leads, that's all! I don't think I know anyone who's done an Animal Science degree. Maybe one person, but she doesn't use it.

:laugh: there are just so many - I sat there for ages trying to work out which ones I'd post for people to see, as a sneak peak! They're just beautiful, aren't they?

Here are some more gorgeous water colours. She used to mainly do sighthounds, but there are now lots of other breeds too. CKCS, Airedale, Lab, Setter.. They're a different style, but I love love love them and can't wait to have some spare money to buy some! God, I love them all.

I was going to post this too - a really great response, I think. it's just a devastating story. RIP little boy.

Yes, that makes perfect sense. I do think that in a lot of instances though, bored dogs or dogs doing dog things, are "diagnosed" as having separation anxiety. Perhaps what I mean is that it's wrongly diagnosed.

From what I have seen of Cesar Milan every problem is caused by that reason in his opinion. :) Exactly my thoughts. When all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.. that's his schtick.

I think separation anxiety is one of the most over-diagnosed things out there - it doesn't seem as though Caesear is displaying any kind of anxiety at all, from that description. My little dog Maggie sits at the baby gate and waits for my fiance to come back if he ever goes out unexpectedly, even if I'm there.

My god, that is horrifying. I would definitely go into the police station and request a formal report, and do the same with the RSPCA. My dealings with the RSPCA have been very positive (in Vic), they followed up on the one complaint I have ever made.

Argh, why don't I come into this thread more often! KTB, I LOVE your videos - you totally inspired me to start making videos for my foster dogs too! And one of my group's long termers (she had been in foster care since last November..) just got adopted, and her new owners said it was the video that did it. They're such a great idea, and yours are so awesome. Yay! *gush gush gush*

Especially with the eye there!

Totally agree with this. Some of the things I've seen on facebook are clearly American, and when I have questioned the source of the pictures or info and it has emerged that yes, it's American, the general response is something along the lines of '.. well, maybe THAT is, but it's happening here too!' I have no doubt that there are dog fighting rings in Australia, but not every dog that goes missing was wrenched from its backyard by a dog fighting representative, and I think people are a bit paranoid about "signs" that their dog/fence/friend's dog/fence/acquaintance's dog/fence etc was "marked" by someone who was going to go back and steal it.

Oh, absolutely - there's an older Italian woman at my park with a Min Pin who I share books with. She once lent me a vampire erotica novel - 'it's great, so much sex! And vampires!'. I was like.. Lorenza! You never cease to amaze me! And another man who used to own my favourite bookshop, which is a bit of an institution on Brunswick St, Fitzroy. Very, very unlikely friendships indeed! I actually wrote about some of them in a submission I sent to our council about their parks plan, which had some of us fearing that our beloved park would lose its off-leash designation

Ohhhh my god, he is adorable! I would've mistaken him for a piece of polar fleece or something! :laugh:

Done :)

It can also be really frightening - I don't really know where most people at the park actually live, beyond the general direction they arrive from. So when someone's dog dies or is very sick and going to die or be put to sleep, I really worry about some of their owners. I heard that one woman's beloved dog has had a cancer diagnosis and will have to be put to sleep very soon - I have no idea where she lives, and I really hope somebody does, because she is on her own apart from the dog. I know so much about her, yet not that basic detail..