Alkhe

Just because someone says it's a pitty doesn't make it so! Irresponsible breeding is the problem. Unfortunately in Victoria, just because a council says it looks like it might have pitbull in it, it DOES make it so, and it will be euthanised.

What about a Greyhound? There are plenty of young females who either didn't race or have retired, and females can be relatively small and fit into the 'medium size' definition :)

:laugh: I don't know how you all do it. I was put off by the amount of RAT hair in the lint filter of the dryer yesterday, because I washed and dried some of the polarfleece that had been in their cage. That's hair from 2 rats! I complain about the amount of wool that ends up on the floor when I clip my Toy Poodle (I swear the wool just breeds as it lies on the floor waiting to be picked up). I couldn't handle shedding dogs! :laugh:

My Maggie looks like a desperate, starved and abused dog when she's doing tricks for food too! Whenever we do any training like that, she looks so intense and desperate, there's no tail wagging at all, her whole body is intent on understanding what I'm asking and getting the treat :) Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

Yep, that'll do it. That sounds like a more reasonable explanation. Chinese whispers don't help anyone.

This breeder had the visit only a day ago no it is not a rumour I wish it was. I am still trying to locate a copy of the proposed legislation. The proposed legislation will be available on legislation.vic.gov.au under the Bills section. Regardless, nobody is authorised to conduct any investigations pursuant to legislation that hasn't been enacted. I have serious issues with what the RSPCA does and doesn't do in many scenarios - but it's ridiculous to suggest that they would put resources into investigating somebody because hte'yre a breeder and rescuer, for issues under proposed legislation. By all means, this person was probably investigated. But it was probably because they haven't got their council permits etc in order. Which is fair enough - regulations are there for everyone to see and abide by. If you don't abide by them, don't jump up and down when you're called on it.

What being legal, restricting the maximum numbers of say dogs you are allowed to have on a specific property across the state, of course they can. There are council limits in various parts of the country, in the ACT if you're not a registered breeder you cannot have any more than 4 dogs. All they are doing in Victoria is extending this thinking to the breeding community. How is the breeding community ever exempt from council bylaws? And what is the 'breeding community' anyway? ANKC registered breeders? People who are registered as Domestic Animal Businesses in their council? BYBs? Any or all of the above? Everyone has to comply with council regulations- they may apply differently to different people, but there's no such thing as a cohesive 'breeding community' (as DOL is evidence of ;) )

Yeah, I'm extremely skeptical at the best of times, but this sounds fishy. You can't investigate something based on laws that haven't passed yet. If someone has more than the allowable number of dogs on their property without a permit, they're breaching their council's regulations. It doesn't matter if they're a breeder, rescuer, or whatever. Everyone is restricted in the number of dogs they can have at one time by their council - some councils have allowances for breeders or additional animals, etc etc. That's not some new law that's being enforced before it's passed, that's been part of life for decades. Sometimes horrible things happen, but this just sounds like a conspiracy to me.

The Qld RSPCA work with a number of rescues and have done for quite a while - I'm in Vic and the org I work with has had a great relationship with them for (I think) a few years. Glad to see SA is getting on board too. Now, if only Vic would step up...

As I understand it, the issue was the dog wasn't registered in that municipality. I think. And yes, I totally understand where you're coming from, unfortunately. I spend a lot of time assuring SWF owners at my park that no, that SBT isn't a pitbull, and no, it's not going to come over here and rip your throat out. Every bully breed is automatically a baby killer in some peoples' eyes, no matter how well socialised and friendly. (and I'm a toy poodle owner!)

She had moved into a new house 3 days before, the dogs got through some paling in the fence and into a neighbour's yard. That's why they were taken into custody - they weren't registered because she had moved 3 days before, and there's a 2 week (from memory it's 2 weeks in this council) grace period for registration. At large, as in, in neighbour's house. It's not GOOD, but it's not like they were habitually roaming around and being a menace. Nothing like that.

My own issue isn't with two dogs being littermates, just with getting two pups at the same time, really. A lot of people don't understand how much work it's going to be, and aren't prepared or able to handle it properly. It just so happens that when people get two pups at the same time, they're often from the same litter. That's what i've seen, anyway.

I recommend Patricia McConnell's booklet I'll Be Home Soon. It's a quick and easy read, and full of wonderful information on how to recognise and treat separation anxiety, and behaviours that fall short of SA but are still problematic.

What a terrible but all too common story. I always get nervous (and to be honest, a bit angry) when people are sold litter mates. In the last year, I know 3 people who have bought two dogs from a litter, and every time I've just cringed and expected something bad to happen. All have been from BYBs, and all are oodles of some description, and in all cases the owners had intended to buy just the one pup. In one case, the owner was talked into taking two, and I'm not sure what led to the other people ending up leaving with two dogs. None of these people have had problems with aggression or anything like that, but as much as all of the owners love their dogs, you can just tell that getting two together was a decision they regret. Training, socialising, just LIVING with one pup is challenging enough, and it is more than twice as hard to raise two well adjusted pups at the same time. Even one of the owners who is trying to hard to train her pups well, she's a single woman, and it's nigh on impossible to properly take two pups to puppy school and give them adequate attention etc. I know that doesn't mean that NOBODY should be able to buy littermates, but god, I wish people did more homework! And actually thought about the ongoing consequences - two baby puppies are adorable, but one adolescent dog can be a handful, let alone TWO.

I hate to be a debbie downer, and I'm usually not, I swear! But to me, it just seems like a nightmare. So many things to go wrong, so much distraction, not much.. point? I'd love nothing more than to take my dog to work, and sometimes when I have a foster who is recovering from something or needs to be monitored, it would be great to be able to take them to work with me. But it's just an inappropriate environment. At work, I need to work - I feel the same about people bringing their kids to work. It means they don't do anything because they're watching over their kids, and other people don't do anything because they're oohing and aahing.. and that's just with ONE person with kid at wokr. It would be the same with one dog at work. Have more than one dog, and the problems just get exponentially worse. I personally think it would be a nightmare Or more accurately, it has too much of a chance to just turn into a nightmare.

Yep, I'm with everyone else - I remember sitting in the front seat with Maggie in my lap, driving away from the breeder thinking 'my god. What the hell have we done..' and then feeling terrible for even thinking that, and then running through all these scenarios. What if we never bond. What if she hates me. Now I can't go live overseas. Blah blah blah. But getting her was the best decision we ever made, and it changed our lives in ways we never thought possible. My entire focus and direction has changed since getting Maggie, my partner and I have become closer and are now engaged, we're now involved in rescue and I have a whole new set of friends, it's just been the best thing in the world. I also get it with every new foster, thinking 'ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh god WHY am I doing this' for the first few hours, until I come to my senses. It's easier just having 2 dogs, and there's always an adjustment and settling in period.

I feel proud when strangers comment on how well behaved/trained my girls are! Even if it's followed by '... for small dogs' :laugh: Occasionally it does happen - once we got that compliment from a man I've seen walking with his perfectly heeling dogs, that was the ultimate proud moment.

Balwyn Veterinary Hospital :)

Exactly - 3% might come from state government, but what about their pound contracts? That's local government funding. Each is worth a few hundred thousand, depending on the area, proximity to the shelter, etc etc.

Glad to hear she's ok - I read this thread at work but figured you didn't need another person reassuring you that she'd be fine :) My 11 year old had a dental and her front top 2 teeth removed a few months ago, and I was worried about the anaesthetic.. but when I went to pick her up, she basically jumped out of the nurse's arms and started jumping around, rearing to go.. she was completely unaffected. I've now had a few foster dogs who have had dentals (actually, every foster dog I've had has had teeth removed..) and I think the worst part is the constipation. I'm always much happier when they've had their first poo after the anaesthetic - the eating and general wellbeing always seems to go really smoothly afterwards :)

Kinda similar to the sound of the dogs letting themselves in and out of the baby gate

The other thing that is always appreciated is fundraising, marketing.. that kind of thing. Event organising is a huge time sink for my group, even things like responding to people who want to buy tickets to fundraising events, buy fundraising items etc. Perhaps you could offer to run some events for groups? Trivia nights, stalls, sausage sizzles, tupperware/whatever parties, etc etc - that kind of thing is always appreciated, and also helps get the word out.

I can't even get CLOSE to Maggie when I get home, she runs around going ballistic and if I try and touch her or say hi she just bolts past and continues running. She's now started running up and down the stairs too, or running upstairs and disappearing until she finds the right toy, and then starts bolting around again. :D She's now 5, and doing hte opposite of settling down as she ages... :laugh:

Oh my god, what a nightmare - please keep us updated, I really hope everything is ok..

I'm too scared to calculate. :laugh: For a house of vegetarians, I spend an inordinate amount of time buying meat..