Blackdogs

I don't think you ever get over it. It's now 3 years and 4 months since I lost Sophie after her battle with cancer. I think of her and miss her every day. I couldn't watch that video. When I think of Sophie's last minutes I still feel the sting of tears. Death can't take my love for her away from me though. Losing her was a life changing event for me. R.I.P Oden I think it depends on the individual and how they respond to grief. I don't think you ever stop missing your dog, but the pain decreases over time. I can look back now and appreciate the good things about my last dog's relationship with me, rather than dwell on the fact that she's not with me anymore. When I think of her now, six years on, I smile rather than cry. I'm not very religious, but I do hope more than anything that there is a place where we will see each other again.

I took it as a bit of an ode to Oden (no pun intended). I think it's a good video that illustrates well the pain of losing such a close friend. If they simply had the guy talking about how awesome his dog was it wouldn't be nearly as impactful. This was a mini-documentary in honour of his life, no just some random filming.

Get your tissues ready: last minutes with Oden, a dog dying of cancer. http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=300_1325829355 Anyone know how to embed?

Does it drag on the ground at all? Maybe it's hitting the grass and causing grass allergies? Just a suggestion.

I regularly find my dogs 'under' things on hot days. For example today they were both lying under my bed. Sometimes they lie under a coffee table or kitchen table. I suspect they think this is the equivalent of lying under a tree for shade, but they haven't worked out that it doesn't work that way indoors and it's probably hotter under objects than on top! :D

Reminds me of the other day when a lady came in holding a basket of 6 week old kittens. She told me she'd tried desperately to find them homes to no avail and asked if we could put them up for adoption. I informed her of our policy that dictateed only strays were to be part of the adoption program. She begged and pleaded with me stating that she'd have to have them PTS if we couldn't take them. I finally relented. Forward to five minutes later where I was setting them up out the back. My colleague entered and informed me that the lady had told her she was so glad she had found a place to bring the next lot when her cat got pregnant again. Now I just feel like an enabler.

Is this what you mean? http://www.hrwdogsport.com.au/Sprenger/chains/sprengerchaincollars.htm

Both on my bed, though if it's hot they jump off and stretch out on the floor. I think I might buy them both a cool mat.

I'm sorry to hear that. Will you consider chemotherapy/radiotherapy?

Agreed.

You can buy rubber booties for better traction. Might help?

I have just started by 5.5 year old Kelpie on a joint diet and he is taking joint supplements as well. Some thing he is too young, but I don't see the harm in starting him early as he is an extremely active dog. If you have used a joint diet or supplements, I am curious to know the following: a)How old your dog was when you started using joint diet/supplements? b)Which breed do you have? c)How active are/were they? d)How old are they now? e)What is their mobility like? f)Were there joint issues present on starting the diet/supplements? g)Have you noticed any improvements? h)Which products do you use? Thanks, everyone!

I'd go with the A/D as well. Just remember that the more you stir it then runnier it gets. I've found a side-effect of Tramadol is anxiety. Is your dog panting a lot? If you think it might be making your dog anxious this could cause a lack of appetite. Also, if your dog is vomiting a lot be sure to keep up the fluids. You can try syringing hydralite or some other isotonic/electrolyte liquid and keep a gauge of hydration levels by doing the skin pinch test. Best of luck.

Oh dear. I've angered the hordes. Well, obviously it's not an idea that everyone agrees on, it's just a shame we can't discuss it without sarcasm and insults. This thread has lost any constructive element it might have had under different circumstances so this will be my last input in to it.

It seems Greyhound people are particularly averse to the concept. I suspect there are a few pats on the back going on in PM land along with tips on perfecting the art of sarcasm. You wouldn't by any chance be all friends now would you? Ahh well, as with everything, some people will agree, some people will disagree.

You think the government should buy land and facilities , and then only allow certain people to use them, based on a doggy personality test? I don't think you will convince any government that that is an effective use of money in promoting responsible animal ownership. The more dogs you mingle, the higher the chance that there will be incidents of 'irresponsibility.' The reward for being a responsible dog owner is already there. The dog is safe and happy. This is just a hypothetical, not parliamentary proposal, but whether or not they would go for it in polished form I'm not sure. Pets are taking more of a central role in people's lives these days and contribute greatly to the economy. Doggy day care centres were a crazy idea not so long ago. Of course whenever there are more stairs/cars/machines there are more accidents, so you put safety systems in place to minimise the chance of them happening. Stairs have rails, cars have speed limits, OH&S governs machinery use. You'd have much less chance of an incident taking place in a regulated situation than you would in a park. There are animal control laws, and if people followed them we could all enjoy taking our dogs everywhere. Many of us still think doggy day care is crazy, and much prefer traditional kennel set up with individual runs if we have to leave our dogs in professional care. But they don't always follow them. A someone said earlier, carrots are better than sticks. Each to their own with regards to doggy day care. I think a properly run centre is a brilliant idea.

You think the government should buy land and facilities , and then only allow certain people to use them, based on a doggy personality test? I don't think you will convince any government that that is an effective use of money in promoting responsible animal ownership. The more dogs you mingle, the higher the chance that there will be incidents of 'irresponsibility.' The reward for being a responsible dog owner is already there. The dog is safe and happy. This is just a hypothetical, not parliamentary proposal, but whether or not they would go for it in polished form I'm not sure. Pets are taking more of a central role in people's lives these days and contribute greatly to the economy. Doggy day care centres were a crazy idea not so long ago. Of course whenever there are more stairs/cars/machines there are more accidents, so you put safety systems in place to minimise the chance of them happening. Stairs have rails, cars have speed limits, OH&S governs machinery use. You'd have much less chance of an incident taking place in a regulated situation than you would in a park.

I didn't know that. That's not a bad idea either. This is a rough sketch of how it used to be (City of Casey, at least) .... $xx discount for dog being desexed; plus $xx discount for dog being obedience trained. Total possible discount = $xxx Now it is : $xx discount for dog being desexed; plus $xx discount for dog being microchipped (which is compulsory anyway, so I don't see point in discount); OR $xx discount for dog being obedience trained. Total possible discount = $xxx (ie total possible discount no higher than it used to be). Which kind of takes the emphasis off obedience training IMO. Same total possible discount applies whether or not you obedience train your dog. ETA: In regards to the thread topic .... some food for thought. Don't forget that for dogs to behave well in certain environments they need to be proofed to those environments. So, who would set the criteria and how high would the bar be? If it is too high, it might prevent the proofing to what may potentially be new and novel environments which means we could end up with less and less dogs being able to learn to cope with them. As I said - food for thought. Be careful about looking at the ideal without taking into account how the ideal is attained . Good point, I see what you're saying. As I said, it's a sketchy thought and there would be things that needed to be ironed out for it to be implemented. How would you suggest this problem could be worked with, Erny? Could there be a supervised beginners get together that was more controlled?

BINGO!

To answer several concerns at once: I think the government needs to sink more money into responsible pet ownership, so I don't have grievances with a subsidised program. However, it would make for an interesting enterprise. The the idea would be to provide sociable dogs with places to mingle, so DINOS and other less sociable dogs wouldn't be suited to this environment and I doubt owners of these kinds of dogs would seek out this kind of interaction anyway. Not being elligible to use these facilities doesn't indicate that you're a bad owner, just that you're not suitable. I do think it would provide incentives for people to socialise and train their dogs, though. Plus, it would provide people with safer places for their dogs to mingle. The system I'm talking about would not be used in any other setting than newly created facilities, so people who didn't want to be involved wouldn't have to be involved and nothing for them would change.

We use an all-chip scanner, so why would not knowing about selective scanners indicate I don't work in the industry? The databases are 5?

Why? if the council did their jobs and cracked down on the loose dogs it shouldn't matter if your dog was a DINO. If people followed the leash laws there is technically no need for a recall. There is no reason a DINO dog can't be out and about and be just a good a dog as one that is happy for every dog to get in it's face. Why should a DINO dog not be allowed to sit quietly at a cafe? Um. What does DINO stand for? Sorry, never heard that term. This has nothing to do with lose dogs. It's about creating off leash areas were dogs can safetly mingle knowing others are under control and of good temperament. Trust me, I am aginst introducing further restrictions on pet ownership. I was thinking more in terms of a rewards club, not new laws to govern old areas.

What would be the restriction in this case? I'm talking about the creation of new venues not restrictions on old ones. the restrictions would be on good dogs and their owners who don't, for whatever reason, comply with the extra's needed to be granted these extra privledges. IE greyhounds are not allowed off lead in public in Victoria. Bit hard to train and then prove they have a good recall not to mention it would usually take them months and months longer then say a GSD to learn it. ( I have owned both breeds ) and yet the vast majority of greyhounds seem to be born sensible. I could take my nearly 6 month old pup up the street and he would be much better behaved then some of my Shepherd's would have been at the same age. Yet the Sheppie's would have had much more training. Many a time I had a greyhound up the street having a coffee and they just lay down on their blanket under the table with minimum of fuss. But I would no longer be able to do that under your proposal as I wouldn't have a piece of paper saying they were well behaved enough to do so. My friend and I educated many, many people in my country town over the past 10 years about greyhounds. Would have been a bit hard to do so if we hadn't had the dogs laying quietly at our feet. As I said, it would be about the creation of new venues, not restrictions of old ones. Perhaps a recall need not be included in cafe passes? The laws regarding Greyhounds need to be changed. Is there anyone lobbying for this? They're incredibly archaic and misguided. However, if you can't have them off lead currently, then there's no use having a pass to an offleash park anyway.

Well, how about if your dog just needed to pass a temperament test and some basic commands, particularly recall? I agree that there's more to good dog ownership than obedience training. I was thinking more along the lines of proving your dog to be sociable and responsive.

What would be the restriction in this case? I'm talking about the creation of new venues not restrictions on old ones.