pepe001

Sadly, my old German Shepherd ate 3kgs of rat bait and the plastic container it came in. It was on the top shelf of the tool cupboard and we have no idea how the old boy got up there. He was very old and full of cancer so we decided to let him go. The vet put him down on the back of the ute (his favourite place in the world) with me cuddling him before the poison took hold.

I believe Australia used to be one of the biggest exporters of horse meat to Europe behind Canada and the USA. But with changing US legislation apparently US horses are trucked to Canada and Mexico now, so I guess Mexico is now one of the largest producer of horse meat.

Baby Axe Adult Axe

I get contacted by my GSDs breeder occasionally for updates, and do the same with him if I get a nice photo to send. With my previous GSD from Von Forell, I was called every couple of years to give them updates. I don't breed dogs but do goats - and I love getting updates.

Rocco is my favourite. Beautiful pictures.

Double post

They wanted them to eat. Yes, if you advertise roosters expect to get calls from those wanting to eat them. Why else would someone want to buy more than one or two roosters. If you don't want this to happen - the only solution is euthanize them yourself.

Just from a quick read of the condition it seems that there can only be 4 possibilities. 1. your dog hasn't got the parents as listed on the papers. 2. their test was wrong or 3. the 'knowledge rules' describing the genetics is incorrect or 4. it has a different condition such as blood sugar issues etc.

I have never thought about Rotties smiling - but wow - they are good at it.

What about a smiling goat.

Axe at 8 weeks and 18 months

I have never left a animal in a car but I did leave my old dog on a stay outside a shop in town all day once when I was a kid. It was many years ago and I lived in a small country town - ie pre-leads and many people had dogs following them around all the time. I went in the back door of a shop, put Ras on a stay, went out the front door and walked home. It wasn't until Dad came home that night and asked where he was that I remembered - he had been there about 8 hours. We drove down and there he was just where I left him. I was in a terrible state and realised how easy it was to do something like that. After hearing stories of children and pets left by accident in cars I now have a habit of walking around my car when ever I get out and checking through the windows.

The only working Belgium Shepherd in Aus is the malinois. All other are showlines and I have been told have quite a soft show temperament. I have met a handful of the black ones Groenendael and all have been kind pet-type temperament dogs. All nice dogs. I wouldn't call any of the malinois I have met soft in any way, but I believe there are less driven ones out there. I don't think the malinois I have met would be good family dogs unless the family is experienced with a high-prey dog. But that said, all have been working dogs, and they take their jobs seriously. Maybe others who own malinois can comment.

I am on my 4th pedigree GSD. First was working showline (ie 100% showlines but was a working police dog but this was before true working lines were common in Oz) - hip dysplasia at 5 or 6 and came to me on retirement. Second - backyard bred but pedigree showlines - no health issues at all until he died at about 11 - never saw a vet except needles etc. Third - was East working lines. He only saw a vet to be desexed, to have tip of tail amputated and needles. Died at 9 to an undiagnosed illness. Current - Czech/DDR working line - 18 months and seems healthy. When I bought my current dog I was warned on forums that he would be too defensive to be a good family dog. Couldn't be further from the truth. We have spent the week camping with people coming and going, lots of kids and he hasn't put a foot wrong. But I don't take him for granted and would never let someone strange approach without him being under control or let him run willy-nilly with kids that are going berserk. He is defensive compared to other shepherds I have had and definitely less prey drive than the DDR dog. He is not prey-silly with a toy or tug (like my DDR was) but much more determined to find a toy etc. He turns off easily when being defensive and will come back if called and once introduced to the person he is fine.

Now what about adults taunting dogs. I have an elderly male neighbour who drives past my gate and yells at my dogs through the window. We live rurally and I am last on a dead end dirt road so no reason for him to go up. Grrr

At the shops a lady comes in and asks some people if they have a blue 'something' car. An older lady walks over and says she does. The first one says that she should go to her car as some people are outside worried about the dog locked in the car. The car owner says it is ok as the side the dog is on is in the shade. The concerned lady keep saying, you need to go to your car now. The disagreement goes on for a minutes or two before the owner is convinced to return to the car. Staff get involved as well. This went on with the temperature outside at almost 40 degrees. I thought there was enough concerned bystanders involved so kept shopping. So there you go - it is ok to leave an animal in a car as long as the side it is sitting in is in the shade. Wow some people just scare the hell out of me. But at the same time I am so glad people step up to defend those being abused through stupidity.

I see it as a person/persons who want to make some money producing ancestry reports for members who wish to give an official looking document to puppy buyers. The trap is the general public will call these registration papers and say their cross breeds are an actual breed. I think many people would like to see what the parents/ grandparents etc of their puppies look like. I wonder if they will list the actual breed in their eyes - could get very long when they include all ancestors - even two generation back.

I don't think we can compare health of dogs from years past to those of today due to the increase in toxins in everyday life. Car exhaust, pollutants, chemicals in food and in everything we touch which is manmade (plastics etc). Most dogs (and people) I know seem to die of some sort of cancer now days. But I do agree. It seems the more someone cares about animals the more things go wrong.

My run is 4*2 metres for 2 dogs with a single bed with thick rubber instead of a mattress. We had 2 but the dog prefer to stay together. Generally GSD on the bed and BC under the bed. They are in it some days for 8 hours but most days only an hour or so. If nothing is happening in the yard they usually sleep in there in the day with the door open. I don't think it needs to be bigger as they are mostly sleeping anyway. Neither poop in there and hold on until we get home.

Talk to the owner and offer to take it off their hands and get them to sign an agreement that you understand the situation but am still willing to foster/own the dog. If they still want to euth I would do it as it is better than the dog ending up in a lake with a rock round its neck.

A friend saw a cattle dog pup being scruffed and belted by a bloke in town. He just pulled a $50 note from his pocket and offered to buy the dog. My friend jumped in his car with pup under his arm very quickly in case the guy changed his mind.

How lovely. I found the breeder of my first rescue Shepherd and they were so happy to see him again. He even ran into their house and jumped up into the chair he used to sit on as a puppy. It was also nice for me to meet his parents and chat to someone who cared for my boy as much as I did. In a funny way it was also good to know if something happened to me they would take him back and find him a new home. I was single and without family in the State at the time and this worried me.

I know of a horse breed society that raffles a donated weanling each year at the Nationals. But everyone knows everyone else and they are all show people with horses of the breed and most know the horse as well or at least the breeder etc. It is a very 'wanted' prize by those who buy tickets. If you don't want the horse you don't buy a ticket. I still think it is wrong morally but it can't be illegal.

I really shouldn't have opened the picture. Now I am sitting her crying over such a beautiful boy killed for no reason.

Thank you for finding that. A better Facebook searcher than me. For those who don't know the story. Last year the owners took 2 labs running in the bush to a local well-known offlead type bush track. One dog came back and one didn't - a bitch called Sammy. They had a huge media campaign and obviously are still looking. She is still missing but they believe they are still seeing prints of hers. Hopefully the wild dogs near her are different from the wild dogs near me (about 100kms from where she went missing). Ours kill and eat any domestic dog wandering outside a fence-line. An attack was seen by my neighbours and they were attacking a large entire kelpie*bluey working dog. They worked as a team and tore him to shreds. Luckily the owners saved him and he survived. Many dogs have not been so lucky. I hope they find her.