Salukifan

Glen of Imaal Terriers???

Borzoi with a 10# shave????

DNA can only prove parentage IF the parents are known. That leaves quite a few dogs out in the cold. It is extremely difficult to prove a negative. How can I prove that my unpapered, rescue dog is NOT a pitbull. DNA sure won't do it. But all of this is a crock anyway. BSL doesn't make communities safer. End of story. What makes communities safer is educating dog owners and penalising those who fail to live up to their responsibilities. Sadly a prohibition on a few breeds is a hell of a lot cheaper and gives the uneducated the very real misapphrension that politicians are actually doing something to solve the problem of dangerous dogs.

And your point is???

Colour doppler echocardiography costs $400 per dog and is available (to the best of my knowledge) in one city in Australia - Melbourne. Given the extremely low incidence of heart issues in Whippets and the cost and limited availability of comprehensive heart testing, I don't think ANKC breeders should be judged as no better than BYBs for not heart testing their breeding dogs using this technology. Others may disagree.

Field cockers are very rare in Oz but yes, there is a divergence with the field dogs being lighter framed and less hairy.

Two names I got to suggest, two I had no input into. Howie's breeders wanted an "art" theme so FHRP and I brainstormed names and she came up with "Artisan". So Howie is Windyle Artisan. Dodger's breeder wanted "D" names and I chose Artful Dodger. She wanted to recognise his father in his name (Dad's pet name is Darcy) so Dodge is Daneson Darcez Artful Dodger.

Only if in breeding sports dogs, you completely sacrifice breed type. No. However have you considered that you can add titles to both ends of your dogs' names? I have friends with Cockers with conformation and sports titles :)

OP: So they don't have access to the entire farm then unless you are there? I don't genuinely see this as much different from what folk who leave their homes every day do.

You can make the same argument for most exotic pets. But it doesn't fly in a lot of cases. A "pet" dingo is still a pack animal is it? Is it fair to keep one as a solitary pet? If you desex it (as surely a responsible person would outside of a zoo or sanctuary) then it's lost to the gene pool. I have never really gotten the idea that the best expression of love or fascination for wild animals is owning one. Not quite as bad as sticking their heads on your wall but unless you keep them appropriately to their species then I say don't keep them at all. If you 'rescue' a dingo pup, there are avenues beyond keeping it as a pet to ensure it's safety.

Who are you to tell people what they can own though? Who are any of us to dictate what someone else should own. Most of the reasons we own animals are selfish ones, we rarely get a dog just for the dog, so why is it any different for dingoes? Because they aren't domestic dogs? They haven't been selectively bred for many of the characteristics people expect in a pet dog and the challenges of keeping one safe and happy would be beyond many potential dog owners.

Sorry to read this KKDD. RIP Toasty - you've left a gaping hole in your mum's heart.

I hate to say it but most decent places will have booked out months ago. They might want to think about flying him down to you.

Suggest you do this to keep your blood pressure under control. At a certain point you have to admit defeat.

But what IS the truth? What IS happiness to a dog? Is a dog that's allowed to roam, to scavenge, to fight going to be happier than a dog that's more confined? Is "happiness" the same as "freedom" or is security and the absence of hunger better for the dog? Is a dog that stands at the front door when you open it rather than bolting out it "happy" or simply habituated to its prison? And frankly Corvus, how do you know people don't think about this critically and honestly? Personally I wonder quite frequently if I do enough for my dog's physical and social welfare. What I saw at the beginning of this thread was the beginnings of a"if you don't treat your dog this way, you're not as good an owner as I am" line of thinking (hardly a novelty here). And what I will always be keen to promote is that there is no one "right way" to raise and keep a dog. There are simply too many variables IMO and you can start with breed. A dog selectively bred for decades or centuries for people focus is going to have quite different needs to a dog that's been bred in another direction. I don't like "one size fits all" approaches to these issues because IMO that's simply not reflective of dogs. They're not all alike.

Can I just say there is no way I'd leave a dog unsupervised in an unroofed pen. Jumping out is one thing. Catching a paw trying to get out is another. My 8 week Whippet pup got out of one of these within 5 minutes.

A playpen is best used for quiet time and containment, you want your pup to learn to relax in there and entertain itself when you can't (similar to a crate). Perhaps consider playing with your pup outside instead - more room and more fun. If you wanted to gate off a corner there are some very large baby gates designed to do so and also pens which can be attached to a wall with brackets. I'll see if I can find you a link... from memory these come with wall brackets http://www.ebay.com....#ht_2224wt_1398 Completely agree and can I suggest you rethink this and use a crate only. Use the crate for containment as you suggest and play with your pup in the room or outside. I can't honestly imagine what sorts of games you could play with a six month old Labrador inside a play pen of any size.

So do most caring, responsible dog owners, regardless of where they live. Most of us contain our dogs. All we are now talking about is the size of the containment. Have you seen the U-tube clip of the greyhound on the couch. It doesn't move.. all day!! And as for what makes a dog "happy"?? I certainly don't agree with the complete social isolation that many urban dogs are subjected to (kept in backyard, not allowed inside, not walked). Frankly I'm surprised more of such dogs aren't stark raving mad.

Do you say anything to them? No. The message isn't received well. You get a bunch of reasons why the dog won't stray ... and most of the time they don't. But all it takes is one distraction .. Older walkers, along with teen, also seem reluctant to clean up after dogs.

From the Canberra Times: There are a number of older dog walkers around my area who also never leash their dogs. It worries me.

I'd go ahead then, particularly as it seems to be happening more frequently.

Definitely get the op. I did agility with my poodle boy Ted after a luxating patella was surgically repaired. He never had any issues and is now 15 and still sound. You certainly would not want to do agility without the op. However, how old is he? If he was under 12 months, I'd be inclined to wait till then.

My old boy smells... not unpleasant just "stronger". Things have to be working differently in an old dog. Old people have their own smell too!!

Numerous people on here have said that they do this. I should poll it - I've never noticed. After the previous bun fights about it I doubt many would say that they do :laugh: Yes, no one EVER judges anyone here.... NOT.

Try refusing them entry to agility training for this reason.... used to happen all the time and the reactions were usually extremely defensive. Opening line was usually "buy my vet says his weight is OK'. "for sitting a a backyard" I'd say "probably but how many fat athletes do you know". We gave them advice on how to get the weight off and most succeeded. Best line I got from one was "my vet now says my dogs are in awesome shape" .. and yet this was the vet that said the dog wasn't fat? Go figure.