Salukifan

And when "doing the best you can" isn't good enough? What then? No amount of good intentions is sufficient if the quality of the life of the dogs is substandard. I have no axe to grind on the issues associated with the shelter but I will say this. Numbers rehomed is a very poor indicator of shelter success as there are so many variables. What happens to the dogs that AREN'T rehomed and their quality of life is what people should be looking at. No dog deserves to be warehoused in a run for the rest of its life. Housing old dogs under tin shelters in 40+ degree temperatures? Not good enough from where I sit. Look FIRST at the dogs that don't get a new home and judge the shelter on THEIR lives. That's what's important to me. I only wish all the passion associated with this shelter could be turned into effort to either improve the conditions or move the dogs to better ones.

Take him to see Dr Barbara Fougere at All Natural Vet Care Time to quit the hit and miss approach and get to the bottom of the problem. I suspect diet is part of the issue.

I have opted to give Lily the medication. The incidence of side effects is not common and she gets distressed when she has accidents. Lily is down to only one Stiboestrol tablet a month so the dosage can be very low. Herbie the Whippet has renal issues and gets Propalin to help him concentrate his urine. It is working well for him. I'd talk to your vet. My dogs' Bowen therapist say she gets a fair bit of success with assisting this too.

Is he microchipped? If so, contact Dogs NSW - they should be able to get his breeder of the database.

I think it's a combination of genes and good husbandry. You'd expect dogs from long lived breeds/parents to live longer. But keeping your dog fit and in good health and things like regular chiro also assist IMO.

What makes a dog dangerous to people is a combination of genetics, socialisation (or lack of it) and environment Here's what Karen Delise (author of Fatal Dog Attacks) has to say on the issue: If you have a "mean" dog then it is your responsibility to keep it under complete control. "Accidents happen" simply isn't good enough.

Very biddable, very trainable but not for someone who wants to jerk a dog around. Your challenge will be to find one with plenty of drive for agility. In my limited experience they can be rather soft but I have seen a couple who fitted the bill.

Thought I would add another dimension to the discussion after my trip to the 2013 Whippet National. To my very great delight, Dodger won the Intermediate Dog class in a strong line up. I was so overwhelmed I couldn't stack him for the winners photo - we had to do it outside the ring a few minutes later So not only do you have to get "into the zone" to compete, you have to think through how to handle it when you DO win!

1. Move or evict your housemates. Sounds to me like you need your own place where you can raise your dog how you wish her to be raised. 2. Summon a decent dog trainer. I'd also enrol in some obedience classes ASAP. No offence, but you sound like a novice dog owner and you need as much help as you can get as quickly as you can get it.

My Whippet boys were sired by a 10 year old and an 11 year old.

Yes. Your dog doesn't have to be infected with Parvo to transport it into your home on his feet (and you on yours). I'd be staying out of high dog traffic areas like dog parks until your pup is fully immunised. I'd still walk your dog but in less dog populated areas.

Contrast that with your previous statement: You are studying veterinary nursing. People are going to take you at your word..... please be careful about what you say in this regard.

Define "a bit". You're in the business of advising pet owners on how to care for their pets post operations. Best be specific. If the stitches wick bacteria inside a fresh post operative wound, believe me, it WILL hurt. I'd be inclined to cover the wound with a wrap for a while rather than allow the dog to lick it.

Are you kidding? Stitches wick moisture directly into the wound. You do NOT want bacteria laden saliva anywhere near stitches. Once stitches come out, its OK because the wound is closed and there is nothing to allow bacteria to pass into it. If the dog wants to lick that wound, distract from the behaviour or leave the cloud collar on. To the OP. If you are unhappy with how your dog is behaving then it's time to go. If nothing else, some injectable pain relief will make YOU feel better.

No one said anything about accepting the existence of puppy farms. If you want to change this, you need to target and change the law that permits it, not target people who simply happen to be marketing a property.

I don't agree with large scale commercial dog breeding but it's not illegal. There are family pets who probably aren't as well housed as these dogs appear to be. If you want to object to the practice on moral grounds, go right ahead. However complaining to a real estate agent for marketing the property is ludicrous - there are no laws being broken here.

Every school holidays :) he's going to turn 1 in a couple of days, so next time I see him I'll probably be able to do some actual agility with him At one year old, your cousin's dog is still too young to jump and weave. You can train him over poles on the ground and for a a contact strategy. The big challenge in agility is not getting your dog to do the obstacles, its getting BETWEEN them. A lead out, turns and serpentines and pull throughs can all be trained on the ground.

Does this guy think, after these antics, that he has any kind of political career? Abusive of an agency enforcing SA law, prone to whipping up hysteria and clearly incapable of considering both sides of an issue. How he'd think that anyone other than the lunatic fringe 'save em all' brigade would vote for him is a complete mystery. Certainly not how I'd advise anyone to run a political campaign. If he'd poured the same efforts into raising funds properly (there's one epic fail), meetings to negotiate a way to fix issues and finding volunteers just imagine how much better things could have been. I wouldn't vote for him for garbage collector.

There is no doubt that the right working line BC with the right handler is pretty hard to beat. However, I always go by the adage "don't buy a Ferrari if you don't drive as well as Michael Schumacher". These are hair trigger dogs, that require incredibly focused, accurate handling and a lot of training to get sufficient team work and control to go well. For every gun team I've seen, I've also seen barking spinning dogs whose handlers are unable to get them cleanly around courses. There is also the issue of bar dropping due to less than ideal jump styles with some teams. So go in with your eyes wide open but do talk to the handlers of these super fast high drive dogs about the amount of effort it takes to get them going as well as some do. A good dog to aspire to if you're prepared to put the effort in to but not a dog for everyone IMO. Of course when they're off duty, they still require a lot of effort to keep busy. Vicki here would be a good person to start with.

I've been reading this thread and I have to say the whole Moorook saga is a pretty amazing read. What's with the constant Chicken Little calls that "the RSPCA is coming"?? Have they got the RSPCA under surveillance or something? I'm still shaking my head over the idea that the RSPCA should politely make appointments to call when they're investigating animal welfare issues. That's gobsmackingly moronic.

Someone should ask him if he's ever heard of Hanlon's razor: Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity. :)

Second article had a thread of its own here for a while. Interesting that in both the Qld and NSW examples, police had not received a single report of theft. As I said in the other thread before it went 'poof', the fact that dog fighting rings are a possible explanation doesn't make it the only one. Take the precautions listed in the Qld article but I'd resist the urge to make people paranoid about dog theft.

Might be an idea to check the facts out of these stories before scaring the shit out of people on social media. Have any of these stories been in mainstream media or on police media pages?? These things always seem to be reported second hand. Any first hand accounts?

There's an easy way to put the protection theory to thetest... Take her out on her own and see how she reacts without the presence o fthe other dog. Does she redirect onto her own leash? A visit from an experienced dog behaviourist however is the best way to find out what's really going on. I still think it's more likely than anything else that you are dealing with a hyper aroused dog experiencing barrier frustration (being restrained) and redirecting onto a leash. The more you pull and tug the leash, the worse her frustration. All the carrying on doesn't necessarily mean aggression.Just a dog thwarted from getting what it wants and not having a lot of self control. Obedience training and desensitisation would be the 'cure' IF that's what a behaviourist diagnosed. One piece of advice you should heed, regardless of the cause of this behaviour is to keep your hands out of your dog's mouth. It's unsafe. Don't engage in a tug of war or attempt to remove the leash.. getdistance between you and the trigger for the behaviour.

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