hankdog

Now there's a theses topic to be proud of. Fancy being at a cocktail party trying to sound impressive... "Yes professor Begall but what do you actually do all day?" "Erm, well I watch the direction dogs take a dump in. One day we will put them on the Mars rover incase the compass breaks and then we will have a fool proof back up system!"

I didn't mean to imply that all bull breed owners were irresponsible just that irresponsible owners do seen attracted to them. Personally I consider myself a bogan, a bull breed owner but responsible. There just seem to be a lot in pounds or out roaming although as melzawelza pointed out they are a common dog which could feed this perception. Two of the most highly trained dogs in my suburb that I know of are staffys. The third is a cattle dog, so there goes that stereotype for me.

I can find no trace of any drive except food in Jakey. Does Del kind of wind up and then go over the top or is it more like an instant switch? I wonder if there's different styles . You know how there's some people who just get silly excited and then there's those who go from woe to go in a second.

Fair point, we don't have that many around here. Luckily more of an oodle area. I guess the athleticism of staffys probably means they can get out of fences others might not.

Yea I understand a dog getting out once but that should be an accident that happens once. This was a staffy and the speed he ran at us was frightening. No hesitation straight onto Jakes back, I guess he was wound up from the chooks but then I hear of these attacks on the Greys and I think how lucky we were there were two of us to grab him. I hope your rangers get onto it. I understand it must be a awful job going around dealing out fines all day and they must cop a fair bit of abuse. Well your newspaper article us a start. It seems bull breeds are the choice of dog for irresponsible owner.

I'm sorry but you cannot split up that trio. They belong together. Their dad certainly breeds true.

Nope, we don't have a pound, there's a vet who is supposed to act as the pound but they close at 5 . First dog we caught stayed in the laundry overnight. Second one managed to break through the closed dog door, was recaptured and put in the bathroom. There was no way we could hold him overnight, he would have chewed the house. I ended up taking him to a different vet who promptly handed him back to his owner. The ranger managed to track him down despite him being unregistered. I felt bad about reporting him but reading all these reports I'm pretty glad I did. He was an entire male, he had a go at Tubby but seemed fine with people. I'm hoping the fine encouraged the owners to sort out some fencing and maybe I saved someone else's dog.

I think there should be a minimum dog to ranger ratio for a council area. There should also be a certain basic infrastructure to back up the rangers. The rangers in my area are really good but they have nowhere to take stray dogs after hours. When we recently caught a roamer attacking chooks in our garden the vet that doubles as a pound was closed. Dogs roaming is a life threatening issue, it's time it was taken seriously.

I'm sorry Maddie is suffering. You work so hard to convince them other dogs aren't going to kill them and then you find out the dog was right. Stan as always just looks so " groovy, babey!" What a character.

This is so sad, my condolences to you. May I suggest that you write down all you can remember. Any thing that you may have said to the neighbour before, any interactions between the dogs. Try remember the sequence of events, get documentation from the vet of the injuries and the police report. Write it in your first language so it's accurate. Write down any conversations you now have with them. Given the staffy no longer exists try describe him exactly, anything that could specifically identify him. If this goes to court these small details that you may get mixed up on because of the emotion can be important. Best of luck going forward. I believe this should be dealt with not just swept away.

Haha, if my mum had been around when I had babies I'd have dropped them off in her bed too. I have a very cute picture in my head of little momma tucking up everyone safely.

I would encourage you to be open and approachable. Both of you are going to be upset. Talk to him but if things start escalating try just asking for a time out. Maybe acknowledge with him upfront how upset you both are. Ask his permission take breaks in talks when you're getting too upset and give him the same option. Hopefully if he sees you taking the correct steps to ensure it doesn't happen again then this can be dealt with without lawyers. In my area the rangers are very responsive and try settle things amicably. If everyone can agree upfront that preventing a repeat is the ultimate goal and stay focused on that that will hopefully get you through. Be proactive and try breathe.

I have a big greeting ceremony, it used to be for Jake but now it's largely just to get people to respect his space. There's a spare leash at the door and it's clipped on before I open and then people get read the instruction manual. Generally I can figure out who will be cool and who needs to be isolated and then Jake goes away. I think it's a good way to set the rules upfront. It's like those poor people who have dogs that jump up, they ask others not to encourage the dog and people happily pat the dog saying "I don't mind." Yep and there's another week of training in the toilet.

I'm sorry Shadrack. Get as much help as possible with the dogs. Can you get your housemates to just run them through their tricks? Anything will help burn up their energy whilst you take care of you. Wish you a speedy recovery.

Mmmmm Christmas list methinks. I love good dog gear. I don't know if I'd be brave enough to go hands free but might be an interesting excercise. Had such a crazy experience. We are going through a patch of off leash rushes. On the weekend a little hairy dachsie rushes out as the owner drives into his garage. Jakes behind me doing his I'm being murdered scream and the dogs rushing around trying to come in from behind us. People come out from the show house next door to help the murdered person. Finally the owner turns up and picks up his hairy attack sausage. So I ask him to hang around so Jake can calm down. So there we are about 6 people standing on the side of the road all having a big laugh at the dogs, jakes breathing in peanut butter and now the sausage wants in on that too. Ended up taking one of the show house people for a short tour of the neighborhood to show her the park and now I've met another nice neighbour. Strange how many people I've met through my "awful" dog.

Beautiful colour and a lovely smile.

You're a foster over-achiever. I know I couldn't do it.

My trainers are all agreed Jakes issues have been intensified because he would have been dependent in his mate that he was separated from at the pound. I've also been told to shake up his routine to challenge his anxieties, take him out at different times and to different places. I guess you need to work out how much of an impact her anxiety has on her and whether you need to challenge it. They don't need to be huge challenges, but if they can have success in small things it can help build confidence. I would definitely try getting her confident to walk or go for a drive by herself, just in case something happens and she would need to cope by herself. She is very beautiful.

I love the second photo, he has a smile. Very handsome dog.

Yes totally useless. Got excited for nothing!!! Pictures please he sounds gorgeous.

That's it I'm buying a guard cat!!

Oh no poor Digby. I'm so sorry.

I'd be too scared to touch her in case she broke. She's like fine china.

I waited about 4 months before I'd annoyed everyone being so pathetic and miserable I was told to get another dog. I got a very different kind of dog because I didn't want to be comparing, Hank was pretty perfect and it wouldn't have been fair to get a similar dog. The way I look at it you have a dog shaped hole in your heart, until I got another dog it wasn't going to be whole. I did feel guilt and betrayal but next time I wouldn't wait so long. There's a lovely poem somewhere about all a dog can leave behind is a loving home for another lost dog.

I'm thinking that bit of bungee might act as a shock absorption if they lunge out and could be a good idea. I'm unable to make up my mind on the quick release snap. I've had one fail and if I'm onto the waistbelt then I'm in trouble and can't afford failure. I took the snap off my present one for that reason but if he's had a pull on it it takes forever to undo the know when I get home. Can't believe council gave the dog I caught attacking my chickens back to the owners with no fine..... It's ok though because it didn't attack a person!!!!! Tell my dead little chook that.