Blossom78

I think that depends on the dog and what they're used to.(says me, having a gently breathing pooch snuggled up to my chest and tummy, on the electric blanket and under the doona :p )

I want a German Huntng Terrier (Deutscher Jagdterrier) http://en.wikipedia....iki/Jagdterrier I love them. Always have, always will. It absolutely sh*** me though that they are in the terrier group, thus excluded from Gundog-only events.Excluded from the exact thing they were bred for.And they are a lot more versatile than other gundogs: small enough to go in burrows, they retrieve up to 1.5-2 times their weight ( by dragging if it's too big), they flush, they track, they point...... and they are the only breed that is fearless (makes socialization super important)They will take on huge boars if told to do so and not stop until called off (or being killed)In the 1980s and 1990s all forest men and hunters in Germany I knew have gotten one or more of these guys in preference to Münsterländers, pointers, etc.Never even heard of ne German forester or hunter who used a lab or Goldie....... *rolls eyes*Thanks ANKC for putting THE ultimate Gundog in the terrier group, only because it has 'terrier' in the name.

Unless I was comatose and stripped of decision making powers, I would not board him.I am very reluctant to leave him with my husband for more than a couple of hours.There is only a handful of people I would ask o keep an eye on him while I have a quick bathroom-break. I left him in a kennel once. In an "executive suite"Including extra exercise and cuddles I think I paid lost $70 a day. The ad sounded as if it was a separate room with outside area (which I would have expected for that price). When I went there to have a look, they room they showed me was a quiet, single room with outside area. They said that "this was one of them, the others are similar" Turned out there were several partititions in the room Toto ended up in. One of them had 3, the other one 4 extremely yappy dogs in them. The noise was deafening!!!! I prefer to either have him with me or sleeping in my bed waiting for me - the latter is a safe place and I don't have reason to worry too much. Still will though.

(have not read all previous posts) If I knew of this, I would report them - RSPCA, Council, Rangers, Police.... whoever. I would also explain to the rescue organisation THEIR liability when negligently misrepresenting a dog. Scenario: Someone with the best intentions might adopt that dog, obviously ignorant of any problems. If that dog attacked and killed my (small) assistance dog, I would be looking for someone responsible. I would find the responsible people in that rescue organisation and would go after them. First I would take the (likely limited) fund that rescue has, and if they are incorporated (beauty!), I would go after the assets of their Board members. I this scenario, the rescue-person negligently misrepresenting the dog could face civil and criminal charges. And the civil compensations could be massive and tens of thousands (fully training an assistance dog costs about 30k, then they are not easy to replace, damages the lost of the assistance dog has cause to the owner by e.g. not working, emotional damage......) I think someone shuold point out to that foster carer and the foster organisation that they better tread VERY lightly there. Killing another animal under whatever circumstances is NOT something irrelevant that need not be disclosed. And, of course, still report them. I feel for the dog, but personally, I wouldn't shed a tear if that dog was put down. I think the risk is just too high to take, unless a professional who knows exactly what they're doing is willing to take that dog and work with them. This dog should not go to your average, well-meaning, more or less ignorant and ill-informed pet dog owner.

If I understand this correctly, the kennel owner sends a letter of seizing the dog to the address on record. Then 3 days later she has the dog.CAR should have a process of transferring ownership without the signature of the registered person.Likely the kennel owner fills out a stat dec explaining the circumstances, an ownership transfers form, attaches a copy of the signed contract and a copy of the notice letter Then the dog is legally hers (I.e. the microchip will be in her name) and she can do with The dog as she pleases (e.g. Giving him to a rescue organisation) If that's all too much hassle, she can always send the notice to the last known address and then, 3 days later, surrender the dog t the RSPCA or the pound.

Pumpkin. Add it to the food of ALL dogs in the household - will also make their poo taste all yucky and bitter and discourage poo eating.

get professional help start a diary: Keep track of the exact situations any hackling, growling, or fighting occurs. This will help the professional to get to the root of the problem. Also, of course, take a note of who 'started' it. This can be tricky, since confrontations start quite a bit before there is any vocalisation or physical contact. I personally do not believe in the dominance-top-dog theory. Dogs have been domesticated for thousands of years. They have left the caves pretty much the same time humans did. And humans (for the most part) are not running around in loincloths whacking each other on the head anymore. As an example: I have a cat, Scania, and a dog, Toto. Scania is a super-princess and wil not each anything except for that one brand of kibble and tuna in springwater. But when Toto chews on a bone, she will walk up to him, claim the bone, and not let him have it. She doesn't want the bone, she just sits there and makes sure he doesn't have it either. Poor Toto sits a few metres away and makes very sad faces, quietly whining to the cat. Eventually she wil get funned out and walk away. In this situation, the cat is definitely boss. She can take food from him anytime, anywhere. Toto is ball obsessed. But not any old ball. They have to smell like me and him and home. He has to be really desperate to so much as touch as stray ball some other dog has previously chewed and slobbered on. If I bring home a stray ball I found somewhere, Scania can have it. Toto will not care. But his special mum-scented-mint-flavoured-rubber-orbee-tough balls are off limits. Toto and Scania have worked out that she must not get near those balls. The only person he will always give the ball to is me - with other people he may or may not release it, depending if there are any other dogs around that might run in and grab it. So, with orbee-tough-balls, Toto is boss. My lap is a tie: Toto spends more time on my lap (cause he is nice whereas our cat is crazy-b****-from-hell), but I make sure that he has to go off whenever the cat feel like laptime. To elevate her status, and because I cherish those precious 2minuntes a month when she actually is a nice cat. :p I think it is VERY rare that one dog is always boss. If you had one of those, you would have noticed long ago, as he would have challenged you all the time as well. :p With dogs, just as with people, there are heaps of things every dog is indifferent about. Then there are things they kinda-sorta-care-about, if it's not too much of a hassle. And then there are things like Toto's orbee tough balls (and me!) - things he would pick fights for and defend with his life. Once you find out what each of the dogs cares about, and how much they care about it, you can work on avoiding situations that are likely to cause clashes. good luck & keep us posted!

Yes, she can sue A and have him tracked down and..... BUT: Unlike in other countries (US or Germany etc.), in Australia you can only get what the person actually has. Meaning you can't really sue for future earnings as I understand this wonderful Aussie legal system. So sueing him would be a waste of legal fees - chances are he will not be able to pay the debt anyway. I'd say the money is a writeoff. What she should do: Change the microchip details of the dog to her name. That costs $7. As she can't get the signature of the registered owner, she will have to complete a stat dec outlining what happened. It is relatively straightforward. Once her name is on the microchip, she then can rehome the dog or give it to a rescue to be rehomed. :) Alternatively, she can just surrender the dog to the RSPCA or pound (I personally like the rehoming-model better though, it does involve more effort on her part though)

Have only glanced over previous responses. But honestly, be grateful your dog does not bark! My little sweetheart terrier is extremely alert. He will bark when a car dares to park on the government strip in front of our house (eventhough he does not have line-of-sight), he will growl into my ear in the middle of the night when a cat walks along the driveway...... Our parcel postie throws parcels on the front porch and then makes a run for it. Or he parks the car 2 properties away, and carefully sneaks to our mailbox, avoiding all pebbles and sticks that could make a sound...... :p Funny thing is, if people are bold enough to approach the feral-dog-sound, they will be greeted with overwhelming enthusiasm, frantic tailwagging and licks. As for your dad: Buy a movement-sensor-activated dog-barking gimmick. Put it in the driveway. If you want to invest a bit more, they also come with time sensors. Or you could have a fake-dog-barking every time someone comes dowj the driveway, day and night. :) I have no idea how that would affect your dog though. GSDs can be quite sensitive...... my 6kg terr(i)or is very adamant about GSDs staying out of his space. So badly that the poor GSDs might break stays when little Toto so much as turns his head and stares at them...... *sigh*

Yep, that's what I just realised.Must be diff regs. Domestic Animal Services here get involved if and when they have to. In the past, they have also been happy for me t give them my details on the phone, the microchip number, they contact the owner, the owner then gets in touch with me for collecting their dog. :)We also have dogs that made it a habit of going for unsupervised walkies in our neighbourhood. Especially in school holidays when kids leave gates open.We all just yell at the dogs, flap our arms, and the dogs turn around and wander back home. :) But yes, we do live on the bum-end of Canberra with no through traffic, and significantly more dogs & horses (combined) than people.

YAY!!!!!! Glad he has been found. Couch-snuggles for everyone tonight.

I actually think in many cases this would be a good thing. I have caught strays before, took them to a vet, got the microchip read and obtained the details of the owner, gave them a call and advised them that their pooch was in my backyard ready to be picked up. So far everyone seemed to be really, really glad that (a) I bothered to catch their dog as it was roaming around (usually outside the shops, begging for food) (b) did not just call the RSPCA or rangers - apart from the hundreds of $$ involved getting their dogs back from the pound, I reckon lazing in my backyard, playing in a doggie-clamshell-pool, digging to their heart's content and playing ball is much less stressful than sitting in a kennel. And, quite honestly, not working babysitting a random dog for a couple of hours is no biggie (during working hours, while hubby isn't home. :p ) The owners are usually extremely happy to have their pooch back and come rushing over immediately. Not working I'm also not opposed to accepting a reward for taking good care of their pooch (after all they saved hundreds of $$ by me not going the easy way and calling the rangers) :) IF (however he'd manage that) my pooch ever got lost, I'd much rather have someone snuggle him than having him exposed to the stress of the pound.

I would never be dumping on pedigree breeders - that would be against DOL rules. :PI am just saying that being an ANKC registered breeder does not say anything about a peron's ethics, morals, and niceness.And buyers should stop expecting every registered breeder to be a Santa cross Mother Theresa type of person. I honestly applaud all breeders that are kind, do home assessments, carefully choose buyers, take dogs back. They are awesome folk. Really!But becoming an ANKC registered breeder does not involve a personality test.Not sure, but do you even need a police check to register a kennel name? Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think our local RSPCA screens their volunteers a lot more thorough than the ANKC its registered breeders.Which, IMO, is a shame, because it devalues the ANKC tag, and ultimately damages the awesome, ethical, great breeders. I am absolutely happy for breeders to disagree wth my opinion. Not like breeders depend on living up to my morals or anything. And I do not expect them to. But I would not buy from a breeder that would willingly sell me a dog vie email and bank transfer,Without having any idea what home the pup gets. Because that alone would kinda demonstrate to me that they can't care that much...... (and yes, when I looked not getting a dog, I contacted small-terrier breeders by email. I did the right thing and only went for ANKC registered breeders.I was appalled how many responded with emails of under 5 lines. Not asking ANY questionsabout me at all, but being all about price tags, showing modalities, and breeding rights) I wouldn't trust a car dealer for the me fact that they have a car dealership license.As far as liability goes, car dealers are n a much shorter leash than dog breeders.I buy cars much more frequently than I buy dogs - to me it seems natural to me an informed decisionin both cases.Since I am much, much more attached to my dog than to my car, cannot imagine buying a dog without having met them, seen the premises of the breeder, being sure what happened in the first 6-8 weeks of their life..... If people just transfer money and then pick up a pup a the airport, how can they possibly know the dog is"right" for them?

Don't really think that any personal info or names need to be shared on a public forum for all eternity. :) Every Obedience Trialler between the South Coast and Sydney has probably heard the news by now, or at least has a pretty clear idea of what staffy this might be. :p No need to be concerned though! GREAT OUTCOME!!! The Psychiatric Service Dog Association NSW's Board has overwhelmingly voted to take him on as assistance dog to be. Ownership has been transferred, he went up to Sydney yesterday, and has commenced his journey on becoming a lifesaver for someone who needs him desperately. Our dogs help sufferers from conditions such as anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder, people on the Autism Spectrum. We also accredit dogs as medical alert dogs to wake up owners in cases of sleepwalking, night terrors or sleep apnea ('sis what my baby does) He just really is the sweetest little staffy ever, and will be a little rock for someone in need.Once trained up, he and his new owner will complete a "public access test," and after successful completion, he will be an assistance dog under the Disability Discrimination Act and be with his person 24/7. A perfect outcome for this super-sook! I am super happy for him, and glad he is out of our house. He is absolutely lovely, but unfortunately my lil fella (less than a third of poor staffy's weight) and our cat (also less than 1/3 of staffy-pooch) made very clear that they do not want him as new member of the family and bullied him at every opportunity. To they point where they physically kept him out of the house, unless I guided him in and made sure the two monsters would not beat him up every time he tried to get in. But as I said, the best outcome I could have wished for. Thanks everyone who offered to help!!! Cheers! ((Edited cause the stupid iPad auto-correct doesn't even know "staffy" and messed it up in lots of different, wonderful ways))

Wow - assumption much? Unless you know for a fact the dog was sold to these people "sight unseen" how do you know they didn't previously live right next door to the breeder in Queensland and bought the dog then? I've sold dogs all over Australia and also to the USA, doesn't mean I don't want to know if any of mine are in trouble! Hope the breeders do the right thing and if not, hope he finds the home he deserves! Since the owner has been in Canberra since mid 20th century and has confirmed that he bought the pup "sight unseen" ... Nope. Not an assumption. :(Also, for a pedigree staffy, the dog is almost 10kg over the breed standard weight.I am not overly surprised to not have herd back from the breeder, quite honestly. As I said, I am biased, and I tend to be suspicious of all breeders until their action demonstrate that they are ethical and responsible.I personally think that is a very healthy scepticism, and is more people were as sceptic as i am, we'd have a lot less rescue pedigrees. I would never buy a computer solely relying on the shop assistant telling me that it's the best computer ever, so why would I trust a breeder to make any judgment call on what breed/dog suits me best?Considering that a computer gets replaced every few years anyway though, while a dog lives 1-2 decades.Sadly, most people put much more research and consideration into buying a computer though......

If you PM me your email addy, I can email you all the info I have. Just be aware that I am disinclined to let this dog go to anything less than an awesome home. :)

The old owner has not reacted to my attempts to get in touch with him so far - but it has only been 3 days. I talked to DAS, and there are ways and means to 'claim' ownership and get the microchip registration transferred to someone else without any involvement of the present owner (in cases where the owner is reluctant) This is all new to me - sorting through the process and the paperwork involved. :) Thanks! Will contact the breeder! :) Have to admit that I am biased against breeders, so I flatout assumed that someone who sells a puppy to someone thousands of kilometres away without having any idea what the puppy's home will be like is prolly not what I would consider a 'responsible breeder' But yes, no harm in asking. Thanks for reminding me that my assumptions might very well be wrong. :)

Spoke to the lady about the Staffy on Sunday but she unfortuntely did not send me the details via email as I asked. I hope the poor darling pooch gets something. Thanks guys! I sent a lengthy email this morning. Apologies for the delay, things have been really crazy! But my head hasn't exploded yet, so that is a good sign I reckon. :p Unfortunately, the breeder is up in QLD, so that isn't really an option. Also since the smootchie-pooch (OMG! He is impossible to not fall in love with!) is desexed and 4years old, I doubt that the breeder wants to pay for the dog being flown back to them. There is something on the horizon that, if it works out, would be fantastic. It would be great to have a Plan B (and maybe Plan C) though..... I absolutely cannot take him, not even foster him. Hubby and I have been discussing it for days, and there just is no way. Really sucks... *crank* .... I really would prefer to foster him myself to train him and monitor his progress. But given the choice between hubby and the smootchiest-pooch-ever, I'll stick with the husband. For the time being. And it has been a close call!

I have the table-beep ready to go as mp3 and m4r (iphone ring tone) - if anyone wants me to email one, the other, or both, shoot me a PM with your email addy. (sry, can't upload those filetypes here) Cheers! P.S.: I put 2 beepy sequences in the files - if you need more or less, let me know, can do that, too. :)

:rofl: That is a bit beyond this little black duck. Good point about the assistance dogs & reversing truck sounds. What's the bet my BC girl will firstly cock her head from one side to the other, ears pricked, then jump off & have a look underneath the table for the "birdie" :laugh: Pax...the beep has to be heard by the handler, so we know when to release the dog & for people who are "slightly" hearing impaired like me, can hear it. No worries. I can do that for you tomorrow and email the beepy-sound to you as mp3. Just PM me your email addy.If you have an iPhone, let me know, and I'll also attach the beep in apple ringtone format ( drag and drop the file into iTunes and sync to your phone)If you have an android phone..... sorry, I don't do androids, but maybe someone else could help you there once you have the mp3 file. :)

For all those that want to prepare for the nationals, but do not have a beepy-table: Extract the audio from the video linked above. Cut out the beepy sequence. Save as ringtone to your mobile. Put your mobile under a table. Ring that mobile when the dog is on the table. :)

I tried the table at the Canberra Easter trials as well. I also was confident there wouldn't be an issue. After all, Toto is fine with all sorts of really loud noises. Okay, he isn't enthusiastic about lifting-up-the-roof-loud dolby surround movies, or knocking-books-off-the-shelves loud music, but he just calmy removes himself from the immediate vicinity, or endures it cause he can't be bothered to go away during movies. :p The table, he completely freaked and ran to the other end of the paddock. hrmz. So I hung around the table and rewarded him heavily as others were using the table next to us, but he still would have moved away if he hadn't been on lead by then. The critical distance must be somewhere between 5 and 10m. Didn't really get to test is extensively, as people were getting annoyed with the beeping and asked me to stop (and I thought that was what the table was there for, but hey!) Someone pointed out to me at some stage that it sounds like a reversing truck - but even then it did not click for me. Discussing it with hubby in the evening he pointed out the obvious (yeah, I am a bit slow at time, really good that I have Toto! :p ): The table sounds like a REVERSING TRUCK! Toto is, first and foremost, my best friend. Then he is my assistance dog. And only after that, he is my dog-sports-buddy. So it is a really good thing that he alerts ditzy me to reversing trucks or any other hazards I might not be aware of. To me, that is much more important than beeping tables. I will not desensitise him to beepy tables. This means that I will have to check before entering a trial that there are non-beepy tables or that the judge is okay with turning the beep off for our run. If the beeping is mandatory at any stage, then we will have to stop agility (or discuss that bridge with the ANKC when we get to it) His alertness is an essential part of his assistance dog work, and I will absolutely not jeopardize that for beepy tables. :) Apart from that, it does not strike me as the best idea to train dogs to stand still when there is a reversing-truck-noise really close. I think a sound that sounds different to Australian reversing trucks would have been a much, much better choice. @gspx3: Just to be clear, I don't have an issue with noise-producing-tables in general, but with the particular sound that was chosen - as I said, reversing-truck-noise. Admittedly there is only a handful of people that trial accredited assistance dogs. But for this handful of people (and of course people who's dogs have to be savvy around trucks for professional reasons) the choice of reversing-truck sound seems to be a disadvantage. It kinda puts us on the spot to choose between agility competitions and assistance dog services. A choice that I think is.... unwise. If the dog freezes and drops when the microwave goes off - no biggie. A service dog doing that behind a reversing truck. Not cool at all. Just my 2 cents though.