Her Majesty Dogmad

I've had a couple of enquiries from people in VIC looking for Whippets. I know there was the girl in Queanbeyan (white with brindle) and also a fawn female in Wagga. Can someone let me know if they still have those girls and a bit about their temperament?

Again I say, you need education. Try working in rescue and constantly getting calls from people who have made an impulse buy from a petshop and desperately want to get rid of their problem puppy? Sometimes they've only had it a week, sometimes a month or a few. The conditions for puppies in petshops are not ideal. Certain breeds, kept in that way will really have issues - Belgian Shepherds are not easy dogs at the best of times and are a large breed so imagine a large puppy in the small plastic box, it might be a basket case for whoever buys it. As for the Jap Spitz barking its brains out - they are a noisy breed so make it worse by denying the dog the attention it needs and see what happens? My rescue group just took on a Jap Spitz/Chi/Malt cross - yes that is what the petshop's microchip said. Where do you think that puppy came from ? Why were there so many breeds in the mix? WA is pretty remote, come to Sydney and I'll show you the petshop throwaways en masse. Maybe you'll have the same reaction of many people, shock and distress. Maybe you will continue to advocate petshops and the disbelief that puppy farms actually exist to churn out puppies for sale in petshops and on the internet. Don't suppose you happened to see the RSPCA TV show last night raiding a puppy farm? Maybe the animals were just well paid actors but I believed it. Call me gullible.

Obviously you haven't got a clue. Or you support pet shops, one or the other. Or perhaps both? Either way, you need educating.

Excellent. I'd also add that i would never risk a known escape artist with low fencing. This sad tale makes me really worry how wrong things can go when normal dog owners don't know enough to make suitable matches for their own dogs and sound decisions. Rescue groups SHOULD know better although last year i got a call from someone who'd gone to a rescue group and their little dog had avoided a staffy that the family wanted to adopt. They took the dog home, ignored all the growling the staffy was doing at the small dog whenever it came near and after a few days, the staffy nearly killed the small dog. Upon complaining to the rescue group, they got told to get some professional help. Never mind the fact their dog was half dead already, did they want the staffy to finish what it had started? That was a rescue gorup NOT doing it's job at all well.

Passed by PP on the weekend, ghastly. A Belgian Shepherd puppy for sale and also a Japanese Spitz barking it's brains out, both desperate for attention and company ... I hope its the beginning of the end ...

Yay Emma, great work!! Happy news.

Dog parks are bad news I'm afraid. If your dog has been attacked several times over then for goodness sake, stay away. I rarely go but my current foster likes to run around so I went at the weekend, one park was very crowded and I had second thoughts but there were dogs of all sizes so I went in. Within a few minutes my 11 kilo old dog was being monstered by two Pointers. as I unsuccessfully tried to pull one away from him someone came over and said "don't worry, they are ok they are just undesexed". No wonder they were almost knocking him over trying to inspect his private parts for bloody hours. Completely inappropriate behaviour and if he'd reacted, what might have happened? Stupid bloody owners, undesexed dogs have no place in dog parks, nor do aggressive dogs but yes, they all have owners who take them in regardless.

There needs to be a lot more control over dog ownership and breeding, no pet shops, no back yard breeding, no internet sales. No sales of dogs to homes with inadequate fencing. All owners should complete a course in animal ownership before getting a dog and then each puppy should go to training ... All owners need to understand the breed they have and what it is capable of. I'm living in a dream world of course. Deaths and maulings of children/people happen quite often in the UK. I would really love the know the statistics for people's pets being mauled or killed, i think that would be a huge and shocking statistic. Last week I read about a girl who committed suicide and her mother said one of the things she'd witnessed before committing the act, was the fatal mauling of her beloved dog. How horrific and obviously something she couldn't get past.

That poor little girl and all that witnessed it, can you imagine the fear and the agony of dying that way? Horrific. There needs to be a lot more control over dog ownership and breeding, no pet shops, no back yard breeding, no internet sales. No sales of dogs to homes with inadequate fencing. All owners should complete a course in animal ownership before getting a dog and then each puppy should go to training ... All owners need to understand the breed they have and what it is capable of. I'm living in a dream world of course. Deaths and maulings of children/people happen quite often in the UK. I would really love the know the statistics for people's pets being mauled or killed, i think that would be a huge and shocking statistic. Last week I read about a girl who committed suicide and her mother said one of the things she'd witnessed before committing the act, was the fatal mauling of her beloved dog. How horrific and obviously something she couldn't get past.

Funnily enough I just met two "Labradoodles" in the dog park. One was so huge that I thought it was a Golden Retriever/Poodle cross and the man informed me no it was a Lab crossed with a Standard Poodle and he'd been to the "breeder" so he knew. It was a lovely dog with a very poodle coat. The other one was more like a black lab and he'd adopted from Doggie Rescue a few years ago, I didn't agree with the Labradoodle assessment their vet had made, I could see eyebrows and chin hair and some tan markings which made me think of terrier, perhaps even a Wire Haired Pointer. Dog had some behaviours that weren't consistent with Labs or Poodles.

She probably has a national network though and a waiting list (like my rescue for Italian Greyhounds) so I'm sure she'll be able to help!

Actually Labradoodles are often a disappointment to their owners due to the coat - they don't all come out looking like a Poodle coat, some come out with more of a shedding Labby coat. They are also often hard to handle - this is according to the owners I've spoken to, maybe they were just clueless but they are busy dogs, probably if the Poodle traits are uppermost but Labs can also be boisterous. This mix also has a high rate of epilepsy.

Contact Jill at JRT Rescue - she is also OES Rescue although they are very rare!

I feed them a mixture of different foods, sometimes I have Hills or Eukanuba, sometimes it's Supercoat with sardines, turkey mince, rice, veggies and so on. I do talk to potential owners about healthy diets and the issues with canned food (wind, loose poops etc etc) and not many of the people applying for my dogs actually feed canned food. I definitely won't rehome an Italian Greyhound to that scenario as they have commonly have probelms with digestion even on the best of diets and I don't want them turfed outside - funny how some people don't equate diet to some of the problems they complain about ... My foster dogs live like my own dogs - many haven't been inside a house before, so they do get on the sofa. I draw the line at fosters sleeping on my bed because that may cause an issue for a perfectly good home that wants them to sleep elsewhere. I try and get my own foster carers to follow suit and explained why but quite honestly, they haven't. Most people with Italians do let them sleep on the bed so it hasn't been a major issue so far but with the other types of dogs I rescue, I crate them normally and if the new owner wants them to sleep on the bed then it's a bonus. As for training, I always housetrain and teach basics. I won't have dogs that aren't good with other dogs, I don't have the facilities but I also don't believe in rehoming dog aggro dogs either. I introduce foster dogs (carefully) to my neighbour's children - they actually ended up adopting one from me - and try and see if they are good with cats, in the car etc and write an honest profile. Any issues are highlighted before a person adopts the dog so they can decide if they want to deal with a certain behaviour ie barking at birds in the garden, having accidents inside during heavy rain. I have a very low rate of returns and stay in touch with new owners regularly during the trial periods. As for letting them go, I have shed a tear almost every time and sometimes wept copiously .... I love them all but I find them the home that suits them perfectly and that isn't always mine - you have to be honest with yourself there. A small few have been destined to stay.

Wow, she looks really different to the first photo, what beautiful markings. Quite clearly see the sighthound, maybe it is Greyhound and Staffy?

Oh no T, she sounds like a challenge .... i wasn't sure what she was from the photo - i'd like to see more pics of her when you have time, she seems to have a bit of a bully face with the sighthound shape ... I'm not sure who at the pound thought she was so young. I'm no expert on that sort of thing personally. Glad she's happy in the crate, sounds like she needs to chill. Keep us posted ...

Oh the joy of it when people miss your point. Just ignore the other assessments that have already deemed him dog aggressive and keep going until you find someone that agrees he isn't. 70 kilos is easy to handle, he won't be able to pull a sensible person over I'm sure.

My vet has asked if I can help poor old Pluto. He's 11 yrs old desexed and in good health. He's 16 kilos and quite "lanky". His owner has gone into a nursing home and the family can't take him. He's in boarding kennels until 5th August at this stage. He's good with other dogs, has met children OK, is not a fence jumper and is quite mellow. Couldn't find out if he's an inside or outside dog. The owner was very elderly and probably didn't walk him so we don't know about the lead behaviour. If anyone is interested, I'm happy to go to the kennels he's at this weekend and see if I can assess him further. I'm happy to offer housetraining help if needed. Next vacc is due in 2013.

You don't have to be. But the fact that you once knew a dog that looked like this dog that was dog aggressive, and Kelpies can pull you over doesn't really have anything to do with this dog. I "didn't once know" a dog that looked like this and was dog aggressive, I know the dog NOW. Not sure where you presumed it was a long time ago. Just to clarify, I saw the wounds that this particular dog caused to a very solid staffy. It dragged it's handler over to the innocent, nice natured dog walking by and then it was a hell of a job to get this monster off. Many, many stitches and much pain suffered by the solid staffy (weighing in around 25 kilos). A smaller dog would have probably died. My point about a kelpie being able to pull a person over (he wasn't dog aggressive by the way) is that you lose a moment's concentration with a determined dog and you can have a disaster. At the same shelter I also walked Dobermans, Rottweilers, Bull Terriers and other large, strong breeds and never got pulled over but you are right, you must have your wits about you. Should you choose to rescue, rehabilitate and rehome a dog like this, you will be looking for a most incredible owner in every way - right home, right attitude, right ability and so on. They aren't that easy to find.

Sorry I can't be positive about an enormously strong dog that is dog aggressive according to SAS's post above.

That is extremely concerning. I've been pulled over by a strong kelpie when working at the AWL and dragged some distance. With a dog this size, many people could end up in the same position and if he's trying to get to another dog, anything could happen. He looks very similar to another dog I've come across that is also extremely dog aggressive. You have to think if anyone takes this dog on that they could be liable in the future should they rehome him and something happens. You can pay someone's vet bills if their dog survives an attack by one so huge but how do you amend the psychological damage, especially if their dog doesn't survive which would be highly likely.

Yay T! Thanks for helping her ...

All done without even a pm - T you are amazing!!

She was pleased to be home and to be with her mum, dogs just know sometimes. RIP dear little Penny and hugs to you Esky.

There is a Poodle Rescue in NSW and they often have a waiting list, I've managed to get dogs rehomed at the pounds through that. Have you contacted Keetamouse as maybe Canberra Pooch Rescue can help?