Her Majesty Dogmad

Oh no, I was hoping he'd manage to stay a bit longer. So very sorry for Tobias and for you all, he deserved so much more but I'm so glad he had his time with you. Hugs to you all.

I can't tell you about the owners like you that I have spoken to over the years who lost their dog whilst it was off lead. They'll tell me that the dog was trained, since it wsa a puppy, to walk off the lead and NEVER go across the road, even if it saw someone it knew blah blah. And then one day, the dog was aged 2, 5, 7 or 10 and it suddenly went across the road. It only has to happen once. Get yourself one of those waist bands with the clip for your dog's lead. Never walk the dog off the lead, ever.

Jack Russells are frequently barky type dogs but that doesn't excuse the woman ignoring the poo and then throwing the bag in the sea but yes, you'd have to catch her doing it. You are definitely in the wrong re the jogger, noone's psychic and when a dog is behaving as yours did, they are no doubt expecting to be bitten and quite rightly be a bit concerned. You need to keep your dog under control = if you see a jogger coming then put your dog on the lead. Lastly, report the dog that attacked in the park. Dog parks are dangerous, plenty of the behaviour you describe is annoying, irresponsible and unnecessary if there was proper control. It's why I don't go. Tried it again recently, lucky on the first occasion and then on the second my foster dog was upset by an over the top dog with a drongo owner ... I cannot stand how people stand gossiping and not paying attention, let alone take inappropriate dogs in the park. Just because a dog growls doesn't mean it deserves to get attacked - that is a total over reaction by the other dog - but basically, neither of those dogs should be in a park, both high risk in different ways.

Report the bybs to the council, that's the first responsible thing to do. As for being deceitful about the breed of puppy, I have nothing to say except I don't believe that is the right thing to do.

Yay Judy, thank God you got sweet Bonnie. She'll have such a loving and happy time with you and your beautiful dogs. She deserves so much more, wishing a giant pox on her former owners. Karma will come their way.

Gorgeous! Luki's one lucky boy, he's home for Christmas and always.

I've had 3 dogs with dementia (I foster/adopt oldies usually). A girl I adopted 2 years ago is now over 12 yrs of age. Suddenly, 2 weeks ago, she started acting differently. She's always been the first when she hears anything rattle in the kitchen. she's always been devoted to me and been right near me when I'm home. This has all changed. I start getting the snacks out the cupboard or preparing the dogs' dinner and she's nowhere to be found. I go looking (after calling her and getting no response) and she's sitting in my room just facing the wall. Generally she's to be found sitting or lying in odd places. She's been doing some other strange things and I'm 100% sure it's dementia. She's only just been to the vet for some other tests and results were fine. So sad and best to check with the vet, there may be something they can do about the incontinence. All the best.

Sorry to hear about your troubles. I had an Italian Greyhound for 10 yrs but for the first few months of ownership, it was hard because he had lots of symptoms and we went back and forth to the vet, different diets etc. Finally had the endoscopy and he was found to have a stomach full of blood. It was Inflammatory Bowel Disease. He wsa then on a special diet forever and couldn't have any meat protein. You just need to get it diagnosed. I went to a different vet back then but now go to the vet at Hornsby and am very happy with them. I've had the Pennant Hills vet recommended as well.

I'd say this is fairly typical JRT behaviour - I honestly feel that one JRT in any household is enough!! I've had some here (as fosters) and I currently have an ex foster who is a JRT cross. I find most of them quite a handful, I love them but they are a handful. They are often feisty/bossy/scrappy little dogs with little provocation and very excitable which can lead to trouble with other dogs as they are just too much at those times. Well, how I'd deal with it is avoid whatever causes the fights - no more treats when they are together for a start. As for the waking the dog up when he's sleeping, when the sleeping JRT snaps and carries on, I'd put him outside for 5 mins or in a crate. Then when he's calmed down, let him out. I did this with my female JRT cross and the chi that I've got - they soon learned to behave better. I don't know if it would fix it but it's worth a try.

Not only Min Pins! My food aggro dogs are my Iggy cross, my Westie cross and my Chi cross. My Keeshond cross is 15 kilos and she just barges the others out the way to get their food so she eats separately as well.

I feed my dogs separately. As I foster different dogs regularly, they are not usually allowed to eat amongst my own dogs. The exception is the current foster who is a sweet shih tzu who wouldn't harm a fly. I've got 3 food aggressive dogs and they all eat in differnt places. My toothless old dog who takes ages, goes in the bathroom. I NEVER leave any food whilst I'm out. Bones are too big a risk, if someone buried a bit and dug it up while I was out it could cause trouble. It's all about working out a routine and sticking to it. You could put Peanut in another room, not letting her out until everyone else is finished and every scrap of food is cleaned up. You simply never provide any opportunity for her food aggression to swing into action, particularly with different sized dogs.

Yes, as long as it doesn't have a high prey drive but it takes someone with experience to see that. Perhaps another chat to the breeder to make them aware.

I would not abandon this dog in her time of need by taking her to the pound. I would get a payment plan from the vet to desex her and then I'd go from there. Many dogs from a crap background improve with love and patience. Often they've had appalling owners. I speak from experience, having rescued many dogs and fostered over 100. My joy is in seeing them blossom and placing them very carefully, into just the right home. I'm also realistic - some cannot be rehabbed and then you either keep them (if you have the right home) or let them go. As an ordinary dog owner - I suggest (as others have) that you contact someone who knows what they are doing, like a rescue group. You could offer to foster her over the Christmas period which is really bad for us rescuers with too many dogs in the pounds and not enough foster carers due to Xmas holidays etc. There is a way but you have to have a heart to be bothered to find it!

I struggled when my poor little foxie from a most terrible background was diagnosed with a brain tumour. I had only had him for 18 months or so. He had some behavioural issues but I coped with them because I loved him. When he started suffering symptoms with his brain tumour, I held on for as long as I could. I cried so much because it was so unfair but in the end I had to let him go, once I felt it was too much. The difficulty was that he had some good days and some bad and the day I'd made the appointment, he was having a good day, all the way to the vet he was as happy as Larry. I nearly picked him up and ran out of the vets, I was in such turmoil and filled with guilt even though it was really my only course of action. It was so unfair, as in your case. It is much harder to let them go when they've had rotten lives. Hugs to you, it isn't fair but make his last weeks or months as happy as you can. He knows he is loved now, and that's what has made the difference.

My friend's German Shepherd aged 8 months actually killed her 10 yr old maltese, without any fight or incident of any kind. One day the Shepherd just grabbed the maltese and killed it. Just letting you know that it can happen. From reading your posts, I really don't think you have any knowledge and are entering into something that is a high risk situation for not only the maltese, but you and other people you may encounter. A badly trained maltese is one thing but a badly trained Germany Shepherd with an uninformed owner is quite something. SOmething to really worry about.

It is not good for dogs to live like this at all.

Ducklings or any other baby animals should not be given to children to look after as an experiment. I'm not Australian but have been here for 25 years now. I was horrified when my friends told me that during their school years, one of the school projects commonly undertaken was to look after a chick or duckling. Did my friends (who I know to be lovely people) raise these dependent little creatures to adulthood? No, most of them died, and probably not in a painless or quick way. Noone was apparently too concerned when this happened and I daresay the parents were probably relieved. I believe it is completely inappropriate to get school children to do this sort of thing, leaving a helpless little bird in the care of some kids is highly risky. It is especially inappropriate from the animal's point of view. In the UK we had animals at school but all contact with them was monitored by a teacher and they were fed/watered etc by a responsible adult. Needless to say, it was never nice to get to school and hear of a breakin and the torture/killing of these little innocents. It happened and was most likely teenage kids doing it.

Personally I would not have those two breeds together. If you have to then never leave them together unsupervised, not even for a minute, highly dangerous - for the maltese. I doubt very much that the maltese puppy actually bit you? There is a big difference between biting and nipping. ALL puppies nip and you'll find this out when you get a German Shepherd puppy. I really think you will be on a steep learning curve - have you ever had a puppy before? Have you ever had a large breed puppy or dog before?

Sad news Deb, RIP Jade, I'm sure he loved his life with your parents.

NO LIVE ANIMALS. Yes I'm shouting. Poo bags - the black ones, dog walking belts, coats, beds, good selection of food/treats/toys. I'd like to see a stand with information on purebred dogs and rescue dogs (any local shelters), information on local vets, kennels etc.

Why not try some Chinese Herbs, might help a dog with OCD - I've had one but I didn't know about the herbs at the time. They certainly helped my dementia dog who was very anxious and keeping me up all night, every night for months. He was fine within 2 days. The vet is in NSW but you can do phone consults with a vet and they consult with your own vet as well. It's the All Natural Vet at Russell Lea in Sydney. Google them, they have their own website.

If anyone wants my housetraining method, please pm me your email addresses.

please send me your email address and I'll send you my toilet training method.

My thoughts are definitely not. I know from talking to a Dachsy expert that they are definitely not OK to be kept outside as a way of life. Why doesn't she just wait until the end of the lease and move, it's all about finding the place that suits you in this case. You have to be able to live how you want to live. If she wants a dog to have inside then she finds somewhere else. I've moved 3 times in one year when I was renting, sometimes these things just happen.

I have 4 small and 1 medium dogs of my own and variable fosters on top of that. The youngest is around 9, the oldest is about 14. I do 2 or 3 walks each morning and need to be careful who I put with who because some are much slower than others. I feed dried biscuits plus raw or cooked turkey mince (sometimes chicken), tuna or sardines. I do also buy the meatballs that are prepacked. I also add veggies, cooked sweet potato or pumpkin or raw carrot or mixed frozen veggies and sometimes rice. They all sleep in my room but sometimes migrate to the loungeroom. My evil foster Chihuahua sleeps in a crate because she's unpredictable .... As for vet bills, they'll build a wing in my name ...