Her Majesty Dogmad

How do they keep getting out?

Personally, I think it sounds like a high risk environment for the cats. I'm surprised that the breeder rehomed a JRT to you as they are known to kill cats, it's pretty common with the breed. Not only are they consummate hunters of small furry things, they have amazing tenacity and no fear - a lethal combination when up against something like a cat. I have a JRT cross, she looks sweet until she sees a cat and then you see the whole JRT behaviour come into play, far worse than my other dogs. You also sound like you have a lot of experience with different kinds of dogs. The Aussie Shepherd is not quite settled from what I'm understanding? I hope he does make it in his new home but you won't be able to have him back unless you can keep him in a dog run or something until you rehome him again. My thoughts would be that you need to sort that issue out first. Secondly you move to NZ and resettle and then see about getting another dog.

It was a couple of years ago and I had to ask for the stuff, it was on a bottom shelf on the righthand side of the store, I couldn't see it!

Poor soul doesn't know whether she's coming or going. The owner needs to change her routines and accommodate the dog properly or give her to someone that will. Dogs are not human, they are not children but like children, they are a 24/7 commitment and that's not what this dog is getting.

Asal - I think it is most definitely on the radar of those that operate the pounds and those that rescue from the pounds. Many are still oblivious. Much more publicity is needed as are programs that educate children so they don't follow in the footsteps of their parents if they have parents that don't regard animals as part of the family and something to be cared for during it's natural lifespan, including the animal and planning for holidays well in advance, vets bills and so on.

Buying a puppy from a pet shop supports a vile industry, full stop. Anyone that considers it OK to buy a dog from a petshop ignores or perhaps doesn't care about that. How that would be, I just don't understand, until society stands up and says that it isn't OK and actually supports it, then it will continue. My homecheck criteria is not "woolly" by any means. It is checking for anything unsafe for a dog. You'd be very surprised how many people declare their yards fully fenced, then you go and do a check and they aren't. Yes, anyone can dump a dog no matter where they got it from but making purchasing an animal as easy as swiping your credit card is not the answer. My rescue group had 5 direct surrenders of dogs purchased from petshops within the first 5 months of the year. Probably the ones we took from the pound mostly had the same origin or were from BYBs and purchased online. With the first 5 dogs from the petshops, all the owners admitted they were bought on a whim, they were not told anything about the type of dog they bought. The 5 were all from a local petshop, part of a chain. One person had the puppy for a couple of weeks and "got bored with it" so rehomed it to an elderly couple. They found it wasn't housetrained so put it outside, problem was they had no fencing so the dog kept getting picked up by the ranger so they gave it back to the original owner after the 3rd round of impounding. We've since had other surrendered petshop purchases but from different petshops. And this is just a drop in the ocean. TAKE THE TEMPTATION OF PETSHOP WINDOWS AWAY. I no longer want to witness people with kids asking for a dog and parents complying - I hear too many parents tell me that was the only reason why they bought the dog - to shut the kids up. Then the kids got bored with it ....

Well I think it might be prudent to do more housechecks than less, even for breeders. Just heard about a breeder who did a spot check after the puppy had been in the home a few months. I won't name the breed except to say it is a toy breed and the puppy was found chained in the backyard ... I have uncovered all sorts of issues during homechecks, mainly in the backyards. There have been sheer cliff drops (unfenced of course), yards full of Wandering Jew (the home owners had no idea about it), no fences, knee high fences, 101 things. Some people have fixed them up, sure they have and some couldn't give a flying f---. What the hell, there's plenty more where that came from.

Sending my housetraining method to everyone! Ozjen - can you please pm me with your email address as I'd like to discuss further?

If there is tension between the dogs, then that can cause a problem. If any of my dogs fought and there were wounds requiring stitches, somebody would be moving on as I find that completely unacceptable behaviour, it is also not nice to live in that environment - greyhounds are very sensitive.

There are other options available to assist, for instance, if you can't trust a dog not to pee everywhere in the night, buy a nice crate. Most dogs will not poop/pee in their beds, just make sure you give them every chance to go before bedtime and then first thing in the morning put them outside. You don't have to keep them in the crate forever but it is a good way to assist during training the dog to toilet outside. I normally put all my fsoter dogs in a crate at night, certainly for the few week or two until I can trust them and they've learned the doggie door etc.

SAS is right, the only dog I was unable to housetrain was a dog who had brain damage, try as I might.

Happened to a friend of mine who was housesitting in a strange house. I told her just keep going around the local streets and calling and the next night the dog suddenly appeared at the door. T his was in a built up area the dog didn't know, they are usually hiding somewhere. This was a very faithful dog who got scared during a storm when my friend was out, she cleared the fence and was gone.

Toilet training is frequently an issue. I've sent an email to all those who've requested it. posshutt - I wish you'd pm'd me when you started having a problem. I have some suggestions for you - has your backyard got Bindiis? Has there been a storm? Many dogs don't like wet weather so I put my naughty one on a lead and just go into the driveway - it can be wet and although he won't go in the garden, he still likes to mark his territory in the driveway or roadway area. I don't let him get away with not going when it's bedtime, it's important to make sure they've gone or you will have an accident. Always be patient, if they start acting up when you thought you'd succeeded with training there is usually a reason why. Start the method again, it's all about reward and praise and dogs happily respond.

Are you sure she can't be toilet trained? I've got a method that I've used for dogs from 1 - 16 yrs of age, some take a bit longer, I've had some abuse cases take 2 months. Let me know if you'd like me to email it to you. Females ARE harder than males, I'll say that though!

Hugs to you, 6 is so young, I'm so sorry.

Sending you a big hug, I'm so sad for you.

Hat off to Jacqueline Dalziel, great job. Should be compulsory viewing for the population, I'm constantly explaining to people why petshops are so bad. As for the Petshop's suggestion that this should be the only way to sell animals - don't make me vomit, it should be ILLEGAL, full stop.

I bought a greyhound muzzle and coat at Petbarn Alexandria (corner of McEvoy and ?? Street - opp Victoria's Basement), there's actually 2 of them within a couple of streets.

Dogmovers are fantastic, highly recommend them.

I've just remembered visiting a grooming salon on the northern beaches and seeing a pug and a foxie being shaved off! I had never seen this before and I asked what was going on, the groomer explained that the owners were very particular and didn't like shedding hair so had the dogs shaved. At the time I wondered why they didn't just have maltese type dogs but obviously they loved these particular dogs. Maybe other groomers have had to do the same and it might help your situation.

I had a very clean rescue dog, fully housetrained. I used to like to take my 2 dogs everywhere they were welcome but had to stop with her because she would wee in other people's houses, usually shortly after arrival .... not because she was desperate but because she was marking. As someone who rehomes rescue dogs, I do warn people that there may be an accident or two in the first couple of weeks or so - it's like us starting a new job, a dog needs a chance to settle and get oriented and I find it takes a couple of weeks. Sometimes, dogs get a bit distressed with changes in location/routine and have accidents or play up. Of course some dogs will be fine and won't but I think you have to give the dog some leeway here. Also, why do you have to tie her up at all? Aren't there any fences? I hate hearing about dogs being tied up.

What a magnificent boy, he sounds so very special. Thank you for loving him in spite of his disabilities, I know he would have appreciated it so much. I believe he certainly deserved it. I am a rescuer who believes in taking on the old and/or special cases and filling whatever time they have left with love and comfort but it hurts so very much that we can't have them with us for a lot longer. Hugs to you.

I have asthma (and 2 weeks ago had to call myself an ambulance and was diagnosed with pneumonia) and allergies. I also have shedding dogs inc foxies - they shed a lot of hair too. I haven't recently had tests to see if I'm allergic to their hair but previously I wasn't. I don't believe that their hair causes or worsens my conditions but it would be important for both you and your son to get tested. The only time I've had an asthmatic/allergic reaction to a pet is a friend's cat, everytime he comes near me I get a reaction. I've just had to have my asthma medication changed and dosage increased since my pneumonia which is apparently worse when you have asthma. I didn't really take it seriously before but have had a near death scare now so will not be so careless again - I waited hours to call the ambulance, far too long.

Have a look at the "Dog Breeds 101" Forum here. There should be lots of info for anyone interested in Pekes.

I recently offered to look after a friend's old silky, he's about 14. She goes away regularly and normally has a live in person. She had previously tried putting him with friends and they wouldn't have him in the house and he barked and barked which I'm not surprised at, poor little guy. I had him here for 3 days and it was a disaster, he's arthritic and blind and could not cope with my doggie door (he is used to one) and change of environment and ended up having lots of accidents but particularly during the night. So last weekend when she went away, I said I would look after him in his own home. He's so much happier in his own environment and I spent half an hour with him on Sat evening (she left Sat afternoon) and then again on Sunday morning as she was coming back Sunday lunchtime.