Her Majesty Dogmad

I've told many people that unless their child is around 16 years old, they are too young to be in charge of the family pet, no matter how nice that dog is. I point out that there are many morons out there that let their dogs wander and what happens to the kid/dog if it gets attacked? I say, you can walk with your child and dog, but I'm not sending any dog to a home where the 6 yr old (or 7, 8, 12 yr old) is responsible for walking this dog. You'd be amazed at how many parents think this is OK.

Not a great way for a dog to spend 5 years, whatever the situation.

I'll always have two dogs! It's wonderful when they become friends. I had an only dog for a year before adding my second one. He was a terrible abuse case so I went to find a dog that hadn't been abused and she taught him everything. It did take 2 months before I came home one day and found them curled up together. They had a little spat in the first week, I've learned so much about dogs since then. All of that was perfectly normal. The best thing to do when you bring your new dog home is to get the first one on the lead as well and walk them up the road together first and then in the house together. It doesn't always go well if you just bring a new dog straight into the house, you are bringing them onto the other dog's territory without proper introduction. Some dogs would be fine with this but I have now fostered over 60 dogs and find it best to do the above. Don't give them bones together or leave them unsupervised with food. I feed mine separately. Some dogs will also dominate over toys, just be careful and observe/monitor these situations closely and all should be plain sailing. Good luck - he is absolutely gorgeous to look at!

Switch from Frontline as it doesn't work for fleas.

Haven't read the whole thread but it is actually illegal in NSW to have more than 4 dogs under your "control" anywhere. Probably the same in other states - please report this person. Although the attacks I generally hear about are bull type dogs, I heard about a "Retriever" that ran out of its house and killed a small dog recently. The children of the house let the dog out when this lady was walking past. Very sad indeed, the little dog was defenceless. I don't know if or what the owner tried but obviously it didn't work. One of my own small dogs was attacked without provocation by first a Border Collie x, he ran and 3 large dogs ran after him and he ended up in the mouth of a kelpie cross which I ran at screaming my lungs at, luckily he dropped my dog and he was a super smart foxy and ran for his life. I was very, very lucky that day. The 2 owners of the 3 dogs were completely useless and just "shut their eyes" they said. I rarely go to dog parks, you just cannot predict what will happen and it's very risky indeed. You really shouldn't have such a young puppy out, off lead, in a dog park. Too many risks.

She may be able to negotiate a payment plan with her vet, most vets can organise for people who just don't have the money.

Yes, and to make it worse, you get the idiots who buy male and female crossbreed puppies from the petshops and think they'll have a go at making some money. Easy, right? Not so easy if you are a clueless f---wit. The people I'm referring to couldn't cope and recently surrendered their 5 puppies to a rescue in Sydney. Puppies were dear little things but how do you describe them? They were crossed chis crossed with something crossed with a terrier .... words fail me. Puppy farms don't just breed from purebred dogs to make crossbreed designer dogs, they breed from anything to make money. I've got a crossbreed here that I rescued, most likely she's come from a puppy farm due to her behaviours. She's such a crossbreed that for once, I've no idea on even one breed that she is part of. What happens when you crossbreed and puppies come out funny looking and not really saleable????

Er... no. He is the president of PIAA after all. They have a policy on selling animals in pet stores and that is it's fine as long as the animals are in good health and well cared for. I'd be pretty peeved if I were that Banksia Park fellow. The spin on the segment certainly wasn't in his favour. Did anyone notice they showed his dogs while the animal rights lady was saying how cruel she thought it was and that they were all the same? So how should the Banksia Park fellow be shown? He was shown, in the middle of his puppy farm. Understand this - no puppy farms are good places. People that run them are morally bankrupt - what decent person makes money from the misery of dogs? Anyone with a shred of decency will see him for exactly what he is - you don't need Debra Tranter to explain - don't you see the cruelty? I've got an ex puppy farm dog here, probably dumped as she's 8 and started breeding dead or disabled pups. She's been bred from pretty continually, according to my vet. There are inherent behavioural problems with such dogs because of the conditions/situation they are kept in. Apart from the vile physical condition they are often in.

Jed - I think you must have missed some of the footage.

I wonder if Banksia Farm was where the very large "Oodle" I met on Sunday came from. He was purchased over the internet, sent up from Victoria. The family had good intentions, I'm sure but with two little toddlers, a giant, untrained Oodle (think Standard Poodle size) with only a deck to run around on and no walks, was a disaster. He was now handed over to the parents. He's so big that they don't allow him inside but he is at least walked every day. Poor, poor dog. He has a very sweet nature, I daresay he's lonely living outside. They are not sure if they want him in the long term, they had retirement plans. And so the Australian statistics emerge - 3 homes before aged 7 and that's when the average life of the Aussie dog stops, dead.

Hope a wide audience watched this documentary. Puppy farmers are lowlife, moral bankrupts for making money from the suffering of animals. People need to understand where their cute little designer fluff comes from. And as for Steve Austin - what a sell out, had his chance to condemn these disgusting practice and the petshop industry but hey, it's not that bad really!

Some of us have in rescue have known Brooke previously, not always a privilege on DOL - it's an internet forum, some of you are making assumptions too. If you have an unreliable and/or vicious dog, especially a large one, do you expose it to lots of children, yours and other people's that you are taking care of? Do you stress it out by bringing lots of different animals into the environment (not necessarily the same room)? I'm interested in sensible and ethical dog ownership and honesty. Hopefully this particular dog can go back to the breeder.

Thanks Powerlegs! By the way Brooke, did you find some local pounds you could rescue from, rather than bringing cats and dogs all the way down from Sydney? And of course, you wouldn't be wanting a protective breed with all those children, it just wouldn't be safe.

OK Brooke, I have a great and long memory ...

Yep, lock it down!

Brooke, what sort of dog have you decided on, following your recent post where you were looking for a more protective sort of dog? I've been searching but can't find that thread. I remember you were saying that your GSD didn't fit the bill there.

Well it is illegal to sell/rehome pitbulls in NSW. The pounds have to euthanase them. It is also illegal in Qld. I'd love to know which petstore sold the dog because that's illegal of course, mind you, the f---wits that operate them often don't even know what they are selling or maybe they do and they are untruthful because it's all about getting in as many dollars as they can, however it is done. I recently came across a purebred "chihuahua" puppy, purchased in a petshop in Hornsby for $900. It was a giant chihuahua puppy - actually a kelpie type breed ... Owners were clueless but they didn't want the puppy after 2 wks and of course discovered that petshops don't take them back or give refunds. Wherever this dog goes, I hope to God they've had her desexed.

Actually Brooke, whether they mix directly with your dog or not, they could be causing him further stress plus they are taking up your time. All these children, all the foster kids and then foster animals? How many foster animals do you have at the moment? They might be locked in your granny flat but your dog would be able to smell/hear them for sure. You will always have my concern.

Personally I don't think you've had Mya long enough to board her. In this case, I'd either suggest a good friend staying at your place or a vet nurse or something (and let dogs meet person beforehand).

What about all the dogs/cats you are constantly offering to foster Brooke? I can't see how or why you would do that if you are already in strife with your own dog. It is simply adding to his pressures.

Terrible. I read the full story, these people were ignorant of dog behaviour and had an undesexed female on heat as the offending (undesexed) dog as well as a third large dog. Potentially a recipe for disaster which unfortunately happened. They had warnings from the dog previously.

Call the council, you can legally trap cats on your property but I'm sure they'll be sympathetic and give you advice/assistance. It isn't the cats fault, it's the a---hole owner but you shouldn't have to deal with it.

Many calls I receive bear out the research that said Aussie dogs have had 3 owners and only live an average of 7 years. Very disturbing. Blacktown Pound needs to make immense changes, it's very outmoded in its thinking and backwards in its treatment of animals. Until it improves vastly, how can it preach to the morons that dump their dogs there? So much needs to be done but I'm glad it's finally in the media.

The trouble is, far too many people are irresponsible with large, powerful and potentially lethal dogs. Did anyone read the post about the 2 hunting dogs ripping a tiny pony apart? And those owners do not believe their dogs should be euthanased! WTF??? They need serious treatment themselves - where is the responsibility? Where is the empathy for the suffering of this innocent little creature, minding its own business in its own backyard or for its owners who will never truly recover from such horror??? There are stories day after day of such horrific attacks. I just cannot imagine if the dog had ripped the lady's arm off and almost severed the other, how it was stopped from killing her. That is amazing in itself. A truly terrible and haunting story. We are eventually going to get to the point of a very regulated society when finally the govt acts to try and prevent these occurrences, that could include not only breeds but size of dogs perhaps? Who knows where it will end eventually and all because of a---holes in our community.

Morons, making a buck from other morons ....