Her Majesty Dogmad

Is she staying long?

Although she's only young, has she had a vet check of her mouth? I've only ever had dogs refuse to eat kibble when they've got a dental issue or have come from a home where they lived on My Dog or similar.

I'm presuming you are just giving her bowls of dried food only for dinner? This is pretty bland, even if you change brands. A really good brand that most dogs enjoy is Royal Canin but to that I'd recommend you add something to moisten it such as: Tuna (in spring water) Turkey mince (cooked) Veggies - carrot (cooked or raw), peas, beans, broccoli I try and make any dried food a bit moist and therefore a bit more interesting and palatable.

Update - Chloe has gone on trial in a new home, her new owner was viewing a few potential PAWS dogs and immediately liked Chloe. I've rehomed her with full disclosure, she does need more practice out on the lead as she finds the world a bit confronting but has improved in the last couple of weeks that I've been working with her, I'm sure with a little more continuation of that practice that she will come good. If not then I will welcome her back of course. It was funny to watch her yesterday, sometimes dogs seem to know what's going on, she seemed to know she was adopted and happily got into the new owner's car without turning back! I didn't feel as guilty as I normally do. I hope it's the start of a long and happy life - she has a canine boyfriend in her new home too. Fingers crossed!

Thank you Starkehre - I'm also very impressed by Seven! I don't think I've ever seen a Rottweiler herding, you are very talented and dedicated and giving Seven a wonderful and interesting life! Congratulations on being recognised for all your hard work to get to this stage.

Here's 2 dogs that I've rescued and kept - I'm proud of them because in spite of years of living in terrible situations (in different places) and being in very poor physical and mental shape, both dogs still have gentle and loving natures and have learned to trust again. I've cared for them and housetrained them both and love them dearly (Dougal is the tan terrier cross that probably came from a byb breeding situation and Gulliver is the little fluffy boy). Dougal came from a country pound. Gulliver came from Blacktown and was almost dead by the time he got to the PAWS vet. I named Gulliver, he's a very smart little fellow but due to previous abuse, it was 2 months before he stopped running for his life when I called his name.

A friend recommended sprinkling Bicarb of Soda onto the concrete (we both have courtyards as well as grass) and then putting white vinegar over it - it all bubbles up like a chemical reaction and then you clean as normal, ie with disinfectant. This successfully removes the smell - funnily enough I thought I could smell it myself this morning so will be doing this myself today.

In 2007 I rehomed a Jack Russell to an older retired lady in the next suburb, lovely home. I'd fostered him for a year before rehoming him. He never coped well with vet visits probably because he was a cruelty case. I always had him muzzled. I rang the new owner's vet to explain it all and also to say that if anything ever happened to the lady in the future, could they please keep my number on file and call me. I stayed in touch with the lady every now and then and spoke with her about 6 months before the following happened, 2 yrs later. She got dementia and her family were about to make an appointment to put my former foster dog to sleep so that they could place her in a nursing home. I'm not criticising that at all, she was experiencing a quick progression of the disease. She made a random call to the rescue group and they alerted me that something wasn't right. I couldn't reach her and managed to track down her rang her son who told me the whole story and that they'd already spoken to the vet who'd agree to put Herbie to sleep. I rang the vet and yes, he still had my number on his file but said to me "You aren't my customer, they are my customer and I do what my customer wants". The conversation continued and it was clear he couldn't care less about putting a healthy dog down. I retrieved Herbie who was in great health and he lived with me for another 18 months before I had to put him to sleep.

As a vet nurse and dog trainer I have saved many a dog by talking abut behaviour, offering training alternatives or surrender for rehoming. In this case the dog was euthanized and a complaint was made against me for making the client feel bad about her decision by talking about/offering these things. I just wondered how others would approach it. Appalling, very sorry you have had to go through this. I hope the customer doesn't get any more dogs or cats as they kill things too.

Two different kinds of dogs with different play styles. I often foster dogs and they sometimes show the behaviour you describe when they are on my lap and one of my dogs comes near. I immediately put them on the ground or in a crate and no attention. Next time they do it, I repeat putting them down on the ground or in a crate. Crates are good, you only need to put them in there for 5 minutes. They soon get the message. As for the Lab barking and carrying on when you play with Joey, the answer to that is perhaps not to do that in front of him. A behaviouralist could no doubt help if this is a long term prospect and you want to really know what is going on. There are likely to be things that you and/or your boyfriend are doing which might be unwittingly causing the tension.

And that's how wolves first started to become domesticated by cleaning up after babies of early man & keeping his camp clean of rubbish. Yes and in some parts of the world, dogs are still used in this way!

The vet can refuse but unless the owners are spoken to and are listening, then they will just go elsewhere - I know this happens. If you can talk sense to the owners then you'd hope to save the puppy. People do very stupid things - guinea pigs (I love them by the way) are naturally prey animals and many dogs would kill a guinea pig or rabbit out of instinct. I still haven't forgotten the tiny dog I wanted to save from Renbury but was told no, it was a dangerous dog with a destruction order on it because it had killed a guinea pig. Dog weighed about 3 kilos and was about 2 yrs old, I can't tell you the tears I shed for that dog that I only held in my arms for a few minutes. I'd hope that a vet would try and talk someone out of killing their dog - you have to look at who was responsible for giving the dog access - it would be the owners in one way or another. I'd offer to hold the dog for a few days until their emotions had calmed down. I really understand how this is - my first dog in Australia killed my beloved budgie and I couldn't bear the sight of him for a few days BUT it was entirely my fault. I thought about rehoming him but definitely not about euthanasing him, that would have been extremely unfair and short sighted, a decision made through emotion rather than rationality.

They'll also get into dirty nappies etc - totally revolting for us but natural for dogs.

Good fencing is a must, preferably with concrete all the way round as most JRTs are escape artists. Heather (rescued from Renbury at age 9), dug out 3 times in the first few weeks but she was only going next door to say hello on one occasion and on the other side the neighbour was trapping rats so she was going to retrieve the bodies into her yard - eeekkk. Got up one morning to find my Westie cross munching on a dead rat like it was an ice lolly - upright between two front paws!

At least Banjo has lived in a home and been trained already, so much is known about him too. He is good with other dogs which some standards aren't. Photos aren't great but he's a purebred so well worth considering - he's full of life and energy, these dogs are like it until the end.

Poor little April, RIP and hugs to you, she would have been a delightful character I'm sure.

What a magnificent boy, RIP Casper and hugs to you, it is so very hard when they've been with us for so long, it leaves a real hole in your life.

I've suggested weight categories because who hasn't had a dog in the small category that weighs 9 kilos and it's too big for someone? I also suggested coat types - shedding, low-shedding and non-shedding.

I think you need to have very well behaved and socialised dogs within dog parks. I must admit that I'm one of those people who thinks you should be able to go to a dog park without being harassed by other dogs (this is why I don't go because it isn't the reality) - that goes for my dogs AND me. My last experiences in 3 different parks were when 3 Labradors were bolting around the park and they nearly knocked me over, my body took several days to recover from the encounter, especially my knees which already have issue - owners not anywhere to be see. Then in a smaller park where 2 undesexed German Shorthaired Pointers accosted my small dog and I as soon as we entered - owners nowhere in sight, I just couldn't get them off him and ended up dragging him and me out the gate. The next day they actually attacked another dog in that same park. The third park I was just leaving with my dogs when someone came in with an enormous Mastiff type that saw us from one side of the park and raced towards us and didn't look friendly - I raced out the gate and only just made it. Could have been harmless but I didn't know that. Owner made no attempt to call the dog off. If dogs want to play with each other they will initiate play, no one should have other dogs jumping on them or their dogs. However, I also agree that with a sick dog that it probably isn't the best place to go. I can see both sides, accidents can happen and I wouldn't risk it.

Pretty normal JRT behaviour, they are not the dog for everyone and some of them need to be only dogs. I've got a JRT here and she's very feisty - got her at 9 yrs of age and now she's 12 and no different, they stay feisty till they drop. She's a real growler but I know she's harmless, I've had terriers for years and a few JRT types along the way. This one is a beautiful little dog but could very easily be misunderstood by the inexperienced owner. Jill from JRT Rescue is the real expert on here and does a great job taking on JRTs in need. So many people probably get them because they are small and therefore going to be easy but they discover that they are pretty challenging and subsequently dump them.

ANKC breeders are able to sell to PIAA pet shops - in most states Really! I don't think it is the case in SA . And what the hell sort of ANKC breeder would sell their puppies to a pet shop anyway? Not one I'd have much respect for I had a face to face altercation with the PIAA CEO about their stance on 'ethical puppy farms' Most puppies in most petshops ARE from puppy farms - full stop. Please NEVER buy puppies from petshops. I can't believe any self-respecting registered breeder would want their progeny rehomed by 16 yr olds who know nothing.

what a gorgeous little dog!

Foxies are fantastic dogs, full of fun and life but also loving. I prefer them to Jack Russells personally although I currently have a JRT, lost my old Foxie cross boy last year. I've owned/fostered/rescued a few, they've always been special characters. I'll probably always have this type of dog - super intelligent, just great little dogs - not for everyone though but that's like anything.

Very funny for them I'm sure. They'd no doubt have an entirely different perspective if they had wasted their time ... Morons.

If you start as a puppy then I think it would be fine. With an adult male dog, there is pretty much no hope and I've had countless undesexed male fosters through my home in 15 years - until I could get them to a vet I've attempted to housetrain them without success. I've rescued an entire male dog this year who was already housetrained to my surprise and my first ever dog in the UK was entire when we adopted him from the owner who'd had him since he was a puppy, he was also housetrained.