Her Majesty Dogmad

Yes, in Sydney I believe there is a registered breeder doing this and I'd like to find out who they are. I recently had one of their purebred puppies surrendered to me, sold from a litter in a Chatswood petshop - purchased for $$$. Owner had for a couple of months and then got a job overseas .... Owner knew nothing about the breed either.

He's just been found safe and well but it could have been a tragedy. Having just seen his mum interviewed, it seems all this upset and drama was caused for want of a padlock on the gate. It's not the first time it has happened but I hope to God it will be the last.

Poor little chap and poor you, very sad news. You put so much in to him but it wasn't meant to be. Hugs to you.

kidney disease is not something to play around with. If it were me i would be consulting with the wonderful vets at All natural vet Russell lea.. they have been involved with the treatment of several of my dogs in conjunction with my local vet.. they are a union of saint with regard to animal care ( I may be a little biased but not much) Helen Yes, it's important to go asap - I was there just a day or two after getting the bad news from my local vet.

Feed in the morning and change the diet are my best suggestions. I have a toilet training method but it's so important for a dog to have easy access when they need to go ...

Thanks everyone, I've passed on all the suggestions to the new owner.

I rescued a little old dog in 2007 with kidney problems - my vet said she would have 2-3 weeks. i went to the All Natural vet at Russell Lea in Sydney and they reviewed the test results and prescribed Chinese herbs - she was already on the prescription diet. She blossomed over the next couple of months, her hair grew and all glossy and shiny and she put on a bit of weight. I had her for nearly a year before she got a stomach bug and I lost her in spite of antibiotics right away. I often wonder how much longer she could have gone on if it were not for the bug. She was a dear little soul. I wish you luck with your boy.

A dog that was adopted from us a few months ago and was a bit prone to signs of sep anxiety (we made full disclosure) has suddenly had his symptoms worsen considerably and has destroyed part of the inside of his owner's car, her blinds etc. He always has his brother for company and 2 other dogs but is more attached to the owner. I have had good results from Chinese herbs and I'm in Sydney - I wondered if anyone could recommend a vet in Melbourne who prescribes them?

I think they covered far too many angles for far too long without achieving much, sadly. Gay guys with their pets were pointless, as was the woman who got rid of her cats. Footage of the puppy farm rescue and the Geelong Shelter were good but there was simply not enough explanation of what was going on in the Geelong Shelter for people to get it. We all know as rescuers but the average person still doesn't. It would have been good for people to see the basket loads of kittens that the RSPCA has to euthanase - I saw it once, it was very shocking, what a harsh reality. i'd like to have seen some footage from the pounds and from rescue groups. So much to cover but this didn't do it well enough. Let's hope there'll be more TV coverage, more in depth on the topic.

Shame you are so far away - the RSPCA on the central coast of NSW has Silky chickens! Speaking of chickens, Denise from PAWS and I were trying to catch 2 loose ex-battery chickens on Sunday morning. A truck overturned on a major road a week ago and all but 8 chickens were recaptured. We had found 2 of them, 1 was turned into my vet so 7 are still missing. It isn't easy to catch them and we were so wary of them running onto the 6 lane road ... With a little help from passers by, we had the 2 of them safely crated and then we drove them to a friend's house where they are much more comfortable. They've been to the vet for a check up too ... waiting to hear results.

The guy at the LDH pretty much explained how they work because he had to smuggle the dog out to save it from euthanasia ... The Auschwitz of dog shelters ...

Jane you will love it, a must see. That twit puppy farmer Collin in VIC's son was on there spruking and avoided or side stepped any questions as he couldnt answer them other than the truth and reality of what large scale commercial breeding entails. I dont think we would have been able to be quiet :laugh: everyone was very well behaved, plenty squirmed in their seats though. I saw it, I was wondering about Juice watching it on the computer. I loved how Jacqueline Dalziell gave it good to the fat, greedy old fool spruiking petshops and crap about how dogs are impulse buys. He knows nothing at all, obviously. As for Mr Greedy Bast--d, the puppy farm man, I would have liked to wipe that smile off his face.

What was his name again? Greedy Bast---d??? Actually, if anyone's interested it was someone Ham of Banksia Puppy Farms ...

Could you watch it on the web? I would think so, you can watch so many of the programs on the web.

Jacqueline Dalziell - my hat is off to her, she's incredible. As for the fat old git from PIAA - what I have to tell you is unprintable except all of it is complete BULL---T. And for the greedy, principle-free OODLE breeder, God he made me feel physically sick. So unethical, using dogs for breeding machines, sending their puppies off to God knows who/where. A---hole.

I found this ad last week - what a shame that the older dog has had to endure the younger dog's behaviour for the last 9 yrs - read the ad and see what you think. I think the owner needs a good kick, why on earth would you allow this situation to continue? Obviously they take the dog out and it's an issue but have they learned anything from all of this? Obviously not. By the way, this is a large, strong breed of dog. We are looking for a home for our 9 yr male who is not desexed. He grew up with our two kids and plays well with our 7 month kitten. He is very healthy and has the strength and agility of a much younger dog. He needs to be the only dog in the home. When meeting dogs outside whilst on walks etc, he gets on well, sniffing and lots of tail wagging, but if other dog decides to get cranky, he will not run away and there can be trouble. Otherwise he socialises well. He lives with another Male BREED, xxx, who is 11 and becoming frail. xxx has been aggressively dominating placid xxx for years, but the last 12 months has seen this increase.

Well i've only been working with dogs for over 10 years, I have been to plenty of dog parks and seen plenty of problems in a shelter environment as well, have spoken with dog trainers, behaviouralists, owned many dogs myself and fostered over 100. No, I really wouldn't have a valuable opinion based on experience and research?

There was an attack in the local dog park only a fortnight ago - 2 undesexed GSPs had a go at a poor dog leaving the park. They shouldn't have bene in there in the first place ...

Entire dogs in the dog park is simply not appropriate! They might be OK but they will attract a lot of attention which can turn to fights. Any reason why you can't desex your dog? If he's a breed or show dog that is fine but he needs to stay away from dog park situations. Any dog that humps - if it is desexed, also shouldn't be in a dog park and if it is, it shouldn't be given the opportunity to hump or should be stopped immediately - you can normally tell when a dog is about to do this. Dog parks are dangerous, it's no wonder.

But PAWS take dogs all the time. My latest foster dog arrived today and he's not on the website yet, dogs come in ALL the time - Shih tzus included.

That sounds wonderful. When I rehome my dogs to elderly people I always say that I will definitely take them back and I mean it. So far it's only happened once but because the lady had dementia I was just lucky to find out as my beloved dog was booked in for euthanasia at her vet - he also knew that I would take my dog back but as he said to me (which chilled me to the core) they were his paying customers, not me, and if they paid him to euthanase the dog he would do it ... Luckily this prize a---hole has retired.

Have you checked Petrescue? Doggie Rescue don't list dogs on there and often have Shih tzus although not always in foster care. I am with PAWS and Shih tzus are the main breed, all the PAWS rescued dogs are in foster care. Website is: www.paws.com.au

Sometimes it is appropriate to match the right dog to the right age but one of the big issues is that quite often older people (I'm talking about 70+) want a puppy. What happens to that dog when the owner goes into a nursing home, retirement village or passes away? I recently rescued a Pom cross who was living on a tiny 5th floor balcony as an outside only dog .... He was matted, in need of a dental and unhappy of course. When I got the ownership papers through it seems he'd been purchased by a Pensioner (I know they may not have necessarily been old but this is the likely scenario) and at 8 yrs of age found himself in the RSPCA. He was picked up by his new owners who kept him outside, first at a house and then the unit where he didn't even have a bed. Poor dog. He came here and he was fully housetrained so he was probably loved by the person who had him for his first 8 yrs, very sad that he then had 3 hard years before I got him. He is now living with a work colleague who adores him, he's 11.5 and hopefully has quite a few good years left in him. Last week Iggy Rescue took on a 9 month old puppy surrendered to the pound. Turns out the dog's owners were in their 70s and got sick and they couldn't cope with this high energy and demanding breed. The breeder actually rang me and said they might want the dog back - I said it isn't going to happen and I would never place a puppy in a home with people of that age. I find it refreshing when an elderly person calls me and wants an older dog, I'm usually very happy to help.

There is another way to look at this - that your dog may just have been protecting you from what it saw as danger - a snake or somethign? I have long grass in some parts of my yard and most summers I sadly come home to find the odd Blue Tongue lizard killed by one of my dogs. It is the terriers that do it here, not the Maltese. I've even found one still alive and rushed it to the vet. I shed tears over every one and although i say "who did this?" in a horrified voice, I would never punish them for doing this in any way. As for "pinning" the dog down, really that doesn't work as a method of training. I removed a dog from someone who was cross that her new rescue dog wasn't housetrained and thought that by pinning the dog it would get the idea it was doing the wrong thing. The result was one very traumatised dog that took several months of good foster care to recover. I see the OP will see this as an attack - it isn't, it is simply advice from someone who has experience of the same ... :)

I'd contact the dog rescues that take oldies - Seniors & Silkies in Sydney or Little Legs in SA.