Malakita

Why don't I have a spare $20K??? What a supremely awesome prize! I would want to be a lady. The other prize to spend time with George is awesome too!

That is pretty neat! Loved it.

He's trying so hard to keep impressing us tho, we tell him he doesn't have too, He will have a forever home with us :) That last sentence brought a tear to my eye. I love a beautiful and happy ever after. He is a handsome fella!

What wonderful news! What a relief!

I have no advice to offer but I just wanted to say my heart goes out to you. Don't be too hard on yourself, there has been so much great advice given here.

I am so sorry for your tragic loss. It was heartbreaking to read about your beautiful boy.

Hope Stan and Maddie are recovering beautifully. Absolutely horrific to read what happened to your doggies.

I think they do. My Mal loves looking/ seeing other Mals and Sibes. Like she recognises her 'own kind'.

What an awesome ever after for Zeus! Tremendous effort by all those involved. Zeus is a lucky boy :)

OMG!!!!! Now I am just plain horrified! What sort of person does that to a random person (you) who is just minding their business walking their dog??? I really hope you are ok and that the police has been hard on the other person. I am sorry you had to go through what you did! Absolutely terrifying!

Oh my gosh! How scary! Were you and your puppy ok? I felt scared for you after reading your post. Then felt more worried after reading Canetoad's post. And that article was an interesting read too.

We were walking through SouthBank (in Melb) a couple of weeks ago. An elderly lady who was sitting on a bench and whose first language wasn't English made a passing comment to us. We stopped as she said something to us we didn't catch because of her heavy accent. She told us to take our dogs away as she was scared of dogs. We were baffled. We were minding our business, the dogs werent anywhere near her and we were about to walk past her when she stopped us to basically tell us to keep moving along. Aside from that, we have had the minority give us a really wide berth. Some of which literally jump out the way. 95 % of the public are terrific.

Yes, Alpha bet is right about the breeder being under no obligation to supply the pedigree papers. In VIC, the breeders have up to 18 months to register the litter. We got our papers when our pup was 15 months, and our pup's litter brother never got desexed (as per contract) so the owners to this day, have no papers for him. VCAT will have a hearing, have a monetary order made out to the OP ( the applicant) if they decide in your favor. The people who haven't paid will also receive the order and that amount is payable straight away. If they don't pay, you can apply through the magistrates court. If they still don't pay, then you get the sheriff involved. Hope you and the other people reach a resolution.

The photos of the baby staffords eating is SO cute! The big group one is adorable! Ours gets fed frozen necks,frames etc. Ours won't really touch boney meat unless it is frozen. Fresh mince is fine. I do have one more question... Why wouldn't a breeder feed their puppies bones before they went to new homes? So they just grew up never eating necks, frames, flaps etc. That question is probably akin to how long is a piece of string. But please humor me.

Your replies have been great to read through! Love reading everyone's opinions. Do you think that if a puppy has never eaten raw meat or bones before they go to the new owner, they are less likely to know what to do with raw bones?

I am just wondering if most breeders start feeding puppies necks or wings or any other age/size appropriate bones before the puppies go to their new homes. Please feel free to add if your puppy had been introduced to bones before they came to you or maybe they hadn't even seen a bone prior. Mine hadn't seen a bone of any sort, and didn't know what to do with it. Still had to hold a chicken wing for a large breed puppy at 9 months old.

Deliberate animal cruelty beggars belief! Your poor friend, and her poor dogs. Hope she finds some answers.

When we are on the trains, we have had some people ask if the dogs bite as they are muzzled. We simply say these are metro train rules sometimes a little loudly so other people can also hear. We also have people pat them muzzled. Just use the trains confidently, but if one already knows that dogs have to be muzzled whilst on the trains, I would definitely muzzle. It is not worth the fine or the embrassment. Irrespective of the different views on muzzling on the trains, metro rules are specific and ignorance will be no excuse.

My two travel in the metro trains regularly. All dogs travelling on metro trains must be muzzled as per metro. But you do see a few unmuzzled dogs , train inspectors will use their discretion. Smaller dogs seem to get away with not wearing a muzzle. And we had had no negative feedback from other train users about our two. We also go to cafes regularly too without any issues.

The photo of your husband and Bella was really beautiful.

Have a beautiful day at the beach with Bella tomorrow. Thinking of you.

Your boy is handsome, I love his little 'lightning bolt' on his forehead. Your boy looks great, very loved and a good size from the photos. He might become heavier or maybe he won't. Maybe the sire was 52 kgs as he was big boned? We had another Akita, 4 years old and he was 40 kgs and narrower in build. Try not to get too focused on the weight side of things, unless it will really bother you long term. He really is a handsome boy. Have you spoken to your breeder?

We saw our first Akita at dog training. He was 7 months old and just about the size of a Great Dane. He looked incredibly tall for a puppy. In the next few months, we saw a few more Akitas ( various ages) but none had that puppy's height. Anyway, we joke around sometimes saying our boy is miniature as compared to that very first Akita, he seems smaller height wise. Our boy is very solidly built and fairly normal for his breed. What I am trying to say is that Akitas are different depending on their lines. Some are solid, some are taller and slimmer. Don 't be too hard on your boy. What has your breeder said? Was it hard choosing a kennel name for yourself? Oh don 't forget to post a photo so we can see your boy.

RIP little babes. Those boys should be incredibly proud of themselves! So brave and selfless!

Really beautiful photos. The second last photo of the dog surrounded by those gorgeous flowers was simply beautiful.