Leah82

pictures of a Berner in the snow are a must :) No snow for us for awhile, moving to WA next week

Firstly the bolded groups above are all one in the same. Secondly I'm really confused as to how you come to the following conclusion... You made some vague mention of BYBers "replacing" pound dogs because they are going to rescue?! You're kidding yourself if you think irresponsible and unregistered breeders have any knowledge of their dogs ending up in the pound to being with let alone have any idea if they go to rescue or are destroyed. Rescues are 3 steps away from the typical BYBer (BYBer > First Owner > Pound > Rescue) which means any link you try and make is tenuous at best. You'll actually find that as rescue's are providing another option when it comes to sourcing a pet that there are therefore less people looking for cheap BYB puppies

If you're looking for a sturdier kennel we'll be wanting to get rid of our's at the end of May it's not the best photo but essentially pine frame, marine ply on the sides, top and bottom and tin roof which sits over the top of the ply roof on an angle. Size wise it's about the size of a standard kmart bed, we've had up to 3 cocker spaniel sized dogs in there at once. it's looking a bit worn out these days but nothing a lick of paint can't fix

What do you want the petition to accomplish? how are you proposing to change the situation? Unless you have a viable solution to remedy the situation an online petition is only going to inflame the situation and encourage pounds to keep these dogs out of the spotlight and away from FB where they are much more likely to get PTS due to lack of exposure. If you want things to change then look at the list I posted earlier about how you can encourage rescues to get involved with individual cases or better yet maybe volunteer at a pound and get some hands on experience with ALL the issues pounds face everyday. It's easy to be a keyboard warrior, if only everyone that wanted things to change were actually prepared to do something about it (and by this I don't mean create an inflammatory petition) Your post is not at all helpful. I am asking about the wording of a petition not whether or not I should write one at all. My petition would go to the government. It would not be an online petition via Facebook because I don't have the IT skills for that, but maybe that is a good suggestion. Perhaps I could find someone who could set up one on Facebook. Your post is helpful after all. I asked you what you wanted the petition to accomplish and how you were proposing to make that happen. How is anyone supposed to help you write a petition without knowing those key things. Who is the target of your petition? One specific pound? All the pounds in NSW? What about the ones that are already fostering out pregnant dogs? Which government are you planning to sent it to? Local, state or federal? Which government employee will you be addressing it to? Thank you for your interest. I don't read your posts as friendly which makes me wary (hypervigilance possibly) so I will not be answering your questions. the rescue I work with has established relationships with lots of pounds in NSW and there are many individuals that through their attempts to better the system have threatened to derail these relationships. You're not the only one with cause to be wary.

What do you want the petition to accomplish? how are you proposing to change the situation? Unless you have a viable solution to remedy the situation an online petition is only going to inflame the situation and encourage pounds to keep these dogs out of the spotlight and away from FB where they are much more likely to get PTS due to lack of exposure. If you want things to change then look at the list I posted earlier about how you can encourage rescues to get involved with individual cases or better yet maybe volunteer at a pound and get some hands on experience with ALL the issues pounds face everyday. It's easy to be a keyboard warrior, if only everyone that wanted things to change were actually prepared to do something about it (and by this I don't mean create an inflammatory petition) Your post is not at all helpful. I am asking about the wording of a petition not whether or not I should write one at all. My petition would go to the government. It would not be an online petition via Facebook because I don't have the IT skills for that, but maybe that is a good suggestion. Perhaps I could find someone who could set up one on Facebook. Your post is helpful after all. I asked you what you wanted the petition to accomplish and how you were proposing to make that happen. How is anyone supposed to help you write a petition without knowing those key things. Who is the target of your petition? One specific pound? All the pounds in NSW? What about the ones that are already fostering out pregnant dogs? Which government are you planning to sent it to? Local, state or federal? Which government employee will you be addressing it to?

What do you want the petition to accomplish? how are you proposing to change the situation? Unless you have a viable solution to remedy the situation an online petition is only going to inflame the situation and encourage pounds to keep these dogs out of the spotlight and away from FB where they are much more likely to get PTS due to lack of exposure. If you want things to change then look at the list I posted earlier about how you can encourage rescues to get involved with individual cases or better yet maybe volunteer at a pound and get some hands on experience with ALL the issues pounds face everyday. It's easy to be a keyboard warrior, if only everyone that wanted things to change were actually prepared to do something about it (and by this I don't mean create an inflammatory petition)

yay photos! my cluckiness has been sated even if for a few moments. they are all looking nice and chubby :D

that boy is going to be bigger than his mumma in no time

OH has recently decided he wants the dogs to stay out of the kitchen, fair enough as Collie can be a bit of a hazard around hot items. Only problem is is he always waits until the dog has followed him into the kitchen before telling him to get out Finally getting around to teaching Sarah not to jump up, I don't usually have a problem with it (coz it means I can pat her without bending down) but her claws can really dig in if I'm wearing shorts :p Other than that ours don't have the best manners but they are 10 and 8 so old age pretty much means they don't get themselves into too much trouble

Another way to look at the maintenance aspect... Short haired dogs, maintain themselves through shedding which means your house is going to need more maintenance. Dog's whose hair continual grows are often low shedding because the hair is on a longer shed cycle, these breeds require brushing to remove dead hair (the regularity of this will depend on the hair length) and trips to the groomer. So based on that finding a dog that is both low shedding and low maintenance would be extremely rare, a lot of owners with long haired dogs can achieve this through regular trips to the groomers or the other option is to look at hairless varieties

haha, looks like the girls are thankful for the opportunity to stretch out a bit now that they're are not sharing a confined space with their boof head brother

congrats to you and Neko! How is the little mumma doing today? Can't wait for photos of the little ones

Sorry but if you find a dog that is continually roaming the streets take it in no one comes forward and wants it which unfortunately happens just ask the shelters then I say good on you for caring about that animal Just ask the shelters what? Shelters don't just hold animals and hope owners come searching, they make reasonable attempts to locate the owners and in this case the owner was very easy to locate and immediately arranged to pick up their dog. Yes it can be distressing to see a dog cowering in front of it's owner but I assume that there was no physical evidence of abuse so for all we know this is a guy with some old fashioned views of dog behavior with an escape artist dog, it doesn't mean he's not loved and wanted. My parents spent thousands trying to keep our dog growing up in our property and my brother and I spent more than 1 afternoon cycling around the neighborhood after school looking for him. He never experienced anything harsher than a stern 'go to your kennel' but he knew when he was 'in trouble'

A vet check sounds like a good idea, some vets do what's called Titre testing which checks the dog's current immunisation levels with a blood test so you don't over vaccinate unnecessarily although unfortunately this can sometimes be more expensive that just giving them a booster.

there are a few signs pointing to your dogs breeder being a backyard breeder or from a puppy farm in this instance, mainly the lack of chipping from the breeder, likelihood he didn't receive his puppy vaccinations and being advertised on gumtree. The puppy, if from an ANKC breeder should have also come with pedigree papers. Personally I don't think this hunt for your dog's breeder is going to turn anything up, most likely the traits that you love in Aki are typical of the breed so you are probably better off talking to registered breeders when you're in the position to add another dog to your family. On a side note what do the vaccination papers he was vaccinated for? Without any earlier records I'd be concerned he's under vaccinated

You could try contacting Dogs Victoria to see if there were any litters registered around that time. http://www.dogsvictoria.org.au/ContactUs.aspx Although if the microchipping was not done by the breeder then it's likely Aki didn't come from a registered breeder

And while the vet thinks sedation is unnecessary for the dog they should understand that it's not just about the dog in this case

Maybe a cloud collar for when she's not being supervised. Takes up a lot less room than a plastic e collar and doesn't restrict their visibility or movement http://www.kongcompany.com/products/for-dogs/grooming-and-recovery-collars/grooming-and-recovery-collars/cloud-collar/ Sarah's had a couple of surgeries over the last year, the cloud collar works great to stop them licking or chewing rear end injuries and we also have a comfy cone to protect the face when she had a lump on her eye lid removed.

I'd go with the wahl km-Ss as a minimum. It comes with a #10 blade which is what you need for ears, face and feet. Cocker spaniel hair can be very thick as well so something like a pro pet might be fine for a poodle x but would struggle on a cocker coat

My Cocker Spaniel does a thorough ear clean if anyone is interested. He regularly cleans Sarah's ears and I've never had the need to do them myself, he even treats his toy puppy dog Charlie He's especially skilled at this task as due to blindness he's able to use his overly heightened sense of smell to track down any speck of dirt, bacteria or wax For an extra fee he'll check your floor for microscopic crumbs

I'll admit I saw some at a show a couple of years ago and thought to myself "I didn't realise whippets were so small" :p thankfully Neko has educated me in the ways of the Italian Greyhound

Some of you know I help out a rescue called Rainy Day Rescue, a low turn over special needs rescue in Victoria. Well yesterday was a perfect example of what can be accomplished when rescues and pounds work together and at the end of the day it's actually nice not to be needed From Blacktown https://www.facebook.com/BlacktownAHF/posts/855091981270283 What happened behind the scenes... From RDR https://www.facebook.com/rainydayrescue/posts/1079916485393570:0

yeah I don't remember seeing any no swimming signs either, plenty of kids going for a dip and dogs swimming and drinking the lake water.

Wow scary stuff, thanks for the heads up. We were kayaking with the dogs on the lake a couple of weeks ago and Collie ended up in the water a couple of times Where did you find that notice about the testing?