BarbedWire

Deleted because no-one is allowed to insult my dog.

Forgive me if I am being offensive but I have to say something. Poor dog wearing a collar like that. Do you realise he can't turn his head without great discomfort?

Thank you SG for your helpful reply. I am not only worried about the pup's welfare but I am also concerned for the mother. According to her temp notes she is about 9-12 months old so is only a pup herself. If the pup stays with her until it is 8 weeks old, then the poor mother will have spent 12 weeks confined at DAS. I am also worried about what will happen to her after she has fulfilled her 'motherhood duties' as she was available to 'rescue only'. Will she be put up for adoption or has she already been deemed unsuitable because of her dog aggression issues? (It is not that unusual for pregnant bitches to be aggressive to other dogs.) It would not be the first time a dog from DAS (It was at the RSPCA) has been kept alive until its pups no longer needed her and then she was pts. I personally followed that one up and when I questioned the RSPCA staff about her well-being asking to see her I was told by a smarmy woman in the front office that she was very ill which I understood to mean that she was no longer with us.

She first appeared on this forum as being in urgent need on Dec 12. It was also noted there that she was pregnant and was from the RSPCA. The DAS website says that she has been at the pound for 30 days, so she must have arrived there on Dec 5. I am wanting to know when the pregnancy was confirmed - at DAS or at the RSPCA and if it was confirmed at DAS why was she not sent back to the RSPCA? DAS pound dogs are kept in enclosues/yards which from memory are about 1-1.5 metres by 2-3 metres in size. This dog has been moved to Y1 which is bigger than the other yards possibly about 2 by 4 metres. It is not kind to confine a dog to yards this size for such a long period and it is certainly not a suitable place for a bitch and pup to be kept. I am concerned about this pup's welfare. Surely it deserves a better introduction to life in Canberra in 2016. Puppy farms are banned in Canberra but the conditions being offered for this pup at DAS must come close. Maybe I am overstating my case and I have not acknowledged that DAS does have volunteer dog walkers. It is still very disturbing.

Some doofus made some comment about "dogs go missing all the time - give him a break" and I said something to the tune of "this is about the 5th dog he's lost - counting Wags. Of Course wags died - so maybe we shouldn't count him as a run away" ... Strangely enough - my comment was deleted. This is why I so hate Facebook. You are not allowed to disagree and if you persist you are banned. DOL is much better. Personally I don't believe the dog went under 3 gates. Sounds like more lies to me. Some people don't know when they are lying. The truth is what they want it to be and they sincerely believe that.

She was at the pound for 4 weeks, almost half of the pregnancy.

I agree DDD. I thought that in Canberra the RSPCA took the pregnant ones because their kennels are more suitable but this dog came from the RSPCA. I may be wrong but I thought the RSPCA was given special funding to look after dogs in this type of situation.

Some photos. She looks badly done by. Poor girl

A dog at DAS pound in Canberra has just given birth to a single pup. I am quite disappointed even shocked that this has been allowed to happen. Firstly I thought our society was better than this. The motherhood process (which includes unborn pups and their mothers) is in some way sacred. Then I wonder if the mother had adequate prenatal care, especially diet. I wonder what sort of dietary care will now be provided for both mother and pup. Thirdly I worry about the environment for a pup who will be surrounded by anxious stressed out dogs at the pound who will be barking and howling and no doubt the mother will also be stressed. I also worry if the pup will receive adequate socialization and exposure to the outside environment. The post in the Urgent thread says that the mother will stay there 'until her motherhood duties are completed'. This may mean she won't be adopted or even rescued while she has the pup with her but I am not sure that it will mean that she stay at the pound. Perhaps I am just jumping to conclusions. http://www.dolforums.com.au/topic/265334-das-due-5-january-2016/page__pid__6777859__st__15#entry6777859 #20 I would be interested to know what others think about this. This dog has been at the pound for four weeks. I do realise that she was available to rescue only and I do understand that it was probably difficult for a rescue to take her on because she does not get along with other dogs.

Totally agree. It is NOT up to your Dad to 'make nice' to dogs when out walking. A walking stick (or pole from the adventure type stores) will give him some method of keeping a dog off him. Even pointing it at an approaching dog may make the dog (and its owners) back off. Sorry to disagree but pointing or lifting a stick at some dogs makes them feel threatened and, depending on temperament, aggressive, especially the guarding breeds which are bred not to show fear when challenged. I am also elderly and while not yet unsteady not far off. If I am out walking and I see a loose dog that bothers me I do a U-turn and get out of there as quickly and calmly as I can. If I can't escape I try to stand tall, stay calm, and turn side on with my arms folded. I have even gone into people's front gardens hopefully fenced and with a gate that I can shut behind me. People should keep their dogs on lead or in their yards. The irresponsibility of some owners totally ***es me off. ETA I have just seen on a Lost pet page someone thinking it a joke that her two dogs were out yet again. She says they are only wanting to play. One of them has a studded collar on. Why? Some dog owners are morons.

sorted thanks

The worst that has happened to me is the dog has slipped her collar at a critical moment but that is my fault. :) efs

Police cant charge a dog. Perhaps they're thinking he goaded his dog to attack, so used it as a weapon. Sorry I should have added to my post that whatever happened the poor woman does have an horrific injury and it must have been a traumatic experience.

Thanks for that MW. Interesting so many versions. The injury to her cheek looks like a slice and plastic surgeons do use many many stitches. It certainly has not been torn off as she claims. I can't believe that her dog just stood there while she was attacked. I wonder if it ran away. Some dogs would. So strange and the police have charged the man with assault not his dog.

What an interesting post MW. Thanks for sharing.

The book 'Inside of a Dog' by Alexandra Horowitz is a really interesting read and I recommend it. She says that dogs do not have self awareness so cannot feel guilt and do not know right from wrong. They live in the moment and have evolved to live with people so they are expert at reading body language and to make sure they behave in a way that will ensure they get cared for and survive. They can even smell our emotions. They put on the so called 'guilty look' - which is actually a look of appeasement - when they think their owners are displeased with them not because they think they have done wrong. I am quite concerned about the present craze of showing shamed dogs on Facebook and elsewhere (I have just seen a 2016 calendar devoted to the subject) because I believe it creates anxious dogs by scolding dogs for something the dog does not understand and can lead to separation anxiety, a serious behavioural problem. Whenever I come home, even if my house has been turned upside down and some of my favourite possessions (books) are in shreds I make a point of being calm - after all my anger will not return the book to its original condition - because scolding the dog will only confuse her. She has no idea why I am upset. I just resolve that next time I will leave her where she cannot get to my books.

Have you thought about a boxer? They're super friendly and cuddly but do act as a deterrent because of their appearance. Some people think they look aggressive. I don't know why. I have always thought boxers and dobermans were similar breeds.

Susan Hazel claims that dogs don't feel guilt and she quotes research that Alexandra Horowitz has done that seems to debunk or at least question the popular notion that dogs act guilty and the Internet craze of showing photos of dogs looking supposedly guilty because of some misdemeanour. http://www.sciencealert.com/dogs-may-look-ashamed-but-they-don-t-feel-guilt-experts-say?utm_source=Article&utm_medium=Website&utm_campaign=InArticleReadMore Quote from Horowitz's research: An interesting article and worth reading. Here is the link to Horowitz's research which was done in 2009 http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0376635709001004

brown ones must be slow :laugh:

That's a really good article Willem. Thanks for posting.

As I said in the other thread I have had at least two dogs for more than 20 years and I have never had a fight although all of my own have been desexed. I am careful to respect the pack leader and to make sure that the others do too. I feed them separately but while they all line up and wait I put the pack leader's bowl down first. I don't feed bones other than chicken wings because I don't want bones buried in my backyard. ATM I have two, a younger pup who is cheeky and who constantly wants the older dog to play chasey. When the older dog's not happy she will lift her lip or growl and I tell the pup to leave her alone. She is quite entitled to say that she doesn't want to play and the pup needs to learn to respect other dogs.

I was wondering if this colour has been labelled 'dun' by someone who is colour blind. My understanding is that there are a lot of men in the greyhound industry and 10% (?) of males are colour blind and it's usually a red/green issue. Just wondering if a red blind person initially labelled this colour dun. It's a beautiful colour and a beautiful dog BTW.

This is the colour dun http://colornames.facts.co/duncolorcode/duncolor.php

Agree with this. The dictionary definition of dun is a greyish brown. That greyhound in the first photo is not greyish brown. Maybe greyhound people need to rethink their colour descriptors. :) Why? We are not talking about horses. Greyhounds have been around for thousands of years along with the colour dun. Dun is a colour all by itself, (Nothing to do with horses) and the dictionary describes it as greyish brown. http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/dun

Agree with this. The dictionary definition of dun is a greyish brown. That greyhound in the first photo is not greyish brown. Maybe greyhound people need to rethink their colour descriptors. :)