ActuallyAngela

I think GRV's chief exec puts it nicely when he says don't shoot the messenger. Being angry with Animals Australia or the RSPCA, or even the general public, for wanting standards and laws to be upheld isn't the problem, the problem lies with the people involved in these callous acts. I guess we could liken it to pit bull fighting - once accepted as a sport, and a lot of people have a general fear of the breed as a result. Rather than arguing that facts and footage about the dark side of the 'sport' should be hidden from public view, pit bull supporters tend to try to sway people to believing the problem is a human problem, rather than a dog problem and they vehemently oppose rather than excuse any cruelty committed by pit bull owners.

He had a bit of a relapse yesterday with a giant runny poo at the park. That was fun to clean up. I suspect other members of the household have been giving into the puppy dog eyes and sharing their food. I've picked up a couple of nice, solid ones this morning so fingers crossed that's all it was. I know he's definitely got issues with pig's ears as that's when he was at his worst when I was a naive new owner thinking pig's ears are good for his teeth and didn't put two and two together that they were the reason for his belly issues, but it seems there might be other things causing it as well. I'll give him a good week to see how he goes before introducing anything else. He's got his yearly checkup coming up in the next few months so if it's still an issue I'll bring it up there.

I have. And people walking greyhounds have been abused. On the RSPCA page. I think it will die down pretty quickly, people are understandably shocked and very upset by this. But we live in times of apathy and I have no doubt in a month or so things will die down and go back to normal. When I look at the attitudes that surround other breeds such as staffordshire bull terriers, they are still among the most popular breeds and most people are free to go about their daily lives in peace despite the horrible things that have been done with and to the breed. I've seen a few Facebook posts re-iterating how good these dogs are as family pets and that greyhounds are as much victims of the industry as the piglets, possums and I hope these go viral, too.

I've been following the RSPCA page pretty closely and am yet to see negative comments regarding greyhounds themselves. The anger seems to be directed at the right place - the people involved in this medieval practice. I only heard about this program because my friends who have greyhounds as pets asked people to sign the petitions. There's a lot of anger also directed toward the RSPCA, but as far as I can see they're only calling for the industry to be independently reviewed. Some people do believe things like horse racing, greyhound racing, etc have no place in a modern society - I am one of those people. I believe there should be ways to gradually outlaw these practices, as we've seen with dog fighting and other inhumane 'sports' but have them reviewed in the meantime.

Thanks so much for the responses everyone. Sorry I'm so late with my reply. Some of your dogs sound like they've been through some real rollercoasters, you poor things I've been very lucky that while he appears to have a bit of a sensitive tummy he looks and acts healthy and energetic, is a healthy weight, and has a beautiful shiny coat. It must be so stressful when they're so sensitive it affects their overall health. I'm considering myself lucky now! Anyway, Dave-o to answer your question regarding whether he eats other things such as grass...he is mostly (or half, I don't know) labrador and he literally chews up and eats anything, plant, food, funiture, pillows, garden beds. I often find bits of plastic from his toys in his poop. Fun times His worst phase was when he had pigs ears so I figured maybe pork, and while the violent diaorrhea stopped when I stopped giving him those, he never really had "normal" toilet habits. I never thought of chicken! Why didn't I think of chicken?! I think maybe because I like chicken so much I would hate to deny my beloved pooch his chicken! :laugh: Anyway, to update: about a week ago after reading this thread and a few responses from you who have had luck with Sea kibbles, I was at the supermarket and happened to see purina supercoat something-or-other fishy kibble for sensitive dogs. He's been on it for a few days noe and I think this might be ok!!!! His poos seem to be getting a bit more solid!!! After all of this time here's me buying what I thought was "premium" expensive kibble and it might turn out that a $16 bag of supermarket food is the answer!

My 12 month old mix-breed has had a bit of a sensitive tummy since I adopted him at ~4 months old. He's now 12 months old and still just as sensitive. I have had to cut out anything like pig's ears as it gives him the runs, and honestly his stools are very rarely properly solid. He was on Pro Plan puppy large and that was probably the closest to 'ok' we've had him, but still not fantastic. I'm currently trying him on Applaws grain-free sensitive formula and I have picked up many giant poos from the yard today and difficult to pick up as they are so soft, but not quite runny. His gas isn't very pleasant today, either. He was vet checked when he was at his worst, a few months ago when he had very watery, frequent diarrhoea. He was given some form of antibiotic for a few days and checked over and I was told nothing serious was up. Is there a foolproof kibble for dogs with sensitive tummies? Or am I going to have to ride this rollercoaster of trial and error for some time yet?

Thanks for the responses :) Just updating: he passed his level 2, although he wasn't fantastic. But none of the dogs seemed to be and they are all around the same ages so potentially having the same issues. One couldn't even sit the test at all. I'm actually relieved there is a bit of a break in formal training for a few weeks so I can try to get my head around these new behaviours, I managed to get him to learn a new trick in time which is really positive. I'll soldier on with consistent training at home and then after his break return to his formal training sessions.

My previous star of the show is beginning to get more and more distracted with training, especially at our weekly formal training. He's supposed to graduate his level 2 training next week. We had a practice yesterday and there is no way he'd have passed. Sniffing around, ignoring me, jumping on everyone, crawling all over the place. He's 8 months old in a couple of days and the trainer mentioned 'adolescence'. This morning he's destroyed his outside bed and pulled up a stack of weed netting and dug holes - I suspect not necessarily due to boredom because he sleeps inside and is allowed to spend most of the day inside with us if he pleases. He's walked daily, big walks and often lots of running. He's a crossbreed with labrador in him which would explain the mass destruction we've discovered outside! Basically, how do you survive this phase and pass training? Lol. We're pretty consistent with his training at home and he does well when out and about with his recalls but I can see he's slowly starting to ignore commands and doing whatever he pleases.

I just thought I'd mention be wary of these especially if you live in an older house. I had to have a plumber out yesterday as a result of "flushable" kitty litter. My house is 100 odd years old and the plumber mentioned every time he sees an advertisement for something "flushable" he sees $$$ as they're often not as flushable as they should be. That goes for flushable wipes, kitty litter, and no doubt these bags. He said some people *may* get away with them in a brand new house with brand new pipes but it's always a gamble. I try to be as responsible as possible so I use degradable bags at home (literally the ones you put in compost and they've disappeared by the end of the week) but in public I just use the cheap black ones from the shops :)

My family's poodle was put down at age 16. We fed him cheap supermarket dog food, he was never desexed, barely trained, but lived a long and happy life. I was a little girl when we got him and an adult when he passed away, and a year earlier I'd unknowingly gone into early labour and he was acting so weird and wouldn't leave me alone and got *really* upset if I moved or anybody tried to get him away from me. I'll never forget that crazy dog.

One more thing! His willingness to please. ...and his froggy legs he brings out every time he lays.

I love my dog's company. He's just always pleasant to have around (unless he's farted). He's such good company he motivates me to get off my behind and go for big runs along the oval, footpath, and beach.

I'd never sleep again if mine was in the bed I don't call him Dora the Snorer for nothing. He's allowed on the bed in the mornings, but preferably on washing day. He's often filthy! The self-cleaning cat 1/5 of the dog's size is difficult enough to sleep with :laugh:

As for dogs that make people nervous in general I guess I would have to apply the same principles I do scary people (living in my area you want to be on alert lol). Avoid eye contact and leave the area as calmly as possible.

I'm very new to having a dog of my own, and this forum, I am not very good at reading other people's dog language but I wouldn't think anything of someone sitting in a vet waiting room with their dog loosely on a leash. I think I would be more nervous if someone saw me and grabbed their dog's collar, watched it intently, left the room, generally looked stressed. When I see nervous owners that's when I get anxiousl I now have a big black dog and people already no doubt have all sorts of ideas about him in their minds. If he sees children I will hold his harness pretty tight because I know he would try to lick them and play with them, but I do sit in vet waiting rooms and leave him be. I don't think it's people being rude, just knowing their own dog's capabilities and trying not to stress about other people's reactions. I'm trying to teach my pup to not stress around others, so to do that, I have to lead by example.

I couldn't convince him to go to his own bed tonight. He was soooo tired I couldn't get him out of ours. I will admit...there was bribery involved!

Me too! Unfortunately they have a hole in them already, he's not a fan of dressups. The other ones with the legs I made, but stupidly didn't allow room to grow. So they lasted about a week!

7 months old yesterday