Selkie

Exactly. Before gene testing for purebreds, and back when a "crossbred" was either truely random, or was a product of a farmer's thoughful landrace breeding, this might have been true for dogs. In the current environment, I'm not sure that this applies.

I actually think that your email was enough to put any vet on the defensive. Medication errors happen, and I really don't think that that was the best way to deal with it.

Is there an increase, or is it media reporting? There are over 6 million dogs in this country, so even a very very rare event can look frequent if every dog bite is heavily reported on. If 1 or 2 people die of dog bites every year in this country, one extra can look like an outbreak. Compare this to over 1000 deaths per year from car accidents.

So true! The available dogs in our area are mostly bull breeds, with a few working dog crosses in there. There is the occasional "pet breed" dog, but those nearly always seem to have significant behavioural or health issues. These are dogs that are just not suitable for your average dog owner.

I agree with the comment regarding the autopsy. Vizulas are prone to bloat, which comes on suddenly, so it's entirely possible that this wasn't avoidable. If he really had eaten nothing for four days, then an earlier discussion would have been better, but I'm a bit suspicous that may have been just reduced appetite, which wouldn't be uncommon for a stressed dog. It may have had nothing to do with him later becoming sick - the dog had seen a vet and sent back to the traiing faciltiy between those four days and becoming seriously unwell, after all.

I think it is very possible that a trained pet rat might be comfortable with this. Rats are incredibly trainable, and rats raised in a house with a dog won't have the same fear of dogs that a wild rat would. Rats are also extremely - as in astoundingly - good at predicting and learning to avoid situations they percieve as dangerous - the fact that they happily go into the tube speaks volumes. Rats also NEED novelty and training for wellbeing. Done well, this could also fill the rats' needs as well as the dogs'. I do nose work with my dog, and there is a lot of parallel with this work. Using substrate would be teaching the dog the wrong thing. A dog can smell the difference between substrate and a live rat. You wouldn't want the dog to tell you where substrate is, you want the dog to tell you where the rat is.

There are many many people in that area who think $37,000 is nothing. It was also pretty clear from another article that this couple had been warned that the cost could blow out, and knew exactly what they were getting in for. The couple also even acknowledged that it wasn't much of a financial impact for them. I don't think the vet is "lucky" - the people who go to that particular vet go there because they want that sort of treatment. I personally know that I can't afford it, so wouldn't go to that particular vet.

Also, I don't think it's a lot of money for the couple in the article. SVES have a very particular market niche, and that's a wealthy clientele that wants to spend crazy money on their pet. It sounds lilke that couple also knew what they were getting themselves in for, and made that decision anyway. It's pretty appaling that they are playing this "poor us" game after the fact.

The statement at the end by the SVES is very telling. They provide "human-level" care. If you want that for your pet, then you need to pay for it. If you don't want that, go to a vet who offers normal vet care.

I don't think people appreciate how cheaply vets can accomplish things. The equvialent surgery for a human would probably be double that!

The owner sounds like an oik, but with most horses, he would have been very correct. That horse was under a great deal of stress, and was not able to run - many horses in this situation will resort to kicking, and when they do this, they can reach far further and far higher than people expect. Being killed by a kick to the head or chest is a definite possibility. NEVER approach a horse that you don't know from the rear; allow at leat two horse lengths. There are many horses that dislike dogs. They will deliberately chase a dog that gets into their paddock, and strike with their front legs. They are quite capable of killing a dog this way. The obedience and training of that poor horse is just astounding.

While not minimising the issues with this... I'd still rather this than the puppy farms, I think.

So tragic. I'm pretty appaled that they went so long without being checked on. Horses get themselves in all sorts of strife, and die pretty quickly if they get stuck on the ground or can't lower their heads.

That last photo - she does look so much happier. How is she going? I'm invested now!

A bit of both. The owner completely ignoring the dog-agressive cattle dog is clearly in the wrong. On the other hand, regularly walking an on-lead dog through an off-lead area is a bit of a PITA thing to do. Yes, my off-lead dog is under my control, but there are so few areas that allow dogs off lead, and I take my dog to these areas so that she can have some freedom. The minute you bring your on-lead dog into the area, I'm having to bring her under close control again, because she's suddenly focused on running up to your dog. I've probably had to drive quite a way to access a park that allows my dog to run around under her own steam, and by bringing your on lead dog into the area, you have ruined that for her.

Well, he doesn't look super happy about having a bath, but they rarely do. He doesn't appear to be hugely worried, either. I don't really think he's going to care or even notice the colour change.

You have summed this up very nicely!

I would have thought English Shorthair Pointer, or Bull Arab with very high proportion of pointer. The English pointers can look a little more like the Bull Arabs:

I think people want cavoodles so much because they have the charactersitics that many people are looking for in a pet. Biddable, not too high a prey drive, often a lot of puppy characteristics to behaviour. I think people want the cav temperament, but are very understandably put off by the health issues, and as much as it is frowned upon here, if you really want the cav, I do think that outcrossing is a reasonable way to start addressing this. People who aren't dog people want a fluffy, affectionate, inoffensive companion whose needs are easy to meet in the suburban environment. I would personally love a poodle, but I think they are way too clever, intense and sensitive for most people.

It's interesting that it still seems to be the same breeds. Bull types, working dogs, some large purebreds and the odd terrier. Why do people insist on overbreeding bull types?

Well, this is how new breeds emerge. There is a high demand for very stable dogs with a poodle-like coat that don't have the high interaction needs that a lot of poodles have. A lot of the poodle-coated breeds already in existence (ie, lagotto, portugese water dogs) are working dogs, with working dog needs. The average joe does not want a working dog. If you can consistently get a poodle coat in poodles, you will be able to get a consistent coat in Cobberdogs, if you selectively breed for it for long enough. I'd compare it to the unfilled niche for personal protection that led to the development of the Dobermann, or the unfilled niche for tough working dogs that would thrive in Australian conditions that led to the development of the kelpie and ACD.

Aw - such a handsome boy!

Shame on you for posting this without pictures

Well, we know that some dogs (usually border collies) can have receptive vocabularies of thousands of words, and this is very easy to prove, at least for names of objects. You can certainly debate about exactly how much Bunny understands what she is trying to convey, but I don't think that it's surprising that a dog would use these buttons to communicate basic ideas and needs with humans. They do that without buttons, usually with body language. Mine can tell me when she wants to go outside, go to bed, or go for a walk, just through gaze and body position.

Well, yes, but on the other hand, with science, it is important to test assumptions. Sometimes things that seem obvious don't actually end up being true. Also, if you know exactly what the genetic differences are between dogs and dingoes, that will help us in preserving real dingoes, rather than wild dog crosses.