Sheridan

As for my second question, since you don't seem to understand it: were the horses reported to the RSPCA and for what reason?

What's this supposed to mean? Did she get it in writing that they would be found homes and why were the RSPCA after this lady in the first place?

Is a portugese water dog too big?

Bobby's looking great. Pleased to see you back on DOL, too.

If your main reason for wanting a wheaten is because they're non-shedding then my suggestion is to also look at other breeds as well. I'm not just saying this because of the coat. Given what you've described lifestyle wise, a terrier may not be the dog for you. Look at the lagotto and some of the other non-terrier non-shedding breeds. Wheatens are beautiful, perfect dogs but their terrier instincts are strong.

ANKC Conformation Shows have no real meaning to ASD and CAS. It says zero about the dog other than it was amenable enough and of extroverted temperament to compete in all breeds. The day the ASD and CAS breeder ads read like the Tibetan mastiff ie all based on show results which show zero about traditional working temperament which is the basis of utilitarian breeds, is a day of regression for my breeds. Not happy Troy. NB: No offence to showies or breeds whereby show results are the cornerstone of their breed evaluation. But ANKC Show awards have historically had very little correlation to what is assessed as breeding stock or necessary in the ASD and CAS. And nor will it benefit ASD and CAS for this to change. I think it's sad that showing has become the cornerstone of breed evaluation in some breeds.

24 hours later, Lily is almost back to normal. She's a tough old chook :) Bless!

Well, exactly. In one of my breeds there is a new (last year) test and breeders can say they've tested their dog but the important bit is what did the test say and if it said a particular thing, what is the breeder doing about it for the other dog in the mating.

Are you going to pledge $100 each week? Vet costs for an oldie are not a once off. I took Mini to the vet this week and checked my account. Five months after he died, I have only just paid off Grumpy's vet bill.

This is all very head scratching. If nothing else, the RSPCA has a public relations disaster looming over this.

Every lagotto I have met has been weak nerved and reactive - and predictably so. Are they supposed to be? The ones I know of are not but I've only met a few in person.

If you're referring to DOL then perhaps you haven't realised that DOL is not an organisation but a private busines.

As you know, Oliblu, I have the most perfectist blue girl ever in the whole history of blue girls.

If someone is going to stick a dog in a run so it won't get at chooks and rabbits, my advice is don't get the dog.

I know a few people who have gone from a wheaten to a lagotto and have been very happy. In terms of coat, honestly and to be blunt, one of the wheaten prizes is the coat and I don't understand why people get one and then chop all the coat off. Regarding testing, there are certain tests that should have been done before breeding and after and I can take you through those. Even so, there are certain dogs that if present in a pedigree, I would never get a puppy from a breeding, (a) no matter what a test said and (b) no matter what the breeder said in reassurance. I've had a wheaten die of protein losing nephropathy and I will do my best to avoid certain dogs. Life span is generally 12-14. My Grumpy died a month before his 17th birthday. Most wheatens die of cars. Tip: never ever off a lead. You said you like the look of a real dog: here's a description of the wheaten terrier. Firstly, they're really happy dogs. It even says they have to have a sense of humour in the standard (kind of) and they do. They're supposed to be less terrier-y than other similar terriers and although less fiery than say, kerry blues, you certainly know where you stand with them. They need to be socialised just like any other dog and they need a firm hand. They respond very well to positive training methods so if you have a hankering for a check chain, e-collar or prong collar, forget it. They're stubborn and independent and they remain puppies to the end. I get asked, when will they calm down. Well, they funsters, so they like to play a lot. They have a particular fondness for socks and cardboard. The thing I probably most often said to Grumpy was, 'What do you think you're doing?' Often I was late to work because Grumpy decided that he just wasn't going to get up until he was good and ready. As I said in my previous post, Grumpy never did a thing he didn't think was his idea. They are similar height wise to kerry blues. I see Oliblu is in the thread and she may want to chime in on kerries in contrast with the wheaten. Chickens and small animals ... not something I would honestly recommend. Grumpy loved chickens. They were his favourite food. He liked rabbits, too. Wheatens do have to co-exist with animals, they were farm dogs in Ireland but you have to remember they're also vermin killers.

I'll reply properly tomorrow as I'm on my iPhone right now. I've been involved with wheatens since 1999. Best breed ever (aside from kerry blues, which I also have). Headstrong, yes, they're terriers. Some are more biddable than others. My first wheaten was more biddable than my most recent whom DOLers know as Grumpy but only because he was. He never did anything he didn't think was his idea. Grooming ... Think of it as time spent with your dog! Lots of time ... Price range. Last time anyone in the breed mentioned a price to me it was around $1700 but some will charge more, some will charge less. More important to me are the health tests done. More tomorrow. Let me know if you have specific questions cos I could talk about them for hours. :D

I've never seen it in my dogs but I have heard of it. Owners report it takes some time to recover from and it can happen again but usually the dog returns to normal, or at least as normal as it gets for a very elderly dog.

To what? It's somewhat difficult to legislate against stupidity.

There are two routes people can go down and both produce results, though these vary of course. There's the more flies with honey approach and there's the squeaky wheel approach. Moorook seem to have chosen the squeaky wheel approach.

If I can stop laughing long enough. This is certainly realistic "We had thought of making memberships of breed clubs for certain breeds mandatory but that would not work and would be unfair. Due the politics in some clubs, many good breeders choose not to be involved with them." Not every breed has a club and there are some breeds I think that would be better off without them. As I said elsewhere, there are great breeders who don't show and there are shite breeders who do.

It may depend on the state/local council. I've never had a vet refuse to take a dog and contact the owner, though I understand in Victoria vets are now obliged to take the dog to the local pound. I did once have someone from Canberra Connect tell me to let a dog go if I didn't want to take the dog to the pound (which was closed), which I fairly well blasted them for but these are call centre people.

What I found peculiar is that in the FB post I saw, they got the number plate & a partial plate of the other one, the police came, yet are asking people to look out for the car.

That doesn't even make sense.

The letter posted (wherever it is in archives around here) the minister gave the reason the rspca saidwhy the dog was seized , the owner of the dog was adamant the rspca reason for seizing the dog was not known, by either the rspca person who took it, or whoever answered the phone when the dogs vet called and asked why was it seized? The owner queried how can the rspca act before an event occured? It was a long time ago I read this. 1. the reply from the Minister said the dog was seized because according to the RSPCA the dogs vet did not have any records saying the dog was healty or did not need treatment. 2. The vet did not ring the rspca until AFTER the dog was seized and admitted he did not know he needed to have such information on file. So the rspca gave the minister as the reason for seizure being information acquired AFTER the dog was seized as the reason for seizing it? Who wouldnt be confused? or forget that thread If a dog doesn't need to be taken to a vet because it doesn't need veterinary treatment and is titre tested, why would the vet have any records at all on the state of its health?

A lot of the time they have no control over what ads get played. They sell the ad space and "relevant" ads get shown. Although you'd think someone with some common sense would say "uh, maybe selling dogs in the classifieds on a pet rescue site isn't do good as it looks like we are advocating the buying and selling of dogs through classifieds?" I think if you have the Google ads you can adjust them to prevent certain types of ads appearing.