Christina

The owner is not going to go looking for them are they ? Because they have moved out & dumped/ left them behind. So as they are not being stolen from the owner what is unethical here ? Depriving the pound/RSPCA of destroying them ? Its not like they have taken in 2 cats from the street that may be someones beloved pets & the owners are looking for them. The cats will be destroyed & the owners will not be prosecuted. I don't think the law here in SA is that you must hand them in if you know for sure they are abandoned as in these situations. They would be glad that you are keeping them. At this time of the year the relevant places that take them are more like slaughter houses than rescue. I have had kittens thrown over my fence. Microchipped, desexed, vaccinated them & found homes for them. I doubt the people who did this would be charging me with theft & I do not feel I am a thief or have acted unethically.

I have had 2 singleton pup litters & 4 singleton cat litters. 1 cat was ceasarian the rest no problem. Births were normal. Personality & temperament of babies was better. They developed quicker. They got so much attention especially when mums got bored & didn't want to stay with them as much. I did tend to cart them around the house with me. They didn't like being on their own & I am soft. Guess it depends on the mum re the labour & care of but I didn't find it a big deal. I did wean them asap & they were very willing. My breed is a toy breed. I think its normal to go over a little as they don't have the other pups to jog things along & hormone levels may be lower, not sure on that. I wouldn't rush for a ceasarian if pup is not born on day 63.

Happened here too 1) You can either call council/Rspca. The cats will be PTS. Nice, friendly cats will be in line before them & few homes are found for cats. 2) You can try a private rescue but most are inundated at this time of year. 3) You can try taming the cats then desexing, vaccinating & microchipping at your own expense & then see if you can find a home for them. I wouldn't be worried about legalities. No one is going to prosecute you for helping these cats. No one cares enough to want you to submit strays that you know are abandoned or wants to deal with the problems of prosecution. They would just be put down. End of story. I picked up a kitten that had been left like this. My daughter has him & has had 14 years of love & companionship from him. So glad I brought him home :)

Now we can all start to worry. I don't understand how the swab can be contaminated at collection ? The swab is taken from the dog & put into a sealed bag. How can another dogs DNA be in there or on it ?

Sometimes it is so hard & heartbreaking but sometimes it is so much fun & so wonderful. You will feel better after a good sleep.

Not the best however if it has to be my biggest objection would be to them calling the class Crossbreed. Its Mongrel & should be named Mongrel Class Or just Pet Class. This at least should take out the element of people boasting that their pugoodle, mastilier, shitjug or some other ridiculous invented/guessed breed has won a prize as a breed at Crufts. 1st prize for Best Mongrel In Show doesn't sound as good somehow for sales I wonder how many pedigree entries they will lose when this happens ?

I wonder how many of the dogs used in this study were bred from 2 parents that were actually tested for HD & whose genetic health was looked into before they were bred ? If they were just BYB dogs then the study may be the same for many other breeds too. If they all had exactly the same cancers affecting the same organs I would be convinced but many animals get cancer desexed & entire, it is becoming more common. I have lost 2 dogs to cancer in the past, neither were desexed. Different breeds too. I think research needs to be much more thorough & studies involving several thousand dogs published not ones like this involving a very small percentage of the breed overall which may be inaccurate & are scaremongering.

You can feed him anything you want, being sensible of course. The way to ensure his tummy doesn't get upset is to give the usual food & a very small amount of the new food mixed in. Gradually increase the amount of new food daily until you can give it alone if you like. Only introduce one new food at a time or you won't know which is the problem food if there is a problem.

No & it may well be safe & your vet has given you the correct information but I would not. Its a strong chemical. What about a mix of half white vinegar & half water. It may help & can't do any harm at all if it doesn't.

334 views & only 5 replies means either that hardly anyones barks or its a bugger of a problem :laugh: Mine are barkers & I find that while they understand the command Quiet I need their attention first. This can be the problem especially with pups when they get on a roll. To obey the puppy has to understand what you want. Its not always obvious to them so you have to make it really clear. A cheap, metal sports whistle is what I use to get attention. If I blow it every time they do a communal bark at something & then say Quiet they do stop. Finding where I left the whistle is the biggest drawback. Around my neck was no good almost strangled myself.

Not at all you were just dealing with stupid, moronic people. People are varying in their idea of care of all animals but to suggest a fine for caring too much is a ridiculous attitude.

I think most dog owners already knew all that. The Lab with the pizza is nothing suprising. I had a cat years ago that could lift a pan lid with one paw, steal the contents with the other paw & drop the lid back down. I watched him do it through the crack in the partly open door when I couldn't figure it out.

If its only the last few days don't worry. All of my cats, dogs, pups & kittens have been eating less. Its the weather. The humidity here in SA is awful at present. The temperature they show is not always accurate either. Yesterdays 34 degree forecast didn't happen here on the Adelaide Plains. It was 42 degrees by 4 o clock on my garden thermometer. You will probably find when we get a few cooler days after Monday that she will eat more.

I would say it is an old wives tale. They used to say the same about female humans swimming during a period when I was growing up. The water won't go into the bitches vagina when she swims or has a bath. Swimming should be fine unless its in some stinking, filthy polluted place that wouldn't be good if she was in heat or not.

well hold onto them until they are old enough and well enough to be put under GA. If they aren't well enough for a GA, then they aren't well enough to be rehomed That's what I was going to suggest. A couple of extra weeks shouldn't be a problem. Doubt people will pay an extra $150 etc to be refunded on desexing for cross breed or mongrel pups.

a) I wouldn't do it. If it is hereditary, even though its not thought to be, you have increased the chances of it rearing its obscure head with it on both sides. Safer to do a mating without any in the line but you are relying totally on breeders honesty & knowledge of the lines as there is no test. I had to google to find out what this was. I think this is what my friends daughters Malamute has got. The dog has to have blood transfusions. The levels go back to normal & then it recurs spasmodically so more transfusions.

I deal with this by not having carpet & not leaving shoes around but if I forget my 8 year old will take the shoes in her bed & chew off any beads or jewels but doesn't chew any other part. My 10 year old also takes shoes in his bed. The others leave them alone. With pups you can't leave shoes lying around. Pups chew anything & shoes are high value & so irresistable to them.

Its normal. My girls are bad :laugh: . Tara humps the cats & they think she is playing.

Sounds like there is not much you can do except wait & see what happens. A couple of weeks is no time at all. The dog has had her whole past life taken away. Think of when people emigrate & how long they can take to adjust. This dog had no say in her life, where she was going, when or who to. She won't know what is going on but may settle at her own pace. I wouldn't be too concerned this early on.

No wonder so many dogs lives are just in the back yard. You can't go anywhere or do anything anymore, its all too bloody hard trying to please everyone with every little thing & it keeps changing. You dog can be gone from anywhere now, even your own property & you didn't think you were doing anything wrong. I would be so outraged if I went in a shop for a few minutes, tied my dog up safely & it had been seized by the ranger because someone complained. Never thought of that. I don't leave my dogs anywhere now. Too many odd people around well meaning or not.

Years ago it was a fairly ordinary thing to take your dog to the shops & leave it outside for a short time in suitable weather. We didn't have to worry about dogs getting stolen for breeding or anyone doing anything horrible to it either. Its not illegal but its not safe for the dogs anymore. I did it in England 40 years ago with big dogs when I was just nipping inside for 1 or 2 things. Nothing you can do & not worth reporting unless the dog is suffering, like in extreme heat or has been abandoned.

:laugh: You sure do know how to rattle peoples cages & stir them up However re the poodles you have a point except that I do remember as a child people having poodles with good legs & patella problems are not only a thing of the past, they are current. In poodles & lots of breeds, especially small dogs but can affect larger dogs sometimes. New breeders do need some encouragement & knowledge & one of the places they get it from is from established breeders & one hopes it is the right information they are given. Regardless of money or motive the main thing is that healthy dogs with good temperament that are a good representation of the breed is what is produced. One can't influence the first but may, hopefully, influence the later.

Give it more time. Try some Tranquil Paste (get it from a fodder store or dog supply shop) it may help a little. I took a dog from awful conditions once. Cage in shed/factory in day, loose at night. She sat in a bed with another dog & kept her head down & only jumped out to eat & toilet right next to the bed. Every day I patted her & spoke to her the same as the other dogs & got no response for 6 weeks. One day I patted the dog in the bed next to her & she licked my hand, barked, 1st sound I heard from her & came out of the bed & through the ever open door into the kitchen. She became one of the crowd, was fine with visitors & at home but no good out of the house unless I was with her. Sometimes it can take quite a long time. She may be ok eventually.

I don't believe their statement or research that says this is safe for the animal. Thinking about it all this has to be one extremely potent drug. I am thinking some kind of radiation therapy/bio genetic drug type. Once it is in the system too late if there is an adverse reaction or side effect. It will make the animal sterile but what else may it do ?

My mum bred dogs when I was a baby, brief period of time. She was brought up with cats & dogs too. My grandfather was a horse trainer. Most of my family own pets. Guess I inherited a love of animals, we always had cats & dogs & as a child I was fascinated by all kinds of animals. The horrible zoo, in those days, was my favourite day out. I started showing in my 20's but then had a large family, sick child, emigration & it all got put to one side. About 20 years ago I bought a pet poodle from a byb. She seemed fine until she was age 3 & then she got all kinds of things wrong with her. She had her own pushchair for the last few years, she could hardly walk & had daily massages & various things to make her comfortable. Loved her so much. I swore I would never produce dogs like this when I got chance & time to start my hobby. My dogs are family members. As well constantly learning about all dogs, as well as my own breed, I research lines & get as much info as possible & look at things like the lifespan of the ancestors too whenever possible. Unfortunately I have learned that genes didn't read the pedigree or take too much notice of show results. With what seems like the best dogs things can go awry, as most breeders find out somewhere along the line. As a business dog breeding to standard & ethically would be a dead loss :) You would also have the sadness of re homing many adult dogs. All my puppies leave home desexed. Being a toy breed I am comfortable with this so don't have to worry too much about where they end up. Not a breed commonly found in there either. I also make it clear that I do a lifetime re home & mark this on the top of the microchip form.