gapvic

I still can't get over the colours here - this is EXACTLY how it looked. The Arrow River at Queenstown. How amazing is this?

Hi all, Just got back from an amazing ten days driving around the South Island of NZ. I've never been before and was absolutely BLOWN AWAY by how completely stunning it is. Planning a return trip in late Autumn/early Winter 2016. If you've not been, all I can say is GO! :D Here is just a very small selection of the 100's of images I took :)

With regards to point 10, if they are housing around 200 dogs then to comply with relevant codes of practice they will require more than one staff member per 100 dogs. Don't quote me as this is just off the top of my head, but here in Vic it is something more like one staff member per 30 dogs.

Our numbers are similar Maddy. With regards to the property in Tasmania, while I know that requests are being made for financial assistance to establish the infrastructure, has there been any discussion anywhere as to where the money will come from to feed the dogs and to desex them etc? And to pay staff to clean the kennels etc? Who would wear the cost of flying greyhounds to Tasmania? And back to the mainland to be adopted?

Thanks guys. The dress is from Bernie Dexter and is called Veronique (in Serenity Bridge print). I was looking for the right dress for her for a while and thought this one would be perfect :)

Finally, FINALLY I can join in! So sorry to be late... it took far longer than I'd anticipated to get my head etc organised. I'll catch up as quickly as I can . Shall we start in the middle of our story, where Rabbit Lady discovers her first sign? No, let us go back to the beginning. This, then, is our heroine. This, is Rabbit Lady. Rabbit Lady lives in a weeny cottage, To be continued...

ABC news

I'm not sure CC, I've not really heard much from the other States. Don't worry HW, you can do your own little pro-greyhound walk down there in the cool by the beach :D

Hope it's ok to add this here: Come and join us on a PRO GREYHOUND walk on Saturday, 28th February, through Fitzroy Gardens. The group will meet from 4:30pm, with the walk kicking off at 5:00pm stopping to show people along the way just how wonderful greyhounds are. Bring along a picnic or a cool drink and chat with other greyhound owners after the walk has finished. The more greyhounds who come along, the bigger the impact this walk will have. Let's show the public what truly wonderful and gentle dogs greyhounds are. Invite your friends! Invite your family! Invite anyone you know who owns a greyhound! Please note: This walk is to help promote Greyhounds as a breed. This will not be a place to voice your opinion on the racing industry, nor the recent events in the media. Keep it sweet and simple.

Thank you for a reasoned response. As GAPVIC has explained however, the resource guarding test is around food. I don't think it involves taking a greyhound to a dog park, giving it a toy and then inviting a child to remove the toy. I haven't seen a greyhound in a fight over a resource (including a human resource) in a dog park although I have seen lots of other breeds fight over toys and balls etc. Far too many in fact. In Victoria greyhounds with green collars must be on leash at all times. If a child tries to take a toy away from a greyhound in that situation, the handler is not paying enough attention. Other states don't have the same requirements. I have proposed ITT that the Greyhound Racing Industry should pay for fosters and new owners to be trained in how to best handle Greyhounds. There are a lot of practical things that can be taght to assist the owner and dog to have a great experience in going out in public. My personal opinion is that resource guarding of greyhounds around toys/balls wouldn't be amongst the priorities. If you have a genuine fear that a Greyhound is likely to attack a child in a public place over a resource, you can rest easy. They are amongst the least likely breeds to do so. No, actually, I didn't explain that. While I only mentioned food in my previous post, the resource guarding component of our assessment encompasses food, toys, bedding etc. Anything that is of high value to the dog. And for us, it's not all about what the dog might do in a public place but also what he might do in a home.

Exactly this. The temperament assessment we use acts as a guide as to what home the dog would be best suited to. Will a dog fail our assessment for resource guarding? No - not unless he actually tries to attack us. But what this part of our assessment does show us is that if he growls when we come near him when he is eating, then he's probably not suitable for a home with small children who won't understand to leave him alone when he has his dinner.

I do not consider myself an expert, but I have been working with greyhounds for over 17 years now and have assessed over 6500 dogs. I absolutely believe that there is no correlation whatsoever between predatory behaviour and aggression towards children. Predatory behaviour, or prey drive, is NOT aggression but completely different. We all saw in that dreadful, shocking footage, the child standing at the side of the trial track while a greyhound was given the rabbit to kill. Did the greyhound redirect onto the child? No. We saw the trainers taking the dogs off the arms. Did the greyhounds then redirect onto the trainers? No. Go to a coursing meeting - you'll see young children walking keyed up, excited greyhounds down to the slipper. Would they be allowed to do this if they were at risk of being bitten? No. Greyhounds for years have been allowed to grab onto a dead rabbit on the arm when being trialed. Does it make any difference to the greyhound if the rabbit is alive or not? I'm doubtful. Does that make the greyhound dog a cold blooded killer that will hurt a child? Absolutely not. This old mentality that if a dog has killed something it now has "the taste of blood" and will therefore be a risk to children needs to go. Almost every breed of dog will kill something at some point in his life. Does that mean they are now dangerous and shouldn't be kept as a pet? No. Over the years we have had dogs come to our Program, and pass assessment, that were owned or trained by some of the people named in Victoria. I've no idea what training methods were used on these dogs, and I'm not going to speculate. But they passed our assessment. Greyhounds are a calm, gentle, adaptable dog. The vast majority understand the difference between a lure and a small dog or a child.

More about the dogs seized in Qld

That's fantastic! I have been enjoying the flood of fabulous greyhound pics on your FB page I added my two in support of GAPVIC. Thanks HW - I actually feel quite overwhelmed with the support we've had for the breed through the facebook page - it's just wonderful :D

I am overjoyed to report that so far today we have received ten applications for adoption. It seems there is a swell of support for this fabulous breed :D

Thanks Malakita. I was upset when I wrote that post. I feel so very sad. We have spent the last 17 years doing everything we can to promote greyhounds as pets. We fear that so much of that was undone in an hour on Monday night.

never mind

In answer to point 3 - I have been receiving, on average, between 4 and 10 applications to adopt per day. Today? NONE. This is the affect the story has had on the public's willingness to adopt a greyhound.

Thanks HW we are still needing something. Bugger that these are up in NSW.

Thanks guys :) ! Teekay, I will be back to 52 weeks :laugh: - just still waiting on my rabbit head lol

I had some photos I took published in the latest edition Adore Pin Up Magazine :D

That's great Tay, and good luck!

That's lovely Kirislin! Tell him to hurry up and finish the head then to cast it for us :D

Roova SwaY would be the best person to ask as she knows the breed inside and out, and I only have the one, my first. Gretel is a low energy, affectionate lap dog. She is very funny and loves to make us laugh. She's naughty in the nicest possible way. She is shy and submissive with strangers but I believe that is more her than a breed trait. Certainly the Affens we met today were all very outgoing and friendly. They are adorable little dogs :D