sandgrubber

Here are the rules . . . download the 'dogs' .pdf for the full list. Sizes in sq. meters. There are further restrictions about enclosures, doorway access, etc. Sounds reasonable/generous to me . . . though I think 9 large show dogs or greyhounds on a 300 sq m property might be excessive! Companion dogs 0 to 300 1 dog up to 10 kg per dwelling unit without Logan City Council approval in a mature aged living facility or retirement village Domestic Dog(s) 0 to 300 1 dog with Logan City Council approval 301 to 499 1 dog without Logan City Council approval or 2 dogs with Logan City Council approval 500 to 599 2 dogs without Logan City Council approval 600 to 2,000 2 dogs without Logan City Council approval or up to 4 dogs with Logan City Council approval 2,001 to 80,000 3 dogs without Logan City Council approval or 4 with Logan City Council approval 80,000+ 4 dogs without Logan City Council approval or up to 9 dogs with Logan City Council approval (e.g. working dogs) Foster carers (see more information over) All properties Up to 9 dogs for a determined length of time with Logan City Council approval Recreation dogs (such as greyhounds, breeders, show dogs) All properties Up to 9 dogs with Logan City Council approval, subject to standards and membership of approved bodies

Do not use a heating pad designed for humans. They are far too hot; likely to drive mum out of the whelping box. Veterinary heat pads are designed to equilibrate at ~37 to 39C and feel almost cool to touch.

I did the friends route on the first litter. But never used newspaper thereafter. I find newspaper to be very messy, hard to clean up. If you shred it it seems like a petshop . . . and it gets all over the place. If you don't shred it it gets slick and makes it hard for the puppies to get their feet under them and crawl. If you can't afford vetbed (or equivalent), I'd go for old beach towels in preference to newspapers.

I'd guess, like most things relating to immune function, it's complicated. I don't like pigs ears cause they are expensive and my dogs gobble them down as though they were steak. I could see how that might cause some problems with choking, gagging, or worse. But if your dog has lead a fairly normal dog life, including burying bones in the garden, digging them up, and ingesting a wide variety of decomposed and stinky found treasures, it seems unlikely that salmonella from a pigs ear is going to cause a lot of problems.

Did you use a vet who knows what they are doing? I once lost three pups from a litter of 10 in C section done by a novice vet. Talking to other vets, I think it happened due to 1) application of a strong painkiller before the pups were taken out, which depressed their respiratory function; and 2) poor tying of cords . . . they all bled through their navels.

And if that doesn't work, add a little perfume . . . or ammonia . . . depending on you emotional state. I don't really hate cats, but I hate the fact that people think it's ok to let them roam.

How about asking your council if they can loan you a cat trap and sending the buggers to the pound! Cats, like dogs, should not be allowed to wander.

I've only know two bull terriers. Both were sweet as can be. But talk about thick! Are they all like that?

Sorry . . . I hadn't realised you were saying multi-breed and multi-layered BSL had merit. Regarding bites/fatalities, please provided sources. I have looked and I repeatedly find US stats say the APBT is responsible for a disproportionate number of fatal attacks. . . .most sources put the figures above 20% and come up with a majority of dog fatalities if you consider the top five or six breeds. Note, in many US statistics, 'pit bull' includes APBT, SBT, ASBT, and sometimes bulldog. Crosses generally get lumped in as well. Reports of pit bull fatalities go way back. See, eg., http://www.dogsbite....-historical.php . The undeniable pitbull problem in the US is a problem of numbers. Do look at http://www.muttshack...ws-pitbull.htm... or other pit bull advocacy sites (eg,, http://www.pitbullad...om/NotBreed.php). All are saying 'shelters are full, pit bulls are being pts'd in huge numbers, please adopt, please neuter, please don't breed'. Here's from pitbulladvocate101.com Did you know that "Pit Bulls" are currently the number one bred dog in the United States? Ironically, they are also one of the hardest breeds to find homes. It is estimated that there is a current average of 3 million "Pit Bulls" living in the United States and only 1 in 600 will successfully find a "forever" home. Sadly, for every 1 "Pit Bull" placed in a loving home there are 599 killed. Shockingly, that statistic unfortunately does not exclude puppies! I have not been able to find any breed statistics for Australian pounds and shelters. It would be interesting to know if SBTs and various bull breed crosses are a dominant feature of shelters, especially the dogs who don't get rehomed.

removed by poster . . . just realised the ad I found offensive was for eBay Classified, not the auction site. EBay Classified helps a lot of rescue groups . . . so are good guys.

Kong is making a neck wrap thing called a Cloud Collar that works as an alternative to the Elizabethan collar. They look good . . . haven't used one. http://www.jefferspet.com/kong-cloud-collar/p/0030286/ There are a couple other new alternatives that work on the same principal, eg. http://www.jefferspet.com/bite-not-collars/p/0028630/

I was told by my vet that a dog over 4 mo of age with a healthy immune system could cope with salmonella . . . without getting sick. The same vet told me that the main salmonella incident they saw was people feeding raw chicken, or ground chicken mince, to young pups.

Good on them! Some dogs need to run in the sand and play. Some dogs love to swim, or need to swim for health reasons. Many puppies get their basic socialisation at the beach. I went to Fremantle dog beach daily for a couple years . . . when I lived down that way. Yes, there were a few problems with people who were dumb enough to try to picnic on the beach and got sand in their food, people getting knocked over by games of dog tag, fishermen getting bait stolen, and half a dozen dogs got snake bites in the dunes each year. But the good it did to hundreds of dogs to have a chance to run and chase surf is not to be scoffed. What is needed is better patrolling of beaches to keep aggressive dogs / owners out. I think the Fremantle and Cockburn rangers did a pretty good job patrolling the dog beach . . . and the regulars tend to gang up on anyone whose dog is creating problems. Don't know if it's still like that. If you don't like off lead parks, don't go to them. There are millions of places you can walk your dog on lead!

If you live next door, such a dog is not lovely. Has your sister tried other solutions, such as keeping the dog inside when she's out? I would be grateful to the council for offering one solution to try rather than slapping her with a fine, that gets doubled on the second offense and ends with the dog being taken away. If she has a better solution than the bark-collar, I doubt the council or the neighbours will object. All the electronic bark collars I've seen come with a simple instruction sheet . . . basically, 'not too loose, not too tight, don't keep it on for more than 8 hrs'. No training required.

Nobody's taken on describing 'hounds'. Guess (I'm not a hound person but have known a few of 'em). It's a hard task cause the sight hounds are generally different from the scent hounds, and there are big differences within the two groups. Both groups were bred to chase. Sight hounds tend to have been bred to run down prey. Scent hounds . . . somebody else take it from there, please.

That's sad :-( Could be worse. I had a loony tenant who burned the house down because 'Jennifer Lopez told him to do it'. Unfortunately, he locked his Staffie in the house when he lit the fire. The neighbour tried to rescue the dog and didn't succeed . . . but managed to get some serious burns and glass cuts in trying. The guy was declared criminally insane and locked up for a few months . . . but he's back out there. . . as are a lot of other sick-o's

I doubt the animals minded the disorganisation. Sometimes I'm glad to see an old family run dumpy feedstore/petshop rather than the chain store mall sort of place where all the toys are imported from China and the staff have been there for less than six months. Maybe it would have been worthwhile to say something about the poor rabbit in the tiny cage and the kittens. Maybe showing them that customers care will move them toward doing better by their animals.

In California, staffies are relatively rare and APBT's (street bred, not pedigree, but generally fitting the description) are very common, especially in shelters and pounds. Californicos generally throw SBT's and APBT's together in the same generally muddled category. Some say ban. Others say ban deed not breed. No one is sure what the 'breed' is, exactly. There are differences between the bull breeds. But for an Ozzie who hasn't ever known a pit bull, I'd say you're not far off thinking of an APBT as being quite a bit like a SBT. There are good ones . . . there are bad ones. There are good owners, there are bad owners. The 'bull' + 'terrier' combination can produce some potentially dangerous dogs who become dangerous dogs in the hands of drongos, and sweet tail waggers / lick monsters in the hands of decent folks. And, yes, as with many other breeds (I'm specifically thinking of Cocker spaniels, springer spaniels and golden retrievers), there are some aggressive or rage-prone bloodlines. Take-away message: more control is required from owners . . . and breeders need to cull lines with temperament problems. There are some breed tendencies. But these are easily kept under control if owners and breeders were held to account.

The title suggested that someone who picked up the 'magic' pooh was going to win lotto. Now that would be a good laugh! Oz and China (mainland and taiwan alike) have gambling fever . . . and I guess that's as good a way as any to come to clean up on the dog pooh problem. I just wish there was a way to rub the offenders' faces in it :D.

We have three cats here: mountain lions, bobcats, and the domestic sort. I like the first two . . . not so fond of little cats.

I don't mind a few kisses, but my old broody girl seems to think bare skin of any sort needs licking.. . .like a puppy's nose and bum. She would lick for hours. Despite discouragement, she still succeeds in landing kisses from time to time. Strangely, her daughter licks bed sheets . . . she will systematically lick a spot near my pillows for 10 minutes straight. As for the wound licking literature . . . seems to be a popular topic for science fair projects but hasn't drawn much formal science. http://syntheticsali...searchpaper.htm gives an excellent high school research experiment, including a bibliography (unfortunately, little peer reviewed literature). . . the student extracted histidine, lysozyme, and amylase and lactoferrin from dog saliva and looked at its effect on bacterial growth (Strep, Staph, and E. coli) . . .

A few details from a breeder's perspective. Think twice before you say "Bring it on for Australia"! source: www.kennelspotlight.com/the_sky_is_falling_in_pasco_county.pdf The Sky is falling in Pasco County, Florida by Brian Amble For years breeders have said that I am like Chicken Little claiming the sky is going to fall when I would talk about the animal rights activists and their goal to shut down breeders. If I have your attention, you might want to read on. This is for those dog or even cat breeders that are thinking about making your kennel/cattery legal. Maybe you are thinking that if you go to the local governing body and get a business license and permits to make your breeding operation legal you will be safe. After all, you take really good care of your animals and no one can fault the cleanliness of your facility. Right? Let me tell you about what is happening in Pasco County, Florida. Approximately 100 dog breeders that have long established kennels are being shut down. One breeder in particular that I have spoken to has had her license and permits in place for 16 years. She has never had any complaints or any type of citations. She runs a model kennel with glowing comments about the great care she provides to her dogs. Much to her dismay, two weeks ago she was issued a citation that states it has been determined that the county now plans to enforce their 9 dog pet limit law and it will apply to all breeders as well. She felt this must be a mistake since her permit was for numbers up to 49 dogs. Her permit is current!!!! County officials assured her that they fully intend for her to reduce her numbers and to do it within 90 days. She was given a possible option of applying for a variance for her property which would cost her approximately $1,000 but there was no guarantee that she will be approved. She was then told that this would affect all kennels in the county and that includes about 100 dog breeders. You can do your own math to see what kind of money that might net to the county. Their reasoning was that it was costing the county $2.3 million each year to address the overpopulation of dogs and cats, and it seemed contradictory to give incentives to breeders via breeding permits. So here they are with 90 days to place roughly 40 dogs each. If the breeders don't get them all placed in that time they have already been told there will be a large daily fine to pay. After a certain number of days, the county will more than likely remove the dogs and take them to the already over crowded shelters. But never fear, these dogs will probably be the lucky ones and find homes right away because they came from reputable breeders. The county will of course have to charge the breeder for the care of these dogs while in their care, but I'm sure they will give any excess cash over to the kennel. Right? My personal question is, how can a county issue business licenses and permits for that many years AND THEN determine that your zoning does not qualify for the permits that they have issued to you and charged you to get for the past 16 years? Let's not forget that these are established breeders that invested heavily in dog runs, pens, grooming supplies, medications, cages, carriers etc. These are also breeders that are claiming their businesses on their income taxes. In this one particular case, it is the bulk of her income. The county wishes to take away her business and livelihood. By the way, in searching the county ordinances, we have been unable to find the so called 9 dog limit. However that is not slowing down the county from enforcing it. All of these breeders are faced with 3 possible options. 1- Attempt to get the variance. And what are the odds that they will approve ANY, much less all of the 100 kennels? 2-Reduce their numbers to only 9 dogs within the 90 days. 3-Hire an attorney and start a class action law suit. Moral of the story . . . . making your kennel/cattery legal pretty much places a bulls eye on your forehead. Makes it just that much easier for the animal control to know where you live. Was that a brick or a shingle that just hit you in the head? Maybe just a little part of the sky is breaking loose in a neighborhood near you. Once this action is completed here in Pasco County, it will most assuredly be appearing in your own neighborhood. That is how case law is set and then it spreads like wildfire. ~~~~ Longtime breeder in Florida, Supporter of WethePeoplePets Please cross-post this news far & wide. If you wish to protect your animals, please support the efforts of We the People Pets. We now have a 501 c (3) & (4) and you will be able to take your tax deduction. We have a No-Kill PSA starring Laddie, (the dog actor that played Lassie ) that came to the Capitol helping to defeat AB 1634 on a crucial vote day. Laddie & the Weatherwax Group have agreed to spearhead the No-Kill movement & initiatives in CA. We believe that solving the shelter mismanagement is critical at this point in time. We intend to lead the way for animal welfare reform. WE NEED YOUR DONATIONS for the post production costs for the PSA (Public Service Announcement) for our No-Kill statewide initiative. This is a top shelf production utilizing award winning talent from the Director, Director of Photography, Grammy winning sound-mix, etc. I have already paid out many thousands of dollars toward this production OF MY OWN monies, and now I am pleading for your financial support to finish these three PSAs and get these up on every TV station in CA. PSAs will run free of charge on television stations. Let's EDUCATE the public. What better spokesman could we have than Laddie? We expect to do a series addressing the issues at hand. Hollywood talent is on board to support the No-Kill initiative. The door has opened. Now it is up to YOU! The first three PSAs are awaiting your help. All contributors will be noted on the official No- Kill site: www.nokillbill.com These PSAs will be available to ALL PARTIES in all states, countries for broadcast purposes. THANK YOU

Should also note that many gun dogs were bred as companion dogs for the landed gentry in a period where, at least in the UK, social mores were very repressive. I suspect some breeds were selected as much to provide affection and satisfy natural desires for warmth and contact as for the hunt: gentleness and intuitive sense of human emotion was highly valued. This selection for closeness, along with the requirement of steady energy for the hunt, is what has made the Labrador excel as a guide dog.

Good objective summary. Thanks for posting.