sandgrubber

discount store paint rollers are good. Cheap. Pretty hard to dismember. Good mouth feel. Not full of stuffing. I'd say six squeekers in an hour shows both IQ and focus.

Even if the Biewer is moving toward becoming a registered breed, I'd say it's the sort of new breed the dog world doesn't need. Looks like it will have a very narrow gene pool, and like its distinguishing feature is 'looks'. The only 'need' it will satisfy is the need for novelty. Btw, I hope those of you who are against X breeding are as anti for the Dogo Argentino as for the Labradoodle, or whatever it will eventually be called. Now there's a real mutt for you. The insistence on whiteness results in high frequency of deafness. clipping from wikipedia . . . The Dogo Argentino (also known as the Argentine Dogo) is a large, white, muscular dog that was developed in Argentina primarily for the purpose of big-game hunting, including wild boar and puma; the breeder, Antonio Nores Martinez, also wanted a dog that would exhibit steadfast bravery and willingly protect its human companion to the death. It was first bred in the 1928, from the Cordoba Fighting Dog along with a wide array of other breeds including, but not limited to, the Great Pyrenees, Irish Wolfhound, Boxer, Great Dane, and Pointer.

Personally, I think empty collars will be a stronger statement than dogs. Most of us think our dogs are o.k. But even ok dogs occasionally get out of hand.

In sum, if the dog wants to be caught, and is friendly to strangers, it's easy. A timid dog with many options to run into bush may be near impossible to catch.

There are some great breed clubs. However: Some breed clubs have internal politics that have driven would-be members out. Some people live so far from where the breed club meets that it's not worth their while to join. Some breed clubs don't do much. I wouldn't necessarily dismiss a breeder who doesn't belong to their state breed club.

Chocolate/Liver is one of the three accepted colours for Labradors. Everyone likes chocolate better than liver, except, perhaps, the dogs, so no one ever refers to 'liver's'. I've long been curious whether liver meant that Weimerarner grey colour you get from cooked liver or the bloody dark red of the raw stuff. If it's the grey, then doesn't that approve the 'silver' Labrador as a choco? I've never seen a raw-liver colour on a Lab.

You might ask this on a rescue forum. I think you'll get the answer that it's damn hard to tell. It's pretty common for rescues to cut the girl open for desexing only to find that it's already been done.

MIght add that the 19th century gun dog breeding was affected in a major way by the importation of a few hundred, perhaps more, St John's water dogs from eastern Canada. These, in their various forms (longer/shorter coats, larger/smaller sizes) were x-bred into existing lines to varying extents, but without the genetic input, we wouldn't have the modern Labrador, Goldie, or Newfoundland. The rat terrier is still traceable to several breeds, including beagle, whippet, and various smaller terriers . . . and is (like the poodle and Xolo) recognised in three sizes. Dog roles have changed. No 19th century breeder was breeding for flyball, agility, or dock diving. Many were bred for some combination of cart pulling, guarding, vermin control, hunting, and herding. Hunting upland game is a very restricted niche in Australia, dog carts are rare, few herding breeds get a chance to herd, and earth dogs get in trouble when they spoil the lawn. Breeds should not be fossilized into the form they took when the stud books closed. Especially where the existing forms have narrow genetic basises and widespread health problems. The 'pure bred' label does not need to mean 'unchanged since 1900' nor should it deny the emergence of new breeds. Is this to say that DD's are good? Not at all. There are no data to work from (that I know of), but I'd guess that a large fraction of DD's come from indiscriminate breeding, without health testing, etc. and with no tracing of pedigree. Such dogs are going nowhere in 'breed' terms. In response to the question, 'what will the public think'? The public don't think that highly of the pedigree dog world now. If they see us with our bums held high and our heads in the sand, it won't improve our public image.

A group with a collective IQ of 87? This is in the Cockburn Council's fire regs . . .which I believe are similar to those in many WA councils. Basically says if you own 5 acres or more you must have a bare earth firebreak of 3 m around your house, barn, etc. The shire is extremely sandy. The fire crews say they can't use the fire breaks as access because vehicles bog in the sand. The result is often a ~3m strip on one side of a fence, a ~ 3m strip on the other side, and a nice clump of grass and weeds and eventually bushes growing around the fence . . . so as to provide fuel to allow any fire to cross the firebreak. To really make these things trafficable, you have to strip and apply roadbase, which, of course, no one does. (2) As to land, which is greater than 2032m2 in area, shall have a trafficable firebreak three (3) metres in width cleared to mineral earth subject to the following requirements: (a) immediately inside all external boundaries of the land; and (b) immediately surrounding buildings (if any) situated on the land; and © immediately surrounding all fuel dumps and ramps (if any) on the land; and (d) in any event, clear the firebreaks to the satisfaction of the local government or an authorised person.

Anybody here know the history of the WA 2-dog rule (which sets the default number of dogs/household at 2 but gives the councils the power to change the limit and grant exceptions)? An old Ocker I know said this law came in in the 70s cause lots of bushies were moving to the 'burbs and brought their pig dogs along. As he told it, this lead to situations where the streets were dangerous. Is this more or less true?

From Kingston City Council. The rangers there, at least, seem to be applying 'the standard' in a way that doesn't make SBT x's into restricted breeds. With three days to go, I'm surprised that this topic has gone silent. Last chance to register restricted breed dogs Kingston City Council will have the right to seize and destroy any unregistered pit bull terriers in the municipality after Thursday 29 September. The new power follows the Victorian Government's introduction of legislation earlier this month which permits Councils to seize unregistered restricted breed dogs. Restricted breeds include pit bull terriers, American pit bull terriers, Fila Brasileiro, Dogo Argentino, Japanese tosa and Perro de Presa Canario. In the past few weeks Kingston City Council has received numerous calls from residents concerned that their dog might have pit bull terrier ancestry. Local laws rangers have inspected these animals and not found any dogs of concern. The State Government's 'dob in a dangerous dog' hotline has referred four calls to Kingston City Council. Council officers confirmed that three of the reported dogs were not restricted breeds. Investigations are continuing into the fourth dog. The fee to register dangerous, menacing or restricted breed dogs is $170. The fee to register most other dogs is $44.

That is equally as stupid as the recent Vic legislation setting forward a visual standard for forbidden breeds. Sadly, I don't see dog people uniting in opposition to either stupid piece of legislation. . . or the NSW regs that in effect make it illegal to use the back bedroom as a whelping room. There were some rallies about the Vic BSL. Some people wrote letters. But it's four days before Victoria's draconian laws come into effect and try finding any coverage of any organised resistance. There was a stir when the laws were announced. But it has gone quiet. Did anyone even notice the Vic law about puppy vaccinations? You'd think no one would object to adding parvo to the lists, and it would have been reasonably easy to do.

This suggests a great form of civil disobedience. Everyone, call in a Labrador, call in a greyhound, call in a JRT, call in a boxer, call in a papered SBT or two, call in anything that can't possibly be identified as a pit bull. Keep them flooded with calls and make it clear that the 'standard' is a farce.

Juvenile behaviour seems to be a hallmark of Australian govetnment as a whole. Unlike the US, where we have fully mature raving loonies carrying guns.

The document Steve refers to states: "In reality, unenforceable ordinances unite responsible pet owners, irresponsible pet owners and non pet owners in their opposi- tion to animal control." Unfortunately, I don't think this is true. I live in a California county that has breeder registration (which requires an annual letter from the vet and $70 for each dog) and mandatory spey/neuter for dogs not covered by non-neutered certificates. The program has been in place for a few decades. It includes very generous subsidies for spay/neuter for those with lower incomes. (It'll cost me $40 to do either a spay or neuter). The document is correct about some things . . . most people just don't bother to register their dogs, and there's little money for enforcement. [Also no upsurgence in rabies]. People are so upset about other things (like high unemployment, high foreclosure rates, vicious humans, drugs . . . and on and on) that there's no, underline no, visible opposition to animal control. We have the usual problems with dogs that bark all night, occasional vicious dogs attacking other dogs or people, and wandering dogs that get killed by cars and/or become a nuisance. These dogs tend to end up in shelters, which make an effort to return them to their families or rehome them, but many/most get pts. Sure, people are upset when they get a $200 fine for not registering their animals. But they are alone in their upset, not part of any organised resistance.

So teach them to stop at a distance from you to get their fist full of treats. Or gradually substitute a clicker for the treats :D

For those who say X-breeds are not bred for a purpose, there are some X-breeds that are purpose bred. For example, a segment of the protection dog business is working to beef up the mastiff. Do some web search on bandog or bandogge and you'll come up with some breeders who do lots of genetic testing, select their dogs carefully, and some are making heaps of money doing so. This outfit, for example, is a multinational kennel that does testing up the yin-yang, charges high prices, and exports all over the world: http://www.oldbulldo...outbulldogs.php http://www.oldbulldo...-guarantee1.php I don't think Ken and Barbie will be getting one of these, though. Btw, does anyone know what an Australian bandog mastiff is? Are they already capitalising on creating dogs that will pass the Vic regulations and have even greater macho appeal than the APBT?

It's more complicated than that. Several US states still permit very large, extremely capitalistic puppy farms, some of whom breed AKC registered dogs. They are working to regulate, but recent measures don't go much further than requiring veterinary care, modest standards of care, and not keeping dogs in stacked wire cages with wire bottoms. The level of abuse is clear in that recent advances have outlawed practices such as DIY ceasarian sections and debarking operations. Recent laws in PA only apply to establishments with 50+ dogs. There are other states that forbid selling live animals in petstores and some counties in California have mandatory desexing for all except breeders who have registered (and paid) to keep unaltered animals . . . so it's not uniform.

"Q – Who is pursuing this Pit Bull witch - hunt with such gusto? What is there to gain from this by those wanting to restrict and potentially eradicate Pit Bulls in Australia? A - Private contractors who supply rangers to seize the dogs and pounds to hold them while owners fight in the courts." Any indication this is true? The figures that follow are all from the UK. As someone who has thoughts of returning to Oz, I find it distressing that the DOL community is paying little attention to this issue with less than a week to go before the 30 Sept. deadline.

Guilt trips are not a good way to change behaviour. I'd say building a link between grumpy and pain, based on human analogies, might lead to people owning the notion that their dog is in pain, rather than reacting to it as an unwanted obligation someone was trying to foist off on them.

Just heard a fascinating and moving radio interview with the author of a book about Rin-Tin-Tin. Here's the link: http://www.npr.org/blogs/monkeysee/2011/09/24/140746523/rin-tin-tin-from-battlefield-to-hollywood-a-story-of-friendship Here's a short extract from the web page. The full interview can be downloaded from the above link Author Susan Orlean's new book, Rin Tin Tin: The Life And The Legend, traces the history of Duncan and "Rinty," as Duncan called him, exploring both the career of a very famous dog and the relationship he shared with the owner who both adored him as a pet and turned him into a very profitable business. On Weekend Edition Saturday, Orlean talks to Scott Simon about some of what she discovered in researching this unusual partnership between a man and his dog. It wasn't a coincidence, she says, that Duncan was the one to rescue a pup who had no one; he had spent five years in an orphanage himself as a child. Even when the same mother who had left him there came back to get him, she took him to live with her parents on an isolated property with no other kids around. He did, however, get a dog. So perhaps it's no surprise that later, on the field of battle, surrounded by the death of the war, Duncan once again got a dog. [He found Rin-Tin-Tin as a pup, coming from a destroyed kennel, wandering on a WWI battlefield]. The original Rin Tin Tin was born in 1918 and died in 1932. And not just any dog, Orlean argues, but an actor — one who, in the silent era where no one could speak, was on par with human actors. She uses Clash Of The Wolves — the film Scott Simon calls "his Hamlet" — to point out that in addition to being a fine action star and athlete, Rin Tin Tin had a face that was "immensely expressive." The film required Rinty to play scenes in which his character, if it can be called that, believes himself to be leaving his pack to die. "You're really affected by the look on his face and his performance," she says.

I've never owned a dog that didn't know 'dinnertime' and most are pretty cluey on 'time to get up' when you live by a regular schedule. They have a diurnal clock. I don't think the sense of time extends to understanding weeks or years. Eg, when you leave a dog in a kennel, I don't think they count the days you've been gone, and I think a two day separation is pretty much as traumatic as a two month separation for most dogs. Of course, if they like the kennel you take them, it's you feeling the separation anxiety, not them.

"Of greatest concern, Dr Webster said, are owners' perceptions of what happens to their pets as they age. The survey found 57 per cent of dog owners and just under half of cat owners thought their pets became grumpier as they aged." I'm getting grumpier as I age . . . and part of it is cause I hurt. I think the owners got it right. The surveyor just didn't ask the right question.

Additionally, some of us, like me, are tactless. Sorry about that. I think people are kinda saying the same things in different ways, with different emphasis, and you are headed in the right direction. Advance Puppy is fine. lk;;kl Calcium in whole foods is good and safe because the dog will just pass it if she gets to much (hence the hard white turds of dogs on BARF diets) . . . while calcium supplements at the last minute can cause problems. I don't think anyone would object to the sorts of things you're thinking about . . . and most would agree that you're better off with meat than includes bone. Many dogs are lactose intolerant, so milk can upset tummies . . . but yoghurt, cottage cheese, etc. are fine. I've heard that goat milk is better tolerated than cow milk. I used to make yoghurt from powdered milk by the liter rather than buying the expensive stuff from the supermarket. Best to build up reserves gradually . . . by feeding a healthy diet, whatever that is, in the months leading into the pregnancy. And don't be surprised if she starts having trouble eating toward the end. Sometimes puppies don't leave much room for food in the stomach. "Whenever I see someone trying to help me, I run for my life" (Mark Twain) . . . you're in good company if you feel like running away . . . but it's not necessary.

Guess I risk being called an animal rights-ist for posting this . . . but think it will be an informative show. The trailer suggests there are lots of interviews, including interviews with puppy farmers . . . lots of inside shots. HBO movie follows woman who rescued thousands of dogs from puppy mills August 18, 2011 by Robert Pregulman A week from today, HBO will show a movie about a woman named Laura, a New York woman who "has devoted the last several years to rescuing breeding dogs who are no longer of value to the many Amish and Mennonite puppy millers in Lancaster County, Penn." The movie, called "Madonna of the Mills", will follow Laura as she saved thousands of dogs "who otherwise would have most likely been discarded or killed when their breeding days were over." Looks like it will be a fantastic film. For more information go to the movie's Facebook page. p.s. The problem of puppy farming is much worse in the US than in Oz. I think there's some 'imitate the USA' stuff going on with the current Australian movement. It should be grounded by appreciation of how large the problem is in the US.