sandgrubber

If you or others want to write letters to appropriate people, you can cite the AVA at http://www.ava.com.au/newsarticle/new-dog-laws-victoria The biggest problem is determining whether an animal is actually a Pit Bull or Pit Bull cross, or whether it is a cross involving other breeds. There is no DNA test which can identify an animal as a Pit Bull or cross, so the determination can only be made on physical appearance. This is a grey area that can, and will be, contested in court. I'd hope someone is setting up a court case to contest the law . . . at least, once it's published. It isn't clear what powers of search and seizure it gives, nor whom is empowered to search and seize.

Very offensive and should be removed. People have the right to make fools of themselves, though (at least in the USA, according to the Supreme Court) not to shout 'fire' in a crowded building. I don't see this starting a stampede. When I saw the Nazi'ism tag I expected a thread about pedigree dog breeding, eugenics, and fascist.

Does anyone have a link to the text of the law? The AVA news item says a lot, and sounds on target http://www.ava.com.au/newsarticle/new-dog-laws-victoria Changes to the Victorian Domestic Animals Act 1994 took effect on 1 September. They attempt to address community concern about dog attacks and include the following changes. Councils can now seize and impound wandering dogs if they are unidentifiable and believed to be a danger to the public. The dog can be euthanased within 48 hours if unclaimed. A dog that has previously been declared a Dangerous Dog found wandering can be seized and impounded, and euthanased after 24 hours. All cats and dogs 3 months of age and above must be registered and wear council identification on public property. New laws have been introduced that affect declared Menacing, Dangerous and Restricted Breed Dogs. . . . . "AVA supports many parts of the legislation, but we were particularly vocal against the breed specific regulations. AVA policy is that 'deed, not breed' should be the determining factor in the assessment and treatment of dogs. This fact has been well communicated to both the Bureau and the Minister, who are fully conversant with AVA's position," said Bill. The AVA's special interest group for animal behaviour, together with the Australian College of Veterinary Scientists, produced an excellent submission on the proposed legislation, which was submitted to the Bureau of Animal Welfare and to the Minister. The key area of disagreement is over the breed specific parts of the legislation, essentially the restrictions on Pit Bull Terriers. The restricted breeds include: American Pit Bull Terrier (or Pit Bull Terrier), Perro de Presa Canario (or Presa Canario), Dogo Argentino, Japanese Tosa, or Fila Brasileiro. Breeds other than Pit Bulls and their crosses are either unrepresented or nearly so in Victoria. The biggest problem is determining whether an animal is actually a Pit Bull or Pit Bull cross, or whether it is a cross involving other breeds. There is no DNA test which can identify an animal as a Pit Bull or cross, so the determination can only be made on physical appearance. This is a grey area that can, and will be, contested in court.

Snakes are cold blooded and their activity is temperature dependent. At 18 C, you're not likely to see many snakes and those you see will be moving real slow. (I was told 20 C, but based on personal experience, I'd put the number a little lower). When I lived in WA, I did walkies around sunrise to get minimum temperature and lowest snake activity. Snakes don't enter true hibernation, and a warm spell in winter will wake them up.

No problem. If you don't like the separation of the yoghurt, whip up the eggs with the yoghurt. You could even throw in some oatmeal and flaxseed and other goodies and make a healthy 'ice cream'. Egg yolk is a good emulisfier and should help keep the yoghurt from separating. But really, separation of yoghurt doesn't affect its nutritional value, and it's hard to get anything to grow on dairy products that will harm a dog. I feed moldy cheese ends to mine all the time.

My Lab girls usually do double digits, though 10 is most common. I have only topped up when mastitis caused nursing problems . . . or there was a runt who was getting pushed off so much that he/she needed a little help. Remember, newborns don't drink nearly as much milk as they will at 4 weeks. If you start giving them milk+clean ground meat at ~18 days, you can begin taking the pressure off the bitch as the pressure starts to get heavy. I would invest in a puppy litter feeding dish (see, eg. http://www.amazon.com/Puppy-Litter-Feeding-Dish-Inch/dp/B003VTQ0JM) cause it gets messy when they're learning to feed. These will handle nine pups or even 10, you may want two if you end up with a dozen.

Sorry to hear about what happened. I'd do more than send an email. I would phone and ask to talk to the Chief Ranger . . . make a real stink . . . until I see some sign that the dogs are in solid confinement and their owners have gotten a serious fine. Lots of people these days ignore email, and the person responsible for reading it is often low on the totem-pole.

Contact details for Bill Shorten are at: http://www.billshorten.com.au/more/index.cfm?Fuseaction=more_43084 ph. (03) 9326 1300 If you happen to live in his district, I'd suggest dropping him a line, or giving a call.

Enlarged nipples, possible without whelping. Saggy bags, in my experience, only develop through nursing. They may require a large litter and heavy milk production. Not sure.

I'd say the real question is how humans get along, not how dogs get along. One of my dogs threw up on my sister-in-law's rug and they have since been banned from the house. The result . . . I no longer visit. If you take a hard line, you may prevent future visits from your in-laws. If that's what you want, go for it. If you want to make it work, I'm sure you can. If worse comes to worse and your pup gets too rough, the poodle can be put in a bedroom when people can't or don't want to watch out for problems.

Has anyone experimented with meds used on cattle for tick prevention? eg fluazuron? http://www.ah.novart...ak_cattle.shtml or Mitaban (seems to be prescription only for dogs. . . amitraz is active ingredient . . . widely used for cattle . . .applied as a drench . . . also used for mange mites)

Yes, I've got no idea. Sandgrubber, if you add 'Don't know' to the poll options, I'd choose that. I thought about putting a 'don't know' in, but it would have swamped all the other answers, so I decided to force a choice.

All this fuss about pit bulls. I'm curious. How many of them do people think there are? Are there any credible statistics? (I stated 'pureblood' rather than 'pedigree' because I don't think the AKC recognises pit bulls).

The story below. Not sure it says anything about pit bulls, but it sure as heck suggests that fines for dangerous dogs are too low. I'd say the guy deserves a little time in the slammer, as well as a big civil penalty for vet bills, medical bills, grief and suffering, and permanent harm done to her dog. Woman's pit bull attack ordeal A TOP End woman is taking legal action after she was attacked by her neighbour's pit bull. SARAH CRAWFORD | August 26th, 2011 Chris Vanderburgh, now living in Cairns, with her dogs Spencer and Georgie who were attacked by a pit bull at her Darwin home. STEWART McLEAN Christine Vanderburgh had to call a council ranger to remove the American pit bull terrier she trapped inside her Darwin home. She said the attack was frighteningly similar to one in Melbourne last week where a four-year-old girl was killed. Ms Vanderburgh was mauled and her pedigree dog had its testicles partially ripped off when the pit bull attacked them in her yard. She said the pit bull dug underneath the fence of her Tiwi home in a surprise attack one afternoon when she returned from work. The dog chased Ms Vanderburgh through the yard and cornered her and her two french mastiffs at the front door. "It bowled me over and lunged under my boy's legs," she said. "Pitbulls are the pits and Pitbull owners are sick. Wanta tell the world you are STUPID? Get a pit." "I managed somewhere in the attack to throw the dog through the doggie door." Ms Vanderburgh said she slammed the door shut and called Darwin City Council to help remove the vicious animal from inside her home. The chef had a dislocated wrist, bites and two fingernails ripped off. Her french mastiff, Spencer, had to undergo surgery to stop internal bleeding and have his testicles removed. Darwin City Council regulatory services manager David Neall said owners of the pit bull were fined $822. The dog was declared a category one animal, which means the owners had to put a sign on their Trower Rd home warning people about their pet. They also had to reinforce their fence. American pit bulls are not illegal in the Territory, but it is illegal to import the breed into Australia. The attack cost Ms Vanderburgh $2000 in vet bills. She is seeking compensation from the pit bull's owners.

I think the public, including most politicians, is clueless about the difficulties of breed identification. How about somebody organising an event . . . call it, say "full of Bull" . . . . invite a bunch of people with X-breeds that look bull breed like (though it would be good to a few short haired muscular medium sized dogs with no bull in them), plus some pedigree Am Staffs, and then play "spot the pit bull" . . . If you played it right, you might even get some 'experts' to make fools of themselves in public, with media present.

One of my vets said it was ok to substitute rice plus some cooked lean ground meat for Hills L/D. She may have even recommended some cooked soft veg. Post in a new thread with title like "recipe to replace Hills L/D needed" and I'll bet someone will be able to give you a recipe for a substitute.

I stand corrected. Looks like The Conversation . . . which published the article . . . is independent academic something-or-other, started through support from Founding Partners: ANU, Monash, Melbourne, UTS, UWA, plus CSIRO. Still looks like the bar has been set low for PhD research.

Shame on Monash University for publishing this. If this is PhD work there should be some note of the supervisors, etc., some research plan, and more apparent content than reworking of well-worked, opinionated positions. I hope Ms Watson is actually going to do some research to fill in the gaps. There is useful research to be done on this subject. I could, for example, see a good PhD based on interviews with the people who would end up with responsibility for enforcing a breed ban. I'd love to see the results, for example, of asking a few hundred Rangers to take the 'identify the pit bull' test. I see no sign of original research here; it looks like someone with a set position jumping into a topic to accumulate material supporting their position.

Come on, think harder. The prohibition of bull and bear baiting worked pretty well, as did the UK ban on cart dogs. Are you to young to remember when hairspray contained CFC's? Breed bans hard due to problems of identification and enforcement. Staffies are extremely common in Australia and SBT crosses are everywhere. Some of them look vaguely like APBTs, especially to someone who has never seen an APBT . So there's a huge grey area, and a large population of people who stand to get VERY p'd off by bans that seriously begin knocking off X-breeds.

Really? I always thought it was the GSD. GSD is #2 in the US and #3 in Australia. I was wrong, in 2010 the SBT overtook the Lab in number of registrations, and may be the most common breed, though numbers are similar. In the UK the GSD isn #4, behind Lab, springer spaniel and cocker spaniel.

I just discovered the OFFA database. Wonderful to find you can follow through a dog's progeny, half siblings, etc. for hips/elbows/CERF and cardiac . .. if and where tests were done. see, eg http://www.offa.org/display.html?appnum=283997#animal The vertical pedigree option is useful, too.

GR's are generally softer dogs than Labs BB.. I suggest if you're serious you meet as many as possible. I think that there are as many temperament differences as there are physical ones. You should also look at Flat Coated Retrievers.. wonderful dogs and probably a bit softer than some Labs. I would ignore this advice. Choose your breed according to you preferences. Choose a breeder who is aware of temperament. Temperament tends to be hereditary in gun dogs and pretty predictable. There has been a rash of aggressive or posessive and bite-inclined Goldies over the last few decades, so don't take it for granted that a Goldie will be soft. See, eg. http://www.ygrr.org/...aggressive.html http://retrieverman....ore-aggressive/ Guide Dogs has done lots of breed temperament comparison studies, and they keep going back to Labs because the chance of finding rock solid temperament and high intelligence and trainability is high in Labs. PF uses Labs as strawmem. There's plenty you can dig up on individual Labs. They are, afterall, the most common pedigree dog in the US, Canada, UK, and Australia, and very popular elsewhere. So even if they're proportionally very low in incidence of aggression, etc., you can always find a few exceptions, and they may come up numerically significant. If there were as many poodles as labs, there would be a lot more poodle attacks. Some work-oriented Lab breeders may aim for high drive for hunting and may produce some dogs who have more energy than you might want in your household. But in general, those breeders are happy to tell you what they're doing. Personally, I like a dog that is sufficiently solid that you feel something when you lean on them or pat them so hard it gives a good thump. And I'd rather see muscles than a flowing (care-intensive) coat. The flip side of this is young dogs that may bowl you over if they hit you from the backside, and who need to be trained not to jump up cause they are inclined to scratch the paint on a car . . . or scratch you if you have bare legs. Goldies and flatcoats are less satisfying to me than Labs.

I can't find the original standard, but there's a good comparison of standards at http://www.canadasguidetodogs.com/labrador/labarticle6.htm Basically, all say the skull should be broad but not disproportionate or overdone. A big head on thin legs looks awful. Note, there are lots of dual purpose labs whose breeders aim to keep to show standards, but still maintain a working dog. Note also that the 'working lab' group includes broad-deep chested Labs with relatively large heads and strong legs. Google 'Master Hunter Labrador Retriever' and you'll find lots of examples. Eg http://www.masterlabradors.com/chgoosemh.html

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/44254505/ns/today-today_pets_and_animals/#.TlT2bea2H8E By Jennifer Emert WSMV-TV Albany, GA — A Georgia dog apparently has a taste for the finer things in life. The pooch dined on a meal of $10,000 worth of diamonds. Honey Bun often walks the counters at John Ross jewelers. He's not much of a guard dog, but he is great on customer relations. "He's been loved," said co-owner Chuck Roberts. Customers sometimes hide treats in their purse for Honey Bun, but the Roberts' recently learned this pampered pooch has more expensive taste. It happened two weeks ago when a customer came in. "A customer came in and I jumped up out of my chair and came out here to wait on him. And I left the chair where you could jump up on my chair and jump up on my desk," said Roberts. On the desk: four packs of loose diamonds, about a carat each to set in diamond earrings, pens, and dog treats. When he returned, only three packs remained, and an empty pouch was lying on the floor. "Looked all over and there weren't no diamonds, so immediately, I knew he'd eaten them," said Roberts. Since Honey Bun wasn't talking, there was only one way to find out. Carbon doesn't show up on an x-ray, but two blank spots confirmed honey bun was a likely suspect. It only took a day, and they found another surprise. "The next afternoon, sure enough, the earring back and two diamonds were recovered. No panic," said Steve. Honey Bun was guilty as charged, but this pooch was granted a reprieve. "I haven't scolded him to this day and won't," said Roberts. "It was my fault for leaving the chair there. That's why." It's taught Roberts a valuable lesson. He's now very cautious about where he leaves his desk chair, and they're keeping a closer eye on honey bun, especially around the precious gems. The diamonds were cleaned up and sent back to the supplier. As for Honey Bun? He got a clean bill of health.

I've gotten so I can't sleep without hearing my old girl snore. Figure I've got more anxiety problems than the dogs. But jeez, I wish they wouldn't take naps on the bed when they're soaking wet or muddy :D. My bad. I should keep closer watch on their comings and goings. BFD. More laundry.