sandgrubber

I agree that we should wait to see the coroner's report. . . . and the necropsy results on the dog. But I've never heard of the news source, and not ready to believe it over other, better established sources. If the ladder story is true, I don't understand why the husband isn't endorsing it? He loved the dog enough that he's having the dog's cremated ashes buried with his wife. If the dog is innocent and the police framed and shot his dog, you'd think he'd speak up. Especially, given his support of Bad Rap, etc. p.s. Clicking a few more buttons shows that examiner.com employs citizen reporters, and the woman who wrote the linked story is a pit bull advocate. She calls herself "Pit Bull Examiner". She doesn't live anywhere near the Pacifica CA, and is unlikely to have inside information other than that coming through pit bull circles. See: http://www.examiner..../cindy-marabito edited to add further information on story source

Just seem wrong to take a breed that was bred for a soft mouth and train it to bite and pull. Like putting staffies on a racetrack (ok, that's great for a laugh) . . . or having a daschund pull a cart (that would be pretty funny too). I know it can be done. I've had puppy buyers who allowed the Lab puppy to play run/chase in the land shark phase of puppy development and ended out with a dog that bites hard in play. I'm sure that 'get the bad guy' can be presented as play.

See what others are charging . . . raise or lower depending on the quality of the litter and how many inquiries I'm getting. Ie, like a typical capitalist.

How about, only breeds with <3% incidence in the latest statistics need to be tested? It doesn't fall along big/small lines. Some small breeds have awful scores, ie, pugs. OFFA lists six breeds as having <1% incidence of OCD. It would be silly to require elbow testing in these breeds. see: http://www.offa.org/stats_ed.html In general, I think the importance of testing is some product of the probability of the dog having the condition and how horrible the condition is, moderated by some factor describing the accuracy and expense of the test. HD/OCD, in my book, is pretty awful, but radiographic testing is only moderately good at predicting whether a dog will be clinically affected, inheritance is complicated, and the test is fairly expensive and intrusive.

I don't think the story is fishy. They're doing necropsies, etc. to make sure the dog wasn't rabid. The SF Chron is a reasonably good paper and I don't think they'd run the story if there were major doubts. http://pacifica.patc...-pregnant-woman See also the San Jose Mercury's coverage. http://www.mercurynews.com/san-mateo-county/ci_18671143 Pit bull mauling of pregnant Pacifica woman remains a mystery By Joshua Melvin and Lisa Fernandez A day after the family's pit bull fatally attacked his pregnant wife, Greg Napora said Friday he doesn't blame the dog. He even plans to bury his spouse, Darla, with their pet's cremated remains in her casket. "They are the most loving animals I have ever had in my life. Whatever happened right now was not the breed's fault," said Napora, who found his wife dead when he returned to the couple's Pacifica home from his construction job with plans to take her to lunch Thursday. "It was just a freak accident." Police shot and killed the dog, named Gunner, when they say he approached emergency workers, but Greg Napora said Gunner didn't charge them, as was reported by some media outlets. Horrified neighbors left flowers in front of the tiny white house on Reina Del Mar Avenue, where a "Beware of the Dog" sign hung from the fence. Darla Napora loved her dogs -- 2-year-old male Gunner and a 6-year-old female pit bull, Tazi -- family said, and was an avid supporter of Bay Area Doglovers Responsible About Pit bulls, or Bad Rap, which seeks to change attitudes toward the polarizing breed. She was also ecstatic about being pregnant with the couple's first child, said her mother, Sandy Robinson, of Seattle, who described Darla as the "heart of the family." "She was the one who held the family together," Robinson said. Greg Napora said he does not know why Gunner, who the couple had raised from a puppy, attacked his wife. Investigators also have no idea what may have led to the attack but hope an autopsy of Darla Napora and a necropsy of the dog will give them clues. Greg Napora said he left for work about 8 a.m. as his wife was asleep with both dogs in the bed. When he arrived home about noon, he found the dog standing over her body and made a frantic 911 call. Greg Napora declined to discuss what happened next, but police said his hands were cut while wrestling the dog into another room. Neighbors reported seeing him screaming and covered in his wife's blood as emergency crews worked to save her. Pacifica police Capt. Dave Bertini said investigators have some theories about what happened but are waiting for exam results, which they hope to have back in a few weeks. Police said, however, they have no reason to believe foul play was involved. "But you never know, so that is why we're waiting for the reports to make sure we didn't miss anything," Bertini said. Peninsula animal care officers took custody of the couple's other pit bull, Tazi, and are examining her as part of their effort to piece together the attack. Police said that dog was not involved in the woman's death. The two dogs may have had a fight, said Scott Delucchi, spokesman for the Peninsula Humane Society. But he said it was also possible that Gunner was provoked by something getting in the way of food or a toy he wanted. "We don't know what triggered this," Delucchi said. "Nobody knows." The family wants to get their surviving dog back as soon as possible. "Tazi is kind of our rock. Right now we need her back," Robinson said. "It's what Greg has left right now." ...

If the family member is into the macho thing, and the dog is big and muscly, I'd say 'good luck'. A Rotti breeder I know complains (or is it bragging) that he often gets approached by people with other 'tough' dogs . . . mostly mastiff crosses . . . to use his dogs. He's a Pedigree fanatic, and tells them to shove it. Unfortunately, someone who doesn't give a hoot about Pedigrees and doesn't health test . . . and sees the dog as an extension of his masculinity, is likely to think it's cool to sire a lot of pups. If I were you, I'd push on health testing, though.

It looks to me like Duke has been taught "Protection" as a game (tail wagging, no barred teeth). This is the only way you should be able to get a Lab to approach such things. The Lab's job in society, and the widespread love the breed inspires, are associated with gentleness. . . . I hope Duke is a one off and doesn't start a trend. As for the associated links, the 'Terriable Lab Attack" (of a stuffed animal) is more typical.

I only wish that the 20 year lifespan was the norm, not the exception. We could breed for longevity if we had anything to go by. Why doesn't the Pedigree keep track of deaths as well as births? I know it's hard. But I'd love, when choosing what dog to use, or what pup to buy, to be able to look back through the grands and great-grands and see whether the lineage was long lived or short lived. It really pissed me off to realise that the Canine Assn' has thousands upon thousands of dead dogs on their books and doesn't seem to care. edited immediately to fix oversight.

I think it's outright cruel. Poor dogs are obviously hungry. Teasing them so for human amusement is awful.

For some opinionated commentary and juicy background, see: http://pedigreedogsexposed.blogspot.com/2011/08/facebook-ghosts-and-ghouls.html

I answered N/A to all questions. Health testing and showing are not the only criteria for quality dogs . . . what about working dogs? What about temperament? It matters a lot to me what the facilities are like, and how many people are around to look after the pups. Some show people do some awful things to win shows . .. despite lots of health testing. I don't much trust the regulators . . . and think we have to be careful about what we ask for.

More and more DOL posts center around a YouTube link or other video clip. I have a slow, wireless connections. The phone company calls it broadband, but it's slower than dialup most of the time. I find these links frustrating. Just curious to know if others are having this same problem. Misery loves company .

An interesting concept and it certainly would be of great benefit to a stressed child but I can also see "the can of worms" and a potential bias issue. Although not ALL jurers would be dog lovers so the impact would be divided I guess. One would need to take this into account when selecting a jury. I thought children didn't have to testify in a courtroom situation because of the undue stress and could be hooked up via a video testimony????? I don't understand the need for testimony in an open courtroom. If the father raped and impregnated his daughter, there should be DNA evidence. But given the system felt a need for testimony, I can see why the girl would need all the emotional support she can get. I'd say that Rosie wasn't a bias, but rather a counter bias for the inherent trauma of a girl having to testify against her father.

The Labrador Retriever breed was founded, in large part, through a few large scale UK breeders who imported dogs from the Canadian east coast. The Duke of Buccleuch in particular. It would be interesting to know whether these guys made a profit or where landed gentry who didn't need to make a profit. These days we can't count on landed gentry to run big kennels, though the Queen still keeps a respectable Labrador kennel. But you still find, if you go to shows, larger breeders play an important role in achieving the scale, and the economic resources, to import quality dogs and maintain exchanges with other top kennels worldwide. I know that some of them make a decent living doing so. BFD. They work 72 hours a week. They've taken risks. They've generally put huge resources into their operations. They stay on top of testing, and vet care in general. Ok, you or I may not like the fact that their litters don't run around on the kitchen floor, and their brood bitches tend to be rehomed when they've had the allowed number of litters. Some have concentrated on showing, and don't worry that some of their stock have no drive and may even dislike water. If you're going to attack the show dog establishment, you may find some of these guys are guilty of line breeding and of pushing over-used stud dogs. But you can't deny their central position in the Pedigree dog world.

Interesting. Thanks for posting. For once, a well written news article. Guess you don't get to write for the New York Times if you don't understand spelling, punctuation, and grammar.

In good use of an e-collar, the dog can predict. You want to give the dog control, and ability to avoid the stim. Ie, dog should think "If I do X, I will get stim. If I do Y, I'm safe. I think I'll do Y." Or, "I know how to turn this damn thing off, all I have to do is come when I'm called".

I tried using one in the small dog section of a boarding kennel. I can't say that it helped.

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see http://scaashanghai....procedure.shtml The site is a rescue organisation and seems mostly to be run by, and work with, ex-pats from the US, Europe, and Australia. They sound like real animal lovers with a lot of experience . . . it might be good to have your folks talk with them. Given the way bureaucracy works in China, it may be worth working with a China-based company, especially, as described above, the dog can travel as excess baggage . . . meaning you will be on the same plane and be able to keep an eye on things. Looks like it's not especially onerous.

Disagree. My dogs regularly play bite one another around the neck . . . they do it hard . . . it would break my skin if they did it to me. Because the neck is so up front in fights and so inclined to take hits in hunting, dogs generally have tough skin and often have thick coats around the neck. I'd say thigh with chaps would be a realistic test for dogs with good neck padding, say, a husky or Labrador. Not that chaps are needed to convince most people that the horrid looking thing is actually less painful than a choker chain. I used a prong on one of my girls, who had a bad habit of pulling on the lead. No pressure required. The pulling stopped immediately, but she showed no sign of shock or pain, and was all waggy the next time walkie time came around and the prong collar was pulled out. And after a few walks with the prong collar she gave up pulling for good. I'm not saying the thing is a miracle cure for all dogs or that it won't be misused. But in some cases it's a fantastic training tool.

When I lived in WA I had a 22 yr old Scottie next door. He was fed supermarket food and scraps, and had been all his life. Still had a decent coat, wasn't deaf or blind, and still did the ~2 km walk to the shops with his owner on a regular basis. The neighbour kids -- adults by that time -- remember him as being a terror who was always out, and who sired a good many oops litters.

Or peanut butter . . . it has the advantage of keeping form many months and not needing refrigeration. Dogs love it. I generally give a little dob of P'nut butter to each my dogs at once . . . the dog getting no meds gets it first. Then dog #2 is greedy to get hers too and doesn't notice the pill.

I'm preparing to build a new house. In my days in the boarding kennel business I often wished I could hose down the floors in the house and squeegee to a, as you do in the kennel. The new house will have concrete floors with radiant heating, and drains, plus splash boards on the walls. Also a couple good places for a whelping box, and of course doggie doors. If you could build a new place, what would you add to make life with dogs easier and more pleasant? Or, what features of your present house make it good . . . or bad . . . for dogs?

+1 I think the 'choke chain' should be renamed 'garotte' . . . and anyone speaking against the prong collar should be required to try putting one around their thigh and seeing how painful it isn't. As I've said many times on these forums, the worst unkindness I see with dogs is putting a highly social, moderately intelligent beast in solitary confinement in an unstimulating back yard for the duration of its years. I'm sure if you could give dogs a choice, they'd tolerate a little pain here and there to get stimulation and company.

I live in a state / country where you can buy a prong collar in the local feed store . . . you may need to go to a larger town to buy a halti or martingale. There are no restrictions on e-collars. There are loads of pit bulls, mostly street-bred. You do see prong collars misused . . . mostly on pit bulls. Specifically, you sometimes see dogs constrained in the front yard, tied . . . with a prong collar around the neck. The population that has pittis and uses prong collars tends to be on or near minimum wages and poorly educated. Mixed feelings about all of this, but I'd rather see the dogs under control than jumping fences and attacking the other dogs in the neighborhood. The good, but ugly thing about prong collars is that dogs don't push them. If someone did a study of the necks of dogs who are cruelly kept tied with a prong collar . . . and you'll get this if you don't put constraints on the use of prong collars . . . I doubt you'd find much physical damage. As for psychological damage, I'd guess that the prong collar was a minor contribution to a much larger problem. Only in Victoria (the only place in the world, AFAIK, that has banned them). FYI There are places - actually entire contries ;) where the use of prong collars on dogs is banned.