sandgrubber

The Wikipedia gives a nice treatment of the pit-bull question . . . shows the value of letting everyone have a go at writing and rewriting the definitive article can work well. Lots of good references, which make the roots of disagreement clear. See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pit_Bull The Wiki on BSL is also a good read http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breed-specific_legislation Surprised to see how many places put the APBT, the ASBT, the SBT and the Bull Terrier in the same category . . . guess that makes it possible to gloss over the difficulties many people have in specifying which is which.

Glad you found a cause. Sounds pretty awful. Hope the surgery does the job. Never underestimate a dog's ability to remain stoical in the face of pain.

Some of this depends on how you kick. If you don't swing and thus don't deliver with force, I don't see that foot taps or shoves are a problem. I tap my dogs lightly, or give them a shove, with my foot when they are standing in the doorway and I have something in my hands. They react to a foot the same way they react to a hand. (Duh! are you trying to tell me something, ok if you insist I'll move my butt).

I'm not in Melbourne, so have no vet suggestions . . . but you might consider putting up a new post asking for a good vet for complex internal problems in your area of Melbourne. It would be worth driving and extra 15 minutes to get better diagnosis.

http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/c...?nclick_check=1 Monterey County Sheriff's K-9 dog euthanized after it attacks another dog</h1>By Daniel Lopez Monterey County Herald Posted: 01/13/2010 05:16:18 PM PSTUpdated: 01/13/2010 05:30: A Monterey County Sheriff's K-9 police dog was euthanized Wednesday after escaping from its home, killing another dog and attacking a second. Sheriff's officials said the dog, Bosco, a Belgian Malinois, ran away from the Aromas home of its handler, about 3 a.m. The handler, deputy Justin Patterson, apparently let the dog out of the house and it did not return when called, sheriff's officials said. "Police K-9s are very disciplined dogs. This is way out of character for a K-9," said Sheriff's spokesman Cmdr. Mike Richards. A sergeant and several deputies were sent to search for Bosco and four hours later additional deputies and a helicopter joined the search, officials said. Residents of the Aromas area also received a telephone call through the county's alert system, asking them to keep an eye out for the missing dog. Officials said that about 9 a.m. a resident of the 200 block of Carneros Road called 911 reporting that Bosco had killed their family dog and attacked another pet dog. Bosco was held in a kennel by the homeowner until deputies arrived. The sheriff's K-9 was euthanized Wednesday afternoon because it had "acted unexpectedly" once in the past, Richards said. Richards said he could not discuss the prior incident involving Bosco, which happened last year, because a claim against the county is pending. Bosco was with the sheriff's office for about two years, working exclusively with Patterson. Richards said the dog was 3 to 5 years old, originally from the Netherlands and trained to respond to commands in Dutch.

Thanks, Andrew Antoniolli JP(QUAL) Councillor for Division 7 for providing the other side of the story. I have had dogs end up in the pound twice (my dogs once, a visiting fence-jumper the other time). I live at the intersection of four Councils, so finding dogs requires a few calls . . . but still, I have been able to locate my dogs within hours of their going missing by hammering away at the phone. (My dogs were microchipped but the chip had migrated and the Rangers didn't find the chips). Getting them back was inconvenient . . . pound hours are limited, etc., and I had to pay some fines, etc. I'm not in QLD. But I think it's the case in most of Australia, that if your dog gets out, a sensible first step is to call the local Pound and leave a number . . . so in case the dog is turned in hours later, it will be on record as missing. And to accept that, like many other things, Murphy's Law is in force. It's better to be obnoxious and keep phoning than risk your dog being PTS or rehomed. If you don't think 3 days is long enough, find out what the limit is at your local council . . . and have a go at getting the limit increased by legal means.

I have a litter that's 5 weeks and 4 days. This is the first litter I've tried on Pedigree Advance . . . started with the general puppy and have recently switched to Large Breed (they're Labradors). I have pretty consistently had sloppy poohs, and am just starting to get the kind you can pick up rather than scraping. If I remember right, the poohs have gone solid earlier with other foods. But my memory often plays tricks. What sort of patterns have others observed? Does it have anything to do with what you're feeding? Or maybe summer litters are different than winter litters?

Too cute! If I let my dogs have a bean bag my whole house would be covered with bean mulch!

I'd give it a try as best suits your schedule . . . knowing there's a risk of non-conception. Be clear with the stud dog owner that this is a possibility . . . and see if you can build in a re-mating at no cost (with the other girl if necessary) if there are no pups. Sometimes the lining of the uterus gets lines with stuff that makes it hard for eggs to attach. My repro vet has a treatment for this, but for the 4 yr old bitch I tried to mate the treatment didn't succeed.

People who say 'throw back' -- throw back to what? I don't think wolves, foxes, coyotes or any other wild caniids have them (at least not regularly). I had a dog with double read dewclaws (non-pedigree Rotti) in kennels. It upset me to look at his feet. Never seen one that was bony, just the fleshy, easy-to-tear variety. oOH! Those would be painful if they got torn and they are just waiting to be torn. If RSPCA is suggesting that breed clubs re-examine their breed standards, I'd say sic them on read dewclaws, and expecially double dewclaws. I doubt this feature 'just happens'. There's got to be some mode of inheritance.

Not sure whether this, and the other clips that You-tube brings up on the side, speaks to fighting-breed specific legislation, or fighting breed-specific regulation. Some of the other clips shown (eg Perla in the Argentinian one . . . which shows beautiful 20 kg bitch, all muscle, quite happily pulling a car and the same doing some amazing feats hanging off a tyre swing mounted high in a tree) leave one in awe of the power of some examples of the breed (APBT). It's impressive that all the clips that have the word 'fight' seem to have millions (literally) of hits (compared to typically 20,000 for a dancing dog routine). Sadly, I think there are a lot of sick people who love blood 'sport', and the abused dog shots in the posted clip are real causualties of dog fighting and the abusive owner crowd that are drawn to super-charged dogs. Sadly, also, the power of such a dog, if not properly managed, could easily end out with a SWF . . . or for that matter, a fight niave SBT or Retriever, being torn to shreds in an off-lead dog park. I'm not a genius with matters of law, and can't say how it should best be done, but one part of me says that extr-powerful dogs -- like high power weapons -- need special consideration. Would be best if that consideration were directed to protecting the dog's welfare. . . . and more policing powere were directed toward catching, and locking up, dog fighters.

I take 'poison for dogs' reports with a grain of salt (meaning I may pay attention enough to watch the dog afterward, but don't panic). . . unless I have good reason to believe. I think there were half a dozen suspect grape poisoning cases where the dog died in the US one year. At that rate, it's like labeling peanuts as 'poison for children'. I've also heard that avocados and tomatoes are poison to dogs . . . .mine love both.

She probably got it from my post. 10.8 is unlikely to be be 1.08 because that's still highly concentrated (I think it would indicate severe dehydration if it's possible at all). So, guess, guess, 1.008, which some vet nurse may have translated 1.008 into ten, eight out (which you interpreted as 10.8) of some slangy tendency. You're right. Best to get the written report before going far in interpreting the numbers.

My girls have an old QS bed. I try to sleep in the dog bed, making sure the prego girl is close. Not quality sleep, but leaves me in better shape than watching the tube or reading.

Sorry I'm a bit ignorant here. The test was called specific gravity and when I asked 10.8 was a figure I was given and told she was not concentrating her urine. I was hoping I could research it a bit but it's not much help not knowing what it is . I can probably get a print-out next week. (As it happened the first urine test got lost in the system and I had to take another one in.) I am also not sure of the other tests you mentioned but I know they tested for glucose and said she is not diabetic. What a bummer! Taking one sample is bad enough! Sounds like a decimal place has gotten misplaced along with the sample. Specific gravity essentially measures whether something is heavier or lighter than water. A specific gravity of 10 would mean that a litre of the substance weighed 10 times more than a litre of water. Urine is generally a tiny bit heavier than water. The more concentrated urine is, the higher the SG. A dog with a reading of 1.008 would be having trouble concentrating. If the dog isn't passing a lot of water, this probably means that stuff that should be cleaned out with the wee is being retained.

As I understand it, birth size has more to do with how well they are plumbed into the goodies in the uterus. No significance for eventual size. Proportions, however, are likely to stay true. Big bones at birth are likely to be big bones to adulthood. When I've had a runt, he or she has almost always caught up with the others by 8 weeks.

I have a problem with bookworms

Bump. Any news? Fingers crossed for your girl.

Anybody heard anything further on this one? Hope the guy's ok.

Have a chew on a smako some time. They're very salty. Not something I want to feed my dogs on a regular basis. p.s. I haven't tried rawhide chews so can't comment. My dogs swallow them whole and I've never seen one come out the other end whole . . . so I presume they are at least digestable.

I seem to remember that events like this (sometimes involving substitution of a so-so stud for one with a winning record who commands a high stud fee) is why the greyhound racing folks DNA test all matings. Might not be a bad idea for pedigree dogs . . . or at least main register. If it's done routinely, the price will come down and people will be a lot more careful.

Best luck. This may not be helpful in your case, and won't cure any physical ailment. I often find that some dogs who won't eat in the boarding kennel suddenly become good eaters if they sense that someone else will steal their food if they don't get on with it.

Scratches look bad on gloss. They don't show as much on matt finishes, or on the 'natural' penetrating oil finishes that the green crew are promoting (with Jarrah floorboards, you can just pour cooking oil over your boards and come out with something dark and mellow that doesn't show scratches). Personally, I'm not vain, don't care so much about looks, but I do want to be able to keep things clean. Tiles are great if the grout lines are high and don't become pits full of dirt. Floorboards . . . similar . . . if they're 1 or 2 mm apart they can become great dirt repositories. Lino . . . forget it unless it's heavy industrial grade (expensive).

from a geek perspective, checking names should be a 20 second proposition if they set the system up right. Usually they don't set the system up right initially, but if the powers that be invest in digitizing the historical record, it gets better over time, and eventually the 20 second proposition should become something that causes a momentary delay when you submit a name.

I would say to get the sex you are happiest with, whatever you get, the first dog will be the one you learn with. show you are keen to keep showing and learning and you are more likely to get a better dog in the future. You don't have to breed with the first dog you buy! Personally, I'd start with a girl. If you have secure fences and can cope with a little blood, seasons aren't a big deal. If you show, you'll learn your dog's strengths and faults and be in a position to look for what sort of 'partner' your dog should have to build on strengths and correct faults. If you have a boy, and your initial dog is short on a few points, you won't find anyone willing to loan you a girl. If you have a girl, and are good at describing your breeding objectives and saying why you want to use a specific dog, you'll generally find you can get stud services. for me, the buzz of breeding is seeing what comes out of a mating . . . setting goals for each litter and then seeing if the resulting litter lives up to those goals. Very hard to do with a dog.