sandgrubber

https://slate.com/technology/2019/01/stop-buying-grain-free-food-for-your-pets.html

Fascinating article. Huge dataset used to seek DNA roots of behavioral traits as related to breed. Download the preprint for the good stuff. The tables at the end contain the breed comparisons.

IMO the breed clubs should be influencing breeders in this direction. I believe in keeping pedigrees... they are an important tool for controlling heredity disease, avoiding inbreeding, and promoting desirable traits. It's a shame that control of pedigree breeding has come under the thumb of "the fancy" with its tendency to promote extreme physical traits. At one time I would have loved to shift to breeding Bostons, or Frenchies, or pugs... Apart from health concerns, they seem like good options for people living in small spaces. I would have wanted to breed for health, lengthened muzzle, more natural tails, etc. Difficulties getting a pedigree bitch from health tested lines with low COI, put this scenario beyond reach.

Here's a decent article on food allergies http://vetnutrition.tufts.edu/2017/01/food-allergies/

Healthy, mature dogs are unharmed by salmonella. Very strong digestive juices and immune capabilities. Any carrots are fine, cooked or raw. Dogs and people both digest cooked carrots better, but I've never bothered cooking them. I used to buy horse carrots in a 10 kg bag when I was breeding labs. Plain yogurt, no sugar, any brand. Wet food is mostly water, thus expensive, and some think it's bad for the teeth. But IMO adding a little to get a fussy eater to eat isn't so bad.

Most heartworm meds are based on ivermectin. If you have a very nice vet, you may be able to get them to explain how to use the livestock version for your dog. The dog stuff is 10 times as expensive for the same stuff. The other worms need different meds. They can be bad, but aren't likely to kill. As for diet, I wouldn't worry much. Despite all the marketing hoohah, there's bugger all evidence that dogs fed the high price stuff are any healthier or live longer. Unless the dog has a diagnosed condition, like pancreatitis or beef allergy, plain cheap stuff like, say, Coprice, is fine. Adding eggs, yogurt, carrots and other fruit and veg, or raw bones is fine. Looks like your girl is slim... Avoiding overfeeding is the most important dietary trick.

I've seen zero evidence that glucosamine works as a preventative

Why, then, are f1 hybrid seeds so widely used? I haven't systematically looked at hybrid dogs (I kenneled many shih tzu Maltese crosses and from recall, they seem much of a muchness) but from what I learned in biology class, the f1 generation is quite predictable. Mendel's peas, mules, and all that.

Wish more bulldogs had it in them.

Puppies tend to puke when traveling on a full stomach (cars and probably train as well) . With my first litter as a breeder I ended out paying a fairly large vet bill for a puppy buyer who thought the pup was sick because it vomited in the car.

If I followed the recommendations on the bag, my Labbies would be beyond roly-poly. It's always better to go by how fat or thin the dog is... For example, how much rib is showing. You can easily find diagrams for this using Google. I like to see a little puppy fat at 9 weeks, but trim by 16 or 18 weeks. 7-8 kg sounds like a reasonable range (with young Lab pups, my rule of thumb was a tad under 1 kg per week; I was working with relatively big boned, deep chested lines) but a higher figure might be appropriate for a very robust pup, and under 7 kg would be OK for a pup with relatively small frame.

I just bury the stuff... Not real deep. Easy, simple, and it eventually joins the soil

More Bark Than Bite in Iran’s Ban on Walking Dogs https://nyti.ms/2Ux15QI

This is the only one I know of. I wish more dog oriented folks would create such places, but it's a big ask, what with land prices in populated areas and council regulations, etc. Wouldn't it just be wonderful if golf courses could be converted here and there

BTW, here's a web page for the dog park I was talking about https://www.dogwoodpark.com/index.html

IMO trying to solve the plastic problem by banning carry bags is as futile as trying to avoid the greenhouse problem by banning toasters. Yes, there's a problem. Piecemeal solutions aimed at minor parts of the problem won't work. The non-reusable load of plastic packaging remains huge after the much re-used carry bags are banned. Can anyone recommend a user-friendly reusable poo bag?

If you go with lagottos, watch out for inbreeding or close line breeding, and avoid anything with iffy temperament. The breeder I'm thinking of recently died (shot liver from drinking)... but there are folks going for the $$$ who are ruining the breed by breeding anything they can get their hands on. It takes a lot of careful research and selection to revive a breed that was near extinction.

Unfortunately, in Gainesville, Florida. I have not seen the like elsewhere. It was fabulous, and quite safe. One well known regular was an elderly, totally blind Boston terrier who had been coming for years. She did two circuits around the fence line, unattended each time she came.

For awhile I lived near a members only dog park (payment required). 13acres, big old trees, two large ponds, aggressive dogs banned. It was lovely. Some dogs played, some just ran, or wondered. A lot of regulars, who planned meetups with other regulars. The fenced quarter acre sand lot is no comparison, and definitely not worth it

They're elderly. I'm no spring chicken myself. I'd say cruise rescues and find a mature dog that feels right. Pups are difficult for oldies. Milk teeth puncture thin skin, bending over to clean up messes is a chore. Breed matters, but individual temperaments vary greatly within a breed. Keep looking...they'll find one that suits.

I've had mostly good experiences with dogs parks and the occasional problems haven't been serious. It varies greatly, depending on the park, your dog, and time of day. Those who have had serious problems speak louder. No reason to give up on dog parks entirely.

Stupid article, I'd say. Staffies and labs are the most common purebred dogs in Oz, so no surprise they come high on the list. GSDs, ACDs and rotties are common as well. If the ranking were in attacks per 10, 000 dogs (or whatever) it would look quite different. Pitt bulls... outlawed and often owned for the wrong reasons, again no surprise that you can find dirt on them. Big guardian dogs can be pretty dangerous... But 1. There aren't that many of them; and 2. They tend to be in rural environments and not exposed to situations that get dogs reported. The most dangerous dogs are the ones with the least responsible owners. BTW do you count a dog as dangerous if it bites an unsupervised child who pulls its ears or tries to take away a bone?

RARE? The black and tan is one of the more common breeds in the rural South (USA). Very UK centric. But then, what do you expect from Crufts?

Lagottos vary, but bad temperament is common. It's a breed brought from near extinction, and fetches high prices. Some people breed anything and everything. Be VERY selective.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/world/australia/110130120/peta-plans-to-barbecue-dog-in-australian-shopping-mall-to-support-veganism?cid=facebook.post.110130120