sandgrubber

DDD: "Extender leads should be banned." and various posts seem in favor of banning multiple dog walking. I'm all for banning wide access to assault rifles and banning guns in schools... but the history of bans in the dog world is not a good one.

Ban, ban, ban, ban! If I remember right, in WA there's a 180 cm limit on leash length, almost never enforced. That's the same attitude that produces BSL and all the stupid rules regarding dog breeding. I use a retractable lead for my old girl, who is deaf and a little demented, when the others go off lead in bush, because I'm afraid she will wander off in the bushes and get lost. Should this be banned as well? Do you think banning a handful of people who walk multiple dogs in an unsafe manner is going to do anything to cut down the multitude of idiots who muck up walking one or two dogs? How's about a little tolerance? As Grampa used to say: "You can't outlaw stupidity."

No prep here. My mob like loud noises... should be hardwired in gun dogs.

The facts that all the dogs pictured are on long leashes, only one (the border collie) seems to be managed by individual grip on its lead, everyone looks relaxed, and none of the dogs are tangled up suggest that these dogs and dog walkers have been doing this for a long time and have it down to a good routine. You couldn't have an orderly scene if you assembled 8 or 10 dogs at random and just started walking them. I don't think I'd want to cross paths with such a mob when walking my three. But I expect the walkers have a system worked out to avoid chaotic encounters.

Agreed, he's a cutie. The mix and it's unknown-ness could matter if your Council is crazy on BSL. If he could pass as an AmStaff cross, you could have a hard time proving he's not a pit bull cross. Good training and excellent fencing are worth the investment, especially in some locations. It isn't uncommon for dogs to get a bit stroppy when they hit adolescence.

Sled dogs are trained to hold it.

I would be concerned IF it were on a busy street or busy walk path, or IF any of the dogs was reactive. I've walked 8 Labbies on a sand track with no probs. Sled dog teams are often a dozen or more. Bottom line: it depends on a lot of things.

https://www.newyorker.com/tech/elements/as-winter-snows-disappear-dogsled-racers-are-trading-skis-for-wheels

Hey! What weather? If you want help, you gotta give better info. WA temperatures can be bloody hot in December. Yes. As others say:"go see a vet".

Contact allergies? Do you have Tradescantia (aka wandering Jew) growing in your yard? Many dogs are allergic to it.

I don't. They wash one another's faces. A tongue is far better than a wash cloth and cotton swabs.

Proof is a strong word. So is rip-off. I'm skeptical by nature, and suspect dog DNA test results should be taken with a grain of salt. But the supposed 'proof' offered is something I can't swallow. DNA tests vary, hugely. You can't generalize from some site that claims to do human testing to dog testing in general. There's so much crap on the internet. Btw, to my knowledge there are no identical canine triplets...if they exist at all, they are extremely rare.

Dogs sleep on tiles because they are hot and tiles stay cool and draw out body heat. Give the dog a surface that is cooler than tile and I'll bet you, the sleep spot will shift.

Puppies often get car sick, so no worries about puking in the car. I have Labs. Every one I have owned gulps dry food without chewing. I've never noticed it doing any harm.

Lack of fiber IS NOT NATURAL and ISN'T BALANCED! Just because it's expensive and the labels include a number of ambiguous claims doesn't make it a high quality food! Experiment, find out what works for your dog, and don't be worried if it isn't advertised as 'all natural' and doesn't cost $10+/kg. There's a lot of malarkey about dog food and pathetically few credible long term feeding trials.

I went through a phase of being fascinated with Belayev's experiments. The memory and question that lingers relates to degrees of domestication. As I remember, Belayev started out with levels of domestication: A,B,C...etc. and ended up having to add AA and(?) AAA because his foxes kept getting tamer and tamer. The question is whether some breeds of dogs are more domesticated than others...due to more intense selection for ability to live in close contact with humans.

https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/344696/banned-dog-now-library-staff-member Sorry, tried to paste the story but it was too hard ... I'm on a cellphone.

No. Should be fine. My Labbies are gutsers. They won't touch any citrus but eat fallen peaches and apricots. Had a neighbor whose goldies ate lots of lemons with no problems.

Balance isn't the only problem. Mince is often yucky skin, fat globs, and bone--unfit for human consumption and perhaps a bit off-- put through a grinder. I would be careful about feeding it to a pup. Wings and drumsticks are pretty large bones for a puppy and could possibly a choking hazard. Necks and frames are safer. Plus chicken can carry salmonella, which is dangerous to pups until their immune system are fully developed...the source must be clean, human grade.

Or, if it's not urgent or frenzied, it could be nothing. All my dogs like gentle face rubs.

Those are very strong claims. Please provide sources. Eg, I find it hard to believe that dogs on raw diets have gut pH that's 10,000 times more acidic than those fed kibble.

Argument is low value compared to evidence based studies. I have lots of theories about dogs...and other things. I treat theories, my own, especially, with a grain of salt. I find it sad that SO much in the dog world revolves around unsubstantiated claims. BTW, this product isn't high protein, it's high fat. In evolutionary terms, I'd guess that most of nature runs lean except where fat is required for storage or insulation (hibernation, blubber, etc.) so would be suspicious of high fat. I can't find much research on very high fat diets for dogs, apart from recommendation of low fat for pancreatitis.

I did a little searching on ketogenic diets for dogs. To my surprise, there is some clinical evidence indicating that, in some cases, ketosis is helpful for control of epilepsy. Could find no clinical evidence that it is helpful for cancer or weight loss in dogs.

35% fat, 17% protein? Sounds great if you want weight gain and pancreatitis. Given that fat has nearly twice the energy density as protein, this would result in the dog getting roughly 4 times as much energy from fat as from protein. I don't get why people think carbs are so bad for dogs.

I support condemnation of RSPCA seizure of animals and it's ramifications for the animals and the owner. But perhaps that is better discussed under a different heading?