sandgrubber

This comes up every year. And every year they get the physics wrong. They say: " The undercoat provides insulation in the winter and cools the dog in the summer. If your dog has a well groomed coat, with no dead undercoat, the coat keeps the dog warm in the winter by providing insulation and keeping the dog's skin dry. In the summer, it provides a sort of air conditioning system to the dog, keeping him cool. " The undercoat does not and cannot keep a dog cool in summer, unless the outside temperature is higher than the dog's internal temperature (~39 C). It does not provide air conditioning. Would you sleep under a heavy doona when it's 30+ outside? The coat prevents heat exchange with the surrounding air. Heat moves from warmer to cooler regions. So long as the dog's temperature is higher than that of the surrounding air, the coat keeps body heat in and prevents cooling.

I would recommend ditching the 15 lb restriction. Little boys don't stay little, and a large, full-on boy is likely to be too much for a small dog. You're right. Big dogs do sleep on beds . . . all the time. The #1 requirement, it would seem to me, is stable, non-reactive, affectionate temperament. This is more common in larger dogs. I'm no expert on the hypoallergenic qualities, but the little I've read has indicated that the situation is more complicated than commonly assumed. Shedding does not necessarily trigger allergies: it may be skin conditions. Many supposedly hypoallergenic dogs are allergens to some people. Some testing may be in order before deciding what individual dog, of what breed, is appropriate.

Most of the puppies I've owned have liked to chew on hands and feet, as well as almost everything else they can get in their mouths. You could call it biting, but it's not biting out of aggression, it's more play, or teething, or just something puppies do. I haven't had enormous success with the usual suggestions, such as pressing down on their pallet with your thumb when they bite, which is supposed to make the game less rewarding. I find mouthy-ness tends to decline from 6 mo onward and my adult dogs don't do it at all.

Don't just use it on the dogs!My father was a doctor and generally skeptical of homeopathic medicine. The one exception he made was for Calendula cirate (sp?), a homeopathic ointment. At one point, my mother had a stove explode on her and she got 3rd degree burns up and down her arms. She regarded Calendula as a miracle healing agent for the burns . . . exposed them to air and kept applying Calendula.

I'm neither Steve nor Erny. But I've had a lot of dogs, most of them bred by me. I've never had any allergy problems and I feed normal commercial food. When I lived in Oz I fed a lot of chicken carcasses, no doubt from chickens raised in disgusting chicken factories. I use pretty normal schedules of vaccination etc., don't use flea meds if there are no fleas . . . but I'd guess my guys get pretty average exposure to chemicals. The fact that you have brothers, one fine and one affected, strongly suggests that there's a genetic problem involved. One pup won in the genetic lottery. The other drew a bad hand. It won't help you in ameliorating the problem, but I would suggest discussing the problem with your breeder. Something in the genetic is going on. At minimum, the mating should not be repeated. Preferably, the breeder should try to figure out if the problem has arisen in other pups from that bitch (or dog), and if it has, the bitch (or dog) should be removed from the breeding population.

1. I accept the argument that preservation of genetic diversity is important, hence that having a large number of dogs produce a relatively small number of pups is preferable to having a small number of 'excellent' examples dominate the next generation. 2. It is my experience that some breeders use limited register as a means to try and preserve a monopoly (ok, not a monopoly, but a restricted supply) on pups of their breed. 3. I find that 'improving the breed' in many instances means selecting for the type that is winning in the ring in this decade, often to the exclusion of earlier types with less extreme characteristics. Putting these together, I applaud QLD in questioning widespread use of limited register.

Same here, mine run off too if I even think of putting anything on them. Spot ons can cause problems if you have multiple dogs and they lick one another.

I met a lot of oodles when running a boarding kennel in WA. I wouldn't say they are any better or any worse than any other dog in terms of health or behavior. Sure, some are obnoxious. But their owners tend to be affluent and not experienced dog people; many were bought from pet shops. So the odds were good that they would be spoiled and poorly trained.

when I was little, lots of people objected to calling children 'kids'. 'Fur babies' isn't part of my vocabulary, but I couldn't care less if others use the term. I call mine 'baby', 'puppy', 'girl' and 'kids' all the time, regardless of their ages. What's the difference?

I use Ivermectin sold for livestock...same stuff as the active ingredient in Heartguard. You get it out of the bottle with a syringe. I just shoot up an egg (cracked, inject the yolk). The volume used is tiny and dogs don't know the difference. Dosage information is all over the internet...the practice is widespread in the US. I use pyrantel pamoate liquid for regular worming. The volume is pretty small, and the dogs don't notice it when mixed in with their food.

A useful tool, but not a panacea. They're going to have to figure out some way to mark dogs who have been done for it to work with strays, lest they repeatedly do the same dogs; and they're going to have to be sure to get all the boys. One good escape artist can impregnate a lot of bitches.

can't think of much my crew are frightened of, other than the electric fence (gee, wonder how that happened). They startle when something large is out of place. After a wind storm, the garbage can in the middle of the road may set them off . . . but they figure this out in a few seconds. My first Lab was generally unflappable, but for reasons unknown, frantically afraid of starfish. She would circle them, barking, with an occasional nip in toward the center, not getting close enough to bite, as some dogs will with prey they regard as very dangerous (eg, puppies with a blue tongue lizard).

So a shelter sells one particularly cute pup for $1000. The $200 crossbreed is still out there . . . and there will always be purebred dogs out there at less than full prices for people willing and able to do a breeders' contract, or take a retired dog or a dog that didn't make the grade as a s service dog or competitive sports dog. Sure, if you want a trendy breed that doesn't free whelp, like a Frenchie or a Boston, you're going to have a hard time finding discounted prices. And if your environment is not what breeders like to see, you may not find someone willing to let you have one of their 'specials'. The bottom line with dogs is that they are capable of very rapid reproduction (look how fast wolf populations rebound where they are reintroduced), and so long as people don't take to eating dog meat, there will be surplus production.

I actually feel very similarly to you. I am not really trying to argue a point and I see nothing wrong in asking difficult questions, I actually think it is necessary sometimes. Personally, as I said before, I don't really agree with the whole zoo concept and I actually felt pretty strongly (in a negative way) about this story when I first read about it. However, after thinking about it I could not really find any logical reason to fault the zoo for their actions. I guess I am kind of asking questions to see if anybody has reasonable arguments to either legitimize or refute my own opinion. Nobody has to feel or think the same way I do but by getting to read lots of other people's opinions I actually feel like my understanding is being enhanced, both of the logical and the emotional issue. I am not trying to convince anybody that this is the way all zoos should do things or that this is the best idea since sliced bread, I am just trying to understand the reasoning behind why this is not ok but other things are. Some people seem to be getting a little miffed because they cannot really explain their feelings. I don't think there is anything wrong with not being able to explain feelings, that is, after-all the nature of feelings, no need to get all irritated. I guess some people perhaps don't really want to think about difficult questions of ethics, and that is fine, too. I guess I kind of feel like I do things that other people might find questionable on ethical grounds and so do other people and I am trying to find some answers. Why are certain things ok, but others aren't, when there is only a marginal difference in circumstance. Where and how do people draw a line? Why is t not ok to question this? Not sure if I am doing a good job explaining this at all, I guess it's late and we've probably all had a long day. Nobody is forced to participate in this discussion and everybody is free to leave any time they like of course. I'm reminded of the Vulcan vs everyone else debates on Star Trek (I usually side with the Vulcan).

Disappointed. I thought it was going to be about a speed dating event where singles with dogs met other singles with dogs. Now that would be a good idea! Might be messy to stage, though. As far as a rescue strategy . . . great if it works . . .

Would that as much thought went into dog breeding programs as zoo breeding programs. Yes, I find this disturbing. But I can hardly turn on the flipping TV without finding something disturbing, say nothing of the news. People have some strange and terrifying appetites.

Japanese Chin?

Are health criteria important to your friend? If so I would steer away from the Frenchie and Bulldog unless they are in a position to be very selective about breeders. High popularity and rareness of free whelping tend to make these breeds super expensive, and high prices have attracted a lot of for-profit breeders. Vet bill are often high and lifespans often short. Also note, both breeds cope badly with high temperatures.

Chanced on this site . . . IMO it's great, includes not only great illustrations, but also useful academic references . . . needed to share http://animalfarmfou...ls-infographic/

By popular request, added a Nothing option.

Months back someone did a poll about dogs sleeping in the bed. If I remember right about half of the respondents allowed their dogs in/on the bed. I'm one of those. Sometimes I wonder why.

The heartworm picture is confusing, but my guess is you're ok. Wouldn't hurt to do a test before resuming treatment, but chances are very high that it will come back negative. When I lived in WA, my vet (who had spent years doing vet work in aboriginal communities in the Top End) told me that treatment every three months was sufficient to upset the lifecycle of the heartworm, and in theory, to prevent infection. However, given Murphy's law and human error, she recommended every two months. She also said that testing after a lapse, before resuming treatment in the warmer months, did eliminate a very tiny risk, but the risk was so small that she was ok with it. She said some of the older, daily dose tablets were dangerous for an infected dog, but the newer 'monthly' treatments were, by-in-large, safe. For a sceptics point of view on heartworm, you might want to read: http://terriermandotcom.blogspot.com/2008/05/billion-dollar-heartworm-scam.html Here's an extract, but it's worth reading the whole thing: The drugs used to kill heartworm microfilaria are Ivermectin (Heartgard, Heartgard Plus, Iverhart, Merialand Verbac) or Milbemycin (Interceptor, Safeheart,Sentinal and Norvartis). Both drugs are nematode poisons, and in both cases a single dose will kill all microfilarial infection that occurred up to 90 days earlier (i.e. all Stage 3, 4 and young Stage 5heartworm infections). I now live in an area of the US that is horrible for heartworm. Like many people who have several dogs, I use Ivermectin sold for cattle, following a dosage regime that has been ok'd by my vet. I simply inject 0.1 cc of serum / 10 lb of dog into their food. . Usually, I put it into an egg or yoghurt. This is the chemical equivalent of HeartGuard (not HeartGuard Plus, which also contains Pyrantel for intestinal worms). Of course, research would be required to follow this protocol in Oz, cause the concentrations sold in ivermectin sold for livestock may be different than those used in the US, and if your dog doesn't tolerate Ivermectin, this solution is no solution.

I'm not convinced that BREED is irrelevant. I disagree with Haredown Whippets that scientific studies discredit use of the breed concept. There are many, well constructed studies that show strong differences in dog behavior for different breeds. A couple of these are cited in Studies About Dogs in the pinned part of General. Differences in temperament will lead to differences in propensity to bite. I don't think anyone who has been around dogs a lot doesn't have an a priori sense of what to expect of a dog just by looking at it. No one is real surprised to hear an ACD bailed someone up, but you wouldn't expect it of, say, a greyhound or poodle. Many will regard a calm, laid back young Jack Russell as having exceptional temperament. The problem is that breed only tells you the statistical tendency for the category. It doesn't say anything about the individual. Worse still, it ignores the owner; and the owner, both by selection of what pup or dog to buy, and by the way they raise the dog, will have a huge effect on where the dog ends out on the bell curve of aggression. A drongo who likes images of blood and terror will seek a pup whose sire and dam have a reputation for being mean and muscular, and raise the pup to bring out that potential. If you ban a breed and effectively make it unavailable, the drongo will find another breed to work with. You can find fearsome individuals in a lot of breeds. BSL is analagous to trying to get rid of crime by taking the area code of a high crime district and throwing everyone in jail...because there is a higher-than-normal probability they will commit crime. Or assuming that because someone is over 65, they are in failing health. By ignoring the owner, BSL especially hurts people who favor bull breeds because they are generally waggy, funny, hardy creatures ... including the people who will take a dog with potential for meanness and bring out its gentle side. Over time, such people, by selectively breeding from the dogs with better temperament, will move the breed tendency away from the 'mean' type.

Sprocket, my first Labbie, loved playing fetch with a tennis ball. I used to hit balls with a tennis racket for her. We were in a park and a boy, about 12 yrs, took over the job of hitting balls. He missed and got Sprocket full swing hard in the face. I thought that would put her off. Not at all. Her tail kept going as to say: "Stop goofing around, you. Hit the ball."

Can anyone interpret the sentence:" Based on the information provided by the RSPCA recently, you appear to have failed to meet your statutory obligations under section 41 (2) and may also have exceeded your powers in other areas," he said in the letter dated April 16. What statutory obligations does the RSPCA have?