sandgrubber

The bigger factor is no time. What with single parent families and households where both parents work, not to mention everybody being very busy with all sorts of activities and kids obsessed with video games, it's getting so that only retired folk and a few dog nuts have the time required to do right by a dog. People could learn if they put their attention to it, but attention is so frazzled and divided that education is near impossible.

One obvious point of rebuttal that I don't think has been stated yet. Crossbreeds are a huge and highly diverse group. Oodles, SWF''s, and DD's by far outnumber the bull x mastiff cross types that often show themselves dangerous. In my kennel days, i met a few ill-bred, nasty tempered shih-tzu x maltese, but I've yet to see one that deserves the 'dangerous' label. I can't remember ever encountering a nasty oodle.

+1

We had less attacks 50 years ago because the dog breeds around then were very different. No SBTs, Pitbulls, Amstaffs, Rotties, Mastiffs of any kind, or crosses of these, were owned as pets and many of those breeds had not been imported. There were GSDs but the public were scared of them due to the notion of them crossing with Dingos and owners tended to keep them well confined. The only terriers around were Foxies and Scotties and the bulk of other breeds were Cockers and Labs in the city and Cattle Dogs and Kelpies in the country. There were lots of small/medium heinz 57 variety mongrels but no large powerful dogs available to moron owners. Unfortunately the reason for these attacks is the type of dogs being bred and sold to the public who have no idea what owning them entails. They are all powerful agile dogs that have no trouble escaping the average suburban yard and have the tendency to attack with no provocation. I do not buy the notion of not blaming the breed, it is too late after an attack to blame the deed. We need to stop the deeds from happening in the first place. Any dog can bite but there is a huge difference between a warning nip or bite in play from an overexcited dog, to a full scale attack by a powerful dog that grabs and shakes their victim, leaving them dead or scarred and traumatised for life. I was told by an old guy that the WA two dog rule came about (~1970) because Perth metro was growing rapidly and lots of people coming in from the bush brought their pig dogs and roo dogs with them. Result, lots of wandering dogs and lots of attacks. If this is true, and it may not be, it sort of suggests that there were more than cattle dogs and kelpies in the country. It also suggests that legislation, though unpopular, has helped in the past.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/07/us/taping-of-farm-cruelty-is-becoming-the-crime.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0 Some states here in the US are explicitly outlawing covert filming of animal establishments Quoting from the URL above But a dozen or so state legislatures have had a different reaction: They proposed or enacted bills that would make it illegal to covertly videotape livestock farms, or apply for a job at one without disclosing ties to animal rights groups. They have also drafted measures to require such videos to be given to the authorities almost immediately, which activists say would thwart any meaningful undercover investigation of large factory farms. Critics call them “Ag-Gag” bills. Some of the legislation appears inspired by the American Legislative Exchange Council, a business advocacy group with hundreds of state representatives from farm states as members. The group creates model bills, drafted by lobbyists and lawmakers, that in the past have included such things as “stand your ground” gun laws and tighter voter identification rules.

Two doctors from Brisbane hospitals did an over-view of treatment of bites (From the Australian Provider). The annual incidence of dog bites requiring emergency department treatment is 12.9 per 10 000 persons, with children aged 5-9 (particularly boys) having an incidence of 60.7 per 10 000 persons aged 5-9 years. Face, neck and head bites are more frequent in children.1 If only the annual incidence of human -on- human injuries, needing medical treatment, was so low. Hospital emergency departments are flooded with them.. Looks like if you're in a dark alley, statistically, you're better off meeting a dog than a person. But not quite so better off, if you're a child....or an elderly person. I wouldn't say those numbers are low. With around 1.3 million people aged 5 to 9 in Australia, that would mean ~7800 hospitalization a per year. Suggesting that only a small fraction make the news.

I'm reminded of a bumper sticker I once saw that said "every effort will be made to prevent the next disaster as soon as possible after it has occurred". Seems like some of the most serious attacks happen when the dog gets out. Or when the dog's owner is away and the 'carer' doesn't appreciate the dog's potential for ill deeds. The dog who jumped the fence in Como last week and did a good job of chewing up first a kid and then his dad, probably wouldn't have been deemed 'mencing' because he was behind a colorbond fence; and if he was declared mencing, the colorbond would probably have sufficed to satisfy the authorities he was adequately contained.

There are reasons to keep dew claws. See recent thread in the General discussion. http://www.dolforums...move-dew-claws/ Although dew claws may get torn, front dew claws are an integral part of the leg. Removing them may make your dog less able to manipulate things with its front paws and may destabilize gait in ways that produce arthritis. Dew claw removal is getting less popular in some agility circles. See http://www.caninespo...explanation.pdf Oops! Didn't read carefully. You said REAR dew claws. Almost no one thinks these are functional.

In this case, the helper is the pups' granny. She doesn't have much milk, but she's a big help keeping the whelping box clean, and I think the pups are quieter, presumably happier, having her company. <div><br></div><div>The broodiness seems to run in the line....I can trace it back four generations, and out to a few siblings.</div>

And here's a BAD one...too far in the opposite direction http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=zdN23rFqh1g&feature=related

Rates of Cesarian, by breed http://www.bakalo.com/C-Section-rates-purebreed-dogs.pdf OBJECTIVES: To describe the frequency of caesarean sections in a large sample of pedigree dogs in the UK. METHODS: Data on the numbers of litters born in the previous 10 years were available from a cross-sectional study of dogs belonging to breed club members (2004 Kennel Club/BSAVA Scientific Committee Purebred Dog Health Survey). In this survey 151 breeds were repre- sented with data for households that had reported on at least 10 litters (range 10–14,15): this represented 13,141 bitches which had whelped 22,005 litters. The frequency of caesarean sections was estimated as the percentage of litters that were reported to be born by caesarean section (caesarean rates) and are reported by breed. The dogs were cat- egorised into brachycephalic, mesocephalic and dolicocephalic breeds. RESULTS: The 10 breeds with the highest caesarean rates were the Boston terrier, bulldog, French bulldog, mastiff, Scottish terrier, miniature bull terrier, German wirehaired pointer, Clumber spaniel, Pekingese and Dandie Dinmont terrier. In the Boston terrier, bulldog and French bulldog, the rate was > 80%. CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE: These data provide evidence for the need to monitor caesarean rates in certain breeds of dog.

The third or forth time the pups woke me last night the noises sounded a little different and I went to look. Surprise! Jarrah has helped with every litter she's been around, so it wasn't entirely unexpected. But she's now nine, and was spayed two years ago. Seems that oestrogen production is not essential for the maternal instinct to kick in.

Congrads! You must be beyond exhaustion! Looks like they're up and feeding well, so as Ceasars go, it was a good one!

The breeder I referred to is Not in SE QLD. You can probably find brindle-marked Labs in all states.White on pads is much honored. The first dual champion Lab, Banchory Bolo, had white spots in his pads and passed the trait on. Seehttp://www.lorkenfarms.com/banchory_bolo.htm

Try googling 'pedigree pit bull' and look at the pictures. They're all over the place.

I didn't get a white fluffy...I got a young flop eared dog with an intense staring expression. Couldn't say anything about temperament from photo. Mostly rated "3".

Lovely looking pups, Tristven. I presume they squeak and purr and occasionally squeak at night. Apart from color, it's surprising how much alike little Fauves and little Labs look. Here are mine at 10 days

According to one very respectable study (500 dogs followed for 10 years), long walks on gentle terrain are good for reducing HD. http://www.usdaa.com/article.cfm?newsID=2288 Stairs are bad. It would be good to find the whole document to see if anything is said about styles of play/games.

Excellent article. Don't just look at the pictures, read the text!!! There's an excellent discussion of the history of the retriever breeds with respect to coat type. I did read it. :) Very interesting. That was very interesting. Thank you for putting that up. I still think (given the expense of importing dogs into Australia) that the odds of a breeder importing a dog unaware of its pedigree and propensity to produce dogs not to standard would be very slim. As said before, occams razor says the bitch is a crossbred and given that curly coats and flat coats are not as common as goldens the bitch is most likely to have golden in her. I once saw a couple with what I thought was a yellow lab and a small black flatcoat, turns out both dogs were littermates and lab x goldens. It happens. A well known, and well respected Lab breeder in Australia has produced brindle-looking pups. The K locus gene for solid color is dominant. About 5% of Labs carry the recessive allele, ie, they are Kk rather than KK. Unless you happen to breed two Labs carrying the recessive, you wouldnt know it was there. The genetic test for this is pretty new, and there are presumably a few hundred Labs, perhaps even a few thousand, carrying the 'non-solid' color gene. I don't think the genetics of long coat in Labs is precisely known. But if the condition is rarer than Kk, it's not going to show up often. This is not to say there aren't shonky breeders who would pass off a Goldie x Lab as a purebred.

No need to be freaked out. Yes, there are horror stories. But there are a lot of responsible kennel owners. I'd look for someplace where the owners manage the place, and the help, if any, have been with them for years. Make sure that 'exercise' doesn't mean kicking the dogs out for 20 minutes while we hose down the kennels. Get some recommendations.In the years I owned and operated a kennel, it was pleasing to realize that most of our dog customers enjoyed their stay. Owners often told us that the dog looked all excited when they got close enough to realize they were going to kennels. We occasionally had dogs that made it clear they didn't want to go home. And we often got comments like "what did you do to my dog....it slept for a week when it came home". Though different from home, a kennel can be a very stimulating and exciting place for a dog.

Excellent article. Don't just look at the pictures, read the text!!! There's an excellent discussion of the history of the retriever breeds with respect to coat type.

According to the article, they can already give a 2 yr sentence for owners of attacking dogs. Do they use it? I'm sure they don't. I'd say a 10 yr -- or life -- sentence is too high. The cost of incarceration is high, $30k to $70k / yr are the sorts of figures I've seen. Indirect costs are also high. Someone taken out of the workforce. Kids left without a parent. The incarcerated person often changed into a more hardened criminal, and left with dim employment prospects. So a social cost of half a million or so for a 10 yr sentence. Spending at that level would go a long way toward enforcement of laws and education. And judges, who understand the consequences of incarceration, will tend to duck implementation. If you want a punishment that will really scare them, I'd suggest castration and a lifetime ban on owning dogs. Not that the suggestion will fly.

I would suggest changing the title of the thread; maybe by putting a ? at the end. If it's poly genetic and no one can trace the lines, the breeder is not at fault.

It's amazing to witness those moments isn't it. Penny was a spinner and screamer and I had to watch her with chewing the cord too. On one she got so carried away I feared she's accidentally chew legs off or even a hole in his belly. I had to gently intervene. Years ago, I had a girl who didn't get it at first. She didn't spin and scream . . . she was terrified of the little whelp. Fortunately I had a good vet on call, who said, be calm and patient, put the pups on her, she'll eventually catch on. After the third pup she was fine and she was a great mother for subsequent litters.

I can't form an opinion. It would be useful to know how many people have actually been given jail time before advocating longer sentences. Lock em up and throw away the key hasn't done a great job of resolving drug abuse problems in the USA. Seems likely that the problems are in poor enforcement of existing laws, not in weak penalties.