GbDb

Not to take away from the seriousness of the issue, but it reminded me of this. Funny, but not too far off, actually:

Intimidated by Judge Judy, perhaps? I would be. :laugh: The guy's tears speak volumes, though. And they happened before he was told about the vet bills. :)

Actually, this story immediately reminded me of a case on Judge Judy (), but I only just looked for it. That's what I want to see here: The dog deciding if he wants to stay with the new owner or go back to his old people. It could have gone the other way, and that's the point, but watch what happens after 8 months. http://www.thepetcollective.tv/touching-moment-when-dog-is-reunited-with-owner-on-judge-judy/

Yep, it's registered! :D Now, if a scanner can find it on Scout, and the number is readable, everything will be absolutely perfect! :) ETA Oh, and your contact info is up-to-date.

I only have experience with WA, where microchip registration and council registration are two completely different things. I think that most other states are like WA, but according to melzawelza (thanks melzawelza!) NSW is a little different. See bottom of page 10! :)

lilipily and Noishe, But PLEASE also go here: http://petaddress.com.au/ to make sure that the chip is actually registered. My boy's microchip showed up nicely when scanned at the vets, but there was no info in any database! And neither my vet nor I would ever have known, if it wasn't for that link. Little Gifts, I am SO glad that you caught yours. Hopefully, you can sort it out quickly. Good luck! To get back on-topic: I'm happy to see more people putting themselves into the shoes of the original owner.

That's right, as a rescuer I do all my paperwork when dogs are adopted and send it off. I just asked for a list from the council of all the dogs registered in my name and guess what? Some of the dogs i have adopted out and completed Transfer of Ownerships on are still in my name ... Yep, and then there is my latest pet peeve: UNREGISTERED microchips. Microchipping simply isn't enough! A microchip has to be registered, or it is completely useless! I kept hearing very sad and frustrating stories about unregistered microchips from my rescues, but it never really registered with me (no pun intended) what it meant, until someone posted the following link: http://petaddress.com.au/ To my horror, one of my boys wasn't registered either! It's easy. Just go there and type in your pet's microchip number to see if it is indeed registered, and/or to update your contact info. If you can't find anything, please immediately contact your registry, so the problem can be fixed before the chip info is ever needed.

Compassion? I always ask myself how I would feel if it happened to me. I can't imagine that anyone here would give up their beloved dog of 7 years, without a fight, regardless of the legalities. If this was about abuse or neglect (by the owner, not an irresponsible house sitter), of course, it would be completely different. But as it is, I wonder how the new owners can live with themselves, after hearing the story. This is clearly a moral issue, not a legal one. I wish they would let the dog decide.

Thanks for that. Love it! :laugh:

Golden Retrievers, Labradors, all kinds of "Staffy mixes" and oodles of Oodles.

It definitely did here. :laugh: Thanks for sharing.

Just heard about a dog named Help. The police were not impressed.

Oh no... I am so very sorry.

When in motion: a Thunder of Bernese Mountain Dogs When not: an Adoration of Bernese Mountain Dogs :) ETA: Sorry, I missed the alliteration bit. A Bunsen of Berners? Nah.

Oh my God... no, no, NO. I'm sitting here in tears for you and your beautiful boy. Sending you lots of love and a big hug.

Yep. The hallway picture: absolutely priceless. The video: Gorgeous. And if you look closely - between 0:23 and 0:26 - you can even see someone who looks like the President himself behind the Christmas tree. :)

Leaning while sitting on your feet is just part of a Bernese Mountain Dog's job description. I have never met one who didn't do both. :)

Bernese Mountain Dog - Gäng no viu besser aus Änglisch. :) (Still much better than English).

Yep, I just read about it.

My two geriatric pets just got their FurCode tags a couple of weeks ago, and I absolutely LOVE the idea! To me it's not just about the animal getting lost. God forbid, should anything happen to the owner, their special needs, diets, allergies, medications etc. are INSTANTLY visible on their webpage. No need for a rescuer or family member to contact their vets first, or have their microchip checked, which, at least in our case, shows not much more than contact info and breed anyway. Also, you can give details about personality traits and any peculiarities and conditions you think are important. For example, my cunning boy once fooled an experienced dog person into letting him off-leash, successfully hiding the fact that he is profoundly deaf - long story, but in the chaos which lead to her looking after him for the day, I completely forgot to tell her . Which very easily could have ended in disaster. You bet, the word "deaf" now features in capital letters, followed by a bunch of exclamation marks (and instructions) on his page. For those who are not sure about the security aspect of the whole thing, you can give as much or as little info as you like! I, personally, would never put in my home address, but I now have 2 mobile numbers, 1 landline number and 2 email addresses on both of my pages. My regular tags, which I wouldn't remove, only allow for one phone number and a name. Oh, and the rescuer doesn't even have to have a smartphone to read the QR code, although it's such a neat thing. :) They only need to be able to type a URL into a computer. Of course, a cheap, light, easy to wear GPS would be great, but that's something completely different. FurCodes is about things the rescuer needs to know - vital information or even just stuff that can make the animal feel more comfortable until s/he is happily reunited with the owner. Also, I paid even less than I thought. My two tags - one regular and one small - cost me a grand total of AU$ 25.31. To me that's money well spent. Gosh, it might look like it, but I have absolutely no financial interest in the product! But I do hope that lots of DOLers will warm to it and explain it to others, as I just had a friend comment on that "weird looking tag". The more the public knows about it, the better for everyone! Apparently, a few Rescues have already taken to it like ducks to water, which I think is fantastic. :) By the way, you can edit whatever you like on your pages, at anytime. Editing - I'm obviously a great fan of. LOL

The short answer is "no". A bit more technical, and about the exceptions: The Bernese Mountain Dog is a dry-mouthed breed. The flews should only be slightly developed - "the lips are clean", according to the AKC Standard. The FCI (Swiss Standard) states that "the lips are close fitting". Unlike in the giant breeds (Saint Bernard or Newfoundland, for example), the "above medium size" Bernese Mountain Dog's head should never be "too massive". Massive heads with pendulous lips will result in sloppier mouths, and therefore increased drooling. Looking at the earliest detailed breed description (Heim, 1914), it is clear that the Bernese Mountain Dog was meant to be a very balanced dog, with no exaggeration in anything - "he is not particularly small nor particularly large, all the parts of his body are in harmony. The muzzle has not been shortened or lengthened..." But, as with many other breeds, the idea about what is desirable conformation-wise keeps changing. Fortunately, most Bernese will still not drool. Unless they have to watch you eat a piece of cheese, that is. But there are some magnificent looking individuals out there that will. The good thing is that even then, for some reason, the drool will usually be more liquidy and therefore much less sticky than that of the giant breeds.

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