DogsAndTheMob

What a wonderfully thoughtful response! The few wild dogs I’ve seen here have looked like dingoes. My sheep used to take refuge among the cows when I walked the dogs in the paddock (not that the dogs would have chased them) and the wild dogs left the sheep alone until I put them in a paddock away from the cows, so perhaps running a mixed mob of sheep and cattle might provide protection for some herds.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-03-16/dingoes-protected-wild-dog-control-ends-in-north-west-victoria/103591516 I have mixed feelings about this. I would hate it if dingoes became extinct but I remember how devastating it was when my sheep were mauled by wild dogs. I chose not to keep sheep any longer but that’s not an option for some farmers whose livelihood depends on their livestock. Here’s an industry article on the topic. https://www.sheepcentral.com/silence-on-research-and-advice-behind-victorian-dingo-decisions/

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-02-23/police-ask-or-ban-on-pigging-dogs-for-hunting/103499460

That’s only true of Dogs Australia/ANKC pedigrees. There are now some alternative registries with pedigree verification processes which I wouldn’t trust at all.

It looks somewhat like a halti-type device I have seen recently. The extra bit gets pulled through further to run from the junction at the back of the neck beside the dog’s cheeks and over the muzzle. The clip on the extra piece is used the tension the muzzle strap at the back of the neck. This is the brand I’m thinking of, although the one I saw looked more like yours than the ones on the website do. https://sporn.com/shop/sporn-head-halter/

That would certainly apply to businesses like pet transport companies. However, hobbyists may offer goods or services related to their hobby but may not be entitled to an ABN. Many dog breed enthusiasts would fall into that category, particularly if they only bred very occasional litters. In fact, I’d be more wary of dog breeders whose profit from litters was sufficient to qualify them for an ABN.

Mine was a border collie who was puppyish until he was 15 and died just before his 16th birthday. Or maybe the miniature poodle I rescued from living under a school building in 1999 (at a time when rescues were struggling to rehome even fit, pretty “small white fluffies”.). He looked like an older dog, he went blind with cataracts within a year and deaf a few years later, but he lived into the mid 2010s.

This from 9 News seems like sloppy reporting or reporting with an agenda. “And medium-sized flat faced breeds, such as English bulldogs, had the lowest median life expectancy…” English Bulldogs were number 9 on the list, behind some large to very large breeds and, for some reason Affenpinschers. (Speaking as an advocate for accuracy, not for brachy breeds.)

Here is the information from Battersea Dogs and Cats Home https://www.dogstrust.org.uk/downloads/shortest and longest table_for webpage PDF.pdf and the research paper. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-023-50458-w I was surprised by some of the statistics; for example, the median longevity of the Brittany (11.1 years) in comparison to Golden Retrievers (13.2 years) and Pekingese (13.3 years). In the Brittany and Golden Retriever forums in which I participate, I see more reports of Golden Retrievers dying young (usually due to cancer) than of Brittanies dying young. I think this statement may explain the odd statistic for Brittanies and I wonder if the converse is true for Pekingese. “Furthermore, the growing popularity of certain breeds may result in an over representation of younger individuals within the data, which increases the risk of underestimating their lifespan“ I ‘d take the study with a grain of salt because of the range of data sources… rescues, vets, insurance companies and the Kennel Club. From my observations, breed identifications by rescues are often inaccurate. I’m not sure about vets and insurance companies, but I guess their information is only as good as what they’re told by the owners. The Kennel Club breed identifications should be good but, if the UK is like Australia, notifications of dogs’ deaths may be spotty and some breed clubs may encourage their membership to be more diligent than others. Finally, I wonder how much double-reporting occurs from that spread of data sources.

I’m so sorry to hear about your experience. I hope you have your dog safely with you now.

I also initially thought there was something fishy about this post. However, I looked more deeply and there are red flags about the supremepetmovers website. The website is marked as copyrighted 2024, which seems odd this early in 2024. The contact information and other supporting information on the website seems sparse in comparison to known legitimate pet transport companies, with just a phone number and a link to get a quote. I ran a reverse phone number search and found this information … “Believed to be a fraudulent/scam pet adoption courier”. Text boxes on the website, including those for “book a travel crate” and “get pet itinerary” don’t have working links. I was unable to find the business name on the ASIC Organisation and Business Names Register. I could find the names of known legitimate pet transport companies.

I don’t feed chicken necks because I’ve noticed they’re often smelly and I worry that the high surface-area-to-volume ratio means that they have a high bacterial load (it’s a thing). Once a week, I buy a whole chicken, cut off the drumsticks and breast meat to cook for my husband and myself, then feed the remainder (raw) to my dogs. That provides an inexpensive meal or two for all of us. I ensure that there is some skin and meat in the chicken I give to the dogs. Here’s a balanced blog about feeding bones. https://www.bentonsroadvet.com.au/feeding-bones-to-your-pet/

I’m not a breeder but I know breeders who have had unexpected difficulties placing puppies and I’ve noticed an big increase in dog sports people using social media to help breeder friends to find homes for their puppies. It’s not just an Australian trend. A North American breed forum I follow has switched from advising people to expect a two-year wait for a puppy of their very popular breed to saying “The puppy market is crashing and buyers now you have better options more readily available - Be picky”.

In UDX, you will also need pairs of UD-style scent discrimination articles for the seek back. A good starting point for teaching any of the scent-based exercises is to go for off-leash walks with your dog and toss a ball or toy into long grass or scrub for your dog to find. In the house, put your dog on a stay then stand where your dog can see you and toss the toy around a corner. Gradually build up the difficulty until you can leave your dog on a stay, walk to the other end of the house and leave the toy, then return to your dog and send him to find.

My dog has her UD title and I’m now training for UDX. I like to have three sets of UD articles for 3-trial weekends. They’ve proven sufficient for the few 4 -trial weekends in which I’ve competed. You will need to decide whether your metal articles will be unknurled or knurled. For UDX, you need five pairs of cloths. The cloths are rolled up and each pair is marked with elastic bands (e.g. hair ties) of the same colour, but different from the colours on the other pairs. The cloths must all be the same colour. I don’t think I’ve seen any colour but white. I’ll probably have 3 sets of UDX articles when I trial.