samoyedman

You are limiting the rehoming prospects for this dog severely by insisting you have access. No way known would I ever adopt a dog under those conditions. The stress to the dog of regular meetings, followed by separations would not be fair IMO. How is he expected to bond to a new owner under these conditions.? Thank you, this information about dog behaviour is what i am after, and this along with similar feedback has convinced me to reject the idea of rehoming him. I would prefer to stay where i am because i could never cut this dog completely out of my life. It was said very early on in the thread. And I acknowledged that, thanks.

Dee Lee, that is the main thing. He's used to living in yards and outdoors (sleeps inside of a night). He likes to dig/run around and i am afraid living in an apartment would be stifling for him. I walk him twice a day and would do so in the city. Its so risky though if he hates it.

You are limiting the rehoming prospects for this dog severely by insisting you have access. No way known would I ever adopt a dog under those conditions. The stress to the dog of regular meetings, followed by separations would not be fair IMO. How is he expected to bond to a new owner under these conditions.? Thank you, this information about dog behaviour is what i am after, and this along with similar feedback has convinced me to reject the idea of rehoming him. I would prefer to stay where i am because i could never cut this dog completely out of my life.

Wtf is going on here??? I am after some dog behavioural information for the possibility of a rehoming situation. How can people be so judgmental when they don't know any of the details? Thanks to those who replied in a non-judgmental way. I could never separate myself from this dog with a clean break and not see him regularly. I am not prepared to divulge my complicated personal situation, but I am not the type who would rehome my beloved samoyed lightly.

I would be living in a tiny Sydney CBD unit in the heart of the city.

I may have a business opportunity which might mean relocating to somewhere I cannot keep a dog. He's always been a 'one man' dog but I think he would adjust well in a happy loving family. If I rehomed my 7 year old dog with friends and still visited him once or twice a week, took him to my parents place, the dog park, on walks etc., would this be confusing and stressful for him since he might think I am coming to take him back? Or does the answer to this depend on the dog's personality?

Pretty harrowing. Video and transcript here: http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2013/s3886470.htm Bled dry - the fate of greyhound racing's 'wastage' Australian Broadcasting Corporation Broadcast: 07/11/2013 Reporter: Sean Rubinsztein-Dunlop and Lesley Robinson Overbreeding in the greyhound industry sees thousands of dogs put down each year but is it reasonable to drain them of blood before they die? Vets say it saves other sick or injured dogs but some vet nurses are appalled. Transcript LEIGH SALES, PRESENTER: 7.30 recently exposed widespread doping in the greyhound racing industry, and since then we've had a huge response. We've received thousands of emails, calls and Facebook posts, some from insiders who've raised more concerns about the industry, others who claim we didn't show the positive aspects of their sport. We also had a strong response from an unexpected quarter: veterinary nurses. They're the ones who have to help kill the healthy dogs the industry discards every year. Tonight the vet nurses reveal another of the industry's secrets: before greyhounds are killed, many of them have one dying duty. They're drained of their blood to help sick and injured dogs at animal hospitals. Sean Rubinsztein-Dunlop has this report, produced by Lesley Robinson. SEAN RUBINSZTEIN-DUNLOP, REPORTER: It's a disturbing reality of the greyhound industry and one that's rarely discussed. SELENA COTTRELL-DORMER, VETERINARY NURSE: You get eight dogs dropped off, oftentimes they will be just, yeah, just absolutely bled to death and euthanased, put in a body bag and put in the freezer and taken away for incineration. That's absolutely routine. No-one would bat an eyelid at that being the reality. SEAN RUBINSZTEIN-DUNLOP: Tonight, vet nurses reveal what happens to the dogs the greyhound industry doesn't want. VICTORIA LUXTON-BAIN, VETERINARY NURSE: They would be brought in by a trainer. Normally we would get about three or four dogs and then they would arrive and then they'd be bled within about 48 hours of arriving. So they'd be put under anaesthetic and then bled and then euthanased while under anaesthetic. SEAN RUBINSZTEIN-DUNLOP: This multibillion-dollar sport relies on massive overbreeding. Each year, thousands of dogs never make it to the track because they fail to chase or simply aren't fast enough. They're what the industry calls wastage. Vet nurse Victoria Luxton-Bain worked at a vet clinic near Melbourne's Sandown track. She saw both ends ever the greyhound life cycle, helping with artificial inseminations and euthanasing perfectly healthy dogs. VICTORIA LUXTON-BAIN: I still remember the first time I had to do it and I couldn't stop crying. I think my worst day was we had seven brought in by one person and we just haf to do seven, one after the other. So, I mean, when you're euthanasing these dogs, they're not old dogs, they're completely healthy. You know, most of them are still standing there wagging their tails and licking your face while you're actually euthanasing them. SEAN RUBINSZTEIN-DUNLOP: She quit in protest and moved to an animal emergency centre, but her new job was even more confronting. Almost weekly, she was required to help drain greyhounds of their blood before they were put down. VICTORIA LUXTON-BAIN: The blood was used for any dogs that needed a blood transfusion. And it would be separated into red blood cells bags and also plasma. SEAN RUBINSZTEIN-DUNLOP: The fact is that vets need blood to help injured and sick dogs that are brought in for treatment and unwanted greyhounds provide a ready supply. SELENA COTTRELL-DORMER: A large percentage of greyhounds have a blood type that's referred to as universal. So most dogs are able to receive that without having a transfusion reaction. Also, they're extremely placid. They have really large veins. They have a high red blood cell count. And there's a lot of them who are no longer required for racing. NAVEEN PRAKASH, VETERINARY TECHNICIAN: It does happen quite often. We don't - we don't talk about it as often as we should, to be honest. It is - it is heartbreaking to see. SELENA COTTRELL-DORMER: A non-recovery donation would have an intravenous catheter placed. The animal would be anaesthetised and have a tube placed down its throat, so it would be unconscious, essentially. Then the femoral artery would be located. A large needle would be inserted into that. If they're struggling to get that blood out, they will give the animal adrenaline, which just gives that animal a last gasp if it's starting to essentially die. SEAN RUBINSZTEIN-DUNLOP: For this Queensland vet nurse, draining a greyhound of up to two litres of blood was a task too hard to bear. SELENA COTTRELL-DORMER: I think it's the equivalent to essentially organ theft or rounding up the most vulnerable members of a community and exploiting them just because you can. Just because you can doesn't mean you should. So most nurses are appalled by it and technicians are appalled by it. A lot of vets are appalled by it. But it is considered a solution to the requirement for blood products and I don't think there would be a vet nurse out there who isn't aware of it and I don't think there would be a vet nurse or vet technician out there who's worked in a larger referral hospital or a larger veterinary clinic who hasn't had something to do with it, it's that standard. SEAN RUBINSZTEIN-DUNLOP: 7.30 has heard from a number of nurses too afraid for their jobs to speak out publicly about the practice of bleeding dogs. One from New South Wales wrote of her horror. (female voiceover): "... on countless occasion I found myself out the back, literally sobbing over the dogs I was unable to save. Often they drain the dog until the blood pressure was that low, it would barely flow. Then they'd just inject them with lethabarb and chuck them in a body bag like garbage." BRUCE MACKAY, DIRECTOR, VETERINARY SPECIALIST SERVICES: There's a huge greyhound industry with thousands of greyhounds. And so, where we're at is we - you know, in ICU like this we have lots of critical patients, lots of patients that need blood transfusions. SEAN RUBINSZTEIN-DUNLOP: VSS is a busy animal hospital in Brisbane where greyhounds are bled and then euthanased. BRUCE MACKAY: These dogs are brought into the hospital by trainers. We have ethics approval from the Queensland Government. On average, we'll do somewhere between 50 and 100 a year, so it's one or two a week. SEAN RUBINSZTEIN-DUNLOP: This greyhound is one of the lucky few for which a home has been found. But many more will be drained of their blood before they're put down. BRUCE MACKAY: The charge for a bag of blood is $150. If we buy the same thing from the blood bank in Melbourne, by the time it gets here, it's $400. We would prefer not to do this. You know, we - it's not what we as vets like doing. We're about saving animals. But sadly, there are lots of greyhounds and other pet dogs that are not wanted. And so, it's something we would prefer not to do. We look at this hard and long and I guess we feel that it's ethical because these are dogs that would be euthanased and they can help other patients. SEAN RUBINSZTEIN-DUNLOP: This animal hospital in Sydney has set up a humane alternative, with the support of Greyhound Racing New South Wales. Adopted greyhounds make small donations like the human blood donor system. Selena Cottrell-Dormer and Naveen Prakash have started a similar program in Brisbane. They hope it's one small step towards ending the exploitation of these dogs. SELENA COTTRELL-DORMER: What we want to see is an elimination of greyhounds being killed for their blood. LEIGH SALES: And you can join a discussion of some of the issues raised in that story on our Facebook page now at facebook.com/ABC7.30

Makes you wonder if pets should be included in any pre-nuptials.

http://www.smh.com.au/environment/animals/what-about-me-20131014-2vhbn.html

Will be interesting to see if the ABC replies to that letter.

While it's a nice ideal things like this can push the problem further underground. It's unfortunately easy for people to alter registration figures or do things like destroy dogs prior to registration etc. The industry needs to change from within so that people that continue to be involved in poor practices are the increasing minority and will actually be outed by other industry members. The problems run much deeper. If 80% of the trainers are doping their dogs as one of the insiders in the report claims, the whole viability of the 'sport' should be called into question IMO. It's almost beyond being salvaged.

One of the problems is Joe Average prospective dog owner doesn't really see this breed as a pet. If people knew what good pets they made, a lot more of them would be saved from horrible deaths. Perhaps that's another good thing to come out of this report.

From the transcript of the video;

Mita, the article covers a wide array of issues in the industry, from doping to massive overbreeding to GAP and the inhumane treatment and putting down of the dogs. If you can watch the video it only goes for 10 minutes.

Full video and transcript now uploaded here: http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2013/s3869813.htm

Did anyone else see this investigation? Those poor dogs. What a disgrace. Here is the full video and transcript from the ABC website. http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2013/s3869813.htm

Interesting read, thanks. Here's the one I was referring to in the OP. http://www.dogs-paw.com/more/730-1/loyal-dog-ran-away-from-home-to-his-dead-master’s-grave,-has-stayed-by-its-side-for-six-years

A bit of a strange and morbid topic but I am curious. :) I was speculating in a funeral thread in Off Topic about whether dogs 'get' death, in both their own kind and their human owners? Has anyone witnessed a dog's reaction to this and do you think dogs understand the finality of it? I remember reading about some Polish guy who died and his dog went and sat by his grave every day (not sure if it was urban myth). If I were to pass before my dog, I would like him to understand that by sniffing my corpse instead of stressing about me each day wondering where I was.

oops already posted sorry

http://www.smh.com.au/environment/animals/no-snow-but-huskies-can-go-20130914-2trbb.html

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw/koalas-face-dog-attack-threat/story-fni0cx12-1226696691294

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw/dog-laws-across-nsw-are-on-a-tight-leash/story-fni0cx12-1226693874095 THE state's justice system is all bark and no bite when it comes to punishing the owners of killer dogs, with no one jailed under the Companion Animals Act in five years. More than 90 per cent of 1158 people convicted under the Act from 2008 to 2012 walked away with fines. The courts are largely hamstrung by toothless laws that prohibit magistrates handing out jail sentences for most offenders. Under the Act only owners of dogs already declared dangerous by council rangers can be sent to prison and even then the maximum sentence is two years. By comparison, someone convicted of defacing a wall with graffiti can be sent to jail for up to a year. Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research data shows that even the owner of a declared dangerous dog, who ordered his dog to attack a victim, was only fined when convicted in 2010. The paltry punishments - a far cry from proposed law changes in the UK where owners could face life in jail if their dog is involved in a fatal mauling - have infuriated dog attack victims who say owners need to be held responsible. Renee Blakemore's beloved pugs Tattie and Spud were killed by three Staffordshire bull terriers in May. The Hunter Valley woman yesterday said she was sickened by the state's lax laws. "It has ripped us apart. They were our little babies," a tearful Ms Blakemore said. "We don't have children, we only had the dogs and they were our lives. We need tougher penalties for these people - they need to take responsibility for what happens." The bull terriers, which had attacked other animals in the neighbourhood, escaped from a nearby yard and jumped Ms Blakemore's fence, yet their owner was fined just $550 for each of the dogs involved. "Our dogs were in our backyard. They were registered, desexed and microchipped and they were helpless," Ms Blakemore said.She and husband Dustin had to take out a loan for the $8000-plus vet bills, trying in vain to save Spud. He died five days after the attack. The Companion Animals Taskforce report on proposed changes to legislation was lodged earlier this year but chairman and Charlestown MP Andrew Cornwall said it was taking time to process the 5000-plus submissions. However, the mauling death of Deniliquin toddler Deeon Higgins on Sunday had forced the matter to be expedited. "The department is doing everything it can to bring these changes as quickly as possible," Mr Cornwall said. "Public consultation finished only a matter of weeks ago but I think it's important that the department works as fast as it possibly can to get something for Cabinet to take a look at." Local Government Minister Don Page's spokesman said the government was "committed" to toughening up laws. "Community concern about the adequacy of current penalties for owners whose dogs have attacked are being taken into account by the government in finalising its response to the taskforce," he said. He added that in the most serious cases, police had the option under the Crimes Act of pursuing charges of causing a dog to inflict grievous bodily harm, which carried a maximum 10 years jail. "The minister believes the current penalties in the Act are not in line with community expectations," he said.

:birthday:

7 years old today, fit as a fiddle and still as puppyish as day one. Happy birthday Fluff.

Can you offer children as prizes? I know lots of people who would love to give them away. :)