SkySoaringMagpie

Just to make a broad comment, what I try for as a breeder is to ensure that my views are grounded well enough in the research that a vet can't quibble - that's an aspirational goal, not an everyday reality. Food is a hard one as many of them sell it in the waiting room, but FWIW, I would never calcium supplement any of ours at that age (we feed a mix of raw and kibble, another religious war in dog food, but it works for us). With respect to the pup, nutrition is important and you know your lines, but in this case you seem to have clinical signs along with the slightly low thyroid reading. In the past when we have encountered that in an older sighthound (Faxon) we elected to give a low dose of thyroxine even tho' the pathology results alone weren't enough to justify it. The difference was remarkable, it was exactly what he needed. It is very much about the dog and the presentation tho', in Salukis you can have a very low thyroid reading that in an ordinary dog would say "thyroxine now!" and the dog doesn't show a single clinical sign so I'd never supplement a Saluki who read low but was bouncing about as usual with a shiny coat.

There are two judges who regularly comment on our dogs online. One is the breeder of my dogs, so obviously I'm not ever going to show to her. The other is a friend who we often set up with at shows and we don't show to her because we think it would be inappropriate. So just because the judge comments on the dog, it doesn't mean they are ever going to see it in their ring.

Another one agreeing with most of the article.

And it's been confirmed as not true, having come from the Chinese version of The Onion. http://www.straitstimes.com/the-big-story/asia-report/china/story/jangs-execution-bodes-ill-china-20131224 According to the report, unlike previous executions of political prisoners which were carried out by firing squads with machine guns, Jang was stripped naked and thrown into a cage, along with his five closest aides. Then 120 hounds, starved for three days, were allowed to prey on them until they were completely eaten up. This is called "quan jue", or execution by dogs. Edited to point people to a more comprehensive analysis further down the thread from the SMH. Not likely to be true.

There really is no standard in these sorts of situations, everything you have to negotiate yourself. That she is prepared to run it on for 9 months is huge. Does she want board for that, if so how much? Agree on all the costs up front and write it down. Exchange of emails is enough, but make sure you agree before the process kicks off. Has she exported to Australia before? If not, would you be better off getting an agent to do all this? The husband of the breeder I bought my dogs in from was an absolute whizz with paperwork, and even then it was an exasperating process. Australia's pre-entry processes are demanding and complicated compared to most of the rest of the world. Some of the training stuff will depend how she is running it on. TBH I would not bother fretting too much with house training as the dog is going to be in kennels for 10 days in quarantine. So it will have to go close to where it sleeps whether it wants to or not, and in some ways very strict house training will make that harder for the dog than teaching the dog that it is OK to go on concrete (for example). I didn't discuss training at all, I knew how the breeder ran her household as I had visited on a couple of occasions, and I was prepared to change anything I wanted to change when the dogs got here. I would expect to be told if the mouth went off or a testicle sucked up or the temperament went bad. Sounds obvious, but you can't take anything for granted.

This is a very clear explanation of the reasons why a thoughtful full time worker can plan around their dogs' circadian rhythms to achieve good outcomes. I also agree with Trisven that it's about the right dog for the right person and that comprises a range of considerations including the dog's temperament.

I am assuming that adopting a pure bred rescue is not part of the question. TBH, as the breeds I love are like 25 kilo cats, if I could not have a Saluki or an Afghan, I would just have a cat.

Rest peacefully Neil.

American article, includes a break down of their definitions and also some discussion of the reasons why it is not OK to have a fake service dog. http://www.vetstreet.com/our-pet-experts/the-problem-with-fake-service-dogs

Agree with HW and KC. $$$ talks when morals, appeals to emotion and reason etc do not. What you think of the person should be saved for bitching over a white wine with friends. What you say to the person should be guided by whether or not you think there is a genuine chance that you will help improve the situation of dogs in their care.

Also, the bigger the dog, the more attention - which I guess is a factor with Danes. We had two eye catching breeds before getting our IW. You would think Salukis and Afghans would be stop in the street breeds, and by and large they are, but the attention we got with them from Joe Public was nothing compared to the number of people who stop to talk about the IW. There is something about Wolfhounds that draws men and their sons from everywhere to look and pat and talk about how their cousin's mate's best friend had a bigger one. (ahem..) When we're out in public doing socialisation walks, I actually just take my dog and leave my OH to it, because I have an internal limit on saddle jokes. My OH is much more patient.

Saluki Much of what HW said about whippets but turn it to 11. I don't want to give away a trade secret, but the fastest way to a Saluki's heart is to ignore it. The more you lay on the cutesy insistent meet and greet, the further away most of them will want to go. Ignore the Saluki, chat to the owner and keep your hands by your sides and be prepared to feel the nose of inquiry. Then open your hand and let them sniff, then venture a pat from underneath (i.e. don't got over the top of their head). Also, they can have a very rough free running play style. They are fast and resilient and while they may not bite, they can still cause injuries by slamming into another dog at what is a high speed. This is a dog where prey drive can be triggered by any small and fluffy thing running fast, do not take a small breed into a free run area with a Saluki without speaking with the owner first. Most dogs tend to be most comfortable with dogs like them, but Salukis can be particularly breed snobby. They may not love your spitz or bull breed at all, and it's not personal. They will usually be pretty OK with other Sighthounds but I've noticed they can be particularly unimpressed with border collies. I've theorised that it is that border collie "eye" that annoys them but I don't really know. They are a bit Greta Garbo tho', so it would make sense (i.e., I want to be left alone). Socialised correctly, they are OK with all dogs but still may not care to mix with them. In all other things, imagine they are a 22 kilo cat.

If you have dogs I would think carefully about how to deal with it. No point adding dead dogs to kicked dogs. You also need video evidence otherwise it is your word against his unless the dog has injuries. I feel for you, we lived next to a dog beater for a while but it was not severe enough for the RSPCA to take an interest ( we did ring them)

Going to a Pat Hastings lecture series about this subject totally changed how I look at dogs and how I home rescues/pups. I knocked back a couple of people for the most recent rescue I had to place because they wanted a dog they could jog with and for a couple of reasons she was never going to be a jogging dog, Saluki or not. Pat has a book containing the detail of that lecture series, which you might find helpful reading: http://www.amazon.com/Structure-Action-The-Makings-Durable/dp/0967841445

How are her nails? Not too long? Are you happy you know how good her fundamental construction is? Do you have a picture of her standing you can put up? If not, find someone who knows what they are looking at and get them to take a look. It may be that with age her body is not able to compensate for something like iffy pasterns, or a straight front or a weak rear. It's something that companion only people often never give a thought to, as matters of construction are considered the province of show dog geeks only. However if someone wanted a jogging companion I would be making sure they got the best constructed dog I could come up with as jogging with a poorly constructed dog will eventually give the dog chronic weakness and pain. Goldens are not a dog I would have picked for a jogging companion either, IIRC yours was a rescue? When you do get a new dog, make sure that you take someone who really understands dog construction with you and that you tell the breeder that you intend to jog with the dog. The wrong choice of puppy can put paid to your jogging companion dreams even if it's a breed that is suitable for running. It's also really unfair on the dog - especially a gundog that is more likely to keep pushing past the pain to keep up with you. At least if they need to my Salukis are more likely to say "piss off, I'm not going any more" temperamentally speaking. As it is, they lap me multiple times and shake their skinny arses at me, the bastards :laugh:

If they are selling Advance or Science Diet in their waiting room then I'm afraid their advice is suspect because they are trying to sell you an ongoing commitment to buy the product from them. Not cool. FWIW, my view on feeding is that if what you are doing is working, then don't muck around with it. I would not feed Science Diet except as emergency kibble and Advance doesn't work for my guys because it gives them the runs. It might well work for others, and that's fine, but switching for the sake of a vet's bottom line is not something I would be doing.

Whether or not you have signed the papers, the pup is on the register as being limit already because the papers are limit papers. The only way to reverse this is with the breeder's agreement. So I agree with the others, you will have to talk to the breeder. Did you express an interest in showing when you bought the pup?

This is actually a news.com.au news article that I have copied and pasted into the thread - the link is at the top. It is not written by me, I just posted it into the thread as it was news on the same subject. I guess I could still refer it to Mediawatch for their comment...

Agree with this, well done!

http://www.news.com.au/sport/superracing/abc-730-program-into-greyhound-racing-industry-criticised-for-being-unfair-and-extreme-bias/story-fndps3qy-1226741098141 AS chief greyhound racing writer for the Daily Telegraph and Daily Mirror from 1962 until my retirement in 2012 I, like thousands of decent people who participate in, bet on or simply watch the sport, felt extreme anger and disgust at the ABCs one-sided 7.30 program aired on Tuesday night. A film crew attended Wentworth Park on Friday night October 11 and I was among several people interviewed by the program’s producer. In two separate interviews, lasting a total of around 15 minutes, I related how the sport has never been cleaner because every race winner is drug tested and with analysis of urine samples now so refined, even a square of chocolate given innocently to a greyhound two days before a race can result in a positive test to caffeine and a lengthy disqualification for the dog’s trainer. I suspected the ABC wanted to hear only one side of the story and doubted that any of my footage would go to air. Sure enough, I was right. Similarly an interview the program conducted with experienced trainer Dennis Dean, who spoke in detail about the sport’s adoption scheme for retired racers, finished up on the cutting room floor. Among the trainers of the 80 greyhounds racing at Wentworth Park on the night of filming the ABC managed to find ONE disgruntled trainer who claimed trainers were always trying to “get an edge". During my interview, the 7.30 program producer questioned me about trainers claiming that those winning races were using drugs. I replied that some who struggled to win races often resorted to spurious claims that, despite the rigorous drug testing, successful trainers “must be using something". In the ABC program there was no interview with Dr Brian Daniel, Wentworth Park’s race night vet and Sydney’s most experienced and respected greyhound specialist veterinary surgeon. Instead the ABC program chose to talk to Dr Ted Humphries, who castigated the industry, yet who found nothing wrong with the sport during the years he fulfilled the Wentworth Park veterinary surgeon’s role. Greyhound racing has come under attack from the ABC 7.30 program, alleging cruelty and widespread drug use. The program also focused on greyhounds being euthanized when their racing careers were over. Yet despite being the poorest of the three racing codes, greyhound racing is the only one which invests heavily in finding homes for its retirees via its “greyhounds as pets” and adoption scheme programs. Conveniently there was no mention of retired racehorses or pacers heading off to the knackery, or for that matter, the fate of unsuccessful show dogs. During my interview I had cited the example of a back page story I had once written on Robert Arnold, who sold his lucrative women’s hairdressing business at Double Bay to invest in a farm where his old greyhounds could live out their lives in luxury. I pointed out that Robert, trainer of 2012 Greyhound of the Year finalist Did I Entertain, was just one of hundreds who adopted a similar policy. There was no balance in the ABC 7.30 program, surely a basic tenet of decent journalism. No wonder one of the Daily Telegraph’s leading columnists is calling for a reduction in its taxpayer funding.

I'd also edit the drool out of our IW! Wouldn't edit the Salukis in any way, as they are perfect :D

From this morning's Canberra Times. http://www.canberratimes.com.au/act-news/canberra-rspca-chief-executive-michael-linke-resigns-20131014-2vhy6.html Canberra's RSPCA boss Michael Linke quit his job on Monday, with the organisation mired in crisis. In his eight years in the job as RSPCA ACT's chief executive, Mr Linke became Canberra's highest-profile animal welfare advocate, weighing into controversies such as the fireworks ban and the government's kangaroo cull. My job isn’t to keep everybody happy all the time, my job is to engage with our staff force and make sure that we rescue and save animals and get animals back into homes. But all has not been well behind the scenes at the Weston Creek HQ and animal shelter in recent months, with the RSPCA's governing board forced to call in investigators to look into complaints by nine workers about underpayment, staff welfare and management style. Animal welfare executive manager Glenn Howie remains suspended after publicly accusing Mr Linke of animal cruelty for concreting a group of rabbit warrens from RSPCA land in August and challenging the chief executive over other workplace issues. An ACT government inspection found last month there was no cruelty when the rabbit holes were filled in with concrete slurry. Responding to reports of complaints from within the organisation on Tuesday, Mr Linke said only a small number of staff were disgruntled. “You can’t keep everybody happy all the time,” he said. “My job isn’t to keep everybody happy all the time, my job is to engage with our staff force and make sure that we rescue and save animals and get animals back into homes.” Mr Linke did not respond to requests for an interview on Monday. He also did not respond at the weekend to a series of questions from The Canberra Times about workforce issues at the RSPCA. Speaking to ABC Radio ahead of a five-week holiday in the United States, Mr Linke said no serious concerns had been raised with him while at the helm of the organisation. “The staff to me are very motivated, very positive, you know it’s a really engaging, enjoyable workforce,” he said. “I think when people listen to this and when people read The Canberra Times, they need to understand that these people are in effect damaging the legacy that I’ve left of saving lives and raising $35 million and actually damaging animals. They’re the losers in this debate.” It is believed he will be replaced by George Costi, an official with RSPCA Queensland. RSPCA ACT's governing council has confirmed an external investigator has been brought in to consider the claims made against Mr Howie - who maintains he has done nothing wrong - and concerns raised by nine other workers. The employees - a sixth of the workforce - have approached their union, United Voice, with written complaints about their workplace. The union's ACT branch secretary, Lyndal Ryan, said Mr Howie had acted as a conduit for discontent. ''He's certainly not alone in his concerns, he just ended up being a champion for other people,'' Ms Ryan said. RSPCA ACT council member Kasy Chambers said on Monday that Mr Linke's decision to leave was not connected to the staff problems and he had raised the possibility of resigning as long ago as May. Ms Chambers said she would not comment on human resources matters but said the investigations would be conducted ''by the book''. The Canberra Times has spoken in recent weeks to a number of staff members who have left the organisation this year, complaining of underpayment and concerns about staff welfare on the ageing Weston Creek site. Dr Jackie Reed, a vet in the society's wildlife section for nearly 12 months until January, said staff were often left for months on end to work well above their contracted role. The vet's comments are supported by another former staff member, who asked not to be named, who said she reluctantly resigned earlier this year after the rejection of a pay-rise claim to reflect the role she had been filling. The ex-staffer said there were clear cultural problems at Weston Creek. ''For me to have to leave a job that I was dedicated to was very hard and upsetting.'' Speaking before Mr Linke's announcement, a current supervisor, Belinda Gibbs, said many staff lacked motivation and, while the workforce problems were not new, 2013 had been a particularly difficult year. ''It's reached this crisis point in the last six months,'' Ms Gibbs said. ''We're losing too many good staff - probably about four or five key people who the shelter really could have used - all left in 2013 or late last year.''

Can you fly or drive the bitch to the dog?

I hope they get someone moderate in the role, the other states have some real whackos.

The other night I had the two babies from my litter at a puppy class. The instructor picked one of my babies for a discussion on appropriate weight. The girl sitting next to me, with a very overweight lab puppy, immediately and sadly said "I know my boy is too fat". So what someone like her needs is not "your dog is fat" - she knows that already - but something like "how are you finding dealing with the famous lab food obsession? Have you tried X, Y or Z?"