SkySoaringMagpie

I was reminded at the show today that I totally forgot to brag about this on DOL. :rolleyes: Miss Mab, our resident chatterbox and all round happy go lucky little personality, gained the last points for her Australian Champion title recently. Mab is Ch Al Muzdaher Farousi Rabha (Imp Bahrain). She was bred by a traditional Arab breeder in Bahrain and her parents are coursing dogs, not show dogs. Fortunately tho' he registers all his dogs with the Bahrain KC which is FCI affiliated - that meant I could show her here. Unfortunately other worthy COO Salukis can't be imported and shown here because their countries of origin are not FCI affiliated. You can view pictures of Mab's parents coursing here: Dad is the black irish marked, Mum the black and white parti-colour.

I hear this a lot and wonder what it means. Does it mean that there are a lot of wonderful homes where people aren't prepared to "qualify themselves" for a pup? How do we know these homes are wonderful and that there are a lot of them out there? Once you understand why the questions are being asked - ie, to protect the future welfare of the pup - I can't think of many questions I'd object to answering. I wouldn't give detailed personal financial information of course, but if they wanted to speak to our vet to see if we routinely pay on time for check ups and necessary medical treatment that would be fine. Yes there are some breeders and some rescuers who are OTT. I can't think of a breed where every breeder is OTT, and certainly in rescue/shelters you have a range of options. I also agree with others that if you don't get questions about your suitability and you are not already known by the breeder, then you should think carefully about whether it's a good idea to get a dog from that breeder. Easy come, easy go is not a good sign.

http://www.smh.com.au/environment/truth-ab...00605-xlr4.html Truth about cats and dogs: 250,000 killed every year RACHEL BROWNE June 6, 2010 MORE than a quarter of a million healthy cats and dogs are destroyed in Australia every year because there are not enough homes for them. Behind the numbers there is a vicious debate about the oversupply of animals and what can be done to tackle the problem. On one side, animal welfare groups backed by Sydney lord mayor and NSW independent MP Clover Moore blame commercial breeders for breeding too many animals and pet shops for supplying them to an unsuspecting public. On the other side, pet shops say they are operating within ethical guidelines and buy their animals from reputable breeders rather than so-called puppy and kitten farmers. But there are points they can agree on. Breeders need tighter regulation and kill rates are too high. The RSPCA has taken the first step, releasing a discussion paper on puppy farming and inviting interested parties to make submissions. ''One of the reasons that we introduced the discussion paper was to get the debate happening,'' RSPCA NSW chief inspector David O'Shannessy said. He agrees that puppy and kitten farmers - who range from large-scale commercial breeders to smaller backyard breeders - are contributing to the problem of oversupply but says many of them are operating within the law. ''There is a variation between properties you might describe as puppy farms. Some of them are absolutely deplorable. But others are meeting the minimum requirements of care and are therefore legal.'' The RSPCA has conducted high-profile raids on puppy farms in the past three years, including on one facility in NSW where 190 dogs were being kept in filthy conditions, surrounded by faeces and dead puppies. The RSPCA find it a difficult area to police and enforce. ''It's hard to actually track these people down,'' Mr O'Shannessy said. ''Often they will advertise dogs on the internet and only give a mobile number as a contact. They won't sell to people on the premises. They'll arrange to meet you in a car park or another public place so you don't get to see the conditions that the animals are living in.'' Australian Veterinary Association president Mark Lawrie agrees the lack of regulation on breeding makes it problematic to enforce legislation. ''It's hard to know the extent of the problem of indiscriminate breeding. It's hard to get any reliable statistics.'' Dr Lawrie claims that animal lovers who accumulate large numbers of pets contribute more to over-population than farmers. ''I actually think animal hoarding is a bigger problem in terms of indiscriminate breeding. That's a complex issue because it involves mental health.'' But welfare groups maintain there are hundreds of puppy and kitten farms in Australia, and groups such as the RSPCA and local councils are not doing enough to stamp it out. ''At the moment it is completely unregulated,'' said Animal Liberation NSW project officer Jacqueline, who prefers her surname not to be used due to her undercover field work. ''Anyone with two animals can call themselves a breeder. They do so with the complicity of local councils who are supposed to inspect the premises and with the complicity of the RSPCA, which is reluctant to investigate. ''They have the complicity of the pet shops, which then sell the animals, and the complicity of vets who tend to the animals. Many of these animals are sold sick or with inherited problems due to inbreeding or with behavioural problems.'' Paul Archer, of welfare group Death Row Pets, said farmers specifically targeted pet shop chains and websites to offload their animals. ''The bad breeders will sell to anyone. They don't care - they're in it for profit, not the welfare of the animal. We need the public to stop and think about what they're doing before they buy an animal from a pet shop or a website.'' But the Pet Industry Association of Australia's chief executive Roger Perkins denies pet shops are selling animals farmed cruelly. ''Retailers buy their animals from reputable sources. They offer vet services post-sale, vaccination, microchipping and desexing. In terms of controlling over population, retailers are doing the responsible thing.'' Jacqueline disagrees, based on her first-hand knowledge of pet shop practices: ''Apparently the pet industry believes it's OK to breed animals, export them all over the country, fly them around in small crates when they're only seven weeks old and put them in the window of a shop. Apparently that's not cruelty.'' Clover Moore plans to re-introduce a bill that would ban the sale of non-rescue animals in pet shops next year. The bill has won the support of welfare groups. Lisa Wolfenden, owner of Double Bay shop Dogs in the City, whose brother William made a documentary about puppy farming, refuses to stock animals at her business. ''I am an animal lover. I think it would be totally hypocritical of me to sell animals which have been bred in a cruel way,'' she said. Both the RSPCA and Australian Veterinary Association, while not supporting the ban on animals in shops, are calling for greater regulation. As Dr Lawrie points out, vets ultimately bear the burden of unwanted animals. ''They are doing the euthanasing. That is traumatic - no one wants to kill animals.'' [email protected]

Group 2 - Fox Terrier RUBIG - Staffy

Hi peoples, a friend just told me that the Yass Farmer's Market is on between 11:30am and 4pm on Saturday at the showgrounds. So bring a little extra cash, there might be some good bargains to be had!

for Vickie and Trim and Huski and Daisy Um, and I'm not helping the thread hijacking because i just have to say... GO THE HOUNDS!!! When Faxon got his last qualifying score the others in the top three were a Foxhound and an Airedale. The judge apparently remarked "I can't believe I'm passing two hounds"

I would take Wolfsong up on her offer. A lot of us will rescue/foster our own breed but don't usually do general rescue/foster. I think - though Wolfsong can correct me if I'm wrong - that Wolfsong doesn't do general rescue. What that means is that you're not taking up space for other rescue dogs, you're sending the dogs on to someone who really understands the breed and is well placed to fix their grooming problems and find the right home. For example, I will foster Salukis because I know them and have a property that is well set up for them and they come along rarely enough that I can manage to do it properly on top of all my other responsibilities. I don't foster generally because I can't devote the necessary time and resources on an ongoing basis.

Congratulations, nice meaning for your prefix too.

I think there are limited sets of circumstances where you can be sure that the dog can be rehomed and as a result the issue will disappear or be sufficiently mitigated and it's win/win for the dogs and humans. Trisven's example is one, another is people with kids rehoming to a no kid home if the dog or kids are at risk, very drivey dogs being rehomed to working or experienced homes etc. As someone else pointed out tho', for one person "doesn't fit in with their life" means "either the dog or the kids are going to be killed or seriously injured and we have tried everything including qualified help". For others it means "doesn't match the curtains". A while ago an acquaintance of mine was talking about rehoming her poodle cross and getting a different dog because "she didn't feel a bond with him". She didn't walk him, or train him and she left discipline to her husband. For me, that's ridiculous and sad. Sometimes the bond comes magically and sometimes it comes over time through doing things to nuture that bond - like training and walking your dog. I think that kind of thinking is just another example of people being selfishly romantic about dog ownership at the dog's expense.

I agree with this wholeheartedly. Humane PTS is far from the worst thing that can happen to a dog. Unfortunately I think PTS is still a no go area for so many people even if they are disconnected from the dog. Perhaps that is because PTS except in certain very clear sanctioned circumstances runs counter to a lot of the Judeo-Christian beliefs our society is based on. Look at the difficulties humans have with human euthanasia or with spay-aborting pregnant rescues.

Run free Leo.

Inspired by Diva's post in the thread about reasons people get rid of their dogs, I'm wondering what bringing a dog into one's life means to different people. I've also noticed that sometimes people's desire for an animal is very much about their own needs, and when those needs change, so too does the animal's status in the family - usually to the point of no longer having a status*. Was it ever really love? I've also had the experience of having a dog in the house that I have come to love over time, but haven't liked very much while working through problems. Our POV has always been that once they are here, they are here for better or worse, and if something serious happened like incurable HA, we would be the ones to take them to the vet. So far, that's remained true and in fact, the process of going through the wringer of working out the problems has eventually created the bond. Ultimately tho' what sits behind that is values rather than emotion, ie, once you tame something you're responsible for it. Perhaps this is a long winded way of picking up a point someone made in the rescue thread recently. That is, many people are emotionally affected by the dire stories of rescue but not nearly as many people follow through with reliable practical help. Perhaps love is what you do, not what you say. What do you think? *I'm not talking here about reluctant responsible rehomes driven by circumstances. Edited to put link in

Responsibly rehoming is different to surrendering/dumping. As long as the breeder/exhibitor/trialler finds excellent companion homes which are equal to or better than what they can provide in terms of companionship and comfort then I have no significant problem with rehoming dogs who turned out not to be suited for the competitive pursuit they were obtained for. Mine are mine for life, but that's my thing. I do have a problem when large numbers of "failures" are dumped at vets with rubbish stories about them being aggressive, or rehomed to the first random who shows a vague interest and then wind up in rescue, etc. I also have a problem when people don't give the dog reasonable opportunities to succeed - including being patient about the fact that some breeds take a couple of years before they really hit their stride.

Special needs - being sighthounds they have a lot of down time which means they don't need as much "work" to do as a herding or guarding breed. However they do need free running for mental happiness and exercise for physical well being. - They have a large fenced free run area which they zoom about in every morning and evening stalking magpies, playing chasey etc - They get their breakfast in buster cubes and kongs which keeps them busy for a bit - They have different toys and also chew objects including RMB a few times a week - Training - "Outings", for the ones being campaigned it's shows, for the others they come with us to do messages in town or come out for the day somewhere. We are very conscious that while there are many advantages to a country property the big disadvantage is missing out on suburban socialisation opportunities. - They are inside with us at night so get quite a lot of human company, when we are out they are in runs where they can see each other. - The Afghans get significant one on one time each week just because of the grooming that is necessary.

We would email at least once a week, usually more, but that is largely because it's a mentoring relationship. 90 per cent of what we talk about is dog related so it's not a BFF thing. I don't think the mentoring relationship would work as well if it was. As to weddings etc, if aliens ran away with my brain and I decided to get married, I would invite her because she bred 3 of our family members. However she lives on the other side of the country so I wouldn't expect her to make it given the expense involved. I think it's important to remember that most established breeders have a number of puppy buyers to keep in touch with whereas the puppy buyer just has one or two breeders to keep in touch with,

I know some dog people rent from other dog people - solves the dog issue but if they were to fall out with their landlord/tenant over other issues it could be ugly. As others have said, it's not ideal.

Afghan or Poodle? If it's an Afghan it might not run on its head but it should be able to do the job with its head - ie, kill a rabbit or hare. Punishing jaws and all that.

Who is going to sunny Yass this weekend?

Get a sample of the Uncle Albers/Great Barko first and give it a try before shelling out for a whole bag. We bought a whole bag and none of our 6 would touch it - it's quite different to your average kibble. No harm done as we just donated it to rescue but if you're on a tight budget you might not want to waste a whole bag of it. If your dogs will eat it, I've heard a lot of good things about how well they do on it.

Bug: Of course the breeder took a deposit. We all take deposits because we need some security if we are going to turn away other buyers. That may be why you take deposits but not all breeders take deposits.

I don't think a person has a right to expect anything from their dogs in a dangerous situation. I am my dogs' protector, not the other way around. I appreciate that they can hear cars in the driveway before I do but I don't expect them to. I would never leave one out tied up somewhere on guard duty, anyone can get past a dog if they are serious. I think if a person has trained a dog for protection work, then they may be able to rely on certain behaviours that they have trained. However, if the behaviours don't pan out as they wanted then they either picked the wrong dog or buggered up the training or buggered up the decision about trying the dog in that situation. So they still can't "expect" the behaviour from the dog as something owed to them, it's all about how the human has or hasn't set up the situation for success. We sometimes consciously use our dogs' behaviour to send a message but again, that's us controlling the situation not the dog protecting us.

Sunday BIS - Std Poodle RUBIS - Sibe Baby - Pom Minor - English Cocker Don't know any more than that sorry as we dashed off home to get dry! Hound Group BIG - PBGV RUBIG - Mini Smooth A wee brag, Minor in Group was Lochie (Tianze Warlock) Also really interesting to see a GBGV for the first time.

What made you choose your favourite breed? My OH had an Afghan Hound with a beautiful temperament, a real old soul. I loved him but wanted a dog similar to an Afghan but without the coat care requirements for myself. I chose a Saluki, not realising that they are quite different from Afghans in their own way, What do you love about them? They have their own minds, they're beautiful, they are demanding, they are not for everyone. Do you currently own this breed or want to? I have three. Best dogs in the world :rolleyes:

Scott's Ch Bekkri Oh So Smooth Diva's gorgeous Jaz (Ch Clovelly Symphanyn White) was RUBIG. Diva's other gorgeous girl Arwen (Ch Shikata Miss Katerinka) was Open in Group Irish Lady's cute little Irish Wolfhound Puppy was Puppy in Group Lochie BOB Afghan, Howard Dog Challenge Whippet. :D :D

10/16/17