Gayle.

I have to say I disagree with this. It depends on the individual situation. Both my OH and I work full time and bought 2 puppies into our family. Both are happy, well adjusted dogs, never had a neighbour complaint, garden is still in tact, no behavioural problems. why? because we spend quality time exercising/training our dogs and wen we arent here, they have plenty to occupy them (toys, kongs etc). I dont think a blanket statement like that is fair. Just my opinion, of course ;) Same here. All our dogs came here as puppies, all are well behaved, non-destructive and very happy. They get along great with each other and with our cats. We have beautiful gardens and even with three active dogs, they remain beautiful. The only behavioural problem we've had was some nuisance barking from Benson which we nipped in the bud, and he was barking whether we were here or not.

That's not always the case. If you're talking about an ethical rescue group, that should always be the case, in my opinion. The dog should have done a minimum of one month in a home (for me, it's a minimum of two months but I can see how that might not be possible for everyone), the dog must be temperament tested and tested for suitability in certain home situations (children is the one I'd consider to be most important) and based on all that you learn from assessing the dog's behaviour, a "best case" home should be fairly easy to determine. If the dog in your son's situation had not even been there long enough to complete quarantine or was rehomed to the first person to show up (assuming your son's home was a better situation for the dog, we really can't know either way), I doubt very much that the group concerned was especially ethical so in reality, you probably dodged a bullet there anyway ;) How is anyone to know which rescue groups are ethical and which aren't? You can only go on what you're told over the phone. He assumed this group were genuine, they were quick off the mark to get the dog which was originally advertised as free to a good home. He didn't especially want a free dog, he wanted a particular type of dog and this one was the right breed. I would not meet most rescue groups incredibly stringent criteria, but my dogs have a pretty happy life. enough that when a breeder was looking for a special home for her pick boy she offered him to me, knowing he'd have a fab home and get to do all the things dogs of his breed should be doing.

BTW, you don't need to make dog showing a "career". I do it for fun, on a casual basis, when I have time. I am certainly not dedicated or obsessed, but the days we do show I thoroughly enjoy it, the days we don't we do other fun things with the dogs. I would probably attend maybe 4-6 shows a year, that's enough for me. I catch up with people I've gotten to know, see all the gorgeous dogs looking their best, get to show off my dogs looking spiffy, and have a good day out.

In some breeds it's pretty easy to tell a neuter bitch from an entire, cos the coat goes to crap on a neuter.

I like registered breeders, which is why I recommended my son head in that direction rather than rescue, after his miserable attempt to adopt a rescue dog. He is very happy with the outcome, he still has contact with the breeder and consults with her if he has any queries about the breed. Just because one person posted something in another thread, doesn't mean everyone thinks that way.

That's not always the case. When my son found the dog he wanted, it was advertised by the owner, so he rang only to find it had been "rescued" the same day. He was given the number of the rescue organisation and spoke to someone there at length. I was there and could hear his side of the conversation. He politely described their living situation......spacious yard, securely fenced, wanted a running mate so was looking for an active dog, girlfriend home a lot, dog to be inside etc. etc. He was told he could come see the dog on the weekend, and was told this dog would be rehomed to "the best home, not the first home". But a few days later when he called to let her know he'd be there around mid morning, he was told "Oh that dog went to his new home a few days ago". Now, he'd seen the dog advertised on the Thursday, rang the owner immediately, rang the rescue person straight away, arranged to go there on the Sunday then rang on the Saturday night to confirm.....and the dog was already gone....well, I'd say he did go to the first person that came along and they definitely didn't have him in their care long enough to get to know him. And that came hot on the heels of another rescue orgaisation telling him they'd ring him back regarding a dog he was interested in, only to never hear from them again.

Check the mature dogs listings here on DOL. My son had a similar experience......the second dog he enquired about he was told to come and see, however he rang the day before their arranged time to let them know what time he'd be there, only to find the dog had already been rehomed. And they hadn't bothered to let him know. Just as well he rang as it was a 4 hour round trip. I think that's bloody rude. He ended up with a lovely dog when I suggested he try the DOL listings. He didn't want a puppy but got a gorgeous 18 month old English Setter.

We work fulltime, but that doesn't mean our dogs are left for endless hours on their own. I am often home by 3.30pm due to some early starts. Husband is self employed and configures his days to suit himself. He often pops home for a while to check on the dogs, play with them, do stuff around the house etc. Fulltime doesn't mean 10 hours of loneliness for a dog, but it's assumed it does.

If someone took the time to write a letter letting me know how happy my kids made her, enclose it with some wrapped and sealed gifts then yes, I sure would. Didn't you let your kids eat the lollies handed out by Santa's in the mall? There are a thousand easier ways to bait a dog than poisoning packaged treats, resealing the pack so it doesn't look tampered with, scope out some random person with a dog, find out where they live then target them by leaving a package on their doorstep. Even suggesting it smacks of paranoia.

Yes, it often is counter-productive. My son approached two rescue organisations about dogs they had available, both were unaccountably rude to him so he found an ANKC breeder who was looking to re-home an ex-show dog of the type he was after. That dog now has an absolutely fabulous home where he is the centre of my sons world. His girlfriend wanted a dog of her own so rather than go via a rescue organisation after their previous efforts, they went straight to the source....the pound. Their little pound puppy has the best life you could ever imagine a dog wanting. Two missed opportunities for rescue organisations to rehome dogs.

What a lovely gesture. And how sad that some people are so suspicious and judgemental.

Is there another rally being planned?

Australian Shepherds have show lines and working lines. Most of what's available here will be show lines, although they all go back to working lines. Occasionally a litter pops up that has either one or both parents with a direct line to the US working stock. Benson is one, his sire is an import, bred directly from one of the big working US kennels. Benson looks different to other Aussies, but as a working dog he's a complete failure ROFL! He's terrifed of sheep.

Mine started off sleeping on a bed, either ours or my daughters, now he sleeps on his own bed on our bedroom floor unless I'm on my own, then he comes up for cuddles with me. Spoilt, yes. I had no problem toilet training him though, and having him in someones bed meant we never had any sleepless nights with a crying, lonely puppy.

Behind what scenes and why would they lie? And who are they? What damage did the rally cause?

Getting back to the original discussion, those of you who are opposed to the proposed legislation but agree that puppy farms need to be closed without capturing ethical breeders in the same net......what are you doing about it? Genuine question. There seems to be a lot of talk, a lot of throwing of hands in the air and a lot of wailing about what might be, but what actions are you and your representing bodies taking and who are you lobbying for change?

I don't know. It's made my Laucke Mills in South Australia. I get mine from Petstock, but I think you can also get it through stock feed stores.

Try stripping out the undercoat with a good rake. My oldest Aussie, the only neuter here, developed a thick woolly coat and it's because he's neutered. He doesn't do the twice yearly coat drop that the entire dogs do, so the undercoat just hangs on and eventually he has a body full of dead undercoat. Stripping away the old undercoat removes the woolliness. I use an Oster undercoat rake, but other brands such as a Furminator or a Mars Coat King might work better depending on the type of coat the dog has. For a nice, healthy, shiny coat my bloke does best on Uncle Albers. It's cheap, but it's Aus made and appears to have decent ingredients. The difference in his coat within a few weeks was remarkable.

Resources. They don't have the facilities to hold all the dogs. They touched on that on the 7PM Project last night. Not the case. Look at the large numbers of poodles that were siezed in the case in Queensland. Yes, they needed help but help was found. In another case over 100 Chis were siezed in a joint state operation. Not easy but to clean out large operations it can be done and has been done. Souff What is the case?

Resources. They don't have the facilities to hold all the dogs. They touched on that on the 7PM Project last night.

Are these by laws that are already in place?

Can you clarify if those requirements are for hobby breeders, which would encompass most ANKC registered breeders, or only for those who run a registered business breedings dogs?

Does anyone know which puppy farm it was? We have a lot of them around here, including a couple of very big ones in Sale and Heyfield. I thought it was a really well done piece, and the images spoke much louder than words ever could.

Me done too. There are some really good, balanced posts, some really one sided views, some very valuable input and some opinions I'm interested in but hadn't considered, all interspersed with the ravings of a lunatic. Getting too hard to sort the sense from the nonsense.

I didn't say any such thing. I just asked who Stringy was and what was the relevance to raising awareness of puppy farms. And there is none. It happened 11 years ago, it happened without any puppy farm legislation being passed, and it could still happentake it up with the person who reported you but it doesn't belong here.