Gayle.

You should be able to claim the damage on your home insurance. Doesn't replace your treasures though, or clean up the mess. Little butthead he is.

The standard doesn't change, ever. So if someone knows the standard, and breeds according to the standard and their dogs look like the standard says they are supposed to look, then why do they need to show?

Absolutely agree with this. One hundred percent. Instead of registered breeders, canine councils and other dog-associated bodies whinging, whining and stamping their feet about oodlemakers, backyard breeders and puppy farms, they should be doing POSITIVE campaigning for the "pedigree dogs as pets" cause. Right now they preach to the converted. Everything is aimed at people already involved with pedigree dogs......they need to get getting the word out to people who aren't involved but might want to own a dog.

There are no pet shops here that sell puppies, but the oodle-doodle puppy farmers do a roaring trade.....they sell direct to the public. I know of a least 4 puppy farms here, they supply the pet shops in the city, but they'll also sell to anyone who contacts them direct.

Sorry but in Victoria most of those points are LAW..........they can do lots if they really want to!!! I would sign a petition to get rid of the RSPCA before I signed one about puppy farmers Could you please provide links to the Victorian legislation mentioned above?

The blueprint for the masterpiece is the standard. If the puppy is growing into the standard, it's a masterpiece. However, I agree.....some masterpieces are an acquired taste. And not just in the dog world.

My puppy, my thread and I believe this is what I said..... And I stand by it. In a forum that promotes purebred dog ownership, purebred puppies should be admired and valued. Prior to that thread, there were a heap of other threads regarding cross-bred puppies that had been removed by the mods.

I have had people say they are completely surprised and shocked that I, who heavily promotes responsible dog ownership, has an entire bitch who I have no intention of getting desexed. I now have a male puppy who will remain entire also, as he's co-owned with his breeder and has stud-muffin duties in his future. But my response was that I am a responsible dog owner who has entire dogs....I am not breeding indiscriminately, in fact I'm not breeding at all, nor am I promoting either. I don't have a hidden agenda, my bitch is shown occasionally and I want to keep my options open for the future.

Would you please provide a link to the Victorian legislation?

Asking breeders to clean up shit caked on the walls isn't going to stop puppy farming. I can see where the problems lie in policing it, because as it stands now, there are few or no rules to police dog breeding, and when you start defining a puppy farmer in words, a lot of ethical registered breeders will start to fall into the same category. Bear these points in mind when discussing the subject..... There is no law against breeding lots of puppies. There is no law against cross breeding dogs. There is no law regarding the health testing of dog breeding stock. There is no law regarding who puppies are sold to. There is no law about how breeding dogs and their puppies should be kept beyond the very, very basic food, water, shelter and a small amount of space. Once these points start to be addressed, there is often a blurred line between puppy farmers and some ANKC registered breeders.

But if the establishment they've been sent to inspect meets the legislative guidelines, then they can't do anything. And the legislative guidelines for keeping companion animals is a lot different to how you, I and most other DOL'ers keep animals. They can't take action based on their opinion, they can only take action if the establishment doesn't provide basic needs for the animals according to the legislation, and their basic needs are food, water, shelter and space to turn around. If they have the relevant permits and are a registered business, there's nothing they can do. If they are shut down based on someones opinion, they can appeal and if they are found to be operating within the legislation they can just re-open and keep trading. The legislation needs to be changed and what constitutes a puppy farm needs to be defined because as it stands now, there is no definition of a puppy farm.

I believe the reason the RSPCA haven't been able to do much so far other than prosecute for animal neglect, is that there is no legislation preventing puppy farms from operating. Puppy farms are a legal business enterprise and as long as they have the relevant council permits....and most of them do....and provide the animals with the minimum requirements of shelter, food, water and enough space to stand up and turn around, they ARE meeting the current legislative guidelines. I think this is a step in the right direction towards having the legislation changed and sorting the puppy farmers from the genuine, ethical breeders of registered pedigree dogs. I hope the canine controlling bodies also step up to the plate and start some sort of positive community awareness campaign on how people can obtain quality pets.

Aussie Bulldog is what I was thinking.

If it's the breed I'm thinking of, they aren't a purebred but a many times cross-bred. If they have a breed association though, maybe you can contact them and see if there's some sort of code of ethics the breeder is supposed to be following. Also, contact consumer affairs.

My son has an orange belton English Setter, he got him at an 18 month old ex-show dog. He is totally, utterly gorgeous but fair dinkum, he's the dumbest dog I have ever met. I'm sure there are intelligent ones around but my sons dog isn't a good advert for ES brains.

When you see them side by side, they are distinctly different as adults, although younger dogs and pups can be very confusing. Aussies are bigger and heavier, with a more solid build. Coats on Aussies tend to be more uniform in length....Borders can be short, long or anywhere in between. Aussies have a different head.....wider and slightly shorter muzzle, smaller ears. Movement is different too, but I'm not good enough to describe it in words. Temperament is different although I imagine this crosses boundaries too. Aussies are supposed to be more laid back and mine certainly are, but then some Borders are very laid back too and some Aussies are full on. They are two different breeds and Border Collies don't figure anywhere in the heritage of Aussies, despite their similar looks.

You choose an Australian Shepherd, because lets face it.....the rest are just dogs.

We have three indoor cats and a small, elderly dog as well as two adult Aussies and a puppy. Mine have grown up with the cats and see other cats as playmates. Unfortunately most other cats don't see big hairy dogs as being fun to play with. And the dogs just don't understand it. They know cats are smaller and play with them differently than they play with each other. They also play differently with our little old dog, they are much more gentle with her, it's like they understand her fragility. I don't have mine offleash if we're out on a walk, although I doubt Dusty would leave my side. Benson is a bit inquisitive though and he might be inclined to wander. However, at the beach and lake they play off leash and they always come when I call them. Not sure how they go with other animals, but we are adding chooks to the menagerie later this year so I'll have an answer then. They really like other dogs though and enjoy it when others bring their dogs to visit. Aussies are generally not a dog-aggressive breed although I'm sure there are some exceptions. Benson has been around a couple of aggessive dogs.....mildly aggressive....and in both cases, decided behind my legs was the best place to be. He seemed to prefer ignoring them rather than responding or acting submissively or assertively.

Any vet I've ever taken Dusty to has commented on her "docked" tail. I point out that if it had been docked, it would probably be a neater job than nature gave her. It's about 3 vertabrae long and has a kink in it. For the record, I've never taken any of my dogs to a vet who knew what an Australian Shepherd was. Mine were the first they'd ever seen.

Ask a repo specialist. Near impossible for a dogs testicle to come down many months / years later. There is a certain time frame while the dog is growing that the testicle can be brought down. The tube that holds it is so thin. Sorry but it basically would be like sh!ting a watermelon. Also there would not be room with the prosthetic in to come down! You would think while the so called vet is putting the prosthetic in he would check to see the state of the retained testicle.!!!! I don't buy the story. Any vet worth his salt would not leave a retained testicle inside a dog as it leads to cancer. Obviously you've never had a baby.

I used to love eating raw potatoes when I was a kid, then I ate a green one and got very sick.....lots of vomiting, as I remember....and went right off raw spuds. Spottychick, Dusty is quite submissive to Benson most of the time, although he's a pretty benevolent dictator and he's not nasty to her but he sometimes takes her things. But she will do exactly the same as Pepper.....stand up for herself when she feels it's important for her. And when she does, Benson takes her seriously and keeps his distance, and his paws off whatever she's got.

That's gorgeous, and so is Pepper. Warning, green potatoes aren't unripe potatoes, they have green areas or patches on them and they are poisionous to humans and dogs if eaten raw. They'd make us sick, but they might make a dog deathly ill.

There's a bulldog at our obedience club who was competing in one of our mock trials one day. He was doing an off-leash recall and rather than sit there and wait til his handler called him, he decided the judge was definitely his type and he waddled over to her and straddled her leg and humped away happily, while every onlooked just about fell over laughing. By the end of his turn in the ring, he'd done more humping than anything and had a lovely little affair going with the judge. We all said we'd never seen him move so fast as when he was chasing her around the ring.

I leave our baby in at the moment, but the only thing he has access to is an unfurnished front entrance and a tiled passge. He has his crate, toys and a bowl of water. I could leave Dusty inside, she would be OK, but there's no way in the world I'd leave Benson in the house unattended. Benson is a bit of a forward thinker and he'd think up all sorts of shit to get into.

Maybe 100-150 years ago they didn't.....I think they had longer legs back then too. But 10-15 years is only 2 or 3 generations and it takes more than that to get those extremeties.