Diva

I don't think it is media reporting - death by dog has been news for as long as I can recall. 

It's not really 'bites' that I am interested in either, it's this sustained mauling of adult owners that leads to death or multiple serious injuries. 

I can get my head around single bites, however serious, and prolonged attacks on strangers. I can even see why serious injuries leading to death happen to children.

But dogs that maul their primary caregivers really make me wonder what is going on. What is it about with their temperaments, life experiences or relationship with their owners that make this possible? 

I’m astounded by the run of deaths and serious injuries of adults by their own dogs recently. What on earth is going wrong?  

I’ve used fexofenadine 180 (Telfast) for a big swollen face reaction on my dog from an insect sting. Recommended by the vet and worked fine. None of mine have ongoing allergies but I do, so that was what I had on hand for me. 

I hope he is sent to a prison full of men who like dogs, and is treated as he deserves. 

I agree tdierikx, the dog breaking off then resuming the attack really struck me too. I‘m not clear if a fight between the dogs did start things, I think it’s speculation from people trying to work out what happened. I’m not sure if witnesses saw the second dog bite her either. But that shot dog showed some chilling behaviour. I hope they did a necropsy.   

Very sad. There was a similar case in Canberra a while back, a woman killed by her Staffie cross when she intervened to stop it attacking a male visitor. Only a few months before the same dog had received serious injuries trying to stop a violent home invasion. 

If you mean the ones in Perth Mairead then no, not left with her, the owner was only 31 and the breeder of one of the dogs has spoken and it was sold directly to her, it sounds like as a pup. 

My experience is pretty much the same as DogsAndTheMob.  Being redirected onto is just nothing I have ever had to worry about, and I have had big fast high prey drive dogs for 40 years. Including raising entire males together. 

The dogs in these attacks that not only bite their owners but maul and try to kill are so far out of my experience that they sound like a different species. And I will be up front and say it does make me very wary of their breeds, as well as wondering what else is going wrong to create these terrible outcomes. 
 

When I heard of this case I assumed she hadn’t owned the dogs for very long - but that isn’t the case at all. So I just don’t understand it. 

One report I read quoted the man attacked, and said the dog ‘was responding to an argument in the house’. He was also referred to as the dog’s owner in that report. To do that severe an attack after 8 years in the same family to family members makes me think there is a long back story we will never hear. 

Well here’s a link to a site that sells it here if you want to compare photos. I don’t use it so can’t take my own. Prices on the site are in Australian dollars, would convert to much less in USD. 
https://www.budgetpetproducts.com.au/product/simparica-trio-for-dogs-201-40kg-green-large-6-chews/17331

5 minutes ago, Amazetl said:

I read that they still can’t locate the wolfhounds owner. Why is that? No one knows where they came from at all? What will happen? Poor little one. Just horrifying. So sad. 

If the dogs weren’t microchipped and had no id it’s hard to track down the owner. They may not even usually live in Sydney.
I’d expect the attacking dogs will be euthanised as dangerous and basically abandoned if they don’t find an owner. The go fund appeal money will cover the vet bills and maybe the medical bills.
And the injured woman will have to try to get over it as best she can. 

It is excruciatingly painful to lose a young dog like that. I am glad she is home with you again. 

I know my breed pretty well and they don’t have a lot of specific health issues. The common things they do get more of aren’t testable anyway. I would be taking a bigger risk as those things (osteosarcoma, bloat) concentrate more in some lines than others but any dog can get them so it’s not black and white. I’d probably run the one dna test we have so I know if that disease, a disease of old dogs,  is coming, but it wouldn’t influence my decision.

so yes, I would get a rescue of my breed without health testing IF the temperament was what I wanted and I had room. I’d get a cross bred of my breed too if it needed a home and its temperament was good. This assumes I have the $$ to cope with any health surprises that do pop up. 

(It’s not likely though, I’m throughly hooked on the lines I have. And most rescues in my breed are because a breeder or owner died or got sick so history is known. True rescues happen, there was a horrible one a year or so ago, but are fortunately rare)

I thought they looked  quite Wolfhoundy in the photo in the article, I couldn’t say purebred but not a million miles away.  
I keep having to edit as the posts are posting before I have finished today. Weird. 

Whenever I hear of things like this in school holidays I wonder if there was someone minding the dogs, a big change in the dogs’ routine or housing during the holidays, or someone walking them who was not used to them. Dogs that have no history of escape don’t usually start without some change in husbandry. 
 

just saw the post that said they were being looked after by a friend. Sad for everyone involved. 

That trauma will be very hard for the poor woman to get over. Not being able to protect your dog from attack is incredibly distressing and can cause ongoing anxiety.  I hope she and her dog get all the help they need. 

Three is my ideal number. I can take one out to do stuff without anyone being left alone. My breed quite likes to live in a group too, it’s in their heritage. Never any squabbles. If you go for a different breed I’d look for one that is also happy in a pack and has a similar activity level, unless you a targeting a specific dog sport. 

42 minutes ago, Deeds said:

To shame the clinic into accepting the $29,000 instead of paying in full?  

I think so too, along with enjoying the attention. If the vet kept them informed all along the way on what the options and costs were it’s pretty crappy behaviour to try and embarrass them later into discounting the price. If they hadn’t been informed it’s a different story. 

11 hours ago, Deeds said:

I would have thought that quarantine laws in the USA were fairly strict.  

They  were always much easier than Australia’s.  Except that they have completely banned imports from high risk rabies countries for now. And tightened proof of vaccination requirements in the last few years. I think both triggered by some issues with fraudulent vaccination records and  mass imported rescues. 

But Australia is not considered high risk as a source so no quarantine from here. Just the right vaccinations and paperwork.
 

I wonder if the seasonality would be the same further south. I have heard of a few snake bites in June/July in the ACT but only when the snake was taking advantage of an artificial heat source, like a water heater. 

I don’t think epigenetics is crap, but I do find it complicated and hard to get my head around. A lot of what I have read was based on studies of the effects of the Dutch famine at the end of WW2, specifically the effect of the exposure of babies in utero to famine. The multigenerational effects in particular are interesting to me  - if  a grandparent was exposed to famine while a foetus, the grandchildren are reported to have higher obesity levels (and therefore poorer chronic disease outcomes) than the normal population. Is that an environmentally induced change in how their genes work to ensure that the kids can survive in a low nutrient environment like that their grandparents experienced at a formative stage of development, which is what is postulated? Or is it a multigenerational change in attitudes to food in that family? Or something else? I don’t know but the idea that the early nutrition of a grandparent can affect the health of a grandchild is a bit mind blowing to me. 

8 hours ago, BDJ said:

@Diva do you have any video or links to the show you quoted (or even the dogs)? - sounds amazing and I would love to have a look.  ta

 

Parts of it were live streamed on fb but I don’t have a public link, will see if I can find anything and message you. I know the official photos aren’t out yet. 
But I assume most breed nationals over there have a similar mix of performance, companion and show, it’s a minority breed so it’s one of the smaller and less fancy ones I think. It has 2 sorts of lure coursing, straight racing, rally, obedience, puppy and veteran sweepstakes, stud dog and brood bitch, dual champion stakes, futurity, brace and team classes,  triathlon, junior showmanship, the big main show, some seminars inc health and judges training, awards dinner, fundraising auction of collectibles, vendor stalls, national breed club general meeting and a fancy dress parade. I’ve seen parades of companion dogs/rescues in the past, not sure if that’s always there. Often there are health clinics (eye, heart, thyroid) and a company comes that can collect semen for freezing.
Oh and lots of socialising, lol. 

2 hours ago, sandgrubber said:

Only if the others have good judgement.   Personally I'd rather see veterinarians and people involved in the breed's purpose, whether sport, working or companion,  have equal say to conformation judges.  IMO the unfortunate downfall of the pedigree system is due to overemphasis on the surface aspects of conformation that can be judged in the show ring, and inattention to health and temperament. Pedigrees could used well, but have mostly been used to narrow the gene pool to particular showy types.  In many cases,  health testing is merely an effort to backtrack the effects of a century and a half of 'line breeding', closed registers and consideration of form, while neglecting function.

Good judgement is always key. Most vets can’t even tell if my dogs are a good weight, they mostly want them fat. And I have tried to get diagnoses on soft tissue injuries causing a gait anomaly and the vets can’t even see the anomaly, they have no idea what soundness looks like. As for breed screening, inherited health parameters, or genetic diversity? They know less than me.

So just like show judges, you have  to pick the knowledgeable ones to pay attention to. Some vets are knowledgeable - my imported girls are bred by a U.S. vet who has studied the breed in depth- but if the average suburban vet is given a say the breed will be completely stuffed. And I love and appreciate my local vets, I just know their limitations. 

As for dysfunctional show dogs? The big US breed national finished on the weekend. The Best in Show was a female from veteran class. A dual champion, coursing and show. And also the winner of the separate triathlon competition which aggregates scores in obedience:rally, lure coursing, and a conformation rating by a separate judge.  

Not a ‘campaigned’ show dog, a functional versatile girl with exquisite breed type.  Her brother won select dog. And that is not the first time a coursing champion has won the big prize either.  Just happens that her litter sister and half sister are both on my couch. 
 

As for genetic diversity, the breed raised the funds for research by UC Davis. Despite a recognised lack of diversity in haplotypes, the study concluded the breed had few health issues. Having come from functional foundation stock that had to prove itself in the field, and with inherent variations between the big kennels, is to be credited for that I’d guess. Because it has had to persist through the genetic bottle necks of revolution, wars, and now anti-pure bred dogma, and that does narrow the gene pool. 
 

I’m not against bringing in a different breed if needed- but it’s not needed in all breeds. Yes we have problems with breeders not knowing how best to use the genetic diversity we have, and some wanting to fall back on the old rules of thumb they learnt when they set out.  But it’s complicate stuff and we don’t have the science communicators and knowledge brokers need to make it accessible. That’s the gap to me. People just take extreme positions and try to stick the boot into purebreds. 
 

We have some really knowledgeable show judges. And some real dudes. But the good ones are amazing, and I appreciate what they have taught me. I actually dislike showing, but every time I have a young dog out I go, because I want the perspectives of those other eyes.

3 hours ago, Adrienne said:

 

I also saw people just treating their dogs like objects, manhandling them, talking about them in derogatory ways... I guess that's what can happen when you are sick to f*** of travelling around to all these shows to get that ribbon or whatever - sometimes there are only one or two exhibitors and I'm guessing these are the people who get all championed up or something. Look, I don't really know how it works so correct me if I am wrong!

I don’t know what ‘all championed up or something’ means, but with a pretty rare breed I would sometimes find myself with the only breed entry.

However, you still get to contest for best in group/class in group/class in-show.

I haven’t shown for several years but when I did I often had the only one of breed but still had my dog placed above 40 or 50, or sometimes a lot more, other dogs by winning an age class in show, or a best in group. Even rarely a best in show.
That can be a good reality check on your judgement of your own dog, especially if you have a group or breed specialist judging.
it’s easy to get kennel blind in a rare breed and that is the value of shows to me, exposing your dogs to the judgement of others is a good discipline if you intend to breed them. Not essential. There are certainly other ways.  But a discipline nonetheless. 
 

Harsh handling is unforgivable. But I wouldn’t fall too much for the derogatory comments. If they were about their own dogs they may be a bit of game play. 
 

Did you look on line for stripping knives? These are reputable companies:

https://www.petsonthepark.com.au/dog-products/grooming/stripping-knives/

https::/www.petnetwork.com.au/collections/coat-stripping-products?page=2

https://www.ozgroomingworld.com.au/tools/hand-stripping

My breed is known for its sense of humour among those who own them. They seem to understand what is funny and how to make people laugh, and they switch from elegant and graceful to goofy clowns in a nano second. But they tend to keep it for their family, most I have owned don’t muck around in public or with strangers. Like their big toothy front-teeth flashing grins, jokes are for friends.