Diva

I would just lock the back door, and tell the kids the backyard is off limits. They might be put out, but the family chose to come somewhere that scares them, they have to compromise too.

I don't really get bad reactions with the Borzoi, few people are scared by them. I did have one workman who was and told me my old girl could 'bring a man down'. She tried to win him over by giving him biscuits and toys, and he softened a little. A bunch of kids at the local oval panicked when I had my younger one off lead down there, it is a legal off lead area. I put her on lead and went and asked what was wrong. Their dad was great, explained they never saw dogs except feral ones where they were from, they were Somali. By the time we parted the kids were yelling out goodbyes to the dog, very sweet. I used to get more reaction when I had Belgian Shepherds. People who were very comfortable with the much bigger Borzoi would take fright at the Belgians and tell me they were wolves.

Don't hold your breath, the Federal govt doesn't have a head of power, I can't really see why any Federal govt would have the slightest interest in getting involved. States can always sort out a national system themselves if they see value in it, they don't need another level of govt involved.

I cannot offer any advice as I do not know George or the OP. But this also happened with one of my Groen girls when I started competetive obedience with her, which she loved. She had always lived very harmoniously with the other dogs, but she started guarding me from the Borzoi when they came up for a cuddle. First time it happened I was taken by suprise, growled at her and got up and walked away. The second time I had had time to think it through, and I quietly got up, led her outside, and shut her out there. After a few minutes I let her back in, she repeated the growl so I put her out again - no fussing, just that the behaviour saw her exiled. Let her back in and no more problem that day. She tried it again a few weeks later, I only had to exile her once that time for her to realise it wasn't going to work and she never repeated the behaviour. So it actually turned out to be really easy to fix. I reiterate that I am not offering advice. I had had all the dogs from youngsters and had great confidence in the underlying stability of their temperaments. To me, she was just trying it on and I needed to show her it wasn't going to get her what she wanted, quite the opposite in fact. I also knew she wasn't going to hurt the 'zoi, they could have flattened her if they wanted to, but instead they just looked at her in utter disdain at such bad manners, bless them. One thing I found with Belgians, they can be quite intense and very smart, you do kinda have to be smart managers of them too. I won't get another until I retire, the Borzoi are so laid back by comparison I stick with them for now. But I still think they are amazing dogs and I will have another one day.

if the pup arrives at his new home in good health and then developes a non-heritable non-congenital condition I don't see why the breeder would have any responsibilty, unless they gave bad rearing advice to the new owners or hadn't been honest about their vaccination protocols? If I place a healthy puppy I can't be responsible for what the new owners do or for the risks in his new home, as I have no ability to mitigate that risk.

I don't really respond to the lost child analogy, lost children don't usually attack other children walking down the street with their family, rush aggressively at adults, or harass livestock or wildlife, and they seldom cause traffic accidents. I am waaay past the point of being tolerant of loose dogs and the 'he has never done it before' excuses. I know anyone can have a bad situation and a dog gets out, and if I could quickly return it to the owners I would rather than drop it at the pound. But I believe that a fine even for first offense is reasonable if a dog does enter the system, and if an owner cannot be found quickly they need to go to the pound. Alternatively, I would require a fence inspection of any property a dog got loose from before the dog could be returned. I know if mine got out, I would be so grateful someone had got them out of harms way on the road that a fine or proving I had proper fencing would be the least of my concerns.

I have always had cats with my Borzoi, even though they are sighthounds who love to chase they are quite able to distinguish their cat from other cats. Some people can't do it though, and it ends in tragedy, so the nature of the individual dogs and cats is very crucial. The best dog I ever had with other animals was a Belgian Shepherd, she was a 'guardian' to every animal she came across, bigger or smaller than herself. Except people, she only trusted her own family when it came to humans.

Sounds like he was let out to enjoy his 'constitutional' on his own.

My retired neighbours offered take my dogs along on their regular walks while I was at work. They would be fine with them but the risk of attack from a loose dog is too great in my suburb, I couldn't risk it. Bad enough it happens when I am walking them, worse if it was with others not as dog savvy.

I used to wake up to my Terv staring at me about 2 inches from my face. I think she used to use mind power to will me to wake up.

A well behaved Belgian is an absolute joy, if he has bonded with your family I think you would do well to consider keeping him for all your sakes.

I went and checked the listing to see if I should be keeping my eyes open, but it is the other side of town. I have heard of people putting a short length of wood attached to a collar to deter chronic escape artists, it is a very old solution for incorrigible jumpers. I wonder if it was something like that. I am not supporting that approach so don't jump down my throat.

Both are responsible, although as an attack didn't occur I assume the big dog owner had enough control to prevent it. The size of the dogs is irrelevant, my answer would be the same if it was a big dog approaching a small one, or two bigs, or two smalls.

I think Stan is smarter than you give him credit for, he knows how to bounce back. I hope Maddy isn't too much affected, one of mine was wary around strange dogs for some months afterwards but got back to her normal attitude eventually.

great article

She shouldn't have to, we all should be able to walk our dogs on lead in our own neighbourhoods without the real risk of them being being ripped into. It makes me furious.

I get so angry at this, it has happened to mine a couple of times but they aren't muzzled so can fight back. Your poor greys.

I would also look to her diet if she were mine, obviously impossibke to tell on the info provided but she might do better with an increase in animal fats.

Yes, that was my reaction too. Why would anyone believe the comments of an anonymous caller to be truthful?

I actually wondered if it was an 'attack' or 2 very badly behaved out of control dogs jumping up in excitement. A hard dog head in the face can do a lot of damage without agressive intent. Wouldn't make it any less awful for the poor woman or excuse the owner, of course.

There is a short piece on the Age online which might be relevant. It says the man attacked was working on a property and has required surgery.

I agree with this. I have owned several Groens and Tervs over the years. A couple would have been well suited to this situation, calm and sensible. But others would have been a disaster- too guardy and needing strong leadership, or too active and needing lots of activity, or just too empathetic. I had one who came down with any malady I had- if I limped, he limped. An anxious owner would have been a disaster for him.

That poor chained pup, unable to escape.

fabulous

Goat is not a hit with mine, they do OK on it but don't find it platable. They do fine on beef, and also chicken, rabbit, pork, lamb and small amounts of roo.