Maddy

To get the Shitty Whippet a new friend. Ever since we lost Bosley, she's been just not quite right. Food is meh, toys are meh, she spends a lot of time hiding on our bed, under the covers. I get barely any sleep because now, she wants to sleep next to me every night and it's exhausting because I can't sleep properly. That said, so far, looking has not been a particularly fun process and I feel like we've not really gotten anywhere so who knows if new friend will even happen next year. Maybe it's just the last of the 2016 "mehs" but.. yeah.. meh.

Pet food standards. To answer the OP, if you're so keen on reading them, perhaps buy a copy?

Pretty sure you can set yourself up alerts for searches on Gumtree- https://www.gumtree.com.au/m-saved-searches.html

The people from the FB page aren't the ones local to us, they were just something else I came across while trying to find a link to an old Gumtree ad for the ones that are near us.

Yeah, I think they're about 20 minutes from us. The last litter they advertised had some surprisingly nice looking pups and I did actually consider it myself

There is someone down here who breeds proper stags- longdogs, rather than lurcher or bully mixes- and I think they're the sort of dog you're after? Basically, scruffy greyhounds? She's somewhere north (I think near us) and advertises them on Gumtree as hunting dogs. I checked and nothing listed at the moment but might be worth keeping an eye on Gumtree down here. edit- or maybe contact these people? https://www.facebook.com/STAGSRUSHUNTINGAUSTRALIA/

Isn't predictability of appearance/traits the point of purebreds? If I get a whippet, it's because I want a medium sized, short haired dog who is reasonably quiet. I'd be pretty annoyed to wind up with something entirely different and I'd guess the same would apply to anyone else who took the time to research a breed to find one that meets their needs. Oodles are promoted as having a certain set of traits and I've no doubt that many people research them and select them for those traits- and then end up very disappointed when they discover that their dog is not at all what they'd expected. To be honest, I think it is incredibly unlikely that someone would go to the expense of buying a "non-shedding" dog if they really weren't concerned about things like labrador-style hairsplosions.

Whoa there, Gruf. You're mixing the sensible with logic. :laugh: I don't disagree that a dog's worth should be judged to some extent on its function but with the oodly dogs, function is an unknown. They can't be claimed to be hypoallergenic, they can't be claimed to be non-shedding, they can't be claimed to be good family pets, and really, they can't be claimed to be anything because it's all rolls of the dice. Comparing an oodly dog to.. a greyhound: The greyhound will be a big dog, probably weighing between 25-35kg. It will have a smooth, short coat that sheds fairly minimally. It will have most, if not all, the traits of a sighthound. When you breed two greyhounds together, you know what the basic template will be. On the other hand, the lab x poodle could be a smallish dog, it could be a medium dog, it could be quite a large dog, its coat could be one of many things. It's impossible to predict which traits from which breed will end up in each puppy and because of that, you can't say it's good for [X] function (such as non-shedding pet) because it's an unknown. An update for anyone interested, regarding the BIL's lab x poodle.. Yesterday, it was confirmed that its other knee has now gone. Below is a quote taken from the breeder's website: I guess that sound health with hybrid vigor doesn't include hips or knees. Their dog will likely be crippled with arthritis before it even gets close to being an old dog. Great family pet, right there. Cos hybrid vigour is about species not breeds. Actually, I think it was originally about peas. Oh, I know. And the BIL and SIL are both educated people who should also know better. Arguably, if you cross two unrelated breeds (with no coinciding genetic health issues), you would probably end up with a fairly robust dog, provided body types were fairly similar, and also assuming it is a first generation cross. I think the genetics issue is where people get confused. Multi-generational sounds like a selling point until you consider that recessive genes can be doubled up on in multi-gen mixes and what you're actually doing is introducing the possibility of two sets of heritable diseases, instead of just the one. Oh, I'd absolutely agree with you there. After losing Bosley- a very loved, spoiled, cared for, inside dog- we discussed future dogs and made some decisions: for me, a borzoi (for a number of reasons) and I contacted a breeder to put ourselves on a waiting list. Breeder replied and I think we're on the waiting list for mid next year, no worries. Then, after further discussion with the OH, we (he) decided that we (he) also needed another whippet. The OH doesn't understand the dog world all that much so I looked for breeders who had litters planned and finally narrowed it down to one. I wrote them an email outlining our family, our dogs, included a few photos, tried to make sure that everything a breeder might want to know would be covered, including the fact that we were interstate (not many whippet breeders down here). A lot of time and thought went into that email, we're certainly not first time dog owners and I feel that we could offer a puppy a really great home. But they couldn't even be f***ed to send us an email with something like "We don't like you, no puppy". Just silence. We weren't even worth a reply. I'm willing to give the pedigreed dog world a whole lot of leeway because I want to be reasonably confident that the puppy is coming from a decent home but if I was the average person, I think it's more than likely that a BYB whippet breeder would've just scored themselves another customer. Yes, I get that people are busy and have lives outside breeding but if you can't find two minutes in three weeks to write a one line reply, you can't complain about losing people to BYB because the BYBer will find time to reply. You're missing the point- those things can't be determined until the dog is already in front of you. You could breed a litter of oodles and get HD all though them, scatty, awful temperaments, hair that sheds like a lab and terrible overall structure. Or it could go the other way. Whether or not they produce a dog that has the desired traits is entirely up to luck. The vast majority are not being "developed", they're just crossbreds being bred for money.

Above from Shel's blog. So why isn't rescue regulated? Does it not fall under state jurisdictional codes of practice? I'm a rescuer and I believe rescue should absolutely be regulated. The money side of it.. one person's waste of money is another person's valuable investment. As long as money is not being used for any purchases outside of the organisation's scope, I don't think detailed reporting of finances is all that necessary. Complicated financial reporting requirements take time and energy away from where it's needed and very few small groups have the luxury of handing that stuff off to a professional to manage. Down here, we're required to have a yearly audit to be an incorporated association and they cost ~$500. When your donations for an average year are barely $500, it's impossible to maintain. I ended up just dropping the incorporated association and funding my rescue, myself. Somehow, that actually ended up costing me less of my own money. The animal welfare side of things, however.. that needs addressing. "Rescue" groups warehousing animals for years, not desexing, not bothering to screen homes for suitability for the breed/individual, not disclosing behavioural issues, and so on and so forth. The whole point of rescue is to improve welfare and I see a lot of cases where the opposite is happening.

Unless the silver shade covers are lined, then definitely not. That stuff might keep out a few spits of rain but not much else. Personally, I think I'd probably just get both. Assuming the silver shade over is a reasonably loose fit, the other one could go underneath to make it water/wind proof as needed.

Whoa there, Gruf. You're mixing the sensible with logic. :laugh: I don't disagree that a dog's worth should be judged to some extent on its function but with the oodly dogs, function is an unknown. They can't be claimed to be hypoallergenic, they can't be claimed to be non-shedding, they can't be claimed to be good family pets, and really, they can't be claimed to be anything because it's all rolls of the dice. Comparing an oodly dog to.. a greyhound: The greyhound will be a big dog, probably weighing between 25-35kg. It will have a smooth, short coat that sheds fairly minimally. It will have most, if not all, the traits of a sighthound. When you breed two greyhounds together, you know what the basic template will be. On the other hand, the lab x poodle could be a smallish dog, it could be a medium dog, it could be quite a large dog, its coat could be one of many things. It's impossible to predict which traits from which breed will end up in each puppy and because of that, you can't say it's good for [X] function (such as non-shedding pet) because it's an unknown. An update for anyone interested, regarding the BIL's lab x poodle.. Yesterday, it was confirmed that its other knee has now gone. Below is a quote taken from the breeder's website: I guess that sound health with hybrid vigor doesn't include hips or knees. Their dog will likely be crippled with arthritis before it even gets close to being an old dog. Great family pet, right there.

Ruffwear Webmaster, definitely. The straps are decently padded, it's escape-proof (which is why I got mine) and easy to put on. It probably wouldn't be suitable in the event of a serious car accident but the majority of harnesses aren't anyway.

They've done a thorough job of bullying their victims into silence. https://www.facebook.com/awdrioutcasts/?fref=ts

I don't want to be an enabler or anything ( ) but what I have in my crates is the 48", thick foam mats (like this) and then a bolster bed on top (like so) and that gives you a nice, soft base, and gives them a bit of something to snuggle back against. For extra cold weather, a piece of unbacked vetbed, cut to fit inside the bolster will also keep them very warm. Allllso, if the noise of the tray against the base bothers her (or you) a towel laid between the two fixes that. I'd also probably chuck a blanket in there for digging around. And maybe some unbacked vetbed between base mat and bolster to make it absurdly soft (but I have comfort monsters who are used to living it up, less fussy dogs may not care for that sort of softness). This was Bosley's original wire crate setup- (It changed depending on what improvements I could buy for it, the final product is still set up out in the sunroom if you want a look for ideas)

I admit I only googled it but I think it's interesting. I assumed the Purina one would be the same but it's very different. https://www.purina.com/dogs/dog-breeds/dog-breed-selector Still better than the Pedigree one. My results for the Purina one were.. 1. Greyhound - I guess I could have a few more 2. Mastiff - No way, ever. I'm definitely not a molosser person. They're too heavy, they are the polar opposite of the type I like and I can't stand dog drool. Every mastiff I've ever met has had one of those gross drool stringers hanging out the corner of its mouth and I live in terror of ever getting one of those things on me. 3. Clumber spaniel - Just looking at clumbers makes me sad. To save offending any clumber fans, I'll just leave it at that. 4. Ibizan hound - Love the way they look but apparently they're fence jumpers. If it weren't for that, they'd probably be on my "one day" list. 5. Weimaraner - I have to agree with Thistle, their eyes are creepy.

I will admit, I get envious watching people play fetch or running around with their energetic, lively dogs. And then I visit friends with working breeds and it's so good to go home to my quiet dogs afterwards :laugh: I sometimes think that if it weren't for sighthounds, I probably wouldn't be much of a dog person.

That one definitely seems better, although some of the breed information is a bit off. I got 75% greyhound (which was pretty close, not sure where it lost points though) but apparently my new greyhound will be a good watch dog In their defense, their size possibly deters some burglars but really, they'd have to be the most rubbish watch dog you could ever get- they're never aggro towards strangers in the house/yard, they don't really bark (unless it's possums) and they wouldn't bite unless someone was hurting them and they physically couldn't move away from that person. Most are so soft tempered that just raising your voice at them would be enough to make them slink away and sulk. It also says greys need moderate exercise and would make a good jogging companion. They're just not built to trot and seem much more comfortable either just walking or full on sprinting. I wouldn't recommend them as a jogging partner, it can be done with lots of conditioning but they're just not designed for it. Besides those few points though, pretty decent information and a much more useful test.

I got a lot of small terriers, too. You would think that if someone selects for large/giant, they probably mean that they don't want a small dog? Awww! Go and get a westie Maddy! The selector's telling you you want one! It'd die of boredom pretty quickly, I think The average greyhound/whippet day around here goes like this: Sleep in until noon, preferably on the big bed. Ooze out of bed around 1pm and wander outside for a quick wee. On the way back to bed, refill the tank with some breakfast/lunch. Take a quick power nap until 7pm. 7pm also happens to be dinner time for kids, slob out to the kitchen to mooch food off children. Go back to bed to charge up for zoomies time, around 11pm. Hoon around the house/yard/over the couch for 20 minutes, grab a last bite to eat and then go to bed around midnight. Rinse, repeat. Sometimes I wonder if they get bored with that lifestyle but I guess it's hard to tell when they look like this: Bored?

For more.. spaniel? I know it seems like one purebred spaniel is 100% spaniel but think about it.. 1 spaniel + 1 spaniel = 2 spaniel = 200% spaniel. (Bad spaniel maths, nobody should take this as fact. Also, the more I type "spaniel", the less it seems like an actual word.)

I got a lot of small terriers, too. You would think that if someone selects for large/giant, they probably mean that they don't want a small dog?

Out of interest, I did this one again and these are some of my results- chihuahua, west highland white terrier, Australian terrier, Scottish terrier, labrador, pug, Boston terrier. (Different from the results I got in the last thread, even though I put in the same answers) The answers I put in were: small house (greyhounds don't need a big house?), suburbs, medium yard (not they they ever use it), secure fences, no exercise (if they want a walk, I'll take them but mostly they're happy with a daily zoomies in the yard), minimal time alone, no elderly or disabled family in the house, 20-39 age group, youngest child in in the 6-11 age bracket, owner is inactive (it's hard to be active when you have dogs sleeping on you), dog's energy levels should be "quiet", preferred size is large/giant, willing to spend more than $35 per week feeding, smooth/short coat preferred, no weekly grooming (I do actually give my hounds a rub down once a week but that's just because they enjoy it, not because they need it), don't need a dog to defend property (whatever the hell that even means), and yes, owned dogs before. I've been fiddling around with it for ages, trying to figure out what they think a greyhound needs, and damned if I can be a suitable greyhound owner

I'd disagree that the ridiculous names are just slang. "Mutt" or "mongrel" is slang, Cavoodabeagledor is the very deliberate marketing of an animal as something prestigious and exclusive, even though they're churned out in droves. Some people don't want to be seen buying "mutts" (hurrhurr) from dirty backyard breeders who call them by their breeds names (like "shitzoo cross moltese terriors") and only charge $250 each. They want their new dog gift-wrapped in shiny bullsh*t*, not picked out of a laundry basket, in someone's backyard. *Like being hypo-allergenic and non-shedding and being born automatically great with kids, etc.

To each, their own. I've seen people say on here that they think greyhounds are ugly and that's fine by me. How appealing something looks is always going to be subjective so there's not much point getting upset over other peoples' tastes. And as with tastes, opinions of other traits will also be somewhat subjective and based on the sorts of oodles that person has met. No one was saying the it was Absolute Unquestionable Fact. I've met many lab x poodles from the puppy farm I mentioned (anyone from down here will probably be able to guess the name) and they've all had scatty, odd temperaments- so it seems likely to me that I've met a pretty average representation of the type. Over-exuberant yet also very nervy, pushy, quick to snap and with zero dog manners. Maybe part of that is just bad breeding but equally, some may be the result of breed/trait combinations that just don't do well together. Like I said, I don't see the point in a dog that failed at what it was originally intended for (because you can't guarantee anything with the "breed") but if someone wants to own one I know my BIL and SIL bought one because they believed what the dodgy-as-f*** breeder told them. They thought they were doing the right thing and buying a good family pet from an ethical breeder. They are aware of their mistake now but the breeder already has their $2000 and undoubtedly has plenty more suckers lined up. I guess my biggest problem with oodles is that rarely do you hear about them coming from breeders who actually care about anything besides profit. A few people are allegedly working on making lab x poodles into a proper breed but I have to wonder about the motivation for that when there are already purebred dogs that fit the look/function they are after.

Who the hell knows. My BIL and SIL bought a labrador x poodle from a well-known puppy mill a year ago and while both are very educated, intelligent people, they dropped a hefty amount of cash (double what I paid for my purebred Shitty Whippet) for a huge git of a dog who has already had both his hips done and one knee. The dog is only twelve months old and already falling to bits. Personally, I can't understand why anyone would want one, even if they were healthy. In my opinion, they never fail to be really ugly, odd looking dogs. Poodles are nice enough looking dogs, labs are nice looking dogs, add the two together and it's as if the mix wipes out all the real identifying traits for both breeds and you get left with a glob of dog whose only identifying traits are its murky, yellow eyes and odd temperament. No thanks. I should point out here that I'm not against crossbreeding for a purpose and there is an entire group of crossbred dogs that I'd consider owning (lurchers/longdogs, I spend way too much time dream dog shopping on Battersea's website* ) and I can see why some mixes work for a given purpose, such as the saluki/whippet or greyhound crosses as lamping dogs, but the poodle/lab mix doesn't improve on particular trait so why do it? Should probably add- no offense to any oodle owners on here. I'm sure your dog/s is great/cute/healthy but yeah, not my thing. * https://www.battersea.org.uk/dogs/todd?filters=true&centre=&gender=&size=&liveChild=&liveDog=&liveCat=&breed=lurcher&reset=&returnID=14810639576756040328&id=257826 Those ridiculous floofy ears. All the more reason not to trust those things. I have no idea what system they use to determine breeds but in every one I've tried, I've never gotten greyhound or whippet as a result. Just did the Pedigree one again to check and my results.. Labradors, Australian terriers, Pembroke corgi, pugs. Most of the breeds that came back were small or medium breeds, despite me selecting large/giant as the size preference. My coat preference was smooth short-coated, instead it brings up some notorious shedders. If I'd picked out a breed based on that advice, I'd have been very disappointed. They really need to add a disclaimer to that, something like "Our advice does not necessarily take your preferences into account, at all. The selected breeds may be completely incompatible with your lifestyle. Good luck with that."

Lol. Really? Im quite good at it & akways feel like an origami ninja when i put mine up or down :) I assumed all wire crates opened the same? And assuming that is the case, maybe we're just awesome at folding/unfolding stuff?