tdierikx

Most vet waiting rooms have at least one person that will allow their dog(s) to run up to other dogs without a care... which is annoying to say the least, and even moreso when you have a reactive dog. The first time I had to take Alice to the vet was when she had an upset tummy just a few days after I got her, vomiting and generally not a happy girl - we had to go to a vet clinic out of area as it was a Sunday afternoon, but they were really good once it became apparent that Alice wasn't comfortable around the other dogs there. We were ushered into a spare consult room to wait so that she didn't get any more stressed than she already was. My last personal dog was Harper, who was not dog or stranger friendly at all - fear based, but would want to fight other dogs, and we'd muzzle her for the checkup by the vet just in case. When I made vet appointments for her, we'd generally make them for a time that no other dogs would be there (usually just before the middle of the day surgeries), and we'd wait in the car until it was our turn to go in. Most vets will accommodate you if you are clear and upfront about your dog's issues when making an appointment. The hardest part of having a foster dog with anxiety issues is finding the right home for them. Dogs like Alice will possibly never get over their stress issues about other dogs, and should never be complacently put in situations where they can act on their stresses. Most people wanting to adopt a rescue dog are looking for a companion that they can take out for walks or to public places, or even have friends dogs come visit... and that kind of home will definitely not be a suitable home for a dog like Alice who just prefers the company of humans. I reckon her best option is someone who is a bit of a home body, or who works from home, and will be perfectly happy just having a little tank of a lovebug dog hanging out with them. Alice has so much love to give, and is a great little dog in every respect bar the anxiety about other dogs issue... you really couldn't meet a friendlier and more sweet natured girl. T.

Yes, they still have horse riding paths... and every now and then there is a news story about offlead dogs harassing the horses... The thing about unfenced dog parks is that dog owners shouldn't wait until they are right at the boundary before leashing their dogs to leave... too much chance of a dog straying beyond the boundary and being where it shouldn't. T.

I bought a flirt pole for Alice... think the pole with the dangling toy used for cats, but make it bigger and tougher for dogs... and she loves it! We can play with her chasing that for a good 10 minutes and then she's exhausted and well exercised for the day. Some days we play fetch with a tennis ball, and her indication that she's done is by biting down and splitting the ball in half... lucky I have a bazillion tennis balls... lol! I use the term "fetch" lightly, as it's more of a "I have it, you chase me for it" scenario... exercise for the both of us... haha! When I do the poo patrol, I tell Alice to "find the poo" and her job is to lead me to where it might be... she's gotten really good at it too... Alice's fave treat is a piece of carrot, so when she bugs me for a treat I say "where is your carrot?" and she leads me to the fridge and sits in front of it waiting for her bit of carrot, which she then takes off to my bed to eat... lucky she leaves no mess. She also has a range of hard wearing chew toys that she knows she can chew at any time to satisfy that urge. She doesn't chew anything she's not supposed to. Alice loves all humans above anything else. She just doesn't deal well with the proximity of other dogs. She gets very vocal but doesn't show any actual aggression, just screams at them (not barking, actual screaming like staffies do). She is a vocal girl generally when she's not sure about anything, like when we were driving to our training session with a professional trainer yesterday, she "talked" the whole way there... That said, I don't think she would react well to an off-lead dog running up to her and challenging her... and I'm not inclined to find out. She is getting better at home when she hears dogs barking on the TV or when one of the neighbours' dogs starts barking, she tends to ignore those now, where she used to get quite upset about it when I first got her. She will watch dogs on the TV intently now, but not get upset about it. She gets lots of praise for staying calm too. If she's on my bed and looking out the window and someone walks their dog past, she will generally come to me and let me know that there is another dog outside, and I tell her that it's ok and give her a cuddle, and she's happy with that. Generally, leaving the comfort and safety of the house/yard is stressful for Alice, and I don't think that she'll ever truly get past that. We are trying all methods to get her a bit more comfortable with leaving her safe place, but I don't really see a time where she will be running happily in an off leash dog park with other dogs, it's just not in her make-up IMHO. If we can get her to a point where she's relatively calm when visiting the vet clinic, I reckon that will be a huge step forward. She's fine with the vets and nurses doing anything with her, so that's not the issue, just a point where she's not screaming at other dogs in the waiting room would be nice. T.

Another stupid design fault with the park was that the canal was open to access by the dogs... lost count of how many we fished out when they couldn't get up the sides themselves... *sigh* The cafe was awesome though... good food and great coffee... *grin* I used to take Trouble, Zeddy, and Connor down there regularly and they loved it. Their recall was excellent, and I never let them just run up to a strange dog willy-nilly. They preferred to hang around the cafe tables and give people the "my mum doesn't feed me" look until someone would give them a tidbit. Poor Connor being an intact male would occasionally be challenged by other intact male dogs, but he was such a sooky boy and never rose to the challenge, he would wait for me to make the other dog move on - not bad for a 47kg Rotti... T.

Sounds like the dog was redirecting it's anxiety at being leashed when it probably wanted to get away from something. While taking a dog for a walk can mostly be good for stimulating their senses and getting some exercise, not all dogs actually enjoy the experience. Should we be forcing them to do things that stress them to the point of attacking their handlers? So many people who adopt rescue dogs that then display adverse behaviours seem to want to think that the dog had been abused in some way, and that somehow justifies the bad behaviours... but in a lot of cases, dogs from poor breeding matches can have mental instabilities such as anxiety, or the dog hasn't had the proper socialisation interactions at certain stages of their emotional development. Dogs who are emotionally unstable may not see a walk as a fun thing to do, and then they act out in ways that we don't like. Maybe rather than taking the dog for a walk that it doesn't want to do, other means of activity in a more familiar environment could be more beneficial - playing fetch in the yard or doing simple agility or obedience exercises at home for example. Spend the time you would have spent on a walk doing other fun things with your dog at home. T.

When the article said that the dog had damage to the spine and aortic valve, I had to look up where the aortic valve was in dachshunds... who knew that the aorta ran dorsally? It's not clear in the article whether the dachshund was on a lead at the time of the accident, but it seems maybe not? LMO, I know the off-leash park you mentioned, and it's a stupid setup with the cycle path running right through the middle of it... you get lots of joggers and cyclists using it too. Why on earth did they run it right through the middle of the dog park, rather than off to one side and putting some sort of barrier to protect the dogs and the cyclists? T.

For sure it could be attributed to a record keeping issue... but sloppy record keeping doesn't always equate to definite animal welfare offences, and would only attract a PIN (infringement notice), rather than a prosecutorial charge of abuse. This is why the legislation is murky, as in NSW for example, recent changes made to our POCTAA and EAPA legislation could be read to mean that PINs may be taken as being charged by RSPCA for an offence, and that can preclude a person from working in the animal industry, and/or loss of license for employers that hire someone who has been charged with an offence. PINs can be given for such trivial matters as not displaying a vet phone number prominently enough, not printing a dog's microchip number on their kennel card, and other non-welfare related paperwork type things. Here's a link to a checklist used by RSPCA NSW to audit a dog/cat breeding facility... https://public-library.safetyculture.io/products/animal-welfare-code-of-practice-breeding-dogs-and-cats Note the following... Would there be many people who would give access to 3 years worth of written/digital records to a kennel hand or volunteer helper? Well, if you don't, then you can get a PIN for that. I don't see the relevance of a visitor needing to be able to see the vet contact details, as long as staff have access to it should be sufficient. But you can get a PIN for it not being displayed for all to see. Funnily enough, as I foster mums and pups (including pregnant/whelping bitches) for rescue, being aware of all of the regulations for breeding facilities, I actually apply them all to my care and rearing of those foster dogs/pups. I keep meticulous records of all the checklist requirements, etc... but I can guarantee that many rescue foster carers don't, and funnily enough don't seem to be held to the same account by the authorities in any case... but the circumstances/requirements for care are exactly the same to whelp/raise any litter regardless it be done by a registered breeder or a rescue foster carer, wouldn't you think? T.

Having been up close to how RSPCA operate when they decide to go for someone, I can guarantee that those 3 years were not spent sitting idle. There would have been a lot of back and forth in legal paperwork in order to run up the defendant's legal expenses, which could have been in the hundreds of thousands of dollars over that timeframe. Not to mention that our legal system is in such a state that most cases of this nature will take at least 2 to 3 years before they get to see a court date set... and RSPCA definitely use that fact to their advantage, both behind the scenes and in media releases at regular intervals. I also know how the RSPCA intentionally lie in their briefs of "evidence" with regard to charges they decide to deliver to a defendant, and how their "expert witnesses" are also encouraged to make findings in RSPCA's favour. I have no doubt that there were breaches of standards for breeding dogs at the Tasmanian facility, but some of the claims made by RSPCA have been completely physically impossible - 6 litters delivered by a single bitch in a 23 month period as one such absurd claim. Then we have the fact that RSPCA are claiming all the credit for shutting down this facility and were/are actively touting for donations for the care and rehab of the 200-odd surrendered dogs, which they farmed off to multiple private rescues to do... and you can guarantee that none of the money raised has gone to those rescues who are doing all the actual work here. I wonder how many people are aware that after every "successful" prosecution by RSPCA, defendants are forced into a "non-disparagement" legal clause that precludes them from ever telling their side of the story or to say anything contrary to RSPCA's version of events. T.

Are you or anyone you know handy with wood and tools? You could make up a stair frame with pine framing struts and brackets from Bunnings, then use plywood to make the actual stair platforms on the frame. This would be relatively lightweight if you use 18x18mm pine framing and 7mm thick ply. It's actually easier than you think to make. T.

In Victoria, didn't they enact new sections to the Domestic Animals Act 1994 regarding whole of life tracking for racing greyhounds? Was in 2023 I believe. That may make it difficult to move a racing bred greyhound to a domestic pet register. T.

Unfortunately, animal welfare laws are decided at state level in Australia, so each state sets it's own rules and regulations. Each state enacted the compulsory microchipping of pets in different years (eg. SA was as late as 2018). Note: NT does not have state based legislation regarding microchipping, but some local councils have introduced it in their by-laws. See the following page for each state's requirements and when they started... https://kb.rspca.org.au/knowledge-base/is-microchipping-mandatory-for-cats-and-dogs/ And each state that does have mandatory chipping has it's own registry and requirements as to what information is contained in it. This means that each database is set up differently, and would be a nightmare to try to merge them all into one central national database. A smarter move would be to set up a single login site that can search all states' databases by microchip number and to return info on which registry that chip is active in - those fields would be the same in all registries. Once that info has been found, then a request to that state's registry could be made for owner details. Right now, what happens in NSW is that NSW CAR is checked for the chip number found in a lost/found dog or cat, and if it doesn't return owner details, then that chip is deemed as empty and ownership can be transferred to whoever has the dog/cat. The fact that the chip may actually hold owner details in another state is essentially ignored. I'd say that this would be the same for other states too. Despite the fact that in most states microchipping is compulsory, it obviously can't be enforced unless an animal is found without a chip, and the owner has come forward to reclaim it. A huge number of dogs and cats in pounds do not have a microchip, so that shows how well the message is getting through to owners about their legal obligation there. Same goes for registering dogs/cats with councils... if they aren't chipped, then they aren't registered either. T.

One of the news articles says that the dog pulled the lead out of the sitter's hand. That tells me they weren't paying enough attention to the dog they were walking. A professional sitter would surely be holding a lead with 2 hands to ensure control if any untoward behaviour happens on a walk - especially with a large dog like a Bull Arab that is essentially unknown to the walker. Regardless, if the dog managed to pull the lead out of the walker's hand, then they did not have effective control of said dog, and should be held responsible for the outcome. How the owners can be held liable for this is beyond me. They are overseas, and the dogs are/were in the care and control of pet sitters who then took them out for a walk. Liability rests with the adult in control of the dog at the time of the offense... T.

Being allergic to cats, I'd hope to be advised if one was to be travelling under my seat on a flight, even if only to know to take an antihistamine before boarding. Luckily I only break out in hives and get runny eyes and nose, but what about others who may have worse reactions? That said, what are the dimensions of the space under a Virgin airline seat? Surely it's too small for any conventional sized pet carrier, like a PP20? T.

Ummm... under most legislation (in Qld also), the person in control of the dog at the time of an offense can be held liable. Why the suggestion that the people walking the large dog are not in any way responsible has me stumped. They were legally in control of said dog, and obviously didn't have full control if it managed to get free and attack another dog. Under the new legislation passed earlier this year, I'd say that the dog will be destroyed, and the owners will cop a massive fine as well (or even jail time)... but as the owners were not the ones in control of the dog at the time of the attack (they were/are overseas), then those who were should get some penalty also IMHO. T.

I wish I had that problem... around here they just let their dogs sh!t on people's front lawns and keep walking, so we have the "pleasure" of having to pick it up and put it in our bins ourselves... grrr! T.