tdierikx

This is my friend's young lad Shadow... isn't he simply stunning? T.

In all honesty, the rescues that work quietly and well with pounds rarely get any recognition... but they should, for without those fore-runners, groups like Needy Paws would never have even gotten their foot in the door. It can be counter-productive to make public ultimatums like the one above - and, as Powerlegs has pointed out, many other groups have worked with Griffith Pound for years, then public ultimatums may very well screw it up for ALL rescue who want to work with that pound... T.

That is one gorgeous pup! Quite gentle with the magpie considering it's age. T.

Run free and healthy Zuess... may your star shine bright in the heavens sweet man. Big hugs to you and the boys Rach... T.

Doesn't Maddie look the shortie compared to Stan? Gorgeous! T.

I'd say many country pound facilities would be similar, yes? Understaffed, under-resourced, underfunded... and animal management isn' high on the list of things to spend money on. Ultimatums like the one above may just have the result of council deciding that destroying the animals that are sick or have reached the end of their impound time is simply easier than dealing with rescue... T.

No biggie, if you give them a call, they'll happily recommend one of their member groomers... *grin* ... one of their member groomers won the Buddy Award at Groomquest this year... and they were very helpful to Caz after the incident where she lost her dear old Buddy to that maverick groomer in Penrith (who wasn't a member of any organisation) T.

Pets Australia has a lot of groomer members - and quite a few from your area... give them a call and I'm sure they will be able to recommend a few... http://petsaustralia.org/ - phone number at top right. T.

I'm pretty sure they don't pay anywhere near as much as they charge for the pups they get in... the profit made from selling most of them would easily cover disposing of a few. T.

Sounds promising... T.

I agree with you 100% Anne! T.

Beautiful memories of a beautiful girl... Run free Baylee. I'll look for your star in the heavens next to my Woosie's... shine bright sweet girl. T.

Considering the tightening restrictions as to where and when you can take your dog out, alpha bet has a point there about dog parks becoming the only option... T.

Some may be offered to rescue (not often), some will be dumped at the pound, some will be disposed of by other means - but most will be discounted for a quicker sale... and the "cheap" ones DO sell usually... *sigh* T.

I know what you're saying there zeebie... my brother's dog can fly on any airline in Australia, but can't catch a train in NSW... why can't the access rules be the same if the dog is accredited to fly, or catch a bus, or enter eating establishments, shopping malls, etc... ?? It's stupid really... T.

Run free Opal... I'll look for your star in the heavens tonight... Hugs to you and yours tarope... T.

I've witnessed pound staff doing a cursory scan of the area a chip is supposed to be in - and I reminded them to do a complete body scan on the dog in question... we found the chip, just not where it was supposed to be... owner was very releived to get their dog back... Don't assume that having a chip implanted will automatically mean that the dog is returned to you if lost... go and physically check the pounds that service your area... T.

Run free and healthy little Pye... there's a new star in the heavens shining down on us all. Sadly this is the story for more pups/dogs than most rescuers would like to admit... as we do our very best to make all endings positive for our charges, no matter how long or hard that road to recovery and a new forever home may be for us personally. Kirty - my heart goes out to you and your family. T.

My brother self trained his own assistance dog - with the help of a qualified trainer initially. He now helps other people self train and have their assistance dogs accredited formally. Not bad for someone with a disability that requires the aid of an assistance dog 24/7... My brother's dog is a Labrador, but he's helped train quite a few different breeds with their owners. You don't need to go with Assistance Dogs Australia to source an assistance dog - they can be notoriously hard to work with, have some demands of their dog owners that are simply unreasonable, and they are flat out way too expensive. Methinks they had the monopoly on the "market" for too long... The only upside to getting a dog through ADA is that you end up jumping through a few less hoops with the various state government bodies who grant access to things like public transport and the like. T.

Ditto! T.

I'd like a couple of the following dogs please... ... and maybe one of these with blue hair... Sending my credit card details now... T.

Thanks melzawelza... I do realise that my "thing" with smaller breeds is MY problem... and I've worked really hard on it NOT being a large problem any more. I've met hundreds of really nice smaller breed dogs since becoming involved with rescue, and they have helped me rationalise it better now. I'm at the point now where I take each dog as an individual entity, and interact at that level - regardless of the breed or size of the dog itself. This seems to work best for me... T.

IMHO, if I'm ever going to be looking to get another Labrador, I'll be contacting Tapua... she breeds simply amazing and stunning dogs! Smart and energetic, but they do have an off switch too. T.

I had a sign that said "Please close the gate - dogs on property" at one place I lived at. A simple sign without any pictures of barking dogs or any implication that anyone will get bitten should suffice... something like "Dogs live here" or the like should be enough to let people know that there are dogs on the property, and to take proper precautions on entry... I don't need any sign here - the dogs set up enough of a ruckus that the neighbours know when someone has knocked on my door, or are trying to look over the back fence... *grin*... there is NO way anyone could beg off by saying they didn't know there were dogs about... T.

The first breed that popped into my head when I read the OP was Rottweiler... they would be my number one pick. As for no Labs or Goldens - how about a Lab of a different colour to your old one to reduce the possibility of any comparisons? Tapua breed some mighty fine dogs that would be great for the job you are looking at having the dog do - and Tapua dogs are not small... (PM/email Tapua here on DOL - she'll possibly have a perfect dog for your situation) T.