bryan_mannix

Jed in the last week i have seen a curly coated retriever, lakeland terrier, akita, rottweiler, GSD, pug, beagle, chihuahua, foxhound and Jack Russell at one shelter. Purebred dogs to come into shelters regularly but i would think the split would be about 70/30- more cross breeds though.

Hi Cosmolo

I am not challenging your figures... I am just really surprised you are seeing a 70/30 ratio cross to purebred. Given that purebred dogs represent a small proportion of the total dogs sold for you to be seeing that many in rescue represents a significant percentage of purebreds abandoned! Are particular breeds more common and do you get to know the reasons behind them ending up in rescue? I am surprised.

Thanks for the posts Steve and Jed.

Steve your last post hits home. How can we advocate the notion that pedigree dogs make the best pets when at the same time demonising anyone who breeds for the pet market.

I've known a work colleague who has at the end of the negotiations with a breeder told me that they have been left with the impression that

the breeder is a person whose hobby is participating in dog shows

when the breeder needs a new dog to pursue their hobby with they put a lot of thought into the mating

after the litter is on the ground the breeder picks the best couple of specimens for herself or her mates

and the new pet owner can help subsidise her hobby by paying a considerable price for one of the "duds"!!

Good news is they still went ahead with the purchase and have a wonderful pet to show for it.

I have a slew of titles, and a lot of peer reviewed articles and a couple of books to my name. I breed pedigree dogs. Does that make me an expert? Not at all. I'm just an opinionated person who likes to shoot their mouth off.

Same with Dr B. His bio blurb looks like a middle-rank PhD who couldn't get tenure. I would guess his degree is in sociology, as the only peer-reviewed papers he sites are from Soc. journals of the 1970s. If it were in biology, I'd expect to see some citations from veterinary journals of the biological literature. His ideas about dog breeding seem libertarian to me: he seems paranoid about controls.

Sandgrubber. I enjoy your posts.

I'm just an opinionated person who likes to shoot their mouth off

You will fit in well on DOL then!!

I too have a range of publications in internationally peer reviewed journals as well as some published book chapters. Like Dr B none of them touch on canine genetics. We know not all PhDs are equal. The proof is in the publication record.

Here is what an expert in genetics looks like.. Steve Jones

Hey there

We use

Centenary Vet Surgery

Village Fair Shopping Centre

CNR Horizon drive and Riverhills Road

who are just around the corner from us.

Very happy with them. I trust their knowledge and judgment plus they are friendly, nice people who are genuine animal people.

Depending on where in Durack...I guess 10 to 20 minutes drive

They have the Whippet Bible at a really good price!!

Title?? Please

Link to The English Whippet. Great book. Best explanation of a breed standard I've ever read.

Thanks!

They have the Whippet Bible at a really good price!!

Title?? Please

Mine now get the dumbest name I can think of

I have a had a lab named Warren and a Rotti named Neville.

Yes Bryan you're right I rang him and I had the calculation from feet to cms wrong he is 225cm - 7 feet 4'' and a bit.Ill go back and edit the figure.

He has size 19 feet He's just been home for Christmas and had to go to the chiro because sleeping in normal beds while he has been travelling made him ache.He's 32 now but as he was growing I was poverty stricken trying to keep him in shoes.He was really thin back then too so clothing had to be altered a lot. Im only 5 feet 3" [you can do the conversion]and his Dad is 6 feet 4" so we always blamed his dad's genes.But I have a son turning 13 this week now [different Dad] who has always been way taller than kids his own age and his hormones are just cutting in and he's growing right before my eyes too and he's going to be pretty tall too. His dad is only 5 feet 10" [ a shorty].My parents were both really short and so were their siblings and there's no one in my second hubby's family over 6 feet.Its got me buggered how I did it. One of my grand daughters is just under 5 feet and she is turning 7 but she is big all over - not just long.

Ive got 8 kids and all but one of my 4 daughters is up around the 6 feet mark too.

Wow. You are really breeding to the extreme of the standard!!! I have always felt at 6feet 3" I am on the cusp of what society regards as normal and that my brother at 6feet8" inches is circus material. You have out done us completely.

Steve 2metres 40 cm?? He must be enormous. Tell me that is a typo and he is 2 metres and 4 cm. I am 190cm and brother is 200 cm...... 240 cm is up in world tallest man altitudes. Wow.

stayz.com.au has a great range of pet friendly houses across all states - click on pet friendly icon then select region of interest. So far we have stayed in some great accommodation in South west wa, Noosa & Byron Bay.

Yes we have just used Stayz as well two weeks ago. Staying here at Byron Bay with our four legged companion. Accommodation was a little rudimentary though in a wonderful position and the adjacent beach (Tallow) is both beautiful and one on which you can exercise your dog off leash. Picture attached of a happy whippet on the beach.

I remember watching this sometime ago. Talked about concerns re accountability and ties to big business in RSPCA in WA I think?

Could I just have attached the $45 I was talked into spending on the Shootags to his collar and had the same level of protection Will report back on my n=1 research project re: their effectiveness.

Thank you - I'll be very interested in knowing results.

A very good test would be to use it on a dog who already has fleas, to see if the Shootag will rid them. Otherwise I think we'll be wondering if it is only happenschance that the flealess/tickless dog did not pick up a flea/tick.

But please do make a point of reporting back. I too hate using chemicals when other things might prove to be as or at least reasonably effective.

Hi Erny

Reporting back as promised.

Nearly a month after putting the shootags on we have had no ticks or fleas. Our dog gets exercised daily in bushland with a watercourse running through it and there are plenty of ticks about.

But where does that leave us.......after installation of piece of magic plastic a dog which has never had a tick or flea continues to be tick and flea free??

I will keep you updated...

Thanks Erny.

I had no idea of there existence either until my local and reputable dog product supplier asked would I be interested in trying them. They had been using them on their horses and dogs now for about 3 months and thought they were doing a wonderful job.

I live next to bushland in Brisbane's suburbia linking to a golf course with plenty of creeks running through. This time of year I can hear the ticks gasping in excitement as my canine companion and I start out for a walk. I am reluctant to continually douse my dog in possibly harmful chemicals. Given that he is a short haired breed it is easier to check him over than others but I still want some level of protection.

The cynic in me sees no scientific basis by which these things could work. A bit of plastic with a preprogrammed magnetic strip drawing powers from the animals own energy. Hmmmmm. But searches of the net does turn up excited devotees.

Could I just have attached the $45 I was talked into spending on the Shootags to his collar and had the same level of protection Will report back on my n=1 research project re: their effectiveness.

Has anyone had experience with shootags? could they work?

Thanks so much for these links SSM. Great idea to demonstrate healthy dogs in full flight.

OK guys, whatever. :D I believe I know a pitbull when I see one, but obviously only pitbull owners are intelligent enough to ACTUALLY be able to ID a PB.

Nope not true l have owned this breed for 13 years and still l cannot id them properly. That's why l asked you to define a pit bull.

tybrax

No way! So for the last 13 years you may have inadvertently been walking a toy poodle but been unable to ID it

I dont know I havnt been to that location. If theres 50 times the amount of APBT's as anything else then it would stand to reason

Otherwise, Yes it is nonsense.

This facts of this case probably do not involve a Pitbull at all so it doesnt matter.

The location in this instance was The United States and Canada so easy enough to get figures on popular breeds. For example here. Hard to dismiss as nonsense without more information.

Obviously there will be some statistical correlation between breed prevalence and injury incidence however this is not an argument I would be trying to run with in politics

eg. there are lots of breed x hence there are lots of attacks from breed x

a solution that stands out would be

less of breed x = less attacks from breed x

I think being realistic about the temperament, behaviour and physical capability of different breeds of dogs will lead to more reasoned discussion and better more sustainable solutions.

People are not "harping on" about "protecting the animals that attacked them". People know from experience that the times APBT's are INFACT involved in an attack on a human are rare, 9/10 times (atleast) our innocent breed is made the scapegoat.

Obviously as unfortunate as it is that the kids have been attacked supporting the APBT and casting doubt on the reporting of the breed involved doesnt take anything away from what happened. Accepting a bunch of bullsh*t reporting doesnt make you compassionate it makes you a fool. If you reject it doesnt mean you dont care about the people that where attacked.

I don't want to get involved in a heated argument and I certainly don't believe BSL will rid the world of dog attacks. BUT when I read research like this article it would seem some breeds of dogs are more likely than others to be involved in injuring people. Help me out. Is this article nonsense. Are the statistics poorly presented and some breeds misrepresented.

Do you mean Artemis? I know a couple of breeders who highly recommend it and their pups did very well on it.

Sorry, had a spelling lapse. Yes I do mean Artemis. Can you only buy it on line?

From here

I am interested in this too. I have always been opposed to BSL in principle mostly because that is what wiser heads in the dog world have told me too think

But

Are we in the purebred community sending mixed messages. On the one hand saying that buying a pure bred will provide the owner (amongst other things) some certainty as to the appearance, physical capacity and temperament of the dog. Then do we contradict ourselves by saying BSL is unfair as it places generalisations upon breeds.

I strongly believe that some breeds are a bigger danger due to their size, athleticism, drive and protective natures. How do we acknowledge this and ensure owners of these animals are responsible. I am certain that if the APBT is driven to extinction those would be owners purchasing them to compensate for a small penis will just turn to another breed.

I am also uneasy about "soft" versions of some breeds being produced to make them "better" as pets. GSDs who whimper if you blow your nose too loud for example. This is not who these dogs are supposed (who says!) to be.

What alternatives to BSL are palatable to the media and the politicians who feed off them. Targeting individual owners and dogs seems to be a problem as we have to wait for an attack to occur then respond. A little like waiting for a death at a rail crossing before installing boom gates.

Could certain breeds cost more to register unless the owner has completed and passed so many hours of obedience training???

Perhaps some minimum penis length required to own a muscle dog?