hippo

Sounds good to me! i think the fact that you already have a dog, and therefore know what you are getting into, would make you a shoo-in. Heck, I'd let you rent my property, and I'm pretty uptight since we had some terrible tenants.

That's a tough one... maybe innocently ask why he gets lame, what does the vet say, things like that? Being an instructor you'd hope they knew better

You're right, I forget which forums I've joined too. People here are so darn caring and compassionate, I should learn to curb my own cynicism. (Although still hope it was a troll and that people don't give their dogs random antibiotics based on internet advice.)

I think it's a troll.

I saw a dog being rehomed that was missing half a tail. Apparently it had been attacked by crows as a puppy, and lost some tail as a result.

Chiming in on the greyhounds - my girl has been mistaken for a donkey and a deer. Once was at a dog park Why would I bring my deer to a dog park?

Ha! Yes to the toilet dream but usually manage to wake up just in time... Only thing that video missed was the paws/claws jabbing into her face as they stretched out.

I bought a small table from Ikea. You can cut out circular holes on top to slot the bowls in, or just put (nonslip) bowls on the table.

I have to admit, if I knew I was expected and I saw smiley, waggly tailed staffies over a fence I'd let them have a quick hand sniff first and if they didn't try to eat my hand through the gate, I'd go in. I did that with a friend actually, heading over to pick up a dog and let myself into the front yard to ring the doorbell. While I was waiting for her to come out I had a pat with the three or four small/med sized dogs. She came out and said 'Oh wow, xx likes you. Normally he doesn't, and can bite.' So you'd think I'd learn...

Put your council's number in your phone so you can call them in the event of an attack. At the very least, it will scare the nuffnuff owner. Report it anyway as well, as if they do ever get caught then there will be prior evidence of their nuffnuffness. Heh I do like the word nuffnuff. I don't think DOLers are saying every non-DOLer dog owner is a nuffnuff, but if they're of the off-lead, out of control owner variety then yes. Yes they are.

My thoughts are the father is projecting his fears onto his children, and feels more justified when they react in fear. Because you're only scared of bad things, right? So if his kids are scared of dogs, dogs must be scary, so his kids must be scared of them etc. My BIL does this to his kids as he has a fear of dogs and cats (but I think it's a bit put on). If he is in the same room with an animal he will kick up a huge stink about it to get it removed, and then warn his kids to stay away from it. It's lessened a bit now since his oldest son has learned to be disgusted and fearful around dogs, so he doesn't have to hammer it in so much. His daughter has a bit more interest in patting one of my dogs when she can, and it's fascinating watching her ignorance with dogs. She's slowly learning though, and does enjoy having my Tonks around which is nice.

Oh my goodness, that sounds ridiculously cute! photos if you have any, please!

I think the council has a lot of trouble with this particular house, so they really don't want to bother. Front of the house is full of old trucks, cars, boats and motorbikes, and driven by crazy kids who do double the speed limit on our streets (having driven behind them a few times). I was of the belief that if a dog rushes another dog, it should be classified as a dangerous dog but was told by the council worker that it was only if a dog rushed a person. And that the council workers definitely couldn't go onto property. Don't know how they'd catch the dogs though, as I pulled over on the other side of the road when I saw it loose. When it saw me stick my camera out the window, it quickly ran back and hid under a truck. Knox council, FYI. No slander here because this is what happened and they'd have it on file. I'd hope.

There's a house near mine that has various loose, DA dogs. My dogs have been attacked twice by them. Apparently the council can't do anything about it. If I call up to report the loose dogs, they will send a van out. If the dogs have retreated back onto the property by the time they get there, council workers cannot do anything as they cannot go on private property (which makes me wonder how they carry out their threat of 'register your animals, we're coming doorknocking'?). The only suggestion that the council worker had was to report the dogs every time I saw them loose, as it went on their file and so if they ever do catch the mutts, they can say that it has been loose multiple times. Same council that disregarded my video of a dog jumping 6" fences into my backyard and attacking my dogs there, as I had tended to the wounds myself and didn't have a vet report saying that it wounds were probably caused by a dog.

http://www.dlg.nsw.gov.au/dlg/dlghome/documents/Information/Council%20Reports%20of%20Dog%20Attacks%20in%20NSW%202010-11.pdf Page 13 has rate of attack per 100 pure bred dogs on register. The crossbred attack stats start on page 17. KC, you're quite right that although there are far more Staffordshire Bull Terrier attacks (650), there are so many registered dogs (74,567) that the rate of dog per 100 is 0.9.

Haha, no problems with the dogs here, but the cats have this same problem. Or else they're beating the dogs up to steal their food.

Garden waste! Great idea. I also have a horse, AKA poop machine, so I could use that too. I also have a greyhound but now she is getting on in years and zoomies only happen about once a month now. For half a lap. Then it's back to bed.

What do you do after you put poop on the holes? My backyard has also met exuberant fosters, and my partner sprained his ankle mowing last weekend. But the dirt seems to magically disappear when they dig! The (very deep) holes have a slight mound around the top of it, but not enough to grab a handful of. You mentioned it doesn't seem to smell, so there must be something on top of the poop. Would appreciate your help!

Maybe her breeder doesn't know? And it's the owner who left in the pound. Yeah, I meant that in a 'why didn't the owner/surrender try the breeder first' way. Although I know that some people are too embarrassed to admit that they can't handle an animal and return it to where they got it, even if it was stipulated in the sale contract.

Wouldn't have thought there'd be too many akita breeders around who wouldn't take dogs back. Bet she'll rehome quickly :) Gorgeous breed, and gorgeous girl!

Thank goodness your child wasn't holding your dog, and you'd left your iggy at home! Glad to hear that Toby didn't suffer any physical damage, but as you said, who knows what impact it has on his confidence. Perhaps let the RSPCA know that not only did they rehome a DA dog, but they didn't screen/educate the new owners on managing the behaviour.

I put the baby gate about 20 cms off the floor, so cats can easily slink under. Also don't have pet insurance, and am slowly building up my savings again after spending close to $3k on the animals this month

I don't think that walking on concrete wears down nails at all, because I used to take my greyhound out jogging at least 5kms every day for a year, and her nails grew ridiculously long. Now she gets trimmed weekly. My ACD x bully mix gets trimmed twice a day. I get her to stand and then lift a foot up. She doesn't like it but doesn't fidget much. I clip my grey's claws when she's lying down because she doesn't balance too well with four legs, let alone on three.

Not GSD - but my 11 year old greyhound has weighed about 27kg in the last nine years she's lived with me. Since switching from kibble (rotated through all the super premium brands) to raw with VANS, she's gained a kilo and looks in better condition than ever. Poos are much smaller and quantities of food eaten have dropped too.

I had a 50kg breaking strain one. My 27kg greyhound spotted a rabbit one day, and that was the end of that leash. I'm also in the 'can't stand them' camp (now, at least!). Went to an inner suburb pet expo the other week and almost all of the little dogs were on retractable leads. I lost count of how many I tripped over, or got tangled in my legs.