Simply Grand

Bluefairy, so sorry to hear about your daughter. I hope the surgery went ok and she is doing better today Niques, I'm glad I'm not the only one! On Sunday I managed to accidently hit Saxon in the face with the clip on his lead, then a bit later hit him in the head with my leg I felt like such a bad mum, but he didn't seem to care, just looked surprised for a second then carried on as usual ;) My local Coles has them for $15, they didn't have a pink one otherwise I would have picked one up. The prices on ebay once you add postage are more than that. I got my Kong Wubba on sale at Coles for $5. It wasn't the fluffy puppy one though, but the dark blue canvassy material one. Saxon had it from when he was a baby though and has always loved it. Keep an eye out! Nicola, he is toooo cute! He does have a naughty little face, but looks so happy!

The ad seems to have been taken off now. I wonder whether that means the puppy was sold, or the seller gave in to pressure... Probably the former

Totally agree with JD19 and Jed's advice. This is a serious issue for everyone involved and the family needs help! It would be awful for any of your family or theirs to be hurt. I think it's really nice of you and your OH to show so much concern for your neighbours but I think it would definitely be appropriate to get the police involved. Let us know what happens, and I really hope everyone is ok in the meantime. PS. why do dogs always seem to think things that are dangerous for them are the most fun!!

Oh Brooke, how difficult for you. Like everyone has said though, you are doing a great thing by fostering children, and by doing everything you can to give all your dogs a happy life. He sounds like a lovely dog and I'm sure there will be a suitable home out there for him. Irrespective of the money issues with more behaviourists, I think it might be kinder to Ben anyway to find him a home where he can have peace and quiet, and space to himself. Of course you will miss him but you will be continuing to give him the best life that you can. Good luck!

Aaaahhhh, blerghhhhhhhh! That is very disturbing. But as they say, why do dogs do such things? Because they can!

I agree with this. I don't believe a dog lover will ever sell a pup that young to save their other dog. It's just sounds odd to me. If she can sell one of them, then most likely she will start selling the others before they are ready to leave too. I know, I do completely agree with both of you. And I wouldn't be surprised if the vet bill story is untrue, given the way the ad was worded. If it is true, and she can't afford vet bills for the dogs she has, she shouldn't be breeding more anyway (regardless of all the other unethical x-breeding issues). Incidently, I had a quick look at WA legislation and couldn't see anything about at what age you can / can't sell puppies

Me to. That is shocking! It's so sad, he's only a tiny baby If I was actually located anywhere near her I'd be tempted to take him just to make sure he was cared for. I know paying the money would only encourage the seller though.

I also emailed her, just as a test, asked about how big it would grow, when it could go to its new home and whether the price was negotiable at all. She replied that $500 was the minimum price as the father was hit by a car and she needs the money for his vet bills. The whole situation sounds sad for all the dogs involved, and the poor puppy is being used just for the money I hope the dad is ok though, and the puppy finds a good home, especially as he'll need special care at only 4 weeks old

I just remembered that I once met a rotti x dacshund. His head and body were like a small version of a rotti but he had short dacshund legs - I think he was only about knee height from memory. He was quite cute actually but his owner said his temprement was pretty rotti-like and he would get quite frustrated with his short legs as he couldn't run fast and do everything he wanted to do . She rescued him as a puppy and knew he was a rotti x but didn't know what with.

OMG, $700!!!!!!!!!!!!! I wonder if they will sell for that...

because they're gross I know, that's pathetic I do want him to give him what he needs but I am a total wuss when it comes to animal bits. I was vegetarian for 9 years and still don't deal too well with meat. Even the chicken wings I struggle with a bit, especially when there are still bits of feather stuck on them...

I love it when Dug knocks on the door then says "I hid under your porch because I love you". It's tooo cute!

I know dogs need bones to chew on for their teeth, and also benefit from actually eating the bones - calcium etc - but can they have too much bone? Saxon gets Advance kibble for breakfast and a chicken wing most days when I leave for work. For dinner I give him minced lamb or chicken (beef seems to make him itchy) sometimes mixed with some vegies and sometimes on its own, or tuna with some vegies and a bit of rice. My butcher sells pet mince, which is minced chicken frames, and it is much cheaper than the human grade mince! My question is - if I fed the pet mince instead of other mince for dinner as well as the chicken wing during the day, would that be good / bad / neither for him? I'm assuming he still needs bones to chew for his teeth even if he's getting crushed bones in the pet mince. Also, if he was only having chicken (and some fish) most of the time would he be getting enough iron, or do dogs need red meat (or some other form of iron)? Thanks!

I agree with all of this Rottidogspotty, I don't think you need to panic and end the relationship just yet, three months isn't long and like Christina said you are still learning about each other. Compromising is only fair really, and if you can agree on things you can both live with then hopefully you can both be consistent in how you treat the dogs. Like everyone else has said, the situation will only improve if you can get your BF to agree to clear rules and boundries, training and consistency. And I definitely agree about the exercise, my puppy very quickly gets naughty if he hasn't had his daily walk.

AAAAAAAHHHH! That's my nightmare, I HAAATE slugs

Hi Oscar123, welcome to DoL and congrats on your puppy! I've sent you a private message (PM) so check your inbox in "My Controls" when you have a chance

I work in government. I think Saxon would be a tree lopper/chipper - he loves to find sticks and bits of wood and chew them into tiny pieces...usually all over the carpeted hallway. Or a lion tamer - he's practising on Charlie the cat. ETA - this is hilarious!

Love it!

Dani and Stevie, it sounds like you guys are really trying hard to resolve the situation in the best possible way for your family, including all the dogs. Good on you! I don't have any advice other than keep listening to all the really good advice you're getting from everyone (well, almost everyone) and bring in a recommended behaviourist. Best of luck, I'm sure you can get it sorted!

I'm sure they'd appreciate being left at the pound for 14 days just to save you money Hopefully that was a joke. It was a joke, but you can see why we have so many dogs in our pounds being killed day because of these fines. The fines arrive after the dogs are released, the owners pay the impound fees at the time of collection, so that arguement doesn't wash with me. I'd also say that small fines aren't much of a deterrent. I bet you'll make sure your dogs don't get out again after how much it's cost you. Totally different if the fines are applied incorrectly though, as would be the case with registration fines. Also, I don't think you'd need to use stat decs and certified copies yet, just a letter and photocopies should be ok as they should have their own records of the registrations. Of course, it depends how far in the process you are, but if you've only received the first notice of the fines you should be ok.

I'm sure they'd appreciate being left at the pound for 14 days just to save you money Hopefully that was a joke.

From what I've observed at the dog park the working breeds - ACDs and Kelpies mainly, we don't seem to have many BCs - do tend stay more focussed on their owners and would rather chase balls than play UNLESS another dog is willing to be their sheep/cow/rabbit so they can chase/herd them. I've noticed this because Saxon quite likes being the sheep and will run around being chased quite happily. Once he gets tired and stops though they do tend to lose interest and find something else to do.

I'd say there's nothing about registered in public place because that's not an offence. It reads to me as if you could receive this fine even if you were with your dog, if it was unregistered and in a public place. The fines relating to your dogs being out alone were 3 & 4, Own dog uncontrolled in a public place. As your dogs are registered respond with a letter saying you contest those 2 charges and provide evidence of their registration. If you have clear evidence that they have made a mistake you shouldn't have to fight too hard, as long as you follow the correct processes and meet timeframes. The only problem might be if it is stipulated in the legislation that your contact details MUST be kept up to date, otherwise registration becomes invalid. If that is the case, I think you're stuck. What an expensive exercise, naughty dogs!

I'm sure Saxon loooooves playing with other dogs. He is my only dog, none of my family have dogs and only a few friends do, and I work full time so he doesn't get to interact with dogs much unless I take him to the park. So it's partly for the interaction, partly for the excercise - I walk him on lead for 30 mins a day (he's 8 months old) but he has so much energy that he can keep going with the playing for hours after that. He can also rest when he needs to while he's playing off leash, so he can burn off energy without me worrying that I'm over exercising him. And thirdly coz it's fun for both of us. There are a lot of regulars at our dog park who he plays with and I feel comfortable with, and when new dogs are there he'll play with some and not with others, depending on how they both feel I guess. And nothing looks more joyous to me than dogs having fun! I agree that not all dogs seem to want to play, and if yours doesn't want to I certainly don't think you need to explain that, but if they do enjoy it I think it has lots of benefits.

Twodoggies, I wasn't talking about barking in general, when dogs are excited for example. The question was specifically about a dog standing still looking at my dog and continually barking. I'm certainly not bothered by a bit of excited barking from dogs!