Simply Grand

Yep, because staffy, husky, shepherd, border collie, shih tzu, chihuahua, kelpie, pomeranian, mastiff, dane, rottie etc etc etc mixes (note the lower case in recognition of lack of pedigree) are not bred in crap conditions and sold purely for profit!?! The issue is dogs being treated badly, not what mix they happen to be.

poochmad, I do totally agree with you about the whole designer name/calling them a breed thing! Total false marketing and misleading (for unpedigreed, unpredictable crosses). And I agree the prices are ridiculous, unless health testing and careful raising are done. For the record, I paid $550 for my oodle 7 years ago and $1000 for each of my pure breds 5.5 and 5 years ago. All three were chipped, vaccinated and came with a puppy pack of info and food.

Apricot was one of my criteria when searching for my small (non-cavoodle) poodle x, funnily enough. I didn't want white and didn't want the fading that comes with the darker colours as they age. Yep, superficial, but something I was willing to search and wait for. I also wanted, and got, a blue merle purebred Australian Shepherd, because it looks pretty, there aren't any temp or health differences in the colours (other than double merles). Would I get another oodle? No, because now I know more I know that I got lucky with Saxon's health, size and temp being what I hoped for and there is far from any guarantee I'd get the same again. I know plenty of people who thought they were getting one thing and ended with something else, although they still love their dogs. Would I get another predictable sized, predictable coated, predictable to a degree temperament, carefully bred from health tested parents, dog like him (say a small Cobberdog), absolutely!

Isn't it fascinating! The whippet's front feet don't come back into contact with the ground until they are right back under his shoulders whereas the Dobe's are still right out in front of his shoulders then he pulls himself forwards. The Whippet looks so effortless in conmparison.

The thing that always comes up in these discussions on DOL is the bias of people who just don't like them and say they are ALL stupid, rude, ugly, untrained etc etc. As you can see just from the few examples given in this thread, they are not ALL like anything, any more than any other type of dog are ALL like anything. I agree with all the reasons already given for their popularity and the fact is they aren't going away so there's no point getting mad about them. I wish the focus could be on trying to ensure they are bred and sold in a healthy, happy and responsible way rather than on just saying none of them should ever exist. And yes, I do have one. He was my first ever dog and I got him because I knew someone else with same mix and he was a great little dog. I didn't know much about dogs at the time but fortunately he has turned out great. At 7 he has had no health issues, is obedience and agility trained, is super adaptable, great with people and dogs of all sizes and even patiently continues to let me use him as a training tool for my 30kg foster dog who he is well aware wants to kill him (that sounds awful but it's carefully controlled).

I like it! It is such a difficult concept to convey isn't it, that dogs do need our "leadership", as in making decisions on their behalf to keep them happy and safe, and equipping them to live comfortably in our world, but they don't need or want us to be their "alpha" or "pack leader". This bit made me chuckle: "Does the dog learn something from this example? Yes, they will learn by example to build a kennel for their dogs when they grow up… wait, no, that would be leadership between humans and other humans."

Yes, but some dogs do all the time and some don't ever do it. The instinct presumably comes from claiming territory (dominance and communication) and communicating that you are around and available for mating (bitch in season) so it's interesting to think about why individuals do it when not all of them do.

And OT, but Thistle interesting what out say about T kicking the ground after she pees, foster dog Molly does that all the time too, as well as after she poos, and also marks quite a lot out in public. When the vet behaviourist saw her do it she commented that it was dominance too. Molly does have a "dominant" type of personality with other dogs but she's also unsure of herself and I get the feeling like you that the insecurity/discomfort contributes to the behaviour. My dog Quinn is also quite a "dominant" dog but she is much more confident and competent with other dogs and she only marks and does a little bit of kicking when she is in season, which adds to me thinking that dogs (females at least) who do it all the time, especially if desexed, as Molly is, have something going on other than just wanting to show other dogs who's boss.

Thank you PK :D knew it was the right thing to be doing for my dog! Just probably didn't need to cry the whole way home because someone else's puppy got corrected that ive never even talked to Seeing that stuff makes me both furious and sad too! I went along to the only community obedience club near me and they were teaching jerking puppies in beginner class around by the collar and yelling at dogs in the higher grades for not doing exercises perfectly even though they were working really well and trying hard. You could see owners were uncomfortable with it to but unfortunately people often go along with things thinking the instructor must know best. When I was teaching classes one of the first things I would say was that I was teaching the class but they are their dogs protector in any situation and they should never do something they are not comfortable with (although we did do positive only so it wasn't generally an issue, I just wanted them to understand that it is their right and their responsibility to decide what happens to their dog). Also, I was talking about that "set the dog up then punish the behaviour" approach on an FB group the other day. It's horrible to do it to a dog that does either cope or shut down, but if someone had taken that approach with my current foster dog, who had all sorts of issues at first, she would have bitten the crap out of them so it would have been really dangerous. Plus it would have ruined any chance of rehabilitating her Sorry I can't help with any recommendations but definitely talk to TSD and Underdog (cosmolo on DOL)

Yay Thistle! She's doing so well :) I'm so conflicted about Molly. I took her to the dog park today (outside the fence only) for the first time in a few weeks and she did really well, interested in interacting with other dogs, appropriate greetings with several different dogs through the fence and no lungeing or snapping. Then right at the end she saw a big white dog (Pyrenean I think) inside the park, they looked at each other from a distance and then Molly freaked out. It seemed to be a fear reaction, she was jumping around and yelping and very worked up. Then the other dog ran at the fence and started barking and growling at her which of course got her even more worked up. I eventually got her calmed down once the other dog had been moved away but it took a while. This is a whole new behaviour I haven't seen from her before. Which is OK for me, just another thing to be aware of, but both the fact that she's still showing new behaviours and the behaviour itself add to the complication of finding a suitable home for her...sigh

I went on the then Abel Tasman ferry across the Bass Strait as a kid on a family holiday. We took the car so we could drive around the island for the trip. I would not leave a dog on the car deck for the trip. Yes carbon monoxide poisoning is a concern, but so is temperature, the car deck is down low so no heat evaporating, plus it's weird and creepy on the car deck, even a dog comfy in the car isn't used to being alone, in the dark, on a rolling ship... I'd go for the flight and a day with strangers personally.

Good news PK! It's so exciting when it clicks for them and they realise they have that power to choose a positive response when they are concerned about something :)

Happy gotcha day!!!! Great photos, what a little cutie he is

I will reply in more depth tomorrow, and I'm sure others will too, but in brief - having trained my own dogs through puppy preschool to formal obedience, trained foster and shelter dogs and taught puppy classes - IMO there is no need to or benefit to using "no" or collar jerks to "show what you don't want" with young puppies, or any dog really. There are heaps of things you can do with your puppy now to set up for a life long positive training relationship and none involve "dominating" or physical punishment. As far as tools go, you can teach a dog to walk nicely using whatever tools suit you, it can be done on a flat collar but it can also be done on an appropriate harness. Ideally on either. I assume a "soft check" is a martingale or half check collar (part flat collar, part chain or fabric loop?), in my quite extensive experience these type of collars are great for stopping dogs that have a thick neck in comparison to the size of their head from slipping out of their collar if they are jumping around, but not of any other benefit in training, other than it's slightly easier to strangle the dog with than a flat (normal) collar, if that's something one wants to do...

I just remembered a shelter dog who was microchipped as Lab x Husky but looked exactly like a black Lab and we were all like "really?" But then as soon as she was left in the kennel she start "aroooowooowoooo-ing" chatting away and we went "ooooohhh, there's the husky!" :D

But this breeder is apparently saying genetics don't matter at all. Yes what the owner does moulds the final package and has a big influence, but genetics will determine the baseline a dog starts at.

Yes, I believe temperament is very much influenced by genetics! And I would be very wary of a breeder who doesn't want to discuss the temp of the parents. Really early socialisation (from birth) is also really important so anyone who doesn't take both into account rings warning bells for me.

Another good one - a first dog that will be a guard dog and attack intruders but also be a good, easy to manage family dog. Yes! Another common one. Of course, they also expect the dog to be able to tell who is a burglar and who is just reading the meter! (OH, I do miss rolly eyes!) Exactly! ETA - although (putting understanding hat on) people do only know what they know, I've certainly had a big learning curve since getting my first one, and I say good on all those that take the time to rehome dogs responsibly, and not just to anyone willing to take them.

Another good one - a first dog that will be a guard dog and attack intruders but also be a good, easy to manage family dog.

Oh gosh Dogmad I had a 5 month old stumpy tail cattle dog surrendered to the shelter who had been bought as a gift by family for an elderly man who lived in an apartment. He had apparently had cattle dogs when he was younger so the family thought a cattle dog puppy would be good for him. The man wasn't in a position to care for the dog properly, he received no socialisation, met no one other than his owner, only went outside the apartment to go to the toilet, never walked, who knows what else. He was so aggressive (from being terrified) that it took me an hour to get a slip lead on him in the interview room after his owner had completed the surrender (done by someone else) and left and two full days to into the kennel with him and be able touch him and get the slip lead off again. Poor baby, he bonded with me and made some good progress with everything else, but couldn't cope with all the change in his life, became too distressed in the shelter and wasn't safe to be adopted or fostered

It's more a case of any bond can only be a max of 4 weeks rent, whatever it is to cover. It's not that it being intended to cover pet damage is an issue. In residential tenancies though both parties can agree to pretty much anything they want as long as it doesn't contravene legislation, it's only if there is an issue and it ends up going to a tribunal that one side or the other could run into trouble, depending on what evidence is presented.

In general on this topic I wish as a society we could change the approach to renting with pets. As WM said things are changing, with smaller land size, housing affordability dropping so probably more long term or permanent renting and pet ownership certainly not dropping. I think it would be great if property owners, agents, tenants and legislators could all participate in making renting to tenants with pets a more appealing and available option. If properties could be built/renovated/updated with pet friendliness in mind (hard and hard-wearing floors rather than carpet, secure, low maintenance yards) so that the chance of damage is reduced, ability to have a pet bond, encouraging a culture of pets being part of the family and tenants being confident that they will be able to find pet friendly rentals so that hopefully they put more effort into caring for pets properly, training etc to make them pleasant to live with, rather than just seeing them as something to have in the back yard for a while then ditch when you have to move. At the moment so many people are not honest about pets when they are applying for or living in rental properties because they are not confident they will be able to have them, which puts everyone at a disadvantage, including the animals, so it would be great if everything was more open and accountable. (Sorry for the rambley post lol!)

I'm pretty sure in every state (Def NSW, ACT and QLD) it is a requirement that a bond be lodged with the bond office, not held by the owner or agent, and bond offices won't accept a bond that is more than 4 weeks rent. Some private lessors either don't know this rule or just don't follow it so they may take more than 4 weeks and not lodge it with the bond office. It's not legal, and risky for both parties, but I'm sure plenty of people do it without an issue.

There are some legal restrictions on when inspections can be done WM and I don't what they are for your area but definitely flag and get them to do it ASAP!

Lol, I'm like "I don't get air con, neither do you. Have lots of water and some frozen water bottles. And let's all just lie around in the heat of the day". We're in Ipswich, max has been 38 so far, three dogs are floofy, one is smooth and black and we are managing! In all seriousness, I'd say don't over-exercise, watch feet on hot roads, provide lots of water and shade, wet or even frozen towels to lie on, no dogs in parked cars unless the sun is well and truly down, and don't stress too much.