mita

Yes, people see what they'd like to see... & believe what they'd like to believe about dog breeds. So it's understandable that guessed descriptions like Poodle X Cavvie would bring in more interest that Smallish Mixed-Breed. So short of applying DNA testing (where you can't be sure how accurate the information is... unless you already know some background info on a parent/grandparent), then you're left with a dog that 'looks like' a Poodle X Cavvie. I know it sounds over-picky.... but just spelling out a bit the guessed breed label, with 'looks like'... seems a way round 'truth' in description. Like, 'has the looks of Poodle X Cavvie'. Most pet buying people wouldn't even notice such a subtle qualifier. But a rescuer would be using words that'd stand up to criticism. And, no .... I'm not saying this is what rescuers ought to do. It's their call.

When dogs were being hunted down in Q'ld if they fitted a pitbull-type checklist, I saw a pic of 2 dogs that had to be quickly taken to NSW because the eye of the law was on them. Those 2 dogs couldn't look more different. One looked like a slightly longer-legged Staffy and the other looked like a slightly reduced Ridgie. So you're right, a Boxer could be made to fit the Pit-Bull type 'standard'. Even more insane, is the notion that all this somehow predicts behaviour.

Sensible. There's no way you'd know how accurate any findings that are given you, anyway. According to a prof of genetics, results can only have a chance of being highly accurate if the dog has a p/b parent or grandparent. From WebMD: Nathan Sutter, PhD, assistant professor of medical genetics at Cornell University says generally, the more dog breeds the company has in its database, the more expensive the test. Sutter says such dog DNA tests can typically identify the majority breeds in a canine with great accuracy. “But if a dog is mixed breed and comes from a great many breeds, each with just a small contribution to the total, then the breed test may be unable to identify most or all of the breeds contributing to the dog,” he says. Sutter says that if a dog has a purebred parent or grandparent, the results are highly accurate.

Please. Look forward to seeing the pics.

Yes, agree that it's not a bald equation... breed X equals Best/Good for Babies. A great deal has to do with the individual temperament of the dog & its socialisation. Then the training & supervision on top of that. I've known a male p/b Dobe adopted as a baby pup who became a trusted & devoted Nanny Dog to the family's 2 human babies and continued so until they were teenagers. We had a Tibetan Spaniel who was actually attracted to babies. If she heard a baby cry or gurgle or giggle, she was there with it....like she was the mother. She'd been raised for 5 years by her breeder who had grandchildren (from babyhood) on the property. But the Tibetan Spaniel next door doesn't like very small children.... they're too unpredictable for her... and she leaves the scene!

She's lovely. And already has the look that says, 'I'm much loved, too!' Congratulations on your baby.

Yes, just describe by colour & size. But privately I also saw a Smithfield Cattle Dog-type.... mixed with a Bully-type breed.

He's so photogenic. Lovely pics with the children.

This is not original. Tibbies are full of it. An Attitude of Tibetan Spaniels

Thanks, Rosetta. It sure confused the Jack Russell to the point he didn't seem sure if his owner were there or not. Sort of took the wild wind out of his sails! You're right... different courses for different horses (er... dogs).

I saw a TV program where trainers were helping a man with a Jack Russell with separation anxiety. This dog caused damage by scratching at the door & going to the toot on the floor. Other times he'd use a doggie door to toilet appropriately. I recognized the other strategies recommended. But the behaviourists added a tape of the owner's voice (he was reading from a book). Hidden camera showed the dog's reaction. It was obvious the sound of the voice cut across the dog's usual scratching/toileting protest. He paused as if not certain now if the owner was at home or not. His voice sure was! The dog seemed to settle a lot more . Behaviour became less frenetic. I'd heard of tape of owner's voice being included in the strategy plan. And was ready to do that if our Sheltie hadn't responded to the rest of the strategies. I wonder if anyone else has experience with using it... & how it went.

My sister-in-law lives on the Mornington Peninsula. When bushfire warnings came, she & lots of other people (many with pets & horsefloats) headed to a park close by the Naval base down there. The local authorities had declined to nominate a 'safe place'. So residents figured out their own. BTW The Americans have a Pet Safe Coalition of volunteers (individuals & groups) that provides information, training & direct help in disasters. http://www.petsafecoalition.org/ Even having a Pet Safe Information Centre would be helpful. Like sharing preparedness tips & offers of help.

Amazing how pet people can improvise. From the Herald-Sun, how a Bundaberg couple swam out to a higher house... in the middle of the night: Gaylene and Terry Adams, 53 and 49, never expected their home at 14 Hinkler Ave to be swamped as the last flood had only come up ankle deep on the lower level. Mrs Holden said they had been hearing reports that the water would peak at 8.5m. But it went higher, eventually peaking at 9.5m. About 2.30am on Monday, the pair swam to a higher house next door. "They swam out in the middle of the night - with water up to their necks and their six cats and a dog - into the next door neighbour's," Mrs Holden said. They put the cats in a plastic box with a lid on and the dog swam beside them. They weren't leaving their animals."

Yes, the context for the separation anxiety is important for the kind of techniques followed. Our Sheltie who'd rip up the soft furnishings was diagnosed by the behaviorist vet as being highly attached to me. And the aggressive ripping of items when I wasn't there was actually her demanding that I be with her. To me, it had looked like terrible distress, which had made me take even more notice of her. Which meant I'd been innocently reinforcing her 'clingy-demanding' behaviour. But, as soon as the vet explained it as demanding.... the treatment techniques she prescribed made sense. And those techniques changed the sheltie's behaviour amazingly. The vet behaviorist said the important thing was to apply those techniques consistently ... First on the list was that Shelley had to be given huge doses of 'ignore', in everyday life, for a period of a few weeks. And I was specially to ignore her for 15 mins before leaving home & 15 minutes on coming home. Any attempt she'd make to get my attention.... like barking at me, or jumping up... I was to turn my back. No eye contact. Sounds cruel, but Shel had to learn she could not demand attention from me. If ever she got attention, it was because I had given her an order, like 'Sit'. So obedience training was a big thing... especially her learning she could not get all the good things (treats, meals, pats etc) unless she obeyed an order first. This was coupled with setting up a place that was to be her 'good' place.... a dog bed with her toys, items that strongly had my scent on them, chewy treats. And she was to spend time on this good place, even when I was at home. That was gradually trained, too. After a few weeks of doing all I was told to do consistently, Shelley's 'demanding' behaviour started to fade. Then no more frenetic destructive behaviour when I wasn't there. The extreme doses of ignore could gradually be relaxed.

Some enterprising people will now train their dogs to sniff out whale vomit. :)

You are not alone, ash. That's like me.... can take me a while for light to dawn that a solution is right under my nose. :) Your caravan idea answers so many of the problems in evacuation.

Just had a couple of neighbours over & I mentioned your idea about the caravan. They think it's brilliant, ash. So do I. Thanks for sharing ... it should be passed around.

Here's the city of San Francisco's Disaster Preparedness for Pets. It includes hints of what to do if pets have to be left behind. Though the list I originally saw was even longer... & covered different types of pets. http://www.sfgov2.org/index.aspx?page=1068 So much depends on the circumstances. Total population of a very small Q'ld town was evacuated by helicopters in the previous awful flood. A police officer was able to safely stay to keep an eye on things. He organised with the people that he'd feed & water the pets left behind in the houses. People 'went' a lot happier under those circumstances. Within the week, they could return.

I agree, Rosetta. And then there's the occasional 'smuggler'! :) Like the little boy (5 yrs?) who was winched up to a helicopter in the Grantham floods. Once there, he pulled his kitten out from his shirt. Smart lad hadn't told anyone! Another Grantham family put their couple of kittens up in the roof space before they were winched out. Later, rescue boats found them, took them to UQ vet hospital at Gatton. I once saw some instructions from an American city (San Francisco?) telling pet owners what to do if there was absolutely nothing else they could do but leave their pets at home. There were ideas that could give the left-behind pet the best chance to survive (& be rescued later when authorities could get in on the ground). Then there's the chance survivors. People we know were caught away from home during the last awful Brisbane flood. Their riverside home flooded completely. When they could go back, they found their tiny goldfish still in its bowl.... but now the bowl was floating in the bath-tub.

I think I saw footage of this after they'd landed. There were 2 helicopter crewman who carried 2 small dogs under their arms (one looked like an aussie-terrier) to 2 elderly men. While the TV reporter was talking to one man (with a mini-foxy on his knee), the other was continually stroking his little terrier. Also an AGL helicopter rescued an elderly man near Maryborough. The winchman brought up his 17 yr old little dog, too.... in a backpack.

So pleased to hear this. What happened to Buddy is why there are Prevention of Cruelty laws. They hold people accountable.

She's beautiful & quite a beach babe, too. :) Missy is very lucky to have found a happy life with you.

The US has a PETS Law because so many people choose to stay with their pets. Counties not only have to have disaster plans ready, but they must contain plans for evacuating pets. http://www.animallaw.info/statutes/stusfd2006pl109_308.htm I heard on ABC radio during the worst of the Bundaberg flood that man turned down a chance to be taken out by a helicopter because he wouldn't leave his dog. Someone went in on a jet ski & brought them both out.

Wish those people would leave their reasons in writing! :)

That is fantastic. Hear the sound of applause all the way from Brisbane!