mita

Yes, get posters up all over the area, in places where people go & where permission is given to put them up. Post office, shops, service stations, local libraries, local postie....even schools or near schools. Put on the poster/flyer that Information or Sightings are welcome. Also letterboxes in blocks around home. Keep checking with pounds and RSPCA. Especially with pounds....go look. Enquiring by breed label over the phone can miss fact the dog is there, but has been labelled another breed or cross (like pom X or long hair chi X). Or microchipped has moved or has been missed. Someone in Sydney lost 3 tibbies that'd got out when a tradesperson left gate upon. 3 weeks after they went missing, someone was at a service station putting up an updated poster, when a customer remarked the dogs looked like the ones his neighbours had acquired in recent weeks. Yes, turned out, these neighbours had rescued them from the street on the day they went missing & decided to keep them. Police helpful in getting them handed back.

Are you sure Ned isn't a mutated giant tibbie with attitude? :) Thank goodness he's safe now.

A great idea. I'll pass the news on to our friends in NSW.

Yes. She mixed together matters that are just preferences with breaking a by-law. Frankly, that makes the article a bit of a mad dog's breakfast (sorry about that). Her final comment was that dogs be allowed to live a dog's life. She appears, from all that's gone before, to consider herself an authority on that, not just a person who has preferences. Odd that she then doesn't spell out exactly what she believes a dog's life should be. Maybe it's a result of her Post- Sausage Trauma. As SSM said, there is an article (or many) to be written about dogs in society....but this isn't it.

Lovely summary of what got Minnie through. This kind of work is not just helping individual dogs so amazingly, but it must be building up heaps of skills and knowledge. UQ vet students now have to do a subject called Shelter Medicine which takes in front line work like this. I'd hope so much that NSWAR's experiences are also being spread to all who have to deal with dogs in their worst conditions from neglect and abuse. Well done, NSWAR. And big hugs for the beautiful Minnie. :)

Sounds great! Makes me wish I were in Sydney. I'll pass the info on to all our Sydney friends.

Good spotting. I'll let Cav Rescue Qld know because they may have someone on their waiting list to adopt. Could be directed to AWL. They will have to be quick. I would not be surprised if this beautiful little girl is taken already :) I have noticed a few Cavs in shelters lately unfortunately You're not wrong! In the case of the stunning tibbie I mentioned....in the short time it took for someone looking for that breed to be directed to the AWL...the little one had gone off their For Adoption list.

Good spotting. I'll let Cav Rescue Qld know because they may have someone on their waiting list to adopt. Could be directed to AWL.

Yes, AWL does that here, too. It acknowldges a 'market value' which is a reality. That does not discount the intrinsic value of each dog no matter what they are. Recently, I was stunned to see what looked like an outstanding specimen of my breed of interest for adoption from AWL. Ran the pic past a sharp & experienced breed club person. Who said 99% certain it was so. Now if this little dog attracts a higher price that subsidizes its fellow shelter dogs, it's done its bit for animal welfare... highlighting the fact that all the dogs have intrinsic value.

What all the experienced rescuers have said in this thread... PLUS the fact I've never yet seen a rescuer who has used adoption fees for petrol in their car (& maintenance) or telephone calls or any of the other personal costs associated with doing the work. All the adoption fees are ploughed into the direct needs of the dogs. I've seen the full raft of costs for rescuers, up close.....so when we adopted our cat from a rescue, I insisted they take more money than their asking price. And I thoroughly agree with others who've said that putting a price on dogs reflects the fact that they're valued.

Lovely tributes to a truly lovely man who was also a gem of a vet. He will be so sadly missed, and his family must be devastated at his leaving so soon.

Man at the back loves his racing greyhounds (so do we!). His are out of his Q'ld Sprint Champion. He gives his greys ice-cream & bananas as their treats.

Yes, there was a lady with a small dog who used to go to our shopping mall. Her dog fulfilled some kind of therapy service for her (it might have been a mental health issue). But this dog wore a distinguishing coat that showed it had a recognized role. I wonder if the person in the OP could find a process whereby her little dog's role could gain that same status?

You're so right about Kelpies!

Who owns the grassy area you were sitting on? And had they erected a sign to say No Dogs allowed? And were the boundaries indicated for any such No Dog area? Seems neither applied, otherwise you'd have seen it. I'd ask the lifeguard how he can 'see' and 'police' something that isn't there.

Interesting to look at the rest of the life of a bloke who'd behave like that. Callous brutality towards animals tends to go along with callousness to humans. While that's probably often true, I think for some people, it's easier emotionally to harden themselves and not see the dogs as living creatures. Much easier to dispatch a "thing" than it is to kill a dog. That said.. I don't think that long-term, it really does much to help people cope with the job in a healthy way and the end result emotionally is probably far worse once the defences wear thin. I have a lot of sympathy for people who have to do such a job on a daily basis- I agree, HA, that suppression of strong feelings is what lies behind the mental strain & even post-traumatic stress syndrome which eventually comes through. Apparently, it can also be manifested in physical health problems. You took my comment about the relationship with callousness towards people out of context. I was specifically talking about a person who'd be observed to be overtly brutal and callous....as in the example given. That demonstrated likely lack of empathy, not just temporary suppression of empathy. And there has been relationship found between lack of empathy for animals with lack of empathy with humans. That would not be true of the majority of people involved in the task of PTS of healthy dogs....who'd have to develop all sorts of ways of coping with what UQ calls 'a heartbreaking task', as you rightly pointed out.

Quote from 'Paws for News', School of Vet Science, University of Q'ld, Summer,2008. "This is a heartbreaking job,and one with significant human toll. Post-traumatic stress syndrome is suffered by as many as 50% of shelter staff faced with this hopeless situation on a daily basis, leaving them with severe long-term effects and health issues." As dogmad said it's the huge numbers of healthy dogs with lovely natures. No matter how it's rationalised that the dog will be in a 'better place'....the fact is that the only reason for PTS has nothing to do with the animal. It's to do with conditions that lead to so many dogs becoming homeless. And as Aussienot's said that's what's so hard for people with any empathy to adjust to....as they're involved in the PTS (vets, vet nurses, pound/shelter staff & management). Anyone who can do it with overt brutality & lack of empathy (like the example of the terrified little terrier being shot) should be hauled off, for scrutiny on anti-social behaviour towards humans, too.

Interesting to look at the rest of the life of a bloke who'd behave like that. Callous brutality towards animals tends to go along with callousness to humans. While a less brutal means of despatch is used in most shelters & pounds, there's been documented adverse affects on staff who have to contribute to it. Yes, even when the rational response is that the animal is being sent to 'peace'. The fact that so many of the animals are intrinsically healthy and fine in temperament....can have a corrosive emotional effect on people within the normal range. UQ reported that mental health issues, like post traumatic stress, goes along with it. Their conclusion was that high rate of PTS of such animals is not just an animal welfare problem, it's also a human mental health issue.

It's a good feeling, isn't it, katdogs, to know your dogs have their paws firmly on what is not right around their family and property. It's amazed me how dogs KNOW this, when we humans have seen & heard nothing. Your little white fluffy would be pleased to hear of a thief in the next suburb who got nabbed in the act of breaking into a house where the owners were at work. He'd found a door with outside hinges that he worked on as silently as possible. When the door came off, out came 4 screaming little Maltese....who chased him, still screaming at top note, up the suburban street. Brought neighbours running, bloke was nabbed, police delighted....& local paper published the story. Don't mess with SWFs' back doors, was the lesson. A good read that shows the variety of dogs who've protected their families. Diesel, a Cattle Dog X, with amazing timing, saved a 3 yr old child from a striking brown snake & certain death. Same article mentions jesse, the little Dachshund who saved 14 yr old owner from the vicious attacker of females. Both dogs, big & small, received Animal Achievement Awards. http://www.mysunshinecoast.com.au/articles/article-display/rspca-rewards-hero-diesel,12295

My tibetan spaniel was imported from Sweden. PM if you want a contact to the Australian registered breeder who did so.

What I'm saying here is not a suggestion for the OP, but a support for what your cousin the police officer said. We've had 2 cases of thieves entering our property/home. In both cases, they fled after what our dogs did. First thief tried to break into the car one night. We didn't hear it....but the dogs did. They barked the way dogs do, when they mean business. We turned on every outside light....saw nothing. Next morning, we found the damage on the car, but the thief had left before getting in.....after hearing the dogs. Second case, I was home alone one night. Back door was open as I took clothes up and downstairs. I was in a back bedroom when the 2 dogs went up the hallway towards the back verandah-deck, growling as dogs do when they mean business. I followed them & saw a bag of items dropped inside the back door. It was full of things taken from our downstairs storeroom. A thief had been coming into the house. The dogs kept going, still growling, out into the darkness. I followed them, & saw a young man, walking down the driveway next door. This bloke had fled when he'd heard the dogs coming. I got a good look at him under a streetlight to later describe him to police. Seems the bloke broke into a few homes in the area that night. Ours was the only one where he was discovered. Police told us, in one case, the bloke had stepped over a sleeping dog....who didn't wake up (won't say the breed!) They were high in their praise for our 2 dogs....who were little Tibetan Spaniels. Also Brisbane people might remember one of the blokes who was attacking females on walking tracks. Only time he got 'beaten off' was when a girl's pet Dachshund grabbed his leg & wouldn't let go, until he took off. That little dog got a hero award & the hugest bone.

Just some info. AWL Qld has a link to the Brisbane Times website where there's a list of some dog-friendly cafes. http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/entertainment/restaurants-and-bars/brisbanes-dogfriendly-cafes-20120606-1zvls.html

Back to Tibetan Terriers for a bit. No, they're not a terrier. Neither is a Tibetan Spaniel, a spaniel. When these dogs were brought out of Tibet & back to the UK (& from there, the Western World), they were slotted into labels based on what they 'seemed' like, not what they actually are. What showdog said about TTs was spot on. I honestly can't comment if a TT is right for you....as showdog also said, it comes down to the criteria and training that you want.

Good advice.

Pity you're not in Q'ld. There's a 3 yrs+ p/b German Shepherd girl for adoption from 4 Paws Animal Rescue (just north of Brisbane). She's been well cared for, loves children & adults, alert, protective, loyal & playful. Great combination of traits for a family dog. Her name is Merlot (love it!). Short-haired. http://www.4pawsanimalrescue.org.au/dogs.html