mita

Yes, her dogs were clearly breaking the law by being loose on the street. HW's dogs were within the law.... muzzled & on leashes. Full responsibility for the incident goes to to the woman.

Few years back, local police issues a press release in our local paper. A bunch of people were going around stealing small breed, attractive dogs from the yards of homes. Police believe they were being resold somewhere. Their advice was to keep such dogs out of view from the street. But, as the OP case, burglars can also break in... & include the dog among the loot. Tho', when a neighbour's house was burgled when they were out, their big dog, Max, was found locked in the garden shed. He was dead to the world, sleeping off a huge meal. The thieves had emptied the fridge and put the contents in with him. To keep him occupied, it seemed. So glad that Frosty was found & returned, safe and well.

Amen to this! I hope your greys are doing well, both physically & mentally, after that dreadful attack. I second people who've urged you to get your own injuries checked by a doctor. After years of leadless dogs rushing & dogs racing out thro' open gates, I've totally given up walking our dogs. So unfair, it's the people & dogs doing the right thing that finish up with the trauma.

Sounds perfect! Love how the cat freeloads. Nothing like a puss to find the warmest spot. :)

KC, I didn't want to add that.... to the example I gave. But guess who took a longish holiday, .... while searching out a look-alike in the breed! :) But they said, if they'd knew that 'rule' in the first instance, they would not have gone into that village. They hated being in the position of doing something 'behind backs'. And worried it could back-fire on the new dog, if discovered. So.... ask questions, look at the fine print!!!

That's good advice. And look very closely at the fine print re pets.... or ask a question about something that might be taken for granted. For example, some retirement villages state it's fine for people to move in with their already existing dog. Pets welcome, they say. But what's not necessarily said.... or perhaps is included in fine print somewhere... if that dog dies, the person cannot get a new dog while resident in the village. That happened to people I heard of ... to their surprise & distress. Re the OP's question. There's a perfect example of a young, sweet-natured, clean, calm Tibetan Spaniel boy, Oliver, for adoption from Foster Dogs Rescue in the ACT. Has pedigree papers, surrendered at only 18 months because of ill-health of owner. His foster-carer has introduced him, with pic, on the Tibbie Breed forum ... with a glowing assessment. Pity this lad isn't in WA. But he is a great example of a close companion breed that would likely fit a situation described by the OP. http://www.dolforums.com.au/topic/106775-tibetan-breeds-lhasa-apsos-tibetan-spaniels/page__st__1560

Apologies if someone else has already mentioned this. Cocker Spaniel Club of Qld lists a name & contact details of their rescue person. http://www.cockerspanielclub.com/index.php?body=our_committee

The good registered breeders who: .raise their dogs/puppies in well soclalised, home-style situations, .home their puppies carefully & with good advice, . & who take back puppies when something goes wrong, actually PREVENT the dumping of dogs as they lower the risk factors which lead to dumping. Look at the research. It's not a competition between shelter dogs & registered-breeder sourced dogs, it's a case of what can be done which will lead to less dumping of dogs. So I have no problem in people adopting either or both. But there is a problem if it's reduced to a maths equation that doesn't stack up in the big picture... adopt a 'breeder' dog & a shelter dog dies. No... what makes a shelter dog die are risk factors which need to be addressed.

Thanks for the link, Boronia. Those Pekes sure look like Tibbies. I think the breeds might've looked more similar a century ago. The British Museum of Natural History has a stuffed Peke that had been brought back to England in those days. It looks more like a modern Tibbie than a modern Peke.

Yes. I should've done that.... at first.

Victorian Dog Rescue has: Frisco Terrier X Billee JR Terrier X Brian JR Terrier X Kieran Westie Terrier X http://www.victoriandogrescue.org.au/adoptions.html

Tobie, all dogs are different in what might be needed to help. But I had a remarkably similar experience. Our 2 tibbies were devoted to each other, especially the older smaller girl who looked up to her confident 'sister' as a leader. Thro' a veterinary treatment error, the confident girl, Gracie, suddenly died. For weeks, the older one kept looking for her... under gates, behind doors. Even when I took her to the vet to ask about it, she lay on the exam room floor, nose under door, expecting her 'sister' to be in the waiting room. The vet said most dogs recover from their grief & loss by about 3 weeks. Not so, in this case. The tibbie girl stopped looking as if she knew her 'sister' was not coming back. But then started the most pitiful 'keening; if she was ever left alone. Everything was tried.... behaviour management, medication, but didn't help. This went on for months & months. She got locked into the 'depression'. She was older, nearly 14 yrs, so maybe new learning & adjustment wasn't so easy. Looking back, I would have got expert help from a behaviourist right from the start . I might've even tried a another tibbie much sooner. As I said, each dog is different, so there may be totally different solutions for your doggie's case. So I agree with your checking it out with a good behaviourist. Best wishes.

I was advised to use polaramine for our sheltie with skin allergies. The vet said the 'human' polaramine from the chemist was the same as the veterinary antihistamine.... but cheaper. Was successful.

I couldn't agree more. My heart dog was Danny, a black tri male sheltie that I found lost in awful condition. But his huge sweetness shone thro;. Wasn't claimed & thro' the shelite club who cleaned him up, I adopted him. Such a lovely boy, his nickname became Saint Danny. I miss him still. I like the spruced up, neat look of the black tri-colour shelties.. I agree with Nic... getting a photo that shows a black dog well, can be difficult. Photos of Brock, the black tibbie next door, used to come out blobby, with no detail of his handsome features. Then one day, someone took the perfect one! Click, enlarge:

I wondered the same.... especially as the first sign of allergy was his paws. Seems like contact with something was a trigger. Like maybe the wandering jew. Just for your consideration, a vet once recommended doses of polaramine, the anti-histamine. Worked well with our shelite that had a skin allergy. He also started chewing his paws. Plain chicken & rice & vegetables.... especially plenty of cooked sweet potato ... seemed best for our sheltie. With some salt-free sardines. Polaramine was mentioned, re dosage & use on a DOL thread way back. I've kept a link to that thread: http://www.dolforums.com.au/topic/94741-polaramine-dosage-rate/

Options, if I were in that lady's position, that I could consider: PetRescue search. I type in a Google search of a breed label and 'Pet Rescue' & it brings up profiles of examples that rescues have labelled. Further enquiries can show if they've had good reasons for the label ... like documentation known. Can also tap into specific breed rescues. But important to note that the labelling may simply be a 'best guess'. If the dog is in foster-care, valuable information can be pulled about behaviours & socialization (& with whom). Pity the lady wasn't Sydney because Denise at PAWS has had very good Tibbies with excellent temperaments in foster-care over the years (with thumbs up for breed characteristics). Mature Age Purebreds, for adoption on the Dogzonline Breeders' Pages. I've very successfully adopted retired showdogs from good breeders who know their dogs well.... & socialized them well. I found the breeders' advice & information spot on. The very characteristics which lent themselves for dogs adjusting well to showing, can transfer well to a pet situations. The particular breeds I'd be considering would be Cardigan Corgi (laid back & versatile) and a Tibbie that's already shown some self-sufficiency in its make-up. I have respect for those registered breeders who ensure some of their mature dogs.... & any that they've responsibly taken back... go to suitable good forever homes. The Tibetan Spaniel Association of Victoria bridges both... & extends interest to other states. Whilst also providing breed information & puppy buying guidelines. http://www.tsavaustralia.com/rescue.htm So Breed Clubs can be worth checking out, too.

I understand what you're saying. Unless you know otherwise, the colours could make you think they refer to a quality rating. As in 'blue' being superior in some way. Especially as you see the colours first & the explanation is below. So I agree with Wundahoo, maybe put the explanation at the top, preparing people for what the colours mean.

Lovely pic of 2 happy & well-settled kitties.

The pics of Rotties making themselves comfortable are my all-time favourites on DOL. :)

I'm biased, but it could lol! Also there are a couple of breeders in WA. 'Come when called' - hmmm, this takes a LOT of proofing with tibs, it does with all dogs, but their independant nature means that if they are sniffing something/someone exciting you have to offer a whole lot more to get them to come. Also their coat may not be ideal for a beach dog, and I haven't heard of many that live swimming. Other than that they are perfect :) For a few of the OP's requirements, I could see 'Tibbie'. But, to be honest, in the total picture that the OP's set out, I wouldn't recommend Tibetan Spaniel.

Yes, to your first statement, whoever keeps them ... and wherever. And yes to your second statement, too. Breeders of my breed of interest have told me that 'incidents' can happen where a fight will break out. They've said when it happens with the females, they mean business. Have no idea if that's generalizable to others.

But what a nice hijack. :) Great way to spread word about rescue, so people see how dogs thrive in foster-care. I hope you see the pics & article in their magazine.

Some very lucky person/family out there. Thanks for the update.

Excellent posts, dogmad & keetamouse. Both based on experience. That's an amazing photo of the carer with her pack & fosters. Lucky little dogs to be in her care!

Miss Penny's pics are beautiful! She sure is her brother Thomas's sister. VM, it wouldn't surprise me if Thomas were snapped up. He nearly converted this tibbie tragic. :)