mita

We've got a cat like that. Doesn't like other cats on her patch. But adores the dogs. She's best friends with the tibbie next door ... & they have one of those special dog-cat relationships. When younger, they'd play for hours around the house. Mats flying everywhere. But no matter how wild their play got, they never ever hurt each other. Games always ended with some 'kissing'. She seems to believe she's part of a dog pack. Best wishes for your lovely girl.

I thought the same. There's a look that dogs get in their eyes, when they know they're safe & much loved. Those beauties have it!

Pics of Horrie 'commanding a tank' & with his 'owners'. Says there was public outcry about order to destroy him. Seems story that he was somehow saved is true. http://www.anthonyhillbooks.com/animalheroesmain.html BTW Pet Rescue has the story & pic of Digger the Dog who left Australia with troops for service at Gallipoli & France. Tells about his contribution & return to Australia. Seems Digger was a real character. He lived out his days with a well chosen soldier from his Division. https://www.facebook.com/PetRescueAU

I was looking up the splendid examples of my breed of interest that are bred in Ireland. Took opportunity to check out the legal requirements for breeders. They look remarkably sensible to me. The Breeding Establishments Act only applies if someone has 6 or more female dogs capable of breeding. Which leaves the average small scale hobby show breeder to simply comply with the same laws & licensing system as any other dog owner. This fits the 'home based' keeping of pedigree dogs. The Act applies to those owning more.... which is then considered a Breeding Establishment. The aims for how dogs should be kept are set out... & the breeder has to set up the environment to meet those needs. But there's enough specifics that could be observed to catch those not doing the right thing by the dogs. Why can't we have such a sensible system? From the Irish Kennel Club website: Legal requirements Anyone seeking to carry out dog breeding in Ireland has a number of legal obligations in addition to those of any pet owner. The Dog Breeding Establishments Act, 2010, which came into force at the beginning of 2012, establishes regulations for anyone keeping six or more female dogs which are more than six months old and are capable of breeding. Constructing and Maintaining a Dog Breeding Establishment In order to comply with the Act the owner or manager of a dog breeding establishment should provide accommodation and equipment which suits the physical, behavioural and social requirements of the dogs held. The owner should protect the dogs from other animals and adverse environmental conditions, provide sufficient space for dogs to stand, move around freely, stretch fully and rest, along with sufficient quantities of appropriate food and clean water to maintain good health and support optimal growth and reproduction. Owners or managers should also protect the dogs from disease, distress, injury, fear and pain, maintain the hygiene of the breeding premises and health of the dogs held, and ensure the premises is appropriately licensed under the Control of Dogs Acts 1986 to 2010.

Double post.

That's a great story. There's a book that was published in recent times by the National War Museum in Canberra. Called A is for Animals: A to Z of Animals in War. Has pics & explanations about all kinds of animals alongside Australian service people from WW 1 up to present. Don't know if still available. Two books that are: The Diggers' Menagerie: Mates, Mascots & Marvels... True Stories of Animals Who Went to War. by Barry Stone Australian War Dogs: The Story of Four-legged Diggers. by Nigel Allsop http://www.australiandefence.com.au/files/dmfile/ADMBooksofInterest_ed3.pdf

Our Tibbie girls did the right thing again last night. We were out all day, to return late at night. Our neighbours check our girls & give them a meal in those circumstances (& we do the same for their dog). The husband told us this morning how well the girls guarded their house. At 8 p.m he jumped the side fence to come over to check them. As soon as his feet touched the grass in our yard, the girls barked a warning from inside the house. 'Dogs in charge!'. And kept it up until he called to them... 'It's me, girls!' Then he got the biggest welcome at the back deck door. He remarked what amazing hearing dogs must have.

Andrea, can you PM me the phone no of Gracie's vet? You gave her a beautiful name. Our late much loved tibbie was Gracie.

Similar with our older Tibbie, Angel, when her Tibbie 'sister', Gracie suddenly died (from medical error). Angel was devoted to Gracie. Angel started looking for Gracie. She would lie for hours at the gate, thro' which she'd last seen Gracie's body being taken away by the pet cremation people. At night, she'd lie at the back door, looking under it, waiting for Gracie to come into the house. After a week of this, I took Angel to the vet. Even as I spoke with her, Angel lay at the door looking under it waiting for Gracie to come in from the waiting room. The vet said, in her experience, this mourning period lasted about 3 weeks. Sadly, it didn't end there for Angel. Maybe because she was nearly 14 years old.... & the learning to adjust didn't come so easily any more. She did give up looking after a few weeks... but then took to the saddest most mournful crying whenever left on her own. We.... & the vets tried everything.... behaviour modification, medication...for months. But it just persisted. I got a second Tibbie... a mature, calm adult, called Nina Zena. Angel totally ignored her as if she wasn't even there. The mournful crying continued. I wish you well for your doggie.... Angel definitely stopped looking after a few weeks. Much like the vet predicted. But it was just sad that her grief then turned into crying. I think, tho', it might've been due to her age. Your doggie is younger, with still flexible learning. So may adjust.

Beautiful boy! And much loved. I can't add anything more to what others have posted. Except to say how sad I feel for Harley's owners & you.

I know of a dog rescue that operates in the area of Dakabin Pound (run by RSPCA). From one case, I know that the RSPCA at Dakabin wisely turned over to them a small dog that was not coping with the shelter situation. So there seems to be some working relationship... or was. Maybe that rescue would be able to advise you on laws about finding lost dogs in the area. Phone no is on their entry here: http://www.petrescue.com.au/groups/10025 We're close to the borders with Moreton Bay Council. I was at a meeting inside their boundaries recently.... & found a lovely well-cared for Border Collie playing alone in the park nearby. I couldn't drive away & leave her (just over the hill was a 4 lane busy road). She had a phone no on her collar ... but I didn't have my mobile. I rang the Council from the meeting venue... & the officer who answered was very helpful & understanding. She tried the phone no. No answer. Tried again & again. Speaking only for herself, she asked me could I take the dog home, while still trying to get the owner to answer. As I was not going straight home.... couldn't do that. So she alerted the dog control people. Went back to the park.... & there was the owner playing with the BC And talking on his mobile!!! Told him what'd happened & asked him to phone the Council and tell them the dog was now safe. It was his habit it seemed to let his dog go ahead of him when going to the park.... & he'd got distracted by a phone call. So she was in the park alone for some time.

I know how our dogs would behave if someone came in the house when I was alone. Someone did, one night, when I was going up & downstairs with washing, with back door open. How they behaved fitted with their breed, Tibetan Spaniels, because being alert dogs was one of the reasons they were kept in the Tibetan monasteries. I heard nothing as I was in a bedroom sorting clothes. But the 2 Tibbies went racing up the hallway, barking as if they meant it (they're not yappers.... when they bark it's something important). I followed them & found a bag of items inside the doorway ... stuff taken from the downstairs storeroom. A thief had been coming into the house, heard the dogs & took off into the dark outside. But where? The Tibbie girls kept going, around the side of the house & barked at the driveway next door. There was a young bloke with torch in his hand, going down towards the footpath & under a streetlight. So I got a very good look at him & could later give the police a good description. The police said this bloke had robbed a few houses that night .... but our little dogs were the only ones that caught him in the act. Another night, they broke into the same barking that means business. We turned on outside lights & couldn't see anyone. Next morning we found my car door damaged where someone had been trying to break in. Disturbed by the dogs' bark, he'd fled. The Tibbie girl next door is also great at alerting, when there's good reason. Her fenceline adjoins the driveway of our neighbour who has racing greyhounds. And she keeps watch on his house when he's not at home. Several times, she's alerted me to strangers in his driveway & back of house.... & I've gone to check. A couple I know have made a good dog 'team' to guard their property.... he's a builder with a lot of tools & equipment. The wife's Tibbie alerts to any strangers on the property. The husband's Dobe (who's really a big sweetie) then ambles out to see what she's on about. The sight of the Dobe ... & the sound of the Tibbie acting as an alarm.... deters people up to no good.

Can't be all that unusual ... given I knew of a similar situation with a similar reason. And it was done without problem. I vaguely remember it was even checked out with the local police ... & their comments were sensible & supportive about the priority for getting essentials to the dogs. My only other suggestion would be to find one of those pet carers who run a business where they go in & feed and exercise dogs for people who are on holidays.

Maree, there was a case like that, I knew of, some time back near Brisbane. They were 2 small dogs that required feeding/water checked but didn't need walking, just a good encouraged play around the big yard. The neighbours were advised so they wouldn't think someone was burgling the empty house. Took a couple of weeks for the dogs' future to be sorted & agreed to. They were rehomed ... via breed contacts.

Yes, go straight to the vet. Otherwise you could do more harm than good.

I'm passionate about the lovely Lucy at NSWAR. I hope the bestest of homes turned up for her .... or soon. She's a living doll. http://www.nswar.org.au/lucy.htm

Sensible.

Maybe just phone the breeder. Communication break-downs & concerns can be worked thro', if people speak with each other. There's more cues to what people are meaning & feeling.

Get some soft toys & rub them all over his mum to transfer her scent onto them. Also, is there a blanket or rug that his mum & litter mates used? Give these to your puppy. Dogs can get some comfort from smells, like we get some comfort from a photo. Keep on doing this, from now on, with your scent on. Rub your hands & feet over some soft toys for him. Put an old unwashed T-shirt of yours on his bed.

Good on you, Boronia, for posting all that information. I heard someone from ACCC talking on Radio National. She said the number of puppy scams reported to them over the past year is in the thousands. And they have a fair idea that there's many more people scammed who were too embarrassed to complain. Someone from the (fraud) police also contributed. He said they're coming from overseas... & the reason scammers have been putting their ads in our local newspapers, as well, is to try to con people they're here in Australia.

Couldn't agree more. If her previous work had been lace maker & trainee florist, it wouldn't have occurred to the media to mention them. Totally not relevant ... It's a case about her behaviour looking after her horses. Still being heard in court.

Good dog! In Brisbane some time back, a bloke was being chased by the police thro' the suburbs & he jumped over a high fence. Right on top of someone's pet Rottweiler.... who was understandably annoyed & grabbed his leg and held him. The police easily caught him.... & said they thanked the Rottie & took the bloke to hospital to get his leg checked.

Dogmad, who's here on DOL, is associated with Italian Greyhound Rescue. http://www.iggyrescue.com.au/

Who'd be brave enough to object to Merlin? Might get hit by a nasty magic spell. :)

All I could find on a dog poisons site was this: DO NOT induce vomiting for the following Battery acid, Bleach, Drain cleaner, Fertilizer, Furniture polish, Glue, Household Cleaners, Kerosene, Laundry detergent, Motor oil, Nail polish, Paint thinner, Paint brush cleaner, Paste (glue), Pine-oil cleaners, Plaster, Putty, Toilet bowl cleaners, Turpentine