Little Gifts

I wasn't sure what kind of stories you were after either. My mother and son SBTs (both rescues/failed fosters and both now deceased) saved me after a serious fall down my front stairs that left me injured in all 4 limbs and unconcious. I lived alone on acreage and it would've been a long time till someone found me. One stayed on guard by my side and the other, who was the biggest panicker in the world, ran next door and attracted the attention of my parents (who lived on a property next door). His behaviour and noises were so out of character that they followed him back towards the property fence and realised something must be wrong with me. I hadn't had them that long when it happened and it really changed the relationship the three of us had. When we moved to the suburbs those same two dogs protected me during a home invasion by three men. They realised what was happening before I did, took chase then came straight back to my side without me calling (I was a shaking mess out in the backyard). The worst was that the police couldn't get to me so with the 000 person on the phone and the dogs by my side I had to go back into my house and ensure room by room that the burglars had left and assess the damage and make the house secure. It was the most terrifying experience and I could not have done it without those two. They did no damage to the burglars either - once they were out of the house they were done with them and back with me. Two unwanted 'bull' breed dogs did those two very important things to keep me safe.

I can send my Sept fundraising monies their way. I am committed already for Oct funds but could possibly also do some in November.

OK, I can give you a govt insight as I actually draft and edit things for Queensland parliament as well as for four state govt Ministers in general. I also see the responses prepared to issues from Federal Government Ministers. While the set up here in QLD is slightly different (we have our own constitution) it will be similar. The thing that get the attention and support of your local MP, who in turn pushes the issue on the state Minister in the hot seat for this legislation is people making informed and ongoing complaints. Unfortunately this may only result in this MP raising it in parliament when that Minister is not even in the room or it may result in that MP writing one letter to that specific Minister. Low impact. The next approach is for anybody and everybody to write to the relevant Minister AND the Premier. Don't bother writing to other state Minister's as they will simply refer your letter on. The letters should be similar but not the same. Stick to facts and avoid emotive or finger pointing language. If you can draw it back to studies or legislation it may breach (such as our very own consitutional rights!) then it means someone has to do some actual work to respond to your letter. The reason you should avoid them all being the same is because then all your responses will just be a blanket one. The more factual your letter and the more questions or issues it raises means that the more knowledgeable the person who responds to it needs to be. It might also need to be run past their legal area. I'd be asking them to tell you what process they followed to create this legislation and studies they used to determine this approach would provide the best outcome and was the most enforceable. The more letters there are overall means that the Minister and their Policy Advisor and even the Premier can't fail to notice the public's discontent. Remember they are in power due to public votes! Until you get attention it is unlikely that a Minister or the Premier will agree to meet with you to discuss this in person. Medium to high impact. To maximise impact I suggest you add the following to the point above: 1. Who is the opposing party leader in your relevant state? Meet with them and bombard them with letters because they will be looking for something they can use against the opposing party in Parliament. Public unrest is just the thing. 2. Start a lobby group and build it up to include support from legitimate key bodies but let people lobby independantly as well. People can follow the advice or direction of the group that way so you are all working for the same thing. Remember if they don't have this legislation then what do they do? The lobby group could provide suggestions or even have reps on the board drafting new legislation. 3. Think about events to attract media attention like public marches or even approaching your local community paper to cover good news stories on that dangerous breed. ALL govt depts monitor media in their state, even those little local stories. 4. This is an important one - check if your parliament ever sits in community locations. Here in QLD it is called Community Cabinet. At every Comm Cab there is a chance to meet with the Premier and whatever Minister you wish. These are called deputations. Take advantage of these. Bombard the Comm Cab with requests for meetings on the issue (seperate people of course), wear t-shirts, provide them with studies, whatever you can do to get theirs, the media and the public's attention. Comm Cabs are a lot of work and the Premier and Ministers do not want to be caught out during them. It is likely that they would agree to meet with you more privately on this issue. 4. Be persistent! They need to know you're not going away quietly! They hate that! Even though this is currently happening in other states there is a risk for all of us. If a lobby group gets going then it can be emotive to get public attention but just not to govt as that isn't tangible. I'd love to make a t-shirt up with a gorgeous 'dangerous breed' puppy on the front saying something like "You want to kill my dog?" with details of what's happening on the back. That would get attention. I have a catch phrase going round in my head that is not quite there yet but it is something like "Police dogs? POLICE PEOPLE!"

I feel bad - not long back there were pug pj boxer shorts at my local Kmart for $5 a pair. I meant to log on and tell everyone in case they wanted me to grab them but I forgot....

But greytmate it is still the dogs who ultimately suffer from having crap owners unwilling to register them. Those crap owners will just go on to get another dog when they should have none. Particularly the ones who have just dumped their dogs on the streets so they can't be caught. And heaven forbid if one of those scared dogs bites someone while loose on the street. That will just reinforce that the Vic govt are doing the right thing. I feel like we have learnt nothing from previous experiences. Just cull the victims senselessly and let the perpertrators shift their behaviours to another breed. Which they will. Those dogs didn't choose to be born pit bulls - humans did. And there are numerous examples of the breed being loving pets rather than vicious killers. I agree an unregistered dog (of any breed) is a risk because we can't track the owner if the dog turns up as a stray, if it is hit by a car or if it attacks someone. But to kill a dog because it is a certain breed and unregistered, without any assessment of its aggresiveness or the environment it is homed in is not something I find acceptable because again, the owner doesn't suffer - the dog does. With its life.

I got a puppia harness (or two!) here on DOL for my stafford as she is a wriggler and very strong when she gets over-excited. Bseides choking herself and getting out of collars and a normal harness she has busted a leash handle and the steel clips off a double leash. But I have not even come close to a near escape with the puppia and she is very comfortable in it. I did buy a martingale but have not yet tried it as I seem to be able to control her better when she is in a harness (with the clip on her back rather than at her neck) if she starts being special.

Thank you for posting this. What wonderful heroes they were/are. I also like the comment at the bottom of the second article about some pit bulls who were also search and rescue dogs for 9/11.

It is negligent for the dog not to check true ownership through the microchip, whether the animal was surrendered by someone saying they were the owner or whether it was dumped. And how would they know it was pure bred if they didn't check the chip? Unless the owner gave them some paperwork when they surrendered the animal? If they have the breeder's info with that paperwork then what possible harm could it do to call and see if they were able to take it back, contract or not? If the point of their 'service' is to rehome rehomable dogs then surely that would be the quickest way to ensure that particular dog was safe? They are obviously losing sight of their client in need (the dog) by not doing the most basic checks. I would be livid if I lost a beloved pure bred dog and someone was able to pass it off as their own because someone didn't check the chip. And Steve - wouldn't the chip people have a record of an ownership enquiry being made on a specific dog?

I'm sorry for your loss Anne. There has been far too much loss this year and lots of households are grieving right along with you.

a) Breed: desexed female stafford b) Age: 16 years and 9 months c) Diet: very strict diet for last 11 years due to pancreatitis. Mostly Hills Science WD dry and tinned but later Royal Canin Lowfat Digest Dry. Always fed Am and PM. d) Supplements: nil e) Exercise regime: walked the same dstance as the younger dogs but a lot slower and only three times a week. She got a massage every morning for the last 4 years and played rough with a younger stafford for the last 4 years every night after dinner. f) Temperament: Tough but nurturing with us humans and the other dogs. High prey drive with lizards, fowl and cats if an animal became stressed but fine under normal circs. Was trained by original owner to be pig shooting dog. g) Prior health concerns: Now deceased. Dementia, blindness, deafness, strokes, heart murmour, nerve damage in her spine, tumourous growths and mammarey (sp?) cancer in old age. Gave birth to a litter by cesar just before her first birthday (day she came into my care) and had post surgery complications that left her with severe scar tissue and sterility. Developed pancreatitis in 2000 but it was well controlled by a strict diet. h) Living arrangements: Has always been an inside/outside dog and has always lived with 2 - 3 other dogs. She always considered herself the matriach of the dogs and was very nurturing to the pups. Always pined if we lost any from the dog or human pack. She lived half her life with cats, chickens, ducks and geese. Never been crated but always slept in the laundry on dog beds at night until 6 years ago. She then started sleeping on my bed. i) Pictures! This was her on her last day with us in May, They all made doggy paintings in the back yard in the morning and she was pts that afternoon. Still makes me very sad to look at the pics on that day because she really was quite active still and showed no pain right till the end.

My stafford really never really slowed down and needed help doing normal things until her 16th year. She was one tough cookie.

I was going to mentio n Cazstaff too because I'm sure she kept the pup so it had a season and then desexed and rehomed it this year.

I've had to stop reading the rainbow bridge thread because the loss in DOL land this year is overwhelming. I'm three months down the track and still not over losing my old girl. I had her almost 16 years and it still wasn't long enough. She wasn't my heart dog and she wasn't overly smoochy but she was the tough matriach of all the dogs that have been in my life and the gap in all our lives since she is gone is measurable. What a shit God (sorry) to create the most amazing creatures but only leave them on this earth to touch our lives for such a short period of time. Going off for a good cry now....

Better that she comes back to you if it wasn't working. I was going to pm you and see if you were back actively rescuing as I was planning on going back to fostering when Ricky went and three months on I'm still not close to ready. So I was wondering if you were feeling the same or whether bringing new life into the house worked for you? At least Alaska and you already have a bond.

A new dog dug up the remains of an old buried dog at my current house. The deceased pet had been buried for just on a year. All that the new dog retrieved was dirt covered jaw bone. We do live in a tropical area so perhaps that sped up the decomp process? I was personally surprised that there was nothing left of my old boy but bone. Not even remnants of the blanket, beach towel, calico or heavy duty plastic he was wrapped in. I wasn't upset that he'd been disturbed because the ne dog didn't know it was him and I believe in the cycle of life - he was still with me in spirit and his outer shell was re-energising the earth.

Dogslife that was the most beautiful and heartfelt tribute, but I'm crying for you and your daughter and the rest of the pack. There has been so much loss this year of amazing dogs who have touched our lives. I wish they lived as long as we did. I'm so sorry for your losses. xxx

It's funny but I had no idea how precious dogs are to so many people until I read all your comments. Despite owning loads of dogs all my life Stussy is my first heart dog so my experiences with her feel different. The connection is different I guess so the feelings are just more intense. I'm not married and don't have kids (have never wanted either) but have always been concious not to treat my dogs like surrogate children or as a replacement for love from a human relationship. Maybe I have just allowed myself to be open to other types of connections with this particular dog? Maybe I am just at a stage in my life when I have slowed down and notice more? She certainly seems very in tune with me and her needs are so simple and pure, which I admire. She also reminds me to live in the moment more. Is this wierd? I do share this house with my sister, have very close friendships and have been in a relationship since I have owned her so I'm not exactly a crazy spinster. For those of you who get a lot of comfort from your dogs are you single and without children? Or are you just at a different phase in your life? Or is it purely a specific dog that gives you those warm fuzzies?

That's hilarious!!!!! When my sister was still a teen she had a cat that had the most pathetic meow when he wanted food. My sister seemed to never hear it so one day I made a sign and put it around his neck that said "Feed me Dannie!" and sent him into my sister Dannie's room. That sign came out a lot during that poor cat's long and hungry life!

I used to think my fave time of day was coming home after a long day at work and being so excited and energised at the greeting from our dogs. How could it not be wonderful to be so missed? But this morning we didn't have to get up at any particular time so there was no alarm to wake me. My lovely SBT Stussy has developed a new wake up technique for when she has decided it is time to get up. She sits on my chest, scratching at the blankets, licking my face crazily and barking in between licks. In response I tell her a sleepy 'no', flip on to my side and pull the blankets over my head. So then she digs under the doona and squirms around under there until all the warm blankies are wrapped around her instead. I give in then so she lets me pull the blankets back over both of us and she gets her morning massage in bed, with us both under the covers. The massage always finishes with her on her back and me blowing raspberries on her belly (I know...). I realised this morning that this has become my favourite time with her because it is just the two of us all warm and comfy. We are kind of starting our day off slowly with a tactile connection and she can obviously tell I have had enough sleep because the time is never the same (today it was 10am) and I do get out of bed feeling refreshed and ready to go afterwards. I am not much of a morning person so if I really needed my sleep and she tried this I can imagine my response would be on the very grumpy side but it always turns in to a soft kind of game between us. She never does this during the work week - if she wanted to get up earlier than me to toilet then she'd scratch at the bedroom door. She does get a massage every morning on the bed but usually she is outside the covers with her standing up, so these late morning sillies are always instigated by her and only when she feels like it. I'm not sure which one of us enjoys it more, although I'm pretty sure the raspberries are for me!

Suziwong I was watching the hourly news reports on tv all day yesterday and it was reported as pit bull and pit bull cross in all the daily reports on Channel 10. Subsequently it has been referred to as Amstaff, although I haven't heard or seen that myself. The child has also been referred to on Channel 10's news reports as 3, 4 and 5 and the adult that the dog chased in to the house has been referred to as 20 and 30. The child was also 'killed by the dog' (implying immediately at the scene) in some reports and in later reports the child was in surgery and died then or shortly after (details were sketchy), implying that it survived the attack, made it to hospital and died later. What do you believe???? I am actually a journalist and this is why I don't work for mass media. This lack of fact checking and sensationalism is not what news reporting is supposed to be about. No wonder the media has a bad name - it should be an important community service reporting fact and balanced stories. Instead they run with whatever will grab the most attention and try and beat other media outlets by getting the story out first. The most significant thing to me is the dog killing the child at the house or the child dying in hospital as a result of the dog attack. How can you get that wrong? They didn't - saying the dog killed the child and implying it happened right there in front of family and friends is far more sensational and it was a deliberate choice on their part.

I was just watching the news and the mother herself was also attacked by a dog not so long ago. There were other family members in the house when the dog came in so there are a range of people who will have been traumatised by this. The husband is supposedly flying over from Sudan at present. Given the families situation, with having lost their house and child, I also agree with cash as the best option and if we do this sensitively say through their local Sudanese community (mum doesn't speak english and had an interpreter during the tv interview) I think it be acceptable to do it on behalf of the large Dogzonline community. We don't have to talk about who we are because it isn't about us other than us collectively wanting to acknowledge their pain and loss and assist. I am happy to make a $100 donation.

Simple. Round up anything with a big head, smooth coat and weighing over 18kg that isn't purebred and kill the lot. Anything red or brindle will be first in line. And don't think it can't happen. Exactly. Disgusting. The day this starts happening is the day I stop leaving the house. Both my dogs will be on the chopping block even though one has nothing remotely "pitbull" in her. That's why I said I thought it was ridiculous. Targetting a breed/cross breed is not going to make an owner responsible for them. On another news report here it said 'the dog community' (whoever they are) are calling for action to prevent any more incidents like this. All a bit generalised but I'd certainly be publicly active about ensuring any dog identified as human or other animal aggressive (as opposed to dangerous and as opposed to it being linked to specific breed) is only owned and contained by a person or people trained and capable of ensuring other people and other animals remain safe. I'm going to read the legislation governing the RSPCA tomorrow to see if there is something in there that supports this already occuring. Obviously there are too many variations on council regs but surely the national legislation must have something useful in it already regarding responsible pet ownership even if it is keeping the dog safe from harm as they are not keeping an aggressive dog safe from harm if it escapes, kills someone and then gets put down itself.

We had probs for a while between an aged desexed female stafford and a young desexed female stafford. The last fight was when the older girl was 16 and the younger only 2 but the older girl never lost a fight! I knew about the back legs thing but both of ours were so determined to hang on the pulling just caused more skin damage because I didn't know about the twist side of it. We used to cover their noses with cloth, pushing it down towards their mouths and as soon as someone let go to re-grip they'd end up biting on cloth and we could get them both apart and seperated. After it was over and they were cleaned up they'd be buddies again, checking out each other's war wounds. But as for me - adrenalin was the only thing keeping me at it until they were seperated. After that I'd literally turn to jelly and collapse on the floor like I'd run a marathon.

2ps would you consider a rescue dog one that was going to be dumped by the original owner who no longer wanted it? Ie it has been rescued from an inappropriate fate? That is how I've ended up with all my dogs except two. One was a straight foster care arrangement who went on to a new forever home after recovering from health issues and the other was a dog left with me on a 2 week temp care arrangement whose owner never bothered coming back. I consider them all rescue because I never planned on having them before hearing about their circumstances, was willing to make adjustments in my life and household to manage their arrival and if I had not been the right person for them my intention would have been to find them the right home. I didn't 'buy' them off anyone but did 'pay' for all of them through desexing, vaccinating, vet care and meeting their specific health needs. One of them I also reimbursed somebody for the cost of them being flown to Brisbane. I do think rescue comes in many forms, particularly in smaller communities where things sometimes happen by word of mouth rather than through pounds or more formal rescue arrangements. I cannot support anyone endeavouring to make a living or profit from breeding and selling puppies or dogs whether they do it for one litter, breed or more. (I obviously exclude quality registered breeders from that because I doubt you could make a profit from a litter when you are providing good food, vet care, socialisation, assessment, post sale support and all that is required in raising healthy parents and puppies.)

I think it would be an amazing thing if the Dogzonline community could do something for this family so they know that dog lovers acknowledge what an horrific experience this has been. The tv reports I have been seeing keep saying there has been a call to ban all pit bull crosses. That IMO is a ridiculous idea. Any breed of dog could cause harm but it is the nature of this specific dog (not its breed) that has enabled it to attack and cause death. And yes I know that some breeds of dog have more strength but not every terrier has a desire to use their body type to harm. When will we learn from these incidents to manage aggressive dogs more effectively and ensure we know where these dogs live and that their owners have the skills and interest in containing them effectively? Charging people more money to keep these dogs doesn't ensure the owner has the brains or intention of doing the right thing for the rest of the community. I am so sorry to this family for their loss and the life altering personal experiences they have suffered.