rusty&biscuit

voted :D Ruth is an amazing photographer, good luck!

Glad no one got hurt here, with children with autism, or in fact any child at all, the mother really should have at least ran after him. I understand having an autistic child must be hard and th parents just want a break, but dog and/or child could've been hurt here And same applies to th post above me, that's disgraceful.

Staffy balls from aussie dog, othrwise at the petstore i work at there are a few people who come in and say their dog destroys everything except for the Kong Teddy Bear thing, it's from the Kong range but it a teddy with no stuffing...it's my dogs favourite toy too :D

OK awesome, we have another in :D

Exactly what I'm trying to get at

My boy has had plenty of chance to be an inside dog. When we first got him he used to sleep in my room, however would wake me up a few hours late wanting out. So I tried having him in my room, with a bowl of water, but that failed too. When we let him in, he's content for about an hour then just wants to go back out. During the day all 3 of my dogs are outside, they have plenty of toys, and each other. They hardly ever bark, we do spend some time outside with them during the day, and then they get either an off leash run at the beach, or a 1 hour off leash hike. They are all obedience trained and compete in agility so do get mental stimulation also. Hopefully this helps a bit Paula :) Also I think your friends are putting a lot of time aside, and the compromise of 2 hours a day inside is excellent :D Again, I do suggest a mature dog, not a pup. Have a look here: http://dogzonline.com.au/breeds/dogs.asp Perhaps an English staffy? My mix breed girl is fantastic with children, however obedience training has contributed to this so she knows to respect children, not to jump, etc. She is content outside during the day however like all staffys, do need a lot of time spent with their humans (however 3 hours spent with it outside, 2 hours inside, PLUS the walk/jog sounds fantastic to me!), and lots of toys outside. I suggest the Kong range, and staffy balls. Anything tough because they can be destructive.

She has said they would like to get a dog before they have their next child. I don't know a lot about smaller breeds, I tend to think of them as a little more fragile than the larger ones and therefore don't cope too well with being outside. Am I incorrect in that assumption? Her partner has said that the dog will be outside only, but I will suggest a crate. They may not have thought of that. I am personally an inside dog person but we don't see eye to eye on that subject. They tend to go for the working breeds. Their first choices were blue heeler and border collie but I think they have realised that those breeds may not suit their lifestyle. Their current idea is a beagle. Based on their responses to breeds I have suggested, he doesn't like fluffy dogs like spitzes, woolly dogs like poodles or sighthounds. Ok so since nobody has suggested a breed, I'm guessing the consensus is that nobody can recommend a breed of dog that is happy being an outside dog? At the risk of being shot down as my dog is a very happy outside dog, she comes inside sometimes for a short visit so to speak she is a English Springer Spaniel ( field ) so their coat is much shorter than the show springers, still needs a weekly brush and to check for seeds burs ect. Even our first Springer who was a show springer lived happily outside (no we didnt show him). Very lovely gentle dogs, worst they would do is whack the child with their tails that never stops wagging........or maybe knock them over. She is only about 16kgs a male would be a bit bigger. She does like to run around the yard but doesnt dig nor does she bark very much and is very content. She gets walked a couple of times a week, Im sure if I was able to jog she would love it :) There is usually someone home here most the time and the dogs can see into our main living room so they still feel part of the family. Ps we have my adult son and his gf and their 4mth old choc lab puppy here too at the moment and so far he is fine outside too, though that may change as he gets older and they eventually move to their new home and he is alone more often. Good luck least they are thinking of finding a specific breed and not just rushing out to the pet store Haha yeah I have 3 dogs, I consider 2 of them outside dogs and one inside. The 2 boys are happy for a quick visit inside in the evening but much prefer being outside :) And I have to agree with the last point, cudos to your friend for doing the research

Having a todler and possibl a baby on the way, I definately wouldn't even consider a working breed such as an ACD. Just because of the tendancy to nip and a lot of medium sized breeds would be a bit boiserous. Maybe adopting a more mature dog who is used to children, like a retired show dog from a breeder? How about an older labrador or golden retriever? I guess it's really hard to recommend any breed with a baby in the future, todler right now, and having to be an outside dog. If it were an inside dog, the first breed that came to my mind was a boston terrier...I met one once, such a sweet, quiet, beautiful dog, and very low grooming maintenance. I'm not at all an expert in this, but good luck with it and please keep us updated :)

Oh dear :laugh:

Sights and smells? What's gone wrong there :laugh: They're a spitz breed so supposedly have no doggy odour...my boy doesn't, but he does need to be bathed once a month with the other two just in case :laugh:

I have an aussie shepherd and lots of friends with BC's and I live in FNQ, a high tick area. Just advantix once or twice a month, and non of us have had a problem before :)

Schipperke! They are orignally ratters but if socialised and taught early they can do fine - my boy lets my mice run all over him He follows me EVERYWHERE, and he's really a big dog in a small body. He rumbles with my aussie all the time, not all worried about the cattle we've seen, loves water, very obedient (especially when food is involved :laugh:) and pretty low grooming. Plus they are not a short nosed breed so they cope in heat...I live in Cairns ver hot and humid, my boy copes fine with 2km hikes per day fine :) Don't know if that's the sort of thing you're after, but he's the best dog ever :D I love the bostons too! Either way good luck, and please keep us updated :D

Fantastic work, cudos to you for looking after the little guy I hate when people kill snakes...we're in their territory, not the other way around. That's why we keep our dogs inside at night to let the snakes be free to roam, poor things are just misunderstood

Oh and I forgot to add, don't get a schipperke if you don't like being stopped and ask if your dog is a pomeranian cross, husky cross or simply "what breed is that?" and don't get one if you don't like repeating yourself...no one ever catches the word "schipperke" the first time :laugh: I don't mind though ;) And Grumpette I love all the pictures, and I am SO jelous of the snow!!

Aw man I don't know what would be the best thing to do, that sounds really scary :/ maybe report it to the council, because even though Ziggy is desexed and of no use for this guys breeding programme, but I'd be worried he might come back and take him for possibly fighting. I doubt it but I guess better safe than sorry.

Don't get a schipperke unless: You like being followed everywhere You want a dog who puts the 'H' in ADHD You want black hair everywhere You like the sound of excited panting 24/7 You want a dog who WILL NOT sit still...they're far from a lap dog :laugh: I don't know about other schipperkes but my boy is very obedient and extremely willing to work for food, toys, attention...anything! Best dog ever :D

might just...bump this one up a tad :laugh:

All I'm going to say is, if I thought my dog was going to be killed by another, I would try my best to get it off. In fact, I have done it before to a dog which almost killed a little cav cross I was looking after, I whacked it hard with a stick, but luckily my other dog attacked the 'killer dog' which got it off. When these situations come up you don't just think 'Hmm, maybe I should grab it by the back legs to drag it off'. Yes, that is what is meant to be done, but when the other dogs life it at risk it is very stressful and you don't stop to think. I am not saying I support or oppose what happened, just adding a bit of food for thought :D

Wow that's scary stuff :/ Definately give them a letter to notify them..people we knew had to put down their most beloved border collie simply because an un-educated (on dogs) un-suprvised child put their finger through the fence and it, of course, got bitten. Now this dog was far from child aggressive as they had 2 young children and the time as well who used to dress up the dog and have little tea parties with it. Once the neighbours child was bitten, the owners were sued and the dog destroyed. It is a cruel world we live in And as has been previously meantioned, if this child is able to get itself into someones elses secure backyard, whats stopping him from playing on the road? I do feel for you ellz, especially since the neighbours don't sound very approachable...hopefully the situation can be resolved.

oopsie double post

Thank you both very much :) Telida Whippets, that would be a good thing for me to discuss too, that a certain breed may have more recorded bites, however is the more popular breed, therefore making statistics unreliable. I'm only in prevocational mathmatics so that is the type of thing we have to discuss :) And thank you very much ruthless, I find that information helpful :)

Hi everyone, for my year 12 maths assignment we are to choose a topic to compare and discuss statistics. My chosen field is dog bite statistics, and if possible, pit bull bites as opposed to other breeds (with my aim being to prove that pitbulls will bite less than other breeds, such as labradors etc). I will do some googling and post the assignment here once I'm done if you'd like. I would really appreciate any information and knowledge you guys have :)

I'd also be very concerned if a child was out walking a small dog, with their reaction being to run away screaming...could turn nasty

So beautiful! Saints are definately on my 'to own' list one day :D