disintegratus

I just read this whole thread, and have tears in my eyes :) Chezal, you are an outstanding person, an absolute angel to have come through for Narla and her bubs. I'm sure they know how lucky they are that you found them. Am making a donation now, but wish I was a bit closer to you to be able to do more. XX

We have 4 big dogs, and 5 cats. Of the cats, one is petrified of life and will avoid the dogs like the plague (oddly enough we got her from the shelter as a kitten and she's been raised with the dogs), 1 is a big lazy fatty who's "defense mechanism" when he's had enough is to roll over onto his back and meow until someone saves him, and the other two put up with the dogs, but barely. The kitten (now about 20-odd weeks) adores the dogs, and is the only one who actually enjoys their company. At first I was very wary of leaving them unsupervised together as the dogs are big and one misplaced paw could do a lot of damage, but as the kitten's gotten bigger and more robust, and I've seen that the dogs are able to play with him in a manner that won't result in death, I'm happy to leave them in the house unsupervised. He also has several places where he could jump to get away from them if needed. Of the dogs, 3 of them are perfectly fine and love the kitten, but all 4 of them will chase any of the other cats if they run. The other dog, the dobe x kelpie is "sticky". He will follow the cats around, nose to their bum, for hours, and the look in his eyes says "I want to eat you", but if they turn and face him, he will back away very hastily. I've found that visitors often find it very unnerving, but he's been doing it for years, he even does it to my rats. To be honest, out of all of them I'd trust him the most with any other critter, because he just wants to look at them, doesn't like it when they're touching him. Poor Harley, kitten takes advantage of this and likes to try to rub up against his face all the time, Harley doesn't know what to do!!!

Just playing devil's advocate here... You mentioned that he was "walking through to go outside from a part of the house he isn't normally in as it is gated off" Has it always been this way, or is it only since baby? I guess what I'm asking is, has your dog's life changed significantly in a neutral or negative way since the baby arrived, in such a way as he could see the baby as responsible for these changes? Is there a leadership issue here? As in, does the dog feel his place in the pack has been threatened and he needs to make sure the baby knows his place? If any of these things have happened, do you think the situation is resolvable, or manageable? I know if I was in your position I would want to do everything I reasonably could to keep both dog and baby safe, as neither of them asked to be put in that position, so it's not necessarily fair for the dog to be PTS, but it's also not fair to have a baby in an unsafe environment. Just for the record, no, I'm not a professional by any stretch, just trying to put myself in your position, and thinking of things that maybe you didn't :)

I agree with the others. Yes, your dog bit your child, however it's not necessarily black and white. Yes, fair enough to PTS a dog who has bitten anyone (child or otherwise) unprovoked, but I think you need to look at the whole picture. I would say that within reason, it was not an intentional "go for the face", rather that dog snapped for whatever reason and that the child's face was just unfortunately the part of his body that was the closest/dog face height. The dog is 10, but is he an "old" 10? Does he have aches and pains that the child may have aggravated through their interactions, or gotten close enough to warrant a "don't touch me there it hurts"? Was the child behaving unpredictably enough to put the dog on edge? I'd really examine your memory of the event, try to pinpoint any kind of trigger, even something as innocuous as the child touched the dog on the back or something like that. Either way, I'd suggest a vet trip, even just to find out if the dog is in any kind of pain. It's winter too, so old joints can become especially painful. Different scenario, but I was bitten by my uncles large dog (husky -type x I think) when I was about 4. Said dog had been in a car accident and had injured hindquarters. I called the dog, the dog didn't listen, so I touched him on the bum to get his attention. I ended up in hospital with a bite to my wrist, the result of a warning bite because the dog was in pain. In hindsight, he was giving me ample indications that he did not want to be interacted with (ignoring me, turning away from me, actively moving away from me etc), that I was too young to understand. Even at the time, I knew it was my fault, and one of the first reactions I remember having (after the tears etc) was asking if Snowy was okay and if I hurt him. I found out later that they were going to get the dog put down because of the incident but didn't because my mum told me beforehand and I flipped right out because he didn't do anything wrong.

^^This. We've basically had to start again with overnight toilet training for all four of ours, as they had free access to the house for about a year, and now that I've blocked up the doggy door (was sick and tired of all the mud, dirt, bones and grossness in the house) they've forgotten the concept of holding their bladders/bowels overnight. I've had to start feeding them earlier in the day and make sure they go outside to the toilet right before bed, but sometimes there are still accidents. Last night was a doozie, and Harley actually ended up sleeping outside because of it. I put them all out to toilet, let them in and went into my room for no more than 5 minutes, I come back out and Harley was backing one out on the kitchen tiles.

We had a giant hole in our back door (used to be a dog door til my sister's pig broke it) and when we queried it with our insurance company they said it was fine and still covered. We were very specific that it was large enough for a person to be able to get through, but they said that if the main door is locked, it's still covered. I think the theory is that the dogs provide extra security so make up for the giant gaping hole in the door. :laugh: My theory is that if someone has the balls enough to enter our backyard with 4 huge dogs in it, they deserve whatever they can get!! If you're handy, it wouldn't be too difficult to make a 3-lipped frame to attach to the wooden insert, then get a sheet of metal or even just plywood to fit it so you could still "lock" it. it would depend on how much gap you've got behind the door when it slides open though.

my parents have a timber sliding door, and needed a dog door for when we went away on holidays. The door is built like a window, with 8 panes on glass in it. They removed one of the panes of glass and fitted a timber insert with a rubber flap. Looks a bit DIY, but it works :) The dog door can still be "locked" by having the security door open so the flap can't be pushed through. When they sell the place, they'll simply remove the timber frame and put the pane of glass back.

Done :)

I can't say I've ever experienced that feeling with any of the dogs, though with all of them really, and especially Thundercleese as he was the only one that was an intentional purchase as a puppy (in hindsight a stupid decision as he was byb xbred and has inherited fear aggression issues), I have experienced the grounding feeling of my expectations crashing right the hell down! :laugh: I had very high and unrealistic expectations of Thundercleese, as my first puppy Jack was amazing from day dot, and is just an incredible dog all round.

We accidentally made a sacrifice. After months of looking, both my sister and I walked into the house that we now live in, looked at the backyard and said "oh wow, the dogs would love that" we ended up buying the house, moving in and realising that the actual house isn't any bigger than the one we moved from, I think it's actually smaller. So we sacrificed a house that was adequately sized, and I sacrificed the master bedroom so the dogs would have a nice spacious backyard :) I've just bought a small acreage, which isn't really a sacrifice because I hate suburbia and want to get away from it, but a big consideration in buying the property was the dogs and whether they would be happy there :) Frankly, I wouldn't have it any other way :)

Oh wow :) well done!! :D

I'm not sure that's the best possible outcome. If they can't sell it, best case scenario is that the current owners continue to operate as it is. Wouldn't it be better for it to be sold, at least providing the opportunity for someone better to come along?

I don't have pet insurance, have never needed it so far (I bet I'm shooting myself in the foot now :p) I prefer to put away a bit whenever I can, so I've got a "float" for whatever comes up. So far, so good. I figure that it's better in my bank account than going to an insurance company that may not cover me when I need it, and that way it's there if something else comes up, like when my car crapped out on the way to work a couple months back ($2500-odd later... :|) That said, we've also got the redraw on the mortgage, so if something ridiculously expensive came up, the money's always there. If I was less financially secure then I would probably consider it. As for kitty litter, we don't have trays because my sister insists on not keeping her cats contained , but we keep the cat food up on the laundry bench, where the dogs have now figured out that they're tall enough to reach, and will be installing a shelf above it in the not too distant future because feeding the cats is getting expensive!! :laugh:

To be fair, it looks a whole lot better than anything I have seen or imagined as a "puppy farm" and I must admit that if I was in QLD I'd certainly look into it, if it was viable I'd buy it and run as a rescue (first of all rehoming all the poor breeders there.) The other thing that must be taken into account is that of course the house doesn't look lived in, it's on the market. Last time we leased out our house we moved half our stuff out of it because it looked "cluttered" (read: like people live in it) it was horrible to live like that for a few weeks, but we got a higher rental price than we would have otherwise. It's also entirely possible they just laid fresh turf in the yards for the sale to make it look more saleable. On a side note, under the new laws, would it be possible to build a "facility" adhering to council regs, then modify it so people could live there as well? Two birds, one stone :p

I admit I have looked piningly at the Ruthless collars, but considering that my lot are idiots who ruin everything, I can't justify the price. A few months back I bought a collar from K9 pro, cannot recommend them enough. The leather is so soft and pliable, yet very strong, and after months of being worn by the stupidest dog I've got (I love her, but she's really not very bright) it still looks great. Could do with a clean, but it's not k9pro's fault my dogs like to roll in mud and poop. :) The dog in question is only around 30kg so far and a husky-type build, I thought the collar might be too skinny to suit her, but it's actually perfect. I got one of the seconds, and the "flaws" were ridiculous. There was I think 2 tiny marks on the leather, and even then, they weren't large or noticable, honestly if I didn't go looking for them I wouldn't have known they were there. In short, highly recommend k9pro :)

Hopefully *crossing fingers for you* being at the dog park, a dog got a treat and thought maybe it would stash it there for later and it's nothing more sinister :)

I second getting him used to toiletting in all sorts of environments. There's nothing worse than standing in the rain for half an hour on a coldy windy night with a dog just staring at you because she doesn't know that it's okay to wee when it's dark and raining and doesn't want to get her precious tuccus wet!

Christ. I don't even disinfect my kitchen after preparing people food! Who is this aimed at???

Thundercleese has fear aggression issues, so he just hates everyone :laugh: That said, when someone is invited into the house, he has no issues at all with them. The one exception to this is one of my best mate's friends who I've never liked. He came over once and Thundercleese did not leave my side, not acting threatening or growling or anything, Just being indimidating by being there. The friend went to pat him when he first arrived, and Thundercleese turned away then gave him this look, like "go on buddy, you try it and see what happens"

Standard procedure here is to ring the owner straight away if it has a tag. If not, we go to the vet to get scanned, and leave my details with the vet, but generally speaking the vets I take them to have never had an issue with me taking the dog with me. I leave my details to be passed onto the owner, and puppy comes home with me. Dog is kept in a crate until owner contacts me, I've never had to wait more than an hour or so to be contacted. When the owner comes to collect the dog, I advise them to get a tag :) If it's not microchipped, it still comes home with me, put ads on gumtree etc, ring all surrounding vets/shelters and leave my details. Dog stays at home for up to 48 hours, if no one claims it then it goes to the pound. (actually that hasn't happened yet and truth be known it would probably end up living with me because I'm a sucker.) In this time it is kept crated or separated from my own dogs at all times. Once I picked up a dog that I knew lived in the area but I didn't know which house. I had to go to work, but the dog had a council tag on. I left the dog in my front yard, left details with the council and by the time I got home from work the elderly owner had picked up his dog and left me a box of chocolates :) I'm not too concerned about diseases etc, mine are all vaccinated and wormed, and I figure they could pick up the same things just walking around the neighbourhood. The main reason I take the dog home with me is to save the owner a potentially large pickup fee.

I think in this situation both dogs weren't under control, therefore both owners are at fault. As such I think it's fair you ask him for half, but don't be surprised if you don't get it, and don't expect to be able to push the issue. Were his dogs injured?

I supported them at first, but I quickly stopped supporting them for exactly this reason. I scoured their website and could not find a more clearly defined goal than "puppy farms are bad!!" Yes, there's no denying that puppy farms are indeed something that are not desirable, however, I'm not giving money to them just to show that I agree with them, when they have at no point actually said what it is they are aiming for, what donations will be used for, or anything tangible at all.

It's because a horse is not as cute and fluffy as puppies. You'll find the exact same thing across the board with any animal that's not a puppy or a kitten. The RSPCA will spend thousands "rehabilitating" a kitten that's been stuck in a drain, when obviously the most humane thing to do would be to euthanase it immediately, but will not hesitate to put down hundreds of perfectly healthy, rehomable animals because of overcrowding. If they instead spent those exorbitant amounts of money imrpving their facilities, they'd have a greater capacity to help more animals. They also will not lift a finger to help an animal if it had the bad luck to be born with scales instead of fur.

Honestly, the thing that struck me the most was that a lot of the soldiers didn't really look super-psyched to take out South Korea, they kinda looked more like they were waiting for knock-off time.

Can you link to the source with some information? A picture on FB doesn't scream legit to me. I have nothing else, which is why I am asking. The blurb said he was the face of the million paws walk, failed the temperament, because he turned his head away when they wanted to look at his teeth - not bit, just turned his head, and then he got the chop. Bloody disgusting I am surprised any dogs meet all the criteria that satisfies the RSPCA. So you know this dog in question has been PTS ? or just jumping on the RSPCA hate wagon as usual ? To be honest, I'll happily drive the hate wagon given the chance. This particular issue aside, the RSPCA as a company has done enough over the years to deserve every scrap of hate it gets tenfold. For all creatures great and small? Please. There seems to be a typo there, they seem to have dropped the word "death" from the front of their slogan, which would be a lot more accurate.