Salukifan

One more thing DOL has done for me: lightened my wallet because I have bought a BUNCH of stuff based on DOLer recommendations.... up to and including a dog trailer.

It never was that. But it was new and experienced dog folk talking about purebred dogs and all the issues that sprang from that... breeding, choosing, buying, feeding, training, care, grooming,history.. lots of stuff. Rescue was here then too. i came here as the newish owner of two purebred dogs. Since then I've titled dogs in conformation, obedience, and agility, trained as an instructor, registered a Breeders prefix and become involved in my local Breed club, and my Canine Control. I've also added a second breed to my home. A lot of that has been with the advice and encouragement of more experienced members here. I've evolved as a dog owner, furthering my knowledge of a lot of aspects of dogs. You don't get to do that by reading forums mainly populated with vents, whinges and finger pointing at poor dog related practices.

Once upon a time there weren't many forums other than General. Health and nutrition, training, dog sports etc were split off because there were so many threads on those subjects in General. Dog breed subforums and Dog Breeds 101 also split off from General. Those were the days :laugh: A lot of the really experienced folk have left. Maybe they got told off for being "nasty" to newbs one time too many. We used to have a ton of those threads too.

OK then. I'll consider myself told.

How exciting!! What breed?

I meant those who never talk about dogs.

Well colour me a total bitch then if that rocks your boat. :) God forbid a newcomer to a forum got a reminder about its original purpose. Of course those of us who've been here over a decade should not be invested at all in how the forum evolves. Ooops make that nearly a decade.

Breed threads and rescue is where such assistance can be obtained. Quite a few of the rescue regulars don't read General.

Me neither. But when it's thread after thread from someone who bought a BYB pup and who then drains this place dry for info and DEFENDS their purchase then I get a bit fragile.

Does that mean you disapprove of long-time users who have Koolies, other working line (non-ANKC) dogs etc posting on DOL? I think there might be a few of us who feel like we still make a (positive, non-whingey) contribution to the group nonetheless. I also own a crossbred mutt but I don't believe that I am denigrating ANKC dogs when I write about him on the forum. Nope. They have their own registries. And they can be recognised by the ANKC on the Sporting Registry anyway. i don't disapprove of crossbred dog owners posting either. But if you are (as some have been) a member who's been around a while and who then heads off to a BYB or a pet shop for the next dog then sorry, you're part of the problem.

Because users wanted them and Troy obliged. But promotion of ANKC registered purebred dogs is still the dominant purpose of the forum and the fact that there are long time users here who do little to contribute to that purpose doesn't sit well with me. But I ain't running the show.

In your opinion. You'd probably be amazed at where that discussion can take you. And it IS the purpose of the forum. Some of us actually pay for the privilege of listing our purebred dogs and their litters here.

Drives me nuts. My guess is most of those complaining never take it further than typing it here.

Actually I don't think it is against forum rules to talk about them.. just to link to them. It may not be harming me but IMO it's not doing the forum a lot of good to have thread after thread generating folk doing not much more than waving their hands in horror at ads or descriptions of petshop pups. How is that contributing to knowledge or discussion of purebred dogs.?? If you want to know if something is legal, just ask. No need to bring Gumtree or Facebook or pet shops into it from where I sit. No doubt plenty of folk think I'm whining (hell I know I am) but this is meant to be a place IMO that contributes to knowledge and discussion of purebred dogs, not one that continually highlights poor breeding, buying and selling practices. We all know they exist.

I have to ask... what's so dreadful about allowing your dog to feel hungry? No need to "fill them up" if they're getting enough food for their needs. Ignore the sad eyes and begging, lock up any food that might encourage them to bench surf and let them tough it out. You want anal glands to work - never underestimate the benefit of exercise in that department. But dry baked pumpkin is also good.

This is a forum with the primary purpose of the promotion and discussion of responsibly bred purebred dogs. How does pointing to Gumtree ads and petshop dogs help with that? And of course rescue needs people pointing out more dogs for them to save. No pressure there. Posting here may make the posters feel better but it's not having the same effect on me. I get enough of these kinds of ads on the bulletin board at work.

Symptoms very closely match back problem. Vets less convinced due to physical examination. With your dogs was it something only the X-ray picked up?? Was there any loss of appetite? My boy had a compressed disc in front of his shoulders. There sure was loss of appetite, general depression and a high degree of pain. The fact that your dog responded to pain killers is interesting - I wonder what valium would do - worked wonders with my boy. If it is a disc issue, my guess is its lower back in your dog. Are or were you in the Navy Jack Tar - I haven't seen that expression in years. :)

Yep, those too. No amount of tutt tutting changes the fact that it's not unlawful to have pups in petshops and it tends to be preaching to the converted here.

Choked on my coffee. Given that so many humans have an aversion to clowns and mimes, I reckon a dog could be forgiven for taking out a giant butterfly on stilts :p My dogs hate Santa

I'm loathe to cause offence to any poster but has anyone else had enough of the "x is for sale on Gumtree ads" here. It's a different matter IMO if someone wants rescue to intervene but it's not illegal to sell dogs on Gumtree and I don't see how drawing up our skirts and shrieking when yet another dodgy breeder advertises really helps anyone. I'm not taking issue with any particular post or poster but do we really need to read these ads reposted here? Has anyone else had enough?

Unfortunately, these things tend to be a process of elimination. I would suggest chiropractic assessment - perhaps by a veterinary chiropractor armed with some x-rays. I do wonder if there is a spinal issue - compressed disc perhaps. I have been through very similar things with one of my dogs.

I know you prefer not to order from overseas but I order my show leads from the UK. I get rolled leather ones. They come in a big range of colours and pretty much any style you want. I get them here

I'm pretty confident that one of my dogs got HGE from a pigs ear. According to my vet, the bacteria count in them can be through the roof if they aren't cured correctly. I mainly feed beef jerky (from the Australian pet treat company) to my dogs these days. Otherwise they get real bones to chew on.

Yep, it's called fear aggression Anne and a bite from a terrified dog will hurt just as much as any other bite. Seriously, people need to get real about dogs going out into society. Adoptive families have a right to be given a dog that won't harm them under normal circumstances and temperament testing is the best a shelter can do to approximate what a dog might come up against. Lets hear a sensible alternative proposed rather than the usual "you're doing it wrong" approach. Just a question here.. In your opinion, would you say that roughly 50% of dogs are not safe pets? I have no idea. But if you're asking me if resource guarders, dogs that display fear aggression and dog aggressive dogs are not "safe pets" for your average adoptive family then the answer is probably yes. I suppose the key questions for me are "short of a temperament test, how can you evaluate dogs for adoption and do you have the right to take chances with the safety of adopting families in order to save a dog's life"? Not an easy answer.

If your Aunt is in public housing and is being harassed, then she has every right to ask to be moved. Sad thing is though if she's a single person in a house, then they might want to move her to a flat.