DogsAndTheMob

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c8vdrzr9mq1o ”In an explosive report made public by lawmakers, the organisation's former chief veterinarian has described the industry as a hotbed of “exploitation and suffering”, claiming that dogs are being raced at “barbaric” rates, euthanised without cause, or left to rot in metal cages when they can no longer compete.”

Recently, I had an opportunity to observe “behind the lines” of a corporate vet clinic for a few hours. I was appalled by the inefficiency. The non-clinical to clinical ratio in the clinic was 3 to 2 (practice manager and two reception staff vs a nurse and a vet), which doesn’t even factor in the number of head-office staff. Standard appointment times were 30 minutes, which seems unnecessary long for vaccinations and minor lumps, bumps and scrapes. The practice manager was annoyed because an owner and her two dogs had been booked into one 30 minute slot, instead of separate slots for each dog. The reception staff chatted while calls went unanswered. When they did answer, they were booked out until the middle of the next week, so even their own clients were told to look elsewhere for urgent care (eg a large dog with suspected bloat). There were no appointment slots available for clients who had missed their last annual vaccination. The waiting room was empty most of the morning. I remember when that practice was vet-run and busy all the time, both with patients and with people coming in to buy pet care products. The corporate practice had a very small range of over the counter medications and almost no other pet care products. It seems like a catch-22, exacerbated by inefficiency. I can’t see how 30 minute appointments and a high non-clinical to clinical staff ratio can support reasonable vet salaries and I wonder why any vet would stay in an industry that’s highly stressful and doesn’t pay salaries comparable to those of other people who have studied for five or more years and accrued large HECS debts. It’s not a profitable business model for the corporations either. I was curious enough to look up an investment website that compared corporate vet business with other corporate investments such as accountants and lawyers. The returns on spending for veterinary businesses was much lower than those for other businesses.

I agree that the problems of Littermate Syndrome are exaggerated. I’ve even seen it used to castigate people who raise two unrelated puppies of different ages together. Back in the 1970s, my mother and I raised and trained littermate German Shepherd brothers and competed successfully with them in Obedience. (My mother’s dog became an Obedience Champion.) Episode 2 of Puppy Culture potluck is an interesting discussion of Littermate Syndrome.

I’m not sure why they single out Golden Retrievers, a breed which ranks 51st in the OFA hip dysplasia statistics. For what it’s worth, “hybrids” are ranked 68th, which is considerably higher (i.e. worse) than the median ranking across recognised breeds. https://ofa.org/diseases/disease-statistics/ I’m also not sure why they would quote a wildlife scientist as an expert on the subject.

I wonder how many are rehomed from farms - particularly small farms. In the farming and poultry forums I follow, I often see them recommended as an easy solution for people with predator problems. It’s concerning that people may get them on those recommendations, without thinking through the implications of taking responsibility for another animal - one that could live twelve to fifteen years and cost thousands of dollars per year in food, preventative medicines and vet care. Sometimes, other solutions such as better fencing or more secure housing may be a more effective and far less expensive solution to predator problems.

Mince of any description will contain more bacteria than larger chunks of meat from the same source because it’s more difficult for bacteria to penetrate solid chunks of meat.. I have read that dogs are more likely to be allergic to chicken than to other types of meat. I don’t know whether that’s true or if it’s a correlation caused by other factors such as the more frequent use of chicken in dog food or the greater contamination of chicken with bacteria, preservatives and other chemicals.

I’m no expert on raw diets but I believe that it’s important to balance the ratio of bone to muscle meat, as per these guidelines.https://perfectlyrawsome.com/raw-feeding-knowledgebase/biologically-appropriate-raw-food-barf-adult-dogs/ I feed my dogs human grade meat/poultry/fish in addition to their kibble instead of pet mince and other pet meats because I’ve had bad experiences with the latter. In particular, I had a border collie that was allergic to the preservatives often used in pet mince and other dog foods. He would develop horribly itchy skin within hours of being fed a food with preservatives. I discovered that most pet mince and chicken sold as pet food was loaded with preservatives to mask the fact that it wasn’t fresh. For one of my favourite economy family meals, I buy a whole, raw chicken and butterfly it, cutting away the spine and rib cage to feed to the dogs. I roast the butterflied chicken on a bed of vegetables. Any leftover vegetables make a flavourful addition to the dogs’ food.

Sadly, increasing costs over the last decade or so seem to have impacted the quality of some midrange and premium brands, judging by ingredient lists. I worry about people feeding their dogs on rice but I also worry about people who are shamed into spending excessive amounts on dog food (both kibble and manufactured “raw” foods) while feeding their families on pasta and rice. I spend a lot of time looking at ingredient lists provided by dog food manufacturers and, honestly, snazzy marketing, clever social marketing and price are not always good indicators of quality.

What a wonderfully thoughtful response! The few wild dogs I’ve seen here have looked like dingoes. My sheep used to take refuge among the cows when I walked the dogs in the paddock (not that the dogs would have chased them) and the wild dogs left the sheep alone until I put them in a paddock away from the cows, so perhaps running a mixed mob of sheep and cattle might provide protection for some herds.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-03-16/dingoes-protected-wild-dog-control-ends-in-north-west-victoria/103591516 I have mixed feelings about this. I would hate it if dingoes became extinct but I remember how devastating it was when my sheep were mauled by wild dogs. I chose not to keep sheep any longer but that’s not an option for some farmers whose livelihood depends on their livestock. Here’s an industry article on the topic. https://www.sheepcentral.com/silence-on-research-and-advice-behind-victorian-dingo-decisions/

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-02-23/police-ask-or-ban-on-pigging-dogs-for-hunting/103499460

That’s only true of Dogs Australia/ANKC pedigrees. There are now some alternative registries with pedigree verification processes which I wouldn’t trust at all.

It looks somewhat like a halti-type device I have seen recently. The extra bit gets pulled through further to run from the junction at the back of the neck beside the dog’s cheeks and over the muzzle. The clip on the extra piece is used the tension the muzzle strap at the back of the neck. This is the brand I’m thinking of, although the one I saw looked more like yours than the ones on the website do. https://sporn.com/shop/sporn-head-halter/

That would certainly apply to businesses like pet transport companies. However, hobbyists may offer goods or services related to their hobby but may not be entitled to an ABN. Many dog breed enthusiasts would fall into that category, particularly if they only bred very occasional litters. In fact, I’d be more wary of dog breeders whose profit from litters was sufficient to qualify them for an ABN.

Mine was a border collie who was puppyish until he was 15 and died just before his 16th birthday. Or maybe the miniature poodle I rescued from living under a school building in 1999 (at a time when rescues were struggling to rehome even fit, pretty “small white fluffies”.). He looked like an older dog, he went blind with cataracts within a year and deaf a few years later, but he lived into the mid 2010s.

This from 9 News seems like sloppy reporting or reporting with an agenda. “And medium-sized flat faced breeds, such as English bulldogs, had the lowest median life expectancy…” English Bulldogs were number 9 on the list, behind some large to very large breeds and, for some reason Affenpinschers. (Speaking as an advocate for accuracy, not for brachy breeds.)

Here is the information from Battersea Dogs and Cats Home https://www.dogstrust.org.uk/downloads/shortest and longest table_for webpage PDF.pdf and the research paper. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-023-50458-w I was surprised by some of the statistics; for example, the median longevity of the Brittany (11.1 years) in comparison to Golden Retrievers (13.2 years) and Pekingese (13.3 years). In the Brittany and Golden Retriever forums in which I participate, I see more reports of Golden Retrievers dying young (usually due to cancer) than of Brittanies dying young. I think this statement may explain the odd statistic for Brittanies and I wonder if the converse is true for Pekingese. “Furthermore, the growing popularity of certain breeds may result in an over representation of younger individuals within the data, which increases the risk of underestimating their lifespan“ I ‘d take the study with a grain of salt because of the range of data sources… rescues, vets, insurance companies and the Kennel Club. From my observations, breed identifications by rescues are often inaccurate. I’m not sure about vets and insurance companies, but I guess their information is only as good as what they’re told by the owners. The Kennel Club breed identifications should be good but, if the UK is like Australia, notifications of dogs’ deaths may be spotty and some breed clubs may encourage their membership to be more diligent than others. Finally, I wonder how much double-reporting occurs from that spread of data sources.

I’m so sorry to hear about your experience. I hope you have your dog safely with you now.

I also initially thought there was something fishy about this post. However, I looked more deeply and there are red flags about the supremepetmovers website. The website is marked as copyrighted 2024, which seems odd this early in 2024. The contact information and other supporting information on the website seems sparse in comparison to known legitimate pet transport companies, with just a phone number and a link to get a quote. I ran a reverse phone number search and found this information … “Believed to be a fraudulent/scam pet adoption courier”. Text boxes on the website, including those for “book a travel crate” and “get pet itinerary” don’t have working links. I was unable to find the business name on the ASIC Organisation and Business Names Register. I could find the names of known legitimate pet transport companies.

I don’t feed chicken necks because I’ve noticed they’re often smelly and I worry that the high surface-area-to-volume ratio means that they have a high bacterial load (it’s a thing). Once a week, I buy a whole chicken, cut off the drumsticks and breast meat to cook for my husband and myself, then feed the remainder (raw) to my dogs. That provides an inexpensive meal or two for all of us. I ensure that there is some skin and meat in the chicken I give to the dogs. Here’s a balanced blog about feeding bones. https://www.bentonsroadvet.com.au/feeding-bones-to-your-pet/

I’m not a breeder but I know breeders who have had unexpected difficulties placing puppies and I’ve noticed an big increase in dog sports people using social media to help breeder friends to find homes for their puppies. It’s not just an Australian trend. A North American breed forum I follow has switched from advising people to expect a two-year wait for a puppy of their very popular breed to saying “The puppy market is crashing and buyers now you have better options more readily available - Be picky”.

In UDX, you will also need pairs of UD-style scent discrimination articles for the seek back. A good starting point for teaching any of the scent-based exercises is to go for off-leash walks with your dog and toss a ball or toy into long grass or scrub for your dog to find. In the house, put your dog on a stay then stand where your dog can see you and toss the toy around a corner. Gradually build up the difficulty until you can leave your dog on a stay, walk to the other end of the house and leave the toy, then return to your dog and send him to find.

My dog has her UD title and I’m now training for UDX. I like to have three sets of UD articles for 3-trial weekends. They’ve proven sufficient for the few 4 -trial weekends in which I’ve competed. You will need to decide whether your metal articles will be unknurled or knurled. For UDX, you need five pairs of cloths. The cloths are rolled up and each pair is marked with elastic bands (e.g. hair ties) of the same colour, but different from the colours on the other pairs. The cloths must all be the same colour. I don’t think I’ve seen any colour but white. I’ll probably have 3 sets of UDX articles when I trial.

I agree, and the differences in purpose or “environment” can be quite subtle. A dog working Suffolk sheep may need different traits from one working merinos and dog working 3 sheep needs different traits from one working 300. The environments of lowland England and highland Scotland are different from each other and from (for example) western NSW. Given the problems of heat and burrs in much of Australia, I find it ironic that, for so many years, the UK Kennel Club breed standard allowed short coated border collies but the ANKC standard did not. I’m sure there are similar regional variations and variations in purpose affecting even the traditional retrieving work of labradors. I would expect the hobby hunter to have different requirements than those of the professional hunter or the competitive sportsman and I wonder if the size and behaviour of the game species would also affect the characteristics of a “perfect retriever”. I follow a US Golden Retriever group and I sometimes wonder what Lord Tweedmouth would have thought of the Golden Retrievers bred for competitive field work over there. Would he have been impressed by their drive and energy or would he have found them too edgy for a quiet afternoon of hunting?

This is an interesting opinion piece. https://www.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=pfbid0xvc5ZawtmCCkTimAgQ9EfpBWVNdERNCjcbGirSuE3YfxB1zZj6jxMASHPkyrJTs5l&id=100064451033652 From my own observations over the last 40+ years, the meaning of “breeding to type” seems to have changed. At one time, consistency of type was considered important at the level of a kennels. Different kennels had slight differences in type, all within standard, and it was often easy to identify the kennels from which a dog came, just by looking at the dog. Now, the term “breeding to type” means that all “good” dogs of a particular breed should be of uniform type. I’m not convinced that is best for purebred dogs.