DogsAndTheMob

That’s a very pertinent observation! I skimmed the paper and had some concerns but didn’t consider that. Data for dogs whose vegan diets were discontinued due to health problems would have been excluded whereas the data for dogs who had a change in diet within the other very broad dietary categories would have been included. I noticed that the measure on veterinarian’s opinion is based on the dog’s “guardian’s” reports of their vet’s opinion rather than direct interviews with veterinarians. I wouldn’t consider that scientifically convincing. The data on number of veterinary visits is split into two categories - one visit vs two or more visits - for analysis. Splitting it into such broad categories is not good science because it’s often done when a more detailed analysis doesn’t produce statistical significance. Basically, the analysts can look at the various splits (1 vs more than one; 2 vs more than 2 etc) and find the split that gives the result they want.

I agree. Owners of all dogs need to take responsibility and I have no respect for anyone who lets their dog - big or little - annoy other people and dogs. However, as a lifelong owner of large dogs, I’m aware that they could easily cause severe injury, even by a friendly and overly exuberant greeting. I’d rather have a neighbour with a roaming dog that weighed 5 kg than one with a roaming dog that weighed 30kg.

As an aside, if you are thinking of getting two dogs, be aware that a lot of experienced dog people say that male dogs often make a lot of noise when fighting, but female dogs may do a lot more damage. My very limited experience of dog fights supports this.

That’s been my experience too. My mother and I raised littermates in the same home - twice. All four earned high level Obedience titles, including one Obedience Championship. I suspect that the littermate bond wouldn’t be a problem in a lot of pet homes. Busy families might be happy to have dogs that can entertain themselves by playing together.

This is from memory because I can’t find the original info…Back in the 60s and 70s, guide dog organisations sometimes placed two puppies from the same litter into the same home to be raised. When the puppies came back for evaluation and training, they found that those puppies had a higher failure rate than puppies that had been placed in homes separately from all their littermates. They hypothesised that puppies placed with littermates became so bonded to their littermates that they didn’t relate well to people.

I agree. I wonder if the council’s ranger was worried by the risks involved in catching three large dogs with a severe bite history, and couldn’t easily call on anyone else to assist. In fact, it might have gone against the council’s occupational health and safety guidelines. That’s why I think dangerous dog management might be better managed by the police. They have training and practice in reacting to dangerous situations and at least some of them are experienced in handling big, powerful dogs.

I agree, although I wonder whether the control of dangerous and potentially dangerous dogs should fall under the aegis of police rather than council. In the news story I’ve linked, a council representative is quoted as saying that they couldn’t impound the dogs without a court order, even after the attack on an elderly woman. I see a parallel to people carrying knives… police routinely confiscate knives without court orders. Another parallel… Service NSW is responsible for routine administration such as car registration and drivers’ licenses but the police can impound cars with dangerous defects. (I’m not sure about the division of responsibilities in other states). In my opinion, three large, free-roaming dogs are as dangerous as a car with bald tires. https://7news.com.au/news/woman-71-seriously-injured-in-horrific-dog-attack-in-sunbury-victoria--c-15884170

Let’s not be too quick to cast blame. It’s not possible to be sure whether Luna’s pickiness was exacerbated by the OP’s management or caused by a health problem. I’ve raised 10 puppies over 50 years without problems and, as the daughter of ANKC breeders, assisted with the raising of many others. Two years ago I had a puppy who came to me as the runt of the litter. Like Luna, she was hungry but reluctant to eat. Sometimes she’d eat a little of a food but she’d always refuse to eat it again. She seemed a bit frail to me but I wasn’t familiar with the breed and thought maybe I was imagining the frailty. Otherwise, she was energetic and looked healthy enough to pass two vet checks… until she wasn’t. After a rapid decline, she was rushed to a vet and then to SASH, where she was diagnosed with severe congenital kidney failure. It seems likely that the protein in food made her feel sick, which prompted her to refuse to eat that food again. My mother - a very experienced breeder - had a similar experience with a happier outcome. A very well bred border collie puppy she purchased wouldn’t eat and the vet could find nothing wrong. She coaxed it to eat by flicking teaspoons of food to stimulate the predatory chase-grab-swallow sequence. After several days, it passed blood and a sharp piece of bone. The puppy’s breeder blamed a friend who had assisted with raising the litter. To the OP, I’m so sorry to hear about your experiences. I hope Luna is healthy and happily living in a new home and I hope you are able to purchase or adopt a delightful puppy who will bring you many years of joy. I’m not sure what you can do to recoup your money. Even if you won a case in a small claims tribunal, you might not be able to force the breeder to pay up. You might end up paying more and enduring considerable stress with no good outcome.

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.