DogsAndTheMob

That’s interesting. I didn’t realise that the rules are so different for cats. Private rehoming seems to be the most humane option for stray kittens and I agree that it probably happens quite often.

RSPCA NSW guide: I found kittens! What should I do? I guess the seasonal influx of kittens combined with the drop in adoptions explains this guide from the RSPCA, which keeps popping up in my FB feed. I understand their dilemma, but it makes me wince every time. Leaving the kittens with a feral mother cat means adding to the feral cat population - if the poor things survive. I also believe that the other recommended option - taking them home and raising them - is contrary to the law in NSW, because anyone who finds a dog or cat is required to surrender it to the RSPCA. Finally, what would be the requirements when the finder wants to rehome the kittens? They would need to microchip the kittens, I believe. Do they also need a Breeder Identification Number?

I suspect it’s also economic. Inflation, and especially increased housing costs, is putting the costs of pet ownership out of the reach of many people. Add on the commodification of the pet industry, with social marketing of expensive pet care products of dubious necessity, and many pet owners are mis-spending any disposable income they may have. This is compounded by another social change I’ve seen in my lifetime - the rise of the two income family. When both adults in a family are working full time, often with unpaid overtime or a second job, who finds the time to care for a pet? Even if people get a pet at a stage of life when they have spare time and money, their lives will change and evolve over the next fifteen years. Unfortunately. I think pet ownership is a cultural relic that is becoming increasingly impractical for many people. I agree, but attempts to control breeding seem to have done more harm than good. To a large extent, demand dictates supply, so when well-intentioned breeders of the type who breed small numbers of puppies and match them to carefully screened purchasers are forced out of breeding by onerous regulation, the gap in supply is met by puppy mills, whose “mass production” of puppies covers compliance costs, or by criminals and the criminally careless, who simply disregard regulations. Education needs to address demand, by encouraging people to take a hard look at how pet ownership will affect their lives throughout the next 15 years, BEFORE they get a puppy or kitten.

There are very justifiable reasons for veterinary costs outpacing inflation. The failure of some vets to communicate about prognosis, options and costs is less justifiable. When my 14 week old puppy started vomiting and stopped eating, I took her to a local vet who, I had been told, provided emergency care. After some initial scepticism, the vet ran blood tests which indicated advanced kidney failure. She told me my options were either “um” or take her to a specialist veterinary hospital an hour and a half away. After phoning the hospital, she told me that my puppy needed to be cared for at the specialist hospital but would not actually be seen by a specialist until Monday. (This was early on Friday morning.) The vet at the specialist hospital told me, one again, that my puppy would not be seen by a specialist until Monday, or possibly Tuesday. In the interim, I could either opt for “um” or leave the puppy to receive supportive care at the hospital over the weekend. What would that cost, I asked. Reluctantly, she told me that it would be at least $6000 for care over the weekend and another $6000 for diagnostics before treatment started, if her kidney failure was treatable. What was the prognosis? She didn’t know and/or wasn’t allowed to say because she wasn’t a specialist. Had she ever seen a puppy with such severe kidney failure respond to treatment? No, but she was only an about a year out of University. I opted for euthanasia. By the time they brought my puppy to me for the euthanasia, she seemed close to death… a little, semi-conscious bundle, huddled against the pain. I saw nothing to indicate that she had received any care except inserting a catheter in preparation for euthanasia. I’ve owned dogs all my life and had quite a bit of experience talking to vets, so I was able to get at least some information on which to base my decision. I think a younger, less experienced owner would not have gotten that information. I had the very strong impression that neither the local vet nor the specialist vet was allowed to say the word “euthanise”. I also had the impression that the local vet and the specialist hospital were under the same corporate umbrella. Referring a patient to another part of the same corporate entity without mentioning conflict of interest borders on unethical. The two vet consults, testing and euthanasia cost just under $1500. I could afford that but it would have been unaffordable for a lot of people. For many people, a $12000 bill would be catastrophic and it might put them on the path of spending even more money that they didn’t have, due to the “sunk cost fallacy.” Although, in this case, that point would have been moot. I don’t believe my puppy would have survived the weekend. (Background information for those who might find it useful: My puppy was one of two runts in the litter. The breeder told me that they had been born at the same size as their litter mates but stopped thriving at around 3 weeks old. My puppy would eat a food once, then refuse it at the next meal; I think that was because the food made her feel ill. )

I agree that people should be allowed to keep dogs in apartments but there are some specific issues that apartment-living dog owners need to consider. High-rise apartments tend to be very low-stimulus environments in comparison to stand-alone houses, where dogs can see birds, other wildlife and neighbouring people and dogs. Toileting and off-leash exercise are potentially problematic because people usually can’t install dog doors or even take their dogs out into their own back yards. I think welfare organisations could help in a more practical way by publishing specific guidelines for people keeping dogs in apartments. The guidelines might include pros and cons for people who are considering getting a dog, suggestions for managing dogs in apartments while providing a good quality of life, and a contingency planning checklist that covers planning for unexpected delays getting home, owner illness and times when the dog has diarrhoea or is otherwise unwell etc.

Reportedly, the owner’s excuse was that the dog was sick. What sort of person leaves a sick dog outside on a hot day? Also, the air conditioning unit would very likely have been venting even hotter air onto the balcony.

Looking at comments, people are most disturbed by the inclusion of Merle as a health problem, pointing out that homozygous Merle is is problematic but heterozygous Merle usually isn’t. I wonder why the assessment focuses on Merle and ignores the problems associated with extreme white and dilute blue. I’m also not sure why it recommends visual identification of Merle, giving a description that could easily lead to confusion about roan, when a DNA test is available. From a big picture point of view, the wording implies that dogs that pass the assessment are suitable for breeding, without discussion of the need for hip, elbow, eye and cardiac testing, DNA testing or other breed-specific testing.

This is in Britain so is unlikely to Immediately impact Australian breeders. From the press release: “The IHA Tool was developed in partnership with PetProov* and is based on research from the Royal Veterinary College. The Tool is a 10-point checklist intended to assist dog breeders, licensing officers and prospective dog owners to carry out a visual check of any dog in assessing their innate health characteristics. The 10 criteria aim to capture the most common and serious extreme conformations in dogs today with an overall aim of achieving physically healthier dogs. The criteria may change over time in response to new evidence.” https://www.bsava.com/article/new-innate-health-tool-available-to-assess-dogs-suitability-to-breed/

Not necessarily. If my dogs need to toilet in the night, I put them outside for a few minutes. At 3.30 am, I would very likely leave them outside while I made myself a hot drink. And if I had brachy-breed dogs, I might start my day at 3am in summer so that they had an opportunity to explore the yard and go for a walk before it became too hot. I wouldn’t put them outside in the the front yard of an urban block, but I’m very risk averse and maybe her back yard is too steep or otherwise unsuitable for pugs.

That’s really interesting. It’s great to hear of people using them effectively.

1080 is horrible. So are livestock deaths from dog attacks. I’d love to think that guardian dogs could prevent the suffering but I’ve yet to be convinced that it is a widely applicable solution. It would be interesting to know whether or not the farmers in your region have opted against guardian dogs for well-considered reasons.

Too often, I see people on social media telling other people to get livestock guardian dogs to protect a dozen hens or half a dozen sheep on their small acreage. I bite my tongue and scroll on, but I find it intensely frustrating. I foresee sad outcomes for the guardian dogs and possibly for the livestock, particularly if people think they can buy a guardian breed puppy “off the shelf”, put it with their animals and expect it to do its job without any training or an appropriate introduction to livestock. What will they do if the puppy starts playing with the animals it should be guarding, if the neighbours complain about its barking or if they decide they no longer want to keep livestock or even live on a farm? Are those people prepared to care for a large, vociferous dog throughout its lifespan? Also, it doesn’t make sense, in financial or lifestyle terms, to take on a 15 year responsibility for a large dog to protect a few animals that might be protected with far less cost and a similar investment of time by better fencing, enclosures and management. I had always assumed that livestock guardian dogs were a more sensible choice on large acreage Australian farms but some of my recent reading has made me question that. So I have a question for people with more experience of large scale farming than me (eg @persephone) … under what circumstances do you think it would make sense to get a livestock guardian dog?

The Australian Cattle-Dog by “Sir Bedivere” (includes photographs) Out of interest, I have started searching for references to cattle dogs in papers accessible on Trove.

I’ve spent a lot of time in rural NSW over the past 50 years, including during droughts when I saw a lot of farmers and their livestock on “the long paddock”. I’ve rarely (if ever) seen ACDs working livestock; most farmers I’ve seen have used kelpies, border collies or kelpie x border collie crosses with both sheep and cattle. I did see a lot of ACDs used by tradesmen and farm workers as travelling companions and guards for their utes and equipment but that is much less common now. I believe (although I can’t be certain) that there are fewer border collie x kelpie crosses now because more farmers buy their dogs from professional breeders, whereas in the past one farmer would breed his best working bitch to a neighbour’s top working dog, irrespective of breed. This may have had the benefit of producing dogs that were better suited to the local conditions but also the downside of not accessing the best available genetics in the state or country. Edited to add: When I was competing in ANKC herding with my border collie, one of the best dogs I saw was a red cattle dog bitch. She worked sheep very gently but effectively, which was totally different from the stereotyped depictions I’d heard of cattle dogs on stock. I can’t remember seeing any other ACDs working stock, although I can remember seeing border collies and kelpies mustering, droving and working in stock yards.

The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority has released a plan calling for reforms to the veterinary sector, to prevent pet owners being surprised by unexpected bills. i have mixed feelings about this, and the possibility of similar reforms here in Australia. Vet bills can quickly add up to thousands or even tens of thousands of dollars, which could be financially devastating… or emotionally devastating, if the alternative Is euthanasia. On the other hands, I don’t think most vet practices are making large profits, so imposing additional regulations might force some practices out of business. https://www.vettimes.com/news/business/practice-developments/cma-unveils-plan-for-major-reforms-of-veterinary-sector

I would hope that those with longtime experience could be grandfathered in, both for rescue and for the traditional boarding kennels. I know people with a lifelong interest in dogs combined with decades of experience in providing quality care, which surely outweighs a six month online course. If they drop out of the industry because of onerous new requirements, then that is likely to exacerbate the strain on over-stretched rescue and the lack of access to boarding facilities, particularly in country areas and/or during holidays.

There are substantial changes in the new ANKC Obedience rules, which will start from January 2026. Group stays have been removed from all levels, with the exception of the UD and UDX Group Stand for Examinations. Hopefully, this will bring back some of the competitors who thought that group stays were too dangerous. Also, dogs with their CDX titles can compete in UDX as well as UD. This provides a non-jumping pathway to Obedience Champion. The most substantial change to Rally competition is the introduction of a Rally Grand Champion title.

I suspect that they’d get inaccurate responses from people with unregistered dogs or more animals than allowed by council ordinances. From the POV of councils, I’d be worried that state governments might use the data to impose new Key Performance Indicators such as % of animals registered, with associated penalties. I worked in data and I saw my state’s bureaucrats develop and use KPIs in similar ways to justify withholding funding.

This is from a screenshot of the video purportedly showing Valerie’s reunion with her people. I wouldn’t expect to see toenails like that on a dog that’s been fending for itself in rocky terrain.

According to Sonia Hornery MP, money was collected through a GoFundMe campaign. https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=pfbid06hZyTQtqCz3zwm1JiwCaBmzTULtvFoUauSZyPZjk4bHCyje7W3YNppmxp1MVJtETl&id=100046653323609

I thought the same initially but then I watched the video in slow motion and I’m not so sure. The brindle and white dog, in particular, seemed to be targeting the child and possibly darting in to nip. Maybe it was just excitement but I think it could have escalated to something much worse. As an aside, do the dogs have cropped ears? They don’t look like normal rose ears to me.

It sounds as if you’re doing all the right things. With my high-drive Brittany, I’ve found that management is the best long-term option. I compete with her in multiple dog sports and the daily training undoubtedly helps shift her focus to her work, to the point where she was able to complete a 25 metre sendaway then turn and sit, despite a flock of wood-ducks flying in to land about 20 metres beyond her target point. However, when she’s in the yard and the chickens are free-ranging in the paddock, her focus on them is still intense. Fenzi is running a course soon on high prey-drive dogs. In my experience, Fenzi courses are expensive but generally worth the money and I’m planning to enrol in this one at Bronze - I.e. audit it. That will allow me to read the lectures, see the videos submitted by actively participating students and read the instructor’s commentary on their videos. https://www.fenzidogsportsacademy.com/index.php/courses/42730

This is a news story from the BBC, about organised crime and “bully” breeders in the UK. https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-64346415

It’s probably worth noting that it wasn’t a Dogs NSW club or event. The mention of a banner made me wonder. (My guess is that it was an advertising banner.)

I’m not sure about that. About 60 years ago, my parents fostered two dingo pups for Eric Worrell, founder of the Australian Reptile Park. One was extremely timid around people and would leap across the furniture to its hidey-hole if anyone came into the house. The other was highly sociable and greeted everyone as a friend. I also have a photo of my mother teaching one of Eric Worrell’s adult dingos to retrieve a ball. She said it was similar to a dog in its play drive and sociability.