YippeeGirl

Those people that allow their dogs to be turned out in large groups like that, are probably the exact same people that let their dogs run up to yours off-lead while they yell from a distance that: "He's friendly!" They don't understand how to read doggy body language, and don't understand that not all dogs are as friendly as their own. I'm sure the thought of their dog getting involved in a fight never crosses their mind. The majority of dog owners have never witnessed a fight where the intent is to do serious damage. It's absolutely terrifying and it just happens so quickly. In a group situation with highly aroused dogs, I imagine it would not take much to set a fight off.

Is your dog crate trained? Yes three are crate trained, and the puppy is being crate trained. When (age) did you crate train him/her? The two bitches started crate training when we first got them, male started older because he was an only dog for a while, and puppy has been 'in training' since arriving here. Do they still sleep in their crate now they are older? If not where do they sleep? The bitches fight if together, so we have to use a crate and rotate method. This means one of them spends the night in the crate. The puppy is in the crate at night and when no one is around, to keep her safe and out of trouble. When did they stop using the crate? Never. Where is their crate in the house? The crates are in the kitchen. Does your dog use the crate only for sleeping? No. Our dogs go in if we need to keep them separate, if visitors are over, and a lot of the time if the door is open, they will put themselves in the crates and either have a nap or chew on a toy.

With that many dogs running together, I'm stumped as to how you even break up a fight if one occurs? It's hard enough when our two bitches fight my mum and me have to pull them off each other. I couldn't imagine trying to break up a fight involving multiple dogs. It would be bedlam. Especially if there are big size differences between the dogs involved.

I've seen a few posts on forums where people have found a dog, and decided they are going to keep it without even attempting to find the owners. It blows my mind. Just because a dog is out roaming the streets doesn't necessarily mean it's been abandoned or that its previous owners are neglectful. It's the same as when people think their rescue dog has been abused simply because they are soft and react adversely to raised voices etc. I think sometimes saying your dog is stolen gets more attention and is more glamorous than simply saying your dog got out of your yard.

What a sad story. It makes me sick to my stomach to think of the terror Wags must have felt in his final moments. There's no way I could imagine turning a small dog loose to run with multiple larger dogs. I have German Shepherds and they play rough. The risk of even accidental injury would be too much for me. And if a fight does break out in that situation, the small dog wouldn't have a chance. I once watched a rottie break the back of our cat with a few shakes of its head. That took mere seconds, and even though I was only meters away, by the time I stopped the dog from attacking her, I was too late. I was on the FB page and I had to stop reading. I think some people simply prefer to live with blinkers on. I don't know how you could say the presence of puncture wounds found during the necropsy, would indicate anything but the fact Wags had been bitten by another dog.

I often wonder how many people prefer to say their dog was stolen, than admit that perhaps their dog simply escaped their backyard. At the start of the year, I had the neighbour come over to ask if one of my dogs was out. Turns out I hadn't shut the side gate properly. When I went inside, one of the dogs went out the gate, and the gate shut behind him, leaving the other dog in the yard. He knows he is not allowed down the side of the house so I'm sure he panicked for a little while, then wandered off out the front of our house. I'm sure if he had gotten lost, some owners might have suspected foul play. I live in a fairly low crime area. I haven't really heard about any dog thefts, and most dog owners seem to leave their dogs out in both their front and back yards during the day.

Having lived next door to a chronic barker, I can understand why some people throw baits over the fence (definitely not saying I would, or condone it in any way). This dog would literally sit and bark for hours at a time. It was only a tiny dog but it had a very loud bark, and at night all you could hear was it yapping. We had to tiptoe around the house, because the owners would leave this dog outside all day, and as soon as me or my mum opened the back door, it would start running up and down the fence barking. No amount of bribing, growling, or kicking the fence got it to stop. Two of our dogs learned to ignore it, but one who is reactive with other dogs, quickly became obsessed, and so I had to start taking her out on a leash just to go to the toilet in the backyard. Dog barking is such a pervasive sound. I was so glad when the son who owned the dog, finally came and took it away. Having to sit and listen to that dog barking day in and day out, was driving me insane. I felt sorry for the dog. It was bored, under-exercised, and had gone from an inside dog to an outside dog. However, if the owners aren't going to do anything to address the barking, debarking is better than pushing your neighbours to breaking point.

I've learnt that dog hair gets everywhere. Even in places you didn't think was possible :laugh:

I think the issue is, most people want to keep the puppy they purchased. I mean it's not a faulty television. You do get attached, and I imagine for some dogs, a return to their breeder equals immediate euthanasia or being flogged off to some other unsuspecting buyer. My dog has hip dysplasia, and even if I had known the day after she was purchased, I would not have returned her to the breeder. I personally have always been interested as to what would be the breeder's solution if the puppy is returned? The only possible outcomes I can see are that the breeder will have to pay the medical costs for the puppy, the puppy is rehomed, or the puppy is put to sleep. I can understand the last option if it's about quality of life, but what about an issue like hip dysplasia? The OP sounds like a very diligent pet owner. I wish them the best of luck with their puppy, and it's a real shame they are forced to deal with this problem.

Yep. We have this beautiful bushy park near my house that is a wonderful place to take dogs for a walk, and in the entire park, the council doesn't seem to provide a single bin. Instead, you are expected to take your rubbish home with you. Perhaps in a utopian society this would not be an issue, but most people are lazy and if there aren't any bins nearby they are just going to leave their rubbish (including dog poo) behind I just cannot see the wisdom. At least I suppose our council hasn't gone and removed ALL the bins yet.

What I don't understand is that the local council seems to have cut down the number of rubbish bins in our suburb. There were bins in at least two of the parks/reserves near my house, which made disposing of dog poo a lot more convenient. Now these are gone, along with a couple on bins next to bus stops on the main road. Now, depending where you are, you have to walk at least a couple of kilometres to find a bin. I take my bag of poo along with me, but I would think that having more bins would go a long way to encouraging people to pick up after their dogs. The worst offenders in our neighbourhood seem to be people with small dogs. I'm not sure if it's just because the owners don't notice, or they think because it's only a small poo it's fine to just leave it there for someone else to stand in.

My dogs are suspicious of anyone acting out of the ordinary. I personally do not like drinking or being around people that are drunk/drinking. However, some of my family members do drink more than I think is sensible, and when they get loud/obnoxious I find the dogs tend to just ignore them. I think the reaction would definitely be different if it was a stranger though. Not too long ago I was walking one of the dogs and we came across a man with no shoes on, who I think was either suffering from mental illness or was drunk/on drugs. He was very erratic in his behaviour and was walking oddly and mumbling/shouting. The dog I was walking did not like the look of him, and we gave him a wide berth.

Sometimes I think if you make ethical and responsible breeders too difficult to find, people new to the world of purebred dogs are more likely to choose a BYB. IMO, you can advertise on Gumtree and still be an ethical breeder, the two aren't mutually exclusive.

My mum fits two adult German Shepherds in the back of her Subaru. Our two girls used to travel interstate sitting in the boot when they went to shows.

He looks like a beautiful and well-loved boy. It's like an impossible choice trying to decide whether to wait and see, or whether it's time to let them go Hopefully the vet can provide some answers.

There was an old man when I was younger who everyday at the same time, would very slowly walk his old, blind dog (I think it was a spaniel of some sort) down past our house. The man used a cane and I could hear him tapping along. It was always quite poignant seeing them together, and I was actually very sad the day he walked past our house alone I have no issue with people out with their old dogs. Unless the dog is really struggling and the owner is just dragging it along, most of the oldies seem to enjoy still being an 'active' part of the family. When I was a kid, I used to walk our old kelpie cross with quite bad arthritis down to the end of our street and back. Yes it may not have been a pretty picture for someone watching as she was wobbly (she was on Rimadyl at the time), but she really enjoyed those walks and spent the first half telling all the dogs in the neighbourhood what she was doing. I say who cares what anyone thinks about your dog. You love him, he sounds like he enjoys his outings, this should be all that matters.

I don't think a lot of owners of small dogs realise how quickly and easily their dog could be injured or killed by a larger dog. Unless you have seen two dogs really get stuck into it, an actual fight with the serious intention to do harm, is absolutely terrifying. When I was younger, I witnessed an off-lead rottie pick up one of our cats, and with only a couple of shakes, break her spine. I imagine it if was a small dog instead of a cat, the result would not have been much different. I am always cautious when it comes to big dogs mixing with smaller dogs simply for that reason. I know all it takes is one bite.

I think low thyroid can cause sudden aggression? Otherwise I think another visit to the vet would be warranted as maybe she is hurting somewhere or was not feeling well when she attacked your other dog.

I've used the frozen and freeze-dried K9 Natural green tripe, and while the smell is not pleasant, I don't find it particularly overpowering. With that said, probably one of the worst decisions I made, was to use some frozen tripe as treats for one of the dogs during a walk. They thawed out pretty quickly and while the smell kept the dog keen, my hands stunk out the car on the ride home :laugh:

While I was disgusted by what I saw in regards to the live baiting, my feelings about greyhounds as a breed (positive) didn't change after watching the program. It's unfortunate that some people are allowing the actions of scum like these trainers to influence their opinion on the breed itself. While they are not a breed I would personally own, the ones I have met have all been lovely dogs. I do wonder how many members of the public will see this program, and believe that a dog that kills a rabbit or possum is just as capable of attacking or harming a human

Even if it is the minority, the fact that the industry doesn't seem to be very proactive or vocal (from an outsider's perspective) in stamping out this despicable behaviour makes them look bad. And then the question is raised as to whether it is the minority? I mean no one knows what is really going on behind closed doors.

I watched that show last night and it was absolutely appalling. I would have no qualms if they snapped the rabbit's neck and then put it on the lure. But to stand there and permit your dogs to slowly savage a terrified animal to death is barbaric. I don't know how they aren't getting slapped with anything for strapping a possum to the lure since they are a native animal. It's not like there isn't video evidence. Sadly it seems the more money that is involved, the less scrupulous individuals are. Money is the only thing these people understand and that's about really the only way you can make them hurt.

I find looking at ads on Gumtree and reading some FB groups/pages depressingly sad. There's just so much ignorance out there, especially nowadays with the age of the 'Internet Expert'. You see some people that really just think they are Gods of their own little FB worlds, and some of the most terrible advice gets passed on through these channels. I am not the most perfect dog owner in the world, far from it. But when you look at how some dogs live, it's enough to break your heart. Worst are those people who profess so eagerly that they love their dogs, when their ignorance is causing them to suffer. My neighbour's dog is like this. Her owner loves her dearly, but she is slowly and steadily killing her.

The person that wrote this article sounds like what I a 'fair weather' dog owner. I see some people that are like that. The dog is the centre of their universe, until something else comes along like a boyfriend or a baby, and then the dog becomes nothing but an inconvenience. We are probably about to lose our old cat to cancer and I have to say her response in regards to her sick dog absolutely disgusts me. That dog gave her the best years of its life and that's the attitude she has. What a lovely individual. My parents somehow managed to care for three young children and two German Shepherds when I was growing up. My oldest brother was a very difficult baby, but I never once heard my mum ever say she regretted having those dogs. They gave me some of the best childhood memories I have, and in return we gave them our love. They were a part of our family, and were with us until they passed.

I agree it sounds like a fear based aggression. Our youngest girl is fear-aggressive around other dogs and will start hackling up and barking when we pass dogs on the street. We never force her into situations with strange dogs, and we are always alert when walking. I've found it's best to redirect her attention away from the other dog before she even has a chance to react. IMO punishing them when they are responding out of fear, does nothing but validate their fear because it tells them bad things happen when other dogs are around. I would avoid the dog parks if your puppy is not comfortable. None of our three go to the dog parks, and I feel in most cases they are a recipe for disaster, as it's very easy for a nervous dog to be overwhelmed.