horus

Suzanne has received some pretty high profile support, including Ted Mack, so it is a real possibility that Rescue could soon have a powerful voice in local government. Suzanne does an enormous amount of work behind the scenes and is one of the unsung heroes of animal welfare and this could represent an unprecedented opportunity for dog rescue to be represented at local government level. Good luck on Saturday :-)

Thanks once again, everyone :) I have taken notes on all of your ideas and will put them forward for discussion and action.

Lovely to see you horus....we should catch up at the agility nationals in June for your Springer fix! Oooooo! A Springer fix! Just what I need

Hello Princess! Thanks for the replies, there are some great ideas there. I really like the idea of 'seniors for seniors'. We are looking at how our website is set up (we are a sub-committe of the NSW Dally Club so our page is part of the club site) and adding more pages or setting up an entirely independent site but still linked to the club site are all possibilities. As is using Facebook, as much as I dislike FB. Thanks again, please keep the ideas coming. Hopefully other groups will benefit from your ideas, too :)

At Dalmatian Welfare we have never had a great deal of success when it comes to rehoming older Dalmatians. By older Dals I refer to Dals from 7 or 8 years on (Dalmatians generally live to 12 -14 years). There are currently three 10 year olds in varying situations that we are trying to find homes for We recently had great success rehoming an older boy from Hawkesbury Pound but at a similar time another older boy that was rehomed bounced back. The reason for people not being willing to adopt an older Dalmatian may be many and varied, we can only really speculate. Dals are known to be quite energenic and people may see older Dals as past this, which may be one of the reasons why oldies are overlooked. Obviously, longevity is also an issue for most people. While we have a waiting list for younger Dals (up to 4 years) we always find it hard to rehome the oldies. We recognise that we need to try harder and have discussed some ideas including setting up a 'Golden Oldies' page on our website to highlight the older Dals, including success stories so that it may encourage more adoptions. What are your experiences with rehoming older dogs? Is this a common trend among older dogs or is it breed or size related? Do you have any ideas or tips to share when it comes to promoting the oldies? I would appreciate your thoughts :) I have adopted 2 older Dals over the years, one 7 the other 10. Both lived to just short of 14 and it was a wonderful experience sharing time with them. The 7 year old, Toby, was a bit of a bugger when I first adopted him but it lead us on a journey of learning and made the experience all the more fulfilling. Lucky, the 10 year old, was just perfect from day one and the only regret was not having the opportunity of knowing him longer. From my experience the rewards far outweigh the negatives.

I was once bitten by the Springer bug, it is quite infectious and my condition is now chronic. I have lived in hope of one day achieving Springer ownership but I keep on being inundated by Dalmatians, which is not altogether such a bad thing. Seeing photos of Molly has just given me another bout of Springer lust

I received these resources today. Thank you, Cosmolo I haven't had a chance to sit down and read all of them yet but I did flick through them and what I saw looked very logical, informative and useful. Good stuff, and again, thanks for your support :)

I was so sorry to hear that you have lost Dante. Sometimes life is just so unfair and I don't know why it has to be that way

My congratulations, too, ladies :) It is certainly a well deserved win and testament to the fantastic work that you both do. I should also add that it really is a pleasure to deal with another rescue group that sees most others in rescue as colleagues rather than competition.

It is amazing to think that we can know so well a dog that we have never met and that he could touch so many people. I'm so sorry for your loss, SL

He most certainly did. I'm so sorry, GR

As hard as it is, it is the ultimate kindness. There is something very special about an older dog that comes into our lives. I'm so sorry, GB.

When rehoming Dalmatians colour/pattern/marking do certainly affect their chances of finding a home quickly (generally speaking). Most people seem to have a preference for black spotted over liver spotted and heavily spotted Dals are not as easy to rehome as lightly spotted Dals. Some people may even see heavily marked Dals as being faulty in some way. We quite often get enquiries for a certain colour (black or liver) and these people will forgo the opportunity to meet a Dal of the other colour and wait for their specific choice, mostly because they have previously lived with a Dal of that colour. I was guilty of intially preferring black spotted Dals over liver spotted. When I first purchased a Dal puppy (20 years ago)I was offered a liver spotted pup but decided on a black spotted simply because I believed (at that time) that a true Dalmatian had to have black spots. Now, 5 Dalmatians later, I have 2 liver spotted and I am more than happy to acknowledge how wrong I was back then. In the Dalmatian world colour and markings certainly can be important.

Thanks again, everyone Toby's ashes were returned today and I will scatter them in the rose garden I planted when Ellie died. Ellie's and Lucky's ashes have already been scattered there, so the three of them will be together once again.

Thank you for posting, everyone. I appreciate your thoughts

Toby, Lucky and Ellie in happier times

Toby came to me as a 7 year old and died yesterday a couple of months before his 14th birthday. He had issues at first, and I almost surrendered him after about 6 weeks but he looked at me with those big brown eyes after I had made arrangements for him to go to a carer and I just melted. That lead us on a path of frustration and learning and after 12 months of hard work not only was Toby a better dog, but I was a better person. Tobes came as a companion for Ellie who we lost nearly 18 months ago. They were joined by Lucky some years later but we also lost Lucky in January this year. Toby was the last of my three best mates and the saddness that brings cannot be described with words. Goodbye old mate. I owe you so much.

Goodbye Nala. You will be missed by the many you touched.

Oh no! What a complete shock to see this thread I'm so sorry The beautiful, gentle Chantie deserved so much more time with everyone. I'll always remember the greetings at your front door and Chantie allowing me the honour of sharing her place on the lounge

There are lots of 'nots' in that statement, which makes it confusing, but is says that an offence can still be committed even though the dog is off lead in an off lead area ie being in an off lead area does not excuse the owner if a dog rushes at or attacks etc another dog or person. ETA: Sorry, the note does refer to Section 16: http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/nsw/con...998174/s16.html COMPANION ANIMALS ACT 1998 - SECT 16 Offences where dog attacks person or animal 16 Offences where dog attacks person or animal (1) If a dog rushes at, attacks, bites, harasses or chases any person or animal (other than vermin), whether or not any injury is caused to the person or animal: (a) the owner of the dog, or (b) if the owner is not present at the time of the offence and another person who is of or above the age of 16 years is in charge of the dog at that time-that other person, is guilty of an offence. Maximum penalty: (a) 50 penalty units except in the case of a dangerous or restricted dog, or (b) 300 penalty units in the case of a dangerous or restricted dog. (1A) The owner of a dangerous dog or a restricted dog is guilty of an offence if: (a) the dog attacks or bites any person (whether or not any injury is caused to the person), and (b) the incident occurs as a result of the owner’s failure to comply with any one or more of the requirements of section 51 or 56 (as the case requires) in relation to the dog. Maximum penalty: 500 penalty units or imprisonment for 2 years, or both. Note: Conviction for an offence under this subsection results in permanent disqualification from owning a dog or from being in charge of a dog in a public place. See section 23. (2) It is not an offence under this section if the incident occurred: (a) as a result of the dog being teased, mistreated, attacked or otherwise provoked, or (b) as a result of the person or animal trespassing on the property on which the dog was being kept, or © as a result of the dog acting in reasonable defence of a person or property, or (d) in the course of lawful hunting, or (e) in the course of the working of stock by the dog or the training of the dog in the working of stock. (3) This section does not apply to a police dog or a corrective services dog.

The link is to the NSW Companion Animals Act. See the note to Paragraph 5, it is perfectly clear that owners are always responsible for any actions of dogs under their control: http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/nsw/con...998174/s13.html COMPANION ANIMALS ACT 1998 - SECT 13 Responsibilities while dog in public place 13 Responsibilities while dog in public place (1) A dog that is in a public place must be under the effective control of some competent person by means of an adequate chain, cord or leash that is attached to the dog and that is being held by (or secured to) the person. (2) If this section is contravened: (a) the owner of the dog, or (b) if the owner is not present at the time of the offence and another person who is of or above the age of 16 years is in charge of the dog at that time-that other person, is guilty of an offence. Maximum penalty: (a) 10 penalty units except in the case of a dangerous or restricted dog, or (b) 100 penalty units in the case of a dangerous or restricted dog. (3) Any person (including an authorised officer) can seize a dog that is in a public place in contravention of this section. If the owner of the dog is present, the dog cannot be seized except by an authorised officer and only then if the contravention continues after the owner has been told of the contravention. A reference in this subsection to the owner of the dog includes a reference to the person who is for the time being in charge of the dog. Note: Putting the dog on a leash prevents the dog being seized but it does not excuse the contravention and does not stop action being taken for the contravention. (4) A dog is not considered to be under the effective control of a person if the person has more than 4 dogs under his or her control. (5) This section does not apply to: (a) a dog accompanied by some competent person in an area declared to be an off-leash area by a declaration under this section (but only if the total number of dogs that the person is accompanied by or has control of does not exceed 4), or (b) a dog engaged in the droving, tending or working of stock, or © a dog being exhibited for show purposes, or (d) a dog participating in an obedience class, trial or exhibition, or (e) a police dog, or (e1) a corrective services dog, or (f) a dog secured in a cage or vehicle or tethered to a fixed object or structure. Note: Just because a dog is not on a lead in an off-leash area, or is secured in a cage or vehicle or is tethered to a fixed object or structure, does not mean that an offence under section 16 is not committed if the dog rushes at, attacks, bites, harasses or chases any person or animal, whether or not any injury is caused. (6) A local authority can by order declare a public place to be an off-leash area. Such a declaration can be limited so as to apply during a particular period or periods of the day or to different periods of different days. However, there must at all times be at least one public place in the area of a local authority that is an off-leash area.

Does he weigh 35 kg or is that a typo? I haven't used Chum Crunchy yet, but will try it after reading the article on Dal nutrition, the only concern I have is that it may have food colouring in it (I think that is what someone said, recently). I feed my lot Woolworths Select Chicken and Rice along with meaty bones and veges and haven't had any problems. I have a 13 year old, 5 year old and a younger female (age unknown) and they all get fed the same.

Dalmatians require a diet low in purines to prevent stones from forming in their unrinary tract. There is no commercially available product for this so it is up to the owner to do some research and find out which foods are low in purines. There is some dietary advice here, from the British Dalmatian Club website: http://www.britishdalmatianclub.org.uk/dow...WeissStones.pdf Similar info is available from the American Dally Club website: http://www.thedca.org/studygp.html

I'm so sorry, Horty I know what you must be going through, it is not always easy but it does improve given time. Thank you for your post in Lucky's thread

I'm so sorry Life will go on, it has to, and time will help heal the pain but there will always be that empty feeling. I hope that the happy memories help you overcome the loss.