Brookestar

Hysteria be buggered. Outcry because some of us have a different moral compass than others and find it appalling and selfish that a young guide dog was put to sleep on the whim of his owner. To many arrogant dog owners think because of the bond they have with dogs, that they could not bond with another owner. Labradors are prime example of a breed that can very easily and successfully bond with a new owner, look at the standard for a Labrador, the temperament in particular. Very true and also one of the reasons they are used as Guide Dogs. They readily transfer from one home to another and they have to. They are usually bred on campus, go to a puppy raiser, then back to kennels where they form an intense bond with the trainr, then the blind handler, where they form an intense bond with them. While labs miss people they adjust very quickly and quickly form new bonds, the same cannot be said for other breeds and they have immense difficulty training German Shepards for that reason, which are used to a very tiny degreee in the UK and US. They fret for the puppy raisers too much. While many many dogs are returned to puppy raisers in Australia as they fail the grade, it sure as hell does not happen on the basis that they are simply fretting for the puppy raiser. They adjust very quickly. Sure some dogs cope better in the kennels than others and much research is now being done on that, but labradors are a very very adapable breed who form bonds quickly. Guide Dogs are also bred and raised to believe that everyone is their best friend, they have to be. How many dogs would cope with being led away from there handler while paramedics or the like worked on them, but it has to happen here. They cannot start to try and protect the handler, because they think they might be in danger, and of course the handler could well be screaming in pain.

This is a bit different though? A charity has invested tens of thousands training the dog. Like others, I would have thought that one of the conditions of getting a guide dog would be that you return it if you can't use it for its original purpose at any stage. ETA: I have a dog that will be PTS when I die. This is because she has been abused in the fast and is very fearful (and can be FA) though, not because I have some notion that she'll never be happy with someone else. If I could guarantee her a home where she would be safely managed and her needs met I wouldn't be PTS. Within Australia Guide Dogs are owned by the programs, and they are the only ones who can decide what happens to them. If they are reclassified or retired, then ownership can be transferred to someone else, but even then everyone who takes on any such dogs is required to sign a contract saying the dog will be returned to them should they be unable to care for it. Working Guide Dogs are retested at least annually and have twice annual vet check ups, which must be communicated directly to the program that trained the dogs. They will and have removed dogs from people who have not treated them properly. With up to $30,000 of donated money, they do not simply give someone a dog and hope they do the right thing, they make sure they do and retain ownership of the dog to ensure it represents the program properly. On retirement the program determines if the handler will be allowed to keep the dog, and then they hand over ownership of the dog. While working the dogs are effectively leased, albeit for free. Within the US programs vary, some hand over ownership immediatley and do not want anything more to do with them, on retirement in some cases the dogs are just given to local shelters, pounds, animal control, etc. Other programs in the US do operate as they do in Australia, but ALL programs in Australia do operate with them retaining owerschip. One should add those most upset about this are Guide Dog Users themselves who find it incredily offensive that someone could even request such a thing.

While I disagree with PTS a young healthy dog too, she couldn't do this in this scenario because she was blind and needed the dog as a guide dog. The dog could very easily have found a new home, as either a Guide Dog to someone else, as a therapy dog for a young child, or simply as a well loved pet. Guide Dog Programs in Australia do it all the time, and have for over 50 years. Just because it was a Guide Dog, does not mean it could not be rehomed. Quite the contrary, more than most dogs, these dogs have already had mutliple homes, without issue. They are highly trained and socialised dogs and are very much sought after. Many programs have a 10 year + long waiting list to take on one of there dogs that are either reclassified or retired. The dog would not have been working as a Guide Dog, while she was in the final stages of life and would have worked for at least a few weeks. One does not use a Guide Dog, while hooked up to morphine drips in a hospital or pallative care unit. A person in the final stages of cancer is not out walking the streets one day and dead the next. It is a very slow and debilitating death.

and if she had lived in Australia, she probably would have been ! This wasn't in Australia though , and it was mentioned on here that she was trained by the owner ... Where do you base that information on. The origninal article that was in a local newspaper in the country concerned, removed the article due to death threats. But I personally read that article, and it never ever said it was owner trained. It did in fact say the contrary. The family has also publically said the opposite on facebook posts. If you have more information, then please provide the links for it. While there are some assistance dogs that are owner trained, it is incredibly rare to owner train a Guide Dog. The primary reason for that is that they are the most difficult to train and they are very easy to obtain, in comparison to other Assistance Dogs, in the US, the average wait is 3 months, compared to 6-12 months in Australia. One cannot just go to a pound pick up a dog and train it as a Guide Dog in 3 months. It takes professional masters degree and internationally accredited Guide Dog Trainers, 6 months to train these dogs, and that is only if they pass all the health and temperament tests necessary for them to be able to be safely trained. Simple fact is 99.9% of dogs do not have what it takes to be a Guide Dog and 99.9% of dog trainers would have no idea of how to train them. Guide Dog Trainers do a 3 year full time cadetship, and then sit INTERNATIONAL exams of both a theoretical and practical nature. One does not simply put a sign on there door and call themselves a Guide Dog Trainer. These dogs are for people who are BLIND. They cannot command a dog to "leave it", when it is distracted, as they do not know the dog is distracted. The dog MUST be able to work around everything, without guidance, like other assistance dogs rely on all the time. MOST Guide Dog programs now give some of there reclassified puppies to Assistance Dog Programs. The dogs might have what it takes to be an Assistnace Dog, but they sure as hell do not have what it takes to be a Guide Dog. It does not happen in the opposite direction and can't, there is too much at stake with people who cannot see. That does not mean that Hearing and Assistance Dogs are not highly trained dogs, they are, but they are not Guide Dog and their trainers are not Guide Dog Trainers. The way Guide Dogs pull into the harness, places a great deal of strain on the back and so they need to have excellent hip and elbow confirmation, etc. Not something one is going to find a pound dog.

I have a close friend with a Guide Dog, her third. Her previous dog was given to her, after the owner had a stroke and suddenly died. It was almost 5 years old. It went back for a month of retraining and then went to her and they worked together, until the dog retired - it now lives with her parents. Within Australia ALL Guide Dogs are owned by the program, not the clients. They are all reassessed on at least a yearly basis, more regularly in the first year when it is more common for things to go wrong, and more regularly when nearing retirement to ensure that the dog is still healthy to work. If the person mistreats the dog or does not use it as expected they will take the dog from them, although this is done as a last resort. I know of parents of child with autism that obtained a dog that was retired early due to owners death, as a pet for the child. Guide Dogs are usually bred on campus, they then go the puppy raisers, where one person has primary responsibilty for them. They form an intense bond with that person. They then go and live on campus and form an intense bond with the trainer. They then very successfully form an intense bond with the blind handler. One of the reasons labradors are the primary breed used is because they transfer so easily between different people, and do not morn for long periods of time. Sure they miss puppy raisers, but they adapt very easily. Many keep in touch with puppy raisers. My friends dog has gone to stay with her origingal puppy raisers when they took an overseas holiday without any issues and was very happy to see my friend on return. The dog did not have public access rights during this time and lapped up life as a well loved pet, which she adjusted to without any issues, although being with the puppy raisers, meant that they knew very well all the commands the dog was used to around the home and could use them. These dogs spend the vast majority of there life off duty. They do play with other dogs, go to parks and the like. They interact with other family and friends like any normal dog when out of harness and that is most of the time. Sure I would never be allowed to give my friends Guide Dog a food treat, but I do play with her, give her belly rubs and she plays with my dogs. When she is in harness I ignore her the same as she ignores me. She knows what the harness means - both positive and negative. ALL Guide Dog programs in Australia do take responsibility for the dogs for life. They have waiting lists of 10 years or more for reclassified/retired Guide Dogs. They make great pets, as they have had very solid early training and socialisation. When not in harness they do walk on a loose leash. They only lead when in harness. They do not just rehome to anyone. They usually require that someone be home at least part time as the dogs are used to lots of contact with people. They do not home with people who do not intend to have the dog living inside, they have spent their whole lives living inside houses. They do home visits to everyone before any dog is placed, to ensure it is suitable and to interview them. They MATCH all dogs to everyone, not just Guide Dogs. While they do give ownership to reclassified dogs to people, EVERYONE who takes one is required to sign a contract saying that if they cannot care for the dog they will give it back to the association to rehome. The majority of Guide Dogs when retired are kept by the blind handler (about 60%), others go to live with their family. If that is not possible, the program contacts the inital puppy raiser, and/or rehomes them with someone else. Even dogs with quite severe and expensive medical condtions are rehomed and not just euthanised. Within the US about half of programs own the dogs, the others hand over ownership on graduation. Some of those that hand over ownership upon graduation have dogs that are handed over to animal shelters/pounds when they retire, which is simply inexcusable. Any good breeder will ask anyone who buys puppies from them to contact them if they can no longer care for the dog and Guide Dog programs should be no different and within Australia they are not. ALL dogs do morn, but they also adjust very easily to a new home. Labradors are experts at doing this and Guide Dogs are no exception. Guide Dog programs have been doing this within Australia for over 50 years and it is very very easy to do. The dogs are so well socialised and trained and bred to love everyone no matter what, that they do connect and bond with another person. I love my dogs more than anything. That love does not mean I want them to die as healthy young dogs. It does mean that I want the best for them. If I was married or had children I would love those people, doesn't mean I would ask for a child to be killed and buried with me if I died, and my dogs are no different. I have very carefully chosen people to care for my dogs and they are written in my will. I don't want them killed, just because I die. I equally do not want them ending up in shelters. My wish is for dogs, due to the love I have for them is for them to live the fullest and happiest lives possible and I have chosen a future home for them based on this. Naturally I would hope that it would never come to that.

The quaratine restrictions coming to Australia are very different for the UK. The UK does accept dogs from all countries, something Australia does not do, and we also have different requirements for different countries. For dogs that are going to be entering Australia, the authorised vet has to seal the crate shut with special stickers and the crates and stickers cannot be broken. As the dog is only approved to enter from that country. Going to the UK is different as they require the same from all countries, rabies vaccination and tick treatment. Hence one would assume they would be OK with dogs being released from crates on route in approved facilities. The UK does stipulate on what routes the dog can travel, and for that reason they would have approved the facilities at the airports, etc. I LOVE the idea that they may allow them out of the crate on route, would be much more comfortable for the dog. Coming to Australia with our quarantine requirements I do not think that is possible.

The most important thing is to find a vet that you can build a good rapport with. If you don't like them, the dog wont either. My dog loves any vet that comes near her, she considers them waiters or chefs or the like, given the amount of liver treats that come from there hands!!! But I have recently moved as I needed to find a vet that I could love and work with. For puppy preschool I highly recommend ones run by Delta Society Trainers, they can be found here: http://www.dpdta.com.au/ I do know of one in East Kew that was great that I saw years ago and that would be near you.

Then it's a good thing that's not what I asserted at all. What makes you think a planned, safe approach to exposing dogs to novelty can't involve strange dogs? I can read a dog. Can't you? I pick my environments, carry treats for counter-conditioning, and have escape routes and contingencies planned. I just remain mystified that everybody seems to have such problems with loose dogs and I do not. I've had my dogs off leash in more parks and on more beaches than I can keep track of and they have never been injured and they both still quite like other dogs. And it's not like they are both magical dogs with phenomenal temperaments. I went for years without a bad incident with a loose dog, and I used to post much like Corvus does on this issue, I couldn't understand why others had problems when my dogs always just handled it. They had great social skills. I would walk the streets for miles without any issue, loose dogs never posed a threat. Then I moved suburbs, and discovered how much of my previous sense of safety was just luck and geography. This. We have moved a few times over the years we've had our dogs and there's a definite difference between suburbs. Both our guys are well socialised and friendly with people and other dogs so I don't get stressed about them meeting other dogs but we still get rushed at by off leash dogs. Don't know what I can do to stop it?? Totally agree, moving to a different area, created a whole different set of problems. My CURRENT dog does have a magical temperament as has been used to help to rehabilibate multiple dog aggressive dogs. I have had 3 different veterniary behavioursits refer to her as a canine mediator. I had until I moved never met a dog she could not calm down. One of those was a declared dangerous dog, that the owner had removed the dangerous dog collar from and was running loose at a dog park. I only found out when an animal control officer turned up and seized the dog and charged the owner, the dog was being taken to be euthanised, they had broken the law, the dog was declared dangerous and was only ever allowed out on lead, muzzled and with a special collar to ensure everyone knew the dog was dangerous. It had killed 3 dogs. Animal control had felt that all the dogs killed by it had contributed to the attacks by being aggressive themselves, them being aggressive with an aggressive dog just made the dog worse, and it was huge, and could easily do more damage. My dog calmed it and then they played together. I do not normally have her playing with unknown dogs like that, as she has done enough work with dog aggressive dogs and needs time with dogs I can choose, and she can safely relax with. That dog had come out of nowhere, when I was playing with a ball with her. I let it go, as I trusted her to cope with it. Having said that, we have since we moved come across a number of dogs she is not able to calm down, and who are incredibly aggressive. I am dreading bringing another dog into the household because of this. If she can't do it, I do not want to expose a young pup to it. She is also incredibly highly trained and will without command walk past any dog on lead. On lead is onlead to her, off lead is her chance to be free and be a dog. She is offlead almost every day, and does not need any more socialisation. She could not be more socialised if you tried. I am a very big fan of socialisation, but it has come to be an incredibly abused statement. Socialisation does not mean dragging the dog to every dog it sees, nor allowing the dog to do so. It creates huge problems. It does mean creating very carefully planned experiences to allow the dog to interact with others and the ONLY way to learn proper canine social skills is offlead. It does need to be done with carefully selected dogs, or under very careful control or everything can go totally wild. I never trust anyone who says they can read dogs, everyone I know who says that claims that dogs who are about to bite and friendly and want to play. My dog did not develop the skills she has to do the work she does, by being dragged to every dog she sees while on lead. She is also a visiting pet therapy dog in a children's ward. She is incredibly highly socialised and trained around dogs and people, and does not need to be dragged to every dog she sees under the guise of socialisation. As for retractable leads they should be outlawed. Once had a dog wander across a two lane road on the retractable and the owner was busy talking on the phone and could not find the dog - when the person with me, asked her to control the dog, she replied "its on lead, nothing else I can do"!!! The owner only found out when a car drove through the retractable leash and she suddenly had no lead!!! It never ceases to amazes me how stupid some people can be in how they use them.

If there is any chance of you returning keep up to date with rabies vaccinations and titre testing as that makes it much easier to return to Australia. Get the dog used to the crate for as long as possible before the flight, not just sleeping in it, but also travelling in the car in it. Put simpy every time the dog goes in the car, it should be in the crate, so that it becomes used to the crate moving, and being comfortable with that. Anything that can be done to make the dog more comfortable is going to be better for the dog. Fast the dog for at least 12 hours before you drop them off, that will mean they are much less likely to need to defecate. Take them for a walk beforehand to try to ensure they do defecate, they are much more likely to do that while walking than at home in the backyard if you take them out. Don't assume the dog will not pee in the crate. The stress of flying can make dogs do anything. The more you can do to make the dog comfortable and as empty as possible the better. There are specialised mats you can buy to line dog crates with for flying that will not only soak up any accidents, but also soak it all away and keep the dog dry and comfortable. http://www.dryfur.com/category/pet-airline-travel-supplies/dry-fur-travel-pads There are also now water dishes you can buy for crates that have splash sides on them to stop the water from spilling out of them. Most water dishes would be empty by the time the dog is loaded onto the plane, as the movement of simply getting them onto the plane is enough to make enough spillage, to basically empty it all. If necessary freeze the water dish to provide the dog with access to water for as long as possible. http://www.dryfur.com/airline_food_water_dishes.htm You can also provide a water bottle on the side, a bit like a ginea pig bottle that they can suck out of. Simply put some vegemite on the end of it, and the dog will learn to suck on it and realise that water will come out of it. You can also buy jelly like substances that are basically water and provide hydration for the dog without it spilling out of the container. But with labs or other food obsessed dogs they could very easily just eat the whole lot at once and then be ready to pee for the whole flight!! The most important thing is for you to be happy with who you are placing them with, as you will be calmer when they are handed over to them, and that will help the dog to cope better. The less stressed you are, the better the dog will cope.

Having the smell of the owner really helps them, which is why giving them access to the house helps. To a dog 70% of us is our smell and so the house smells of us. The noise of the owner or reminders of the noise of the owner of humans in general also helps. If you have music you normally listen to leave a radio on near an open window to the back yard, or a small radio up high in the backyard. That will provide some noise, and does help. If not simply put on a radio to ABC classical radio - that is what shelters and kennels do, as research has shown that dogs are calmed by classical music. Make sure you ignore the dog for a good 10 minutes before you leave and again on arrival. Put them outside, at least five minutes before you leave, not as you are leaving. Ignore them before you put them out and don't make any fuss when you do, just do it very matter of factly. Dogs are not children and do not understand you saying I will be back later. The ignoring makes it no big deal and that is how it needs to be. If you can leave an old shirt or jumper in the kennel it will them something to curl up and sleep with if they want to be near you. When you get home, open the door to allow the dog to come inside, but ignore the dog totally, do not make eye contact and go and get changed or have a drink or something. Then after a few minutes, call the dog, pat them, play with them, and the like. You coming and going is your right and not something they have to worry about. If you are greeting them on arrival you are paying homage to them and it does not help them. It may not be a problem, but it could well make the problem worse. In terms of you sleeping. Need to make sure the bedroom is used for nothing except for sleeping. Make sure it is not too hot or too cold. Make sure it is not noisy and is dark. Your body needs to be given time to adjust to a morning get up. If you allow yourself to sleep in on the weekends the body gets out of routine and does not need to sleep earlier in the evenings. Don't have any caffine in the evening, if anything cut it out full stop or as early in the day as possible. That includes chocolate. Diet can play a large role in sleeping. Create a routine for sleeping and stick to it ALL the time, weekends, included. If necessary, allow yourself an extra hour or so of sleep on the weekends temporarily, but dont' allow yourself to sleep in to midnight. TV or computers late into the evening can also keep you awake. Reading is great. If your mind wanders at night, keep a notepad next to the bed to write down anything, so you can then go straight back to sleep. If the dogs are keeping you awake and they sleep in your room, you may need to consider moving them to another room. If dogs being on your bed cause a problem, get them there own beds and enforce the rule of them sleeping in there own beds.

It is important to remember that tapeworms carry fleas if you are treating for fleas and not succeeding, make sure to treat for tapeworm as well, most wormers do not cover all the types of worms, including tapeworm. Treating the environment is crucially important, 99% of fleas do not live on the dog, but in the surrounding environment. Removing them all is the hard part. If you are simply relying on a flea product it could well take months or not work at all, as you are not treating the fleas that already exist. The best and fastest ways, flea and tapeworm treat the dogs, and flea bomb the house and yard.

Within Victoria, both the owner and the dog must be registered with Dogs Victoria, to get the relevent discount. One can also get a discount from a basic dog obedience course. Some councils, mine is one are giving a slighter higher rebate to desexing, as they found that with the automatic rebates from these, dogs were not being desexed. Microchipping used to get the same rebate. That has changed for new dogs being registered, which have for a number of years been required to be microchipped anyway. So we had compulsory microchipping and the same rebate for desexing as for microchipping, so dogs were not being desexed. My council did give an extra discount for both, but it is estimated that less than half of councils have done this. Personally I like South Australia the best, where people are given discounts for all of these things. Fact is we don't want people doing one of them, we want them doing all of them!! We do want all dogs obedience trained at a basic level, we do want all dogs microchipped and we do want dogs that can be desexed, desexed, although the ages for that need to be flexible to allow large dogs to complete growth cycles first. Giving the same discount for one thing, does not encourage people to do all of them. Where is the incentive to do obedience training if they get the cheapest rate by getting the dog from the pound that is both microchipped and desexed. Sure those things are really important, but so is training. Victoria finally had common sense to not give the automatic rebate to microchipping to new registrations, but what about all the others who have not bothered to do anything else, as they will keep getting the same cheapest rebate for the dog being chipped before sale from a pet shop!!!!!

That I can totally agree with. There is no point in the laws if no one is there to enforce them. I respect that council animal control officers cannot be in all places at all times, but never is the truth. I have seen them walking the streets here to make sure dogs are registered, but even if they come across dogs wandering 20 metres ahead of someone, who is talking on the phone, and the dog not on lead they do nothing. All they do is check the collar for a registration tag!!!!!!!!! I do not allow my dogs to socialise with other dogs on leash. Dog parks are there for that purpose. She has no need to walk up to every dog she sees on the street. And walking up to every dog and sniffing them is not socialisation and actually creates rude dogs. Dogs do not naturally greet each other face to face, they do so side to side, and approach from the side, they also get permission from the other dog before doing so. Owners leading the dog up to the other dog is not socialising the dog, and is if anything creating a massive problem. My dog will ignore other dogs on leash, I have no need to rein her in, having said that I walk her on a short leash, otherwise she gets caught up in it. She does not walk in a heal position, but does walk very close to me. She has plenty of time to play with known dogs at the dog park. Most of those are of dogs I know and choose for her to interact with. I come across aggressive and out of control dogs on a daily basis, the vast majority of them off lead, or pulled out to the end of a flexi, which should be outlawed, with owners who have no control of them. Often it is on main rods, at peak hour. I have had dogs ran across a road and get hit by a car doing so, only to have the owner abuse me for there nearly dead dog, because the dog would not have done it if my dog was not there. My dog was walking on a lead on the other side of the road!!!!!!!! I call the council complaining about them almost every day. I take photo's of registration tags if I get close enough to the dog, or of the house they have run out off. To date the council has never done anything at all. There are some places I simply will not walk my dog as it is not safe. I have a close friend with a Guide Dog and there are places she will not walk as idiots walk there doggy up to her Guide Dog in harness, to socialise it!!! Then the others off lead which cause even more prolems. There are major public places here, in which dogs are banned, but she cannot go to, due to the numbers of off leash and out of control dogs!! The places are owned by council, even less reason for them not the be there.

The key is to know how to faze out treats and to swap it over for toys they can have. If you give me my object i will give you something you can have. Of course the most important thing is to not let dogs learn this behaviour to begin with. You need to make sure when very young puppies that everything is kept out of there reach, all shoes, cords, etc, etc. Once they learn any behaviour it is much harder to change. It is also important to make sure dogs are taught what you do want them to do. It is much easier to teach a dog what you do want it to do, ie to sit when they see someone, than to stop them from doing an undesirable behaviour, like jumping up. If you are correcting them for doing something you don't want them doing they still have no idea of what they should be doing. They are only dogs and can only think like dogs. Everything a dog does is normal behaviour for a dog, it just does not sit will with humans. They don't know how to live with humans, if we do not teach them. The best way to teach them is to simply not let them learn a bad behaviour or to teach them what you do want them to do. Ie you want something in your mouth, go and get a toy of yours. But to dogs everything is a toy. It is also much easier to teach a dog that a few toys are things they are allowed to chew on, than to teach them not to chew or pick up every single other item, object, etc. I agree with the advice of others, some dog training would go along way for both of you.

The excess is for each condition and each policy year. My dog has had two UTI's in the policy year and I have not had to pay the excess for the second one. Also had a friend make multiple claims for ongoing arthritis treatment, using a physio, hydrotherapy, natural vet supplements, etc and they only paid the excess for the condition at the start of the year. Every treatment, even from different providers for the whole year is not subject to the excess. For high cost petplan is very cost effective. For low cost you will get some coverage from other insurances, but only for standard vet treatment from a traditional vet.

I agree with the advice given about given the metcam with food. Mixing up the rice with the chicken is important. Use chicken mince and mix it right through wit the chicken. That way they are not given a choice about what they want to eat. Offering them chicken and rice, is in most cases going to result in them choosing the chicken. Like children would choose chocolate over vegetables!! And when they are eating very little, they then don't need the rice. Mixing it through so there is no choice, removes that option from them. Don't hesitate to ring the vet if you need to. Any decent one would be more than willing to talk to you on the phone and advise about whether you need to bring the dog in. I think some holistic vets can go to an extreme level. I saw one who would not contemplate any form of conventional vet treatment. I never went again after that. I have one I have seen a few times who works in consultation with a traditional vet, and they work in tandam, and I love that. Holistic vet treatments or supplements can slow down the progression of arthritis, but it will not take away the pain. Traditional vets can remove the pain, but not slow down the progression. I see both as important. Not as one or the other. I personally do not believe any one thing is for one type of vet only. To me they all have something to offer for everything. Any good vet will acknowledge their own limitations and the limitations of what they can offer.

I walk my adult labradors on lead around the streets, for an hour each morning and another 45 minutes on average each evening. They get free run at the park once or twice a week. Physio's and chiropractors have both said excellent muscle conditions. I do not do this with puppies, as hard surfaces for long periods can damage the growing joints. I walk them for about 15 minutes twice a day and free run in the backyard, at least until 6-7 months of age. I then walk them for up to 30 minutes twice a day until about 15 months of age, when growth has generally stopped. I am also careful about how I run them until they are fully grown. I have found that free running does not tire them out, if anything it hypes them up. I also feel they don't use all the muscles well. Leash walks in different areas provide a lot of mental stimulation and that is what my dogs crave. They do obedience, agility and pet therapy work each week. Obedience is practised daily. I have had injuries begin to develop from too much free running and also found they were not getting the mental stimulation they required to tire them out, etc. Leash walks are also great for my own health and fitness. And with training they are pleasurable. I vary where we walk all the time, for all of our benefits. When it is hot I will often only do the walk in the morning and on really hot days at first light and if necessary for only 20-30 minutes. Just because it has cooled down in the evening does not mean it has cooled down enough for my liking. When it is still 30 degrees outside, even if the sun is down I'm not going to be walking my dogs.

Have they recommend seeing an animal physiotherpist or veterniary chiropractor. It is amazing what they can do for such dogs. Melbourne Animal Physiotherapy http://melbourneanimalphysiotherapy.com/ Australian Veterniary Chiropractors http://www.avca.com.au/ Australian Veterniary Accupuncturists http://www.acuvet.com.au/

The Australian Veternairy Dental Society, has a list of all veternairy dentists. Your vet should refer you to one close to you.

Contact the RSPCA. It is all well and fine to want to try and rehome them, but the fact is the RSPCA has the power to charge them and to ensure that all future animals owned by her are being appropriately looked after - well as much as the law allows. The law does not allow for dumping of animals, etc. The RSPCA does rehome, between 50-60% of cats, to say they will simply be PTS is not the case. Sure the chances are high, but I personally find it kinder to do that, than to have them living the life they are living. They have more chance of being rehomed by the RSPCA than the local pound, but that is just a generalisation. Different places operate in different ways. I would love to see tougher laws and more being done to try and rehome many animals. But I don't believe that all animals can be rehomed. I am not aware of any no kill shelter, they would be better worded as low kill. ALL shelters kill some animals, whether they are diseased or overly aggressive, and rehabilitation has failed with them. The best thing one can do is to hope that this person can be charged and face some consequences for what they have done. It is animal cruelty, not animal control and that needs to be handled by the RSPCA, who has the power to charge her. Another option is to contact the RSPCA and say that you would like to work with them to see if they can be rehomed, some other way, if you are willing to do that. But the RSPCA does need to be called, so they can do all they can to charge the woman and hold her to account. When people just keep rescuing animals and rehoming them without the authorities being notified, they are allowed to continue doing what they are doing, as no one holds them to account for there behaviour.

If desexing was done purely to stop breeding that would be fine. The fact is males that are intact can smell a bitch on heat for miles and will do anything at all to get to her. Hormones do that. It would be fine if we could guarantee that everyone had good fences and looked after the dogs, fact is they don't. People take dogs to parks let them off lead, and they have no control of them and no ability to get them back. If the siad dog smells a bitch on heat and all dogs with hormones will have heat cycles, the dog is gone and they wont be able to get it back. Too many dog fights start by dogs fighting about who is going to get the bitch first. Desexed dogs are significantly less likely to roam, they don't feel the need to mate, which intact dogs have, and nor are they enticed by the smell of a bitch on heat, or are they a bitch who has a need to mate during the heat cycle. Sure if dogs have responsible owners, that train and socialise them, keep them securely confined and only let them off lead when they can control them, it would be fine. Problem is it doesn't happen. Desexing in the rescue world is only partialy done for breeding control, it is largely done for behavioural issues. And females that have tubal ligation still have heat cycles and still have all the other things that go with it. Most people cannot handle them, as simple as that. Vesectomny and Tubal ligation may stop breeding it does not stop cancers, which desexing can do. What do we do instead just trade some joint issues with massive amounts of cancer?? Or are you saying that we then desex them all at a later age - who is going to pay for that, and who is going to even bring the dogs back in for it. Shelters used to only desex dogs over 6 months of age and give out free vouchers for those under that age to bring them back when they turned 6 months. Less than 25% of dogs were ever bought back. Over 90% of them had had at least one litter and most had been found at large a number of times as well. That does not even consider the health issues of not desexing. It would be nice if we lived in a world in which most dog owners were responsible, sadely that is not the case. In fact I would say that the opposite is the case, that responsible dog owners are rarer than irresponsible ones.

Damned if you do, and damned if you don't... errr! It's nice to see a study that looked at both extremes and what issues could possibly arise from each. T. That I agree with. But it is still a poorly designed study. They did for instance only use patients. They did not go and source golden retrivers generally. And see what percentage of them had problems. They simply said, of all the Golden Retrievers that have hip displasia or CL damage, were they desexed or not. Dogs that are left intact are generally planned for breeding and one can hope that they would have superior health and conformation. That does not mean there is no truth in what has been said, but it was an incredibly poorly designed study. They did not for instance go and look at dogs from registered breeders and see which had problems even though they had been sold as pets and desexed and which ones had been kept intact. I am yet to see any decent study that really examines these issues from a population perspective. We know there are risks of early desexing, there are however also benefits, both health and behavioural. People come up with studies showing what they want to show which does not say that is really happening generally. Having said that one needs to carefully consider the pro's and con's of desexing and what is planned for that dog. If one plans on doing agility with the dog for instance, then one would think that keeping them intact for longer would be a good idea. One also has to consider the behavioural affects on neuturing. And while good owners can manage intact dogs, the amount of irresponsible ones out there, cannot. That is why shelters started compulsory desexing for all animals before sale, there was too many problems, too many dogs allowed to randomly mate, etc and no amount of educating of such people has worked. What might work for some people will not work for others. i usually desex my dogs between 12-14 months of age, but that is me. I know how to look after them, I know how to manage the issues of them, and I know the risks of what I am doing. This is the age I have come up with for me and my dogs, in consultation with the breeders that I respect and choose to use, and which my vet has agreed with in this situation. I would not however recommend it to Joe Average with some mutt of a dog that they have absolutely no control of, and who cannot see the point of obedience training and who thinks that dogs should be allowed to have sex just like hamans do!!!

Simple lifestyle changes, keeping them warm and dry. Soft bedding, but not too soft, they need to be able to easily stand up and turn around on it, if they cannot do that, that can cause them pain and discomfort. Jumping into cars, onto furniture, etc, is also going to cause problems. Making sure they are not overweight at all. Any excess weight is going to make it much more draining on the joints, and put extra pressure on them. ALL vet clinics will allow you to weigh the dog for free. They must have a very clear waist line. Free running can cause problems. Leash walks regularly are important. Exercise keeps the joints moving and that helps. But it needs to be acceptable exercise. Two small walks each day are ideal, the limbs are getting the movement they need. Walking on grass, providing it is flat is also great. Swimming is good, BUT one needs to make sure they really are swimming. Taking a dog to the beach and telling them to play is not going to help they will go bounding into the water, which will cause problems. Swimming means swimming, not playing in water!! It will require strick human supervision and control. Massaging the joints will help too. You can even buy really cheap hand held massagers from $10 that can do part of the job for you! In most cases lifestyle changes are going to make the most difference and are of course the cheapest. No amount of drugs or supplements are going to do much if the dog is overweight, does not have suitable bedding or is not getting appropriate exercise. There are so many things that can be done in day to day lifestyle changes that are going to make the most difference. The supplements you have the dog on at present are not pain relief. Only anti-inflamatories offer pain relief. What these supplements do is to help to stop the joints getting worse. Arthritis is about wearing away the cartlidge around the joints. That cannot be repaired. What one can do is to try and slow the progression of it by giving the nutrients that help to keep the cartlidge there. If you want natural pain relief, you need natural anti-inflamatories. Joint supplements are going to help to stop it from progressing as fast as it would. They are the only things that can slow the regression of it and they do that. But they cannot remove pain. And I apologise for harping on about it again, but the most effective thing one can do to reduce pain is to get the dog to shed excess weight. Sorry if that is not relevent, but in most cases dogs do have some weight they can loose and any weight lost will help the dog. Pain will continue to increase if things are not put in place to assist with that, but many of those things can be lifestyle and then there are natural anti-inflamatories as well. The more things you put in place the better the dog is going to cope, and the longer they will live with the condition for.

This I agree with. If they are taking you to court you need to get a lawyer. One can only do so much to prevent a condition. Hip and Elbow scores are not the same as DNA testing, but they are the best thing we have. One cannot guarantee a dog will not have hip or elbow displasia, they can simply lower the likelihood. I would question any vet who simply put down a dog with so called hip displasia, especially if it were a puppy. I know puppies that had really bad hips and actually grew up to have better hips. Others that looked like they had great hips, that ended up being bad. This is one of the reasons scoring is not done until the dogs are at least 12 months old, the hips of puppies can and do change over that period of time. Hip displasia also veries in severity, and if one does have a dog with displasic hips does that automatically warrant the dog being euthanised. Thousands of dogs live with the said condition. May not be what they wanted, not what anyone wants, but to simply euthanise a dog because it is not perfect is quite an extreme response. I would always seek a second opinion from another vet. And of course they should always have contacted the breeder before any of this happened and offered the dog back to the breeder. They are going to have to show x-rays in court, and also justify why it was necessary to euthanise the dog. If they did not seek a second opinion that looks bad. If they did not contact the breeder before hand that is also bad. And yes diet and exercise do play a role. Like others I disagree with the percentages you have, but a whole range of things contribute to hip displasia. But since one cannot do a DNA test to definatively say a dog will not be affected, then one cannot guarantee anything. I would say though any decent breeder explains all of this stuff before selling pups, and puts all of this stuff in writing to the new owners, along with detailed information about diet and exercise, copies of the parents health clearances, etc. The standard contracts also say that the breeder must be contacted before a dog is euthanised, unless it is a medical emergency. Hip Displasia is not a medical emergency. And most contracts also state that the breeder must be able to have a second vet examine the pup, etc. Such breeders also have mentors they talk to and communicate with and would be discussing it with them, not on an online forum where anyone can answer.

Megan the additional information, which Guide Dogs WA have said publically is not what this is really about. For me COMMON SENSE says most of it and that is what others are also saying, this guy was WORKING, and when WORKING one has EXTRA responsiblities, that do not apply to pet dog owners. I respect the perspective you bring as a pet dog owner, but I know that I expect EVERYONE at my vet clinic, even the admin worker to ensure the welfare of my dog at all times. Hence EVERYONE in the Guide Dog Association has responsiblities to ensure the welfare of the dogs. In my job I have responsiblities, not to make mistakes that the AVERAGE person might make. EVERYONE has that in a job. Even if one does not work, as competent adults one has some knowledge that different professionals and different organisations have responsibilities. Common sense says that if I leave my dog in the care of someone else, I expect them to care for it. I will not accept a vet clinic forgetting to give medications, I will not accept a pet transport company "accidently" killing my dog, by leaving it in a hot car. About 5 years ago a pilot forgot to ensure the airconditioning was on in the animal hold of the aircraft. 2 dogs survived, one a pug, died, which is not suprising as they cannot regulate body temperature the way other dogs were. The pilot was immediately sacked and from what I heard had limitations placed on the commercial pilots licence by the CASA. The other pilot who was not responsible, but was none the less in the cabin, was severely reprimanded, fined and demoted. It was said that he should have ensured his suprior officer did the right thing. The RSPCA transports thousands of dogs every year. What would happen if they just accidently left them in hot cars. Guide Dogs are an organisation that MUST be responsible for the care of dogs. And yes, that care, MUST be to a higher standard, than I as a pet dog owner would be required to meet, just as EVERYONE in a hospital has some level of responsibility for the welfare of patietnts. If necessary, one just has to tell a more senior medical person. Doesn't mean an admin worker can watch a person die, and not tell a doctor or nurse, just because they are an admin worker. ALL staff and volunteers at Guide Dog programs have responsiblities and common sense says this. While I have recieved emails from Guide Dogs WA due to my assocations with them, I take this in part as common sense, my partner is a Child Care worker, and DOES transport children. She can't just accidently leave them in cars, just because they are being quiet. And no she would not have parents say, I understand it was a mistake. Whether a volunteer or a staff member, in any role they have HIGHER levels of respnsiblity and alwasy will have due to the nature of the organisation, than the average person has with pet dogs. But yes, I do expect a Guide Dog instructor to have higher levels of responsibility. My mothers volunteers in hospitals, she has to inform nurses at a minimum if something she notices seems wrong. She had a whole two hour training session before starting, that basicaly said just that. She can't just say, I'm not a nurse or doctor so I don't have to tell anyone. Common sense must apply. She must call someone else immeidately, stay with them and if necessary just try and comfort them. Sure a nurse MIGHT be walking past in 5 minutes to do observations, but they don't wait for that nurse they put something in place now. If you were visiting a family or friend in hospital and noticed something amiss you go and tell someone immediatley, you don't just wait for them to pick it up. And you expect that of EVERYONE who works in the hospital. If you go the nurses station and only an admin worker is there, you expect them to find someone who can help you if they can't.