Her Majesty Dogmad

Definitely report it. Hope the council gives a crap, mine doesn't.

Thanks for giving an old dog a most wonderful home for his last few years. What a precious old boy, so sorry for your loss

I'm sure there would be a Great Dane Club in VIC or at least contact some of the breeders on the front of Dogzonline, GD breeders in VIC. Not all breeders do the same colours so Merle and Harlequin colours could well help to identify who bred the dogs.

Absolutely the last option!! Dogs like this are very hard to rehome due to size and cost. You could either get a run or make a house yard (I'm presuming you are on some sort of acreage). I just visited a 14 acre property to do a yard check and it was not possible to fence it all so they have fenced a sizeable house yard with wire and posts. He needs to be kept secure for so many reasons and you love him so you are best to make it work - once you give him up he is at the mercy of other people and unfortunately, sometimes other people are not who we think they are and will dump the dog they took on promising to love and care for them like you, at the drop of a hat.

She's a cutie!

Never a good idea to have a ball in the dog park, so many dogs can make an issue out of it. I don't think you have a problem dog however. Play ball in your own yard and stick with that, walk in the dog park - if you must, I'm not a fan.

I also work with someone who had a disabled daughter who is now 5 yrs old. They have a large active dog. Some parents would have dumped the dog, considering the workload the disabled child gives them but no, they've made it work. The dog is indoors, part of the family and my colleague gets up at 5am every day religiously to do an hour's walk. My hat is off to her and her husband for doing their best for the whole family, it couldn't be easy.

Separate the dogs before a disaster happens, puncture wounds are a warning - things can get a whole lot worse from this point. I imagine there are 4 adults in the house?? Surely, surely someone can find time to do a walk? It's not hard. I live on my own, have a few dogs, work full time, run the house and yard - I'm not superwoman but unless I'm sick, the dogs get a daily walk - I go twice because I have very elderly dogs and a younger dog who needs more exercise. The poor dogs' world has been turned upside down. I'm not sure about a Shiba but poodles and other small dogs should be inside. All dogs should be part of family life rather than living like plants in a backyard with no walks and probably little interaction. Why have them at all?

What a horrible experience, hope Pudding's soon home. About 10 yrs ago my dogs got into fertiliser at a friend's house, the vet's advice was to rush them to the nearest vet (I was miles from home) and get their stomachs pumped. This was done and the vet released them a few hours later. Two were OK, just a bit groggy but the 3rd dog didn't recover at all well and we were at emergency late at night. The next morning I was leaving at 5am for a US trip and had to go not knowing whether he'd pull through. It was terrible and I cried for 15 hours pretty much. He did pull through, I got an email when I landed to say he was OK ....

If you don't have time and want him to empty his bladder then you can put him on the lead and go to the nearest lamp post - I've had to resort to that on occasion with new fosters but they gradually get it in time. I do find females much harder than males - my current female foster is a cruelty case and it's complex, toilet training is proving a big challenge - she's 6 and a Shihtzu type.

Wet weather - even my perfectly housetrained older dogs don't wish to go onto the wet grass and we start having accidents inside. Put paper/pee pads around the dog door, most that are housetrained will head towards the door to go and then will use those instead - if you are lucky - if they don't want to go outside due to weather. Did you have the big storm in the night 2 nights ago? That could have frightened him if say he was about to go outside and there was a big clap of thunder simultaneously?

I don't understand? Where have I said I am unhappy with the puppy? So I put a puppy outside for misbehaving, see it's not working, ask for advice on a forum for dogs, and somehow I've been painted as an abusive animal owner who shouldn't own a dog? Really? My last dog I owned for 16 years until he passed away 8 years ago. I still have a photo of him on my dresser. The puppy we have now was much planned for and is a very much loved member of our family. I would go as far to say that we may have inadvertently caused some of the issues by our lack of boundary setting with the puppy. Just because I say we've now taken a no-tolerance stance to the biting doesn't mean I'm beating her with a stick and yelling at her. This little girl has not even heard us raise our voice let alone been yelled at, or worse, hit. Just because I don't have the level of dog behaviour experience as many on this forum do, doesn't give people the right to automatically assume I'm some kind of monster. That's really offensive, and very off-putting to others that may be thinking of asking for help. Again, thank you for those who have been supportive and helpful. I have made investigations today into some additional help and appreciate those that have given constructive ideas and help. And yes, I have been speaking to the breeder. This little girl has been a bit cheeky and boisterous from day one. She'll definitely benefit (and thrive) from additional training. If you'd like to re-read my posts, I have been quite clear in suggesting that you need some help. Obviously reading posts here is not going to work for you all that well in improving your situation. If you were happy and everything was working well for you, you wouldn't have come and asked for help nor would you be having to do what you've been doing - rightly or wrongly. I stand by what I said and I never said you were a monster, that's your own interpretation. I hope you find the answers very soon.

Yesterday at work I was asked to help a colleague whose family is taking on a puppy - she said "I've been told to rub the puppy's nose in it's business to housetrain, I thought you'd know if this was the right way to do it?". Talk about steam coming out my ears.... I asked if she'd ever done that to any of her children when they were toddlers and she was horrified at the thought. Puppies are like young children and they don't have control over their ablutions at a young age. There's some great articles on the internet, here's a link to one: http://kb.rspca.org.au/how-can-i-toilet-train-my-puppydog_296.html I housetrain older dogs all the time, using positive rewards. If I can housetrain a 14 yr old that's never lived inside before and old dogs that have lived in breeders' kennels, I'm sure it might even be easier with a puppy but it takes time and patience. You have described some other issues - have a look on the internet but I'd recommend that you get a behaviouralist in now as it sounds like a very confusing situation for all. Your breeder should definitely be helping you, are they aware of how unhappy you are with the puppy?

I recently picked up a toy poodle from owners who didn't want it. Had the dog for 3 years after buying it online, told me it had bitten. They only paid for the dog to be groomed once a year and the dog NEVER went to the vets. It toileted every time they let it in the house so he lived outside under a bush mostly, never walked ... The owner told me she had poodles growing up and this dog was not like the dogs she'd had before. I picked up the dog easily, no biting. He was taken to my vet for all his vet work, he was housetrained within 2 days and has gone to a loving home. The new owners have taken him to dog training, had him groomed again and have him living inside with them as part of the family, I'm not expecting they'll have any issues at all - none so far in the weeks since adoption, not one and yet the former owners believed he was the devil incarnate. There was nothing wrong whatsoever with this dog. The problem was the owners had no idea how to train the dog or look after the dog, nor were they interested in even reading what to do on the internet. He didn't even have the basic vaccinations. Now I'm not suggesting that you are in this league, you are on here asking for help but I was honestly quite shocked when I read your post about what you are doing with the puppy to "train".

I would contact a vet who does natural therapies, go online do some research as well. Perhaps there are some herbs that could help. Milk Thistle seems to come to mind - I lost one of mine to liver cancer aged 11 and something like that was recommended along with certain foods.

What a lovely idea! Thanks for sharing

A couple of mine are much older now and cannot go all night, they drink more these days and pee more as a consequence. They are 13 and 15 yrs of age and one has Cushings (on meds) and the other has liver issues. I also have Italian Greyhounds and as a breed they appear unable to go through the night - I've owned and fostered many of this breed and other people often seem to experience the same problem. It isn't a problem for me with a doggie door however, unless I'm still training them when they are fosters. You could look at diet - someone told me at the weekend that BARF had made a huge difference to their dog's health. A lot of the cheaper kibble brands contain salt and so do some of the meat rolls etc which of course will make them drink/pee more. Another friend of mine tries to avoid this issue by feeding her dogs at 7am, they are then outside during the day and then they get a snack in the evening when she gets home. For the most part, this seems to work well generally.

A few years ago I took a small white fluffy to a new market that started up locally (it isn't running any more), it was a NSW produce market. I couldn't believe how many people gave me a wide berth because I had a dog. There wasn't a "no dog rule" in place - if there was I wouldn't have entered the market. He wasn't peeing on anyone's stall but I really didn't feel comfortable and never went again. I've been to other markets in the area with dogs and it was really enjoyable BUT everyone has to have their dogs on leads to avoid problems. No point taking dogs with on lead aggression or who are aggro with other dogs or dogs who don't cope with very crowded places or there are going to be issues. I'd only take one of mine because the others aren't the right fit for this type of environment.

I'm in lurve!!

Wonderful people!

Very sad for you, what a beautiful girl. RIP Kayla

Absolutely agree, but I can understand why the community are upset. Especially when this isn't the first time those dogs have been out and about. I guess that's why they shouldn't get the chance the first time, nor the second. The pigs weren't that little though. Brave dogs! Pigs don't mess about. These dogs are aggressive. I'm sure they'd be interested in passing dogs, were there any. The owner is obviously incompetent, uncaring, stupid or all of the above. It isn't the dogs' fault, it is the owner BUT these dogs cannot go back to the owner and cannot be rehomed.

Poor old chook, sorry to hear of your loss T, they do leave a big hole in our hearts and our homes. You'll adjust over time, things will be a bit different but she'll always be with you in spirit.

Well this time the council needs to do their job properly, no third chances.

Depends on the dogs, I have 2 14 yr olds who had a stomach bug recently and I had to go away for work for 2 nights/3 days and had to cancel their accommodation. A friend came in twice a day to feed/medicate/check on them. They were fine and less stressed by being here. That said, I've had to complain to a couple of different neighbours who also left their dogs alone all night and the dogs barked all night long .... I'm always happy to help, I just don't want to be awake all night because of a lonely dog.