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bk_blue

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Posts posted by bk_blue

    Dogs you wouldn't own.

    in Everything about dogs

    Posted

    I don't know if I'd own another heeler. As much as I worship the ground BK walks on, he was hell on four legs for the first eight years of his life. He really should have been a farm or working dog. :-?

    I'm not into little dogs as a general rule, so I probably wouldn't own anything smaller than a Lab.

    A lot of my potential owning of a dog depends on what I do when I finish uni. I plan to work overseas so there is no way in hell I will get a dog of my own until I'm a lot older and settled somewhere. And when I am working, I envisage it will take up the majority of my time- so to get a high-energy dog just to leave it in the backyard for fourteen hours a day is not fair.

    Heh. Maybe I'll stick with *gasp* cats. :evilbat:

    BK got in a fight

    in Everything about dogs

    Posted

    *sigh* he's ok... now. Well, he's still a bit torn up but better than he was, apparently.

    This happened a week ago and I only found out a few hours ago (if anyone doesn't remember, he lives with my dad). I am pissed off that Dad didn't tell me, because I have spoken to him this week about unrelated matters, and he didn't bring it up at all, but anyway, to the fight.

    BK was being walked off lead down at the local park. He ran off to the on-lead area before anyone could stop him and went up to a bull terrier that was on-lead. As Dad told my sister who told me, the other dog just ripped into him without warning. Dad's fault for not having him on lead, not being able to control him, etc etc, but it must have been very quick. I've never had a *major* problem with BK and other dogs in all these years, certainly not to the point where he's doing any serious fighting, so whether this dog was just super-nasty or what, I don't know. I am a bit annoyed that he wasn't on-lead but I wasn't there, so I'm just reiterating what was told to me. So he has a couple of puncture holes in his side (they are pretty nasty according to my sister), he's limping, and the vet said he might be a bit funny around other dogs from now on- but he was fine with Lizie tonight, apparently.

    Anyway. I've been too busy to post and read much and even see my dog (otherwise I wouldn't have had to have found out secondhand information about him), but that's the story. :-?

    Narrowed it down to 2 breeders - your oppinions please?

    in Everything about dogs

    Posted

    Oh for God's sake, just pipe down.

    Really, some people are getting a bit self-righteous and focussing on one thing that may have been said in the heat of the moment's excitement (which has also been retracted numerous times) rather than the bigger picture.

    I am not taking sides in this but why is it that at least two longstanding members of this forum have actively decided to leave in the last six or so months? (The other one being HazelNutMeg.) I am concerned with the direction this forum is taking. :-?

    I'm not really quite sure what I am trying to say, but this whole thread bothers me. The main argument is almost incidental to the underlying attitude of some members.

    The world is a strange place.

    in Everything about dogs

    Posted

    [url]http://www.theage.com.au/news/World/Woman-breastfeeds-dog/2004/11/17/1100574501641.html[/url]

    Woman breastfeeds dog

    A New Zealand woman says she is breastfeeding her staffordshire bull terrier pup because she wants the dog to protect her baby girl as the pair grow up.

    Kura "Kat" Tumanako, of Hawke's Bay, on the north island, said she started breastfeeding the pup after her own baby stopped taking her milk.

    "I didn't want to waste it so I gave it to Honey Boy," she said.

    The pup was instantly hooked and has been having two feeds a day for the past week.

    Ms Tumanako said she would probably wean the puppy off in six weeks time. Her baby, Honey Pauline Philomina Flo, was born on August 29 and is now on bottled milk.

    "I wanted to raise it (the pup) with my baby," Ms Tumanako said today.

    "I wanted to bring it up with a baby. It will protect her as they grow up."

    The pup came from a litter of 10.

    "He drinks more than the baby. It doesn't hurt, but it's a little bit ticklish," she said.

    Ms Tumanako who is two months pregnant, said she did not care what people thought about her breastfeeding the pup.

    "It's my life, my responsibility. I make my own choices," she said.

    "I'm going to look after me, my baby and my puppy."

    Hastings veterinarian Sharon Marshall said it was uncommon, but not unheard of, for one species to provide milk to another.

    "But from a veterinarian viewpoint it's always better for any species to have its own milk. If a bitch was available that would have been better," Ms Marshall said.

    She knew of instances where a sow had given milk to puppies and dogs giving milk to cats, but had not heard of a human breastfeeding another species.

    "It's not going to hurt the puppy. I would be more concerned for hygiene issues for any baby sharing the milk," she said.

    Victoria University associate professor of anthropology Jeff Sissons said he was familiar with a practice among women from Papua New Guinea hill tribes who breastfed pigs, but he had not heard of any other instance of a human breastfeeding another species.

    The national president for the SPCA (Society of Prevention of Cruelty), Peter Mason, said there was nothing in the Animal Welfare Act that applied specifically to a case like this, but he had some concerns that the dog could develop long-term behavioural issues.

    "It doesn't sound like the animal is suffering. It's not a cruelty thing as such," Mr Mason said.

    The director of La Leche League, a support organisation for breastfeeding mothers, Rosemary Gordon, said she had heard of anecdotal cases involving mothers giving their milk to household pets or sick or elderly relatives, but she felt the matter was "beyond the league's area of expertise".
    - NZPA

    Letter writing wars- pit bulls

    in Amstaffs & Pit Bulls

    Posted

    Trying to combat some of the pit bull myths *sigh*. This is what some dumbass woman wrote to the paper today:

    Ian Donaldson (1/11), I'm not aware of any group of human beings being selectively bred over generations for certain traits - but like a lot of other people I've noticed something about breeds of dogs. Dog breeders and owners never seem to be surprised when particular breeds behave in particular ways, even without any training and from the time they are young: when retrievers can't be kept out of water, when kelpies round up other animals, when terriers dig holes, this is regarded as natural behaviour. Oddly, the only exception to this seems to be dogs that are bred as killers. When they do what they are bred for and attack other dogs, there are always people quick to state that this has nothing to do with what these dogs are bred for and that it is the owners who are the problem. I don't recall many reports of labradors or poodles mauling other dogs to death, irrespective of whether their owners have registered them or allowed them off lead. And if I were given a choice between leaving my puppy or my toddler with a spaniel or with a pit bull terrier, I wouldn't have to think very hard about it.

    And this is my response (have no idea if it will get published):

    Christine Duncan (2/11/04), I am concerned that you would not have to think very hard about leaving your puppy or child with a spaniel over a pit bull; I am concerned that you would even have to think about leaving your child or puppy with another dog, regardless of breed. Responsible owners register their dogs and do not allow them off lead unless they are capable of full control. They certainly do not leave a child or puppy with another dog.

    Research the history of the pit bull terrier. That is, if you can even identify one; statistics expressly state that people don't know a pit bull from a bar of soap; people have identified my blue heeler/border collie cross as a "pit bull". You would become more enlightened on these same "killers" who were renowned for their loyalty, courage and unwitting trust in and gentleness towards people before puppy millers and other assorted undesirables began breeding for profit over temperament. This has also happened to whatever dog was in vogue- back in the 1970s it was the Cocker Spaniel.

    The reason why labradors or poodles are not reported as having mauled other dogs or humans is that such stories are not newsworthy. Nobody wants to read about a dachshund biting my cousin's face when she was a toddler; dachshunds are cute and little, surely?

    Statistics show the dog breed most likely to bite is the German Shepherd, a breed I have had the delight of being owned by for years without incident to family, friends or other dogs.

    :evilbat:

    All alone

    in Everything about dogs

    Posted

    When people are home, Bk is inside/outside.

    When people are not home, he is outside.

    He sleeps outside as well.

    This arrangement works. My sister does this with Lizie as well, but Lizie goes over to Leo's (her dog boyfriend haha) 90% of the time she is not home, so she's absolutely stuffed at the end of the day and sleeps like a baby.

    I remember mentioning in another thread a while ago that this is what many Australians tend to do, as most of us who live in the cities have fenced yards. Personally I would have a lot of trouble/guilt over keeping at least a medium-sized very active dog inside all day if I wasn't home. However I can certainly understand those with purebred dogs would be very anxious about leaving a dog outside all day. I'm certainly not saying one way is better than the other, but it would be *my* preference to do what I do already. :)

    Naturally short tails / stand-up ears vs. cropped / docked

    in Everything about dogs

    Posted

    [quote name='Mutts4Me']Around here, most ACDs have short tails. I don't think I've seen one with a full tail before. I did look at pictures when I read your post, and I think they look lovely with tails (of course, I'm very much against cropping and docking anyway)!

    I thought they were sometimes born without tails because I'd read that when the ACD was imported into the US, they got some stumpy-tailed cattle dogs mixed in, and the Americans didn't realize they were different, so they interbred them, getting mixed litters. That may not be true, or perhaps that's been bred out of them, I don't know.
    [/quote]

    Awww I know, they're gorgeous (but I am biased) :D
    I don't know what the situation is with the ACD in the US, but the traditional heeler, in Australia anyway, has a full tail. :) It's meant to be low-set and should hang in a curve to the hock. They're not excessivly long tails; rather they are thick and bushy.

    Anyway, to state in general, I am not a fan of cropping and docking. Thankfully both have been banned in my state (the docking I think was banned either last year or this year, to much uproar :roll:)

    Not coping real well...

    in Everything about dogs

    Posted

    Oh Jeanne, I'm sorry that you still feel guilty. I guess it's a natural reaction. It's not your fault and you did the right thing, Lily is in a better place now. I don't know what I can say to make you feel better. *hugs* Hopefully as time goes by you'll feel better about Lily and remember only the good times and not the bad. :angel:

    AAAWWW!!!!!

    in Everything about dogs

    Posted

    To me, it does not seem as though Bop is being offensive. I never thought it was an offence to state your point of view, even if most others vehemently disagree. Some people just need to relaaaaax. :D

    On another note: who woulda thunk there'd be another Blitzkrieg out there? Isn't *one* enough? :drinking:

    Naturally short tails / stand-up ears vs. cropped / docked

    in Everything about dogs

    Posted

    [quote name='Mutts4Me']I believe the same can be said for the ACD/Heeler - naturally bobbed or docked.[/quote]

    The heeler has, or should have, a full tail- it acts as a rudder while they do the tight turns required in their work as cattle dogs. However I have heard that those with no knowledge of the breed do dock the tails in the belief that it aids in their work, ie so it doesn't get stamped on by a cow, etc. As I have pointed out this is misguided, as the dogs need their talis in order to work.

    The closely related breed with naturally bobbed tails are a separate breed, they're called the Stumpy-Tail Cattle Dog. This harks back to the days in Britain when a farmer was exempt from paying taxes on his working dogs if their tails were docked (don't ask me why!). This was abandoned in 1796 but of course docking continued and now the dogs are naturally born with a bobbed tail.

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