Barking Dogs

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

Interesting dog poo discussion…

When I was kids treading in dog poo on the pavement was an everyday hazard (but they did employ people to clean the pavements in those days!)

These days poop-scooping is so popular I'm amazed at the fuss about the relatively tiny amounts of poo left over. When did you last see a chalky white dog poo on the pavement? They were common as muck (sic) when I were a lad.

With two labradors I do my fair share of poop scooping. Luckily one dog always likes to go well off the path to plop. The other one always holds on until we go home, so most of my scooping is on the patio! Hooray for cheap bleach at 28p for 2 litres…

Final thought, these days taxonomists treat domestic dogs as a subspecies of wolf, but one consistent change that has come with domestication is the ability to digest starchy foods i.e. domestic dogs have evolved so that they can eat much the same food as humans. I think the bacteria point made above is a good one – change any dog's diet in a big way and face the consequences.

Neil

P.S. How could a dog as angelic as this poo in the wrong place…

[AjohnwParticipant @ajohnw51620]

I've stopped feeding our German Shepard on a dried food based round salmon Neil. Looks like I will have to do the same with the latest idea on the very best dried dog food – no cereal products so based on potato and in this case duck. Think we will be going back to normal additive and gluten free based on lamp, beef or chicken.

To be honest I suspect we are encouraged to feed them way too much and one lot going in has a lot to do with the previous lot coming out.

John

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[Gordon Brown 1Participant @gordonbrown1]

Many years ago I worked as an environmental health officer and had responsibility for assessing houses for repairs grants, in other words a bringer of glad tidings and dosh so you'd expect me to get a decent welcome wherever I went. Not so, at one house I was immediately leapt upon by an effing great dane of considerable size and the owner got very snarky when I told him to stop the bloody thing from leaping up at me. I eventually had to tell the ignorant sod to shut the darned thing away while I did my inspection, which he did with considerable ill grace.

I got on with my work and the last area I looked at was the rear roof, which meant going into the back yard. To my disgust I found the yard was literally covered in dog turds, all of which were of the size a huge loose bowelled great dane would produce, and there was barely room to step between them. Becoming more and more annoyed by this whole scenario I quickly completed my inspection and made to leave.

Hang on, thought I, I'm not putting up with this, there's considerable scope for revenge. So, I choose the two largest, freshest turds I could see and carefully trod in both, gathering as much onto the soles of my shows as I could. I then walked back through the house being careful to remove as much sh*te from my shoes as possible, transferring it to the nice light grey shag pile carpet that had clearly recently been installed. By good fortune the owner was outside the front door sucking on a fag so he didn't see the results but I often wonder what he thought when he went back indoors. We never received any complaints about it, not that he had much to complain about, and he didn't get a grant either, so a ruddy good result in my view.

[Danny M2ZParticipant @dannym2z]

Do you have packs of wild dogs in the UK?

Here in Oz, feral dogs (and cats) are a serious problem. Many are reputed to be hunting dogs that have strayed from their owners. They often run in packs and are devastating to the local wildlife and farm stock.

Sat up all night with a mate to nail this brute, the pack come out of the bush at dawn and headed straight for the mob of sheep. A few days earlier they had killed 12 sheep and a poddy calf.

Night vision scope and IR spotlight on a .223 fixed him and a few others. This was the pack leader, he weighed in at 35kg. At that time the state govt had a bounty on wild dogs but because of the risk of hydatid disease not many bother to skin them (have to provide the scalp to claim the bounty). The gratitude of a farmer battling drought was enough, made a great mate there!

Feral cats are even worse, they do not hunt in packs, but they kill many native birds and small animals. Foxes and rabbits are on my list too – introduced to Australia to give the 'gentry' a bit of sport in the 1800's they have bred rampantly.

Don't get me wrong, I love dogs – as long as they are kept under the control of the owner in a responsible way. I only hunt the ferals btw (and it's a great way to keep fit).

* Danny M *

[MikeParticipant @mike89748]

As a country lad I don't mind poo smells, but dog poo – a curse in our village – is toxic, just like Phil says. I edit the village newspaper, and the lead story in the next issue will highlight the problem, with the following warning:

Health problems spread by dog poo are caused by a parasite known as Toxocara Canis (also known as Roundworm). These parasites live in dogs’ digestive systems. Eggs are released in the faeces of infected animals and thence into contaminated soil. If someone ingests infected material, the eggs may hatch into larvae and can lead to toxocariasis.
Toxocariasis usually affects children aged between one and four years, but cases of toxocariasis have been reported in people of all ages. Young children are most at risk because they are more likely to put things into their mouths and less likely to wash their hands properly.
Symptoms of toxocariasis can include seizures, breathing difficulties, a very red and painful eye, and clouded vision, usually only in one eye. Left untreated, toxocariasis can cause permanent loss of vision in the affected eye.

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

Posted by Ajohnw on 12/03/2016 16:18:35:

To be honest I suspect we are encouraged to feed them way too much and one lot going in has a lot to do with the previous lot coming out.

Labradogs are very prone to overweight, they live to eat…

Ours get a basic diet of two cans, which is about half what the tables on the cans suggest. With the extra scrounging we can just about keep them at their 'healthy' weights. They are probably 'average' in terms of how active they are, walking a couple of miles a day.

Neil

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

Posted by Danny M2Z on 13/03/2016 04:52:20:

Do you have packs of wild dogs in the UK?

Not as such, but not long ago over 100 sheep died as a result of dog worrying, most apparently from shock/crushing as they tried to escape.

Neil

[Clive HartlandParticipant @clivehartland94829]

Just the other day about 60 sheep died here in the UK, it is suggested that dogs were the cause as the sheep were jammed up in a corner and had died of fright or sheer weight of other sheep on top.

Of course the other thing about dogs is that they bite, next doors Labrador got out and ran off into the woods nearby with the owner screaming threats at it, I would have run too. 10 mins. later back comes the dog and lay down near me as I worked on the car. I thought that I would put him in the back garden and knowing his name i put my hand down and he immediately grabbed my arm and raked his teeth down it and then ran off again. The owner came back and I remonstrated with him about his dog and he was quite upset. The dog was later moved to his sisters who had young children. The man is now in OZ with you Danny.

Clive

[NJHParticipant @njh]

There is an old and relevant adage :-

There are no bad dogs – only bad owners.

Norman

[AjohnwParticipant @ajohnw51620]

Posted by NJH on 13/03/2016 12:37:08:

There is an old and relevant adage :-

There are no bad dogs – only bad owners.

Norman

True of toxocara as well – not worming them. To say all dogs have it is just plain nuts. As far as I am aware most if not all owners do worm their dogs. Lots have children.

I did here of one wild dog case after a fashion. Our previous shepherd came from a place that rescues them. A very wooded country area and a few had escaped. They seem to do well in the wild and take to it readily.

It's also true to say some people don't like dogs full stop without any real reason and can't understand why people have them.

Problem dog poo is rare round here now but there are still a couple of people who walk their dog as I described earlier from time to time.

John

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[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

In the US labradors cause the most biting incidents. It seems likely that the problem is not aggression, but that people assume 'it's a labrador so it must be friendly to everyone'.

Neil

[AjohnwParticipant @ajohnw51620]

Odd that Neil. Our first dog after we married was mostly labrador to a very high degree. She clearly thought she was some sort of retriever. She caught birds a few times and though I assumed they died of shock never ever bit one. She was fond of mouthing people she knew's hands etc. She even used to grab me by the back of the neck when playing around at times. Never ever our very young son at the rime though. Dogs often seem to realise that young children need to be treated differently. Would I leave them alone in the same room though especially when he was more or less a baby – no. They are pack animals and will establish their position in the pack at times.

Shepherd's have had a bad name for biting people. However I suspect this is largely down to their rather weird way so saying I like you – nipping. They can also be very protective. When ever anyone comes into our house I have to ask if they are worried about dogs. Many say no but the problem is that dogs have very heightened senses in some areas an if they detect nervousness can think people are up to something. Ours just lets out some rather nasty low growls. It always disturbs me when I see parents screaming at kids to get away from dogs rather than teaching them how approach dogs and probably to stay away if the owner isn't about and can't be asked first. They can also be jealous which can lead to the terrible things that hit the head lines from time to time. Bad owners also sometimes teach the dogs to be aggressive – that's just one step away from the actual act. I have one friend that stars at the dog eye to eye all of the time – at some point dogs see that as aggression.

Toxocara – perhaps some truth is in order

**LINK**

Better get rid of all the foxes and cats as well. I'd wonder about one or two other animals that are always about such as rats too. This does touch on why people should worm their dogs periodically – horse too.

John

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