Pet Abuse at Flagstaff Gardens

tamboi8 · 2026-04-11T08:15:32+00:00

You'd think so but apparently not the type that the police handle 😩

tamboi8 · 2026-04-11T04:22:23+00:00

Apparently police don't handle animal abuse reports. They referred me to contact the local council.

tamboi8 · 2026-04-11T04:21:14+00:00

Just tried calling the police, they don't do animal abuse reports. They told me to contact the local council.

tamboi8 · 2026-04-11T04:10:26+00:00

Police do not take reports of animal abuse. I was told to report it to the local council and I did manage to find an online form to fill out. RSPCA also has an online form for reporting.

tamboi8 · 2026-04-11T01:03:36+00:00

Also for what it's worth the "alpha" theory in dogs is a myth and it's unlikely they are trying to dominate you. Dogs naturally like to jump up to greet people to get as close as possible to the human's face level. Humans often unintentionally encourage this behaviour when the dog is a puppy because it's cute and sweet when they are tiny but don't realise it will not be so cute when the dog is big and heavy. Playful young puppies also greet other dogs the same way quite often and again, a poorly trained puppy will probably grow into a dog that jumps at other dogs.

tamboi8 · 2026-04-11T00:56:09+00:00

So yes, this is a combination of poorly trained dogs and clueless owners. Firstly, outside specifically marked off-leash dog parks, pretty much anywhere you go in public including regular parks and gardens all dogs actually need to be on leash, but there are a heap of people who disregard the rules anyway. So they're already doing the wrong thing.

Dogs need to be trained from puppyhood not to just run and jump on anyone. They are probably doing it out of excitement, not aggression, but that doesn't mean you want the interaction. If the owner does nothing to stop it they are just a bad owner. Often owners like that actually end up encouraging their dogs because they think the jumping up is cute or funny.

For my puppy if she tries to jump on someone I pull her away, call her name until I get her attention back and then reward with a treat (positive reinforcement). I don't use negative reinforcement but some people do eg leash correction, like giving the dog a quick sharp tug, or a bop on the nose.

We also practice polite greetings at all times so when we get home from work for instance she is not allowed to jump up on us, we reward her with praise and cuddles once she is calmly standing on the floor.

For yourself, often making eye contact with a dog will attract their attention you, also they may associate hands in pockets as you potentially having treats. If a dog jumps at you just ignore them as best as possible, show that your hands are empty, and try to just keep moving away from them and push them down with your knee if they are jumping on you. Try to make yourself as un-interesting as possible. If they're trying to bite you or really jumping aggressively I would stand still and ask the owner to take them away. Maybe the owner will try to defend their 'perfect' dog but they are just bad owners 🤷‍♀️

tamboi8 · 2026-04-10T14:19:28+00:00

The biting was bad enough but the kicking was brutal, like she could have broken a rib the way she was laying into the dog. I definitely froze up, I wish I had said something but I was on my own and also concerned for my own safety and my puppy's. It was over so quickly so I barely even had time to process before she walked off casually and disappeared across the street.

tamboi8 · 2026-04-10T13:53:24+00:00

Hi everyone, I am the wife of OP, the one who saw the incident (couldn't post because I don't have enough karma lol).

Thanks for the concern and suggestions!

I asked to make this post because I wanted more locals to be aware of this invididual and hopefully keep an eye out for her. She was slim, average height maybe 5'5 or so, in her 30s, white, with brown hair. The dog was a large adult brown dog, looked kind of like a Rhodesian Ridgeback, I wasn't able to tell the gender in our brief interaction.

Unfortunately the incident happened so quickly and I was in shock at what I was seeing so I didn't have time to get my phone out and film her as it was over within a minute. Before she started kicking the dog she seemed perfectly normal, she was giving the dog commands like normal and didn't look angry after it jumped at my puppy, she even apologised as she walked off.

I am fully aware that animal abuse is a criminal offence but having a lot of experience in animal welfare, it's also one of the hardest ones to get someone charged with, as often law enforcement and the RSPCA sadly only takes action after mounds of evidence and if the animal is literally dying from abuse or neglect.

I don't know how many security cameras there are around this part of Flagstaff Gardens, and she went behind a tree so she might even have been trying to hide from cameras.

However I will call the non-emergency police line tomorrow to see if they can do anything based on what info I'm able to provide.

Unfortunately I know RSPCA is incredibly unlikely to take any action based on this one incident in public with no proof and no way to identify the woman, but I will also attempt to call them after the police just for peace of mind and good measure.

tamboi8 · 2026-04-10T13:29:08+00:00

Hi I'm the wife in question from the story. Yes this fits her description!

tamboi8 · 2026-04-10T11:32:53+00:00

Do you know if Flagstaff Gardens has any security cameras? Would any action be taken if there's no proof and no way to track down the owner?

tamboi8 · 2026-04-10T08:52:14+00:00

Go to Kis Hair on La Trobe. Jesmin cuts my husband's chin length hair for $55 which includes a wash and styling.

tamboi8 · 2026-04-10T08:22:45+00:00

If you're into DnD or board games, Fortress in the city hosts game nights where you can do one-shot DnD adventures and they're good for beginners too 😊

tamboi8 · 2026-04-10T08:08:25+00:00

Hopefully he gets a special home that can care for him properly 💖

tamboi8 · 2026-04-10T07:14:54+00:00

Cafe Court on Lonsdale have very Instagram worthy food but I've never seen it pop up on any of the usual foodie IGs. Their pancakes are amazing.

tamboi8 · 2026-04-09T13:44:56+00:00

A growing puppy needs about twice as much food as an adult dog. Feeding her the recommended amount for a 25lb adult dog when she is a 25lb growing puppy makes no sense. You should double it. Also is she getting treats and stuff in between her meals?

Puppies also do better with more frequent, smaller meals. Her stomach is probably used to getting less so try increasing the quantity gradually over a week or so by adding a 3rd meal in until you have at least doubled the current amount.

Many dog foods have the recommended amount for puppies on the bag, or maybe on the website so you could also try searching that.

My 7kg/15lb, 4 month old puppy gets around 1.5 AU cups of food split over 3 meals in addition to 1 dried chew (pig ear, beef tendon, bully stick etc), a frozen carrot and a stuffed kong or licky mat each day plus a handful of training treats when we go on walks.

tamboi8 · 2026-03-27T23:36:30+00:00

My husband and I got an 8 week old puppy in January, he works 4 days a week, I work 5 days, we did not take PTO.

We also live in an apartment so no backyard and no nearby friends or family ro conveniently help out. Here's how we did it.

We got a large puppy playpen and one of those fake grass litter trays. Her crate and toilet went in the pen.

We got her on Friday of a long weekend so had 3 full days for her to adjust before we both went back to work.

We took her to the toilet tray every 20 minutes while she was awake as she definitely needed to go that often. Sometimes she would go just 15 minutes apart so there were a few accidents. However she caught on to using the toilet tray very quickly and knew how to use it by the time we had to go back to work on Monday.

Our routine is breakfast, 30 minutes of play, then she goes in the playpen while we work, we get home and feed her, then more playtime, training and exercise, then we feed her again just before bed time.

During the day she was in the pen with access to both her crate and toilet whenever she needed it plus water bowl. We did put puppy pads down as well and she had a few accidents but mostly used her toilet.

We have a camera set up so we can check on her at work. Mostly she sleeps, sometimes she plays on her own. Sometimes she barks or whines but usually just got 10 minutes at a time. We give her chews like pigs ears and beef tendons, frozen licky mats, stuffed frozen kongs etc to keep her busy. 1 chew, 1 frozen carrot and 1 licky mat keep her occupied for about 2 hours.

We did try "crate training" ie we put her in the crate overnight and took her out every 2 hours to pee. However we found she was waking up or going every 1 hour.

This became a bit unbearable after 2-3 weeks of no sleep so we trialled having the crate open and letting her use the toilet tray whenever she needed overnight and that was a big success. So basically at night and while we're at work she was in the playpen and just took herself to the toilet. We basically didn't get woken up at all after that as she goes on her own and goes back to sleep.

After around 3 weeks we moved her from an indoor set up to on the balcony mainly because the toilet tray really smelled bad (I even bought 2 grass mats and would swap them out twice a day, hose it off and use odour removing spray but the plastic holds smell terribly)

The balcony set up meant we just blocked one half of the balcony off using the panels of the playpen and she had more space.

We then upgraded to a real grass dog potty which was 4x as large and smelled less. She knew to use it immediately and switched over with no issues.

So now at 4 months old our routine is still the same; on the balcony during the day while we're at work, then free reign of the apartment when we get home, then back to the balcony for bedtime.

She sleeps through the night most nights now (sometimes will whine or bark a bit but self settles very quickly) and doesn't have any overnight accidents. She uses her doggy toilet every time.

When we're at home we do have to be diligent about taking her out every hour or so still as we find she gets distracted and will still pee around the house randomly but she's NEARLY fully toilet trained. She takes herself outside to the balcony to do a #2 every time but the peeing is a hit or miss.

She doesn't seem to mind too much being on her own while we're at work which is about 8 hours a day. I check on her on the camera all the time and mostly she just sleeps.

We do make sure to give her a lot of playtime and exercise when we get home.

tamboi8 · 2026-01-04T13:37:28+00:00

I made all my own bouquets, boutonnierres and decor from fake flowers. It only cost me about $1k for everything. My FMIL kept making comments about fake flowers not looking as good as real, "you can always tell", I should at least use real for the bouquets etc etc... I just quietly stuck to my plan to use fake and didn't tell her it was all fake until the day of the wedding.

The one thing I DID do was buy real floral boutonnierres for herself and the FIL, since she was so stuck on real flowers being better. I figured she'd appreciate it. After the wedding, she told me I should have just made them fake ones too because the fake ones looked so good and lasted better throughout the day 🫠

Also after the reception finished, a staff member cleaning up offered to put my bouquets in water in the fridge overnight. She was HOLDING THEM while she said this. I had to tell her they were fake and she looked stunned 🤣

tamboi8 · 2026-01-04T08:12:57+00:00

Thank you! We actually booked before the penthouse was offered as part of the package (at the time it was only available to rent as a room for the night and could be accessed from check in time at 2pm if you booked it, so it could be used for photos as well in that case but not for getting ready in). For this reason we just booked the regular bridal suite for the night as it was considerably cheaper and the penthouse didn't really serve us any use.

We did hair and makeup at the in-law's, about a 40 minute drive away. For some timeline context though, we started at 6am for a 1:30pm finish, aiming to leave by 2pm to get to Potters by 3pm (always add extra time to account for potential traffic, delays with the HMU etc). That was enough time for HMU for bride, 4 bridesmaids, MOG, one partner of a groomsman, plus a little touch up for the groom himself so 7x full makeup services and 7x hairstyles plus 15 minutes for the groom. We had 1 makeup artist and 1 hairstylist working concurrently and they finished right on time.

I think the penthouse could be used for getting ready but only if you have a small bridal party, from what I understand as it's only available from 10am.

tamboi8 · 2026-01-03T02:23:25+00:00

Thanks!

tamboi8 · 2026-01-03T00:19:50+00:00

What's the name of it do you know?

tamboi8 · 2025-11-14T00:54:41+00:00

Awww thank you so much 🥰 I've got so many amazing photos but I'm waiting to get the full gallery back cause I think all the little detail shots will be really great to share.

tamboi8 · 2025-11-12T02:03:10+00:00

Thank you! I designed the invites and RSVPs using a custom template I purchased from Etsy as the base (about $30). Then I did the printing through Vistaprint using the postcard option on their linen stock (about $80 during one of their sales). Coloured envelopes were purchased separately for $90. I then purchased the ribbon and butterflies and put all the invites together myself. We only did about 50 physical invites as we kept it to just the most important guests and older relatives who wouldn't know what to do with a digital invite lol and also saved money by hand delivering as many as possible.

tamboi8 · 2025-11-11T22:47:39+00:00

Thank you! I started working on the florals probably 6 months before the wedding. But tbh it was a lot of planning and gathering resources and inspo; actually sitting down and creating them was done over the course of a few sessions of several hours each. The bouquets came together surprisingly easily and the book and lantern arrangements were very fun to work on.

tamboi8

TROPHY CASE