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Low folate was found to be the common cause, why pregnant women are told to take folate. Preventing Spina bifida, cleft palate etc

Such a beautiful man and such a beautiful relationship he had with Annie. Can't believe he also just lost his wife.

Very sad - he seemed a lovely man , and has also just lost his wife

No words. So so sad So many beautiful tributes on his FB page.

Very sad news https://www.facebook.com/share/p/15LjHTvFWj/ and this from Frank Finger https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1Aows4NZ1H/ Muster Dogs champion Princess Annie died suddenly of a brain aneurysm this week, aged 5. She was laid to rest with a family gathering early this morning. Annie was the crowned the season 1 ABC Muster Dogs champion, along with her handler Frank Finger in 2022. Our thoughts are with Frank and his family at this difficult time.

Funny that the payslip with the minimum wage hourly rate says "Animal Attendant"... which is fancy talk for kennel hand... *grin* T.

Not kennel hands, specially trained dog nannies. I looked it up.

Oh .... that sounds a not- pleasant experience .....

I worked at one of those pet resort places a couple years back. They had ONE "deluxe suite" on site... and it certainly didn't look like the ones pictured. In essence, it was a separate building sort of like a converted fancy shed that had a cutesy "bed" thing (read the kind of dog bed that vaguely resembles a human bed) in it instead of the standard trampoline bed in a regular kennel, and it had it's own "courtyard" area. Cleaning that "suite" was a bugger and took longer to do than a regular kennel - especially if the dog housed in it wasn't appropriately toilet trained... ewww! Things may have changed since then, but if they have, I'm tipping that kennel hands hate it due to the extra work involved trying to keep the "suites" presentable and clean. T.

Crappy journalism. The headline asks if we are spending more on our pets. The first line "We don't need the data to tell us what we already know: we're spending more than ever on our pets." Slow news day.

Something everyone on here knows, but the "luxury" pet resort surprised me. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-06-27/australia-pet-business-grooming-luxury-hotels/105413230 I think if a dog designed it's place at a kennels, it wouldn't look like this:

Not from walking but I once pulled a back muscle severely while chasing my dog down the street. It was a male mini schnauzer and once his nose hit the ground his ears stopped working. I also had to get 1 stitch from a tooth bite from Molly. She was arguing/fighting with her sister and as I went to pull them apart Mollys tooth went to the skin between two of my fingers. Left a decent hole which needed the stitch. Copped a tetanus shot at the same time.

Once I got a great concussion from labrador head/cheekbone connection! No injuries walking dogs though

And don't forget injuries (and worse) caused by that most dangerous animal the human. Often done with accessories such as ladders, power tools and cars. I advised people holding leashes, especially at lure coursing, to put the loop over their wrist for the dog's safety. When two St Bernards were dragging their owner towards my dogs I yelled out "Get at right angles to them". It would be interesting to know how many injuries involved harnesses and flexileads = no control.

Needs to be balanced by the health gains from dog walking and stress relief. Many people would be total couch potatoes if they didn't have a dog (or two). Also, small number compared to horse injuries. https://www.biamo.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/HorsesOnly-Horse-Riding-Accident-Statistics-in-2023-website-article.pdf

Does snapping a finger tendon tucking in a cover on the couch count? It was on the dog couch... T.

Most of my major injuries are dog related. I chipped a front tooth when a foster tried to 'jump into my arms' and our mouths connected. I fell down some stairs and shattered my wrist letting a foster pup out to pee in the dark (we had visitors sleeping in the lounge and I didn't want to wake them by putting a light on). While still in a cast after a second surgery to repair that same injury that same dog got excited at a park and the leash got wrapped around me and ripped me off a park bench onto that same arm (no further damage thank goodness). And one of my own tripped me up while I was carrying a basket of washing. I landed hard on my bum on concrete and developed an abscess on the base of my spine. It resulted in three months off work in bed high on painkillers and two surgeries to treat and repair (one experimental so not covered by my health insurer). Fun times! Still wouldn't be without one!

https://www.9news.com.au/world/dog-walking-causing-50-million-dollars-injuries-in-uk-every-year/97c66fab-90c7-4167-ba4f-72cbb57ec957

Three puppies in one litter with cleft palate-cleft lip complex sounds like infection (lack of vaccination?) or toxins (poisons or medications) in pregnancy . Or someone accidentally bred two brachycephalic (shortnosed) dogs without health tests that they purchased from a eucalyptus tree site or similar. Inheritance for this complex is simple recessive or irregular dominant. Ref: Veterinary Pediatrics 3rd Edition Johnny D. Hoskins (Ed)

True!

As a female dog is capable of being fertilised more than once over a period of up to 10 days during her estrus cycle, it's entirely possible for a litter of pups to have more than one sire. The biggest issue is if she's impregnated early in that period, and again later in that period, ostensibly the later mating pups will be gestated for less time than the first mating ones, which can result in less developed pups being born. Timing matters so much when the gestation period is only 9weeks... just one week less gestation can result in some pretty serious defects. T.

There was a segment on this on Radio National Breakfast this morning, Monday. The person interviewed, Michelle Robertson, said most of the dogs they had were mixed breeds, mixes of working dogs, Kelpies, mastiffs and staffies.

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As Richard said, considering all that can go wrong in a developing foetus, we should be more amazed how many are born normal

The most common cause of certain issues in dogs is their owners' unrealistic expectations for them to be like furry human children... and anxiety and the like is on the rise with human children too... maybe there's a common thread? Seriously... why can't we just let dogs be dogs? Let them do doggy things instead of expecting them to act like humans to "fit in". T.