Loving my Oldies

Oh, excellent! Thank you. There you go Emm. That's the sort of photograph we will be expecting in time - LOL.

Agree with this. :D Wondered what had happened. Yes, we definitely demand updates

I'm with Raz here. However, prepare for each eventuality: 1. For leaving him with your parents: spend plenty of time with him there and leave him overnight and longer as the time for you to leave gets closer. 2. Start getting him used to a crate. Frankly, I think you'd be nuts to pass up on the job (although t-time has a good suggestion :D ), but in the meantime practice 1 and 2 with your dog.

That's because the media concentrates on shock and horror, because they grab people's attention. Yes, it is depressing and makes one feel sad, cynical and desperate, but if we don't know about these things, we can't protest the very very weak laws around animal cruelty and lobby for harsher penalties.

God it makes you sick to the stomach to think of the fear, cold and pain they suffer. Some stupid stupid people are probably giggling their stupid stupid heads off somewhere now.

It is interesting how plastic bags morph into fascinating things to be growled at, chased, frightened of, etc etc etc When I visited Tasmania some years ago, I was soooooooo depressed. It was so beautiful, yet has such a dreadful history. Wild horses wouldn't have dragged me to Port Arthur and as for the exhibition showing in Hobart about the Thylacine - well that just about finished me. So how can you say, "Absolutely not!!" And then go on to say they are reacting to unobserved stimuli.

admittedly - but they are also a lot easier to handle in some respects and have not the weight behind them if there is a collision of sorts. Basically - get whichever dog suits the circumstance I wasn't thinking chi or pom or silky or JRT..... my 'small' is probably your medium ! At 88, I can't imagine Nan will be doing too much lifting - LOL. A larger dog can get onto the couch by him/herself and if necessary, Emm can make a little ramp. By medium, I mean about Cocker Spaniel size . I am well aware of how the size of a dog is in the eye of beholder - LOL.

You weren't being selfish; you were trying to look at it sensibly. And sensibly, you came to ask on the right place. Very true. However, don't go for a small dog - go for medium, medium/large. Little dogs get under people's feet and so can be quite dangerous. The dog has to be seen - LOL.

What a great name. I hope he doesn't shorten it though

Before the limit of 4 dogs came in, it seemed to be the thing that dog walkers did: pick up half dozen dogs or more, drive to the local park, open the door of the van and all the dogs would pile out. I've seen it more times than I could count. I used to think that the dogwalkers must have nerves of steel because I would be just about cr--ing myself worrying whether any of the dogs in my charge or other peoples' dogs would get hurt.

http://www.engeneic.com/canine_cancers.html

I thought I recognised the company name. The company I used to work for (a venture capital funds manager) invested in Engenic many years ago. I've been gone for nearly 6 years and it was well before I left.

It is only the reporting that has increased. The sanctioned cruelty to animals has always been mindblowing . In our society, we consider ourselves civilised and therefore we have insisted on rules and regulations to try to prevent and educate. However where money is involved, the sanctioned cruelty continues, note the live shipments of livestock and the thousands of innocent dogs and cats and other animals who are imprisoned in pounds every day of the year and then killed. I can only repeat what I've said in other threads: weak people who want a sense of power will only pit themselves against the weak and defenceless.

Oh gosh, that photograph on the garden bench is just terrific. Hopefully she and Cullen will soon be best mates. All girls need a sugar daddy at some stage of their lives.

Today is the day !!!! Lots of nutters on DOL: I'm excited about the meeting between a dog I don't know and a man I don't know

Should have said: you'll have to tell Andrew that a condition of the adoption is that he joins DOL and keeps us updated

I agree - LOL. Although I have had names picked out for a couple of dogs before I met them, simply because of the particular circumstances. Thank god he is home safely. When I started reading the thread I didn't realise it was an update and thought: oh no, the waiting until he gets back is going to be nail biting. Just think what family members go through when their loved ones go off into a war zone :D .

If Tamar has a bit of trouble doing a poop or some gets stuck, she carries on as though she's sat in an ant's nest. Hope Poppy continues to be okay.

I'm in Brisbane, too. The bindis have taken over the lawn this season. We used to be able to keep them in control by just digging out any that dared pop up. But now they've come up like carpeting. Ditto with my front yard in Sydney Yes.

Just look at Bailey Boy !!

They have probably felt his hand or some other implement by now. It will probably be "Tut tut, you are a naughty boy. Go home now and behave yourself."

Oh I heard that being advertised and forgot to listen . I'll listen tonight. I hope it was hard hitting.

This is something I have yet to try, but as some of my plants are getting eaten, I will be soon: 1. Crush 75g fresh garlic 2. Place in a glass container and cover with approx 1/4 cup paraffin oil 3. Dissolve 10g of pur soap or soap flakes in a litre of water. 4. Add garlic mixture to soapy water. 5. Sieve mixture through muslin ensuring no pieces of garlic are in the liquid. Store in glass container. 6. To make a spray dilute one part garlic mixture to 40 parts water. Shake well and spray affected plants. Best spraying time is morning.

My previous vet, now retired, went to a conference where one of the main topics was about luxating patellas and probably HD - I can't quite remember. He told me he started talking to the man next to him saying how he disagreed with all the leg surgery that was going on and in all his years of practising as a vet had done only a few such surgeries. The other man said, "Jeez mate, don't say that. That's where I make most of my money!"

Well, I don't like to use the word "hate" in any circumstance. It is unfortunate that non dog owners assume etc etc etc. Sadly, they have plenty of evidence. Where you happen to be walking is not the point. The point is that stepping in dog poo and carrying it to other place is just not nice. The sad thing is that lots of people believe the littering or driving without a seat belt is their right and bugger everyone else. Rangers are just not doing their jobs and that makes me even more angry that the people leaving disgusting presents for others. Agree with this. :D Such a typical and frightening reaction when people are called to account for anything. We live in a very aggressive society. I often think about this because I was followed for a hundred metres or more by an irate man accusing me of not picking up my dog's poo when she was only weeing. Mind you I did give him a piece of my mind then and the next day when I saw him again. Later that afternoon he arrived at my house (he lives down the street) with a bunch of flowers. ;)