kayla1

Yes Its weird how they seem to gravitate to cars. I quite like spiders, far cheaper for eliminating mozzies and flies than oodles of cans of fly spray. But I tend to draw the line when the huntsman decides to come out of hiding and fall into my lap while driving.......uuuuuuuuuuuggggggg no i didnt jump out of the car. He/she had the decency to scoot back into hiding. Although I will never ever forget the day i was a passenger in a friends car when she opened the drivers door and jumped out leaving me and car to roll down the driveway of the property we had just been about to leave. thank god it stoped safely, will ever wonder if she would do the same thing at 60 k ? N no never accepted an offer to go with her again anywhere if she was driving. Lol, wouldn't drive with her again! I remember on a camping trip many years ago, a group of us were sitting around the fire one night, and a young Japanese tourist was sitting opposite. The poor girl was unaware that she had a rather large huntsman perched on top of her head. A couple of people tried to flick it off without alerting her, but then she realised what was happening and the spider went flying off when she screamed. She did recover and laugh about it afterwards!

It is really sad. It also shows why I was prepared to go to extreme lengths to identify this one. I have four dogs here and I can't fence off the entire back yard because the burrows are everywhere. I was worried too when I first discovered the trapdoor spiders here, but then I couldn't find anything to say they were poisonous to dogs. None of the dogs here have been bitten, even when digging, as the spiders seem to find a new hiding spot pretty quickly when disturbed.

As others have said, white tails and red backs are quickly dispatched here, especially if they are near the dogs. The others are no problem. I quite like huntsman, but would prefer if they could stay out of the car and not crawl out of the air vent or run across the roof above my head!

The preliminary assessment done on dogs before they are accepted into rescue is a behaviour assessment, not a temperament assessment. It is to record how the dog behaves when put in certain situations. From that, it is possible to gain an insight as to whether this dog is likely to act undesirably in some situations it might be faced with in future. It can rule out dogs that show dangerous behaviour, and help rescue gauge how 'easy' the dog is going to be to manage in foster care. But it isn't foolproof, because like people, dogs might feel and act differently at different times. Then while dogs are in foster care, over weeks their true temperament emerges and can be recorded. Depending on what the carer does and whether they follow a formal program, all sorts of things can be learned about the dog, and the dog will get basic training to improve its manners generally. The better the standard of foster care, the easier it is to match a dog to the right new family. Breeds differ, but in greyhounds, you need two weeks before the dog is comfortable and settled enough in a home to show its normal temperament. If the dog is not settled within that time then a deeper investigation needs to be done into the dog and the carer's management. Part of responsible and ethical rescue is documenting behaviour observations at all stages. The history needs to be asked for and recorded from the person surrendering the dog, the behaviour assessment needs to be recorded, and any undesirable behaviour while the dog is in foster care also needs to be recorded. All of this history needs to be made available to the adopter. If there is any aggression towards people or other serious problems known, the dog should be withdrawn from sale. Disclosure of issues to the adopter does not limit the rescue's liability for adopting out a dangerous dog. I totally agree with the above As Greytmate knows, we adopted our Patch through GAP Qld (though was a slightly strange circumstance). When we adopted him we got his foster care book - which was filled out by each of his foster carers (3) and documented how he responded in a variety of situations (to the vacuum cleaner, to other dogs, being left alone etc). It is such a great resource. It showed how they had assessed his behaviour and that each home exposed him to similar and also different situations (one home had caged birds for example). I admit I also love going through the book every so often and looking at how he behaves now and how that compares to when he was in care. In most cases it is spot on with what he is like now ('has difficultly distinguishing concrete from grass '). The foster care book is a great idea.

Yes, the one I meant was using electrodes attached to the acupuncture needles. I guess trigger point therapy with the wand does a similar thing, uses electrical impulses to stimulate the nerves?

In that second photo it looks just like the ones I get here. They have burrows everywhere in the garden, some with trap doors and some without. I do a lot of gardening and I've never been bitten, even when gardening right near their burrows.

Trapdoor spider? I'm on the Peninsula too and have a lot of trapdoor spiders here, and they seem to vary in size and colour - some similar to your pic.

Coco went in for his acupuncture session today and ended up having electroacupuncture. I hadn't heard of it before today. The vet said it stimulates the nerves and so can help with nerve damage and hind leg weakness (Coco has some loss of function in his hind legs due to spinal issues). Has anyone else used it? Any success?

Most groups would struggle to find the funds for paid staff. Yet how else can rescue groups retain people in those roles? Whilst a rescue group may have many volunteers, very few of those are able or willing to commit to a coordinator role. Coordinator roles such as adoptions or carer coordinator are incredibly hard work, and most volunteers would prefer something easier (which is entirely their choice). They also require an enormous time commitment, and for a large rescue group, it is a full-time job - i.e. an unpaid full-time job on top of paid employment, family commitments, own dogs, and own foster dogs. As in the example with the carer coordinator, it's just not sustainable to have someone doing that amount of work on a volunteer basis, in the long-term anyway.

Is the Spray Shield just point and spray? So no lids or other fiddly things to slow you down if you need to use it quickly against a charging dog? ETA because I can be a bit uncoordinated when trying to hold everything, and remember the training, and deal with a charging dog all at the same time.

I've never tried taking a spray bottle, but I can remember a few situations with charging dogs where the citronella spray would have come in handy. It would have to be small enough to fit in a pocket so it's easy to get to when needed. Though sometimes, despite being aware of surroundings and keeping watch for wandering dogs, it can happen so quickly with little time to react. I've tried throwing treats, but in most cases when I have done this, the charging dog has been so intent on getting to mine that it's not the slightest bit interested in food.

I have four which is enough for me at the moment. I have had five with fosters but found it a bit too much. If I wasn't working and had more time it would be easier to have more. Mine are great together and don't need separating. It works well with two older medium size dogs, and two younger small dogs, and I like the fact that I can take two out and leave the other two at home. Though I think if you have dogs with special needs it becomes harder to have more dogs. I've noticed it this year with one of my older dogs needing extra care, just trying to make sure the others still get the attention they need.

Wow, that video is fantastic! I love watching the little ones in agility.

There is Ray Ferguson at Monash vet, but there's usually a waiting period to get an appt because he's only there a couple of days a week and is very popular. Not sure how far from Cockatoo, but it would be less than an hour.

Very cute!

Oh dear, would anemia show up in the blood tests? Sorry to hear about your girl.

Yep, it will give you lots more info, and for a heart compromised dog it is generally done while awake. They just have to lay on their side. :) That's good to know. :) He's had xrays with no sedation so he should be ok for an ultrasound too.

Thanks Staff'n'Toller. I was chatting to another vet who does Coco's acupuncture and she also suggested an ultrasound, so that may be the next step.

The clips on the K9 Pro lines are strong too. I've had other long lines where the clip has broken off completely, or where the clip has been too loose and hasn't closed properly.

I rehomed one of my foster dogs to a lovely lady who knocked out a bedroom wall to fit a king size bed in the bedroom, just so her small dogs could fit comfortably on the bed. :)

I don't wake up to that, but often wake to find a little head on my shoulder. Very cute!

I've tried various long lines and found the best so far to be the premium grip lines from K9 Pro. They're very strong, and no more rope burn!

I have a couple of the K9 Royale2 soft dog crates that I purchased about three years ago, and they are still going strong. One is a medium, and one is m/large. I have used the m/large for my Brittany in the car, but it's really a bit low for him and he'd be better off in larger size.

Sorry, I wasn't meaning to imply that you weren't using it as a last resort. I just meant that I'm not normally pro-medication unless it's clear that you're not getting anywhere with other methods and that I agree that Stella sounds like she would benefit from some form of medical intervention. It can't be much fun being so stressed all the time. I just took Justice out for the last part of our homework for the fortnight (we're back at the trainer on Wednesday) which was to take him to a dog park and get him to practise "relax" and reward him for any kind of behaviour that shows he's relaxed. We went to a local dog park and stood outside the fence that surrounds the small dog area playing LAT for about ten minutes, which he was doing really well with. I tried to get him to relax and although he'd do the position he wasn't actually relaxed and he wouldn't sit or lie down for very long. I thought that was probably because I was standing and looked like I was on alert, rather than sitting and relaxing myself. He was doing so well with LAT watching the small dogs that we moved over to stand outside the big dog section and continued playing LAT. There were only two dogs in there who were just walking slowly around the edge of the park with their owners after having had a huge game of chasey. The owners looked like they had pretty good control of them and it was a big area so I stupidly decided to take Justice inside the park so we could sit at one of the benches away from the dogs and give Justice a chance to relax. Of course, as soon as one of the dogs saw Justice it started walking toward him. I called out and asked the owner to call her dog back and she couldn't and then her dog started trotting toward us. The owner didn't bother to move toward her dog and I stood between it and Justice but Justice managed to get around the side of me and lunged and growled at her dog. That got her moving pretty quickly but sent Justice's stress levels through the roof. She and her partner leashed their dogs, were clearly pissed off and threw their hands up in the air at me and left. On their way out someone was coming in with their great dane and it looked like they were having a bit of a bitch to the owner about what happened. I wasn't planning on staying in there any longer than it took for Justice to settle a little bit so we could leave but of course, the owner of the great dane let his dog off and it barrelled straight for us and once again the owner was unable to call his dog back when I called out. At least this time I was able to keep Justice behind me and get the other dog to back off by leaning forward, stamping my foot and yelling "no" but it was so close that I was right in its face. I'm probably lucky I didn't get bitten. Even though Justice was behind me he was growling and trying to get at the dog. After the dog took off back to his owner the owner yelled out "isn't your dog friendly?" and I said I was training him to be calm around other dogs. He looked at me like I was a total moron and a few owners on the small dog side of the park had gathered and were talking and pointing at us. I headed straight for the gate to leave and as we got through the first gate (the entrance to both the small dog and big dog sections have a gate that goes in to a very small central area with one more gate that leads to the outside) a man on the small dog side who had been watching what happened let his dog stand on the other side of the gate and bark and growl at Justice while I was trying to get him out and another woman came up to the outside gate and went to let her dog in to this tiny enclosed area that I was trying to get Justice out of. I politely asked her if she could please back up and give us some space so that I could get Justice out of the park and she looked annoyed but at least backed up. I got Justice out of there, stressed to the max with the other dog still barking and growling at him, and walked him a decent distance away from the park and stopped to give him a chance to calm down and stop trying to rip my arm out of its socket. I looked back and the owners of the small dogs were all standing there pointing and bitching about us and shaking their heads. I feel like absolute shit and am so bloody stupid for thinking anyone in a dog park would be able to control their dogs and stop them from running up to us. I feel awful for how stressed Justice was and am kicking myself for putting him in that position. We've been working so bloody hard and then I go and do something idiotic like that. I'm just hoping like hell that it doesn't make his session on Wednesday harder for him. Don't be too hard on yourself. I could kick myself for times in the past when I have unwittingly pushed my dogs above their threshold, or when I have/haven't reacted in a certain way with out of control dogs, but you learn from these experiences. Ignore the owners of the small dogs that were pointing - it's your dog that matters. I hope it doesn't set you back too far. :)

Thanks. That was my first thought actually, that it was fainting caused by his heart, but this vet wasn't so sure.