Souff

Depends on what you spend it on really. And how you take into account all the donated goods and services that would otherwise cost you a substantial amount of money.

No wait, before you do, I have a question. I have it on good authority that the distributors of HSD keep the RSPCA in free food, by the truckload. Does this not happen in the ACT? Souff

It's not easy being Green. :D Ribet!

It is an act of terrorism.

I believe you are correct. It is VEGAN policy. And Vegans are not green .....

It will be on the bottom of the post, right above your name. I've already done one, go add one too. shortstep, what are you even doing on this forum if you are advocating against what this forum stands for? It was a send-up ... and holding up a warning sign. There are a lot of people on this forum who DO want to see an end to dog breeding but I don't include Shortstep amongst then. Souff

hehe .... you and me both!

I have very little problem with this ad. In fact, I find it refreshingly honest. I have seen too many dogs in unsuitable homes and many were simply a recipe for a disaster often because people either didnt listen properly or thought that they could overcome some of the difficulties that might face them. Cath wants these dogs to go to people who know what the dogs are capable of and understand the dogs needs. There is nothing wrong with admitting that something has not worked out for you. I find it refreshingly honest. De-sexing needs to be done. Apart from that, I honestly wish there were more advertisers like Cath who put some realism into their advertisements and did not allow dogs to go to people who would be getting rid of the dog in just a few months for the same reasons that Cath has found. Dogs in unsuitable homes end up in pounds. The dumpage rate might be lower if more people told the truth about what happens when dogs are in the wrong place. Souff

God forbid that any good breeders who expend their money on the best for the dogs should ever cover their costs. Cant get more socialist thinking than that. Any government subsidies available to dog breeders in the commune where you live BigPaws?

Happy Christmas to Rylan and his friends!

Send them a copy of the newspaper column for Christmas. They might get a little buzz out of seeing their ancestor's name there. I just thought the column was an interesting snapshot of the time. We have come a long way in terms of vaccinating against horrible diseases like distemper ... but we don't have a regular column in a major city newspaper. I liked the way "W.C.T." also fielded questions on dogs from the public. Sort of like an agony aunt but in an almost cryptic abbreviated form. Cool. Souff could do that ... could politely tell some to buggar off in an abbreviated form so that they would barely realise they had just been told. Like, "Letter and enclosure to hand" .... gawd, it took me ages to get through the first 3 neverending pars of waffle, just how long did it take you to write all this .. AND you sent an enclosure to boot!!!! Enough to put one "under the turf" .....

The Sydney Morning Herald, Wednesday 14 December 1910 THE KENNEL. By W. C. T. ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. A.I.C. (Glen Innes) - I will make the necessary inquiries and advise you later on. A. A. (Erskineville) - Very sorry to hear of your loss. Anxious (Drake) - Marks such as you describe are not uncommon. If the bitch suffers no inconvenience she is best left alone. You need not be alarmed of it developing into cancer. A. R. (Auckland) - Letter and enclosure to hand. R. W. A. (Newcastle) - Yes, a person can visit a kennel infected with distemper, carry the disease away on his clothing, and pass it on to dog. NOTES. It is on the cards that the Ladies Kennel Club will before long, announce an afternoon parade of dogs on the lines of that held at Rushcutter Bay last year. There is also a possibility of the Fox-terrier Club being asked to hold a Saturday afternoon show. It is said that distemper has not invaded the leading Sydney and Newcastle kennels therefore a big number of terriers would support a parade if held in suitable grounds. M. Nopenaire, a French wool buyer resident in Melbourne is bringing to that city a number of trained "police" dogs. The field spaniel, Union Jack (imp) is a much travelled dog. This year he has been successfully shown by his owner, Mrs. Elliott, of Melbourne, at Sydney, in South Australia, Tasmania and Victoria. Union Jack's first prize wins in the season number 55, which is, I think, a record for a show dog of any breed in Australia. The Kennel Club of New South Wales has had printed a number of handsome challenge certificates suitable for framing. Mr Arthur Albert writes: I have to announce the death of my black Cocker Spaniel puppy, Kingsboro Spanker, winner of novice and puppy classes at the Kennel Club show a few weeks ago. The cause of his death was distemper, contracted at that show. My red dog, K. Rufus, also caught it there, and it is only through constant care and attention that his life was saved. The disease, spread through my kennels with the result that I lost a whole litter of pups by K Rufus ex K Twilight, and several by K Rufus ex Ipswich Lady Banker. It is time that the Kennel Club of N.S.W. and other clubs holding shows insisted on veterinary inspections at the proper hour and seeing that no dogs showing the slightest trace of disease be passed. The death of these dogs is a very great loss to me, and if breeders and exhibitors are to take the risk of losing valuable dogs for the paltry prizes offered, I think the club should take more stringent measures to ensure the non-entry to their shows of diseased dogs. Otherwise they cannot be surprised or complain of the poor number of entries. One of Mr W. Miller's best bull terriers recently lost an eye as the result of a kick by a horse. Lieutenant Colonel James Irving, M.R.C.V.S., London, who died recently in Brisbane, was one of the best in liked fanciers in the northern State. He was several times president of the Queensland Kennel Club and visitors from other States will well remember the cordial reception they received from him. Colonel Irving, who was greatly interested in horses, was a fairly regular visitor to the Sydney Royal Show. Mr Arthur Albert, of Erskineville, reports the sale of a little Yorkshire terrier dog by the lately deceased Sprightly, ex Kingshorn Dainty Dot to Mr W. E. Smalley, of Gvmpie. Another pup from the same litter went to Mr J. Kelly, of Rockhampton. Mr R. A. Musgrave has induced Mr R. J. Wilson to part with that promising Fox terrier Duncraggen Dalesman, a fashionably bred dog, by Oxo of Doncaster (imp) ex Doncaster Dimorah (imp). Dalesman's brothers - D. Dunkirk, Dunira, Defiance and Kenwood Velocity - have done remarkably well in the show ring. The Kennel Club committee met on the 6th inst. at Victoria-chambers, 63 Elizabeth street. Mr P. R. Russell was chairman and others present were Major Cribben, Messrs J. Borthwick, J. L. Hughes, W. Jeffreys, G. Johnson, A. Lamb and G. S. Chapman (secretary). It was reported that several framed photographs of dogs had been presented to the club. The following prefixes were granted - Kafulu to Mr W. A. Cosgrove and Kamilaroi to Mr R. O. Beale. Mr L. R. Jones, of Double Bay, was elected a member of the club. The question of a Fox-terrier's pedigree was before the committee and it was decided not to recognise the same. Arrangements for the smoke concert were completed. Tickets can be obtained from club members and from the secretary. Fuller particulars of the concert appear on the poultry and dog business page. DISTEMPER. There are few Sydney and suburban Kennels at the present time whose inmates are free from sickness of some sort. The chief cause of ailment is mange, influenza or the dreaded distemper. In my own kennels for the first time in thirty years I had an outbreak of distemper. There was no difficulty in diagnosing the malady for there were present the infallible symptoms of a hacking, husky cough, accompanied by copious discharge of matter from the nostrils. How I cured my fox terriers may prove of benefit to other persons whose dogs are affected by this dire disease. To a teaspoonful of butter I added a fair amount of common salt. This mixture was given early on Tuesday morning, and again the same night, followed each time an hour later by a dessert spoonful of salad oil. The effect of this treatment was to thoroughly cleanse the dog inside. Next day, Wednesday, each dog was given a pill, about the size of an ordinary marble, composed of flowers of sulphur and the best castor oil. Two or three times a day the nostrils were carefully washed with warm water, to which had been added about 10 drops of eucalyptus oil. Each dog was kept free from draughts in uniform temperature, in a large cask plentifully bedded with clean straw. When I left for Newcastle show on Thursday afternoon two of the patients looked like going under the turf, but on my return home on Saturday night they were, very greatly to my surprise, very much alive, and are now as good as new. The diet, I should have said, consisted of well boiled rice and biscuits soaked with broth. ____________________________________________________________ ________________

And could that be because the majority of the replies were handpicked ? On another note, it is a very good thing that this particular student did not go on to be a vet ..... One UQ veterinary student, who asked not to be named, said she left the course because she couldn't bear to see the dogs – some only two months old – being operated on. "Looking at their sad, scared little faces used to make me physically ill," she said. "I would cry just about every single time. . . knowing the dog lying in front of me was never going to wake up again." When animals are anaethesised there is a chance that they might not pull out of it, so she should be viewing every anaesthesia in that light. Also, seeing some of the dogs literally being thrown off the table when they are shocked back into life is not a pretty sight either. More than most pet owners could stand and I suspect more than that vet student would have ever been able to cope with. We need vets who can turn off their emotions and get on with the job. And that is not easy, it takes special people to be able to switch off and then switch back on again. Souff

Apparently somebody liked the mix and others were bred later possibly? Way before there was any fuss about designer dogs. Souff

Good grief, the accidental litter between the Corgi and the Dachshund happened about 30 years ago, hardly new news. And I hardly think that the elderly monarch is about to set up a website selling designer dogs. Her Labradors are doing very nicely in the field, I hear. I met a staffer of one of the Royals some years back and he told me about the Labradors - until then I only knew that she bred Corgis so she is hardly out there promoting her breeding ..... she doesn't have to after all She has a genuine love of dogs and that is good enough for me. Souff

I think it is too late in some of the breeds with smaller numbers. Even bringing in genes from OS is unlikely to help if they came from same gene pool originally. I would like to know when somebody is going to do a "genetic census" on some of the smaller gene pools and put an embargo on the spaying and neutering of healthy examples of those breeds. It has to happen at some point. If it doesn't then you can kiss that breed goodbye as there wont be enough good quality mummies and daddies left. Its not rocket science and it is time the veterinary profession started questioning the sanity of desexing good examples of the breeds. Souff edited cos one of the words escaped

OK so lets look how they are progressing with that agenda. 1. Abolish by law all animal research Still plugging away with that one. Those big pharmaceutical companies are megarich and so have good barristers and QCs working for them, dammit. 2. Outlaw the use of animals for cosmetic and product testing, classroom demonstration and in weapons development Ongoing. Train up the kiddies to take over when the old battleaxes die off, might take a while. 3. Vegetarian meals should be made available at all public institutions, including schools Nothing wrong with a good salad but the spotty faced teenagers keep on demanding to eat meat pies dammit. 4. Eliminate all animal agriculture Politics keep getting in the way .... and there are a lot of Chinese mouths over there wanting dairy foods from Aussie cows ..... watch this space! 5. No herbicides, pesticides or other agricultural chemicals. Outlaw predator control. Eeeeeek! Watch out kookaburras and terriers! You are about to be outlawed for your organic extermination habits. 6. Transfer enforcement of animal welfare legislation away from the Department of Agriculture Written by the RSPCA .... 7. Eliminate fur ranching and the use of furs. No furriers left in Sydney now ... understand that Brisbane still has 1 or 2. The fact that rabbit pelts make a warm useful coat has escaped the AL loonies 8. Prohibit hunting, trapping and fishing. In ya dreams! 9. End the international trade in wildlife goods Dead or alive? 10. Stop any further breeding of companion animals, including purebred dogs and cats. Spaying and neutering should be subsidized by state and municipal governments. Abolish commerce in animals for the pet trade. Excellent progress has been made. The gene pools left in Australia after all the spaying and neutering over the last 15 years have now been substantially weakened. Oh yes, and all the blame is now cast on the breeders of purebred dogs, not the people who have desexed animals that should have been left in the gene pools. Another victory! 11. End the use of animals in entertainment and sports. Making progress, making progress, then would you believe it one of the councils did a backflip and allowed a circus to come to town! Buggar! 12. Prohibit the genetic manipulation of species. This one might take a while. Evolution has shown that Mother Nature is quite capable of manipulating genes all by herself and definitely had a headsup! Now, where were we ......

This is an area that interests me and if I had the time I'd look more into it rather than casually muse on it - but I wonder if this too is something that domestication/selective breeding is responsible for? I mean, we breed for dogs that have considerably different shaped and strong jowls/jaws, perhaps more strong than their teeth (which perhaps would have served them well in other circumstances) can cope with. And regards the oesophagus size -vs- throat size musing (previous post), it is not so much that I think it is what we've been feeding the dogs, I muse on the possibility of our selective breeding for dogs of x head/neck width by comparison to (eg) body .... and whether that is why we seem to have the number of "bone eating incidents" that we seem to have. Erny, you could be right. Would be interesting to see a study done on dogs who are shattering teeth on bones. I have never had the problem and have been feeding bones to all sorts and sizes of dogs for most of my life without teeth shattering, so I am not qualified to speak on the teeth shatterers. Souff

Just thinking that creatures in the wild mostly eat what they can catch ... and the majority of the diet is often birds, fish and smaller mammals. This is from a young age so I imagine that the teeth would be strong as calcium levels in a natural diet would be very high. Wild canines dont eat much maize and rosemary ..... Reading on here about the dogs with strong jaws shattering their teeth also made me think that perhaps the teeth were not designed to withstand the psi of a powerful set of jaws clamping down on a large bone. But then again, the teeth may not have been as strong as they could have been if their diet was a bit low on calcium. I know creatures like the Tassie devil will eat bones from a larger carcass but wow, he has really powerful jaws and wide jaws, so there are always exceptions. Coyotes will also eat bones off a larger carcass. I think you could be right about domestication and the oesophagus ... particularly dogs that are fed canned food or soft food. Souff

Most of the stories that got back to me were based on jealousy so they didn't get too much of my time ..... although the one where my bitch was supposed to have bitten a judge was malicious and totally untrue. You've got to feel sorry for people who spread nasty gossip. They are carrying around one helluva problem when they resort to such tactics and usually the most damaged person is them. Souff

This is very true, however I suspect the bones were supposed to come from creatures no bigger than themselves. Souff

Well actually .... the Chihuahua would be quite safe with a raw dinosaur bone because there is no way they could either shatter it or swallow it whole

Funny that message is coming from a processed dog food seller ......remembering all the kafuffle over the Raw Meaty Bones and AVA saga .... Oh well, Souff will still be sending people to sites like this one .... that quote the work of vets too : http://www.shirleys-wellness-cafe.com/animals.htm Souff