tdierikx

Beautiful memories of a beautiful girl... Run free Baylee. I'll look for your star in the heavens next to my Woosie's... shine bright sweet girl. T.

Considering the tightening restrictions as to where and when you can take your dog out, alpha bet has a point there about dog parks becoming the only option... T.

Some may be offered to rescue (not often), some will be dumped at the pound, some will be disposed of by other means - but most will be discounted for a quicker sale... and the "cheap" ones DO sell usually... *sigh* T.

I know what you're saying there zeebie... my brother's dog can fly on any airline in Australia, but can't catch a train in NSW... why can't the access rules be the same if the dog is accredited to fly, or catch a bus, or enter eating establishments, shopping malls, etc... ?? It's stupid really... T.

Run free Opal... I'll look for your star in the heavens tonight... Hugs to you and yours tarope... T.

I've witnessed pound staff doing a cursory scan of the area a chip is supposed to be in - and I reminded them to do a complete body scan on the dog in question... we found the chip, just not where it was supposed to be... owner was very releived to get their dog back... Don't assume that having a chip implanted will automatically mean that the dog is returned to you if lost... go and physically check the pounds that service your area... T.

Run free and healthy little Pye... there's a new star in the heavens shining down on us all. Sadly this is the story for more pups/dogs than most rescuers would like to admit... as we do our very best to make all endings positive for our charges, no matter how long or hard that road to recovery and a new forever home may be for us personally. Kirty - my heart goes out to you and your family. T.

My brother self trained his own assistance dog - with the help of a qualified trainer initially. He now helps other people self train and have their assistance dogs accredited formally. Not bad for someone with a disability that requires the aid of an assistance dog 24/7... My brother's dog is a Labrador, but he's helped train quite a few different breeds with their owners. You don't need to go with Assistance Dogs Australia to source an assistance dog - they can be notoriously hard to work with, have some demands of their dog owners that are simply unreasonable, and they are flat out way too expensive. Methinks they had the monopoly on the "market" for too long... The only upside to getting a dog through ADA is that you end up jumping through a few less hoops with the various state government bodies who grant access to things like public transport and the like. T.

Ditto! T.

I'd like a couple of the following dogs please... ... and maybe one of these with blue hair... Sending my credit card details now... T.

Thanks melzawelza... I do realise that my "thing" with smaller breeds is MY problem... and I've worked really hard on it NOT being a large problem any more. I've met hundreds of really nice smaller breed dogs since becoming involved with rescue, and they have helped me rationalise it better now. I'm at the point now where I take each dog as an individual entity, and interact at that level - regardless of the breed or size of the dog itself. This seems to work best for me... T.

IMHO, if I'm ever going to be looking to get another Labrador, I'll be contacting Tapua... she breeds simply amazing and stunning dogs! Smart and energetic, but they do have an off switch too. T.

I had a sign that said "Please close the gate - dogs on property" at one place I lived at. A simple sign without any pictures of barking dogs or any implication that anyone will get bitten should suffice... something like "Dogs live here" or the like should be enough to let people know that there are dogs on the property, and to take proper precautions on entry... I don't need any sign here - the dogs set up enough of a ruckus that the neighbours know when someone has knocked on my door, or are trying to look over the back fence... *grin*... there is NO way anyone could beg off by saying they didn't know there were dogs about... T.

The first breed that popped into my head when I read the OP was Rottweiler... they would be my number one pick. As for no Labs or Goldens - how about a Lab of a different colour to your old one to reduce the possibility of any comparisons? Tapua breed some mighty fine dogs that would be great for the job you are looking at having the dog do - and Tapua dogs are not small... (PM/email Tapua here on DOL - she'll possibly have a perfect dog for your situation) T.

I agree with your assessment of your fear, very strange. Small dogs have been declared dangerous, don't you worry. Any fear or bias against an entire 'type' or breed of dog is irrational, including yours. Yep - I know that all too well... being a normally logical thinking type of person... but that fear/phobia is there nonetheless... *grin* BUT - I certainly don't advocate the declaration of all small breed dogs as dangerous - I just approach them with more caution is all. ... and Dogmad, I know of a couple that were declared dangerous after attacking kennel hands in the pound... but that's a bit different to the ones out in the general public that really should be declared but aren't because some people believe "they don't do that much damage"... T.

When was the last time anyone here heard of any small breed dog being declared dangerous? Even after it has wilfully attacked on more than one occasion? Regardless of new legislation, I still don't see it being applied equally to small breed dogs. There is still the stupid misconception that smaller dogs "don't do that much damage"... As someone who for many years had a complete phobia about small dogs and being bitten by same - after having one too many bad experiences - I'm not a fan of any legislation that will NOT be applied equally across the breed spectrum. I'm still much more cautious when approaching a smaller breed dog than a large breed, even after a number of years in rescue and learning to handle all sorts of dogs under all sorts of conditions. For example, I'm more comfortable approaching a stray staffy/pit mix with young pups to protect, than approaching a solo SWF I don't know... strange, but true... *sigh* T.

The first 4 tiger pics were with the Tamron lens 18-270... as was the peacock, and the turtle peeking out through the bush... The Taronga Zoo sets 27th and 28th July were ALL taken with the Tamron 18-270mm lens - if you want some more comparison... *grin* T.

I love my Tamron 18-270... works a charm on my Canon 60D... http://www.flickr.com/photos/tdierikx/sets/ - check out the pics in the set Symbio Zoo 16th November 2013, can you pick which ones were taken with my Canon professional lens? A good number of those were actually taken with the 18-270... T.

I was told by a policeman once that the "Beware of Dog" sign coupld be seen as an admission that teh dog on the property may bite, and may reduce your chances of NOT being sued... I doubt there is any case law testing the veracity of the various pieces of advice given out - but with the current dog related laws in most states getting tougher and tougher, it wouldn't be too much of a stretch to believe some of them may hold some weight nowadays... T.

Who the hell was on the committe that put together these stupid amendments? Was there one? T.

Here are some highlights from the past few weeks' visits to Symbio... 02-11-2013-symbio 062 by tdierikx, on Flickr 02-11-2013-symbio 295 by tdierikx, on Flickr 09-11-2013-symbio 042 by tdierikx, on Flickr 09-11-2013-symbio 152 by tdierikx, on Flickr 09-11-2013-symbio 165 by tdierikx, on Flickr 09-11-2013-symbio 694 by tdierikx, on Flickr 09-11-2013-symbio 711 by tdierikx, on Flickr 16-11-2013-symbio 268 by tdierikx, on Flickr 16-11-2013-symbio 635 by tdierikx, on Flickr 16-11-2013-symbio 1095 by tdierikx, on Flickr Plenty more at http://www.flickr.com/photos/tdierikx/ ... Enjoy! T.

Some highlights from the past few weeks' visits to Taronga... 03-11-2013-taronga 1000 by tdierikx, on Flickr 03-11-2013-taronga 937 by tdierikx, on Flickr 03-11-2013-taronga 425 by tdierikx, on Flickr 03-11-2013-taronga 058 by tdierikx, on Flickr 17-11-2013-taronga 110 by tdierikx, on Flickr 17-11-2013-taronga 425 by tdierikx, on Flickr 17-11-2013-taronga 456 by tdierikx, on Flickr 17-11-2013-taronga 1427 by tdierikx, on Flickr 17-11-2013-taronga 1073 by tdierikx, on Flickr 17-11-2013-taronga 1629 by tdierikx, on Flickr Plenty more at http://www.flickr.com/photos/tdierikx/ ... Enjoy! T.

I have a friend that makes muffins that have that effect MUP... *grin* T.

Hi, Why I know you want to know more & see proof, I have written my statement about my experience and that's all the time I'm willing to give on this. I am simply supporting other people's post that have experienced this with mini paws too. I no longer have the emails as it was a while ago. It's up to individuals to do their own research if they question either side of the arguement. You need to weigh up what people are saying, experience it yourself and make a decision. I'm not willing to debate this, everyone has their views and experience. I'm genuinely interested to know what advice the RSPCA gave you with regards to what questions to ask of an independent rescue... seeing as they tend to see private rescue as the opposition to their own business of rehoming animals.... I'm not after a fight - just some clarification of the issue is all. T.

Can you post some of the questions you asked Rachelle here kittycat7? I'd be interested to see what the RSPCA advised you to ask an independent rescuer... How many emails back and forth did you have with Rachelle? T.