tdierikx

I'd say that 7kgs at 8 weeks old for nice healthy Labrador pups is a good weight - as long as they are properly proportioned and healthy, it's not the weight that really matters, is it? Some litters are lighter, some heavier. In rescue, I've seen pups that were 3-4kgs at that age who turned out to be in the 40-50kg range - and others who were closer to your pups' weight and only ended up in the 20-25kg range... it's all relative really... lol! T.

The problem is that we don't always know whether the dog has a history of incidents of a similar nature... by reporting issues - even the smaller but worrying ones - at least council will have records relating to the problem animal when there may be a more serious incident occur - and then they will be pretty quick to act on it. If there are no reports of escalating issues with the dog - then the owners will just use the "oh - he/she's never done that before" excuse and probably get off with only a warning... until the next attack... Prevention is always better than a cure in cases of aggressive dog behaviour. T.

What do you think of the names Fame or Spirit? I named some rescue girl pups Fable and Scout... their new owners loved the names and kept them... *grin* T.

It does happen Alison03... there are people out there who believe that if it has a pulse, it must be "saved"... T.

OMG! Those ears are so cute! and the gorgeous wrinkly head in between... lol! Aramis is a fine name for such a handsome boy... well picked! Have you decided on your girl's name yet? Midget Widget? Mini Me? *giggle* T.

No chance then... *sigh*... poor as a church mouse me. Tell Marcus I may get back to him if I ever win the Lotto, OK? T.

The only reason registered breeders are targetted is because they are easily found via the registries... too easy peasy for the AA types to find really... The really HARD ones that need weeding out the most are the BYB's who reckon that there's an easy dollar to be made by whacking a fancy "breed" moniker on the countless crosses they seem to be able to pump out of their poor bitches... they are just referred to and lumped into the "too hard" basket unfortunately. Seriously though - if the AA types were really wanting to make a difference, maybe they could expend some of their online time/energy tracking down the BYB's who are constantly advertising litters on places like Gumtree... and directing the council rangers to go investigate whether or not any of those animals are being chipped or vaccinated (it's law in most states now) before flogging off to the first buyer with the cash. Hit those BYB's in the hip pocket often enough, and they may slow down a lot - or dog forbid, stop the practice. T.

NSWAR has a program we call "Pregnant Paws", where we take in pregnant bitches in our local area, whelp and raise the pups (and Mum) to weaning age, then we desex Mum and give her back to the owners free of charge - we then desex and rehome the pups ourselves. That way, we have control over the raising and health of mum and pups, and everyone goes home happy. T.

Happy Birthday Maddie!!! Hope you had an extra awesome day, and Stan let you have MOST of your birthday pie... T.

He looks to be in great condition all over Kirislin... just like his stunning dogs... *grin* I'm so jealous of you right now - you get to play with the puppies AND have eye-candy as a side dish... *giggle* DD's dogs may be a better match for his though... or yours... mine are big and boofy and might squash the Iggies... errr! T.

I know it's hard for some people to be with their dogs at the very end - but this sort of story (and the various comments made here by other vet clinic staff) makes it all the more necessary to suck up our own emotional pain and make sure that the right thing is done by us and the dog in question, yes? We have enough bleeding heart cowboys out there calling themselves "rescue" - one would hope that our vet clinic staff would hopefully be above all of that "save it if it has a pulse" attitude. If the owner refuses to surrender the animal for rehoming, vet staff need to suck it up and do what has been paid for by the customer - it really IS that simple people. Vet staff (read the actual vet) can make the decision to refuse to take the money and perform the procedure... they do have that right... but if they have taken the money and then issued a fraudulent document saying that the procedure has been done, then they really need to pulled back into line by losing their license to practice. T.

I've noticed you hardly ever hear of any other type of dog attack, it does lead the general public to believe its only certain breeds of dogs that attack, which we know just isn't true. I can think of many dog attacks I know of personally that didn't involve bull breeds, cattle dogs seem to rate highly in the biting stakes for instance, I found a list on the Internet somewhere compiled by various councils of dogs most likely to bite, cattle dogs and Labradors (which surprised me) were right at the top, along with JRT's. I think the press don't turn up for those types of incidents. You are correct Alison03 - the media don't want to know unless it can be called a "pitbull"... sad, but true... Then there is also the fact that the same media are telling people that Labs, Cattle Dogs, and JRT's are great family pets... which may not be the case with every individual dog of any of those breeds/mixes. T.

OK - thank you for your frank and honest answer keasarge. T.

It really depends on the owner and the temperaments of the 2 pups - and does the owner realise that with 2, they are in for double the trouble - or double the fun... it's all relative, isn't it? I wouldn't blanket ban the practice - but it needs to be done with care and consideration of the needs of both pups. T.

I'm a little bit younger than DD - would that make me a more attractive option? Or would the fact that DD is an excellent cook tip the scales in her favour? Hehe! T.

If the vet took the original owner's money to do the procedure, and then issued a false "death certificate" for same dog - then there is something seriously wrong happening at that clinic. Seriously though - why did they not change over the microchip details before passing the dog on to the new owners? Or did someone from the clinic take it home themselves in the misguided beleif that they could contain it safely? I reckon we'll never really know the full story here... T.

Ummm... can I adopt Marcus? *grin* T.

Thank dog she's got herself a home... it was VERY tempting... T.

Is this the same pup you were asking about desexing options for? T.

I'm glad you are enjoying them... I'm loving sharing the different things I see every week. T.

Latest Taronga pics now up... http://www.flickr.com/photos/tdierikx/ A sample... 29-09-2013-taronga 149 by tdierikx, on Flickr 29-09-2013-taronga 262 by tdierikx, on Flickr 29-09-2013-taronga 290 by tdierikx, on Flickr 29-09-2013-taronga 320 by tdierikx, on Flickr 29-09-2013-taronga 357 by tdierikx, on Flickr 29-09-2013-taronga 388 by tdierikx, on Flickr 29-09-2013-taronga 581 by tdierikx, on Flickr Enjoy... T.

If Feather plays nice, we want photos of the meeting... *grin* T.

I'm seriously excited at the chance to get up closer to the Symbio exotics... they are seriously amazing animals, and Symbio is run by people who genuinely care about their health and wellbeing. The enthusiasm the staff there show when going about their daily tasks is contagious... everyone thoroughly love their jobs and love the animals in their care like they are their own. I reckon they have the best jobs in the world. It was seriously cool to see tigers playing zoomies and just acting like big loony cats on Saturday. I'm hoping that I might be able to help make some enrichment toys for the animals down the track and then watch (and photograph) them playing with them... how cool would that be? Gotta learn about the various behaviours of each animal, and then see what ideas I can come up with that they may not have used before (or often). We get lots of large cardboard boxes at work - I may just have to collect a few to use for enrichment ideas... and we get some smaller ones I could get for the smaller animals like the monkeys and the meerkats. I watched one of the keepers hand feeding the Meerkats some mealworms as a treat on Saturday... there's another thing I'd love to do... *grin* I'd also love to catch some pics of the Crocodiles getting their tucker too... T.

From the looks of it, she's going to have no real trouble keeping up with the Whippets Kirislin... lol! How many weeks now before she comes home to you? T.

I took Harper to the local vet when she was stung by a bee and was swelling up horribly - total bill $75, which included the consult and 2 shots... but I got her there before the swelling became serious enough to require emergency hospital treatment. Still took nearly 7 hours for her swelling and hives to go away, and I had to stay home to observe her closely and make sure that it did go down. Emergency clinics are extremely pricey - often a couple hundred just to walk through the door BEFORE you even get to see a vet... but if my dog needed that sort of care, then price wouldn't be my first concern... T.