tdierikx

I have 2 dogs that Capsicum spray doesn't work on - and we found that out the hard way... luckily they broke up their fight before the police pulled out the tasers... but they did have guns aimed when I had to take one of the dogs inside after the fight - luckily the other dog realised they were there and sat nicely wagging her tail until I came back to deal with her. None of my dogs are human aggressive or dog aggressive in any way - just 2 of them don't like each other is all. T.

A vet clinic I used to frequent was bought by Greencross... the upselling push has gone through the roof, and costs have soared. The staff are pretty much the same as before, but are "advised" to upsell at every opportunity - it's even part of their KPI's to make more profit for the clinic... I don't go there any more, and neither do a few other long standing customers. Another local vet clinic is a single owner operated clinic - his standard of care for the animals and interactions with owners is second to none... and he's cheaper and closer that the clinic I used to frequent. He is now my vet clinic of choice around here. The vet clinic that the rescue I'm with uses is an hour's drive from my place, but I have no hesitation taking my dogs there for anything they need that isn't terribly urgent - they have reasonable rates (even better rates for rescue), and they have awesome vets and great equipment for tests and the like - which the local vet doesn't have. As far as I'm concerned, anything over a $45 consult fee is a bit steep - especially when most visits for normal stuff take about 10-15 mins at most. Everything else they do is added on top of that, so keeping the starting price reasonable is a big one for me. $180 for a triennial plus CC is WAY over the top! I'm happy to pay a bit more than cost for the vaccine - and considering a C3 vial costs about $30 for the vet to buy, and syringes/needles are dirt cheap (say total to $35 for vaccine/syringe/needle) = about $80 to have it done at a vet clinic is reasonable. As for microchips - I know we can get them for under $5 each... so there's some markup at vet clinics there from the prices I've been quoted. Don't get me started of the prices vets charge for basic Clavulox - which cost them about $1 each to buy (for 250mg ones) - I got charged $75 for 20 tablets once... never again! T.

I wouldn'r call it "talent" really... I point the camera in the direction of something I find interesting, then I take as many photos of whatever it is that I can... that way, at least a few come out looking pretty good... lol! Take the most recent trip to Taronga for example - I took just over 1900 (yes you read that right) photos... and then pulled all of 38 that I thought were nice enough for public viewing... funnily enough, I'm not all that likely to show off the ones that weren't so nice... *grin* T.

I really AM quite jealous Kirislin... these three are seriously some of the cutest things on 4 legs... T.

I'm sure that my 4 all have their own versions of a sense of humour... they will do the silliest things, then look to see if you are laughing at them yet... if you aren't, they repeat until you do laugh... T.

Hi misha&milo - my camera is a Canon 60D, and most of the photos have been taken with a Canon 100-400mm L lens... some have been taken with a Tamron 18-270mm lens. I'm no pro by any stretch of the imagination either - I shoot in the preset Sports mode and don't shoot RAW - what you see in my gallery is all what the camera/lens gave me (except for a little contrast editing when there is a bit too much glare on the photos from shooting through glass). If you go to the Sets section of my Flickr page - most of the shots in the "Symbio Zoo 7th September 2013" were taken with the Tamron 18-270mm lens - can you tell which ones were taken with the more expensive Canon 100-400mm L lens? All of my Taronga Zoo photos are taken with the Canon 100-400mm lens - mainly because I need the extra length due to the animals usually being that much further away from the public there. At Symbio, the animals are a LOT closer. While it's really nice to have an expensive camera and a professional quality lens, you don't necessarily need them to take nice photos - my Canon S5 (8mp point and shoot camera) gave me very nice photos at the zoo a while back too... http://s6.photobucket.com/user/tdierikx/library/S5%20Zoo%20photos?sort=2&page=1 T.

What I've also found is that quite a few of the more reasonably priced clinics are actually open longer hours than the more expensive ones... interesting, yes? T.

I'm seriously jealous Kirislin... those babies are getting more stunning by the day! T.

The 2 babies hanging from the ropes? The girl on the right was giving the poor boy's diddle a tweak! I'm not too sure he was laughing, but she certainly was... lol! T.

One needs to be a savvy consumer nowadays... Personally, I like to train my vets - that way they understand exactly what I want, and what I don't - upselling will always get a big fat "no" from me, and I could care less what they think of me because of it. Thankfully there are enough good vets out there who truly do put the care of animals before the almighty profit margin. I'm happy to pay a fair price for services rendered, but I'm not looking for unnecessary "extras" thanks. I have a nasty habit of countering with my own list of products that I prefer to use, and why... *grin* Funnily enough, I've never been knocked back vet treatment that I couldn't afford right at that moment - the various vet clinics I have used over the years have always been happy to extend credit if my animal needed care urgently - which has ALWAYS been paid in a timely manner, and thus makes me no risk to extend credit to in the future... The worst vet experience I ever had was from a specialist clinic. I had a dog that was extremely claustrophobic and freaked out if placed in a crate or cage - the the extent of explosive diarrhoea and huge amounts of slobber. The specialist clinic refused to allow me to bring him in and stay with him until his procedure, and then to stay with him as he came out of the anaesthetic - they insisted that he would have to be dropped off, placed in a cage crate at the clinic until his procedure, then be fully awake and mobile (also contained in a cage crate while recovering)... I refused to accede to those conditions, as I knew my poor boy would have been a complete wreck for days after his cage experiences. In the end, I convinced my local vet that I trusted them to do the procedure, and I got to stay with my boy when he needed me before and after... and all was well with the world again - and it cost me a fraction of what the specialist quoted too. Funnily enough, the vet that I convinced to do that procedure now works in a specialist clinic... lol! She's an awesome surgeon, and has THE best bedside manner with both the animals and their owners. T.

Still need more rangers to enforce the legislation in place... and for the public to actually report incidents that happen... otherwise it will be yet one more thing that won't work as intended. T.

Sunday's pics are now up on my Flickr page... http://www.flickr.com/photos/tdierikx/ Here's a taste... 08-09-2013-taronga 035 by tdierikx, on Flickr 08-09-2013-taronga 154 by tdierikx, on Flickr 08-09-2013-taronga 395 by tdierikx, on Flickr 08-09-2013-taronga 1082 by tdierikx, on Flickr 08-09-2013-taronga 1120 by tdierikx, on Flickr 08-09-2013-taronga 1206 by tdierikx, on Flickr 08-09-2013-taronga 1607 by tdierikx, on Flickr 08-09-2013-taronga 1849 by tdierikx, on Flickr Enjoy! T.

Updates on the big fires here... http://www.rfs.nsw.gov.au/dsp_content.cfm?cat_id=684 Getting updated roughly every 5 to 10 mins - just refresh to get the latest... T.

Crossing everything that SOS stay safe and the fire pisses off in some other direction - or better still gets under control soon! T.

Road closures around the area are being extended as I type... The Northern Road between Londonderry Rd and Richmond Rd - and extends down Cranebrook Rd also Richmond Rd from the M7 exit all the way up through Blacktown Rd all the way to Richmond Not looking good for anyone trying getting in to help get animals out. T.

Jill from JRT Rescue has posted on her Facebook an hour ago that they are safe at the moment. As for Londonderry, it's going to be impossible to get in there - they've closed all the roads leading into there... feeling bloody helpless right now - I'm at least an hour's drive from there with no traffic, or I'd be on my way to see if I could help... http://livetraffic.rta.nsw.gov.au/desktop.html NSWAR are at Bringelly - and luckily the RFS got the fire at Greendale under control just a short time ago... Come on and rain already!!!! T.

Looking at the RFS site and the livetraffic site - they have closed The Northern Road in the area that Save Our Strays have their kennels... and there are 2 out of control fires bearing down on them... Fingers crossed that the firies get the fires over there under control soon, and Tracey and everyone else there is safe. Not sure how far the fires have to travel to end up near Hawkesbury Pound, but in these conditions - who knows? They are probably covered by the smoke from the Windsor/Londonderry(Castlereagh) fires right now in any case... Thinking of everyone over that way right now and feeling bloody helpless that I can't get over there and at least help transporting dogs if needed... grr! T.

Yep - know of her... hopefully she'll spend it desexing them... T.

My Zeddy - who is now 14 - has developed what I call the "old dog" bark... more of a "woo woo" than a proper "woof woof", if that makes sense... it's a bit higher and breathier than her "young dog" bark was... in Zeddy's case, it's not been anything that I've been worried about, as she is perfectly fit and healthy in every other respect - even her eyesight and hearing is near perfect... T.

who or what exactly is the horse puppy? I know of IGs and big dogs living together. The Horse Puppy is my 1 year old Dane cross puppy, Harper... She's not the small one - and that photos is 6 months old... *grin* Her bestie in all the world is 3kgs - but she's not as breakable as an Iggy... lol! T.

They have 3 Red Pandas now DesertDobes... *grin* T.

Red Pandas do sleeping VERY well Lhok... *grin* T.

They are all stunning looking little tykes, aren't they? You've got me feeling all clucky again... but I can't have pups here for some time yet still... and the Horse Puppy would break an Iggy baby anyways... T.

Run free Joey... Hugs for you and yours from me and mine Jules. T.

They are Pygmy Marmosets LisaCC - cute, aren't they? T.