tdierikx

Some brands of vaccine are gentler than others also... T.

May I suggest you get and read the following book - written by a very experienced rescuer... http://www.fostermanual.com/ Worth every penny of it's sale price! It covers all possible topics to do with foster caring - even those things that you would never have thought about... T.

What really needs to be clarified in any stats gathering/presentation is the definition of "attack"... How many of us here have had an enthusiastically friendly Staffy type rush up for a pat? To those who don't know the dog in question, that can be a frightening experience - and under the current reporting guidelines, can be called an "attack". In my mind, an "attack" is one where harm has come to the recipient of the dog's attention - ie. an actual bite occurs. I would guess that the average Joe would also read such stats with "bite" as the result of an "attack" - but that may not be totally factual. People startled by an enthusiastically friendly dog can also trip and fall when trying to get out of the dog's way - and that will also classify as an "attack" under the reporting rules. Mandatory reporting has seen the number of incidents rise - not that there are ACTUALLY more attacks than there were before mandatory reporting was instigated. T.

Interesting... Would that "economic disaster" have anyting to to with the fact that sick horses don't run, and can't be bet on? T.

Rescue backup is invaluable when the potential adopter doesn't come back to adopt the dog in question... sadly, some members of the public have the "want now" problem, and may have gone off to a BYB or pet shop to get their new pet "now" - instead of waiting for the impound wait time to be up on a pound dog. T.

... and another daily rag puts out this... http://www.smh.com.au/data-point/canine-aggression-rises-as-funding-bitten-20130720-2qb0q.html ... and a poorly bred/socialised one is asking for trouble! T.

I have a heck of a lot to learn then... lol! My only experience to date is with a zoom lens - and obviously the new macro lens works completely differently... Any tips on how to get pics like yours would be very much appreciated... *grin* T.

Wow! Awesome shots tlc... Are those pics cropped? Some of mine might look better cropped and sharpened a bit... *grin* T.

I must confess that I have no idea apart from pointing the camera at something, focusing, and clicking the button, but I got a few shots regardless... ... and it was windy, and things kept moving about... grrr! This little bugger kept hopping from flower to flower... and I'm allergic, so tried to keep some distance... This fellow was much more obliging - nice and lazy... More practice definitely needed, but I'm pretty happy with these... T.

I just bought a Tamron 90mm F/2.8 Macro 1:1 VC USD lens... now I just need some ideas as to what to take pics of... *grin* T.

Lucky Penny! Looks like the most awesome doggie treat ever... *barf* T.

For the guy who was murdered... violence begets violence... For his family... you have my sympathies, and I agree that no mother should have to bury her children. T.

Hahahaha! How gorgeous is that? T.

Pickles actually chews her stuff up into small easily passed morsels - her fave snack is old woollen blankets... and they tend to digest quite nicely... errr! It's the synthetics that make for the most colourful poo patrols around here... *sigh* T.

A friend of mine has 2 old Labs that look very much like Nelson... most of the lumps and bumps are lipomas or fibromas, and not life threatening... the weight on the other hand... I keep telling my friend to feed her Labs to the weight they SHOULD be, not what they are currently at... *sigh* T.

Run free Schoep - you will be missed mate! T.

Pickles has a penchant for bedding - mine, Zeddy's, Harper's... she just has to munch on it. I know it's all passing through just fine though... Pickles has very distinctive poopies... *grin* T.

It's not illegal to breed any dog to any dog... what IS illegal is falsely advertising the pups as registered pedigrees when that may not be the case - for financial gain... technically that is called fraud. T.

Titre testing would be great Jumabaar - but it's not cheap - and rescues or transporters don't necessarily have enough funds to test every animal they are thinking of springing from a pound. You can pretty much be assured that pups coming into care from a surrender situation have no antibodies - and these are the ones that will be the "collateral damage" if transported with or after other dogs who may only be carrying/shedding the disease. Parvo in adult dogs CAN be non-symptomatic, has an incubation period of between 2-14 days, etc... Rock and a hard place really, but there must be some way to get ALL of us onto the same page here... the potential for more harm than good is actually that high. T.

What makes me uncomfortable about this argument is that we can say exactly the same about puppy farm dogs. They know no different, they aren't committing suicide etc therefore this is "normal" for them. Well met megan, but may I qualify my statement to include only dogs born with disbilities? I haven't set up a Facebook site to glorify the fact that Pickles lives with me - those who have met her and seen her funny walking style are usually full of questions, but Pickles' happy and love of life nature supercedes her disability, and people seem to accept her as pretty normal after a while. Pickles could so easily be used as a donation magnet - but I have a bit more respect for her than that... We manage, Pickles and I (and the rest of my pack) - and she is allowed to do all the things a normal able bodied dog can do - even if that means she may need a little help to do things like get onto the couch or bed. If another dog wants to play rough, I usually intervene because she does get knocked over easily and has managed to break one bone so far by being an idiot. We don't need that happening with any regularity... I owe a great debt to the lovely community worker who managed to get Pickles to a life where she would be given the chance to enjoy to her fullest extent - but when she first came into care, we took her on with the possibility we may have had to euthanaise her if she didn't improve to a stage where she could enjoy a full doggy life. Jasmina - you are Pickles' fairy godmother - and I owe you so much for bringing us together! T.

Loving your work Powerlegs... what do you need me to do to help? T.

The owner hasn't disputed the vet's account of the conversation... T.

Rosie doesn't know anything else... she was born that way, and so life for her is definitely different to most, but it's "normal" for her. Same for Pickles - she just doesn't know any different, so manages in her own way... I know for a fact that as Pickles gets older, she may face issues based on her strange movement style... when this happens, I will have to give her her wings - and it may be a whole lot sooner than an able bodied dog. But then again, I could be wrong - she's not showing any signs of slowing down yet, and she's nearly 3 now... T.

This... For anyone who has never seen a pup with parvo, they may not truly understand the horrific nature of this disease. Add that to the fact that it's a bloody hard bugger to remove completely from the environment... Is the getting of dogs to rescues far and wide so paramount that the possibility of "collateral damage" happening is worth it? Especially when it's not usually the people doing the transporting that end up with the sick dogs. T.

Well hello there handsome man! Welcome to the world Tyrone. T.