tdierikx

This week we had 2 new arrivals at the rescue... and I think we are going to be pretty busy over the next few weeks... *grin* First is Daisy (originally named Janey) - she came to us via another rescue who have looked after her superbly so far, but weren't sure they were completely up for the challenges of whelping and raising puppies at this point in time. Daisy came to them from a pound a few weeks ago, and at that time was coming off her season - and by the time she would have been ready for desexing, it became apparent that she was pregnant... not exactly what anyone was expecting, I'm sure... *grin* Anyways, Daisy has quickly settled in care with NSWAR and is loving her whelping box full of lovely bedding to nest in... and believe me, she is nesting furiously... lol! We estimate that she will whelp any day now. So without further ado - here are some pics of the lovely Daisy Boo enjoying the sunshine and cuddles. Then, yesterday, we picked up the lovely Blossom from Hawkesbury Pound. Not hard to figure out how she got pregnant... she's a complete tart! hehe! Blossom has a couple of weeks before she is due (based on ultrasounds taken when the Penrith Council ranger took her to the vet before entry to the pound - kudos for that effort!) - and is settling perfectly in care with NSWAR also. Here are some pics of Blossom... We can't wait to meet their babies... going to be gorgeous little mites, I'm sure... T.

http://www.vebopet.com.au/ Excellent crates - excellent value... T.

You have all the fun Katdogs!! Take a couple of pics before you take bunny to the pound, then PM said pics to Porsche here on DOL and let her know bunny is at Canterbury Pound - she has a relationship with them and will usually take if she has room. My neighbours found a bunny once - I took it to the pound and let Porsche know it was there... it's living happily ever after in it's new home now... *grin* As for stray dogs - they tend to come to my door if you don't find them wandering first... lol! Remember the gorgeous Husky that decided to lob on my doorstep at 4am one morning? Not to mention William the Boxer from down the road who would beeline straight for my place if anyone left their gate open... I think the weirdest stray dog episode I ever had was when I found a Staffy running around on Belmore Rd up near the station - I thought she looked a lot like my cousin's dog, so told the vet that they'd have trouble calling the owner if it was my cousin's dog, then gave them my Aunt's number... and it WAS my cousin's dog... errr! Tells you how often I visit them when I can't immediately recognise their dog for certain... If you are busy this morning, I can take bunny up to Fairford Rd for you if you want... T.

Awww... lucky Ollie... You have done a wonderful job with him, and now he gets to continue his life adventure with a lovely new family to love and be loved by. T.

What a pretty kitty! T.

Cameo Gypsy Lyric Spirit Shiloh True Zen I like Spirit best... if we can't have Karma... *grin* T.

I'm highly allergic to cats, but I'd never be able to just walk by when there was one so obviously in need of a hand... seriously, I can always get antihistamines to counter the allergy - but it's a lot harder to heal a soul that can't find the heart to help an injured animal... You did good Michelleva... and good will come back to you... T.

I have 2 of my own dogs that will fight to the death if they get it into their minds to have a tiff - they are never allowed to run together, however my 3rd dog can run just fine with either of the other two... go figure? While I'm pretty confident that my own dogs won't hurt my fosters, why take the chance when it's easy enough to separate them for their own wellbeing when you can't be there to supervise? I foster pups, so my own dogs are probably happier not being annoyed by cheeky puppies all day long... *grin* T.

Who do you think advise government on the topic? There are already many lobby groups and committees all saying they have a vested interest... RSPCA, AWL, ANKC, Animal Lib, PETA, PIAA, etc... T.

I thought her new name should be "Lucky"... but then I have had another think and reckon she should be named "Karma"... 'cos bad karma is definitely going to be visited on whoever did that to her... *grin* She's a stunningly pretty little tacker, isn't she? Am truly loving her eyes - so soulful... T.

There are going to be "good" and "bad" operators in every angle of this debate - whether they be registered, BYB, or commercial breeders. Unfortunately quite a lot of people will actually put more thought and research into buying a television than when selecting a living, breathing creature to join their family unit - and until that changes, this debate will continue to rage on... In a perfect world, no living creature would have to suffer to meet a market demand - but we really don't live in a perfect world, and there are so many different lobby groups with so many different agendas in this debate, that I don't see any reasonable solutions coming in the near future. Whilst I don't support anyone using animals to breed solely for profit, I also don't see an issue with unregistered (or even registered) breeders producing crossbreed dogs every now and then either (as long as they have the wellbeing of their animals and the offspring as their top priority). I don't support the making up of stupid crossbreed names and the touting of "hybrid vigour" - proper research would out that particular myth... hey Mita, maybe you know of some of that sort of research? Dogs are not robots and can't be "made to order" - no matter how many precautions we take, we are really leaving most of the hard stuff up to Mother Nature there. Yes, genetic screening of breeding stock can avoid some of the worst problems from arising in most cases, but it only takes one small throwback gene for an issue to arise that may not have been evident for generations, no? What sets the "good" from the "bad" breeders, IMHO, is how they deal with any issues that arise down the track for one of their puppy buyers... T.

We do all breed rescue, but if we get in an obvious purebred, we will sometimes contact the breed rescue for advice (if needed), or for adoption prospects - many breed specific rescues have lists of people waiting for that type of dog. If we get in a papered dog, we will contact the breeder to see if they want to take the dog back, or give us advice, etc, on adoption prospects. There have been times when we've had a purebred in care and the breed rescue has contacted us demanding we give them the dog... in those cases we tend to get a little stroppy with the attitude... T.

My fosters are always separated when I'm not around to supervise... but I only foster pups, so it's more for my own dogs' sanity than anything else. T.

And that's what I think rescue dogs need most. I'll second that sentiment... T.

Back in the old days mutts were free to good home - it was only when people started making up stupid names for certain crosses that people started seeing money in crossbreeding. Funnily enough, it can often be a darn sight cheaper to purchase a well bred pedigreed dog nowadays than to source one of the "desirable" crosses... *sigh* T.

Why do some people need to think there is something "wrong" with rescue dogs? Most rescue dogs are perfectly fine canine citizens who just managed to find themselves homeless is all. The notion that they may have been abused or neglected is often the furthest thing from the truth. Rescuers who rehome a dog that has serious issues are not exactly doing anyone a favour - least of all the dogs... Funnily enough, there are more dogs out there who have had the best of everything since puppyhood that have many more issues in public than most rescue dogs I've met... ... and while we are talking about dog parks, it's been my experience that a larger number of smaller breed dogs will be antisocial and go out of their way to annoy some larger breed dogs. My large breed girls were forever trying to get out of the way of "snappy yappies" when I used to take them to the dog park - and not because my dogs went to socialise with said smaller dogs - the little terrors would charge at nearly everything that went even remotely near them or their owners. Funny how it was deemed funny by most people when a SWF would launch and attack my Pittie X girl... good thing my girl is non-reactive and waits for her mummy to come save her from those situations, but she still got looked at as being a "nasty type" of dog because of her breed mix, not because she ever did anything to confirm the theory. T.

I have watched many "dog walkers" roll up to dog parks and unload their vans to let large numbers of dogs run free... and the results have mostly been mayhem. For the most part, the "dog walkers" have had little or no control over the dogs in their care - they just let them run amok and stand around either smoking or talking on their phones, with very little actual supervision of the dogs they have unleashed on the park. Personally, if I was to hire someone to walk my dogs, I'd expect the dog to be walked and interacted with properly... not bundled off to the nearest dog park to do as it pleases while the "dog walker" did their own thing. Back in the days where there were no dog parks, dog walkers did exactly that - walk the dogs. Quite frankly I wouldn't pay the fees charged by walkers today for them to do what I've witnessed at various dog parks. It's a total rip-off IMHO... T.

The food rewards thing was the only thing my Lab girl learned with 100% accuracy at the same place you went Katdogs... then when she became virtually uncontrollable after various trainers decided to feed her from their bumbags at every opportunity, we were actually expelled... They gave up telling me that check chains were "verboten" when they realised that I actually knew how to use one... *grin* Then again, my Lab girl is named "Trouble" for a reason... lol! But she's nicely behaved in public and has great recall, and not because we went to group training... T.

Too many rescuers put way too much of themselves into the "job"... and many of our best can reach burnout way too quickly... Go with your heart... it's time to do something for YOU... ... you would still be an incredible resource to Pei rescue even if you don't take as many into your own personal care. T.

I took Pickles, my disabled dog, to training a few weeks ago - and although I was extremely impressed with how she (and I) went, the classes are at 8am on a Sunday morning about a 40 minute drive away. The closer group training is held on Saturday afternoon, which clashes with my volunteering at a dog rescue. In all honesty, 8am on Sunday morning is a bit cold for this old body - but will probably get there more often when the weather gets warmer. My older 2 dogs had enough training when they were younger to be nicely social when out in public and come back to me when called. I have a preference for training with a check chain - and it's getting extremely difficult to find a group training where they don't ban check chains as being "cruel". Training Pickles is done with a harness and a soft collar, as she is prone to tripping and falling due to her disability - the new training group at least understood this fact and were happy enough to work within her limits... Personally, I have dogs because they are dogs... not perfect by any stretch of the imagination, just trained enough not to be a menace in public really. T.

My "old" girl Zeddy will be 13 at the end of this month... but don't tell her she's old - she won't believe you... *grin* As long as your dog is happy and healthy, who cares what other people think? T.

At least I managed to get our name on the pregnant Staffy X girl - that funnily wasn't on the HP email lists after she came in on Thursday... errr! Another group had her up on their website as available for adoption as she'd already had her pups - she's about 5 weeks gone... aarrgghh! Needless the staff had it right on her kennel "Rescue Only" thank dog! I emailed yesterday arvo, but went in to HP today to make absolutely sure she had our name on her. Anyways, she and I had a big cuddle session today, and I think I'm going to name her "Blossom", as she reminds me of a sweet Rotti girl I had in the past. T.

So PR are warehousing animals in kennels too? What's the point in getting an animal out of the pound only to have it languish in kennels for an indeterminate length of time? Especially if the dogs would be far better off being given their wings due to issues that make them a danger to people and/or other animals... T.

dogmad - there is a little dog in HP listed as a Chi X that looks to me like it may have some Iggy in it - THSC21?? - it's the one that keeps getting its jumper/coat off right near where the public enters the kennel area. Sort of a salt and pepper greyish colouring. Sweet little thing... I saw it while I was there today - came up to the front of the kennel and licked my fingers and seemed to just want some cuddles. Pretty happy despite being in a pound and refusing to wear its jumpers. They do have lots of bedding in a bucket bed, so it won't freeze... T.

Just out of curiosity Jill, how much money have they offered you for taking the dog in question? And how much have they offered to the other place where there are kenneled dogs? PM would be fine... I think you have missed my point completely though... the odd gesture like they have offered to you are not regular occurrences - and this one in particular seems very much like a reaction to the current debate regarding their practices. It smacks of "shut up" money from this side of the fence... The fact that PR have the same or more access to the lists at HP that the rest of us have means that they can see exactly which dogs have saves on them. If I (who knows very little about the inner workings of HP) can find out exactly which group has put a save on which dog, then surely PR can do the same... yet they spruik many dogs already safe as being in grave danger of pts. It just seems a little odd that they have just now decided to offer one group (you) some money for one dog on the current list... what about all of the other dogs that have saves on them? T.