tdierikx

I'm not a fan of taking "people" photos... I like photographing dogs mainly - and do so a lot for the rescue I volunteer at. I team up with the owner of the rescue, and we have 2 DSLR's getting hundreds of photos of each dog from every angle possible, and doing all sorts of fun things. Then it takes ages to cull the best photos from the myriad taken, and only the best photos that actually capture the true nature of the dog will be used for their rescue pages. I took my camera to my cousin's wedding last December. I approached the official photographer, showed him my camera and asked if he minded me snapping away during the day if I didn't get in his way - he was quite fine with that, and even allowed me to be beside him for a few of the formal shots - and I snapped my shots after he had taken his shot (courtesy, etc). I ended up with over 900 photos of the day, and actually most of them turned out pretty bloody good. I had one up on the official photographer in that I actually knew the families and most of the guests on a personal level, and I was going for shots showing them having an awesome time, and managed to catch a few terrific ones of the groom watching the bride coming towards him, and some of her absolutely radiant and happy smile as she was making her way to him too. The best part of the whole wedding photographing that day was that I could immediately put all of the photos onto USB sticks for the bride's parents to take back to the UK with them - and I resized a few of the best ones down to emailable size to send immediately to her uncle who was too sick to come to Australia for the wedding. That cheered him up no end! Oh, and I sent some via email to my parents who couldn't attend too - then they also wanted the USB stick with all of the photos... lol! The wedding was on Christmas Eve, so the Christmas day email with the photos for the bride's very sick uncle was something I was proud to be able to do for him. He said it was the best Christmas present ever... *grin*... her parents took a USB stick back for him too. Gave a USB stick to the bride and one to my aunt also... A couple of times during the day, me and the official photographer were checking each other's shots on the cameras, and he actually reckoned I was doing a great job of it. He wasn't overly worried that my photos would be given to the bride and family members for no fee - he was actually quite forthcoming with tips and tricks and was very accommodating, and I appreciated that immensely. T.

I have pictures of what a larger breed pup can do to a crate if they really don't want to be in it... Pickles fractured her leg and had to be crated for it to heal. She had other ideas and just chewed her way out... she bent the steel bars enough to actually get half her body out! She sleeps on my bed now... *sigh*... my first and only crate training failure to date... I found it MUCH easier to crate train my older girls when they decided that they no longer want to play nice if loose together. Soft warm bedding and a couple of toys, and they settled down to their crates just fine - Trouble even goes to her crate voluntarily when it's her turn to be contained - I just say "in your box" and she gets in and sits for her pat and then just settles when I shut the door. Zeddy will go into hers if I give her a treat - usually a small biscuit or something like that. All of my foster pups have settled to their crates pretty quickly. Some prefer to be positioned where they can see you, some prefer to have the crate covered like a den, some prefer to have a big teddy to snuggle up to, and some like to have another pup companion while they get used to the crate. My current foster will have a tantrum for about 5 minutes before settling down in her crate for the night - and as soon as my alarm goes off in the morning, she is a second alarm telling me to get the hell up and let her out for a play... *grin* T.

Most of my neighbours have been great with my dogs. One place I used to live, the elderly couple next door used to always cook extra treats for my dogs with their regular Sunday roast, then come to the fence and have them all lined up to get their roast dinner treats in turn - no mean feat when the dogs in question are 5 Rottweilers... lol! My current neighbours are all lovely too... the young boy next door has a permanent ladder set up next to the fence so he can check out all of the foster pups when they are out playing in the yard - and to have a chat with me about what he's been up to at school, etc... T.

And this is exactly how something like this could and will no doubt be used maliciously. There are no doubt those who would think nothing of doing exactly the same thing to a breeders dogs. Knowing Katdogs - and the dogs she is referring to - I can see where she's coming from. They are regular visitors to her place and mine. The escapees are intact male crossbred SWF's - luckily all our females are desexed and contained to our properties. The owners of the escapees won't desex them because they want to breed with them... again... and they have a little female Pom cross they bought just for the purpose... *sigh* I know that you can get injections to put off a bitch's season - we had it done to a dog of ours when we lived in PNG way back in the late 70's. Not too sure about a pill to permanently sterilise a dog or cat though - who knows what long term side effects it could have... T.

My friend's Rotti boy Clay was her soul mate - he was also the nephew of my heart dog Woosie... that was the longest 11 days of all of our lives looking for poor lost Clay! My friend was so traumatised at him being missing that her parents came over to stay with her, and I lent her my Woosie for a few days so she had something similar to her beloved Clay to sleep on her bed at night. I think there were abou 10 of us out every day searching and calling and dropping leaflets in letterboxes - we covered every inch of 4 whole Sydney suburbs more than once over the 11 days he was missing. Clay was a very special boy - much loved by everyone who ever met him - we HAD to get him back! T.

When my friend's Rotti was let out of his yard by a stranger, we had a team of people walking the surrounding 4 suburbs doing letterbox drops and looking for him - every day for 2 whole weeks!! Eventually one of her workmates rang one of the popular radio stations and they put out a call for anyone knowing about this dog to call in... that resulted in the person who had been "looking after" the dog to hand him in to a local vet clinic, who scanned him and contacted my friend. As she was at work and I was second contact on his chip, I went and picked him up... they didn't even ask me for any ID because Clay immediately went mental with cuddles and kisses for me and my OH, they realised that we were definitely some of his fave people on the planet... *grin* T.

I think you are doing just fine PanzerAttack... each dog you share your life with will be different, and your relationship with them will also be different. You obviously DO love this tiny terrorist on some level or you wouldn't be trying your hardest to bond with him. Take it at a pace that suits both of you and I think you'll finally click into a relationship that suits you both, OK? Personally I've had a number of dogs, and each one has been different in the way they decide to share themselves with me - I have had 1 "heart dog", and I know that is a very tough act to follow for all of my subsequent furkids, but I'm not expecting them to be her either. T.

I found that Supercoat Puppy kibble started to give my pups the trots after a while - switched them to the Adult Chicken one, and all was well with the world again... I now prefer Bonnie Puppy kibble to the Supercoat one now - all of my foster pups seem to do well on it, and it's not overly expensive. T.

My dogs don't smell, so they only get a bath if they start to look dirty... been about 2 years so far since their last proper bath... *grin* T.

I've been known to stop my car, open the door, and if the dog jumps in, take it to the nearest vet clinic or pound and drop it off as a stray... If I know the dog, and it's normally kept secure in it's yard, I'll take it home and make sure it can't get out again. My own dogs are locked in my house when I'm not home - no real chance of them getting out and terrorising the neighbourhood - and if we are going out somewhere, they are on lead and secure with me BEFORE I open the door. T.

I've seen small pups go off their food and poo blood after worming if they have had a hookworm infestation. The worming can be pretty hard on their little guts. Hang in there King Tip, you are in great hands little man! T.

OK - the two strangest mixes I've actually seen myself were Labrador/Corgi - think Cardigan Corgi (black/tan), only larger and with a Labrador coat - she was a lovely dog though... and the other was a Staffy/Maltese - think Staffy size and shape with longish fine hair like a Maltese but a bit sparser than the actual Malt coat - so wrong on so many levels, but she was a truly lovely dog in all respects. Both of the above were in rescue and have been rehomed to awesome forever homes who dote on them like the princesses they are... *grin* I'll never forget the pups from a friend's GSD bitch who had been potted by the neighbour's Mini Foxy dog... none of the pups were viable, some had large bodies and small heads, small bodies and long legs, small bodies with big heads... very scary! T.

Let's face it, blue Staffords are darned pretty... but they are as rare as rocks nowadays - seems like every second ad on those popular websites has some for sale at exhorbitant prices. No completely ethical registered breeder in this country would be intentionally breeding for a blue litter. Sure, an unknown dilute may pop up here or there, but it's not a predominant goal to breed for them if you are breeding for show quality dogs. I heard from a vet nurse that she has seen a couple of blue Staffords that have not only had the alopecia problem, eye and hearing issues, but also were hermaphrodite... now that is darned scary if it's true... I don't know why we aren't seeing large numbers of blue Staffords in pounds, but the theory that people pay more for them and are more prepared to protect their investment by looking after them better might have a little bit of truth to it. A lot of animals that have high price tags when bought as pups are significantly under represented in pounds as a general rule. Many of the pet shop sourced "oodle" types and other crazy crosses are also under represented in pounds, as are most of the registered pure breeds. What we see a lot of in pounds are (IMHO) more likely to be dogs that have been sourced cheaply from BYB sources, the stats for unchipped and unregistered dogs in pounds tends to indicate they have been sourced from places that don't chip them... T.

The "breeder" of the litter mentioned in the op has them listed as "Jack Russel" cross... Personally, I reckon a smaller black and tan thing had it's way with her, and the "breeder" is milking the fact they own a Rotti as well as this unfortunate bitch - who looks stuff all like a JRT IMHO... Mind you, I've had people tell me their terrier/ratter cross thing is a "long legged JRT" - apparently they are really rare... *sigh* T.

Souff has a point there... my Lab girl is of the smaller more compact style... and she is a nut! She really wouldn't eat a child, but she's certainly not a dog I'd leave unsupervised with one - she plays way too rough and there would definitely be tears. My brother's Lab is of the older larger style, and he's totally bombproof - but it's taken a hell of a lot of training to keep him that way (he's a disability assistance dog). My Rotti/Pittie girl is MUCH more stable when it comes to the idiotic things kids can do to rile up a dog. T.

Dogtainers gets my vote... excellent staff who care about the animals in their care, reasonable prices, door to door service, will work with the customer for hard to get to places. We recently had a rescue needing to get to Lord Howe Island - Dogtainers were brilliant with their organisation, their friendly (and competent) staff made the whole thing a breeze for all involved. T.

Trouble (my Lab) LOVES kids... with a little sauce on the side please... *grin* Seriously, I don't think there is any breed more or less likely to get on with children, or be better behaved, etc... it all comes down to how much effort YOU are willing to put in to get the dog that you want for your family. You get out what you put in basically... T.

When I was a little kid of 6, we lived in Alice Springs. The guy up the road had 3 Dobermanns that I used to be allowed to go play with, and I even walked one of them regularly. One day I went to go play with the dogs and the police were there destroying them - some idiot had climbed the back fence (apparently with intent to burglarise) and the dogs had attacked him - the burglar didn't survive the encounter, so his family screamed blue murder for the dogs to be shot. I was highly traumatised by what happened to those 3 gentle dogs for doing what they were actually there for - and contained to their own yard by the way. Note: I was only ever allowed to play with the dogs if the owner let me into the yard - I never opened the gate myself and just sauntered in. I still don't see why council should be held accountable for an attack that happened when the dogs were chained up in their own yard, and some neighbourhood kid wandered in uninvited... I suppose there is also a call for the dogs in question to be destroyed... *sigh* T.

Changing the law after the fact is one thing... trying to backdate it and apply it to a case that occurred before that law was changed is a bit rich. T.

Sure, it's easy to lose sight of where your kids are if they are particularly resourceful little buggers - but does that mean the rest of the planet are responsible for what trouble that child could conceivably get into? How on earth can the council be responsible for a child going into a backyard of someone else's house to be attacked by chained up dogs? It appears that the owner of the dogs was complying with whatever they were told to do to contain said dogs - so neither he nor the council should be held accountable IMHO... I was an incorrigible toddler myself. My mother was busy attending to my new baby brother one day, and I opened the front door and headed towards the park across the road - never made it to the park... suing the driver that hit me wasn't even in the options considered during the aftermath of ambulances, hospitals, and physio sessions. What my parents DID consider (and do) was to keep a MUCH better eye on me from that point on... errr! These things can and do happen, and as tragic as it is to read about a little girl's horrible fate, why is it that these things are always ending at a courthouse for compensation nowadays? Money and apportioning of blame to others will not ease the pain of losing your little girl one iota. In fact, the court proceedings are probably going to make the nightmare even more real and traumatic. T.

In a world where we actually have a need to put labels on clothing that says "Do not iron whilst wearing", is it any wonder? In this day and age where the average parent is terrified to let their kids out of their sight in case a pervert grabs them, why do we have a 4 year old child wandering the streets unattended? How much more does a dog owner need to do - above and beyond keeping his dogs chained up in their OWN back yard - to keep someone ELSE'S child safe from them? Can't sue the owner, he hadn't broken any laws and appears to have been keeping his dogs contained... what the heck, we'll sue the council instead... it HAS to be someone's fault our 4 year old child went into someone else's yard without anyone seeming to care where she went or what she might be doing... All the money in the world won't bring that child back, nor will it stop the nightmare that those truly responsible for her safety are now living. Run free with all of our gone but not forgotten fur friends little Tyra - they will keep you safe forevermore... T.

Councils are the ones looking for the cheapest options - so is it any wonder the euth rate is so high in those areas where the councils have sought the cheapest tender? Some Sydney councils have clauses built into their tendering for impound services for low kill options... maybe lobbying the councils or higher Government departments will be the ultimate answer? T.

... and here was me thinking that paying $236 to have my 30kg Labrador bitch spayed by my local vet was very reasonable. Most of the actual cost was in the anaesthetic and pain relief meds administered. My friend just had to have a hysterectomy (human) - she's so far up to over $2000 in "gap" payment AFTER her top cover health insurance has paid their share... AND the surgeon wanted his fee up front!! If she had waited for the surgery to be done under Medicare, those cancer cells they found may well have turned into something nasty... Veterinary surgery isn't that expensive when you compare it, is it? Not to mention that many rescues have negotiated even more reasonable rates with vets all over the country to have their rescues desexed. I think it's a good initiative Ms Cameron is funding - but it CAN be done cheaper. T.

Just think of you favourite thing in the whole world - and it's just out of reach - tantalisingly close, but you just can't grab it... that's how your boy is feeling right now... *grin* I used to board my bitch with my local vet when she was in season and I didn't want the boy to get to her. My boy didn't do kennels - like yours, he was a totally big sook! His behaviour will possibly continue until she has finished her season - about 3 weeks is normal... good luck! T.

I've been rushed by more small breed dogs out in public than large dogs... I reckon ALL dogs and their owners should have some basic obedience training under their belts. T.