tdierikx

Your best course of action is unfortunately all of the options you say you can't be bothered doing... I wouldn't be kicking out at a 50kg dog myself - and if you do, it's owner might just report YOU, and then who will be in the poop? Put your big boy pants on and call the bloody council, OK? T.

Thanks all... The bird shot was pure luck IMHO... hand held tracking while she was diving for food... and it's a crop too... shows off why you should invest in a top notch lens... *grin* The chimp one is as it came out of the camera - they were going past about 15 metres away and the little guy was checking out the crowds... he's such a little imp! T.

Having brought a stray to a local pound and standing there while the staff member scanned the sum total of the area directly between the shoulder blades and announce no chip, I can see how a stuff up can happen... I asked for the scanner at that point and scanned the dog properly and found it's chip about 3-4 inches away from where the woman had failed to find anything. Lucky for that dog, as we managed to get it's owner's details and they came to get it about an hour later. Another dog at the same pound had his chip in his flank area! Turned out to be a pet shop sale when it was a pup, and the pet shop (nor his owners) hadn't bothered to have any actual details entered into the registry... *sigh*... our rescue took him on and ended up finding him a lovely new home, but you do sometimes wonder whether the dog's old family had been looking for him and never found him because no-one bothered to double check his chip and details were correct. It's a great system when it works though... T.

At photo club on thursday night, we had our monthly digital photo evaluations. We have a judge come and evaluate and give feedback on all the entries, and then they award credits or merits for the photos they feel are a cut above. Credits are like second prize, and merits are the ones we all strive for... I entered 3 photos... and came away with TWO merits!!!! Sweet! I've managed to get one or two credits for previous months' entries, but these are my first merits, and I'm so excited! Anyways... here are the 2 photos that the judge thought deserved those merits... Gonna be hard to top these two... but gonna try hard in future evaluations... *grin* T.

I got Meloxicam (same thing as Metacam, just different manufacturer) from a vet for $70 for 100ml - last year. T.

The lambs, kids, and calves are bottle fed twice a day, but are mostly weaned. The really tame/humanised animals that enjoy going out on visits stay with us, and the others go back to the farms they came from originally. We have quite a few seriously cuddly adult animals too... *grin* All of our rabbits and guinea pigs are female, so no breeding happens at our farm - and our male sheep/goats are neutered young. T.

I've had people dispute what breed my Labrador is because she's not fat... *sigh*... she is lovely, lean, and fit... and at 11, can outrun most 5 year old Labs with ease... *grin* T.

I'm pretty sure that's the one that pooped on me during a school visit... twice! Much to the delight of the children... lol! T.

God help me if Harper ever found herself in a pound/rescue. She has bad nerve that she was born with - scared of everything and anything she has never encountered before... a dodgy rescue could very easily decide to say that she was abused or worse, which couldn't be further from the truth. With me, she is a cheeky monster... but she just doesn't cope with strange/new situations well at all. When I've had to board Harper in the past, I always tell the people that she may carry on, but if they give her food/treats, she's gonna be their best friend forever... and she's been just fine after the first night. She has never bitten anyone, despite the carry on that indicates she isn't sure about the situation. As for Pickles - on her chip, the notes say "yes she walks funny - that is normal for her"... in case she is ever picked up and they think she's been hurt or something. God only knows what a dodgy rescue would be able to make up about Pickles... errr! On the upside, she is terribly social with strangers... lol! My experience is that lots of dogs may be happy to have the chance to wander and check out new environments given half a chance... and if that is in completely unfamiliar territory (on holiday interstate for example), then they could easily stray too far and get lost... this is NOT due to bad owners, it's simple dog nature given the chance. T.

Fly free withe the angels Ernie... Massive hugs to you and yours @Ernie's Mum T.

AFTER I am finished cuddling of course! T.

So - I have a second job now... with Kindifarm - a mobile petting zoo... and I have to deal with baby farm animals all the time. Such a horrible job... NOT!!! Here are some of the animals I have the hard job of playing working with... Aren't they adorable? T.

Two sides to a story... and the actual truth is usually somewhere in the middle... So the owner had to go home to QLD after 5 days... without finding where her dogs had gotten to... maybe she had business/work back home that couldn't be postponed? And most interstate travellers have no idea how the impounding system works in NSW - heck, most NSW folk have no idea about it either. From what I can gather, the owner had no idea that the dogs had even been found by anyone by the time she had to go back home - let alone how to find the local pound to check whether they were there. So the dogs arrived at the Victorian rescue underweight and with skin issues... which could have happened during their stay in a NSW country pound... which aren't always run to a high standard of care (not saying this pound was sub-standard, as I'm not familiar with it). Stress of being away from their family in an unfamiliar place, with other distressed animals barking or howling, could contribute to a dog dropping weight and/or developing stress alopecia. 2 weeks is a long time to be stressed... T.

Massive hugs to you and yours @Zena's mum... and a gentle hug from me to sweet Zena please... Please tell her it's OK to be tired and want to fly with the angels soon... and that she'll have lots of new DOL friends to play with and lie in the sun with at The Bridge. I'm sure my beloved Woosie and Zeddy will take her under their wings to show her the best sunny spots and where to chase rabbits to her heart's content. T.

Fancy schmancy beddie for Molly... lucky girl! T.

Your own personal dog park... complete with doggies having lots of fun together... heaven! T.

We had a whole litter in rescue that all died from hookworm after worming... the horrid things went so far as to actually chew their way out of the pups stomachs and through the skin! It was the most soul destroying thing I've ever had to try to render assistance for. If ever anyone thought it was ok to skip those regular puppy wormings... tales like these should make you think twice... T.

Those eyes say it all... he truly adores his hooman to bits... T.

Such a cute little man! T.

I had a mower guy let my dog out one day... rang council, eventually got out of them where the pound was, then rang said pound and described my dog - wirey/shaggy coated, border collie marked (black and white), medium sized, and answers to the name Rebel... nope, no dog like that here... so actually go to said pound to check, and there is my dog! And the cage card desciption matched mine almost exactly! Sometimes pound staff aren't all that crash hot at knowing what they have... and don't get me started on councils giving advice as to where their pound facilities are - it took me THREE calls to get that info... T.

Shadow was about 5 or 6... we didn't have an accurate age because she came to us as a stray about 18 months before she passed. T.

What colour is your pup? Black needs good light to show well... and white/blonde needs a shadier spot so you don't over-expose... T.

Hemangiosarcoma is one of the nastier cancers... the only thing that surgery or chemo will do is buy us humans time... not so great for the dog. I think you are doing great by just making sure Zena's last weeks are quality ones... I had a female Rotti present us with what looked like a bone or stick lodged in her mouth... further investigation at the vet revealed that it was a hemangiosarcoma tumour, and the diagnosis was that her insides were riddled with the darned things... one week later she couldn't swallow anything anymore, and surgery wasn't an option, so we had to make that final decision to give her her wings... Make beautiful memories now with your sweet Zena... and massive hugs to you from me and my fur family... T.

But you are a good stalker to have Powerlegs... *grin* T.

I'm positive that the only thing that will hurt my soul more than losing my beloved Woosie will be when my parents pass on... my Dad is now 81, and Mum is 78 - both in good health, but no-one lives forever, right? Then again, losing my heart dog was probably one of the MOST painful experiences I've ever had to deal with... you truly do feel like a part of your own soul has gone... and it hurts forever. (I'm losing my composure just typing this) T.