tdierikx

I'm fully aware that not all Rotties are the same... my pets were just fine at alerting if there was any untoward disturbance around the house, but they were also prefectly well behaved and socially acceptable canine citizens when out and about. I'm not of the opinion that a pet needs to be trained as a protection dog to "do their job" at home - mine simply assumed the role if needed, and were friendly when I wanted them to be. In my new job I'm working in close quarters with security trained protection and patrol dogs (Rotties and GSDs)... and most of them are the cuddliest trollopes with those of us who have to look after them when they aren't out working. There are one or two who don't have an off switch, but we work around that issue. T.

Zuri is looking so mature now... wow! Glorious photos as always grizabella... T.

yes. I have several friends who have done/do that Would you believe that an acquaintance who belongs to the GSDRescue group, is actually intending to get her GS pregnant BEFORE she gets her spayed? She's had dozens upon dozens of rescues go through her home & yet she still doesn't get it. Stupid is what stupid does & until we can clean up the human gene pool .......... I would think that your friend is within their rights to breed her dog if she wishes... doing so if the dog is not a registered pedigree, health tested, and is breeding a registered litter - is when you might be able to point the finger... T.

With all of the Rotties I've owned, there has never been any hint of any of them trying to be an "alpha"... brought up with mutual love and respect and some obedience training, and they all turned out to be perfectly acceptable canine citizens. I'm thinking he just wants to instigate more play, and the grabbing gets your attention fastest... *grin* T.

Pudden!!! My handsome boy! Run Pudden run! T.

There are many reasons for humping... and sexual drive is actually quite low down the list. Could be frustration, dominance, etc... I agree with TSD... give him more stuff to do and see if it slows down his humping. T.

Is there an absolute need for him to be desexed at all? Not all males get the urge to wander and find the source of female smells... I'd hold off on desexing as long as is manageable (on the off chance he does want to wander when older). T.

Definitely a visit from IM and Secret... will be good medicine for your healing process, and IM can still take her home afterwards so you can keep your healing happening without interruption. You can then have more frequent visits over a period of time, and IM would have time to adjust to the idea that Secret is going to go home permanently at some point. Do not do anything that will set back your healing... even though it's breaking your heart to not have your baby there. T.

Did you get an idea of where the fox came from? If you aren't fussed on trapping or baiting, the only other way you might be able to keep him or his family from raiding your poultry is to put out diversion food a distance from your animals. One student workplace I was at used to put out offal a fair distance from the farmyard animals - to keep the foxes and birds of prey at that end of the property. Worked pretty well. Note that this fellow will have a family to provide for... so you'd need enough diversion food to feed at least 2 adults and possibly 4-6 growing kits... possibly even 3-4 adults, as sometimes the previous year's female kits can stay with the family and help raise new litters... Do you have a local abbatoir or largish butcher that you could beg some trash offal from... that would be heaven for hungry foxes. Doesn't have to be fresh... T.

Maybe you need to bring the lace monitor home and let him have at the fox... lol! As for pet foxes... the rules for keeping them are pretty stringent, so there's little chance that pet foxes would ever contribute to the wild fox issues farmers face. Unfortunately, the haters have to hate something, yes? Water off a duck's back to me really... most people are really interested in meeting mine when they find out I have them... *grin*... and Ghost is such a tart that he wins hearts immediately (Tom not so much, as he doesn't "do" human interaction if he can help it). Fingers crossed he doesn't come back and actually take any of your duckies... T.

Go Pudden! T.

Jeebus! Beggars belief... the response by the rescue owner is beyond the pale. T.

After looking closely at the fence climbing shot, I can safely say that this was a male... you can clearly see the dark tip of the pizzle mid belly, and his testicle bulge at the rear. During breeding season (June-August), the testicles would be much larger. Depending on when his mate gave birth to his kits, he may have been hunting to feed either her or the now weaning kits. Unfortunately this now means he will most likely return to where he knows there is easy prey - but may only kill/take single birds, as he doesn't have the cover of night to do more than take what he needs immediately. Do you lay baits or traps for foxes PC? You may need to do so now if you can't shoot the raiders. T.

Awesome shots... even though the little devil was intent on your ducks... Foxes are expert climbers, and will climb rather than dig every time. That fence climbing shot is to die for... amazing! This one probably has a family somewhere and was looking for an easy meal to take home to share with the kits... as they will be of the age now where they are eating meat, but still not old enough to hunt themselves. This would also be why it was hunting during the day. He/she looks to be in pretty good condition, just finishing the spring/summer moult, which is why it looks a little scrappy, but the body condition looks pretty good actually. Did you get an idea of where it had come from? T.

Gorgeous!!! T.

"Is Don, is splashy"... lol! T.

Hmmm... I said little to no grooming... I suppose the Xolo fits that description... lol! None of those breeds actually appeals to me to own though... well... maybe the greyhound... maybe... T.

And that she's very short coated... lol! The lump is going down nicely too. No infected looking bits. T.

I got Labrador as top match in the Iams selector... T.

Did again and only changed one criteria - went for large/giant breed... I think they decided that my size requireent was the size of the attitude in the dog... lol! T.

Hmmm... I said no exercise and medium/large dog, left alone for up to 40 hours a week... ... and I'm terrified of Pembroke Corgis... T.

Cuteness overload... lol! T.

Come to think of it, I've got an insect bite of some sort on my hip... could have been the tick... it's a bit raised and itchy - much like the tick bites I used to get as a teen on the farm. I'm thinking this little fellow was a one-off. Have messaged the friend I went bushwalking with to check her animals asap, just in case... T.

Riverwood is not generally a tick area, and a quick check with a couple of vet clinics locally says that it still isn't... I'm thinking eggs came with the foster pups... or I brought it home with me from a bush walk I did in Manly on Sunday... which I think is the most likely scenario. Harper has had a reaction to the bite - typical - she is allergic to bees, so why not ticks? The area is raised up and about the size of a 50c piece - the tick was about 5mm long, and it didn't look like it had even started feeding on her blood yet. Have checked with my vet, and have been told to just keep an eye on it and see if it goes down on it's own. The tick has been fully removed intact, so no head or mouth parts still in Harper. She's not worried about the lump at all and is her normal self, so I'm not overly worried. Ghost is clear of ticks/fleas... and I'm going to dose both foxes with tick spot on asap anyways. No need to stress out Tom more than necessary for the possibility of a grass tick, they are pretty harmless really. T.

Ghost will be easy as he likes being handled... Tom might be a bit more problemmatic, as he's a biter. Their pen is on concrete,and I keep the surrounds clear of foliage, so hopefully they won't be affected... fingers crossed (and will count after handling Tom... lol!) It's wierd really, as I've never seen a tick in all the time I've lived here... we are not a known tick area by any stretch of the imagination. Most times, I only treat the dogs with flea stuff, not tick stuff. All I can think of is the recent foster pups may have had larval stage ticks that they shed, and they are now hatching and looking for hosts... we've just had a bit of rain and warm weather... T.