Mrs Rusty Bucket

Hi Animal House / Caz I've got something to add. Evil hound is doing well, except these days she HATES all Poodle Crosses and I have a scar on my leg that looks like a vampire got me from when I got between her snappy self and a rather old and decrepid poodle cross who had done zero to deserve her "special" attention. She spends a lot of time on lead now. And today I got another email from the insurance company saying they had made a mistake in the policy they emailed out to me - and I will "shortly receive an updated and correct version" of my insurance policy details. So I sent them back an email with the reference I got the first time saying "cancel means cancel" and if they take money from me again I am going to the ombudsman. Actually I might do that anyway - they deserve it.

Hi all I just got my renewal. It was up from last year 20% to about $950 for my 11 yo cattle dog mix. It has gone up between 20% and 30% every year whether I had a claim or not. This renewal also had the co-payment go up 20% and the cover reduced from 80% to 60% and the payout limits have not changed since I first took out the insurance nearly 11 years ago. It has increased over 400% since I took out the policy and the cover has been steadily reduced. So today I ring up the number to cancel it. I wait on hold about 2 minutes to talk to a human and have to poke some details off the policy into the phone along the way. I get a human - I say I want to cancel the policy I say that the policy cover has dropped from 80% to 60% - he says I still have 80%, I insist on my form it says 60% (this could be something they automatically do when a dog gets to a certain age). He puts me on hold for 10 minutes to discuss the 60% with someone else. ? He comes back and says it's a mistake and I still have 80% cover (really?) I say I still want to cancel. He says he has to transfer me to the cancellation team. I go on hold for another 2 minutes or so. He comes back and says they are all busy and would I like to leave my number so they can ring me back to discuss other options. I say very firmly - like explaining to a dog that is a bit slow - I would like to talk to someone who will cancel the policy. He says - Ok I will cancel the policy WTF!!!!!! And he goes through the motions of cancelling, gives me a reference number and promises to send an email confirming. Which I don't have yet. Half an hour later. Emails don't usually take that long, I will have to look in my spam folder I suppose. Nope - nothing there either. Now I will phone the bank and revoke permission for the direct debit. That will be equally fun. Not happy, Marlin or Pet Insurance Australia. So anyone who sees their cover drop from 80% to 60% - please check your renewal details... phone and complain - see if they will put it back up. But I think I'm going to find it's way cheaper to keep my money and pay cash. Wish I'd done that from puppy. I thought it would be good to have snake bite cover and etc... sigh. It's Effing expensive and there's no guarantee you get paid anything and if it happens twice - they don't pay the second time.

thank you Scottsmum and Persephone I have passed on the info. The family has a lot of thinking to do. They have had dogs before - I think they've got one now but it isn't specifically trained to help with the autism symptoms (not sure which ones need help - I didn't want to get too nosey about it).

Autism assistance dog - can anyone recommend someone who can help train this kind of dog in NSW. I have a friend who lives in Young who would like to get a dog to help his daughter - needs to train it to be good in crowds. We're also looking for breed, and breeder suggestions or rescue people who would have something suitable up to about 1 yo (tho I told my friend it might be more difficult to train a 1yo for this). I suggested a beagle. he likes the idea of a Jack Russell - so anyone who breeds really laid back JRT - would be worth asking too. The daughter is very good at swimming - so maybe a dog that likes water would also be good. Maybe a toller?

my dog prefers to drink from the running tap than the bowl under it... she won't drink water from any bowl when we're travelling or at competitons. I get round this by having a bottle of yogurt and water mixed. I also get her to drink from a sports drink bottle that I squeeze so she can drink out of the "running tap"... And she doesn't like drinking from a bowl that another dog has spat in.. and her best friend for each unit of water she drinks - leaves a unit of spit behind in the bowl so they can't share. But find a really menky bucket of water that has been breeding mozzies and algae for a month or so - or puddle in the park... she will drink out of that. I suspect all the life forms in it makes her think it must be ok.

I am a bit late... The dog and cat management act and regulations were "updated" in july last year but as best I can tell the rules about attack haven't changed much. There is a defence against the attack rule - about the dog being reasonably used to protect person or property but the wording is very vague - theoretically a dog ought to be able to defend itself against an attacking child. But with these things dogs are guilty until proven innocent and have very few rights. Parents are crap at supervising toddlers - if you go by the number of toddlers that drown in their own back yard pools or get run over by their own parents. Horrible. I think it's a risk to let a dog be loose at a party where there are going to be small (or even big) children and parents and dog owners unsupervised. I am planning some house warming parties where this might be a problem and evil hound will probably end up in my crate in my bedroom or a locked bathroom or even my car. She's good with children mostly but not sure how nice she'd be if a toddler tried to poke her in the eye (they all try this at least once) and I wasn't there to prevent it. There is also a defence buried in the act somewhere about if the owner of the dog took reasonable steps to prevent the interaction and it happened anyway eg child broke into the bedroom and then opened the crate and then attacked the dog... And somewhere in there (or the regulations) if a doctor that is treating the injury thinks it is very severe and likely to happen again - they have to report it. The rules are vague on this too ie it is doctor's discretion. I do know of a dog that bit a child in a playground - where the dog should not have been, got declared, and then undeclared. The owner does not understand why. She was mortified that her dog bit the child (something to do with the child lying on a skateboard racing near the dog). There are a tonne of rules in that act that never get enforced - ie dogs harrassing and menancing ie being allowed to charge up to people and dogs at the parks... that and picking up after the dog. There is some way of appealing but the grounds for appeal were not clear to me on the read I just had. You have to read the act and the regulations. http://www.dogandcatboard.com.au/the-act-regulations One bit I did find useful is I don't have to have an id collar on my dog if it interfers with her stitches... yay. But having said that - she's not going to be running loose anywhere until the stitches are out. And not for a while after that but the tags sit against the stitches so she's been wearing her agility comp collar (there's also an exception for dogs in organised dog competitions not having to wear rego tags).

I have a cattle dog cross. She has met the occasional cane toad and pretty much left it alone - but every dog is different - you'd want to supervise (no licking). She's not good with snakes... I haven't given her the opportunity to find out if she will deal with them the same as cats she doesn't know ie stay out of reach and bark a lot, or if she will have a go. She likes to carry mice around and then let them go unharmed (mostly) same with crickets (tho they didn't always keep all their legs). But another cattle dog I lived with would dispatch rodents no problem. So different things for different dogs. Many cattle dogs can be dog aggressive with dogs they don't know. And they are legendary for letting the burglar in with a smile and then not letting him leave - not so good when it's the meter reader or tradie. One of their jobs used to be to guard their owner's saddle and swag. They're really good at that. Australian working dog rescue on facebook often has cattle dogs available. So does petrescue. But you might not know for sure what the adult temperament will be like if you get a puppy that way. Foster carers should be good at advising what the dog they are looking after is like with other dogs, strangers and livestock. And they are super smart - if you're not training them - they're training you and they are really good at it.

Yes avoiding blue to blue matings is a good idea. But there is still the problem that the blue does not meet the breed standard and if the black dog had a blue parent - you still have a higher risk for problems that go with that colour. You should be concerned about that part. What is "reg testing"? Have you actually seen any of the documentation? Maybe "reg testing" is only to check fertility - and not about preventing genetic problems in puppies.

Yeah there was one with the dog licking its nose. I get the exact same expression - when my dog wants something ie food... and she knows there is food to be had. And i can't tell from the photo whether the dog is looking at someone with food or looking away from something that makes it feel uncomfortable or it wants to appease. If the quiz said that the focus of the dog's attention was where the camera is - then maybe I would have scored higher... but erm I couldn't tell if the dog was looking towards something upsetting / exciting or away from it...

@Little Gifts I am continuously surprised at the limitless supply of stupid people. I have indeed seen people with babies having picnics on the ground inside of quite small dog parks. I don't know why. Maybe they brought a dog and wanted to be somewhere it couldn't nick off if it was off lead? Around here - it's often not clear that it's a dog off lead area. And dogs are often off lead when and where they are not supposed to be. When evil hound was a puppy we were at the beach playing with a kelpie that I thought would help me bring my dog back to me as I had very little if any recall at the time... My dog spied a mum with a baby in her arms and a toddler on the sand by her feet, and took off, the mum and I were both horrified... I'm chasing my dog but about 5 meters out from horrified mum - my dog drops to her belly, crawls three meters and then rolls over upside down. Which completely diffused the situation. Had she dived in and put her mouth on the toddler - even if it was just licking - I don't think the mum would have been laughing. I can't tell when the average staffy charges up whether its intentions are good or evil. We get charged a lot, and if I don't know the dog, the more direct and upright the charge is the more anxious I get. And I've seen people let dogs off they think are friendly and then that dog proceeds to hump and bully and fight every other dog in the park. My dog spends a lot more time on lead than she used to because she's not nearly as friendly as she used to be. Why people let their dogs approach on lead dogs - I don't know either. And all they can say is don't bring your dog if it's not friendly. what they mean is - don't bring your dog unless she can tolerate the most extreme rude doggy behaviour... sigh.

I got 12/19 and I would have some good arguing about the interpretation of some of the photos. If there was video that showed movement that might be a little bit easier. eg were the ears really up and back or down and back? was the mouth really relaxed or not? were those eyes wide open or not - I don't think so... stuff like that. ie sometimes I didn't think the description matched the picture so I got a lot wrong. Plus my dog - I know her and some of the descriptions do not result in the behaviours suggested... especially the submission type ones.

PPS this seems to be the original version - haven't listened to the recording yet but... https://www.3aw.com.au/neil-mitchell-should-children-be-banned-from-off-lead-dog-parks/ Neil Mitchell 3aw talking to Neil McMahon - journalist and clueless dog owner. This is the kind of thing that makes me wish dog owners had to pass a written test before they are allowed to own or look after a dog. To show they know how to care for the dog and they know the dog rules and they know where to get help for training if they need it.

Ps this is a good reframe of the problem - from the grumpy dog owner POV he just wants to say hi https://kamalfernandez.blog/2017/09/22/he-just-wants-to-say-hello/ I would post a link to Susan Clothier's article - which is now an e-book with help for the rude dog owners and "free" - if you hand over your address details and etc. FFS. found a better link. I don't know why it didn't work the first time. https://suzanneclothier.com/article/just-wants-say-hi/

our beaches are definitely shared areas - people who come to just enjoy the beach usually have no clue what the "dog rules" are unless they own a dog. Most of the dog owners have no clue either. So I leash my dog every time we go past children, and often if we go past anyone that does not have a dog tho it's pretty easy these days to keep her away from those people, and on leash if I see bicycles !!! or the local ranger or garbage ute or other vehicles. And for every poodle cross except the ones she is friends with (which confuses the hell out of poodle crosses she's not friends with - tho she was really good last weekend - several stranger poodle x got in her face and she remained calm for all of them except one who probably trod on her). So I think that whole article was written by someone who thinks there should be no rules. I am surprised the police came tho. Normally they would say "is your baby injured? no? call the local council then." never mind that it's very difficult to get the local council ranger out after hours. it is not ok for your dog to lick strangers, especially children, it is not ok for your dog to pee on the beach boot camp equipment or swimmers towels or raid the treat pouch of someone having a swim with their dog on a hot day. it is not ok for your dog to rush up to every other dog on the beach who might be old and sore and grumpy - you don't know. it is not ok for your dog to be so far up the beach from you that you can't catch it if there is trouble. and (this happened to me) it is not ok for your dog to bite someone who has treats. I didn't call the police and the dog owner never came back to that beach. It was a lab.

every summer at my fave off lead beach - there are mass crab deaths after hot days... and the Labradors have a great time cleaning them up. The main problem would be over eating. Puffer fish - definitely kill a dog. Dead crabs - not so much.

I've seen them used successfully - you have to do the right training and you have to have a dog that is not "collar smart". Personally - i think I'd rather not. It does mean putting an electric collar on your dog and teaching them the "escape" method ie to escape the zap - you must come back here... I'm thinking if you can train that - you can train them not to nick off. It is possible depending on the collar - for a frightened dog (eg thunderstorm) to blast through the fence pain and keep going and then the collar will be out of range - but they can't get back home cos they will be zapped returning. The fence at the house I'm in at the moment is not secure if my dog decided to jump it - and she's trained to jump agility... So i don't leave her outside alone when I'm not home. There are many reasons to keep a dog inside when you're not home... can't eat baits, and it's more of a deterrent to thieves, council can't take your dog...

or even the original article...with better pictures eg a dog in an MRI - new book for the christmas list now... Study on dogs and love and food https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/08/science/gregory-berns-dogs-brains.html Dr Gregory Berns, 53, a neuroscientist at Emory University in Atlanta, spends his days scanning the brains of dogs, trying to figure out what they're thinking. The research is detailed in a new book, What It's Like to Be a Dog.

I never got to see the power hour... might have been done on an internet free day. The final IYC video is still up on the FB page as best I can tell... The FB Page "Free Dog Training Workshop" https://www.facebook.com/groups/freedogtrainingworkshop/ Susan Garrett Q and A (take the spaces out if you're cutting and pasting the link to another browser like I do) The link works if you're on the facebook account where you have access to the page ie only members of the page can view. ht tps://www.fa cebook.com/susan.garrett1/videos/10213848677949959/ https://www.facebook.com/susan.garrett1/videos/10213848677949959/ The original instruction video is here - she's done some additions and edits for the summit but essentially red cattle dog that likes to bark a lot... its yer choice (IYC) for Tim Ferris - the long version of how you do IYC with the red cattle dog mix. http://dogsthatlisten.com/tim/ 2 hour podcast full of good stuff... Podcast on dog training with Susan Garrett and Tim Ferris http://tim.blog/2016/11/14/susan-garrett/ Agility page... (less active at the moment) https://www.facebook.com/groups/H360FreeAgilityWorkshop/ Other stuff *start updated 6th Sept 2017* with fb live Susan on the Verandah doing selfie - this one is a bit woo (not enough evidence based stuff) 7 tips to help your dog live a long and healthy life! Tip 5 Video on importance of trimming dog nails Dr Leslie Woodcock - includes Susan's blog link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MM4HQDb1Ef0 tip 6 (11mins 30 seconds in) - nutrition supplements DOGgeviti ~ http://doggeviti.com/ Coupon code: SAYYES10 and 1-TDC http://1-tdc.com/ *end updated 6th Sept 2017* sdfs

what - like this one? Samoyds are lovely dogs.

Hi all Ian Dunbar Q and A about an hour good stuff 5 mins in reactive dog stuff about 18 mins in (maybe earlier) how to layer up foundations... first you do this then this then this... about 34 mins in - he talks about puppy fear period - the science is bad on this (tiny sample size, appalling setup of experiment, no control on variables) - ie no evidence for that. But lots of good evidence for the importance of "socialisation" from the second the puppies are born - that gentle handling and good experiences with humans is very good for puppies future relationships with humans. w ww.fac ebook.com/doctor iandunbar/videos/10159186675 970117/

I didn't think shearing or crutching could be done without mustering... erm I'm sure someone will tell the reporter (spot the city slicker).

i'm completely biased in favor of Susan Garrett's training - mods might delete this cos it's a shameless plug But she's doing something called an "its yer choice" summit - with so far about five or six videos going through how to train its yer choice. If you search "free dog training workshop" on facebook and find a big purple banner - that's it. And there's links in there to her webpage for it which has links to all the videos in order (and that will cost you an email address) and some reading material too. Eventually (in about a week or so) she will open up recallers to the mailing list she builds for this. That's for anyone who wants to do recaller$.

I think most people want a dog that is easy to house train (out go most of the little dogs and puppy mill specials) easy to recall or train to come when called (out go beagles and most of the spitz and sight hounds) peaceful and tolerant - ie not likely to bite no matter what (oh dear - no terriers) will stay with you and not chase moving things like cars, bikes, joggers... (out go most of the herding breeds At this point there's not many dogs left. And I usually recommend a gold fish. Sometimes a greyhound - because there's usually no expectation of recall with these. Some dogs are easier to forgive when they fail some of these criteria... like small dogs can often get away with poor toilet training and biting and they're not fast enough to catch cars/joggers etc. Other dogs - when it goes to hell - they end up in rescue or worse. Personally - I find the smarter the dog - the more likely it is to be training you - with a similar mind set to a toddler ie wants what it wants right now and does not always make the best decisions in its own best interest. You can see that with dogs that charge and rush other dogs and people, dogs that steal food, fat dogs, and dogs that pee where they like. Some dogs are much easier to train than others, some of the easiest dogs to train are the worst if you leave them to their own devices... eg a greyhound can be quite difficult to train, but usually won't destroy more than the bin when left to amuse itself, a border collie can be very easy to train but will cause the most destruction if left to amuse itself. It's owner choice - if owner does not want to train dogs - I try to recommend goldfish.

Hopefully less mites and lice on the true free range chooks here ie stocking rates of 1500 per hectare (not 10,000 per hectare like coles and woolies redefined free range).

that would be close to double the adelaide prices at the moment. I also found that driving a 100 series landcruiser at 110km/h does horrible things to my fuel economy too. Ie I have to fill up more often. I guess we're being a bit Nularbor focussed... When coming from Melbourne to Adelaide I like to detour via the fast road to Geelong and then cut across towards Coonawarra and stay at my cousins place - they do a farm stay near Poolajelo (called Ardmeen). I follow the Aspley Border Inn on facebook (since my cousins and surrounding farmers took it over) and really looking forward to having a meal there too. Penola has some great lunch places - not sure about accommodation cos always have family in the area to stay with. Apart from the farm stay. Which I like. http://www.apsley.vic.au/accommodation_&_meals.html The coast road would be pretty too... It does get a bit stinky around the Coorong tho. Do not let anyone walk out on the mud - you will have to throw the shoes away...