Mrs Rusty Bucket

I figure if the PDS is the same for all of them, might as well find the cheapest offering or self insure.

It looks a bit like a paddymelon wallaby. There's one on this site. http://www.aussieworld.com/photogallery/Tasmania/Cradle%20Mountain/index.html Tammar Wallabies are similar too. I wouldn't put it past the Chinese to have actual Koalas for eating - but that picture isn't one of them. Did you know that all Pandas belong to the Chinese Government? I sometimes wonder if the Australian Government shouldn't do something similar with our unique native flora and fauna - but NZ would probably insist we come and take our possums (and a few other unwelcome critters) back.

Post 187 has some directions http://www.dolforums.com.au/topic/226484-lure-coursing-in-adelaide-for-non-greyhounds/page__st__160__p__5529109#entry5529109 Park Road is on the left just past Virginia turn off as you go north up Port Wakefield road. Not sure if Google knows it as Virginia or Buckland Park but either should get you near enough to see what it looks like. There's two gates - one off Park St that you get to first that says gun range or shooting or something and then you just take all the turns that lead back towards the road. Or you drive up to Tozer Street and come in that end - if Trevor has opened the gate.

http://www.1300insurance.com.au/pet-insurance/compare-pet-insurance/ They expect you to pay 25% of any claim ie a high customer co-payment compared to the others. But they don't have an excess. The PDS says it's backed by Hollards and 1300 insurance says they're not responsible for claims at all - I suppose all of them have a clause like this? They've also got the weird start date clause Which conflicts with the statement about when cover applies and the PDS is a bit confused about the co-payment ie it's not tailored for the 1300insurance version of the product. - ie this is stated before the definition but it does explain why the policy year looks like an overlap eg 1/11/2011 to 1/11/2011. But - no the first date is excluded.Its aslo got the same exclusions for "bilateral" and "chronic" sigh. So that must be a Hollards thing too.

On further reading of the PDS They actually skip out on cover for the first day - ie it starts at 23:59 on the "start date" of the policy ie the first date of the policy is not covered. And they changed "swallowing of foreign objects" to illness ie if your dog eats a bone and it gets stuck and needs surgery - you better have illness cover not just accident. And they have also limited the payout on anything the dog has two of, ie you get to claim 80% of one ACL but a second ACL - ie the other side - comes off the benefit limit for the first ACL. Same goes for any bit of dog it has two of. Effectively halving the cover. And there's no life time cover of anything anymore. Ie if a dog has a condition that needs treatment for longer than 3 months - it's considered "chronic" and they won't pay more than the annual limit in the year that treatment started. I guess that's fair given the limit is either 8K or 15K depending which level of policy you get but it's a substantial reduction in benefit from previous years. And there is no "no claim bonus" for those of us that don't claim or rort the system. I figure if I can come up with the maximum benefit on my own and I don't have any of the stupid criteria that reduce that limit anyway - there's no point making a $300 bet that the company will pay when I need it. For a $1000 claim, after premium, excess and co payment - I'd be out $700 anyway. I'd only save 30% off the vet bill. And if I add in previous years premiums... the insurance company is really sticking it to me.

I just got my PIA renewal and I am pissed off with it too. Co-Payment of 20% ie that's the amount they have dropped my cover while increasing the premium 7%. Thieving leeches. And last year they bumped the premium by 60% but I didn't have time then to look for another company. I do now. Pet Plan - I read are underwritten by Allianz - and I've had a bad experience trying to make a claim with them - so not interested in going there.

eating putrid bone? Frosty did that once - and had the runs for the next few days. Clearly not a proper dog at all.

Australian Beef Fillet Steak was around $80 per kg in Germany!

Yes - if the weather is good. Did anyone join in with the Staffie club?

I read that koala - given its natural diet - tastes yucky anyway. Ie notes from hungry early explorers. There's some critters they would not eat. I had a discussion with the second chinese restaurant I'd visited locally that had "shark fin soup" on the menu. And was assured that it wasn't really shark fin. It was some sort of artificial shark fin. A bit like "crab stick" isn't really made of crab. I'm not sure if I believed the woman - I said I'd be a lot happier if the menu said "artificial shark fin soup". And I haven't been back to either restaurant. Surely it's not ok for restaurants in oz to be selling stuff that isn't what the menu says it is? though if leggos can call pesto made with cashew nuts or peanuts instead of pine nuts "Traditional" maybe anything goes. PS The critter in the photo looks like a small wallaby to me.

Are Proban tablets still available. I'm pretty sure I have some from last November's trip east. The site I got them from says "discontinued by manufacturer" but not why. My dog was only on them for a few weeks and I haven't noticed any problems and we didn't get any ticks but some other dogs at the venue did.

I think word of mouth recommendations are the best. Don't rely entirely on the breeder's website and testimonials on that website to make your decision - try to talk to some people who have the breed of dog you like and a dog that is a good well behaved example of that - and ask them where they got their dog and how they felt about the source. I also like the idea of visiting shows to see who has what and talk to them face to face. If there is a dog sport you'd like to try - visit those sports competitions or for any and every breed - visit some obedience competions - talk to the owners of the dogs you like - ideally after they've competed - before is usually a bit too stressful for sensible conversation. http://kb.rspca.org.au/What-is-a-responsible-companion-animal-breeder_327.html Get any promises that are important to you in writing/email. I've read some shocking stories about puppies coming from interstate - and some very happy stories. The risk is what do you do if the puppy is not healthy when it arrives and you find the breeder has lied to you. But if you've got good word of mouth recommendations from people you've met face to face locally - that's a low risk - in my opinion. And I wouldn't want a puppy travelling in high summer by plane either. Can be better to go get it.

I've seen pictures of dogs who have wedged kongs onto their face like that too. Nasty. My dog busts bones including beef marrow bones, and then swallows the splinters and we get them back at about 3am. Not fun. So she doesn't get bones any more. Haven't had any problem with deer antler - apart from I think she bled all over it one time. But she hasn't broken it up and there's been no splinters or 3am vomit sessions. And raw chicken wings also come back to haunt us. So I just don't bother any more. Not worth it.

I guess you could try the drop stay, and recall when you're standing behind your dog - so she can't see you call her. Would involve some roast chicken and probably won't work if she can't hold a stay. Our last family dog - the first thing to go as she got older was her hearing.

Occasionally I set up jump grids with a pole on the ground in front of the jump pole - about where I want the dog to be taking off... I also make her look at her dinner before I release her and I should be doing some training to get her to look at the first jump before I release her too. I think I have the "Buzzy style" where her face is pointed at what I want her to be looking at - but her eyes are on me. Not so much of a problem with the dinner tho. When I lead out - I only go as far as all the obstacles are between me and her - so she can be looking at both. Mostly bars get knocked when I forget where I'm going and my signalling must go to hell, or we've done a tight change in direction and the next jump isn't straight ahead or straight to the line we're travelling either. She knocks oblique ones in a straight line set of jumps.

Blind crosses R us... that's my dog. first thing I taught her was a round the back of me "finish". And it's a doggy dancing move. Sigh. And she's an ACDx - likes to herd from behind - and nip ankles, butt and ribs. She'd be really happy to run behind me the whole way round an agility course and just flick out when I point at something. Except - she can't resist the lure of the Scramble and dog walk and tunnels... She gets really upset when I run behind her to change direction. If I need to do that, it works better if I stop her or get her to look at me so I'm really running face to face with her to change the direction. Jumps in S formation are hard for us. sometimes it's easier to stay the same side and make her "go out" when we get to the change in direction. Wuffles About the early take off - what I see the horsey people do is try to slow their horse up and get it to shorten stride a bit and then release at the right point for take off. Sometimes I have to slow my dog down, but mostly what I try to do is get her to look where she's going instead of at me. I think I have some more work to do there.

I don't think the Tas law is as stupid as the Vic law. I second what Jesterbelle said. And you might want to ring a few rescues in your area and ask them for advice, they're listed with petrescue. http://www.petrescue.com.au/rescue_directory/tas I think the shelters would be worried about homing a potentially dangerous dog, but if it is friendly and shows no sign of aggression with dogs or humans and passes their temperment test - it has a chance of finding a new home.

Would this have been reported more widely if the dog had been a pitbull? It doesn't come up when you do a search on dog attack in google. I wouldn't have known if the link wasn't posted here. I think the dog owner could have prevented this. Toddlers will hug dogs if you're not there to stop them. And I've tried to train toddlers not to run around screaming when there are dogs they don't know nearby and it's a complete fail. Even their dad couldn't convince them not to. If I see small children I don't know at the off lead parks - I put my dog on lead pronto. I know she's fine with a hug but what about an eye poke? Todders always want to put their fingers on the shiny bit. I don't want to find out my dog would do if that happened.

I think - the person with the receipts for proof of purchase is the owner - and it helps if they have the council registration in their name too. Microchip rego alone is not always enough to prove ownership - though if the dogs are lost - that's usually where they will end up. There might be a different system for racing greyhounds. And this particular problem might be one for the lawyers. Has friend tried just asking for his dogs back as if that was always meant to happen? As far as I know - getting dog microchipped in your name - is usually as straight forward as getting a vet to scan, verify the chip and notify the database, ie the microchip people were happy to transfer the details without proof of ownership.

parrotpea Thanks for the update, glad it is something straight forward to fix. I often describe my brother's SBT as a self propelled bowling ball - all the world are skittles. Just some skittles - won't budge.

I give mine two dessert spoonfuls of plain yogurt for breakfast - when I'm making my breakfast which also includes yogurt. I don't put it with anything for the dog.

Invisible fences can work if you follow the instructions and train the dog how to respond to the zap ie retreat. If you just install the wires and stick the collar on the dog and leave it to figure it all out for itself - it may bolt through the zap and keep going, and eventually not be able to get back. And it may also become "collar smart", ie know that it only has to stay home when the collar is working. I know some dogs for whom the system worked beautifully and the owners no longer need to use it at all - that would be ideal. But they weren't border collies or dobes - ie not the smartest dogs ever. My horse learned from another horse - how to test the electric tape fence. And he also learned if he put his head under and just went for it, the short period of zap was well worth the access to the good stuff on the other side. Sigh. For years it worked beautifully until he met that other naughty horse.

I think you've done well Parrotpea, I'm glad you rang the vet. Please do let us know what happens.

Shannon lush recipe 1 cup vinegar, 1/2 teaspoon lavender oil into a 1 litre spray bottle then filled with water. I use this to mist the floor and then go over it with a sabco flat mop. does a better job than the old squeegee sponge mop and handy andy I used to use. i think her bucket rince recipe was a cup of vinegar in a bucket of water. She also sprinkles bicab soda - before spraying and then mopping over. PS do not use vinegar or other acid based cleaners (eg lemon juice) on marble.

I second the vet call. Stomach problems, eating bad things can get worse very quickly. But not sure about the jaw thing. Could be a sting, or a bite or a - at least it's not likely to be a cane toad in Victoria. Or she could have zoomied and crashed face first into something. And the damage might be just bruising or broken.