Mrs Rusty Bucket

@Danny's Darling I didn't say guaranteed more reputable (or responsible) - I said more likely than one that is not listed... So if you have a 1000 recues listed with pet rescue - maybe I'm guessing 3% would be dodgy? And the others would be good? But if you have 1000 rescues not listed with pet rescue - maybe 50% would be dodgy (because they can't get listed because their practices don't meet the pet rescue minimum standard). And the other 50% don't want to be listed but might be ok? I'm making the numbers up, but that's to give you an idea of how I look at it. I feel something similar about ANKC registered breeders vs what you can get from internet classifieds and pet shops. Ie not all ANKC breeders are following best practice, but there's a higher percentage who are than breeders that are not ANKC registerd. Given that ANKC does not seem to enforce (I could be wrong) - and pet rescue does - I think your chances of dealing with someone reputable are higher on petrescue than with people who are not on pet rescue. Of course - given the source of most of the critters on Pet Rescue - you don't usually get good things like meeting the parent dogs or finding out about DNA compatibility that you should with ANKC registered dogs/puppies. But you should get microchipped, vax, wormed etc with both and in addtion - desexed with pet rescue dogs/puppies.

Tah for that Purdie. I think I must be going blind - couldn't find it on the website... tho it's there now. Like things that magically appear on supermarket shelves I'm sure I checked already.

@Purdie Does saveadog desex and microchip all pets before rehoming?

I go to Glenside Vet on Greenhill road near L'Estrange St, for vaccinations. It's convenient because the main vet is president of my dog club. They also do short term boarding for regular customers - which is really handy if evil hound decides to get the runs the day before I've booked an interstate holiday. Ie vet treatment with boarding. I also go to the Colonel Light Gardens vet for minor things - because they're close. And I've heard good things about the Hawthorn vets that Ness likes - from people who walk their dogs on "Hawthorn" aka Price Memorial oval. And we used to take my parent's dog to a vet up Kensington road. Not sure the name of it. But I think it's close to Osmond Terrace. Someone who spends a lot of time with the vet because of the sorts of dogs she owns (old and fragile) recommends Kylie Jopson at the Payneham Vet You might also find this thread interesting. http://www.dolforums.com.au/topic/167021-vet-in-adelaide/

standard procedure would depend on who you're adopting from. But you could expect the interstate rescue to organise a home check with someone they trust in your area coming out to assess your home, and discuss making it dog safe for the dog you want.

You might want to look at this. My main criteria was "pick the friendly dog". If you pick the "hard case" then some really deserving and easy dog may get PTS. And you may end up bringing the "hard case" dog back too because training it to behave nicely is too hard. http://www.clickandtreat.com/shelterdogs.htm And if the shelter is listed with PetRescue - it's more likely to be a reputable one and not a variation on animal hoarders or animal charity scam artists. http://www.petrescue.com.au/rescue_directory You can always come back here and ask us if we'd be comfortable dealing with the rescue of your choice. Or ask us to recommend our faves in your area.

If you want to meet lots of different kinds of dogs at once, consider going along to obedience or agility competitions in your area. Most people will be happy to talk to you - after their turn in the ring. Just ask. I think it's a similar deal for the conformation shows, you just ask when the best time is to talk to them about their dogs. You're more likely to meet breeders here. I think you'd be more likely to get rental permissions for medium to small dogs that don't shed much (but will need clipping every 8 weeks or so), like poodles, or lagottos or portuguese water dogs or SWF (small white fluffies) and maybe girl dogs who don't cock their legs (but you can train boy dogs not to cock their legs if you want). I've got a friend who has border terriers, and I'd like to borrow them to deal with the rodent population in my back yard. They're very efficient. I probably wouldn't get a Staffordshire bull terrier if I lived in Victoria or was likely to. In Vic, it's probably best if you want any kind of bull breed or scary looking dog - to get one that has ANKC papers ie from a responsible ANKC registered breeder. Note a "registered" breeder - could just mean "registered with the local council" and "papers" sometimes means Vaccination papers and a "breed" certificate made up by the breeder not ANKC so you need to check - important promises from the breeder - are in writing. You might want to read these too. RSPCA has a huge amount of info on how to choose a puppy wisely, starting with this... http://www.acma.gov.au/scripts/nc.dll?WEB/STANDARD/1001/pc=PC_312091 and http://www.dogstardaily.com/training/digital-dog-training-textbook When you do finally choose a puppy source - it may pay to come back here and ask for opinions on your choice. Sometimes it's very hard to tell when you're dealing with a puppy farm.

I don't know how she could not know. She will dob in a treat carrier from 50m+ distance, and she sees me hand the treat over... and then she wants it.

Bump I think I will go. Weather and Tides look good. I will probably start at Tennyson (8:30am to 9ish) tho (Moredun or Hillside) and walk back http://www.seabreeze.com.au/graphs/sa.asp

http://k9pro.com.au/services/how-to-choose-a-dog-trainer/ This has a good outline. I know QLD (your profile state) is special but I still thought it was in Australia - where have you gone? And there's plenty of dodgy dog trainers in Australia too. I think the only enforceable thing is the animal welfare and companion animals acts, nothing too specific for trainers. I'd be looking for someone who can communicate with me almost as well as with my dog - because it's me that's got to be able to implement the strategies long term. And I'd want to know what kinds of training methods they would use - do they use punishment - what kind and why/when. Do they use positive re-inforcement (rewards) - how do they find the thing the dog likes most? And if I found any of their methods unacceptable to me - I would want to know what other methods they might use that I could be more comfortable with.

My dog likes schmackos - for the novelty value. Today we went nuts for kitten cheese balls - whoda thought. Other cheap dog treats - promite on toast - cut the toast in half, fold over then cut into chewed fingernail sized pieces, so the spread is on the inside and bread on the outside. bacon toast, the off cuts from ham in sandwiches, the scraps from the roast chicken - per kilo - roast chicken or cooked steak is way cheaper than liver treats ($60/kg aka $6 for 100g) tho my dog puts high novelty value on liver treats. And for some reason her dinner kibble in someone else's hands - is an uber treat but when I've got it, nothing special.

I don't blame the other person - I just wish they'd give me a chance to get my dog back on lead before they start chucking their ball again. And my dog only "steals" the ball - when the other dog gives it to her or abandons it. We're good these days until someone chucks the ball right in her face and the other dog doesn't try to fetch it. And as far as she can tell - it's her ball now. I can get it back but there is a limit. And some dogs and her - find the game of chase me for the ball - very fun. And as long as she's running with the ball in her mouth - she won't smash it. I did have a good laugh the other day at the beach. Someone had thrown my dog their ball - seriously - right in front of her and well away from their dog. So she picked it up and had a great game of chase me with a third dog who wasn't the least bit interested in the fact that its owner was trying to leave. I can call her off play, but I didn't cos I was too busy laughing. And owner of the third dog never asked me to help. I don't think she thought of it - was too busy trying to get her own dog to do what she asked. And we got the ball safely back where it belonged. It was quite a challenge though - a squeaky cuz toy. It's not easy for a dog to leave one of those alone. I can't set up training drills for this at home. And of the three dogs involved - mine was the most obedient and well trained.

@staffyluv we mostly have "ball issues" at the beach - so I prefer the big wide beaches where I can avoid owners who think the universe revolves around them. Mostly it's the problem with ball smashing that other owners don't seem to get. Their dog doesn't bust up the ball so why would mine? Ie they're ok with sharing until their ball ends up in little bits. And if I pick up a ball and return it to an owner by throwing it - my dog thinks it's her ball now - cos I threw it... I've worked pretty hard at getting her to leave other dogs toys alone but it's hard when the owners throw the ball right in front of her, and a few of them have such crap throws they've hit me.

I'm not saying, Adobe says... You can still get updates that they put out for bug fixes but not upgrade from CS5 to CS6 at the upgrade discount rate. But the student rate is cheaper than the upgrade rate anyway. But as best I can tell the student price for the full product - is cheaper than the upgrade price. But they don't give student discount on upgrades. I found it somewhere on the website that student editions were ineligible for the upgrades but can't find it now. Only that if you go through the upgrade versions - there aren't any student editions in the list of things you can upgrade.

@pippa My dog will give up the ball on command - but it helps if the owner of the ball will give me time to get my dog back on lead and warn me they intend to keep throwing their ball for their dog who doesn't want it any more... Just give me two seconds to clip the lead on. Mostly she ignores the ball obsessed dogs and their balls. Often I get the ball back the first time, and return it, but the second time - they get their ball back in little pieces. And as padraic said and the ACT park rules said - it's often a cause for fights - though my dog will give the ball back to any dog that wants it. She just loves the game of chase me that often ensues from a stolen ball - and some owners are good with that but some aren't and I'm not good with it if the ball is the sort she smashes. That's the thing with dog parks - 90% of dog owners let their dogs go charging up to any dog they like, steal balls without returning them, scare little children, steal food... and a lot of other dog owners compound the problem by handing out treats or pats to a dog that is being called by its owner (nasty - rewarding someone else's dog for being naughty). Quite a few of the dog off lead areas in SA are shared use eg the beach, a lot of sports ovals etc. And a lot of them have playgrounds and picnic tables and bbq areas. The better ones - the play grounds and bbqs are fenced off but a lot of people want to bring their dog as part of the family for a bbq / picnic. And while they can cope with their own salivating dog - it gets a bit exciting when there are 10 salivating dogs and one trying to guard his pack and salivate at the same time. Not an unspoken rule but I wish it was... if you have a slobbery dog - bring a suitable sized towel to wipe the slobber off other dogs and people - or keep your dog away from other dogs and people.

My dog - just shuts down in a slip collar - same as Weasels - if she gets too excited - she just leans into it. But mostly she has a nasty way of ignoring something until the very last minute and then decides it's "wrong" and lunges at it - full blast - like the GSD in Nekhbet's picture. The front attach harness turns her around - facing me not the target of her "objection". And yes they do have to be a good fit (Nachi, what sort did you get, did you measure around the dog's chest?) I would not like to think what a slip collar would do to her in this situation (or worse, a head halter) She will do this lunge thing mostly for things she deems as "wrong" but also for the treat lady who dishes out large amounts of yummy food for any dog that lines up. So it's for things she wants to chase (well secured beach umbrellas?) - but for different reasons. I've got the treat lady trained to give the treats she wants my dog to have - to me instead but that only works if I see her first and get my dog on lead before my dog sees her. A lot of the LAT training requires that you be a sufficient distance from whatever the distraction is that the dog can still pay attention. I find the harness gives me leverage over the dog in the same way as a wheel barrow gives you leverage on a heavy load - makes getting the required distance much easier. I still don't know what to do about the random "wrong thing" though eg 1000 joggers are ok, she ignores them, jogger 1001 is not ok and she chases and barks. So I have to be vigilant (short lead) about all joggers, bikes, people in wheel chairs, prams, people with umbrellas, people walking towards me on the footpath etc. It's quite frustrating for both of us. And I cannot successfully predict which thing in 1000 that she normally ignores that she is going to chase this time. It's like an intermittant problem in a computer or car - won't happen in front of professional help.

The ACT has a good set of guidelines for Dog Park Ettiquette http://www.tams.act.gov.au/play/pcl/get_out_there/where_to_go/wherecanitakemydog/fenced_dog_park The loudly yelled rules * PICK UP AFTER YOUR DOG which implies the unspoken rule of Watch your dog all the time. * GET YOUR DOG AWAY FROM MINE NO HUMPING - don't let your dog hump other dogs * GET YOUR DOG AWAY FROM MINE no bullying - don't let your dog harrass other dogs unless you've discussed it with the other dog's owner and they're happy their dog is happy with the play Unspoken rules * Always ask the owner before letting your dog greet a new dog. do not let your dog greet new dogs unsupervised. * if you have a ball and my dog steals it (because your dog abandoned it) - don't throw it again while my dog can still see you. * carry at least two dog poo pick up bags. one for you, and one to share for that person who "forgot" * if you see someone look at their dog's poo and then look around furtively - offer them a bag politely. Make it easy for them to do the right thing - point out the nearest bin too. Nothing like the fugue induced by an embarrasing dog to cause blindness (can't see the bags or the bin). * keep your dog away from small children - they're unpredictable, sometimes savage and their parents are worse. * no picnics on the ground in dog parks. If you have one on a table have at least two people who do not need to watch dogs - to guard it. * do not feed children inside dog parks - dogs will steal the food. * do not take dogs who hate other dogs into dog parks that have other dogs in. If you get to the dog park and there is only one dog in it or only one owner - ask before going in, to give them a chance to catch their grumpy dogs and leave or at least warn you to keep your dog away. Make sure you get an answer ok from them before going in. Your dog's life may depend on it. * if there are six dogs waiting for your dog on the other side of the gate - do not go in unless you know all those dogs. Get the owners to supervise - on the flip side - do not let your dog wait at the gate for a new dog. Supervise, ask etc. * if your dog is prone to crashing into things - do not let it run around near people - where it can cause serious damage knocking people over.

Most of the time my ACD will eat cardboard - she often enjoys the empty toilet paper roll. She'd enjoy the full roll too but I like to avoid that one. But there are also times she won't take a treat - doesn't matter what it is. when she's frightened eg next to a busy road. when she's really excited eg spies horses at the beach - and we're too close for any kind of doggy self control. Most labs I know will take food no matter what. There's one line of labs around here somewhere - not that I've met them - but they don't care much about food. But produce a ball - and it's whole different dog. I know a huge pile of BC who will ignore food in favour of balls or sheep. So there's a sort of scale of food attractiveness vs distration attractiveness/scariness and it's different for each dog, and some breeds sit on average in a particular zone, but what a dog finds exciting will vary within a breed. So you could argue that most BC will find sheep more exciting than food, but possibly not all. and you could argue that most Labs will find food more exciting than anything - except the ones who like retrieving better...

http://www.dolforums.com.au/topic/241789-interesting-conversation-with-rspca-inspector/ You might find that thread interesting. You definitely want to set limits on returns. And if you offer to take the puppy back at some pro-rata refund rate - definitely set a time limit on refunds or replacement puppies. But always take the puppy back. Sigh.

And you can't use the student edition to buy upgrades either. For me that doesn't matter much. I don't think they can tell if you're using it for profit. It's only if they decide to raid your business and check licences. But it wouldn't be appropriate to claim the cost of student edition off your tax either. Not that ATO is allowed to share info with Adobe. I don't get why the huge price discrepancy between Student and professional editions. A cheaper way to buy the Full edition is the buy in america for australia websites. There's a few of those recommended on Whirlpool and Australian PC Magazine. Note I haven't used this one but she does answer her emails. The price difference on adobe between Student editions didn't seem that huge to me. http://www.priceusa.com.au/faq.html http://apcmag.com/beat-australias-technology-tax-shop-direct-from-the-us.htm Also if you find a good price for the full thing that you want, print out a copy of that page and take it to office works - they will match and subtract 5%. $700 USA from adobe USA - and you'd probably have to buy through someone like priceusa to get it and they add approximately 3% to 7% depending how you pay and what options, on top. Amazon might be cheaper and htey will ship you the box and disk. full photoshop for windoze is $968 from estore.com.au http://www.estore.com.au/Adobe_Photoshop_CS6_v13_for_Windows_-_Full_Verison_ADC0137.aspx Photoshop elements is cheaper

Provide doggy bags at dog off lead areas Provide bins everywhere like bus stops and near post boxes. If there were more bins I would pick up more rubbish. Stuffed if I'm going to carry around other people's rubbish for miles - but I will carry it a short way 50m or so to the nearest bin. Provide or facilitate public dog owner and dog training classes where people with puppies can go and learn to train their puppies. Provide rego discount for dogs that are desexed, meet a certain training standard, are microchipped make microchipping compulsory - help renunite dogs with owners. And keep people accountable for their dogs. provide cheap microchipping days and publicise these among their dog owners - especially the ones that are not getting the microchip discount. Enforce the local responsible dog owner rules at dog parks - our council doesn't do this so people think it's just fine to ignore them. It's only other responsible dog owners who yell at them for not picking up or letting their dog run through the playground or sports game that do anything to encourage responsible behaviour. I hate full fenced dog parks - it does make it easy for people to stand around and chat instead of paying attention to their dogs and it doesn't help shared use. Being trapped by a fence also makes dog fights much worse. But it would be nice to have a basic kind of soccer ball proof barrier between busy roads and parks - for children and dog's sakes. Dog fun days to help people learn the rules. These need to be on lead. I like this idea too. Reward based training. Have drinking water for humans with dog bowls (maybe slow self draining ones for snake prone areas). Keeping weeds, grass seeds, capeweed and clover flowers off the grass areas. Any signs for the dog park rules - should be visible from inside the dog park as well as where you enter them. Our coucil is a bit random about where they put these signs, and depending which way you come in - you may never see them. Requiring all dog breeders to have licences to breed and sell puppies. Whether they have one pregnant bitch or many. Requiring all the puppies to be microchipped, and vax etc. My back yard isn't big enough for my dog to run flat out... so I appreaciate areas where she can do that - even if it's just recalling to me. our council is quite secretive about their dog management laws. For instance I didn't know they had one for dogs on lead in playgrounds. Given we have a large off lead area next to a very well fed unfenced playground (school lunch droppings) - most of us break this one all the time, including parents with dogs and children. They supervise their children but not the dog, or vice versa. We're paying council for registering our dogs. All it seems to cover is collecting stray (but confined) dogs. And then they will try to get you to reunite (call) the owner if there is a rego disk instead. If the dog is not aggressive - it's free to wander the streets. They do provide dog poo pickup bags and some bins, which are extremely well used and stinky. So most of us are doing the right thing.

I'm planning to get the whole master suite from here. It helps if you have a school age child and have access to their report card electronic copy (photograph it with your phone) etc. Or you have a working email ending in .edu.au http://www.estore.com.au/Home.aspx They used to be citysoftware.com.au and were recommended by several people on whirlpool. Though I might post a follow up note there to ask if people are still happy with them. If you use a credit card and it all goes pear shaped - you report to the credit card company and they help sort it. So you buy the adobe product from whereever (and adobe is not the cheapest place) and install it and then you go to the adobe site to register/activate it and upload your studuent/teacher info there... and then they check it and you get sent back an activation code or whatever when they're done. Until then you're on 30 day trial. There is an australian adobe site for linking for australian educational institutions.

Hmm, for humans it goes something like a few reps with heavy weight to build muscle size and strength eg two sets of 5 reps of the heaviest thing you can manage minus one unit. 30 second rest between sets. And for endurance and pretty muscles - many reps of light weights eg what brick layers do. so 20 reps of something quite light and easy. 30 seconds rest and then repeat the 20 lifts... For rehab, building muscle tone and strength - what Ness said. Walking in water knee to chest deep - supports the joints but the water provides lots of resistance. Walking up and down hills is like doing the lifting weights, with gravity helping up the resistance. Walking into the wind...up a hill, in water - flowing down the hill.... I don't know how you ask a dog if it feels "easy" now ie time to increase the weight.

Poochmad Were the rules written down - with the reasons for them? And consequences - eg if the house sitters broke the rules -you'd expect them to pay for vet bills and behaviourist trainer bills resulting? If the dogs were not to be walked in certain places - did you make a map for them of where they could take them? I used to write a huge list of rules - and then put the three priority ones at the front. No sleeping in my bed without discussing it with me first - I will notice and I will freak out. If you break something - bad luck - but let me know so I don't waste hours looking for it. Or if it's a big thing I can claim on my insurance. These days - my dogs go to kennels recommended by friends and that my dog enjoys. RSPCA here has been recommended by lots of friends - but next time she goes there (it's much safer than the hills one in Summer), I will ask them to check her tummy for rash every day. Cos she's a sneaky licker chewer - does it at 5:30am when nobody is looking.

is it possible to tell what their motivation is by how they act? homosexual acts and possibly homosexualness are not limited to humans - budgies, cattle, sheep, etc - I've seen them all having a go. Every time I see a thread along the lines of My dog is humping (my leg / other dogs / its fav toy or cushion - it must be trying to dominate... I think of the lyric from Hair the musical over 40 years old and still naughty. "masturbation can be fun"... and "off the leash" has done a humping olympics cartoon. http://rupertfawcettsdoggyblog.tumblr.com/post/28896880260/day-11-doggie-olympics-cushion-humping I stop my dog / interrupt if she humps another dog or my foot. She doesn't seem interested in humping other stuff (yet). Hasn't discovered the joys of cushion humping yet. Possibly because she enjoys ripping them to pieces better.