Simply Grand

I think there is some issue with the kitten ending up like it is in that photo. Surely anywhere dealing with dead animals places them in a bag before they are placed in freezers? Is that not a requirement for disposing of biological waste?

I don't know, we always sealed deceased animals in a bag before placing in the freezer, which I would think would be standard practice/requirement. The pictured cat was not in a bag and there was no indication it had been when it was placed in the freezer

Oh gosh, Powerlegs is right, don't click the link, the pictures are very graphic, and although the top one is blurred there is one further down that isn't How anyone could do that to a cat, let alone people who are being paid to care for animals, is beyond belief. I bloody hope whoever was involved was fired and charged

Oh they are so gorgeous!!! The first video had Quinn and Riley running straight to me, held tilting like crazy and running around my chair checking me as though I must be hiding puppies in my pockets :laugh:

Wasn't the owner or handler also the secretary of the Dane club? not really an relative outsider if so? Person involved is/ was current president of Dane Club. Winner is a past president (for several years) of Dane club. Not sure if an overseas judge who was not a breed specialist would know this. The fact your dog has numerous points to its name is really not relevant given dogs accumulate points from all manner of shows. My dog got 1/4 the way to his title without ever beating another dog! Doesn't that make the whole system a bit irrelevant though? That's not at all aimed at you personally Danois, but if it's a points system but dogs can get points without ever beating another dog, and a dog can be awarded at a Royal based on one judge's opinion without points from elsewhere, and that may or may not be better indication of the quality of the dog than points, then where is there any objective measurement?

... you try to put yourself in Victoria's shoes (yeah, these VS dog training boots look awesome :D ), but at the same time you admit that you have not much experience with police dogs while she still tries to sell herself as the expert for dog training, no matter what realm it is...that's the difference. Where has she said she is an expert in working dog training of any sort? She is interested in police dog training and has been in discussion with local units. I've never seen her say she is an expert in this field. In fact, she says in the blog post about the incident: "I was honored and excited to attend, and, as is the case with a lot of my involvement in this field, I was mostly there to watch and observe." Furthermore, it's a moot point. Even an expert may indeed follow the directions of a dog's handlers. It is the polite thing to do, and it's usually a good way to keep safe. You might work in protection on a daily basis, but it's still someone else's dog and someone else's training and you don't know what the triggers might be. So listen to the handler. As has been said several times already, hang around these dogs long enough and you will probably get bitten. It's got little to do with who you are or how skilled or experienced you say you are. It happens. well, she declares herself as 'one of the world's most recognized and respected dog trainers', however, from a 'recognized and respected dog trainer' I expect to get the science around 'operant conditioning' right (she stresses her scientific approach pretty often). Have a look at her 4 pillars of positive training: while she stresses 'positive reinforcement' (first pillar) she doesn't list 'negative punishment', however she uses 'negative punishment' all the time!!! ...nothing wrong with using it, but don't call it 'positive reinforcement'. And of course her handling / training is not force free...every time she / we use the leash to pull the dog in the direction we decide to go we are applying force!...a trained dog will just follow without force, but he was not born like this. There are a lot of shows in which she heavily (as far as it is possible with her VS dog training boots :D ) is pulling the leash to control the dog - it's not force free! She is obviously a smart business woman with a selling concept and her acting and catwalk performance in her shows might draw some audience (but won't get her an Oscar), however, IMO she is not a very authentic person, and for me the later one is a very important 'pillar' when it comes to dog training. ETA:...and I couldn't find any disclaimer on her page that would exclude working dogs and / or police dogs from her expertise. This is definitely why she was bitten. Police dogs can't stand it when you forget to mention negative punishment.

Corvus, Lhok, Kavik Voices of reason. For crying out loud, she got badly bitten, she posted online when she shouldn't have, she explained herself when in a clearer state of mind and said then that it was an accident following a series of decisions by various people. I fail to see how it's any reflection on anyone's training methodology as a whole.

Hahaha Akayla you can so see exactly what you described in their faces: Jerry Lee - is this right? This is what I'm meant to do right? Blaez- You have two seconds, then these ears are MINE!

Have you had dogs before? How much training and mental stimulation are you wanting to do? Will the dog be around people after school/work when people are home? And sorry, I can't see on iPhone, where are you located? I ask because an Australian Shepherd could possibly work... Definitely medium, not small, and need company and lots of mental stimulation otherwise they can become bored, destructive and escape artists, but don't generally need as much exercise and "work" as other herding breeds. Mine shed fairly minimally apart from twice yearly coat drops when we lived in Canberra but sheds a fair amount now in SE Qld. Grooming is easy though, she repels dirt, a quick weekly brush and trimming of occasional knots is all she needs.

It's different to the CM pig incident in that there was no third party that wasn't given a choice involved. Obviously something went wrong here but Victoria, as she said herself, was aware that she was putting herself in a situation where she potentially could be hurt, which is totally fine and her choice to do. The pig had no such choice. That doesn't at all mean I think she deserved to get bitten, of course she didn't! But it was a training exercise and from what Victoria says it sounds as though it was a new situation for the dog. Hopefully everyone involved in this incident can look back how the exercise was conducted and the lead up to the bite and see what needs to be changed for next time.

Plus TSD and Huski, both (all) of yours were carefully bred and raised with tempermanent in mind, the daughters have grown up with their mums and you've been able to monitor the relationship developing between them. Very different to bringing in a bitch you haven't raised yourself, don't necessarily know the background behind her temperament and will be new to the older bitch. That bring even more unknowns!

Agree with Raineth and juice, exactly what I was thinking.

Ah, ok allergic reaction makes a difference. Talk to the doctor and explain you have had an allergic reaction to the vac before, allergic reactions to vaccinations can be because of other things in the vaccine rather than the bacteria itself. The doctor may be able to prescribe a course of antibiotics other than penicillin to take just in case of tetanus or other infection before you go away. But really, as far as I know the risk is very low in Australia.

I'm not actually sure they do give a tetanus shot as standard practice in Australia in this day and age, especially after a one off incident if you have already been vaccinated. Tetanus is far from prevalent in Australia...I could be wrong though. Anecdotally I've had broken skin bites and scratches from dogs, cats and native mice over the last five years or so as well as regular licks to cuts and scrapes from my own dogs, with my most recent tetanus vacs being 24 odd years ago before going to south east Asia, and I have not had Tetanus. If you are worried I would call the doctor tomorrow.

Oh that's awesome, what a good name story. I love the name Two for a dog that it suits as well! ETA didn't Seven come up in the Seinfeld episode where they talked about unique human baby names and George liked Soda?

They are such cute little boofers! Seven looks so lovely ad cuddly with them :)

Not to worry, I'm well used to being covered in bruises from Quinn! She's a total ruffian, and being able to jump from the ground to at least 5'9" face height with minimal effort makes her a danger to all face bones, sigh. Thank goodness my other two are little and painless.

My Sheltie prefers to drink from muddy puddles than clean water bowls, even if they are right next to each other. Dogs are gross.

I use stainless steel generally, and we have one plastic water bowl. Quinn has managed to smash ceramic and supposedly "unbreakable" melamine. But dry food is rarely in a bowl, it goes in a Kong Wobbler, an empty plastic drink bottle squished so she has to bat it around to get the food out, scattered around the floor or hand fed with a bit of training slotted in - from a bowl it is inhaled in two seconds! Depends on the dog though, some are not as piggy as mine!

I tried this game with Quinn when I got home this afternoon, I think it's a great idea for a combo of brain tiring focus and physical exercise Only problem was she got so excited she ran at me, jumped and nose butted me RIGHT in the eye socket. Now I have a sore eye and will probably have a bruise in the morning :laugh: Next time I will wait until she has gotten over the excitement of me getting home before I introduce a fun new game...

I really need to take you out to Fox Rescue... they have a 3 week old rescue puppy at the moment... and a bunch of kittens of varying young ages too! Oh - and we need to cross patting a fox of your to do list, yes? T. OT and I don't know if anyone will remember but some time back I came across fox kits in a drain, I swear they look exactly like puppies crossed with kittens! I stood there for ages looking them going "what ARE you?!" :laugh:

Oh gosh they are so cute!!!! And all little. You would be buying wouldn't you, not renting? That being the case, if you can manage keeping Chloe inside to keep barking from annoying the neighbors and can keep them all contained so they don't cause issues for the neighbours they are unlikely to report you to council. So might be worth just doing it and not registering them all to your address... I had to be honest to both the property manager and council because I am renting and my three make themselves too obvious for the neighbours not to notice there are three, and I needed to provide the lease approving them to even register one let alone extras but you wouldn't have those issues.

Oh, go Seven! Sending good wishes :D

Over the last few crappy years I've actually had to contemplate this with my three and it was really tough. Saxon is the most easily rehomable as he doesn't have any problem behaviours and would fit in to just about any type of home but he is also the oldest (only 6.5 tho, not old), super bonded to me and would have been the easiest for me to take into whatever housing situation I ended up in. Riley would struggle the most with rehoming, he's a weirdo that has lots of personality quirks and can be dog reactive so I wouldn't have wanted to rehome him, for his sake, but also he's never been an only dog and relies heavily on Saxon and Quinn so if I had to only have one I really don't know how he would cope. Quinn would be ok to be rehomed but she would be too much dog for an inexperienced owner, would need someone prepared to adjust their household around her as she can open cupboards, fridges, doors, possible gates and jump fences, and she likes to be the boss of other dogs so personalities would have to be matched. Plus she's my special girl and I adore her So in the end my choice was I will sacrifice anything else I have to if it means I can keep all three, which I have. BUT I'm only me, you have a whole family to consider so it's different. In your case I would go with the ones that would cope best with rehoming, regardless of my own feelings, as hard as it would be

Oh Kirislin I am so so sorry to hear about Pagan, even imagine how hard it must be. Cry and laugh away