disintegratus

She makes me wish I had the required amount of energy for a husky, she is STUNNING!!! I believe she has been found as well :D

I cracked the shites with my mum only about a week ago, because I was at their place and heard the JRT clicking as he walked across the floor. His nails weren't as bad as the poor dog in the pic, but they were really really long and obviously very uncomfortable. I'm pretty sure I was the last person to cut them, and that had been about 6 months ago! Unfortunately because they were so long, I had to get Nathan to help me restrain him and we just cut them right back, quick and all. I felt bad about hurting him, but figured a day of pain would be worth it, rather than only being able to trim them a little, and it potentially taking weeks to get back to a point where he'd be comfortable walking again. Less than 24 hours later and he was jumping around like a pup again :D I have real trouble with Harley's nails these days. He's always been uncomfortable with having his feet touched, but I gradually got him used to it and didn't have an issue. Then one day I was at the vets and asked them to trim them while I was there Now cutting his nails is back to a two-person job

I have no issues that some vets charge more than others, but I don't necessarily believe you get what you pay for 100% of the time. My local vet is predominantly a greyhound vet, and I have found their service in general fantastic, and their prices are significantly less than what a lot of other vets in the area charge. I do think a lot of people baulk at vet prices because of the disparity with human medical costs, but as has been mentioned, people costs are government subsidised. A while ago, out of curiosity I looked into elective hysterectomies (mostly because I don't want to have babies and am already sick of the various crappy side effects of birth control) and was told that a) they wouldn't do it because I'm only 25, and b) even if they did, I'd be up for around $30,000. The thought crossed my mind that maybe I could just find a vet who would spey me... Chances are they'd have a lot more experience with the procedure too... ;)

Not half bad, but they lost me at "cockapoo".

Thanks Tdierikx, just bought it :) Hopefully it will arrive in time. Greytpets, I won't be quite ready to foster straight off the bat, but I certainly do have a soft spot for greyhounds. TBH, I never used to like them much as they're so pointy, but the small amount of exposure I've had to them over the last few years (it doesn't take much, I think I've only met 2 or 3 :p) have really won me over, and I would love to own/foster some one day. I used to think that I wanted to foster oldies, or provide a "last port of call", somewhere where the ancient ones could rest their bones until it's time to cross the bridge, but I don't know if I can. Maybe it's selfish, but I don't know if I've got the emotional capacity to be able to deal with that on a long term basis.

Thanks very much Wildthing, that's certainly very helpful, and is exactly the area I'm moving to :)

Gippsland, about 10 minutes out of Yarram. So very excited, I finally get to move away from suburbia!! :D Went up today to get a handover for the property (how all the pumps work etc) and met some of the neigbours, they're such lovely people :)

Thanks very much. Quarantine is not something I had thought of Gallomph, thanks for the suggestion. I had considered being able to keep mine separate as one of mine has fear aggression issues and I have noticed that my 4 together tend to overwhelm other animals a bit(and people too!), but I hadn't taken into account disease transmission. And Aphra, that is a really good idea, and allows me to get involved pretty much straight away as well

I'm moving to 3 acres in 2 weeks :D I'm absolutely not going to be able to do anything straight off the bat, as the place does not yet have adequate fencing, plus there's the whole setting up the house thing. But as soon as possible, I'd like to become involved in rescue, whether it be fostering (I have 4 dogs, but council says I can get a permit for up to 10 with no issues and no neighbour approval needed, not that I'd want to go straight to 10!!!) or, well, anything else really. Eventually I'd like to set the place up with a couple of runs for separating dogs etc, but I think it might be better to start off small and managable. I do not have the first idea about where to start. So, oh gracious rescue angel people, please help me! Give me a starting point! I should also mention that at first (until I find a job closer) I will be working just the weekends, so should have plenty of time during the week.

Mine eat weird stuff all the time. Most of the time I don't even know about it, I just find the evidence in their poop! I think I am blessed with dogs that have amazing digestive systems, I've found a fair few poops with plastic bags entwined in them, but had no inkling that something wasn't right before the fact. The worst one recently was when I cleaned out the fridge and found about half a birthday cake hiding in the back that had been there so long that it was just a cake shaped piece of mould. It had been wrapped in foil, so had just ended up at the back of the fridge and been forgotten about. I threw it in the bin, then came home hours later to lots of tiny pieces of foil all over the kitchen, and no mould cake. They all survived that one with no issues, although the bi started to live in the cupboard after that. One of them also ate 4x the dose of worming tablets last time they were due for worming. I'd left the packet on the kitchen bench, and evidently one of them thought that something I usually need to force them to eat would be a tasty snack.

I'm another one of the fatties with slim dogs My dogs always get treats etc, but never give me hungry eyes because they know better :p The same can't be said for everyone else though! I often catch Thundercleese with his head on Nathan's lap, lustfully gazing at the food Nathan's eating. To be honest their weights tend to fluctuate a little because I don't measure out their food so much, just when I notice that one of them is a little rounder than they should be, I cut back a little, or when one's gotten too skinny for my liking, I just feed them a little more. I know I shouldn't, but I've also taken to keeping my old boy Harley (Dobe x kelpie, at least 9 years old, not that he looks it :)) a little fatter over winter. They have to stay outside during the day and occasionally overnight, and it gets bloody freezing here. So even though he's got a coat on, I like to keep a touch of extra meat on his bones while it's cold. It's not much though, no more than about 1.5kg on a roughly 33kg (ideal weight) frame. My Mum still tells me he's too skinny. It's hard watching pets suffer because of being overweight. My Mum's collie x lab is quite severely overweight, has been ever since I moved out of home, and he's really starting to suffer because of it, but she just won't stop overfeeding him. I actually took his bowl from her house and replaced it with a much more appropriately sized one, but she just piles the food up more, and yet every time I go over there, she acts like he's lost heaps of weight. It makes me very sad

Fair enough, but these days I take everything put out by the media with a grain of salt. Unfortunately there's no such thing as truthful journalism anymore.

Fair enough. After watching the video footage and reading the other articles, I'm inclined to agree that the charges are reasonable. As I said, that first article was the first I'd heard of it, and that one was not particularly detailed. I think a better idea would be to extend the ban to include the residence where she lives. That is, she cannot live with any animals, regardless of whose name they're registered in. If the other people she lives with don't like it, they can go live somewhere else. I also agree with Daffyduck, people are so hellbent on "justice" that they don't see the broader picture. Hoarding (of anything really) is a mental issue which in my opinion should be addressed as a mandatory part of sentencing in any hoarding case. I don't see why her mother got acquitted. Sure she was in hospital at the time of the raid, but it takes a long time for that kind of filth to happen, unless she'd been in hospital for months, I find it hard to believe she wasn't involved somehow.

This is the first I've heard about it, so I think I'll reserve judgement for now. To be honest, something sounds fishy to me. There are a lot of comments in the article that leave a lot of room for ambiguity. "conditions they considered to be unacceptable" could be anything to be honest, especially if someone's got a grudge against the woman. "...inspectors found the cats had ringworm, mites and fleas" Doesn't necessarily mean that she's neglected them, it just means that perhaps they're due for treatment. "the guinea pig cage was dirty with dead animals on the floor" Doesn't mean they're neglected. It could mean that it's cleaning day and she's got a few oldies in the cage. I know at times when I've had several very old rats, I've come home from work to find one or two dead ones in the cage. "some of the birds were kept in cages that were too small" Could just mean that they get a lot of time out of their cages, so they don't need to be particularly spacious. "...the animals had not been provided with sufficient food and water" Also not necessarily an indication of neglect. If someone came to my house, would they deem that my ferrets had not been provided with sufficient food and water because by the end of the day their food bowl is almost empty and they've probably knocked over all of their water bowls? The picture is not defined as a picture of her dog either. That could be a skinny dog from anywhere. I'm not saying that she's innocent or guilty, just that anything I hear from the RSPCA is taken with a grain of salt.

Is it bad that that news made me a little sad? :p That really is great news though, I'm so happy for Narla and you Chezal. So glad to know she's happy and safe in her forever home with people who love her like she deserves.

:crossfingers: Having 4 dogs in a council area zoned for two, and relying only on the mind-their-own-business-ness of our lovely neighbours, I am reeeeeaaaally hoping this goes through for you!! Good luck! Maybe worst case scenario, get the block subdivided, then technically it's two blocks so you can have twice the number of dogs ;) Although last time I looked into subdivision it was around $30,000 so that's definitely not the cheapest option :p

I was at Costco today and didn't buy beds for my lot because they'd gone up to $37-something!! :laugh: I'm just a tightarse though, and let them sleep on the couches. (not sure who the winner is there, sure I've saved money by not buying them beds, but they've completely destroyed our $1300 couches...)

Sorry, didn't realise you'd asked Sorry, I'm not very good at explaining myself sometimes, but what I mean is make the dog door insert, and around the hole, attach 2 extra pieces of timber on the 2 sides and the bottom, so a cross section would look like a "u" shape, creating a lip for a piece of timber (or sheet metal) to slide in and out of. Then you can latch it. Alternatively, you could keep the cut-out piece, and attach it with hinges to the top of the hole, then use a latch to keep it either open or closed. Hope that made more sense...

Nah, it'd count as a "disability", even more of a reason not to look for a job... Hopefully you don't have any trouble with Narla's old owners.

Wow, what a gorgeous dog!! I wish I could take him. Hopefully the right owners will come along soon.

That's fantastic :D I got something in my eye... Unfortunately I'm working night shift all that weekend, but I'm going to do my best to be there anyway :)

Oh, another thing I did that's worked for me: to try to curb the overexcitement whenever the lead comes out, just take it out all the time. Pull it out of the draw and walk around with it, then put it back. Put the dog on lead and have him walk around the house with you while you do whatever you're doing. Basically, just shut down the idea that the lead means THE FUNNEST TIME EVER!!!! That said, I have a specific pair of pants I usually only wear when walking the dogs (old and ratty, I look like a hobo but they're comfy as anything and have heaps of pockets :)), and the dogs still get super excited by those. I don't mind though because I very rarely wear them unless walking the dogs.

Probably not "by the book" but what has worked for me (both with the dogs and with my sister's pig) is: if preparing or eating food, and I am being bothered by one or more of them, as soon as I notice, I stop what I'm doing and stare at them until they back off. When I'm eating, I don't want this to take forever, so a very short growl (yep, completely crazy dog lady here, I even talk dog :p) speeds the process up a lot. Not sure if it's connected in any way, but I'm also very strict on food possessiveness here, no matter what they're eating, or when it was given to them, if I want to take it, it's mine. Because of this, I can sit on the couch with dogs either side of me, and they will not even dream of begging for food unless I call their names. That said, apparently the rules don't apply to other people, my mum came to visit the other day and I caught Thundercleese sitting with his head on her lap staring longingly at the biscuit she was eating!! She didn't mind though, as she puts up with that kind of behaviour from her own dogs. The dogs food doesn't take long to prepare, but with the pig, he gets very bossy and pushy while his food is being prepared. He headbutts and gets under your legs and generally makes a pain in the ass of himself. So what I did was, the second he started displaying what I deemed inappropriate (ie, anything that wasn't standing or sitting quietly waiting) I would stop what I was doing and walk away for 2 minutes. When he'd settled, I'd go back and resume. Luckily I have a lot of time on my hands, as one of the first times I did this, it took me almost an hour to feed him. As a result though, he is still a right royal PITA for my sister, but won't do anything of the sort with me. He even sits and waits for his food without being asked. :) I'm a meany, but it works :p

If he had a syringe capable of measuring out 2ml, then that same syringe should have had a marker for .5ml. Pretty simple stuff really.

I don't really think that's fair. It was late at night, post surgery, I doubt he could have gotten his hands on anything else, nurofen was most likely all he had available to him. If he'd followed the correct dosage given him by the vet, it's likely his cat would still be alive. He gave the cat 4 times the dose advised, I can't see how it's the vets fault. Yes, it's off label use, but short of taking the cat to an emergency vet (which he obviously didn't do for whatever reason), I don't see many other options available to him.