Chris the Rebel Wolf

Sorry about that Crestie :D If you're having withdrawals, feel free to click through to Maya's blog in my siggy :) Plenty of photos there! I've finally killed my camera so I don't have anything superrecent. Once I've got my new snapshotter I'll be sure to use her as a model! Thanks everyone! Kipper snuck out the gate SOMEBODY WHO IS DEFINITELY NOT CHRIS forgot to close this afternoon and went to visit the neighbors :p He enjoyed himself so much he didn't want to come home again. I think he just wanted to get sympathy pats!

Well, my lumix TS4 and I had a wonderful time together these past two and a half years, but all the use I very frequently have it finally wreaked the seal, water got in, bye bye camera! So I'm in the market once again. Looking for a small point & shoot waterproof camera, budget $400 or under - hit me with your recommendations!

Checking out the beach, maybe for the first time - this was as deep as he wanted to go and I considered that a positive!

Well all, turns out the way to get Chris to get a new dog is just to show me one with the most tragic sob story... Meet Kipper everyone! So while I was at work a few weeks ago, one of the AWDRI fosterers came in with Kipper. Kipper is a blind, 15-year-old Border Collie (I think there may be cattle dog in there too!) who was picked up by the local pound, with his terrier buddy, and when the owners arrived they took back the terrier but said they didn't want Kipper anymore - even when the pound offered to waive all fees and give him back free of charge. No go. AWDRI found him and took him into foster care, they did a terrific job with him, and when he visited me at work, I was struck by this faith in humanity. Kipper couldn't see me, he has hearing issues and could barely hear me, but he came right up to me, tail wagging, and had a treat and a cuddle. I went home that night and went looking for his profile to share on social media, desperate to do anything to help him find a good home. The next day, I was still thinking about him. Constantly. I realized I might not have to look too far for his home... I expected a flat 'no' from my other half but it turns out, he was an even softer touch than me. He was fully on board when I proposed adding Kipper to our pack. So, I took James to meet Kipper, put in my application, and now he's ours :) He was quite stressed the first few weeks at home, I cannot imagine how difficult it was for Kipper adjusting to a new home at his age, without his family and his buddy, and without sight. He relies a lot on his nose, and at the suggestion of one of the wonderful local trainers I laid scent-trails down all the hallways and 'safe zones' so he could find his way about easier. He panicked at first when Zeke or Maya approached him, snapping at the air and barking, very fearful behavior. He and Zeke sorted themselves out when I followed throough a plan that's probably not highly recommended by trainers and simply put them in the bck yard together. Kipper had a couple of goes at Zeke when he approached by Zeke is bombproof enough having helped raise several dogs in his time, they now get along together fine and can be in the yard together they basically just do their own thing. Obviously this is not a tact that works with Maya, she will not put up with being barked at, so we are working with lots of little training sessions together, going for walks together (they are fine then) and lying close on different sides of a door. I am confident with time and patience they will settle down together - I will keep trying! Kipper is much happier now he's been here for several weeks. He keeps up well on works amazingly for his age, he's eating all his meals, and he can hone in on a left-open car door in seconds and scramble up onto the floor then the seat - he loooooves car rides. My current goal for Kipper is to get him swimming... so far he doesn't seem experienced with water, and is obviously a bit mistrustful of it, but we will get there :D

There's an Anatolian version of this too that keeps getting posted on my facebook :D

Will not repeat the names I would like to call this creature. I hope that the publicity around this case puts him out of a job. This. I know he paid the vet bill of $15000 as well as his $5000 fine but I would have liked to see hi take a deeper hit to the pockets. Hopefully he will watch his temper in future and not harm an animal again.

Thanks for everyone's replies this was very useful for me too! I'm looking to change Maya's Petplan after a their increase, the plan I had her on was just about the limit of my budget so I'd rather find something more affordable.

Most brands I'm familiar with give you approximately 2 years. But yeah, may be six months outta that going from factory to shelf, but if you contact most online sellers they ought to be able to tell you the expiration date so you can see if it'd be worth it :)

-Freeze bones/treats/chicken stock in a 2L icecream container for an outdoor treat. -Tie up a tug toy in a sturdy tree. -Peanut butter in a food reward toy, room temp/frozen I'd also see if there are dog walkers or maybe a responsible neighborhood friend who might be able to help out since getting the dog out of the yard is still going to be important :)

If there's a petbarn near you check it out, mine here have the fuzzyard high fashion PJs in pink & blue :)

To me, he looks a good weight, very important to keep the large breeds lean, I would not consider him overweight. Love his markings!

We will have that in Aussieland soon- apparently according to the supplier, it ought to be available to pet stores in a months' time. Is this new anti-itch med steroid-based?

I dislike the injection, it's a whole lot of medication in one hit... Novatris have a reminder system somewhere... http://remindmypet.com/

You don't know how much I cheer for you doing this amount of research before you decide on your breed. I would be the happiest person alive if only everyone put in as much thought as you! I think the important thing after you've researched the breed and met a few is to go by your own instincts - are they telling you this is the dog for you? Knew two very well-balanced Weis when Zeke was a youngster - they were ran every day in the park I exercised him at. It astounded me how well they minded their owners - they were allowed offlead and ran together around the entire park perimeter several times (another reason I remember them so fondly aside from their awesome training was how incredible they looked racing along, full-pelt!) but not once did I see them attempt to leave the park, so much as glance at anybody else's dogs, never be fazed by bikers, fisherman, or any human in the park, and they always returned at a call or whistle from the owners. I never got a chance to chat in depth with them and find out how much time they devoted to training them, but it never failed to impress me.

What a beautiful boy you have, here's wishing him a joyful birthday :)

Maya has less severe ones, she will cry out, thrash her limbs and whimper, nothing quite so drastic as your boy But she calms when I talk to her. I wonder if something like crate training would help your boy feel more secure at night? Was that the worst nightmare experience he's had or has behaviour like that become more constant?

Oh man, I feel sorry for this pup. And I hear you Scottsmum, I hear these type of stories almost on a daily basis as I work in the pet industry and some days I just don't understand people. Actually I do. They're dumbasses. And I get the job of trying to explain why their belongings are being chewed or what to do when they get noise complains and why are their dogs fighting? I can only hope that something that I say will sink in in these cases... if people do not want to change, they won't.

That's fantastic news :D Excellent work!

Happy birthday Hank!! I love the puppy photo of him with the sunset behind him <3 He's such a handsome lad!

My mum's staffy had her cruciate ligament done in one leg, but it's hard to say how her recovery went because she wasn't given proper rest and she was allowed to run around and chase her ball in the weeks after her op, she always limped, and in a few months her other leg went So I suppose from that I'd take actually listening to the vet about exercise instead of allowing the dog to set their own exercise level during recovery, like what happened in that instance

I love the coloured ones, they're so vibrant :D I too am to intrigued with that nose ridge it's incredible, never seen one of those before!

My mum's new crossbred pup is like this, just SO excited to see other dogs, she does not listen to the 'back off' or 'enough now' warnings. I bring Maya around and now I know Maya is solid with Goldie (Will discipline her for rude behaviour without being aggressive) it is interesting to watch them play. Maya spends the first fifteen minutes of a playdate telling Goldie to settle down and refusing to play with her with warning, 'go away' growls. Goldie responds by getting more and more worked up (she jumps and whines and carries on like a pork chop). When Goldie settles down and starts to listen, Maya grudgingly begins to play, then when she's really settled after 1-2+ hours, she will go and initiate play with Goldie. But it took several playdates before Goldie got the message she cannot be in psycho-play mode, or she gets no play. Goldie is almost 7 months now, and I am interested in if she settles down with maturity or not. Feel free to come up to the 'ville and borrow Maya, anytime ;)

Jedi Sascha so made me laugh :D "Muuuuuum... don't wash meeee, I rolled in dirt to clean myself after our beach trip yesterday!"

I'll run over my bare bones basics for the ill-informed but well-meaning new large breed puppy owners: Keep good quality diet, find a great vet who knows their stuff, start training basic manners right now, such as sit before treats & affection and tolerating no jumping up or mouthing, spend at LEAST one lesson a day starting from right now on walking calmly beside them on a leash (obviously starting in their yard first until fully vaccinated) and warn them, it will likely be MONTHS before their dog walks properly on a leash beside them and no matter how excitable the pup is at times and how hopeless the cause seems when 7-month old pupper is pulling them off their feet, do NOT give up on teaching her to walk beside them instead of in pulling front of them. Socialize everywhere possible around as many stable even temperament dogs and as many willing humans as you guys have access to. Ensure that pup is taught to swim and do so as often as humanly & caninely possible (best exercise ever for growing large breeds!) and do not do/only do tiny amounts of 'hard' exercise like excessive jumping, jogging/running, or running beside a bike until mature and conditioned for it. That was longer than I intended! Wish them luck from me, Zeke & Maya :)

I'm waiting for this whole story/tweets to be revealed as somebody's idea of a joke ;)