Decadence

It is a terrible situation, however, in regards to nose replacement, it is actually quite promising. Nose replacements have been happening for well over a century. Plastic surgeons use a flap of skin, usually taken from the forehead and reconstruct the nose on a prosthetic base. Adelaide has a fantastic cranio-facial surgical unit, so hopefully the boy will be able to have a new nose reconstructed (although of course he will lose his sense of smell) and if all goes well he should be able to live a relatively normal life. Ya joking right? The nose is probably one of the hardest things to get right cosmetically, especially if the whole thing was removed. Yes it can be repaired with a flap, but it won't be a 'new nose', he will most likely have severe psychological scarring from this not to mention body image issues. It's not like having a mole removed and skin to cover the divet, its your nose and no amount of expertise is going to give you a new nose, its still going to be obvious. Actually I am serious and know exactly what I am talking about. It would be far more scarring for the boy to have no nose than have a prosthetic one. Look at these images and tell me they aren't convincing: http://www.medicalar...s&gallery=nasal

It is a terrible situation, however, in regards to nose replacement, it is actually quite promising. Nose replacements have been happening for well over a century. Plastic surgeons use a flap of skin, usually taken from the forehead and reconstruct the nose on a prosthetic base. Adelaide has a fantastic cranio-facial surgical unit, so hopefully the boy will be able to have a new nose reconstructed (although of course he will lose his sense of smell) and if all goes well he should be able to live a relatively normal life.

So touching. What a wonderful dog, sacrificing his life for the baby.

If you fear for her current dog please, please help him. Can you possibly offer to re-home her pets in the future, or offer to train her dog for her? Can you (just) threaten her to tell her children the truth (maybe citing something along the lines of at least they will stop her from doing it in the future, or teach her of consequences to actions? Can you involve your mum in any way? Talk to her vet and convince them to keep animals she brings in to pts aside for you to re-home? There must be something that can be done, please don't give up. It's obvious you care and I am not questioning you in any way, I am just begging you to please not give up, sometimes hopelessness can demolish us far too early in the game and make everything seem futile. But you just have to be creative and or daring and find the right way, if not to get through to her then to take matters into your own hands, to help those animals who have a chance to stay alive only through you. That is really a terrible situation for the animals in your sister's "care". I was talking to a vet nurse last night at puppy pre-school. They had just put had to pts a purebred blue heeler. The neighbours had complained about its barking. The owners left it in the backyard all day, every day. They never once took it for a walk or played with it, so it was bored out of its brain. They couldn't surrender it to the pound because it was dog aggressive and had never been socialised with other dogs. So sad that the only solution for the poor dog was euthanasia. If the owners only put the time and energy into training and socialising their dog and giving it plenty of exercise and attention, there wouldn't be a problem. So many people buy a cute puppy and when it is not cute anymore, want to destroy it and buy a new puppy.

Sorry, better ask... How is our personal information going to used? How will it be stored? Will it be shared with any other persons/companies? Will it be destroyed after your research is complete? I work in a government department where we collect personal information and these are some necessary questions that we ask clients before sharing information. Thanks!

There were 128 days left before the Games. Yep, you're right - it was April 1. Here's the April Fool in full: 128 days to go . . . 128: The number of competitors who participated in the poodle-clipping event at the 1900 Olympics in Paris. The event was held in the leafy environs of the Bois de Boulogne and it was the only occasion that it featured as an Olympic discipline. This, no doubt, came as a relief to Baron Pierre de Coubertin, the French founding father of the modern Olympic movement, who had opposed its inclusion, but was outvoted by his International Olympic Committee colleagues. The gold medal was won by Avril Lafoule, a 37-year-old farmer's wife from the Auvergne region of France, who successfully clipped 17 poodles in the allotted two-hour time frame. The poodle-clipping competition, held on April 1, was watched by 6,000 spectators, one of the larger audiences at the most chaotic Olympic Games of all. The curious case of Olympic poodle-clipping is a classic web tale. Cut from the original Telegraph countdown and pasted into the blogosphere, it took on a life of its own, losing all its original context and eventually becoming a "fact" in Beijing.

LOL, spent so much time reading this at work this morning. Luckily our server had gone down, so I couldn't do work anyway!

April Fools!

Doggy diving - create the biggest splash, extra points for wetting the humans close by.

"Hi, I have a little Maltese cross Jack Russell called Oli. He has an amazing temperament and is always well behaved and loving. I am blessed to have such a beautiful dog. Recently I have been looking to get a new puppy to add to our family and I want to breed him with any other small dog breed so I can take advantage of his good genes. All I want is two puppies from the litter and you would be able to keep the rest for yourself or to sell! I would prefer a Yorkie or a mini foxy but I am happy to compromise. Preferably no Maltese's though. Looking forward to hearing from you!" I quite often email these types of people and try to explain that this is not really the smartest thing to do, considering all the implications bybreeding has, especially in regards to health, ethics, etc. What are your opinions on this?

Although the practice is now meant to be regulated, I am still not happy that these mills are operating at all. I would much prefer that they be shut down completely. Leave dog breeding to the registered breeders. It is a shame that there is an industry designed for profit only to produce cute fluffy pups. The poor mothers of these pups are bred and bred and there is nothing to stop that

I use Frontline as it kills fleas and ticks. Worth every cent in my opinion.

Renae is so beautiful. I love the bows. Boy she looked like she had a great day. Way to go!

Our vet recommended that our puppies both be desexed at 6 months. When she saw the look on my face she asked if I was going to breed them. I said 'no, but I may want to show the girl'. I really think 6 months is too young for bcs and I really want my boy, Shadow, to mature fully before he gets the snip.

I'm always surprised at the huge amount of ragdoll kittens (often teenagers) at the Belconnen Mall Pets Paradise. They charge around $1000 for those kittens and sell them too. A puppy was actually stolen from the Woden Pets Paradise and it was not until midday that anyone actually noticed. Sorry a bit off topic, but seeing all those wee puppy farm pups and kittens really makes me mad.

Awesome name and I love the markings. They are so cute at that age and so inquisitive!

My guys are just so good and well-behaved that I'm not finding it difficult at all with two, but the opposite really. I think I was really fortunate to get a really laid-back boy and the girl is just the sweetest, gentlest bc you could meet. It's really funny at puppy pre-school. There are two other bc puppies there and our they are totally hyperactive, running around like crazy furballs. Whereas my two will sniff them, but then go up to the humans to smooch. They are, at this stage anyway, a lot more into getting pats and treats from people than playing with the other pups. At home they will play with each other and love playing fetch and tug-o-war with us; all in all they are just really good dogs. I've always had two puppies growing up together. In the past it was a bc and a kelpie. Maybe I am just a sucker for punishment

My two border collie pups keep each other busy with rough-housing and running in and out through the doggy doors. Then they will come up to us and pant all over us as we are lazing on the couch. I keep them occupied with chews, toys, kongs, pigs ears, frozen treats, etc. They are only just 12 weeks so no walks as yet. But we have had plenty of leash practice and training sessions. They are so super smart that they have already learnt a lot of words and commands. At night they are kept in their 2 metre square puppy pen in the loungeroom, where they sleep all night. I give them a few chewy treats and they put themselves to bed when they are tired enough. They sleep all through the night.

Aww congrats. He is so little at the moment. I visited my pups when they were three and six weeks old and then picked them up at 8 weeks. It is so amazing seeing them grow up!:)

Well the dog should have been microchipped! But the woman is clearly a thief, good intentions or not. I'm sure the civil suit will fall through.

I live on a farm & I know your frustration. There is a guy some 3 kilometers from us who "breeds" bull x things. I think he & his neighbour may be into the dog fighting business...we know they are into growing & manufacturing drugs & occasionally the police raid them, take them away then let them go We have been visited by their dogs as they are so massive they break their chains or chew through their ropes & go wandering. However, there is a school of thought around here that you don't warn the owners about shooting their dogs, you just do it & the dog disappears. A neighbour learnt the hard way, he warned the blokes about their dogs chasing his stock. They did nothing about it, so he shot one of the dogs then the owner belted him over the head with a piece of 4 x 2 & almost killed him I feel sorry for the dogs, but what do you do, to protect your own dogs, livestock & children. Gosh, I hope after attempting to murder your neighbour that bloke finally got locked up?

Hi everyone, these are the guinea pigs we rescued yesterday from Queanbeyan Pound. This is Jefferson the male guinea pig. He is a long hair coronet (named after the crest on his head). He has lovely soft hair and is in good condition. Next is Lady. She has a mite infestation, which shows up on her nose with all the hair lose and raw skin. I have treated both guinea pigs for mites to kill the little pests. She is on her way to recovery now. Oh yes, and she is pregnant. So I will have to look for homes for her little ones in a few months! These two will definitely live with us. They are very special and enchanting little things!

This is one of the saddest things. He was so young and none of you deserved this. After I read this I hugged my pups. I hope your heart can heal with a new little pup in your life. When I had my first border collies I had no idea about the diseases. But with my two little ones I did all my research beforehand. Our thoughts are with you.

Back a long time ago when I lived in the Northern Territory in a little mining town 45 kms from Tennant Creek every household had a dog. We didn't have yards, we lived in transportable homes in the desert. It was great for us kids and we ran wild out there, not caring about snakes or giant goanas in our town. It was the cattle which wandered through our town which was the most dangerous thing. Anyway our dogs slept, ate and played inside at night, but would do their own thing during the day, including running around with the neighbours' dogs, following us to school and forcing mum to come and look for them. My dog never had a collar on until we moved to Adelaide. When we lived in "civilization" our dog had to learn that she could be inside with us, but there was no more roaming wherever she wanted. There was no more hooking up with the neighbourhood dogs. This created a lot of issues with her and as she did not understand traffic, she escaped from me one day and got hit by a car. Luckily it was minor and she recovered very quickly. A part of me still wishes I could be a kid again with the dogs running free, so my dogs in suburbia always have doggy doors to go in and out as they please. I know I hate the feeling of being confined anywhere and though my dogs have a huge pen to sleep in at night, they can come in and out whenever they are not put to bed.