Willem

...for human consumption you would give game some days to age and 'getting the heat' out of the meat before you process it further and freeze it - so it takes a while till it starts to rot....of course it also depends on the temperature. wrt roo mince / meat you can buy in petbarn etc.: I doubt that it has all the good stuff a fresh road kill has. It is also a complete different feeding: the mince just gets swallowed ...20 seconds and it's gone, while she really takes her time for the road kill (meat with the bones)...there is a saying that the digestion starts in the mouth where glands produces other enzymes required for a good digestion...you don't get this when a dog just swallows a chunk of mince - think about it, there is no mince for wolves on the food list...

...yes, it stays for at least a week in the freezer below 25 deg C, I also wouldn't take any carnivores / omnivores, e.g. foxes, rats etc. as these are the ones that might carry viruses that can also infect a dog. You also have to assess the meat for worms, unusual colors etc. ...the wallabies (just the right size) or a small kangaroo seem to be pretty healthy critters....

...humping can just be a playful - normal - behaviour between dogs, however, sometimes it can grow in a behavior where the dog dictates the ranking and verifies / maintain the ranking by humping others. The OP mentions that there are signs of aggression when the 'victim' tries to stop the dog from doing it; it is not that the poor guy tries to dominate the dog - the dog dominates the poor guy...and this is something that is not only annoying and humiliating, but can be also very dangerous. There are clear signs that this is more than 'playing': the dog picked the weakest guy (new job, young, unsure what to do...his body language will give it away) and shows aggression - this is not acceptable. And it is not the job of the victim to train the dog - that's the responsibility of the owner. If the owner doesn't get the message, the victim has all the rights to defend himself using aversives or what so ever...it is not about training, it is about self-defense! we had just a case where a tradie was attacked by 3 dogs...don't wait till it is too late and there is another negative headline...

I'm not shy of picking up a fresh killed wallaby from the road (as long as it is not rolled over by a truck), throw it in the boot and clean it out and cut it into portion at home (grandpa was a meat cutter). Then the portion go into the freezer (below 25 deg C).... and gets fed to the dog...2-3 times a week a portion (a portion equals approx. 50% of her daily food ratio - the other half can be kibble, chicken and/or homemade / dehydrated treats) as long as it lasts - it is her favored food!!!...lean meat including the bones, there is no other food that could compete with it. My wife thinks it is disgusting ...I think it is one of the highest quality food you can feed, and it is for free....

if it is really dominance behaviour I doubt it will work...any attempts to 'make good friends' would just reinforce the established ranking...giving the treat would be like paying a ransom for not getting humped....

I would not be telling a dog like that "no" and I would not be letting it hump my leg either. The way I deal with most dogs like that now is to grab their collar and hold them away from me - until they notice they can't get where they want to go, when they back off, I let them go to see what their choice is... More humping and I collar grab again. If it gets extreme... I have a spare lead in my bag and the dog would get tied up. The other thing I would recommend trying is more subtle. Get some eucalyptus oil, mix it two drops to 200ml water in a misting bottle - and spray on clothes. It smells pretty nasty and would discourage the sniff before humping and probably the humping. Definitely it's a safety problem for the dog as well as the workers. If they spill paint on the dog or someone gets tripped and falls on it - there's going to be problems for the dog too. I'd be careful trying a collar grab with a dog that has been narky with you. Quite a lot of dogs don't like it and if they haven't been conditioned to it, they may bite you just for trying to get their collar. second that - according to the OP the dog already tried to bite when the poor guy attempted to avoid the humping. While such behaviour can be just play, in this case it looks more like dominance behaviour, which is unacceptable towards a human...and dogs are pretty good in finding out (body language, smell) who is the weakest link in the group (this skill comes from the ancestors that had - and still have - to make the easiest kill and avoiding any risk of injuries to maintain the best chance of survival)- I assume the other colleagues don't get humped?...while this are tough times, and it might cost him his job, considering he is just 17 it is part of the learning - he should stand up, talk to his boss and if required should use aversives to defend himself from being humped (you wouldn't allow such behaviour from a colleague, so why would you accept it from a dog???).... Once he made this decision for himself, it might be that the humping stops as the dog might recognize the changed body language / attitude. If his boss can't sort it out and arrange that the dog gets locked away or controlled by the owner he should be ready to defend himself...and a possible bite hurt less than constant humiliation in the long run. ETA: depending on his physical strength and how familiar he is with 'wrestling' a dog, a pepper spray might be a subtile, but very effective alternative: http://www.wellingtonsurplus.com.au/listProduct/SECURITY/PEPPER+SPRAYS

Not necessarily - that vet clinic is brilliant. I'm a 6.5 hour round trip from TVP and it's my primary vet clinic. Some of my friends managed to convince their clinic to get some test kits - just a matter of finding a vet willing to listen and think outside the square. My local vet has tolerated my request for titre testing in the past but certainly never encouraged it. It was better than some of the responses I got, including one senior vet who told me to stop being ridiculous - just vaccinate and be done with it. ...unfortunately it seems they did a 'good' job with brainwashing dog owners regarding the necessity and benefits of yearly vaccinations - it will take a while to get this out of the system. Still, I'm optimistic to get the numbers...3 to go....

...I never will understand the idea behind spending more money on food when the simplest recipe is to feed less food....?????...nothing wrong with letting an overweight - but otherwise healthy - dog fast for 1 or 2 days per week, just make sure there is always access to water. It might comfort you in your emotional state to feed a begging dog, but FOOD IS NOT LOVE!...and IMHO overfeeding a dog and compromising knowingly his health is as bad as any other animal abuse. http://www.dog.com/dog-articles/help-your-overweight-dog/2115/

wrt Incurin: be aware that there is a 3-5 % chance that it will bring your dog in a kind of pseudo proestrous stage (swollen vulva, bleeding, sexual attractivity) which can last - conversely to an entire bitch - 24/7 - 365 days.... http://www.fda.gov/downloads/AnimalVeterinary/Products/ApprovedAnimalDrugProducts/FOIADrugSummaries/UCM265609.pdf ...consequently it might have some unpredictable behaviour changes...or attract unwanted attention of other dogs...

...yes, seriously...for a lot of dogs this is a very good tool to link an unwanted behaviour to an unpleasant response without hurting them...but let us know how you interrupted the marking?...because this is the problem of the OP, it is not just about adding wanted behaviour by using positive reinforcement or normal toilet training, but about eliminating an already established unwanted behaviour of a 10 year old dog....being happily rewarded outside for a wee won't convince him to give up on marking in the house as these are 2 total different behaviours for him despite that the smell is the same...

???...the only difference of your recipe and what I recommended is that you use a leash as the aversive to correct him...or do you think your dog enjoyed it to be tied to you all the time and get pulled outside when he actually liked to mark something????...it is still a correction and I bet you wouldn't have been able to do it if you would have replaced the leash with a fine string...

...marking in the house is just another house training issue - like the normal toilet training. If allowed it becomes a conditioned behaviour and of course will be harder to erase. The recipe is simple, but time consuming: you have to watch your dog 24/7 to be able to apply corrections when it happens (you only can correct it while it happens - 10 seconds later is too late). Just positive reinforcement (rewarding him when he does a wee or marking outside) won't be enough to eliminate the behaviour as it imprinted now and gets reinforced by instinct, and I doubt that just de-sexing him at such an age would do the trick. Hence there will be some aversives required, the right 'tool' will depend on the individual dog and his trainability - for some dogs a harsh 'NO' and getting him outside will do, others might require to throw a bonker / towel to link the unwanted action to an unpleasant response. The key is persistence, hence the 24/7 supervision. If you can't supervise for a period, get him outside for this period or - dare that I say this - crate him. The training will only be successful if you don't allow him to do it - not once! At the end it is a training issue...and there is never an equivalent replacement for the appropriate training.

...the point is that during these times and weather in your area your dog just can't get infected with heartworms - it is just not possible due to the very complicated life cycle of the heartworm larvae. If there is one vet who would deny this fact this vet should be reported!...here some light reading: http://www.dogs4dogs.com/blog/2009/05/13/heartworm-medication-safety/

..yeah...they have to make a living too...

you are from Sydney?...Sydney and the Illawarra still has a few nights per week when the temperature drops below 14 deg C, hence there is no chance that the microfilariae in the mosquito would become transmittable (they have to stay for two weeks to six weeks - depending on the temperature - in the mosquito to develop to the stage where they become dangerous). A short period of temperatures below 14 deg C and the larval lifecycle ceases entirely!....so if you don't travel to warmer regions there is no need at all to administer any Heartworm product....transmittal of the disease - as it requires the mosquito and very specific temperature windows - is just not possible in our area at the moment! Administering a heartworm drug is therefore not only a waste of money, but would expose the dog to unnecessary negative side effects too. ETA: ...the above is valid for the current climate conditions here in the Illawarra and Sydney area - in the summer months there is of course a possibility that this disease is transmittable and when administration of a heartworm drug has it's merits.

when I made the calls to vets here in the Illawarra around Wollongong it was actually pretty shocking that they didn't know about the VacciCheck kit - you would assume that a vet is aware about new developments and products available. It is pretty popular in the UK now, if you do a search for vets offering the test a lot of UK sites pop up. With the price advantage - the clinic in Vic offers it for AU$ 73 !!! see post above - and the benefits it is just a question of time till it becomes a standard testing regime, but why does it take so long? Once we have the numbers it would be also interesting to record the data over the years to get a clear picture about how and if immunity fades over time for the individual dogs. Some of the group might still prefer yearly or 3-yearly vaccination and just use the test to verify the immunity, others might decide to vaccinate only if immunity is faded...only using particular vaccines for the particular diseases for which the test discloses that the immunity faded. I have some contacts to the University of Wollongong, they might be even interested in accompanying such a study.

Vaccicheck makes Testing easy! Recently the Vaccicheck was approved by the USDA. The Canine VacciCheck is intended to be used as a diagnostic tool to evaluate the antibody response to the core vaccination or infection by Infectious Canine Hepatitis (Canine Adenovirus), Canine Parvovirus and Canine Distemper Virus. Best of all – this test can be performed “In Clinic” with results available within a day. Enquiries about Titer testing have increased over the last few years so we know that this is a preferred option for many of our clients over regular vaccination. We can now offer the option of Titer testing your dog’s immunity against Canine Distemper, Canine Parvovirus and Canine hepatitis through our practice. The cost of the test is $73.00 in addition to a consultation fee. If you are interested in titer testing your dog to decide whether re-vaccination is necessary, please make an appointment to discuss this option with one of our vets. ...from http://www.thevetpractice.com.au/titer-testing-for-dogs/ ...the Mexican vets seem to be smarter...

that's interesting...the Illawarra is also infested with foxes (more dead foxes on the princess highway than any other wild animal), and considering that the virus is spread by faeces and urine and can survive for months I wonder why there are no cases of infected dogs recorded for the last 10 years. There are quite some farms with working dogs around where the working dogs never see a booster shot... ...would it make sense to collect the fox carcasses and test them for the virus to get a better picture about how the disease is spread over the area / NSW?

...here the recommended vaccination protocol (2016) from Dr Jean Dodd, one of the highly regarded subject matter exerts in the field of vaccination: http://drjeandoddspethealthresource.tumblr.com/post/147595920886/dodds-vaccination-protocol-dogs-2016#.V9yh-49OJhF .... titer testing instead of over-vaccination is definitely the future regarding dog healthcare ... ETA: you might notice that her protocol doesn't address hepatitis anymore!?!...in Australia the last case of dog hepatitis was recorded 10 years ago http://www.ava.com.au/node/13093 - still most vets will be happy to administer the hepatitis shot (included in the C3 shot) year after year....

you hit the nail - vaccination has its merits, no doubt. However, it makes me wonder why most of the vets here in Australia still aim to follow the 1 year vaccine regime while even the AVA states: It is being recognised that veterinarians should aim to reduce the vaccine load on individual animals to minimise the risk of adverse reactions to the products (Day et al, 2007). and: The Australian Veterinary Association (AVA) believes that in most cases, core vaccines need not be administered any more frequently than triennially and that even less frequent vaccination may be considered appropriate if an individual animal’s circumstances warrant it. ...the vets come with all kind of 'excuses' to stick to the yearly regime, despite the advise by their own organisation. wrt science studies, googeling etc.: everyone is free to google for papers from Ronald D. Schultz on vaccination; he is one of the highest regarded scientist in this field... ETA: another highly regarded subject matter expert in the field of vaccination is Dr Jean Dodd - here her recommended vaccination protocol (rabies is included for the USA): http://drjeandoddspethealthresource.tumblr.com/post/147595920886/dodds-vaccination-protocol-dogs-2016#.V9yh-49OJhF ...

...this new kit is now available in Australia: http://vaccicheck.com.au/ ... it's a kind of titer test, but conversely to the older available titer test where 2 testings are required (1 for parvo and distemper and 1 for hepatitis) it covers all 3 core vaccinations (distemper, parvo, hepatitis) in one test. The issue for the normal mortal dog owner is that vets are very reluctant to offer it, and that they have to buy it as a kit - 1 kit / package allows for 12 tests. I found only 1 vet in the Illawarra that offered the test for AU$ 90, but only if there are min. 6 interested parties...so I have to find 5 other dog owners who are keen to embark on such a testing regime. The benefits would be: for the same price of a yearly vaccination for a C3 shot you can verify that your dog(s) indeed has / have immunity - conversely giving the dog another shot and assume that it will immunize the dog (what is if the immunity was never lost?) is just speculation and lead to over-vaccination and the associated health risks. thus you can avoid all the potential side effects by avoiding every unnecessary vaccination having even a clear evidence that your dog's still has his immunity. ...if interested pm me and if we get the numbers together we should be able to embark on an interesting project...

No...it is actually the maternal immunity / antigens that fight the vaccine - that is one of the reason why it so stressful for the immune system. It would be much easier in a way if the dog wouldn't have maternal immunity as it would require only one shot. To make it more complicated: the maternal immunity only provides protection against diseases the mother is immune to - e.g. if she never got a parvo shot and never picked up the virus via a natural way her colosterum won't provide this protection. During the 16 week period when the maternal immunity is present (fades out at the end of the period) there is a war going on in the puppy's immune system: the already existing antigens fight the vaccine so heavily that seroconversion might not happen...and once the maternal immunity has faded the puppy is without protection at all. That is the reason why they give (well, most of the vets) multiple 'puppy' shots as they can't can guarantee that they have been successful. ETA:...to clarify: you are saying the multiple shots are to address the (unlikely) case a pup missed out on the first colostrum...I'm saying that the multiple shots are given to address the (likely) case a pup didn't miss out on the first colostrum as this causes the unreliable responds to the vaccine. I'm not going to argue with you Willem... we both mean the same thing, just have phrased it differently... T. hm..., not so sure about this...I understand you want to simplify things, but there is a different between simplifying and messing up the science behind it. E.g. the colostrum is available / produced by the mother for approx. 24 hours - so time enough to give every pup the right dose. However, the limiting factor here is not the period the mother can deliver the colostrum, but the capability of the pup to absorb the antibodies from the colostrum; if the pup is older than 10 to 18 hours (depends on breed, individual dog), he looses the capability to absorb the antibodies - if he would have missed out (which is very very unlikely due to the windows mentioned above) and you would bring him - after the 10 to 18 hours - to another bitch that just gave birth and is still producing colostrum it wouldn't give the pup maternal / passive immunity as the window for him to absorb the antibodies is closed now. Conclusion: allow your pups to get the colostrum from the mother ASAP - don't wait! The whole vaccination regime (the recommended fixed dog age when to give which shot) currently adopted is unfortunately pretty 'basic' - the better way would be to do a titer test of the bitch before she gives birth. The higher the titer, the more antibodies the pups likely get and the stronger their immune system will be - and the stronger it will fight any vaccine. Consequentely, this would also increase the period till the maternal immunity fades out, hence the shots should be given later to avoid interference with maternal antibodies. Unfortunately the approach of the pharma industry is to develop more potent vaccines by adding all kind of stuff (boosters) to break down the maternal immunity ...despite knowing that this could lead to dangerous side effects.

you might be also interested in this new test kit available now in Australia: http://vaccicheck.com.au/ ... it's a kind of titer test, but conversely to the older available titer test where 2 testings are required (1 for parvo and distemper and 1 for hepatitis) it covers all 3 core vaccinations (distemper, parvo, hepatitis) in one test. The issue for the normal mortal dog owner is that vets are very reluctant to offer it, and that they have to buy it as a kit (allows for 12 tests) - I found only 1 vet in the Illawarra that offered the test for AU$ 90, but only if there are min. 6 interested parties...so I have to find 5 other same minded dog owners to embark on this testing regime. So - theoretically - for the same price of a yearly vaccination C3 shot you can verify that your dog(s) still have immunity, thus you can avoid all the potential side effects by avoiding every unnecessary vaccination....might be interesting especially for breeders and establishing those tests as a common procedure and minimizing vaccination in the future will see healthier dogs...

No...it is actually the maternal immunity / antigens that fight the vaccine - that is one of the reason why it so stressful for the immune system. It would be much easier in a way if the dog wouldn't have maternal immunity as it would require only one shot. To make it more complicated: the maternal immunity only provides protection against diseases the mother is immune to - e.g. if she never got a parvo shot and never picked up the virus via a natural way her colosterum won't provide this protection. During the 16 week period when the maternal immunity is present (fades out at the end of the period) there is a war going on in the puppy's immune system: the already existing antigens fight the vaccine so heavily that seroconversion might not happen...and once the maternal immunity has faded the puppy is without protection at all. That is the reason why they give (well, most of the vets) multiple 'puppy' shots as they can't can guarantee that they have been successful. ETA:...to clarify: you are saying the multiple shots are to address the (unlikely) case a pup missed out on the first colostrum...I'm saying that the multiple shots are given to address the (likely) case a pup didn't miss out on the first colostrum as this causes the unreliable responds to the vaccine.

that's (red) is not correct - the immunity they get from the mother (that's the one that fades out over approx. 16 weeks - depends on breed and individual dog) can prevent seroconversion of the vaccine, hence the multiple shots...which causes a hefty load for the immune system of the pup, hence some trends to vaccinate later (when the maternal immunity has faded) and less shots are required for seroconversion. (ETA: without the interference of the maternal immunity normally only one C3 shot is required to achieve life long immunity for parvo, distemper and hepatitis - if in doubt, it can be checked via a titer test). wrt C5: there are at least 25 strains that can cause Kennel cough - the vaccine only covers 2 of them, last not even a year, plus it is not rated as a core vaccine, hence the benefit of this vaccination is questionable. I know some boarding kennels will ask for it, but why?....if your dog didn't get the shot and picks up Kennel cough from the kennel you obviously can't blame the kennel owner for it - if the dog is healthy and his immune system is not compromised by over-vaccination he will shake it off in 2-3 days.... IMO still better than the potential side effects of this vaccine.