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There were a series of photos in relation to this article further in the paper. This link will take you to all the other pics http://www.canberratimes.com.au/multimedia/26590/297145/

http://www.canberratimes.com.au/news/local/news/general/dogs-born-to-run-with-a-rare-breed/2250214.aspx News Local News News General Dogs born to run with a rare breed Dogs born to run with a rare breed ROSSLYN BEEBY 06 Aug, 2011 09:37 AM At photographer Marcus Fillinger’s rural home studio, mixing the dogs’ dinner and delivering it out on cue is a precision operation. About 30 stainless steel food bowls wait to be filled with a home-made mix of vegetables, fresh meat and dried dog food. And once the dogs hear the first tell-tale clink of bowls being moved on the kitchen bench, a cacophonous wall of canine sound erupts. It’s a pack of hungry huskies, singing for their supper. ‘‘They’re sociable dogs, so it’s one in, all in,’’ he says. Mr Fillinger and partner Shannon Mortlock run a rescue shelter for dumped huskies – dogs surrendered to city pounds by owners who find the naturally boisterous breed too much of a handful and too costly to feed. Mr Fillinger estimates he spends about $140 a day to feed the pack at his Alphadog shelter near Michelago. ‘‘They’re bred to run, with energy to burn and need a healthy diet,’’ he says. Mr Fillinger, an elite athlete who holds the world record for a solo Arctic ice dive, developed an affinity for huskies while training in Norway and Alaska. Now, he’s preparing for another endurance challenge – a 1000km trek across the Alaskan wilderness to draw attention to animal welfare issues related to some commercial dog sled races and dog sled tourism. While training with dogs in the Arctic, he was approached to compete in sled races in the United States, but pulled out when he heard stories of dogs being killed and mistreated. He was angered by video footage showing dogs that died after becoming entangled and dragged while sledders seemed oblivious to their plight. ‘‘I want to show you can run dogs at their own pace, and enjoy the experience,’’ he says. Mr Fillinger will travel with Melbourne vet Malcolm Ware, using a team of 12 huskies – a pack of eight sledders, with four reserve dogs – selected from US animal shelters. ‘‘We’ll take death-row dogs, and train them up to do the run.’’ Mr Fillinger met Dr Ware while working as a wildlife rescue volunteer in the weeks after the 2009 Black Saturday bushfires in Victoria.

Thanks everyone. If i watched credits, I probably would have seen that *red faced* Where's buzzy bee? Where's buzzy bee!!!!

A random question after watching best in show. Are their dogs actually good examples of their breed? I've never seen a Norwich terrier other than in photos and haven't really spent much time with shih tzus either, so wouldn't have a clue if they were just "that" breed, or actually good examples, capable of winning best in group and best in show Aside from the serious question, I just wanted to say - I love that show

http://www.news.com.au/breaking-news/half-blind-arthritic-chihuahua-classed-a-menace-by-city/story-e6frfku0-1226103181482 Half-blind, arthritic chihuahua classed a menace by city By Roanne Johnson From: Townsville Bulletin July 28, 2011 8:31AM Increase Text SizeDecrease Text SizePrint ? Penny the chihuahua has been classed a menacing dog by council. Picture: Megan Taylor Source: Townsville Bulletin Diane Christensen with Penny. Picture: Megan Taylor Source: Townsville Bulletin PENNY, a half-blind 12-year-old chihuahua with an arthritic hip and one tooth, has been added to Townsville City Council's menacing dog's list. "It is ludicrous and laughable that my little three kilogram lap dog would even scare someone," owner Diane Christensen told the Townsville Bulletin. "She has a severe limp so her back legs often fall to one side when she walks, she has one tooth left and she is the quietest dog in the neighbourhood. "Penny is very well behaved because she is always with me in my handbag when I'm out and she is timid too because she won't even stay in the yard alone." But council animal control officers found last week there was enough evidence the pint-sized pooch "menaced a person causing fear" and "carried out a menacing attack" on a neighbour at a Bent St unit block in Mundingburra around December 1, 2010. ..They issued Ms Christensen, a 61-year-old pensioner, with a regulated dog fee of $300, which means her usual $30 dog registration is increased ten fold as Penny is now classed as a menacing dog. "I cannot afford to pay that and I won't - which means I will probably have to put my little dog down," Ms Christensen said. "She is my mate and I love her but I live fortnight to fortnight and I have no way of even finding the money after the fine and expense of putting up a new fence." When council officers paid Ms Christensen a visit to investigate the claims they found the little black, white and tan dog in an unfenced yard and not on a lead, so the owner was fined $200 plus ordered to put a fence up. "I had to get a loan from Centrelink for $500 to get a little picket fence to keep Penny in - even though she is hardly ever outside without me and is mainly a house dog," she said. "I also have to buy her a muzzle and a lead if I want to take her out in public and put a sign up on my fence warning people that I have a menacing dog." "I know she barks sometimes and is protective but this is absolutely ridiculous and I think it's just a vendetta against me from some neighbours." Townsville City Council community and environment director Gavin Lyons said council received a complaint about Penny from a 78-year-old woman who lives nearby. "She reported that the dog ran towards her growling and snapping at her legs on the stairs at her block of units, forcing her to cling to a hand rail," Mr Lyons said. "The lady was distressed by the ordeal and after investigating the matter and taking evidence the council informed the owner of our intention to take action over the dog." Mr Lyons said Ms Christensen, who has 14 days under state legislation to request a review, was just one of hundreds of reports that council receive every year of menacing dogs. "We receive reports of over 500 dog attacks every year involving most breeds, and in most cases they occur because the animals are not on a leash and under proper restraint," he said. Read more: http://www.news.com.au/breaking-news/half-blind-arthritic-chihuahua-classed-a-menace-by-city/story-e6frfku0-1226103181482#ixzz1TMcyL17z

My sister has two boys (now 28 and 26). They were both raised in the same manner, given the same restrictions, rewards, opportunities. One has been a right monster for most of his life, didn't finish school, had a few runins with the local constabulary, hasn't maintained a job or relationship for any length of time and is only just starting to settle down. The other excelled at school, representative sport and Uni, has had one long term relationship and is a delightful young man. It certainly wasn't a difference in parenting that produced such different young men, just different personalities I think. All their dogs have been well trained and responsive. I have three kids, who are all well behaved, polite and haven't caused me any grief. I like to think that my dogs have been pretty good too. The worst I've had is one who was a bit yappy, but we got him as an adult dog with an unknown history. He certainly wasn't a nuisance barker and would be quiet when told to.

Lovely photos We had -1 AND rain here this morning. That wasn't pleasant. I don't mind the minus temps (we had -6 on Sunday) but with the rain as well, that's just

The problem I had with it was the install. It didn't just download and install, it put a heap of folders into the nominated drive and they all had weird little file names that I couldn't work out. Some were .exe and a few others that I don't recall. I ended up deleting it as I couldn't see anything to run it, but I don't really have much idea with computers so I don't go beyond the basics. If you have any idea what I need to do for it to run, I would be grateful

Well, I finally got around to downloading and using these programs. I couldn't work out how to use the photorec one, so ended up using the card recovery program. I got the most recent photos, which all were taken after the problem with the computer, so had been saved and a heap of photos from 2009, which we have saved and backed up. Nothing in between Not sure if it's worth trying on another program or not? If it wasn't recovered the first time, does that mean they aren't recoverable? And just for info, the Card Recovery program lets you go all the way through the recovery process and lets you preview the photos, but then tells you that if you want to save any images, you have to purchase the program

http://www.canberratimes.com.au/news/local/news/general/dog-owner-fined-2800-for-neglect/2212939.aspx Dog owner fined $2800 for neglect BY NATASHA RUDRA 01 Jul, 2011 08:19 AM A Lyneham man has been convicted of animal neglect after RSPCA inspectors found a starving, fly-bitten Great Dane in his backyard. Dennis Kevin Lee, 30, was fined $2800 in the ACT Magistrates Court yesterday and banned from owning pets for five years. He had pleaded guilty to two charges of failing to seek veterinary treatment and failing to feed his dog. According to the statement of facts, inspectors went to Lee's home in March last year after receiving a call about an ''extremely underweight'' dog. No one was home but the inspectors saw the Great Dane, named Solly, in the backyard and noted that it was so thin it ''seemed to slope from the spine down''. The dog was covered in flies, its hip bones and ribs were easily visible, and it had raw, fly-bitten ears. Solly was dumped at a drop-off kennel the day after the inspectors' visit. According to the statement, Lee identified the dog as his own but said he had given it away ''months ago''. Lee said he fed Solly about 3kg of chicken necks every night and had taken the animal to hospital to treat its ears. His girlfriend told inspectors she fed the dog ''heaps'' and had eventually gotten rid of it because she felt it was not friendly towards her children. An RSPCA vet found the dog was in poor condition, with open, bleeding sores on its ears. It had long nails, indicating it had been confined or prevented from exercising. The dog was about 7kg underweight. Over the next four weeks Solly improved to a healthy 42.6kg and its skin condition disappeared with treatment. But the dog could not be ''re-homed'' because its behaviour deteriorated and it was eventually put down. Lee had been granted bail on condition that he contact the RSPCA and Domestic Animal Service to carry out volunteer work. But he told the court he had not been able to get information from either service because of work pressures. Magistrate Lorraine Walker fined Lee a total of $2800 and placed him on a good-behaviour order for two years. She banned him from owning or buying pets for the next five years and ordered him to surrender any animals he owned to the RSPCA within seven days.

Garmin

Bump. Anyone?

Does anyone know how far away you can still receive a signal (approx) from a tracking collar? I did a quick google search and can find an extension aerial which increases the range by 3 miles, but I can't see anywhere what the original range is. Also, I can see that you can have more than one collar per receiver, but how many frequencies do the receivers come in? Are you likely to pick up other peoples collars on your receiver? If you were going out with other people who all had tracking gear as well, can you change the frequency so that you're all operating on different channels? Just a few random questions that were being bandied around in the last couple of days.

Thanks for that. Im a bit of a computer numpty. We have Vista on our computer, so will it work on that? (I'm not sure what the windows 32 or 64 means?)

Thanks stutterfly. Have you used that one? Just reading through the blurb it says that it may not be able to recover photos if they have been written over. I know we have deleted quite a few photos off the camera, taken more, then deleted them as well. So I'm not sure how many times photos may have been written over? Only one way to find out I guess...

Just wondering if anyone has used a memory card recovery program and can recommend one? Our computer went on the fritz a while ago and I had about 3 months worth of photos that I hadn't backed up. Hubby took the computer to one of his mates who is a forensic computer boffin, but while he has been able to recover quite a few photos, there are some of my daughters 21st which I would particularly like to get back. They had been downloaded to the computer and deleted from the camera. Someone at work mentioned that their sister had used a program which recovers everything from your cameras memory card, including all deleted files etc. I realise this means that I could potentially be recovering thousands and thousands of images, but I would be happy to sit down and sort through them all if I could get the ones I want back. The program they used was one that you could download for free. So, if anyone has any suggestions, I would be grateful if they were shared. thanks in advance

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/05/25/3226321.htm Have a look at the link, cos there is a nice Border Collie in the story Dogs copy cats in slurping technique By Genelle Weule for ABC Science Online Updated 3 hours 52 minutes ago Water adheres to the tip of a dog's tongue and is lifted to the mouth in a column. (www.sxc.hu: Esther Seijmonsbergen) Cat owners can no longer claim their furry friend has superior drinking skills than the average pooch. Despite their reputation as messy drinkers, dogs use the same gravity-defying lapping technique as cats, US researchers report in the Royal Society Journal Biology Letters. Last year researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology reported cats bend the top of their tongue to raise liquid in a column to their mouth. It was thought, however, that dogs formed the bottom of their tongue into a cup shape and scooped water into the floor of their mouth. Professor Alfred Crompton from Harvard University had previously studied lapping in the American opossum. Professor Crompton was initially sceptical about the MIT research, but realised the data about cats was "clearly correct". "In their Science paper [the MIT researchers] stated that dogs and cats were different," he said. "This view was based on a YouTube clip of a dog lapping water." Professor Crompton and colleague Catherine Musinsky decided test the theory using high-speed video and x-ray images of a dog lapping a barium milk broth. "This showed that the mechanism was the same; dogs do not scoop," Professor Crompton said. Just like cats, dogs fold the tip of their tongue backwards so that the top of the tongue penetrates the surface of the liquid. While water adhering to the top surface of the tongue is pulled upwards to the mouth, water sitting on the bottom side of the tongue spills back down towards the container as the tongue is withdrawn and the jaw closed. "It is difficult to see the water transport in the YouTube video, but with a barium/milk solution it is clearly visible in x-ray," Professor Crompton said. X-rays show it takes three laps to move liquid to the back of the throat. Each time, liquid is trapped against ridges on the dog's palate to stop the liquid falling out as the tongue is protruded. "X-ray videos of dog lapping reveal the dexterity which their tongues trap previously lapped aliquots between the rugae on the roof of their mouths and the dorsal surface of the protruding tongue, in order to access the next aliquot without ingesting the previous one," they write. Professor Crompton says there are no high-speed x-ray videos of cats, but he suspects that they would use at least two cycles to move the liquid through the oral cavity. As for the impression of messiness, high speed video of a dog versus a cat shows it all comes down to how far the tip of the animal's tongue penetrates the liquid. "The fact that the [dog's] tongue tip penetrates more deeply into the liquid than in cats, and consequently sprays more liquid around as the tongue rapidly withdraws, may give the impression that dogs drink by spooning liquids into their mouths," he said. Professor Crompton suspects the mechanism seen in cats and dogs probably also applies to all other animals, including most carnivores, which lack cheeks. Science in action Dr Pedro Reis, a co-author of the MIT study, says the follow-up study "adds a new element to the story of how animals drink, but also provides a wonderful anecdote of how science moves forward". "As far as lapping goes, this reconciliatory move between felines and dogs is fascinating," he said. His colleague, Dr Roman Stocker, agrees. "In our study we had made a comment in passing that, based on the information we had; the two animals seemed to employ different mechanisms," he said. "[The Harvard researchers] employed a more sophisticated tool; which allowed them to image what the water does within the mouth of the dog. "This is a beautiful example of how science progresses by interactions and debate between different groups. "Masterfully done and bringing both pets [on par]."

http://www.police.nsw.gov.au/about_us/structure/specialist_operations/counter_terrorism_and_special_tactics/spg/nsw_police_dog_unit

My daughter has recently started working there, but we will be away this weekend, so won't be able to join you. My son and I went there after dinner the other night and it was sensational

The third photo looks like Big Top Circus tents Great pics.

Different states have different legislation regarding native animals and what can be sold where, what needs a licence, what doesn't You can't sell snakes in pet shops in the ACT or NSW, but can in Victoria. No licence is required to keep Eastern Long Neck Turtles in the ACT, but you can't even have them in Tasmania You can't sell Black cockies in shops in the ACT, but I don't know about Victoria

Its an offence in the ACT - Animal Welfare Act 1992 15A Transport of dogs (1) A person commits an offence if— (a) the person carries a dog in or on a moving vehicle on a road or road related area; and (b) the dog is not being used to work livestock; and © the dog is not restrained or enclosed in a way that would prevent the dog from falling or jumping from the vehicle. Maximum penalty: 20 penalty units. (2) An offence against this section is a strict liability offence. (3) In this section: road—see the Road Transport (Safety and Traffic Management) Act 1999, dictionary road-related area—see the Road Transport (Safety and Traffic Management) Act 1999, dictionary. http://www.legislation.act.gov.au/a/1992-4...pdf/1992-45.pdf A penalty unit is $110

I have some of Max begging, but the ones where he actually has his ears pricked aren't so good. They were only taken on my phone, so not so crash hot.

Interesting that the MSDS chart says not to induce vomiting