gapvic

No problems Persephone ! Thanks Poodlefan, off to google Jean Donaldson now

I do believe that too Persephone. I believe that most of my staff here could take any greyhound exhibiting high prey drive and train him to walk past a small animal without batting an eyelid. I also believe that if we then handed that dog over to an inexperienced owner, where the training was not continued and reinforced, the dog would eventually return to his base nature. But anyway, that's a little off topic, sorry Why do you think, in this situation, the "kennelling exacerbated his prey drive..."? This was a five year old dog who had been kennelled the last four years of his life. Or is it perhaps something in our particular kennels that caused the increase?

It was in response to one of our dogs. The dog in question, when initially assessed, gave us every indication that he would fail for unacceptably high predatory response to our small dog but when actually presented with the small dog, he was OK. We retested him several times. He went out to foster care, came back, and was here waiting for adoption. Last week I brought my own small dog to work one day and this particular dog happened to be out in a yard when I arrived. He became very excited when he saw my small dog and began ripping at the wire. To be honest, many greyhounds do this so I wasn't overly concerned, but it was enough that I decided we'd have another look at him. We retested him a few days later and this time he switched straight into prey drive and tried to grab our small dog. With this particular dog, he was extremely ball focussed and once he saw that ball, that was all he wanted. When tested previously we had a ball in the yard which we use to get our small dog to run, and as soon as the dog saw the ball then he ignored everything else. On this final assessment last week, it was undertaken in another yard and we didn't have a ball. My gut feeling is that this dog was more obsessed with the ball than the small dog, but once the ball was removed from the equation, it gave him time to actually focus on the small dog in front of him. Does that make sense?? But then someone mentioned that they thought it was because he'd been kennelled for a while and that was what led to the increase in predatory behaviour. My feeling is that the behaviour was there all along, it just needed the right situation for the dog to show it to us. Most greyhounds have been kennelled for many years prior to coming to us, so if long term kennelling increased predatory behaviour then I guess I'd expect to see more dogs fail assessment. But if I'm wrong, and if there is some document that proves this, then perhaps we can change the way we do things to accommodate this. Edited to add that all our dogs are singly housed, and this dog in question was in our old kennel block that does have restrictive vision (all kennels open onto an internal walkway, so they can only see the other greyhounds until they are put out in the outside yards).

I don't know Persephone. I could understand that the dog may be more excited etc, but would that make him more likely to forget himself and grab? I can only speak for our kennels, but the dogs are out twice a day in yards for about half an hour at a time, and they can also see our small dogs (in another yard) during this time. So it's not as if they haven't seen small dogs for months, and all of a sudden do if that makes sense. When we assess, the dog comes out into the yard and is allowed several minutes to run around, toilet etc before the assessment begins to hopefully overcome the initial "WOW, I'm outside!!!" from the dog.

Sorry, greyhound specific. Although it would be interesting to read any documentation that discussed the issue regardless of the breed. I was told today that long term kennelling would increase predatory behaviour. I disagree with this.

Posted this in rescue forum too as unsure best place to ask this question... Hi all, Is anyone aware of any scientific proof that states that dogs kennelled for long periods may or do have an increase in predatory behaviour? I'm interested specifically in predatory behaviour / prey drive, and not other issues that may arise due to long term kennelling. Thanks! Larissa

Hope this hasn't already been posted . Just found this list of free Lightroom presets that seems quite good and thought I'd share: http://www.prophotoshow.net/2007/11/09/lightroom-presets-the-ultimate-free-list/

Thanks heaps MalteseLuna! Stutterfly, your new little one is so cute!

Just one more...

I was finally able to get out by myself on the weekend with the camera :D . Here are some of my favourite shots (so sorry for the thumbnnails, still can't work out how to add them into the post )

What a great idea Persephone! Hadn't thought of that ! Thanks everyone, seems Redbubble is the way to go. Anyone know how long it usually takes between payment and actual arrival of calendar?

Hi all, I'm hoping that I might be able to put together a calendar for family / friends for Christmas this year. Can anyone suggest some good sites for making calendars? What is the quality of the calendar like produced through Redbubble? I'd like something of nice quality (heavier stock paper etc), and hopefully a site that would allow me to add a few lines of text below each photo (not essential, but would be good if possible). Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated Larissa

Thanks for everyones comments! Ange, I haven't really - there are hundreds of terrible, terrible shots that end up deleted . But I am keen to improve and plan to head out to do more ruins this weekend. LML, I love the way you capture the moment in your photos. Ange, esp love the first one with the parents in the background - beautiful!! So many beautiful photos - you are all so talented!

With racing greyhounds, we regularly have them on tablets to stop them coming into season. We use Nandoral (think it is now known as Testaprop) with no negative consequences. We've used Ovarid here at work when a bitch has come into season and we want to stop it, but it's not something I'd chose to use if there were other options.

So sorry Kja, I hate clicking too but I can't work out how to put in full size shots . Any hints would be greatly appreciated

Last ruin... I'm loving Lightroom and my new lens :D

After the market I headed into Kyneton to go to the supermarket, then to drop by one of the little cafes for a hot chocolate and lamington. Suitably fortified , I thought I'd take the scenic route home and try to take some photos of some of my favourite local ruins.

At the market I had to buy some of my favourite ginger biscuits and currant buns from Red Beards Bakery :D

I headed out in the thick fog and cold this morning to the Lancefield farmers market. I thought it would be a great opportunity to play around with my camera and new lens while stocking up on lots of great fresh produce . On the way there I go down a little road called Bourke and Wills track. It was quite eerie in the fog, and I felt like the ghosts of Bourke and Wills might just be glimpsed around the corner if I drove slowly enough.

Oh, photos please!!!

thanks heaps Crazy Cresties! I've only had a little play around on Lightroom at home and found it great! Will keep an eye on the site you've suggested.

But they are just standing still.... you should have seen my action photos ! I'm pleased with them though - managed to get it all OK without resorting to the auto settings (despite being very tempted to just turn it on around to Portrait LOL!!!). Off to Lancefield farmers market tomorrow with camera in tow :D

Thank you everyone! I needed to update some of the dog photos on our website so took the new lens out and took heaps of photos! Here are my two favourite shots (and a shameless plug - both dogs are needing homes ) Horace: Astro:

Thanks heaps Kja! The blinkies are on... off to check to see if the histogram is on, or if I can work out how to use it...

Here is the tree photo lightened a bit. This is closer to what it looks like on my camera.