sandgrubber

see, eg http://iditarod.com/ for official coverage http://www.alaskadispatch.com/slideshow/photos-iditarod-2012-begins-sunny-willow has good pictures On Sunday, years of preparation, trial and error, defeat and victory culminated on a frozen lake in tiny Willow, Alaska, about 70 miles north of the state’s largest city, where Iditarod XL was officially under way at 2 p.m. beneath breezy, baby-blue skies and in temperatures hovering around 10 degrees F. Thousands of people from across the state pulled into snow-choked parking lots early Sunday morning, while who knows how many thousands of others watched on glowing computer screens and high-definition TVs beyond. MORE: "Mushers stream out of Willow as the real Iditarod racing gets going" Should temperatures remain low and storms steer clear, mushers and dog teams may be in for another race contested at a blistering pace. Perhaps another speed record will fall, one year after John Baker of Kotzebue shattered the old race record by reaching Nome in just over eight days and 19 hours? Athletes to watch this year include Iditarod legends and upstarts. Everyone knows the fan favorites: two-time runner-up DeeDee Jonrowe from Willow; four-time Iditarod winner Lance Mackey of Fairbanks, who hopes to join Rick Swenson in the elite, five-time champion column. And then there are the Seaveys, another family whose name is as synonymous with Alaska dog mushing as the Redingtons. Dallas Seavey, 25, son of 2004 winner Mitch Seavey, is back along with Dallas' grandfather Dan. He will be leading an elite group of young guns that also includes Ryan and Ray Redington Jr., Rohn Buser, 22, and Pete Kaiser of Bethel, who finished an impressive eighth last year. Many former champs and Iditarod race watchers believe young Dallas, winner of the 2011 Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race, has a chance at upsetting the veteran field -- a field that’s perhaps as deep and competitive as any in Iditarod history.

http://www.wildlifee...des2012.html#cr Dogs help track down Everglade's giant pythons photo in original INVADER: Dog handler Jason Dewitt, researcher Christina Romagosa, doctoral student Melissa Miller and dog trainer Bart Rogers with sniffer dogs Ivy and Jake, with a large pregnant Burmese python. Picture: Ches Smith Burmese pythons can grow to 20ft February 2012: The scenario sounds like a low-budget movie from the 1970s: humongous snakes are on the loose, eating everything in sight. But this is real - a problem that an American university and its canines are helping to combat. Auburn researchers used detection dogs in the Everglades National Park to find Burmese pythons during a recent study on ways to manage and eradicate these non-native, invasive snakes, which are eating native wildlife, mostly mammals and birds. 'The ultimate use for detection dogs is to suppress the expanding python population and to eliminate them in small areas, such as on an island. Our main concern is their impact on other wildlife,' said Christina Romagosa of Auburn's School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences. 'Interraction with humans is also a problem. The snakes, like alligators, can get in swimming pools, eat small dogs and cats, and could injure a human.' Auburn worked last year with the Everglades Cooperative Invasive Species Management Area, or ECISMA, to test how well dogs could pinpoint the snakes' locations so wildlife agencies could remove the snakes. The problem started years ago, and was probably a result of irresponsible python owners. Tens of thousands of Burmese pythons now living in Florida The first Burmese python was spotted in Florida in 1979 and the number is now estimated in the tens of thousands. In January this year, the US Fish and Wildlife Service made it illegal to import Burmese pythons or transport them across state lines. 'Irresponsible people released these snakes because they became too large and difficult to care for,' she said. 'Now they have reproduced many times over. Hurricane Andrew in 1992 probably didn't help when a warehouse containing pythons was destroyed.' The Army Corps of Engineers contacted Auburn's EcoDogs program in 2010 about the possibility of using dogs to help find the pythons, which led to the pilot study. EcoDogs is a collaborative project between the School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences and the College of Veterinary Medicine's Animal Health and Performance Programme, where the dogs are trained and maintained. Dogs are used as part of a rapid response team Jake and Ivy, both black Labrador retrievers, helped the researchers capture 19 pythons, most between six and eight feet in length, including a pregnant one with 19 viable eggs. Burmese pythons in their native range in South East Asia have been known to reach up to 20 feet and weigh almost 200lb. The National Park Service has counted 1,825 Burmese pythons that have been caught in and around Everglades National Park since 2000. 'We found the use of detection dogs to be a valuable addition to the current tools used to manage and control pythons,' said Romagosa. 'Dog search teams can cover more distance and can have higher accuracy rates in particular scenarios than human searchers. We suggest that dogs be used as a complement to current search and trapping methods.' The Auburn study found that dogs and their sense of smell were two-and-a-half times faster than people visually searching, but people did have the advantage in extreme humidity. Searches by detection dogs are ideal in the cooler months, Romagosa says, when dogs can work longer periods of time without overheating. Can track pythons that were in an area hours earlier 'Dogs can also be used throughout the year as part of a rapid response team going to a python sighting, which can be helpful in an urban as well as natural environment,' she said. The dogs are trained to 'alert', or sit down, when they got within five meters of a python. 'When the dogs alerted to a python's presence in the field, we would put them in the truck so they would not come in contact with it,' trainer Bart Rogers said. 'The dogs could even track pythons that had been present in the area hours earlier. They did not pay attention to 'gators and other snakes, which would also avoid the dogs.' Interestingly, the Labrador retrievers, which love to get wet, had to be trained not to go into the water. 'They love the water but in the training we reward them for staying out of it,' added Rogers. 'We could train them to find pythons in water, but we are limited in that we couldn't easily capture pythons if they are under water.' The snakes found by the dogs have been sent to Skip Snow, a National Park Service biologist at the Everglades National Park. Some snakes were euthanized, some were tagged with radio telemetry devices for further study and tracking, and some were donated to the Nature Conservancy for use in training personnel how to catch snakes.

Look at the pedigrees of the dogs running the Iditarod (yes, they just took off, GO MUSHERS!!!!). Not much purity. But they do the job.

If someone cannot have children and decides to get a dog and treat it with as much importance as they would have done with a child, what is so bad about that? It's when they treat the dog as a person. A dog is a dog and treating them as a child does no one any good. I have a friend who treats her dogs as children and they behave like spoilt bratty children Oh I agree with that, I was just meaning the importance attached to them, as in "my dog is as important to me as a child would be, because I can't have them", kind of thing. Hope that makes more sense! Are you saying that a spoiled dog is worse than a spoiled child? No way! The simple fact that the child will almost always live longer, has more rights, and consumes more resources makes the spoiled child a bigger negative to family and society than a spoiled dog. If someone is going to do a rotten job of balancing nurture with teaching of social norms, I'd much rather they get a puppy than take the baby bonus.

I don't have an answer. But if the best diagnosis you have is "spider bite?" you can be pretty sure the treatment offered is hit or miss. I, personally, get nasty histamine reaction of some sort that creates swollen festering sores. They go away without treatment, though I dob them with various stuff (eg, peroxide, rubbing alcohol and other 'drying' and 'sterilizing' stuff). Tick larvae (or maybe 1st instars) have also caused pretty bad reactions for me (after pulling the little buggers out I get nasty swelling and hard spots). Hopefully Abby's problem will clear up on its own. If it doesn't, I'd say keep looking until you find good understanding of the cause of the problem. I'd try web searching before going vet to vet. If it is a spider bite, I doubt antibiotics are helping as the problem is more likely a response of Abby's body chemistry than a bacterial infection.

Anecdotes don't make science. What about the large number of people and/or families who have been wiped out because a crying baby alerted a predator or enemy human to their existence? Infants of most species are pretty much silent. Not all human cultures tolerate loud, demanding children, including, for many of us, the cultures of our parents, or great or great great grandparents (depending on our age). I'm older. My mother was raised in a well-off family under the mantra "children should be seen and not heard" . . . she was given stale bread when fresh bread was available to avoid excess eating. The rules of her childhood included strict enforcement of correct posture and deportment, and thorough mastication of food. I remember talking to an old Irishwoman who raised 12 kids in poverty. She said people used to ask her how she fed all those kids. She said "I find out what they don't like and feed them lots of it." Not to mention "Spare the rod and spoil the child". Can you imagine raising a modern kid in such fashion? Looking at responses above, it sort of looks like people don't hate children. They simply can't tolerate what children have become, and find it easier to devote their nurturing energies to animals of various sorts.

Lovely video. Unfortunately, photos seem to be the only acceptable way to question breeding for extreme conformation on DOL. Don't expect tolerance if you go further. I was thrown off the Breeders Forum shortly after questioning the Peke who won at Westminster and the system behind going for such extremes. I was given no warning or explanation, and have sent three emails to list administrators and posted a question on Forum Suggestions/Help/Messages. No one will tell me why I was thrown out. I understand how much show people invest in creating their winning dogs, and am not surprised to get vituperation in response to questioning the foundations of the show system. But the discussion is badly needed. So sad that it is silenced. No doubt this post will be removed.

The Border Wars blogsite posted alternate roots to download (http://www.astraean.com/borderwars/) There is also a torrent available for those of you with file sharing experience where you can download the complete HD video to your computer. If you are not familiar with torrents and winrar, don't bother. Another means of watching the documentary is through the BBC's online video website, but you have to be in the UK for the video to work. You can get around this with a proxy. Here are some simple instructions on how to do this: - Use Internet Explorer. - Open the Tools menu (upper right, looks like a gear) - Internet Options > Connections Tab > LAN settings - Under Proxy Server, check the box [x] Use a proxy server - Address: 109.123.110.151 - Port: 80 - OK - http://www.bbc.co.uk...Three_Years_On/ When you are done watching, turn off the Proxy server by going back into the same menu, unchecking the box, and hitting OK.

For people (like myself) who don't have access to high speed internet, there's a long verbal synopsis of the program on Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pedigree_Dogs_Exposed_-_Three_Years_On corrected URL

Anybody have registration costs for European countries on hand? I think, when I lived in Germany (20 years back) I was paying around $300/yr for registration for a speyed female. I think it fair that dog owners be asked to pay a good share of the dog control/management costs.

Mongrel is derogatory. I'd prefer 'mutt' . . . which sounds more loveable. If the shelter/pound just labels the dog as 'mongrel' people are still going to come back and ask what breeds its parents were. In my experience in boarding kennels, 'staffy X' is a common label for short-haired, middle sized, DA dogs. It may have nothing to do with bloodlines, but the reputation sure is there.

For the other category: Cleanliness, including good lighting that allows you to see if it's clean, and no smell of urine. Real play time, several hours a day, in a play group. This requires supervision by a person who is pretty good at judging dog behaviour and able to intervene if things go wrong. (My dogs are dog friendly and love play. I want this used to advantage, but don't want them put out in the yard with some DA dog). (Some kennels claim they exercise the dogs . . . this means kicking them out of their kennels for 15 minutes so they can hose down). No hosing down when dogs are in kennels. Direct involvement in the kennel by either the owner or a good full time manager. Dogs not left with some poorly paid youngster who isn't going to know what to do if something goes wrong. Reasonable policy re. viewing the kennels before booking in. . . . and of course . . . price.

Bugs are generally fascinating, and moths are at the top of the list. I've got nose marks all over my windows. Leave the lights on. The moths and bugs come to the window, and the dogs try to snatch them. If I leave the screen closed and the door or window open, the dogs push out the screen. Mice, rats and gophers are also extremely interesting. If mine catch a moth, rat, mouse, or gopher, they eat it. So this may be food-reward / prey-drive. I caught Bonza yesterday with a spider. Apparently she picked it up and it got out of her mouth . . . it was spinning a thread back down to the floor. Guess spiders don't taste good, or maybe this one had a sting.

Good luck. I've had girls reject their pups at first and then get into a routine of cleaning and feeding. No guarantees. But so long as she is tolerating the pup, I'd say, keep at it. Her maternal instincts may kick in. That would be the best solution for the pup, and the easiest for your X. I'd also recommend speying the mum when nursing is done, probably at around week six. That will make sure it doesn't happen again.

If you google animal planet street dogs of south central, you'll get a good, up to date link.

Lots of shocking stuff in the USA. State and local govenments are financially gutted. California is seriously considering a major cut to Animal Shelter funding among many drastic cuts being made to reduce the state deficit. Subsidized spey/neuter programs, however, are more generous in California than any place I know of . . . I paid $US40 to get my old girl speyed, and that included an overnight stay at the vet. http://www.mercurynews.com/news/ci_19949827 If you think Animal Planet is associated with PETA, I'd suggest taking a look at animalplanet.com. The whole outfit exploits the widespread human fascination with animals. Something like these Mardi Gras dogs would put a PETA person's knickers in a knot http://blogs.discovery.com/daily_treat/2012/02/7-mutts-going-nuts-for-mardi-gras.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+DailyTreatAnimalPlanet+%28The+Daily+Treat%3A+Animal+Planet%29

Wow! This is still going! If the person who posted the burning building comment was trying to get a rise out of people, they sure succeeded.

Well that was unexpected... Good on her :) Thanks for posting that Melzawelza. Why unexpected? Although she misread the dog, her actions were those of someone who feels affection for animals. It would be good if she gets as many apologies from judgmental dog-experts as she got condemnations for being 'stupid'. . . . but I doubt that will happen.

Although there may be more people who will say something psychopathic as a form of attention seeking behaviour :D.

Again ... passing the buck ... let's take on an animal with a major problem and expect the fairys to come fix it and all the costly aftercare it will need!! If not, oh well we'll just let the animal potter on and do nothing about it. I don't expect much more from Frankston. And we don't know why the vet actually said to put them to sleep, for all we know there are bigger problems then being let on. The strange thing is just putting a story like that on TV will bring out the people with $$ who would not even think to donate to a shelter or such. It also brings in advertisers. Just like a soap opera.

Not sure about the civilised bit. When girls are getting $5000 for having a kid, you can't expect high standards for parenting. Imagine what a zoo it would be if there was a 'puppy bonus' :laugh:

Also read the comments. I loved this one I expect to read an article in a few weeks entitled "5 Things No One Tells You About Totally Actually Owning an Adorable Dog Because I Found an Awesome Shelter, Okay, And Lots Of Heartwarming Fuzzy Feelings And Cute Pictures" by Daniel O'Brien.

It's easy to slam the racing industry. Greys often to have large litters . . . unlike horses . . . so the number of castoffs is huge. I think some racing people view a litter as something like a lottery ticket, and it turns my stomach. On the other hand, I live among families of grey foxes. Most kits don't survive, and the deaths most face are worse than being taken out back with a shotgun, say nothing about going out on the green dream. You have to give the grey community some credit for breeding largely based on performance . . . by in large they are healthy dogs with good temperaments (maybe not that bright, though).

Take what you can get. Kennels in Perth book out over Easter. The more popular boarding kennels are booked out for Easter by New Years. Many won't take dogs for less than a week at Easter.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/proginfo/2012/09/Pedigree-Dogs-Exposed-Three-Years-On.html In 2008 Pedigree Dogs Exposed lifted the lid on the true extent of the health and welfare problems faced by pedigree dogs in the UK. The startling expose of harmful breeding practices generated a massive reaction from the public and from those involved in dog breeding. Now the programme’s producer Jemima Harrison returns to explore what has happened since she made the original film. Deeply affected by the issues that she uncovered, Jemima has become a campaigner on dog welfare. In this programme she takes a personal look at the positive changes that have been introduced since the first film and investigates areas of continuing concern, particularly among breeds like the Pug, the Bulldog and the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. Jemima hears from dog breeders and a range of experts, many of whom express grave worries about the future of some of our best loved breeds.