sandgrubber

If they've tied and she's at the right point in her cycle, I don't see why you want a second mating. If she's not ready . . . no problem waiting 24 hours. When she's just hit the peak, she'll still be ready in 24 hrs. There are horror stories about 'letting them run together' . . . mostly to do with breaking the bone in the male's penis. This may be some sort of urban legend. Don'know. I would rather do a supervised mating every couple of days than letting them run without supervision. My understanding is that a boy with lots of swimmers will again have lots of swimmers a few hours after mating. Recovery time is short. Not sure if that's right.

Experts in packaging and food safety are quick to recognize that 'use by' dates are not at all accurate. If the stuff gets warm and stays warm for a long time, eg, it's left in summer heat in Australia, deterioration may set in well before the use-by. The label probably says . . . somewhere . . . store below 30 C. If you store above 30 C it will go off much more rapidly. On the other hand, if you're able to keep stuff somewhat cool, it will probably outlast the use-by date by several months. The other, and much more complicated question, is how bad is it to use food that has gone off by a little. My biochemistry and vet science isn't up to tackling that question. My dogs, however, don't seem to mind if their kibble is a bit over-the-hill.

Dogs are pretty good at re-installing their gut flora . . . if you give them a chance to eat kitty pooh and all the other lovely things they love to munch on. They're happy to do the santitary version as well, if you want to pay for probiotics.

Not always. In my community the police had to PTS a Belgian shephard (imported from Europe) because it escaped and killed a couple small dogs. In my kennel-management days, I used to board a GSP belonging to a police couple, the husband of whom was a drug squad dog handler (his working dog was a Lab). The GSP wasn't DA in kennels . . . but apparently they were unable to keep both dogs at their house cause they had horrible fights, and they couldn't risk harm to the sniffer dog. If you Google you'll find many reports of police dogs going joggers, postmen, etc. Eg Police Dog Attacks Boy At School Demonstration - News Story ... www.wsoctv.com/news/25357963/detail.htmlOct 11, 2010 – SALISBURY, N.C. -- A police dog attacked a 5-year-old boy at Koontz Elementary School and now the child's family said they will sue both the .. Stamford police dog attacks Greenwich jogger - StamfordAdvocate www.stamfordadvocate.com/policereports/.../Stamford-police-dog-att...May 12, 2011 – A Greenwich woman was attacked by a Stamford police dog while jogging by a Stamford police officer's home in the Glenville section of town ...

accidental dual post, sorry

As a breeder I feel guilty either way, but usually leave them on. The front dew claws are essentially thumbs. Dogs use them when they chew up a bone, and occasionally when scratching. I hate to watch dewclaw removal (on the newborn pup) and couldn't do it myself. My dogs have pretty compact feet and the dew claws don't stick out much. I've never had a dog pull one, and never had a puppy buyer report a problem with one tearing.

I completely agree. I think it would be good if posters be encouraged to say a few words about why the article is important. Eg, the importance of the effect of dextroamphetamine on Beagle dogs isn't clear to me . . . but I'm happy to be educated. It would also be useful if people could indicate whether the article is freely available for download, or whether it's going to cost $20+ do download the full article.

1) Be clear what you want the pup for. Companion? Guardian? Competition? etc. 2) Talk with breeder, who is probably going to have a large role in determining which pup you get. Make sure he/she understands what you are looking for and make sure you are not the last person picking up a puppy. Discuss the 'which puppy' question with the breeder. 3) Read up a little on temperament screening and try a few tests on the pup you and the breeder agree on. I am intolerant of HA and DA, and biddability is important to me. I've been told to hold the young pup upside down in a cradling secure hold. If the pup fights, it's not likely to bond well with people and is likely to be willful. If it looks you right in the eye and seems happy, it's likely to be sweet tempered and bond well. I also watch how the pup interacts with his/her siblings . . . and go for the 'medium' range between aggressive and passive. I've found these tests works for me . . . but I'm not an expert. I hope others will add their own favorite screening routines.

I think it's a great idea, but (as my primary thesis advisor told me) "great ideas are a dime a dozen". Not sure of the market. Not sure of how to pitch it. Details are important. I've worked with a couple of people trying to get started as dog trainers. Both of them were much better than I am at communicating with dogs. Both taught me. Both had a lot of trouble communicating with owners. One ended out doing a large amount of damage in my boarding kennel by permitting interaction of dogs who should never have come close to one another. It's a hard row to hoe.

I'd recommend accepting the things you cannot change. Say a hundred people have followed this thread; half of them don't go to dog parks. How many untrained or minimally trained dogs are there in Australia? How much training does it take to get a young dog to avoid 'rude' approaches? Lots of people are getting advice to socialise their dogs when they are young, which in most cases means puppy take them to the dog park or beach and let them play. It may be proceeded by puppy preschool . . . and followed by the 6 or 8 week RSPCA training where they sort of learn sit, stay, heel, and get a bit of socialisation, but don't learn recall under distraction (which generally requires a skilled trainer and one-on-one work). Trainers recommend going to the dog park for socialisation. ~85% of the dogs encounters in a dog park will be either positive or neutral; in another 5 or 10%, one dog will make it clear that they don't want to play by growling or body language and the game gets called off; in an additional few percent a small dog (typically a swf's) gets end up collected in its owner's arms, or a dog on lead will be tightly reigned in. And then there's a percent or less that escalate to violence. In my experience, some herding dogs get nippy, but the worst violence involves bull breeds or guardian breeds who have not been socialised to tolerate swf's, happy body-slam greetings from SBTs, goofy retrievers, little terriers who think they are big ferocious dogs, and the other types that run around the typical off-lead dog park. I'd guess most dogs who have good greeting manners were either born with them or learned them from other dogs, by getting growled at or worse, after approaching a dog that doesn't want to play. Almost all of mine have learned from an older bitch (my oldies get praised for telling off rude puppies). Relatively few learn approach manners from human trainers. Regardless of the law, it is hard to plead the case that a 5 kg dog is responsible when it gets hurt by a 40 kg dog. If you're going to take a large guardian to a dog park, I'd recommend training to increase the dog's tolerance to 'rude' behaviour, and work with others in the park to avoid confrontations. It's hard for the few to change the behaviour of the many.

Like it or not, the general public's level of dog literacy is low. Dog parks reflect this, and half-trained or untrained dogs are common. Preach, yell, scream or kick, this isn't going to change. Spend a little time reading the 'training' thread and you'll find that many people have a hard time accessing good training classes, and don't know how to do it themselves. And those are people who are motivated enough to seek out DOL advice. Most of the people you meet at the dog park haven't taken, and won't take that step. Fortunately, most of the dog-illiterate aren't drawn to aggressive dogs . . . Sometimes time is as important as place. In my dog park experience (mostly Perth metro), if you don't like the behaviour of certain dogs, learn when they show up and don't go to the park at this time. Or if your dog isn't dog friendly, walk in the early am or late at night, when there aren't many people/dogs around. Also, shop around for your dog parks. Beaches and popular river walks tend to be haphazard, but the parks with no particularly-attractive feature tend to have mostly neighbourhood people, and they tend to develop their own culture, etiquitte (sp?), etc.

If they are unable or unwilling to seek professional help and fix the fences, I'd suggest rehoming one of the dogs (and not replacing it).

Consider mobile vets. At least in the Perth area, there are some good ones, and they are no more expensive, sometimes cheaper, than the vets with offices.

Is this thread news?

Caveat: I like the devil's advocate role, or angel's detractor. Aussies are not for everyone. Gorgeous looks and responsive, intelligent, and generally healthy dogs. But energetic, and require quite a bit of grooming. Not the best breed for the average suburban family. I know more people who are trying to get out of Aussies than trying to get into the breed.

Bottom line. It's an Asian rodent, basically vermin, not uncommonly eaten in some regions. Someone took some liberties in translation. Some a##hole reporter took an English translation literally without doing his research. Mountain made out of molehill. Sigh!!!! For those of you who insist on humane killing, please consider the humanity of mouse and rat traps, not to mention Ratsak and equivalents before getting on high horses.

When I lived in WA kennel zone I always found it amusing, in a negative way, that the Rangers gave you advance notice of inspections, and that a lot of people who were cheating in one way or another, moved their dogs around before the annual inspection. Not blaming anyone. But it's hard to administer regulations. The Rangers are always given too much to do. They tend to do what they can to make it simple. If they don't announce inspections they hit a lot of people who are not home when they come, and get a lot of complaints. Many of them are also charged with inspection verge management, fire breaks, and gawd only knows what else. Turnover it high in the Ranger job. If government is not resourced to do a job properly, it often does a crap job.

http://www.npr.org/b...&cc=sh-20111112 These photos, which came to us via email from the World Wildlife Fund, show an amazing scene: Nineteen sedated black rhinoceroses were airlifted out of an area in South Africa, and spent about 10 minutes upside down in the air en route to a new home. These thick-skinned mammals, weighing up to 3,000 pounds each, were being transported to the Limpopo Province in South Africa. Led by the WWF's Black Rhino Range Expansion Project, nearly 120 black rhinos have been relocated, with the hope that a new home will help protect the critically endangered species from poachers. Flying Rhinos from Green Renaissance on Vimeo. This new technique in removing rhinos from dangerous situations is gentler than previous methods, according to Dr. Jacques Flamand, World Wildlife Fund project leader. "The helicopter translocations usually take less than ten minutes, and the animals suffer no ill effect," he said in a statement. "All of the veterinarians working on the translocation agreed that this was now the method of choice for the well-being of the animals." Poachers have been responsible for the demise of other rhino species as well. About 65,000 black rhinos thrived in 1970, according to the International Rhino Foundation, but less than 5,000 roam the planet today. Note: I screen grabbed one of the photos and inserted it in small format. The full photos are much more spectacular. There's also some video.

In the case of a medical problem or death . . . or other mishap . . . sale of the business as a unit may be the kindest thing for the dogs. I've never come close to 25 dogs, but my dogs get pretty attached to one another. If their stimulation and exercise has come largely through interaction with other dogs, they may not immediately take to a home situation with one or no other dogs.

clearly some people need to realise how rude they and their bloody dogs are and not let anything off lead that does not have a relaible recall. Why should I be prevented from using a lovely walking track cause people can't control their dogs? Why should my slightly anxious girl be denied a nice walk by the river? Why should I be denied a nice walk by the river with my dog who loved those walks? But we have been denied those pleasures by people who obviuosly think the same as you You shouldn't be denied. But neither should first-time-dog owners who maybe did the RSPCA's six week training course and think their dog is well trained be denied an opportunity to let their goofy puppies play with other dogs. There are a lot more of such folks than there are people who have done regular training for years. How about a little tolerance!

clearly some people need to realise how rude they and their bloody dogs are and not let anything off lead that does not have a relaible recall. Why should I be prevented from using a lovely walking track cause people can't control their dogs? Why should my slightly anxious girl be denied a nice walk by the river? Why should I be denied a nice walk by the river with my dog who loved those walks? But we have been denied those pleasures by people who obviuosly think the same as you You shouldn't be denied. But neither should first-time-dog owners who maybe did the RSPCA's six week training course and think their dog is well trained be denied an opportunity to let their goofy puppies play with other dogs. There are a lot more of such folks than there are people who have done regular training for years. How about a little tolerance!

My Australian vet told me she's seen a fair number of vaccinated dogs get parvo in their first year, but very few if any get parvo after having a second round of vaccinations at ~ 14 months. Apparently the puppy vaccinations sometimes fail to develop immunity. If I remember correctly, my vet said this problem isn't as bad now as it used to be . . . some of the newer vaccinations work better.

Was Mrs Dixon a registered (in the pedigree sense) breeder? Anyone know?

There was a time when the only way I could allow my dog to go to a full run and to interact with other dogs was to go to an off lead dog park. My dog at the time had good recall, unless she found something choice to eat/roll in (typical Lab) and hadn't one iota of aggression toward dog or man. I found lots of interpretations of 'effective control', many of which didn't accord with mine. Eg, one regular user of the dog park had four Basenjiis, who tended to gang up on other dogs and do some nasty hock biting, but who never did serious harm. People learned to recognize and steer clear of this person and her dogs. In the year or so that I used that park, I found most everyone got to know each other and their dogs, and developed ways to work with one another or avoid each other when it was no-go. There were many dogs in the six months to two years category who were not fully trained, but had a lovely time goofing off, running and playing. These were commonly unrestrained about bounding up to another dog, on or off leash. A large guardian breed dog who was new to the park and who had protective reactions would be a hazard in this circumstance. Young dogs brought there to play, many of them basically untrained but friendly, would be likely to bound up to the dog. On leash dogs tend to be defensive, if not aggressive. That can spiral out of control. Dogs, like humans, tend to react to defensive behaviour as though it were an offense. Personally, I don't thing the formal RULES are all that important, except when things go seriously wrong. Off lead dog parks can be a great thing. Each park develops its own culture and helps people who love their dogs but don't have a big yard to fulfill their pets needs for exercise and socialisation. Its important to watch and understand what is going on in the environment and play along with the unofficial rules of the game.

Albany County looking to create animal abuse registry Posted: Sep 21, 2011 12:56 PM PDT http://www.wten.com/story/15517304/albany-county-looking-to-create-animal-abuse-registry ALBANY, N.Y. - Albany County is looking to be the second county statewide to create an animal abuse registry. The legislation to create a registry of convicted animal abusers was introduced Wednesday by Albany County Legislator Bryan Clenahan. The only other New York county to have such registry is Suffolk County, which was the nation's first animal abuse registry. The law would say that anyone convicted of animal cruelty in Albany County would need to register giving their name, current address, photograph and pay an annual fee to the Sheriff's Department. One conviction would put the abuser on the registry for ten years; two convictions would put the abuser on the registry for life. The Mohawk Hudson Humane Society would also maintain the database which would be accessible to animal shelters, pet stores and breeders in Albany County. Anyone who sold or adopted a pet to a person in the database would be fined. "This is an essential step forward for protecting animals in Albany County," Brad Shear, Executive Director of the Mohawk Hudson Humane Society, said. He continued, "The state's penalties for animal abusers are minimal at best. After a short period of time, abusers can start getting animals again. The registry will help prevent abusers from finding new victims." There will be a public hearing for the law on Tuesday, September 27 at 7:15pm at the County Legislative Offices, 112 State Street, for members of the public to attend.