sandgrubber
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Everything posted by sandgrubber
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sounds to me like the law of common sense, which has somehow managed to make its way into the law of NSW. I don't want to share the road with someone driving with a pooch in their lap. Good on the system for enforcing and insisting on enforcement. I don't know what the law is in NSW . . . but most places I've lived allow dogs in the front seat. I've never heard of anyone getting fined for it. But then, ten years ago there wasn't much enforcement of seat belt violations . . . so who knows.
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I've been reading an interesting essay called "What the dog saw" by Malcolm Gladwell (2009 . .. printed in a book by the same name). It attempts to look at Cesar Milan from a dog's perspective. The author consults with, among others, a well known dance movement psychotherapist. Interesting essay, which broadly concludes that CM is a genius at use of body language to communicate with dogs . . . and that what he does is a highly skilled dance that communicates powerfully to the dog. Unfortunate consequence of this is that us people with only normal dance abilites are going to have a hard time repeating a CM performance. Here's a little extract . . . from a section where the author and dance therapist review an episode where CM calms a highly HA dog "Do you see how rythmic it is?" Tortora said. "He [CM] pulls. He waits. He pulls. He waits. The phrasing is so lovely. It's predictable. To a dog that is all over the place, he's bringing a rythm. But it isn't a panicked rythm. It has a moderate tempo to it. There was room to wander. And it's not attack, attack. It wasn't long sustained. It was quick and light. I would bet that with dogs like this, where people are so afraid of them being aggressive and so defensive around them, there is a lot of aggressive strength directed at them. There is no aggression here. He's using strength without it being aggressive." You can find the essay at Gladwell's website: http://www.gladwell.com/2006/2006_05_22_a_dog.html
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Kelpies would wither and freeze. It's too farking cold. This year the mushers did most of their running at night because it was above zero during the day and the track gets too soft for the dogs when the ice melts. Nights were cold this year . . . so the daytime melt froze . . . allowing sleds to glide. Hence the record time. There are no breed restrictions on the Iditarod. If you showed up with a poodle team, they'd let you in. The only thing required is that the dogs can run and run and run . . . close to 2000 km. An amazing race. My sister used to live in Kotzabue, where this year's winner comes from . . . she says he is good to his dogs. Yes, I understand, but to me alot of them still look like any number of working cattle dog type crosses we have here. I dont know if kelpies could do the same thing, probably not, but it's interesting how lean and light framed some of those huskies have become to do the job. It was just an observation.
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http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/15/...110315(Reuters) - John Baker won the storied Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race in record time on Tuesday while becoming the first Alaska Native champion since 1976. He shattered the course record by three hours, finishing the 1,100-mile race in eight days, 19 hours and 46 minutes. The previous record had been set in 2002 by four-time champion Martin Buser. Driving a team of 10 trotting dogs, Baker sledded along snow-covered Front Street in Nome, Alaska, as he approached the finish line marked by a polished, knotted wood arch. He was greeted by drummers and dancers from his Inupiat tribe, and a large crowd of relatives and supporters from his home town of Kotzebue, located about 180 miles north of Nome. "Running a team like this, there's nothing better," Baker, 48, said at the finish line. "This is the way life is supposed to be." The Iditarod commemorates a 1925 rescue mission that sent diphtheria serum to Nome by sled-dog relay. Aside from being the first Alaska Native to win the race since 1976, Baker is the event's first Inupiat victor. The Inupiat are the Eskimo people of Alaska's northern and northwestern coast. Their language is distinct from that of the Yupik people, who are from the more southern parts of western Alaska, and they have common traditions based on whaling and other subsistence food-gathering traditions. Among those celebrating Baker's win was Denise Michels, the first Inupiat to be elected mayor of Nome. "I've waited eight years to tell you this," she said, after hugging Baker. "On behalf of the city of Nome, congratulations on coming to the burled arch first." At the finish line, where Baker received an oversized check for $50,400, keys to a new truck and flower wreaths for his lead dogs, the new champion said he did not realize he was on a record pace until the final hours of the race. "I didn't have any thoughts about breaking the record. That dawned on me last night or early this morning," he said. "Breaking the record was certainly the icing on the cake." Baker is a commercial pilot who flies small planes between rural villages in northwestern Alaska, an area that lacks road links. His home of Kotzebue, a mostly Inupiat town of about 3,200, lies above the Arctic Circle. Baker is one of the few Iditarod champions who lives in a truly rural part of the state. Most top mushers reside along the road system north of Anchorage or in the Fairbanks area, with easy access to supplies, business partners and corporate sponsors. He has been a consistent top-10 finisher over the past several years and placed as high as third in previous races.
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Loved the comment that followed the article: Brave man...................I wouldn't dare try to spray-paint a lion................... - (Old) Robert, Worcester UK, 15/3/2011 22:37
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When I lived in a kennel zone we got similar 'chorus' behaviour from four neighboring greyhound breeders. The Rotti's next door also sang in chorus from time to time. As you describe, more howling than barking, several dogs together, not annoying .. . doesn't last long . . . not clear what sets it off. I don't remember ever hearing a chorus from any of the boarding kennels. I think it only happens with dogs who have been together for months to years.
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Vaccination Studies, Dr. L Glickmann, Purdue
sandgrubber replied to Jed's topic in General Dog Discussion
It's a progress report from 1999! I'd expect a lot has been learned since then. What I got out of the report was that someone really wanted to keep their study dogs going (understandable). They had gotten some interesting results that suggest things and may support the hypothesis they were testing (unfortunate. . . I would much rather see someone trying to falsify the hypothesis). The anti-vaccine crowd has come in for a lot of debunking in the US lately with widespread acknowledgement that the results supposedly linking autism to vaccination were cooked, invalid, and unable to be replicated . . . causing great waste of money and resulting in many kids getting infectious diseases cause their parents had been scared off vaccines. -
It's not clear to me whether they're looking for a pet sitter or a way to rehome. The pet forum on the local Craigslist may be worth a try. It's usually full of lost animal listings, pets needing new homes, etc. Listings are free. http://neworleans.craigslist.org/pet/
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A friend who is running a boarding kennel has gotten a few complaints from people claiming that their dogs had ticks when they came home from boarding. The contract says owners are responsible for flea and tick protection . . . there's enough wildlife in the area, not to mention other boarders, that it's difficult to prevent occasional appearance of ticks. (No paralysis ticks . . . probably just ordinary brown dog ticks). The pesticides used to get rid of ticks seem pretty nasty (like carcinogenic). Someone told my friend that keeping the area well watered (expensive and at odds with water conservation regulations) would keep ticks away. I suggested buying a good tick protection substance and offering a dose to incoming dogs for just over wholesale price, and if the cusomer opts out, making them sign a waiver. Curious about whether and to what extent dog owners hold kennels responsible for flea and tick problems, and how they would respond to the option of take the treatment or sign a waiver when they showed up at a boarding kennel.
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I wrote them and asked what they'd charge for shipping to Oz. Here's the reply Thank you for the inquiry. We do ship to Australia. We can ship either UPS, which is very expensive (over $100 for just one kit) or US Postal Service which is less expensive but does not have a reliable tracking system. We usually check with the recipient to be sure that they are confident with their mail service and recommend the US Postal Service. Shipping costs will vary depending on the size of the order and the specific address. Shipping for one Target Kit (12 test kit) to Australia via USPS would be $48. If you were looking to buy in bulk I would suggest speaking directly to the Manufacturer. We are a distributor of the product and therefore cannot give any price breaks for quantities, but I am sure they would.
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Why Is Aus Becoming So Non Dog Friendly
sandgrubber replied to Inevitablue's topic in General Dog Discussion
I wish a lot more people who should not own a dog were content with getting an i-pad (the i-pad's probably cheaper in the long run). In Oz as the USofA, there are too many people who have dogs that shouldn't -
I'll bet he's a good boy and he'll enjoy good health. I'd guess he won't darken a lot more, based on the 'creams' I've owned. But probably more cream than white . . . I enjoy the color spectum and it chafes me that the breed standard wants to lump the whole thing into three categories.
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What Makes A Dog Attack People Randomly?
sandgrubber replied to LizT's topic in General Dog Discussion
I used to teach statistics (not by choice). People get 'random' wrong, routinely. Show them true random distribution and they find a pattern. If you want to get people to think something is random, show them a randomized pattern. I know. I know. Everyone hates statistics and this is far too abstract to understand without an hour of boring lectures that you'll fall asleep in if you aren't going to be tested on. But . . . please tolerate us science nuts . . . that beer surprised me . . . the label says 8.1% . . .maybe my brain is misfiring. American beer labels don't present the 'standard drinks' thingy . . . I tend to assume the cheap ones are weak . . . wrong this time . . . Bottom line . . . I agree with people who say patterns of attack are unlikely to be truly random. Ok, if the dog's brain is mis-firing cause it is sick, it may attack in a pattern that has nothing to do with the setting, but it's not random . . . the patterns come from the dog's sickness, not the environment. I'll shut up . .. I don't think I'm adding anything other than jargon . . . but if anyone wants to listen there's a mega-load of evidence on humans as pattern-seeking animals who almost always fail in recognizing patterns that are truly random, and routinely classify random events as pattern. . . . and if you're looking the wrong direction for the cause you won't find the pattern. And if you ever get press ganged into teaching statistics . . .Lord help you . . . you may find this diatribe interesting. -
There was a big brew-ha-ha a couple years back on DOL about whether it was ok to say a Labrador was 'cream' . . . the Labrador breed standard only recognises three colours . . . yellow, black, and chocolate/liver (no one EVER EVER says liver). Majority opinion was that it was not ok to describe a lab as 'cream', though the breed standard says yellow may range from cream to red fox. No one even mentioned 'white'. I thought I was kicking a hornets nest by asking about whites. I've had dogs I would call 'cream' but their ears always turn yellowish when they mature. The 'whites' I'm talking about seem to lack even the faintest yellow tint, but still have black noses, pads, eye-rims, etc., like, say a Westie. I find them quite striking and am curious about whether they breed true and how the colour genetics works. Note colour genetics in Labs is generally described in terms of only B/b and E/e genes, but Wing'NWave Labradors provides a more complete explaination of 'white . . . from http://www.labbies.com/genetics2.htm#WhiteThe "White" Form of Yellow Although the "white" color is considered by most Lab breeders to be a very light shade of yellow, this color may be quite distinct from the yellow shade that may represent cream-colored yellows represented as genotype [As_B_ cch_ee] above. In fact, the "white" color may be represented by another allele that may be found at the C locus. The "cd" allele is responsible for producing white hair in other breeds of dogs, like the West Highland White Terrier, while allowing full expression of dark nose and eye pigment. Though this white color may be distinct from the yellow coloration, it should still be grouped with the other yellow variations since its expression is also controlled by both the E and C loci. I guess, technically, I was thinking that the breed standard focus is on the E and B locus .. . can the standard recognize another variation that is coming form the C locus in combination with the E and B loci. Getting pretty technical. Sorry.
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Why Is Aus Becoming So Non Dog Friendly
sandgrubber replied to Inevitablue's topic in General Dog Discussion
Another difference between Australia and Europe is how common dogs are. In Australia, almost half of all households have dogs. In Europe it tends to be more like one in five. Europeans consider dog ownership a priveledge, and they pay a lot to do it . . . licensing fees are high, puppy prices are high . . . etc. Dogs are much cheaper in Australia, and people, on average, invest a lot less in their dogs. I'm in the US now . . . I'd say the US is in between . . . but not to the standards of Europe by a long ways . . . and in some ways restrictions on dogs are even harsher than in Australia . . . for example, there are very few dog beaches in California and the off-lead parks are terrible. -
I think most are agreed that the 'silver Labrador' is a hoax. But I remember Mary Roslin Williams in Advanced Labrador Breeding describing a magnificant pure white animal with pitch black points . .. . and suggesting that there was a legit white Lab, as opposed to a 'yellow'. I'm in the US now, and in looking over dogs here I find quite a few people claiming to have 'white labs'. The AKC breeders among them note that the 'white' is a subset of 'yellow' as recognized by the breed standard. But, having done a bit of looking, eg, see the pictures you get if you google 'white Labrador' and check the pictures link (http://www.google.com/images?oe=UTF-8&gfns=1&q=white+labrador&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=univ&sa=X&ei=cUh2TZiKPIO2sAOc8JzTBA&ved=0CCUQsAQ&biw=1403&bih=901), I find myself thinking that there may be a 'white' as distinct from 'yellow', and that the whites are just as Labrador as yellows, chocos and blacks. (These are mostly US Labs, and some of them aren't so good by English/Australian standards, and some of the pictures shown are clearly yellow or chocolate . .. but some look like there's no yellow pigment in the coat). Does genetics bear this out? If genetics and the breed standard part company, and white is not just a variant of yellow, what happens. edited cause the links didn't work.
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Deterioration Of Breed Standards
sandgrubber replied to sandgrubber's topic in General Dog Discussion
One man's 'substance' is another man's 'bulk'. I share the preferance for 'substance' and a 'good head' and the US field Labs do look ugly to me. But form follows function . . . may be that the conformation we are breeding for isn't ideal for a working gun do As noted previously, there's 'Standard' as established in the Breed Standard, and an operational standard, as what is recognized by the general public. Semantic arguements are generally boring, and I'm happy to concede that I'm talking about 'standard', not 'Standard'. -
Deterioration Of Breed Standards
sandgrubber replied to sandgrubber's topic in General Dog Discussion
I stand corrected . . . I had no idea that eBay ads had such an interface with rescue orgs. This is getting off topic . . . but maybe it's worth encouraging this in Australia. Pet Finder makes their ads for dogs available on a variety of sites ... including ebay classifieds in local areas. Like here: http://www.ebayclassifieds.com/user?id=518868 If you check the ads you'll see they've all got Pet Finder on the bottom. -
oops, double post
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It's better than that. Further study shows it gives you 12 tests for $95 . . . plus the cost of a blood draw . . . and results are available in 30 minutes! The down side is the outcome isn't real precise. But it will pick up the important rise when they go from being on season to close to ovulation. If you check their website, they also have some other good AI stuff . . . shipping packs for chilled, insemenation kits, extender, etc. see http://www.equitainer.com/Canine/index.htm and scroll through the options. They also say the prog test works well for predicting whelping date, eg when elective Ceasar is called for. Technical aspects of the prog test kit can be found under 'documentation' on the scroll down menu From what I can figure, Anglesun hit the nail on the head . . . it's accurate but not real precise. Which I'd much prefer to precise but not accurate
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Deterioration Of Breed Standards
sandgrubber replied to sandgrubber's topic in General Dog Discussion
???? I didn't mean to imply there's a problem with naming dogs. I've just noted it is something that most rescues do with the dogs they're trying to find forever homes for. Breeders and puppy mills seem less likely to name their charges when they post adds. (Look at DOL puppy postings . . . you won't find many names). I named every rescue dog I have every taken it to be rehomes, What would call them #4456 ? -
If they want referances, as opposed to references, I'd guess they wrote the add in a hurry and I'd be inclined to go with the spirit of the thing rather than getting hung up on details. I'd read it as "we don't sell to just anyone . . . please tell us something about yourself". Asking them what they mean is a good idea; and don't be surprised if they want 'proof' rather than just you saying you are a great dog owner and will take fantastic care of the puppy.
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Deterioration Of Breed Standards
sandgrubber replied to sandgrubber's topic in General Dog Discussion
I don't think this is correct . . . doesn't look at all like petfinder.com adds. They don't put them out in groups of four. The fact that each dog has a name does look like rescue work. Thank you. Province is everything.....! Without it, it is impossible to comment. Talk about jumping to conclusion eh! Any time someone puts up something, they need to put the link. -
Grieving Man Jailed For Stealing Back Dog
sandgrubber replied to bulldogz4eva's topic in In The News
In weighing this all up, it should be considered that loosing a finger is a big deal. My mother lost her middle finger due to gangrene in an infection. The phantom finger pained her day in and day out for decades. For a blue collar bloke or a musician, a lost finger may mean a change of job as well as a lot of pain. -
Deterioration Of Breed Standards
sandgrubber replied to sandgrubber's topic in General Dog Discussion
There are a lot more guns and a lot more hunters in the US than Australia . . . so there's a lot more for a field gun dog to do. They don't have to get trained on those stupid dummies . . . they get the real thing from early on . . . and I'd expect US Labs, in general, outperform Australian Labs in field trials . . . would you expect a border collie from Singapore to do well in herding? You can also find proper English style Labs in the US, some of them field trained, some with big old peripotent studs (Kupros Master Mariner) in their pedigrees. I put the pup pictures up cause it sort of shocked me to see that anyone could present pups so far from what I expect of a Lab as Lab pups to the general public . . . sorry, I've lost the links . . . but it was a Gumtree quality site . . . not the sort of place where elite breeders advertize pedigree pups.