sandgrubber

you're right . . . what I'm sorry to use is the edit function on this system, which has taken ill to something in my computer system and makes it hard to fix typos and the rubbish that comes in when you rearrange sentences and can't adequately proof text. am I the only one having this problem. specifically, I can only add text before a quote. Once I've typed things, I can't go back and edit, except by posting and then using the 'quick edit'. I think you mean "Sorry to be using" or "Sorry to use"

I run a smallish boarding kennel with flexible management practices. I have had quite a few dogs from rescue situations come in . . . owners worried that the dog will be upset because he/she thinks it's back to the pound. Never a problem. The rescues have seen worse. Many of them, on finding they can run around all day and get two good meals, and if they're up to it, other dogs to play with, decide the kennel is Heaven. Choose your kennel carefully and you shouldn't have problems

I did my PhD on quantification of fire on a global basis. In a statistical sense, fire is inevitable if the conditions are right. It's often hard to blame 'the match'. Some pretty impressive fires are started by lightning, which is hard to ban. Sorry to use reasoning by analogy . . . which is bad science, but can have poetic value.

The original EPA report can be found at: http://yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress.nsf/e...33;OpenDocument It isn't very satisfying about specifics, like which spot-on treatment and what active ingredient.

What causes a fire. Is it the match? Or the accumulation of fuel and the weather conditions. .. just waiting for match.

Might be worth putting a note up on the DOL rescue forum. I know there are a lot of people out there who love GSDs, and many of them are quite skilled at handling dogs.

Nature, like ourselves, is infinitely wise except when she is stupid. (some also say Mother Nature is a bitch). Sounds like the bottom line is don't count on the 3 yr routine for a brood bitch. Thanks, everyone, for info.

Labradors seldom loose their appetite and tend to live true to their reputation for eating almost anything they're fed. I find this is usually continuous through puppyhood. I don't remember ever having a puppy buyer call and ask "why isn't my pup eating" or reporting fussy eating problems.

I have heard rumors to the contrary for WA (eg, older bequeathed dogs being pts). I don't say the rumors are true. But would advise checking around. I would guess that each state RSPCA, and each shelter, is different, and lots of things change over time. I would agree that the best option is to find a family, cause most shelters are stressful.

Titres are far more likely to say you need a vaccination when you don't than to say you're safe when you're in danger. So there's nothing wrong with a club accepting titres. I also think they may be useful for pups between 14 weeks and 14 months when a parvo epidemic is going on, especially for breeds that are notoriously sensitive to parvo. My vets tell me that parvo mortality is unacceptably high in this age group because the puppy vaccines occasionally don't take. I've never got a clear answer as to why . . . mostly shrugged shoulders + "maternal antibodies". p.s. I'm not an expert on this, but just have a science background and have done a bit of reading and consulted a few vets.

Thanks, Mita, for posting the Norwegian guidelines. I think most of them are great . . . though because I work with a very common breed with no shortage of genetic diversity (Labradors), and quite a few obviously 'pet' quality pups coming through, I can't see any reason to include 50% of dogs in the breeding population. The p.s. about honest, cooperation, inclusion of science, etc. is especially valuable. Rules can only go so far, and often backfire. Right-headedness is a much better way to go.

I would ask a no-kill shelter. In anything but I no-kill shelter, I'd fear that the status of the dogs would be forgotten over time and they might get pts, or separated.

Longcoat . . . the Labrador standard says dogs should be agile. The ring will sort out the real clutzes, but isn't a great way to judge agility. (Agility, or agility modified for heavy-bodied dogs would be better). Likewise, a gun shy gundog can do fine in the conformation ring. That's why there is more than one kind of showing, and why many people look for dogs with both working and show credentials. My biggest gripe about the ring is that evaluations are too frequent and too superficial. Transparent, written evaluation against set criteria, as used in most professional evaluation systems, would be much better than a parade around the ring. Particularly for newbies, it's important to know why a given dog won and another dog didn't. . . . and to know where an objective expert thinks your dog shines and where his/her faults are. The other side of that gripe is time. An average of 5 minutes per dog is barely enough to evaluate physical conformation. How are you going to add serious looks at health, temperament, and working ability without making shows unbearably long. If I ran the circus, which will never happen, there would be an opportunity to get a dog evaluated every year, or every few years. You'd get a written evaluation and scores on different evaluation criteria. Evaluation would be against the standard, not against the other dogs in the ring in the day. You'd have to pay for it cause it would take a bit of time to do and the person doing it would have to be skilled. That would go into something like a portfolio, which could be made available to prospective puppy buyers or prospective users of stud service. Health could be included in this . . . or, better, tracked via some sort of open health registry system.

The AVA is now telling us that, once past 14 months, three years is often enough to vaccinate in most circumstances. We're also told that the antibody level may go down over time but memory (or T?) cells continue to provide protection after the antibody (and titre) levels go down. Does anyone know how all this relates to the maternal antibodies in the colostrum? Can a bitch produce maternal antibodies from memory cells? Or are we better off continuing annual vaccinations for brood bitches?

Viva barked at it. She thinks she scared it away.

Fortunately it was a leather sofa. Wiped up well. The towel went in a bucket. The bucket will go on the plants. I think a little taste was enough for the dog. Oh dear!!! Peeeeew!!! eerrmm- how on earth are you going to remove the smell??? Hope dog didn't drink too much - it probably will have some dire effect

Do pounds desex? I thought rescues desex, but most pounds just try to get the dogs to a home . . . preferably their own home . . . and if homing and rehoming fail . . . to place them with a rescue org.

Thanks for posting. great story.

New report on my Lab's DIY dietary supplement program . . . she has taken on the program cause I've got her on short rations to get some weight off. Two days ago 300 g of butter disappeared. I'm now keeping the bread, butter, etc well out of reach. This arvo I came in the house and what do I find spilled all over the sofa: a litre of Charlie carp. Apparently it smelled good but the taste was too strong. If you feed a Lab less, do not underestimate the lengths it will go to to try and make up for the calorie deficit.

I follow my vet's advice (all of them agree, more or less). I now do close to 8 weeks, 12 weeks, and 14 months. After that I go to 3 years. The 14 mo jab MAY be good for life, or for well over 3 years. The AVA's recommendation is to be conservative and do 3 years: there may be reasons a vet will alter the schedule. Who knows, may turn out that some batch is bad or some strain of Parvo may get past some vaccines. So the basic rule is follow the vet's advice. I have had a bad time with kennel cough vac. I had a litter of 10 vaccinated and all of them got kennel cough from the vaccine; and the next litter of pups all got it too. So I'm not enthusiastic about C5, though I may decide to use it on a whim from time to time. Mostly I just do C3's. Many vets aren't that enthusiastic about KC vaccine if you can get them to talk to you frankly. That's an interesting point sandgrubber. Can I ask what your vaccination schedule for puppies to adult dogs is please.

I honestly thought MDBA Pacers had something to do with racing, and have deliberately ignored posts about it. I don't know if others have done the same, but there may be an image problem arising from the name good to know it is there. www.mdbapacers.org.au

Reasoning by analogy has strong emotive, but little rational power. For people who care about cruelty to animals, it seems to me that the options are to start a new organisation or reform the existing organisation. I'd also say that many of us contributed to the corruption of the RSPCA by apathy in years past. Bashing provides no constructive alternative.

To the contrary, I find that the more vets know about titre testing, the more they are against it. The problem is that titre goes up when the dog is mounting a defense against the pathogen. So high titre may mean the dog has been exposed to parvo and his immune system is up and running, or he was recently vaccinated. There seems to be much variation in how long it takes for the titre measurements to come down. Low titre is hard to interpret: It may mean no immunity, or it may mean that the immunity rests in more subtle memory-based immune responses that mean the dog is fully capable of fighting the disease, but does not have active antibodies. Many excellent vets find Dr Dobbs unconvincing. p.s. Do you know of any GP who recommends titre testing kids for measles, mumps, rubella and polio? The biology is much the same.

bottom line. To loose weight FEED LESS. And with a Labbie, make sure he/she isn't making up for reduced Joules by scarfing something on the side. My girl who's on a diet stole 300g of butter from the counter yesterday.

Good on you. Good luck. You'll probably be surprised at how fast they bounce back and move on to trying to keep them from exercising. My vet says simple walking is fine a few days after for girls, immediately for boys. The official word is usually 10 days, but that includes a large amount of caution.