persephone

Smart dog ! Picture this ;) chaff gets poured into Bruce's trough this morning ..and he dives in and starts munching . Lifts up his head to chew , whereupon a group of apostlebirds land in the trough and begin searching out stray grains amongst the chaff . Each time Bruce tries to grab a mouthful, he is met by wings & claws!! Poor Bruce .He turned away ... i did have some seed for the birds , so they were then happy to leave the sheep food for the sheep! They have no hesitation in swooping down and having sharp claws connect with my scalp if I have no food visible !!

Funny , I have never been concerned with crows taking any babies here ... must admit, have never seen them take anything mammalian alive , either . They will take eggs , dog food, oranges,catch insects tear off flesh from dead fish /animals ..and of course, remove eyes/soft tissue from ill or incapacitated animals. Our pups are free range .. as chickens used to be , and kittens , years ago . Foxes were the main problem ..and feral cats . Kirislin ..urban crows are more likely to be looking for dog bones/food scraps . There is no way a crow would tackle a dog .... they are just not equipped to hold/grab/kill - they have no talons , or curved beak .Their bones are very fine and legs can be easily shattered ... yes, I believe they would pluck small nestling birds from a nest ..they are small and feeble , and mostly not more than a mouthful or two ... insects like grasshoppers..snails , and tiny rodents are also eaten . As crows (ravens) usually eat where they find their food ( unless they have a nest and young) Expending energy on attacking something large is wasted unless the prey is in a very isolated area , where feeding can happen uninterrupted . Don't worry about Secret :)

A family trait is to 'air snap' ..here's Ash's version this morning . I love it when he does it for attention .... he just lies there ..and then 'click clack '.... :) https://www.facebook.com/belinda.hansen.bushwoman/videos/10153725741259007/

Just breathe ... she will be well cared for , and really needs that putrid muck out of her body ..

The 'princess' today :)

It's good news you at least have a diagnosis!! :) Here's to happy healing now .

I won't mention all the myna birds and pigeons he managed to catch and eat! ;) I call him my 7 year plus WIP (work in progress) -- we're still working hard but it's paying off! The absolute best where's the duck? moment was at our local dog park. He ran off with the duck and darted across the highway to maccas (I didn't know this at the time) and 5 minutes later he comes back without the duck. I just ask him "where's your duck?" and he zooms off and comes back seconds later with it in his mouth. All I'm thinking is thank goodness coz it's a $20 duck toy!! :laugh: Edit: he'd apparently left it in the carpark before heading to maccas. He's also not allowed off lead at this park any more because maccas is sadly now a frequent ritual. LOL!!

I have been thinking of that as well ...

:D Thank you ! She loves her job!! I have seen this with labs ... but not with an ESS ... and love that it's done in the field . back in teh day , we had a Koolie bitch with a lovely soft mouth ,who was The Boss's duck dog - she was amazing ..spent so much time in the water retrieving and having a ball . Beautiful bit of country, too :)

Thanks, P K . Lots of interest on that site . The final paragraph from this article :) DOMINANCE THEORY

Pudden can have 'speshul' tantrums too !! ;)

Huh..I"M the roughest & toughest ..... No, You're NOT ... I am!!! :)

:) it's different thru my eyes . I see starvation of wildlife and our sheep . the shrivelling and dying of bushes and trees . the erosion , and sand drift covering any remaining butts of tough grasses . the loss of small seeds in the dust storms the loss of income to neighbouring farms who need to sow grain and can not .. and the loss of ephemeral waterways /waterholes which support many birds & amphibians ..

LOL .if you did that to one of our dogs - they would take that as : GET HIM!! and be off like a speeding bullet !

This too :) a 'walk' onlead is just that . a walk - not playtime :)

:) :)

Not gross - a d o g :)

I didn't say that Mark says that they can't be on the couch or have pats, only what you said about it all being to by invitation only and not initiated by the dog. I'm not sure why it's considered bad manners for a dog to approach you and want to cuddle or to sit on the couch with you, provided they listen when you say no or when you've had enough and want them to get down? I don't make the friends and family in my life wait to be invited to give me a hug or kiss and don't think it's bad manners when they do initiate affection with me. I might think it's bad manners if a stranger does it though. And yes, I know dogs aren't people, I just fail to see what's rude or disrespectful about my dog jumping on the couch and putting his head on my lap fo let me know he'd like some affection, or leaning on me or sitting on my lap when he's frightened or upset? Back when we had the consultation when I was told about the no leaning, asking for pats, getting on furniture etc I was a novice dog owner and still thought Cesar Millan was something to aspire to, so implemented what I was told to do and it wasn't enjoyable for either of us. Sure, my dog stopped approaching me, stopped getting on the furniture, stopped walking through doorways ahead of me and stopped moving ahead of me on walks, but the cost was an unhappy human, an unhappy dog and a somewhat damaged relationship. :) I can understand how awful that would have been for both of you .... you are so good for each other . Not that I enforce it at all times ..but guess it resonates with me as it's basically what I've been taught for a half century , * old habits die hard* ? :) I love cuddles from dogs & cat etc , just that it's usually my decision as to when & where . Obviously, a frightened /injured dog is a very different scenario :)

:) slightly OT - do have any videos of Em working ?

yeah - it's an interesting discussion ... I do agree with the personal space thing , and from the bits I've read from mark Singer .. cuddles/being on furniture etc are all fine , provided the initiation comes from the human , not the dog. isn't it just 'good manners' ?

Hopefully one day it will be all green again ..... I DO love the reds though Thankyou.

The Conni pads are amazingly absorbent , and i would never be without some of them handy :)

Just at the back of our house this morning . iPhone pano .

Hope this week sees a happy Amber :)