SkySoaringMagpie

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/health-science/health-experts-say-australia-must-brace-for-rabies-arrival-from-indonesia/story-e6frg8y6-1226235103495 EXPERTS battling a rabies epidemic in Bali are warning Australians to brace for the arrival of the disease. Rabies is island-hopping towards Australia through the Indonesian archipelago and is about 600km north of Darwin on the island of Pulau Larat, where it killed 19 people in 2010. Helen Scott Orr, a former NSW chief veterinary officer working with the Indonesian government to help eradicate rabies from Bali, said the risk to Australia was increasing as more Indonesian islands fell to the disease. Rabies has spread to 24 of Indonesia's 33 provinces. "If it gets into West Papua, it is strongly likely that it will spread slowly and inexorably down through the entire island of Papua New Guinea, in which case it would be extremely close to our borders across the Torres Strait," Dr Scott Orr said. "We don't know if the threat will be there in one year, in five years, in 10 years, or in 20 years -- it's just a likelihood that the threat will come." A spokeswoman for the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry -- which oversees the Northern Australia Quarantine Strategy -- said rabies outbreaks on the Indonesian islands of Flores, Bali, Pulau Larat and Ambon had increased the risk of the disease entering Australia. She said the "most likely potential pathway into remote northern Australia is an illegally imported, infected animal arriving by boat". She said the department was controlling border movements of animals across the Torres Strait, increasing surveillance of animal health and educating northern populations about the disease. Dr Scott Orr fears that indigenous communities will be hardest hit if rabies crosses Torres Strait. "I understand that in northern Australia there are many indigenous communities with quite large groups of semi-free-living dogs that aren't restrained and roam around," Dr Scott Orr said. "Those dogs, if they became infected, obviously would become a threat to the communities, to the safety of all the people in those communities. It's a terrible and terrifying disease when it occurs." Rabies kills at least 55,000 people worldwide a year. Experts suspect that a rabid dog brought on a fishing boat from Sulawesi or Flores islands introduced the disease to Bali, where it has killed more than 130 people since 2008. Teams of dog catchers from Bali Animal Welfare Association have worked with the Indonesian government to vaccinate more than 275,000 canines -- a costly exercise that attracted funding from the Australian government's AusAID program and the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research. BAWA director Janice Girardi said Australia's eagerness to support the vaccination program was motivated partly by humanitarian concern, but also as insurance to keep rabies clear of its borders. "There's no rabies in Australia other than bat rabies, so I know it's a huge concern for Australia should rabies arrive on boats from the Indonesian islands," she said. Dr Scott Orr believes Australia's best hope of remaining rabies-free is by helping our northern neighbours control the disease. "We would like to see it progressively eradicated from eastern Indonesia and pushed back and right out of the region, if we could," she said. "If rabies got established in the wild dog population in northern Australia, for example, there would need to be a very sustained campaign to eradicate it. And experience from around the world has shown that to eradicate it from feral or wild populations of animals, you need to have aerial distribution of vaccine by baits. "Doing that across a large part of Northern Australia would be a horrendously expensive and difficult and long-term operation."

If I knew the parents of the dogs I was considering using also had anxiety problems of the kind that would make companion dogs hard to live with then I would not use them. The things I'm thinking of are storm phobias, separation anxiety, very low ability to cope with novel situations, issues with cars/vacuum cleaners/whatever. From what I've observed, a lot of iffy behaviour is genetic in origin. The other factor for me is that autoimmune issues are an issue in my breed and they can be thyroid related. Thyroid problems can manifest in behaviour problems. While it's treatable, I'd consider it another warning sign not just for breeding iffy companions, but for potential thyroid and immune system issues. I read something on an Afghan forum the other day that I thought was a useful summary: It is a continuum. One the one end are the bomb proof dogs and on the other the total spooks, and the majority somewhere in the middle. The genetically bomb proof can go through all kinds of trauma and come out smiling, the total freaks cannot be changed and those in the middle can be made or marred by circumstance. I don't think there's any justification for breeding from the total spooks, no matter how pretty they might be. Once you have lived with an anxious dog and a laid back dog, the difference is like night and day.

Yes, we use Gillman's, the quality is better than anything else on offer IMO.

Double post gremlins, crap wireless connection, etc.

With the dog park example, I would have said "that won't fix it". Up to her then if she wants to call me an effing b****, or if she wants to say "OK, how do I fix it then if you're so smart?". The thing is, if you are going to say something what you say has to have solutions in it, not just "that's wrong". I mean, given a choice, most people are just frustrated and would rather not be frustrated. With the old guy, I agree that older people get more latitude and they shouldn't always. In that situation the vet is the same situation as an obedience instructor or another professional. They are the professional and it was their premises. I would leave it to them to handle, unless the whole thing is clearly out of control.

Best solution is to get rid of the carpet. Bicarb is a good option. Another old trick I learned from some more experienced Saluki owners is to put a mop in a solution of eucalyptus wool wash, wring out hard, and then sweep across the carpet.

x 2 I haven't seen the nightmares you've seen, but I've seen enough to know that you can't judge how well a person keeps their dogs by how they present away from their house or how good they sound on the internet. Edit: This applies not just to breeders, but to pet owners as well.

You and Espinay are making a lot of very good sense in this thread.

No, I noticed that the shaded bits are the bits that are required. I have a bigger set of baggage about animal regulation being one size fits all, probably from a previous life in regulatory jobs, but I don't have any magic solutions.

Agree with espinay - I have a website that says "no puppies available at the moment" but which also clearly indicates I am contemplating breeding. So I'm caught in this. I'll be working with the requirements to sort out my compliance, something which annoys the hell out of me because I think dogs are better bred in family homes, and this is not a set of guidelines suited for a family home. Maybe someone needs to wind Dr Dunbar up to send a message to our regulators when he is out here in January? This is rubbish regulation, apart from anything else. Does NSW have an OBPR equivalent I wonder?

Went looking for breed calendars online tonight. OH and I don't buy local breed club ones, I know some people will think it's rude, but we think there's bugger all point looking at your competition every day. Would rather just donate to the club. So, with that out the way.... We've found a nice Saluki calendar: http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/SALUKI-Gazelle-Hound-Club-Calendar-2012-Colour-/190593346089?pt=UK_Collectables_Paper_RL&hash=item2c603faa29#ht_1974wt_884 Struggling to find a nice Afghan one, we'd buy the US rescue one if it had paypal but they don't. Need suggestions for a good IW calendar! What calendar would you recommend for your breed? We find the Brown Trout ones often just don't have nice examples of the breed. Edited for spelling fail.

It is a bit Nellie Melba! I went to the last tour in Sydney and my understanding was that he said at the time he thought he could do more elsewhere in the world. However, if you can go, go! He's a great speaker and I learned a lot.

What breed? It will also depend a bit on what breed the judge has. For those of us with less biddable late maturing breeds, a bit of feral is usually inevitable in the younger classes, and breeder judges often like to see a bit of spirit providing the naughtiness is just naughty, and not freaking out. We aren't usually seriously playing for the challenge against mature quality adults at that age tho', it might be different in sensible, early maturing breeds.

if this was me I would try small amounts of BBQ chicken mixed with cooked white rice.

On a FB group I'm on, someone talked about only breeding from easy keepers. I gather it's a horse term, mostly about the horse doing well on standard feed without a heap of supplements and fussing about. Some people said they expand the concept to dogs that don't have nasty habits, are cheerful and confident, get on with other dogs etc etc It sounds like a neat way to summarise an important set of considerations. So what do you consider in this area when deciding whether to breed with a particular dog or bitch?

The local news said he was accused of leaving a horse with broken teeth.

Fantastic for Kaj, his owner, his breeders and the breed!

We used to use one at a vet and it was only once our dog had broken skin from a cut that we actually thought about it, and shortly afterwards bought a hydrobath. I know not everyone can buy a hydrobath, but sometimes we'd have to clean up big clumps of hair before using it, so if people were inconsiderate enough to leave that, I'm betting they are inconsiderate enough to bath dogs with the squirts, gooey eyes, etc etc.

Thanks ladies, it's more a question for my own education rather than about an immediate health matter. I just saw someone mention in a forum recently that their vet had put forward this hypothesis and I had never heard it before. I suppose I'm concerned that people might think that if the dog dies it's inherited and if the dog doesn't die it's not, which I don't think is correct.

Just wondering if anyone from a breed that has AIHA as a common problem knows the answer to this. Does whether the condition is inherited or not have any bearing on the recovery prospects for the dog?

I don't know these breeds but you might get more responses if you edit your post to put the breeds in question in the subject line.

Depends a bit on where you live I think. In NSW a big winning dog is almost never at all the shows others in its breed are at. Whether that is a good thing or not is a separate debate, but even where shows are more concentrated and competition is more focussed, often big winning dogs are owned by judges, who get appointments sometimes. And show committees will sometimes appoint judges who will not put up big winning dog X because of politics or style. IME if a dog never wins ever, the issue is not big winning dogs, but either the dog or the handler - usually the latter.

Is there a rescue group in Victoria that specialises in large scruffers, stag, deerhound X, wolfhound X rescues? Asking from the "might have a home" rather than "need rescue" POV.

Message from the RNCAS dog section follows, for any queries contact the inquiry number on the schedule: NOTICE TO ALL DOG EXHIBITORS at ACTEWAGL Royal Canberra Show 2012. For health reasons the judge Mr Ramirez appointed at our show in February 2012 has had to withdraw from his commitment. He will be replaced by Mr RLT Dawson (Philippines). The assignment of groups and breeds to Mr Dawson will remain the same as those assigned to Mr Ramirez. See http://www.rncas.org.au/showwebsite/site/competitors_dog.php for updated schedule and other details Any inconvenience to exhibitors is regretted but was unavoidable under the circumstances.

Toys: Papillon Tibetan Spaniel Italian Greyhound Terriers: Glen of Imaal Skye Tentie Gundogs: Gordon Setter English Setter Weimaraner Hounds: Saluki Sloughi Azawakh And if we were working with FCI, Chart Polski and all the other gorgeous rare sighthounds. Working: Bouvier Kuvasz Puli Utility: Schnauzer (Giant) Tibetan Mastiff Pyrenean Mountain Dog Non Sporting: Lhasa Shih Tzu Schipperke