ash1

It's been about 10 years since we bought our two dogs and three cats over, but from what I can remember, it is a relatively simple process. Just leave plenty of time to organise, as I do remember a bit of vet work had to be done a good few weeks in advance - can't remember exactly what, but I do remember it wasn't just a day or two before the flight. We used Dogtainers and they also supplied the crates, collected the animals from our home, took them to the airport and arranged everything there. We just had to collect them from the cargo area of the airport when they arrived (poor bubbies didn't appreciate being "cargo" - they thinks they is people!). You can't just use any old dog crate, there are special rules for air travel crates. We bought ours outright, but I think you can also hire them. As long as you book plenty of time in advance, they can arrange to have your pets on the same flight as you. The cost of the freight goes on weight, so the smaller the dog, the cheaper you're going to get away with. Get in contact with some of the companies that offer the service and they'll tell you exactly the process and the costs. You can't sedate the animals (I queried regarding sedation as I thought it may make the trip a little easier for them, but the vet strongly advised against it. Can't remember the exact reason, I think it was something to do with altitude affecting the drugs?) Anyway, all the animals coped fine, and were as good as gold the next morning after they had recovered from their long day before.

This is what I could find regarding plants that snakes don't like: LAVENDER – Rabbits and snakes don’t like the smell MARIGOLDS – An excellent snake repellent, and mosquitoes dislike them too GERANIUMS – Rabbits and snakes avoid this pungent plant

Can you get a flock of Guinea fowl and/or geese? They are supposed to be good for chasing the snakes away (guineas are also good for keeping ticks down) - not sure how you dogs are with poultry though - the birds would need to be free-ranging to do their job and obviously couldn't if your dogs chase birds (as sadly, our young dogs do).

Hope this hasn't been posted before: http://lifestyle.ninemsn.com.au/viralvideo/286977/pugs-adorable-disability-makes-her-famous.glance Very cute, had to watch it twice!

A few of our dogs do this, the rest of them just chase the bowl around the floor. So we have some clever doggies and some... not so clever doggies.

Ditto this. A couple of years ago we saw a dog left in the car in full sun, when to centre management and they had security onto it immediately.

Say what? If you listened to the video, he said we are going to be famous. That beautiful dog was obviously no threat, so why did't he pick it up after half an hour, or call a Vet? Such a beautiful big boofa, who got exploited by people who wanted internet fame. What I heard in the video was that the rescuer said "he's going to be famous" - referring to Troy, the dog - that Troy would be famous after people saw his rescue video, not that the rescuer was going to be famous. I've watched quite a few of this guy's rescue videos over the years and I don't think in any way at all he's doing it for fame. He loves dogs and wants to rescue the strays, rehabititate them and rehome them. He videos the rescues to raise awareness of his charity and get donations, a lot of the dogs need pretty expensive medical attention before they can be rehomed.

I had no pets for a three-year stint when I was living abroad - not even a goldfish in a bowl. I could travel to my heart's content (and did so at every opportunity), my home was always spotless, I could wear black clothes, I didn't have to rush home from work to feed anyone - could go straight out and party until the wee smalll hours. I had a lot more disposal income, didn't have to stand out in the rain waiting for a poo or a wee, didn't have to clean up afterwards. Oh, so many benefits. Now my home is filled to the brim with animals of all different shapes and sizes and the single only thing I miss from those three years is the ability to travel - or for that matter, even to have a holiday. Hell, even to stay out overnight. We're going to attempt to have a week's holiday next year, if we can find a house-sitter mad enough to cope with all our critters.

We have eight dogs and three cats all of whom have free range of the house. I also have two pet minipigs who sleep inside at night and, at the moment, two brooder cages full of chicks. I bet my house pongs! BUT... I don't care. If someone is offended by the way my house looks/smells, then I have a suggestion: DON'T VISIT ME! I do clean (from time to time :laugh: ) and we have absolutely no carpets or rugs, the only soft furnishings are one lounge suite, our bed, and the dog's beds. Even the dining room chairs are non-fabric. My friends know me and love me for me, not what my house smells or looks like.

Another annoying habit that I was just reminded of today when mowing the lawns: When I am on the (ride-on) mower, Murphy will race up behind me and bark VERY LOUDLY at the mower. Just about gives me heart failure everytime as I don't see him coming and it's a real ambush; infrequent and when you least expect it. I kind of zone out when mowing as it's a chore of a good few hours and he doesn't do it constantly, maybe once an hour or so - reckon he waits in the house until he can see me in "the zone" and thinks "right, now for some fun"! Thank goodness we have no close neighbours: Mower starts.... WOOOF BARK BARK GROWL WOOF BARK ..... BUGGER OFF MURPHY YOU BLOODY DOG!

What an entertaining thread - I've just read the whole lot from start to finish and have tears streaming down my face from laughter! Most annoying habits: Tango (GSD, boss dog), lies in the kitchen doorway so you have to move him everytime you want to go in or out. Goes to bed before me, in MY spot on MY pillow and then pretends he has died in his sleep when I ask him to move. After everyone's gone to bed, Charlie (cattle dog) 'neak, 'neak, 'neaks into the cat's area and gobbles down all their left-over dinner. Then comes back to bed and exhales cat food fumes all over my face. Pixie (Chihuahua) is a very shrill barker and barks at anything that moves. But doesn't talk otherwise - the other night she somehow got herself stuck behind the couch and I was going crazy with panic trying to find her, even searching outside with the torch (large acreage). Came inside and finally found her sitting patiently behind the couch - not a peep out of her to say where she was. The juniors are thieves, with a particular fascination for bras, knickers and shoes - find them scattered all over the yard, usually chewed beyond redemption.

We have different arrangements for our dogs: The four seniors sleep on our bed, but one usually bails after an hour or two and then sleeps in her bed, which is under our bed. One of the juniors sleeps in his crate in the lounge. Three of the juniors sleep in their own bedroom. All four juniors were sleeping together in their own room, but when one of them had a cast on his leg we separated him into a crate (to stop him injuring anyone else - that thing HURT when he stood on your toe!) and when his cast came off he preferred his crate to going back to the "puppy's room".

Make sure you give his water and food bowls a good wash.

Just had a couple of neighbours over & I mentioned your idea about the caravan. They think it's brilliant, ash. So do I. Thanks for sharing ... it should be passed around. Thanks Mita, although it does expose how thick I can sometimes be. The caravan's been sitting here for a year, and when the bushfires were a (fortunately reasonably distant) threat I was racking my brains trying to come up with a solution to dealing with all our animals in the event of an emergency - at one stage I was looking to try and purchase a cheap dog trailer. Very very slowly it dawned on me, I already had the perfect emergency vehicle here! As the van only cost us $1000 it was cheaper than a dog trailer, and added bonus of fitting all of our house animals and us too.

Love the caravan idea. Really interesting. Surely in an emergancy situation, no one will be harsh enough to fine you/take away an unregistered vehicle? I understand it has to be road safe but if it simply hasn't been payed... I have no plans as in my most recent town we were surrounded by grape vines (like, the whole town) and low scrub, and lived on high ground. Now we live urban so no risk of bushfires. Only have one dog anyway so we'd grab her and leave. Pretty straight forward luckily :) We would just cop the fine if it came to it. The van would be taken over my dead body in that sort of situation. Anyway, good luck to them, it would be filled to the brim with animals! Registration isn't actually that expensive annually, but the only reason our van would be taken on the road would be a bushfire (flood it can stay here as we can get it up much higher than the house), so little reason for us to pay the rego each year.

Survey completed. We came very, very close to having the house inundated on Sunday. We had previously made abstract -in the future- plans re emergency evacuation but due to lack of time and money, had not implemented them all. Fortunately the water was rising slowly enough for us to be able to throw the plan into some kind of panicked action and, although not to the standard we had originally set in our plans, at least was jury-rigged together enough to be functional. Clyde, you may also be able to consider something like this; we have an old (not registered, but new tyres and fully towable) caravan on our property that is used for storage and ocassional guest accommodation. It only cost us $1000 to purchase last year. We had decided to convert the caravan to an "emergency evacuation vehicle" - completely strip out the caravan and build in a number of cages so that animals can be separated from each other, also with a small sleeping area for us and a portapotti. We will keep it fully stocked with non-perishable food, dog bowls, leashes, litter boxes, etc. We will also kit it out with a few portable stock pens, so that the dogs and our two pet pigs have a small fenced area to get outside for toileting. We are fortunate that we have large acreage and can get the caravan to higher ground, so although we would be cut off completely from the outside world, at least everyone would be warm, safe and dry until we could get back down into our house. In the case of a bushfire, the caravan is towable and we could evacuate to a safe place and still be fully self-contained. Edited 'cos I can't spell.

If he's anything like our Spud, he'll pull through just fine. Our Spuddy boy has had bloat/bowel tortion, a tick, growth plate injury. They build Spuds tough. Best wishes from our Spuddy to yours for a speedy recovery.

I think you did a lovely thing for that little girl, possibly it was her first experience having a beloved pet PTS and hopefully you eased that a little for her. But I do have to agree with the other posters, I wouldn't like anyone to approach me (an adult) if I was there to have my dog PTS. I am also very private in my grief. But hopefully that will never be a problem as our vet has agreed to do a home visit when it's time. Easier on the animal, easier on me.

Can you replace the flap with soft plastic strips? It could be any one of the things the above posters suggested, soft plastic strips could help minimise those issues.

I think in this scenario it's a bit like children; you need to do what's best for the children ("furkids" in this case), not what best suits the adults wants/needs. It's not like dividing furniture. If the dogs are a bonded pair then they need to be kept together, IMHO. If the dogs don't get along particularly well, then it may be best to split them anyway. If you take both and are still on amicable terms with your ex, perhaps you could visit a shelter together to choose him a dog that may be best suited to his lifestyle?

Nup, my diet is crap. My husband works away all week and is only home one or two nights on the weekend, so I tend to not even bother with dinner most nights unless he is home. All my animals, dogs, cats, poultry, goats, cattle, camels, eat a much healthier diet than I do. I KNOW I should eat better and I WANT to eat better, but too busy/lazy to address it at the moment. Am in the process of setting up a vegie garden though, and soon we will be raising our own beef, so I can see a future where my diet is much healthier.

:laugh: Nope no feedback on the cat tactic to address the cat problem. As for tying dead fowl around the dog's neck et al, it is not something I could do, but farmers in Australia tell me that it works. Owners o/s also report the same. NB: these dogs are supposed to be living with the chickens / guinea fowl and after the incident continue to live with the birds without incident. Often the offender is an adolescent dog or a newcomer to the pack. Yup, exactly what these little buggers are - just coming into their "teens".

Kibble with homemade yoghurt and fish oil for brekkie The foxtel remote (2nd one in less than a month ) Taste-tested but didn't eat a decayed mouse/rat (and then left it on the couch for me to enjoy) Watermelon for lunch The eggs that were sitting beside my incubator ready to be set The paperbag that the calf-milk came in Are yet to have dinner, but will be getting the leftovers from our baked dinner, some chicken mum sent home, plus some more kibble.

They all sound gorgeous ash :) I think we need to see photos of Smudge (love the name) she sounds adorable. She looks a bit funny as we clip her for the summer months. She only looks like a proper pom over winter!

Another thing the little pom does is that, most Saturday nights we have "nibbles and DVD nights" (cheese/dip/pate etc) and the dogs get either chewies or peanut-butter kongs. Sometimes Smudge doesn't want to finish hers (but won't let anyone else have it, of course), so she "buries" it in the throw over the lounge. She gets corners of the throw in her teeth and carefully folds them over the treat, when the treat is hidden to her satisfaction she then completes the burial with her nose, as though scraping invisible dirt over the mound. There are heaps of funny things this little dog does - for a tiny dog, she packs a massive punch of personality