Quickasyoucan

I personally think that there will start to be more of a shake up of the pet insurance industry now that pet insurance is definitely becoming more mainstream. When I first looked at insurance years ago it wasn't worth taking out as it automatically excluded all gastro-intestinal conditions (presumably as that was the number one reason dogs end up at the vets). Things have moved on since then, as more people take up insurance those that are not user friendly will lose out to those that are, the market will dictate that. I do find it troubling that people are saying their premiums have suddenly risen exponentially after a claim. Just because it says they reserve the right to change premiums doesn't automatically give them the right to double or triple them because you have had a claim. They have to be reasonable. You certainly wouldn't expect your motor vehicle insurance premium to triple if you had one smash and made only one large claim. Insurance is based on the premise that the vast majority of people pay smallish premiums and don't claim large amounts and compared to the few who claim large amounts, so basically our premiums are not just paying for us they are paying for other people's claims as well. If my premiums suddently rose exponentially (say doubled or tripled) I would be asking to speak to a manager or referring it to the ombudsman.

My stafford x used to love jumping/climbing on things when he was younger. He would spring up just like a cat. he is the first dog I ever had who you would turn around and he would be on top of the barbecue standing there (not when it was being used obviously), or on top of the garden table. His favourite place to sleep used to be along the back of the sofa like a cat! If he wanted to be beside you and you were the other side of a wire fence he would just climb it. He has no fear. I might add he is now lying beside me post op for a ruptured cruciate but that is some time on and probably more due to his love of balls than climbing. The jumping down in that vid that did give me a bit of a cringe sometimes... I thought I read somewhere basenjis were big into climbing trees too.

It is important to look at the Product Disclosure Statement of insurances before you take them out. For instance, bilateral conditions like cruciates are considered one condition. Was the skin listed as a pre-existing condition on the certificate of insurance, I think there is some wording somewhere to that effect. Could it be that they are lumping it under atopy? I notice that is a term that seems to appear quite a lot on the vets records when my dog had the itchies when he was younger. When I took out insurance I pretty much understood I wouldnt' be able to claim for any skin allergy stuff as he had that pre-insurance when younger. Luckily with diet he has greatly improved. That said I'm also with Medibank and they have been absolutely great so far. We have just made a claim for pre-op xrays for cruciate they have paid within 5 days. I have also claimed health benefits (which we can on top cover) and again paid within 5 days sometimes sooner.

Yes we got reply back yesterday from vet board, so far only vets response which there is a large number of lies in. We can however prove quite a lot for the wrongful death of our beautiful girl. Its been 5mths now & still finding it very difficult to let go of all the suffering witnessed. Only found 1 Solicitor who will has successfully sued a human doctor. he will take case on. Does anyone know of any solicitors that will take on Vets? You could try ringing the Queensland Law Society (not sure if that is what it is called in QLD) and seeing if they have any members who have dealt with those types of cases, look at those who do human medical negligence??? maybe. If I couldnt' get a personal recommendation here, I would ring the NSW Law Society and see if they could be of any assistance, they might have lists of people with specialties. Be prepared for it to be exxy though.. Does the vet board have arbitration procedures, have you had a look at their procedure for dealing with complaints when they are not resolved. There is usually a procedural pathway.

We seem to have a plague here on the northern beaches (even worse than usual). The local vets think it will be one of the worst seasons ever. Seaforth vet alone has lost 5 dogs in the last month . I used to walk regularly at Curl Curl dog park and never had ticks but met a lady I knew who said almost every dog she knew down there has had a tick this year and one old dog has lost his life I have already found one tick on my boy low down on his rear leg, luckily it wasn't engorged and no harm was done, but I am now checking him twice daily. I think being vigilant and hand checking is the best thing as no preventative is a 100% effective. With the people with the yard, I would be calling in the professionals. Friends at Bayview had their yard sprayed by a pest man as their kids were constantly picking up ticks. Seemed to work that season.

Okay we have had our TPLO and now waiting for my boy to come home tomorrow evening! Then the hard work from me keeping him quiet starts!

Thanks it is always good to hear good results that people have had.

My dog is about to have knee surgery too, but for a cruciate ligament tear. He has had mild waxing and waning rear hind limb lameness since the end of last year. Just when we thought it was getting better it got worse again. We tried conservative management and "wait and see" (on the advice of the specialist) as diagnosis following x-ray earlier this year was inconclusive and symptoms were originally mild. But in the last month he has deteriorated limp wise a lot and we are due to have a TPLO shortly as further x-rays have confirmed the diagnosis. My understanding is that correct confinement post-operatively is almost as important as the skill of the surgeon. I imagine it is the same for most orthopaedic procedures. I am not looking forward to what is going to be long eight weeks confinement :p but am hopeful that then my dog will at least be pain free. To the OP there are a few post-op threads if you do a search, I found them useful to read.

I emailed the EP distributor direct a few weeks back and they told me the supply issues were being resolved. I didn't hold my breath but happened to be in Pet Barn Brookvale on weekend and they did have it in stock. This Pet Barn told me when I rang them a couple of weeks ago they weren't going to be stocking it any more I looked at the expiry and it was Aug 11 so I think it must be newish stock. We got a big bag.

I did watch that episode though and Cesar tried to convince them to leave Trinity with him and accept an easier dog from his pack. They insisted on keeping her and with the follow up were moving forward. Look I don't agree with a lot of the detail of what he does, but I don't think it is a case of switch off the cameras and off he goes. I think there is follow up we don't see everything that happens behind the scenes. There are a couple of programs I have watched where he has also swapped people with dogs more suitable for them. I think he does recognise handler limitations. I think in a perfect world every trainer/behaviourist etc would be following up on every dog, but what professional has the time to do that, they would have no time for new clients, they rely on their clients to come back to them and success is only as good as the effort the owners are prepared to put in. I know anecdotally of people who have been to excellent trainers, but they have let things slide and have not followed up and things have remained the same. I don't think any trainer could put their hand on their heart and say every dog they work with has been a success story, don't see why it should be any different for Cesar. As PF said earlier full marks for raising people's awareness, for me not so full marks for the detail of every episode...

I believe he came into the US as an illegal immigrant having gained a bit of a local name for himself as the "dog guy" in his village, with his instinctual ability to deal with dogs which I think he credits to his grandfather (?). His background is dog grooming in the US, I think with a bit of training and self-education. No quals that I know of. I agree long term follow up would be interesting as, like with other trainers/behaviourists, the real work has got to be the follow-through by the owners, unless they have radically changed their behaviours the risk of recidivism would be great IMO.

Where's Kelpie-i, she would want another option on the poll "Don't care about his training methods but think he is easy on the eye" Seriously I agree with what others have said, have read some of his books and the philosophy is good, just some of the hands on methods can be questionable. But I do think the "don't try this at home method" can be extended to so many shows. Someone was telling me they had to stop their child watching "man vs wild" as he kept trying to leap off things! It is TV after all. I do believe he is in it for the dogs... And I do want to know why his marriage broke down

Yep 1 black stafford x seems to be lot of hair too - must be the bit that isn't stafford eh :D I think you need to be respectful of the people who own the places you stay in, I used to have a friend cleaned hotel rooms apparently people used to leave used condoms in the bed, defecate in the shower, and other such nasties, I always try to leave somewhere how I have found it. I even pull the beds to so at least things look tidy (even though I know they will be changed). I guess it really depends on the way you have been brought up.

I only have one dog and I would NEVER sneak him in somewhere where pets are not allowed. If he travels with me we find pet friendly accommodation (and there are some very nice ones we have enjoyed) that allows dogs inside. I wouldn't even stay somewhere that is pet friendly, but stipulates dogs outside only, and then sneak him in, because my dog is an inside dog. If the owners don't want dogs in their motel/holiday place then I won't stay there. I agree with the others even though I only have one dog. People who flout the rules, walking their dogs off leash on the street ("because he is so well behaved, he won't run up to your dog/run under a car"), people letting their dogs on beaches (I'd love to but it is illegal so I don't), and people who sneak their pets into places where they shouldn't be. They are ruining it for responsible dog owners. Want to see even more petty rules? Well keep on flouting the existing ones...

Really? Why do you think they do it then? I have difficulty with novice dog owners taking a dog from the pound. Most of them have no idea what they might be taking on. I'd far prefer an experienced breed rescue to take on dogs, evaluate them, retrain if necessary AND rehome them to suitable families. It sure beats the revolving door situation that sees some dogs surrendered to be rehomed again. ETA: The idea of a Whippet being released to be an outside only dog here in Canberra makes me shudder. Its simply too damn cold. Good post as usual PF. Not to mention that good rescues quarantine dogs (not all pounds vaccinate and you might have an existing dog you don't want to put at risk), temp test them away from a kennel environment and do a multiplicity of other things the pounds don't have the resources to do (talking straight ponds here as opposed to RSPCA as they do have more stringent criteria it would seem). I would definitely prefer to get a dog from a rescue rather than straight from the pound, though the PJ's story does seem totally wacky !! . I have been known to get up walk the dog and then get back into my PJ's for lounging around the rest of the day guess I would be a fail too then - no one is going to separate me and my pj's. :D

In Sydney So hopefully it would be okay then?

So confusing, I asked my online store (Natural Pet Store) about Nutro and they said they were discontinuing it because it wasn't a good seller. They until recently had good stocks of EP, but even they can't get it now. A friend's rottie is doing well on Nutro though, but because I am changing from EP due to supply issues I dont' want to get into another supply problem after I change. Artemis looks too high protein for my dog (who is nearly 8) and when I googled Canidae first thing was a class action by pet owners in US due to alleged dog poisoning So hard to know which way to go.

I am looking to change too as I just can't get EP holistic any more and everyone I speak to says they are going to stop stocking it including my online store. I was worried when I googled Canidae and saw they had a class action against them for poisoning in the US. Is the protein level high in Canidae compared to say EP, just wondering what the effect would be on changing on a nearly 8 year old dog whose weight I now need to watch. Friends say Nutro is good but is it premium brand? Very confusing it is a bugger when you are used to something and your dog does well and then they go and run out of stock. Sorry to hijack your thread Erny ETA: sense.

Yes. The devil is in the details. Which is why in-depth questioning is required, in order to tease out those details. Now, those who object to in-depth questioning, seem unaware of this. You're right, it's not so much the fact of working full-time, it's what provisions you can make for looking after your dog. And a case of selecting a dog less prone to separation issues. In the case of students, there needs to be some certainty that they're in accommodation which accepts pets and that they're aware of the costs in maintaining a pet. And that they've looked beyond the next couple of years, in how their circumstances are likely to change. In some ways, this in-depth questioning can have a strong 'educational' component. On the other hand, the rescue or shelter bears the ultimate responsibility for making as good a call as possible on behalf of an animal being rehomed. If in their experience, they decide to make a blanket rule, then they have the right to do so. Like only dogs over a certain age for older retirees or no adoptions to overseas students. There's numbers of rescues in the 'marketplace', with variety in their policies, to apply to. That's something would-be adopters need to be aware of. Good post Mita, especially the bolded bit. I would think this would equally apply to responsible breeders and rescuers. A friend of mine went looking for a rottie, they were a bit surprised to be asked a lot of questions, but I wasn't surprised that they were. They were asked to provide pics of their yard, what their family set up was etc. I got the impression that the breeder in question would rather sell to couples or families than to single males. I can see why, if you are protective of your dogs and your breed's reputation. That is not to say all single males are going to be boof heads, but I bet the breeder had been burnt before.... If I were selling a dog I would want to know that the fit was good, that the owner could adequately provide for the dog's physical and mental well being and that they knew what they were up for in terms of exercise requirements etc. I think it is arrogant to assume that you have a right to any particular dog (no matter how much you like the look of it or think you are a responsible owner), it is up to the person in possession to make that decision, in the dog's best interests. ETA bad spelling and grammar

There has been an advertisement up on DOL for this with both volunteer (with dogs) and paid employment. The article on news.com.au has the great pic of a smiling stafford on it. Amen to the comment I have bolded at the end. http://www.news.com.au/national/nipping-do...r-1225929790975 Dogs claim 2428 victims this year $2.1 million program to slash attacks Dogs will be brought into classes DOGS will be brought into classrooms in government's bold bid to cut rising attacks on children. Already dogs have claimed 2428 victims this year - nearly twice the number for the same six months in 2009. A $2.1 million program, designed to slash children's chances of being mauled, will be rolled out for students aged five to seven from next year. Role play, computer games, and real dogs will help show pupils how to act near dogs. "Bringing a well-supervised dog into the classroom will help reinforce the importance to students that they must always approach dogs in a safe way and show the animal respect," Local Government Minister Barbara Perry said. "The students will be taught about animal welfare, training, pet ownership, and how to choose an appropriate pet. They will learn what to do if they find themselves at threat of being attacked by a dog." University of New England Centre for Neuroscience and Animal Behaviour Professor Gisela Kaplan said it was not enough to show children how to approach dogs, urging owners to microchip and train them to be calm near strangers. Dogs should also be allowed on buses, trains and in shops to stop them being cooped up alone in a backyard, she said. "Australia is fast becoming the most dog-intolerant country in the world," she said.

I don't think the rescue organisation sounds unreasonable either And to add to the sentiment of others, you really need to get over the idea that flatcoats (or any gundogs with "soft mouths" ) are incapable of hurting anyone. I will add though as regards rescue (and I have a rescue dog) I am not sure where all these mythical "stay at home people" are. If you don't work full time chances are you are: a. a mother (who potentially will then get refused for having young children, not able to devote enough time to a dog). b. a university student (potential for refusal due to lack of funds/stable income). c. a pensioner (see b above). d. a retiree (potentially too old for some rescue organisations. There must be very few people who have an independent income, such that they do not work full time. I know some people are lucky enough to work from home, but I don't think they are in the majority. I work full time, my dog gets walked before work, in the afternoons, by a friend, and in the evenings by me. When I am home he is with me. Someone said, not every dog is suitable for people who work full time, that should be the criteria, not a blanket refusal to adopt out at all to people who work full time, or all people who are student or all people who are over a certain age etc...

My understanding is that the Flatcoated Retriever Association of Victoria is the breed club in Australia (I have been doing a bit of gundog breed tyrekicking on the internet ). I would be contacting them as the first port of call as I don't think they restrict themselves to Victoria. Honestly with a relatively rare breed, I think you need to need to be prepared to go interstate or otherwise your choices are restricted or you might face a long wait for a pup. I think the fence comments are odd too. My sister is buying a pup in the UK she has been welcomed to visit the home both before conception of pups and once the pups reached 6 weeks old. She has met the dam and the owner's other dogs (and alpacas ). She is also getting a relatively rare breed (though more common in the UK than OZ) and each visit has been an eight hour round trip (hard to travel that far in the UK without hitting water ). This is also for a pet. ETA spelling.

Oh I didn't mention it to get anyone into trouble , was just curious as to whether it was the same person, since the post seemed the same.

My split personalities must be remarkably consistent! If it wasn't such a long drive I would be using Aidan2 to back up things Aidan said and vice-versa, "Yeah, awesome post Aidan2, you really hit the nail on the head!" "Thanks Aidan, I think your posts are brilliant too!" Yeah great idea except you let yourself down with not coming up with a different name for your second alter ego I am going to call mine Slowasyoucan

Yes, sorry about that. I should just get rid of one account but it suits me to have the email notifications come through to different places when I am in different places (work vs home or uni). Or does it actually reflect your split personality Actually I thought you were since you never contradicted or took issue with anything one of your alter egos said