tdierikx

The most important thing to remember is that the back end of the dog has no teeth... if you are going to pysically intervene (not recommended) - grab the back legs and make like the dog is a wheelbarrow. It's almost impossible for you to get bitten by a dog in the wheelbarrow position - and it reduces the leverage the dog has to keep fighting with another. As others have mentioned though, prevention of anything happening is always going to be much better than having to stop something that has already started. T.

Hahaha!!! That is completely hysterical... T.

Ummm... still waiting patiently to see some of your Zoo photos... T.

Feather will come around eventually - maybe when Neko is a little less "crazy puppy"... lol! My Zeddy is the same now with naughty pups - growly and a little snappy if they jump on her once too often. They learn pretty quickly who they can bother endlessly, and who they can't... I told you that pups heal really quickly. This may sound bad, but if it's not going to kill them or I can't stop the bleeding, I don't tend to worry much about puppy bumps and scrapes - dog knows, I've had enough of them through here over the past few years - and none of them ended up with any lasting scars (mental or physical)... *grin* I must say though, I was a complete wreck when I had to leave both Harper and Pickles at the vets (separately) for their desex ops... kept ringing the clinic to see if they were coping or being good for the staff, etc... I was a complete PITA methinks... errr! Do you think my forwarded cuddles and kisses are helping Neko's healing process? If so, please pass on another set - 3rd time's the charm... hehe! T.

Elijah will repay her kind deed with many years of love and licks... lucky Elijah! T.

Was Koda the one that had a rocky start jennabub? He was a little fighter, and I'm sure he knew exactly how much he was loved and treasured. Remember the fun and cheeky times with a smile, OK? T.

She must be thrilled to have 3 foster siblings with similar energy levels to her own to play with... She is looking gorgeous - lovely sleek and shiny, and a cheeky little glint in her eye... *grin* T.

Puppies feel no pain if there are any distractions to investigate, or any fun to be had - and they heal very fast... don't worry too much, OK? Feather has laid down rule number 1 - don't mess with Feather... lol! There will most likely be other rules she will be taught by the other dogs, some will be more forceful than others, but puppies are very rarely badly damaged in the process, even though they may scream like they've lost a limb sometimes and look for sympathy from the first sucker to come along (that would be us humans). First rule of puppy ownership is that if they aren't too bothered by an owwie, then we shouldn't be either - if you are worried about her re-opening her wound, get a little bit of vetwrap on it to keep it together while she runs about like a loon. If she will stay still for a minute, please give her another kiss and cuddle from me... *grin* T.

She so looks like she's going to play that owwie for all it's worth too... lol! Is she treating Feather with any more respect now? T.

Another new star in the heavens to shine down his love on all... Run free and healthy sweet Koda. T.

Neko has just learned her very first lesson about older dogs... with only a small owwie to show for it. I bet she will be more careful around poor old Feather from now on... Please give the little one a get well soon kiss and cuddle from me... T.

Because in most cases, the longer you leave it, the more chances for an accidental pregnancy to happen - complacency about a bitch in heat is probably one of the largest factors contributing to accidental pregnancies. Obviously not an issue if you are fine with making sure the bitch doesn't have the chance to be got at by a male - and knowing the signs that she is coming into season, etc... Then there is the mess aspect... lots of people have a hard time coping with that as well... T.

I'm sure her off switch is activated after a good romp with her new foster siblings who have similar energy levels to hers, yes? I'm sure after a few days at your place, she'll come out of her shell a lot more with regards to timidity... can't play coy at treat time, or you miss out, right? She's had a lot of changes recently - it is quite normal to be a little unsure for a little while - but under your care I'm sure she will really flourish. T.

I refused to talk about any settlement of property (house, etc) with my ex until he signed over the dog he'd left with me. He still got more than he should have in the property settlement, but I got the dog... T.

These are all great questions to ask the vet that you are considering using to have your dog desexed... From my experience though - after having many (read over 100) rescue foster pups desexed young, and a number of my own dogs done at more mature ages - most dogs don't have any issues with the surgery, nor do they have any of the issues afterwards you are worried about. I have noticed that the younger the dog, the easier it takes the surgery - ie. young puppies (under 12 weeks) don't even seem to notice that they have had surgery at all, and are running about and playing as normal the next day - older dogs may be a little uncomfortable for the first day or two, but soon recover just fine. May I also dispel the myth that dogs will get fat after being desexed... if you feed and exercise your dog to the weight and body style that you prefer, no dog will get fat - desexed or not. I have 4 lovely lean desexed bitches here ranging in age from 14 years down to 12 months old. Only 1 of my dogs had some complications after being desexed - she had a reaction to the internal stitches which caused a lovely big fluid bubble. We drained it twice over the next week, and she was fine after that - she was already on antibiotics after the surgery, so we let them do their job to make sure the reaction didn't get infected (no nasties in the fluid when we checked it). Within a week, the fluid stopped building up, and she healed normally after that. At no point were I or the vet overly concerned about the "problem" as presented. She was 3 years old when desexed and had had a litter previously. One thing I ALWAYS insist on before any of my dogs has internal surgery is a "scrape test" - this is a cheap and easy test to check clotting speed in the dog. They will make a small scrape with a sharp instrument inside the dog's cheek, and time how long before it stops bleeding. If it takes longer than it should (usually under 1 minute), the vet then uses an anaesthetic combined with a clotting agent when performing the surgery to make sure the dog doesn't bleed more than it should... easy peasy! If you are considering doing agility work with your dog, I'd say to get her desexed once she has physically matured and finished growing - purely because there IS enough anecdotal evidence that early desexing can result in a leggier dog - which obvioulsy isn't ideal for agility training and the stresses it can put on the joints. If you are not going to do high activity sports with your dog, this will be much less of an issue, and I'd get her done about 6-8 weeks after her first season. T.

I could see her bossing your lot around too... lol! T.

Wayrod (here on DOL) - might be able to arrange... PM him... T.

Doesn't look like they are to fazed by it though... she IS a pretty girlie after all... lol! T.

When I have to select dogs from pounds for the purpose of rescue, I talk to the kennel hands who have been caring for them - they tend to have the greater isight as to how the dog has been handling the pound environment, basic likes and dislikes, etc... T.

As much as it would be lovely to have a replica of our favourite dog, the scientists cannot give us that. Genetically identical does not correlate to temperamentally identical. As the article explains, environmental factors play a huge role in the development of certain traits - and as much of what we loved about our departed furfriends is based on those traits (as opposed to the physical "look" alone) - then as far as I see it, it's just a money making venture that plays on our emotional state. If it were possible to completely clone both physical AND temperamental aspects of an animal - I'd probably drop any amount of money to have my heart dog back again... T.

Oh - and when something happens suddenly, like the 2 tigers having a rumble at Taronga Zoo last week - fussing and farting with camera settings and focus would never have gotten me the nearly 200 great photos of which the following few are representative of... 18-10-2013-taronga 258 by tdierikx, on Flickr 18-10-2013-taronga 256 by tdierikx, on Flickr 18-10-2013-taronga 248 by tdierikx, on Flickr 18-10-2013-taronga 239 by tdierikx, on Flickr 18-10-2013-taronga 226 by tdierikx, on Flickr 18-10-2013-taronga 213 by tdierikx, on Flickr 18-10-2013-taronga 295 by tdierikx, on Flickr Don't poo-poo the power of the preset... *grin* T.

Using the presets isn't cheating... especially under the conditions you describe. The following shot was taken doing exactly what you were - throwing the ball, then trying to whip the camera into position to get the shot. I had the zoom and focus point set to where I wanted the dog to be, then I threw the ball towards that spot and just held down the button in continuous shot mode... got lots of blurries, but the one really nicely focused shot was worth it, yes? T.

Not all rescues have the 'dog sleeps inside' criteria either... T.

I'm sure that Cyclone Juniper will take lessons from your gorgeous pack koalathebear... and will love your training regime that will keep her mind nice and busy. T.

How does one tactfully offer such advice to a grieving owner? It's good common sense, but not easy to impart under those circumstances... T.