tdierikx

I'm sure that if there was a positive outcome from yesterday's court date, we'd have heard about it by now... T.

What about the people who would prefer to think (and report) their pet has been stolen rather than the more usual scenario of it getting out by itself and possibly coming to a sticky end somewhere all on it's own? Seriously, there can't be so many dog fighting rings out there to account for ALL the missing dogs... T.

There's not only mandatory reporting - but the definition of "attack" itself has been expanded to include behaviours that don't include biting. Like I pointed out before, an enthusiastically friendly Staffy type rushing over to someone in the hope of a pat could be construed and reported as an "attack" if the person the dog is running towards is frightened by the behaviour. An "attack" doesn't have to involve injury to be reported as an attack either. T.

They'd want to take it seriously... there are lots of holiday-goers that bring their dogs with them up there - and there have been numerous incidents where local people's dogs have been attacked. My brother's assistance dog was one that was attacked by a holidaying dog - whose owners packed up and left the area in the middle of the night to avoid being prosecuted... grrr! T.

Any news on the court hearing today? T.

To me "upselling" is the adding on of services that aren't necessary - pushing hard for the most expensive (and not necessarily the best) options - purely because the vet needs to show that they are bringing money into the practice. I've seen that happen in more than one vet clinic actually... Then there is the pushing of certain brands of medications, or foods, worm/flea treatments, etc - all because the clinic in question gets a commission on those particular products. THIS sort of "advice" and pushing the product lines they get commissions for is not relevant to my dog's issue (read reason for vet visit) on any given day. I select the medications, flea/worm treatments, and food that I know they will do best on - not what has been "recommended" because that's what the clinic want to sell. I like to be fully involved in all diagnostics and treatment plans for my animals - and the one thing that will immediately get my hackles up is being talked AT rather than TO. The only time my dogs will visit a vet if there is something wrong with them that I cannot handle on my own. Sometimes vets need to realise that the person they are in the room with is the one person that can give them valuable information about symptomology, etc. I'm a trainee vet's worst nightmare actually... lol! T.

That's what I was thinking... a Maremma will see off any marauders quick smart! T.

Isn't the next court date some time this week... in Adelaide? Tomorrow? T.

I'm mean - if they don't eat, then it gets taken away and they don't get any more until the next feed time. Longest I've had a dog hold out was 2 days... *grin* Seriously, who's supposed to be training who here? Lol! T.

I've found that one needs to train one's vet - just like we train our dogs... I don't cop to overservicing or trying to sell me things I don't need, so the vets that I choose to use are ones that understand that fact and give me the services I DO need without all the other crap... and in many cases I get discounted service to boot. Then again, I'm not a clueless owner either - I've seen and helped treat a number of things that many vets just don't get to see as often as we do in the rescue game. Point in case, Kennel Cough - doesn't bother me in the slightest unless I see yellow or green snot, then I ring the vet and tell them I'm going to give the dog a specific (weight related) dosage of the antibiotics I have on hand, just so they can update or create a file for that particular dog, and note the disease in it. I also source my medications from suppliers rather than from the vet clinic, effectively at least halving (or more) the price... and we buy in bulk for even more savings. I have actually had a local vet call me for advice on a particular case they had that they knew I had plenty of experience in... I usually only go to a vet for a second opinion on something I've mostly diagnosed myself - but may need certain tests to prove conclusively. The 3 vet clinics that I use all understand how I operate, and are mostly happy about it - and don't usually charge a consult fee either. How's this for a price markup? A parvo test kit costs retail $19 for a vet to purchase... explain to me how taking a swab of poop, putting it into the provided solution, then dripping it onto the test contraption and waiting 5 mins can blow out to an $85 cost - on top of a consult fee to boot! T.

Way to go Carter and his mummy! Well done! Carter - you are a spunk! T.

Theorectically speaking, isn't that how we all learned our languages? T.

Awww... is that Maybe? or Torque? T.

I had a dog that could spell w-a-l-k... and she'd go nuts bouncing off walls if she thought she was going for a walk... *sigh* Trouble can understand "go to" or "go get" - if I tell her "go get your ball" she'll go find her fave ball, and if I say "go get a ball" she'll get the nearest ball to her. If I say "go to [insert room of house]" she'll go to that room without fail - so will Zeddy. Pickles is too smart for all that "command" stuff - she does what she likes, and looks at me as if to say "make me"... Harper hasn't grown a brain yet, so any command is met with the "huh" face... *sigh* T.

There's pure or pedigreed (bred only for "pet" market), and then there's responsibly bred pure and pedigreed... and guaranteed that many, if not most of the "pure" dogs involved in the bite statistics haven't been sourced from the latter group. T.

My brother's assistance dog appears to understand some very complex commands... "Go get the phone" will have him working out whether you want the landline phone or the mobile, and getting the right one for you - it's like magic... *grin* T.

Some brands of vaccine are gentler than others also... T.

May I suggest you get and read the following book - written by a very experienced rescuer... http://www.fostermanual.com/ Worth every penny of it's sale price! It covers all possible topics to do with foster caring - even those things that you would never have thought about... T.

What really needs to be clarified in any stats gathering/presentation is the definition of "attack"... How many of us here have had an enthusiastically friendly Staffy type rush up for a pat? To those who don't know the dog in question, that can be a frightening experience - and under the current reporting guidelines, can be called an "attack". In my mind, an "attack" is one where harm has come to the recipient of the dog's attention - ie. an actual bite occurs. I would guess that the average Joe would also read such stats with "bite" as the result of an "attack" - but that may not be totally factual. People startled by an enthusiastically friendly dog can also trip and fall when trying to get out of the dog's way - and that will also classify as an "attack" under the reporting rules. Mandatory reporting has seen the number of incidents rise - not that there are ACTUALLY more attacks than there were before mandatory reporting was instigated. T.

Interesting... Would that "economic disaster" have anyting to to with the fact that sick horses don't run, and can't be bet on? T.

Rescue backup is invaluable when the potential adopter doesn't come back to adopt the dog in question... sadly, some members of the public have the "want now" problem, and may have gone off to a BYB or pet shop to get their new pet "now" - instead of waiting for the impound wait time to be up on a pound dog. T.

... and another daily rag puts out this... http://www.smh.com.au/data-point/canine-aggression-rises-as-funding-bitten-20130720-2qb0q.html ... and a poorly bred/socialised one is asking for trouble! T.

I have a heck of a lot to learn then... lol! My only experience to date is with a zoom lens - and obviously the new macro lens works completely differently... Any tips on how to get pics like yours would be very much appreciated... *grin* T.

Wow! Awesome shots tlc... Are those pics cropped? Some of mine might look better cropped and sharpened a bit... *grin* T.

I must confess that I have no idea apart from pointing the camera at something, focusing, and clicking the button, but I got a few shots regardless... ... and it was windy, and things kept moving about... grrr! This little bugger kept hopping from flower to flower... and I'm allergic, so tried to keep some distance... This fellow was much more obliging - nice and lazy... More practice definitely needed, but I'm pretty happy with these... T.