Alyosha

Ahhh. So breeders are ok to make money, but others involved with animals should be much much poorer. It all makes sense now.

;) esit to add rollyeyes in case anyone missed the ironic aspect...

I was talking about all the staff... Did you not notice? I can't convince people who have their heads embedded in sand. I don't care for your opinions on what they do and don't have. I have knowledge, you have assumption. Simple really.

The point being that a place as busy and understaffed as busy shelters tend to be means all hands on deck, and admin stuff happens in out of work hours. When animals need care, it always comes first, at the expense of people's time, other duties, etc. Do you see? And then staff (at every level) head home and find time for foster animals, their own animals, and maybe even their families occasionally. Vets clean, feed and medicate... Are they unskilled??? I actually think that medicating takes a level of skill that many don't have. I don't know many completely unskilled people who are handy with needles... When so very little is known of how these places work in reality, it is woeful how much presumption and arrogant opinion gets thrown around about it. Folks on here talk big talk, and assume much knowledge. And no, I personally have no time for Hugh Wirth. He speaks for himself, often against National policy. People need to realise that a great many people make up the various state organisations of the RSPCA, not one or two. And most of them work their hearts out for wages that the vast majority of people in our society would not. These are staff from the bottom to the top. So cut them all some slack, some folks need to step down off their high horses sometimes and walk a mile in another's shoes. ETA - So who pays the gap in this marvellous $50 desex? Do the vets work for absolute free now? Does YOUR vet work for free? Who buys the meds and sterilising gear? Surgical equipment... the list goes on. Animal care is an extremely costly business. Go crunch the numbers, come back and show us.

Dog and cat food... yep. But there are a whole world of animals in their care that don't eat dog and cat food. ;) Thousands of them. All creatures remember?? Low wages and difficult working conditions? Yep. Unskilled? Certainly not. You'd be amazed at the highly skilled positions needed to run these places... Very few large organisations have unskilled people in senior management... And yes, some suckers do it not for the cash, but for their own other reasons. I'll be in that queue then! Cap in hand!! Could be waiting a while though... Better bring the camping gear and thermos!! eta - spelling...

I think I have a mental image of that one. There's a new one being shown in the Southern NSW / Canberra area... But he's still only a baby...

Please don't try the poor broke RSPCA trip. Great isn't it Wazzat?? Crisovar - you have in depth knowledge do you? Or are you following the general hearsay and gossip circles that say otherwise? When you have been on the inside and worked for them, when you have endlessly cut corners and your family have gone without due to low wages so you can keep trying to help animals each day, then you can speak of how much money they have. When you have seen the admin staff scrounging to pay the salary bill each fortnight, and have personally pleaded with business owners for another couple of weeks to pay animal food bills, then you can speak of how much money they have. When you have donated endless hours of your own time - unpaid, and been so tired you think you can't even stand yet turn up the next day and start cleaning, feeding and medicating all over again because you can't afford to put on any more staff but the animals are needy, then you can talk of how much money they have. There is always multiple sides to arguments. The view is very different from the inside. Don't believe gossip... I'll get off my soapbox now.

RSPCA ACT are offering a desexing program for low income owners, and have run a public / low income vet clinic for some time. Both RSPCA ACT and DAS pound ACT have exceptionally high rehoming rates. Over 90% for both I think? Far higher than a good many pounsd and shelters across the country, so certainly heading in a positive direction. The old routine of "RSPCA ACT only has good rehome figures as they send all the dogs to DAS to be pts" has been done to death. DAS rehome rates show otherwise. I think I recall having heard Mr Linke speak about early desexing, and that he supports it for cats but not necesarily for dogs as he is aware there are medical issues surrounding it. You'd best ask him directly though.

The farting is due to the high protien content. It's great for dogs that need a leaner diet, but be wary of feeding it to already lean or active dogs as the low fat content can cause big dramas (sighthounds in particular).

You can't give it to a rescue as it's illegal to give them away. Although it is a stafford cross, it doesn't matter the percentage, so I can't see the issue with registering it as that. It's not lying. I have met a great many lovely pitbulls through working in the ACT (where there is no BSL) and have little but praise for them. The people that own them are usually not anywhere near as nice. I am not a bull breed person but make an exception for pits, I just adore them and would be tempted to own one if I didn't live in NSW. I agree with the sentiments on colour, a tan / red pit cross with a red nose is far more likely to be pulled up than a dark one. And yes, early dog socialisation, and sticking with it, is vital.

PM I have two favourite shampoos for the 'Zoi, and use one or the other or sometimes use a blend of both depending on how dirty they are and what I have around on the day!! Kohnke's Kleen Sheen (horse shampoo) diluted in water 1:10. This one is fantastic, for results and value. It is super gentle as it's designed for everyday use on racehorses, so doesn't strip the coat. The other one I really like is Plush Puppy herbal whitening with ginseng. You need a slightly higher concentration though, about 3:10 with water. I'm going to try their Black Opal one for my young boy as he gets older. I fill an old shampoo bottle with the dilute mix and squirt it all over before giving a gentle scrub (I don't have a hydrobath!). Sard wonder soap in a bar to scrub any grass stained pasterns or elbows - but it's rare, the shampoos normally do the job. You need extra conditioner on the spot if you use it on a fringed elbow as it dries the coat more than the shampoo. Conditioner, two types again, Champion Tails silver white (horse one again!), or the Plush Puppy silk one. I use conditioner diluted again, and brush it through the coat with a slicker brush before rinsing. I don't ever use a slicker on them dry, but it does a great job in a conditioner-soaked coat. I only use undiluted conditioner on heavy fringes, never on shorter body coat and toplines. Your boy shouldn't need it yet, wait 'till he's about three and he will!! If it's windy dry weather I use some Aloveen leave in conditioner as well. This I put on when they're out of the bath, before drying, just rub it onto hands and lightly over the coat - stops the static fuzzies! A little bit of this is also handy in your water spray bottle at shows for a gentle mist and brush before going in.

I don't think Rydges at Eaglehawk let people stay with dogs anymore. There is a motel in Queanbeyan that is very popular with show people, can't think of the name off the top of my head... I know people from Vic who stay at the motel in Gunning when they're up for Canberra shows, but it's about 45 minutes out.

I flew home late on Thursday and was on one of the last planes that managed to land at Canberra airport before it closed. We had to go the very long way home from there and it was a slow and scary trip. At least the flooded roads meant a day home from work on Friday!

That may be the case but what if she wasn't theirs in the first place? What if she has a real owner somewhere? She can't tell you her history, you have a responsibilty to confirm what you can of it. You can usually contact the local council and have her scanned for a microchip. Some councils will let you hold her at home, especially if there is a medical reason, and will have her on their database as found in case someone is looking for her. At her size a c-section is a very real, and very expensive possibility. A vet's opinion on what to do with the pregancy might be safest.

It won't matter what she is chipped as. If a ranger decides she looks like a pitbull you (or whoever her owner is) are the one that has to prove otherwise. The up shot of which is a very lengthy and traumatic experience without many bright lights at the end of the tunnel for all concerned. Can you rehome her into the ACT or NT? I know that is a long way off but she will be safer - and her new owner will be safer - if all can be above board and up front.

I'm pretty awful too, four human kids and four large furry ones - plus one foster. Geez. I've got my stomping boots on for sure!

That's great to hear! I love getting out and about with my lot. I love that people stop us and want to talk about them. I love that cars slow down and people take photos of them. I have all the time in the world to talk about my beloved breed. Even if any of those people never wanted to own a Borzoi, they have broadened their knowledge of dogs just a little bit. When they think of getting their own dogs they might jusr realise there could be a great many more pure breeds out there than they imagined. In that sense they have a greater chance of finding a dog that really suits them, which could always mean one less mismatched dog in a pound.

Great pics! You can almost hear her shout "OI!"

You might be thinking of the Australian Bat Lyssavirus. It is closely related to rabies and can be carried by bats within Australia - fruit bats and insectivorous ones. It is transferrable to any other mammal, including humans - by bat scratch or bite. Prevention is with normal rabies vaccine. Wazzat and SSM there would likely be more stocks in the US where it is used more widely. Perhaps it could be sourced from there? There was a decent supply in the ACT last year when there was a bat population boom, with hospitals, doctors and vets. I don't know if there would still be some around or if it may have been recalled to this overseas emergency.

A common one, and something I'm sure Dane and Wolfhound and all girant breed owners are all too familiar with as well... No, my kids can't put a saddle on and ride the dog. And no, they don't cost a fortune to feed...

:D and my red and white Borzoi is not a giant skinny Lassie dog. We must have the unusual sizes in the Lassie family!! No they're not too skinny, and yes, the name Russian Wolfhound does mean they were a wolf hunting dog

We very recently had a rescue pug who needed surgery to remove a damaged eye. She wouldn't tolerate an elizabethan, but left her wounds alone - after her eye and her later spay. I wouldn't have tried this one on her though as she was not a good breather. She had very pinched nostrils and mouth breathed most of the time. She snored andd gagged and regularly choked on food. I think this mask would've impeded her breathing even more. ps. she had to have a minor surgery to widen her nostrils and assist breathing, so maybe she was a special case.

Gorgeous Newfies!!!

Really? I've never read that one. I know there are issues with flecking in different colours, and with the blue and chocolate. This is a colour you don't see much of these days, which is a shame: But it is a stunning colour on a good dog, and one I'm particularly partial to... :D

The self black Borzoi can be spectacular. Majove Bohemia Kennels in Czech have some stunning dogs, they are just lovely. http://www.borzoimajovebohemia.wz.cz/index1.htm Under FCI standard blue and chocolate are disq. in Borzoi. But not here. I think what gets commonly called blue and blue brindle in Aust might be geneticlly types of grey, but not too sure. Diva? Can you help me on that one?