Nic.B

We had our third Red Belly in the house yard not long ago, we had a Brown a while ago. I won’t go into the whole story again (it was a nightmare) though I have spent a lot of time researching and speaking with people who are experienced with snakes and all have said the same things essentially. No junk or wood piles of any sort, keep your lawns very short, no water sources around the house. No low lying shrubs, gardens (that is hard for us so we are trimming all lower branches, we also removed the pond and rocks) We don’t have any junk piles, have short lawns though had a lot of water out for the frogs and lizards. We also have a lot of gardens. Frogs are one of snakes food sources (we have heaps of them) so keep lighting low/off/close curtains at night as not to encourage frogs to eat the bugs on windows. Removing water sources also helps- sad, as I love the frogs. Chooks/birds is another issue (we don’t have them) When you are not home contain your dogs, when you are home sight your yard and supervise them-at least that way you will know if something is wrong and you will be able to help/seek treatment. I had to kill this snake so save my dogs life, though I have also been told if you kill a snake and you have the right habitat for snakes- another snake will move in to take its place. The other thing to remember is that most people are bitten by snakes trying to kill them, I was very lucky I was not bitten as the snake was very aggressive. If you can, call wires to relocate them, or allow them to leave your yard if you are able too. (even though that thought gives me the willies) Snakes are coming out of hibernation now, so are on the move. They probably have a high venom load, and some aggressive as they are hungry. They can flatten out and squeeze under tiny gaps, they can climb as well. The last one we had was on a 43c day at the back step. I was lucky the dogs were inside and noticed it when I was taking them out for a run. From what I understand, snake netting can be a problem as the snake can get caught up in it, dogs still attack it and have a good chance of being bitten as the snake will become very aggressive. I wish there was a way to stop them, sadly I have learnt that it really comes down to managing your property and your animals to minimise the risks of snake bites. We had a RB at the Pound’s front door the other week, that was a tarred car park! I can cope with most things though am terrified of snakes that they may bite my children or animals. There have been a number of wonderful DOLers who have lost their beloved dogs to snake bites, please take care, I hope this helps.

I am so sorry for your set back You must have been terrified when Chase became so unwell so quickly. Sending you both positive healing energy and get well wishes. Chase sounds like a very strong little man. A lovely offer Bilbo Baggins.

Oh my goodness...I dont often visit General, though have just read your whole thread. One minutite I am on the edge of my seat, then in tears, then laughing at the funny stories of the creek. You are all truly amazing people, what an incredible team effort for a deserving soul. Thank You so much for all you are I can understand your concern & frustration though I am sure you will have this fellow safe & sound soon. Sending you all the best positive energy & luck. Also take care of yourselves in the meantime

My kids have pony rides all the time at parties and fetes. They never have helmets supplied.... If there are any concerns, parents should walk beside their children. Obviously the group is covered by insurance, it is mandatory & the DPI govern the guidelines. Why cant people focusson the positives here ETA Why not take your own helmets? either that or choose not to be involved. Sheesh it a kids party for goodness sake. The pony's would be lucky to get up to a slow and easy walk.

My kids have pony rides all the time at parties and fetes. They never have helmets supplied.... If there are any concerns, parents should walk beside their children. Obviously the group is covered by insurance, it is mandatory & the DPI govern the guidelines. Why cant people focusson the positives here

Happy Birthday Jack! What a wonderful day you have had, filled with fun, family & laughter. ;) Nic x

IMO Having a bit in a horses mouth will do very little during this type of handling if it is going to shy away from something. You need an experienced handler who will read the horse & be able to deal with them. A bit in a horses mouth for long, extended periods of time is not ideal IMO which is why in training & while during endurance we use a head stall (in fact even during pleasure rides and in any handling) I have small children who ride our horses bare back while we handle the horses. They do have a helmet on. The children have never had to wear a helmet while going on pony rides such as the one Jack has. You would probably have more OH & S issues wearing helmets shared by other kids & catching nits I hate to think that children will miss out on a wonderful relationship with animals due to escalating insurance issues and creating fear If parents are concerned, they should walk with their child. Jack looks as though he is taking it all in his stride, is safe & handling it well, as does my son Daniel. Anyway, Back to topic and the joy of kids & animals ;)

I too had to pop in and have a look Wonderful, animals are such a gift for children. What a lovely day for you all

You dont always need a bit in a horses mouth to handle/ride them. In fact for an all day afair it is very uncomfortable for the horse to have a bit shoved in their mouth all day long. Both our Arabs are riden in head stalls only.

Thank you so much Paddy Forever, Ray is most certainly a very special soul. We have been truly blessed to have Ray in our home and our hearts. Hannah is much better. She understands Ray is in heaven & sometimes looks up at the clouds in the sky to see a picture of Ray up there, watching over us. Hannah tells me Ray is very happy in heaven as he has lots of other dogs & children to play with....here I go with the tears again....Children are just incredible. We have two dogs of our own & two fosters. Hannah also loves our cat Peppa. She certainly gravitates to the older, special dogs as she is such a compasionate little girl. Thank you all so very much for your wonderful words of wisdom, wishes and thoughts. I am so sorry as I can still not bring myself to look at the other threads just yet with the fear I wont be able to stop crying for you all. Hugs and love to you all Nic xxx

Run free Sweet Heart, our gorgeous brown eyed girl :rofl: :) :p Thank You Di and Linda for giving Gabriel the best chance in health & in safety & every available opinion re Gabriel's future with empathy, respect & professionalism. Old Ray gave Gabriel a helping hand over the Rainbow Bridge. Old Ray was with us. Rest in peace Sweet Heart & I am so very sorry we were not able to help you more & I will never forget you as long as I live. Nic xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx I have added Gabriel to our reunion day post to celebrate her wonderful life & soul.

Thank you In the photos of Hannah in the shell pool, Ray had only been here for two weeks or so, we were still getting out his undercoat... I was gardening & watching them both have so much fun together, so had to get my camera. Hannah was chatting away with Ray with all of her (at the time) goobly gook & occasionally threw his toy for him. Ray spent so long very carefully placing it on the lip of the pool for Hannah once he retrieved it, If it fell on the grass he would pick it up & try again to put it right on the lip of the pool. If it fell in the pool he would get it out and again place it on the lip of the pool for Hannah. Ray listened to Hannah for ages before she picked it up & threw it again, they were such good friends, In the background our Kelpie Bella was lying flat like a pancake in the grass ready to round Ray up once he grabbed his toy. It was a beautiful sight. Hannah asks about Ray every day, and now she sleeps with his collar & tags under her pillow instead of me. She is much better & understands Ray is in heaven & watching over her. Gosh we miss our Old Darling Ray

Ray is such a special soul & he would be so humbled as I am by so many beautiful tributes. One of the things I miss the most is his huge bear hugs & the fact that he would loving sit with us for hours on end and listen to our every word. He really resonated with each of us. He loved a soft gallop on the lawn, it was magnificent to see & Ray esspecially loved his toys being thrown. He would tease me a lot, drop his toy it at my feet though still have his nose close by. If I moved a muscle he would pick it up again and almost laugh at me So we worked out a system where he would drop his toy, he would wait with his nose close by (which seemed to take forever at times depending on the fun he wanted to have at the time) yet we would not throw it until he took two or three steps backwards & off we would go again. The kids were taught this as well. Another thing I miss so very much is when he used to shove his head between my legs and madly shake his head from side to side. I always laughed & loved this, he also did this with my 19 year old daughter who also laughed & loved this special gesture. My daughters partner is scared of dogs, Ellie often has to meet him at the gate as he is unsure of our fosters showing off for visitors & our Kelpie Bella likes to round anything up. Sam adored Ray & always said he was his favourite foster of all, they also spent quite a lot of time together. Thank you so very much for your tributes, I cherish each of them. I am so sorry I have not posted in other threads here, they are all as special as each other though just cant seem to find the strenght to look atm. It is a beautiful forum for treasured loved ones. Thank you so much again, Nic & Old Ray xxxxxxxxxxx

What beautiful poems K9 Angel I am going to print them out & keep it in an album for Hannah and I. Sincere & heartfelt thanks for such special tributes & words of wisdom for Old Ray. His Crepe Myrtle is planted & I have a little seat over his grave. I will buy a special garden seat shortly. Our dogs have spent a lot of time lying close to Rays grave in the sun, esspecailly Tinker tonk jug head who was very good at nicking Rays toys. Ray would only have to give one big deep "Wooof" and she would drop it & find something else to do. They all got on so well & Old Ray was our man about the house. Ray had great respect from our dogs & fosters. We all miss him so dreadfully, things are just not the same around here. Though I know time is the healer. Nic xxx

Thank you so much for your love & thoughts for our Darling Ray. The morning before I booked the vet to come, I sat with Ray & we spoke together. I pulled out 4 affirmation cards out of about 50. They are not tarot cards or anything like that, just one printed bolded word on a small card I use every now and then to seek advice. The first card was 'Giving' which is so true for old Ray, he has given us so very much. The second was "Reflection" and that is exactly what we were doing at the time. The third was 'Discipline' and this was needed for me. The fourth was 'Action' and this is what I believe Ray wanted. Thank you so much for your love & thoughts, all I can do is cry just for now, I know it will pass, though Ray will always be in my heart. I am sleeping with these cards & Rays collar under my pillow. I am happy he is free & know he will be there for me one day when I too leave the earth. xxxxx

Thank you so much for your thoughts & tributes for our Darling Ray....God I miss him so very much & loved him so. Nothing is the same without him. MM when I pickd up Hannah from pre school today they said she was not herself & they needed to take her temp which was fine. I spoke with her teachers in the morning to make them aware of her loss & they were very understanding. They have a special book in the library which we can borrow tomorrow with a story of a special loved pet like Ray going to heaven. I was honest with her regarding Ray going to heaven & she spent a lot of time with him in the morning. It is the only time in all these years I have seen my Husband cry. He came home early to help me. I am going to buy a special seat to put above Ray when I need to feflect upon things. I am still very upset, so forgive me if I am not able to reply. Ray was simply heaven on earth, so cherished & the greatest gift for each of us in every regard Nic xxx

Sorry, missed this. Thanks for that.

Hi Nic B When I started to feed my 3 week old pups, I wet the dry food with Di-Vetelact and blended it in to a consistancy of pumpkin soup and would let them lap that and then I just gradually added the mince. Once they had that under control I then would just wet down the dry food and add the mince and then by they were 7 weeks they were getting dry food with mince. Hope this helps Cheers Thank You for your advice Bonduca :D I am using Di-Vetelact, the puppies really enjoy this, though I have not used a combo with dry. I use a good quality dry food for my own dogs & fosters though will now get something puppy specific. The puppies are ready to eat independantly in many respects & are up for the challenge so to speak. Thank you very much for your help & advice

Hi Everyone Floss & her bubs appear to be doing really well, they are a wonderful family. The puppies are doing well in lapping puppy milk and today have done very well with tiny, tiny bits of good quality raw mince scramled through with their milk. Obviously I am very new at this & would like to offer them the best I can. Is there a recommended diet that is able to be offered for puppies of 3 weeks? Is a mix of different foods & textures recomended? or is puppy milk based products combined with a couple of simple consistent meat based products the best? My feeling is to keep things pretty simple & consistant for now. Thanks in advance

Thanks so much for your suggestions, this will be a great help They live in the Hills District though did say they are happy to go further if needed. If there are any contact details for PAX I would love to forward them on as well. Thank you Shmoo, Calabash Kennels also look fantastic.

Hi everyone, Just wondering if you can recommened some great boarding kennels in Hills District please. My daughters pre school teacher has a cherished Lab female they wish to board while they are overseas. She has never been boarded before, they would like to go with someone highly recommended. They are happy to pop in & check out the places prior. Many thanks in advance

WIth regard to the mother leaving the pups I wouldn't worry too much about that. We have a couple of bitches that won't leave the pups at all, and then we have one who on her last litter last year would come in and feed then go straight back out with the other dogs. She seemed to hardly spend any time with pups, Yet they all gained weight and hardly ever murmured so they must have been getting fed enough. Let your dog be your judge. She will let you know when she needs to feed the pups and when not. I never cease to be amazed at how well bitches take to mothering even on their first litter. They just know right away what to do and when to do it. Unlike some people. Thank you for your help. Floss does enjoy quite a lot of time with us as she has become very attached to me. She is a great Mum & the puppies appear to be doing very well. This has been quite an experience to say the least.

No, no idea who Dad was... He may also have been a crossbreed. I am cetainly not an expert, though have been told it is very difficult to tell at this age. At one stage I was thinking Tenterfeild Terrier regarding the little girl with the spotty bottom. It is going to be interesting watching them grow & getting a better idea of their breed thats for sure.

Hi, I just wanted to thank you all very much for the advice you have offered for Floss & her babies. I dont want to take up anymore of your time, though thought it might be nice to post this link to Floss's thread just to say thanks for your time as we have pics up from today. http://www.dolforums.com.au/index.php?show...45&start=45 I am still a worry wart & am not confident at all though am very happy that all appears to be well so far. Obviously we have a long way to go, though I have everything crossed that we all do really well. Nic

Thank You for your help, Floss is eating very well three times a day. She appears to have plenty of milk & the puppies seem to be doing very well. We have no idea what they might be crossed with size wise. They do have full little tummies & appear healthy & well. The smallest was 268gr's born & the largest 418gr's born. I think I just need to relax a little bit, as long as they steadily gain weight. It is such an enormous responsibility, though very rewarding.