mackiemad

done :)

Poor bazza. I'm sure under your attentive care he'll get better soon.

Sending healing vibes his way :)

I think they're funneling them straight through to other rescue groups now? It was petsco but it may just be binky babies.. Not sure but as they used to have all the guineas in together I think if they dont have the room it's a good idea to send them elsewhere...

Maybe try and contact binky babies bunny rescue? I know she rescued all the bunnies at GAWS a couple of months ago and has a decent foster care network

Maybe try and contact binky babies bunny rescue? I know she rescued all the bunnies at GAWS a couple of months ago and has a decent foster care network

If this is legitimate research then you need ethics approval to ask the public any sort of questions, opinions or experiences.

Every ethics committee requires a Participant Information Statement which outlines the researchers, what will be done with the data, who can access it and many other issues besides. You have answered none of these nor attempted to be transparent.

Therefore the only conclusion we can make I'd that it isn't 'research', rather it is someone on a witch hunt.

I don't care if you're 'offended', I conduct actual research and attempts like yours make it harder for legitimate researchers to be taken seriously and get participants.

Btw, I love my vet. He's effective, intelligent and has assembled a brilliant team around him.

Oh w sibs. I think Charlie touched all of us in some way. We get the animal we need, and Charlie clearly knew you needed him and knew when his job was done.

Hugs. Our thoughts are with you during this hard time

my boy goes nuts for kangaroo tendons - absolutely loves them!

he also really quite likes the blackdog rooballs. he's generally quite fussy but loves these two things. the roo balls i use as the really high value training treats and the roo tendons i give to him for his teeth when we've run out of fresh or frozen bones.

hey erny, though it sounds like mandela is doing ok on his new food just thought i'd update you with any abattoir info i had... work could inform me that there are no current abattoris dealing with human consumption horsemeat in vic, though there are definitely ones in sa and qld. so perhaps if you still needed the clean meat, the sa one would be the way to go and cold courier it to yours?

scruffy'n'flea - as a horse rider myself i don't love the idea of eating horsemeat. but i can pretty well guarantee you that the horses that are marked for human consumption have a better deal than those heading to the knackery/slaughterhouse. in any case with the huge amount of over-suppy of horses in aus it is a reality of life and as a horse owner myself it is a reality that one has to be realistic and pragmatic about. have i sent one of my animals to the slaughterhouse? no. but i have been to the markets and seen the meat men buying the animals and know that without good owners, trainers $$ and everything else some horses are destined for such a place. i would prefer the nice natured horses (often there from misfortune) to have a quick end rather than starving in a paddock somewhere and i certainly condone the quick death of the animals that are simply not safe - and they do exist.

- not trying to hijack the thread erny, nor am i in any way offended, just realistic

erny, there are three abattoirs that use and process horses for human consumption in australia -though the meat is all flown to belgium, france and other parts of europe. so this meat would be clean - as the animals have to be on the property for a period of time in order to ensure any previous drugs have made it out of the system - the animals used are mostly racehorses and tend to arrive with all medical history and are often trucked from interstate before settling down for a couple of weeks before slaughter. but it might be worth calling and asking if you can buy some regualarly for animal consumption. i believe it is illegal to sell/prepare horsemeat in vic for human consumption so you would need to stress it is for a for animal consumption and why you need clean meat.

i know one is in sa but i think there may be one in vic as well. i'll check it out at work on monday for you, cos i know we have that info somewhere...

as others have said they aren't terriers but they will chase rabbits and rats etc! and tenaciously!

my boy has a good recall and is really good with my horses - he's one of the only dogs that is allowed on the agistment property where i keep my horses because he doesn't run up to them, bark at them, try to herd them, basically he just sniffs around the laneways whilst i feed etc and is happy to be tied up near the feed shed garnering attention whilst I ride. they are trainable and smart but they do get bored easily - but my boy has never been destructive.

when there isn't much stuff in his coat mine gets a brush about once a week, and a lot of dead hair will come out on the comb but other then that no shedding. when there are lots of bindis, dried leaves, spiderwebs etc i go through his coat everyday after he gets exercise. and he does get a lot of exercise, 30 mins on lead am and 1 hour off lead either at the horses or at the dog park in the pm. and he would take as much as you could give him.

they are robust, funny and up for anything. they are snuggly and must be around their ppl. i've found that my boy is most closely bonded to me but he is friendly with all of my family and many friends, though when he's had enough he'll just take himself off to bed and leave us be. he barks only at ppl entering the property/house - not even at the family of possums that live around/on/in my house!

i wouldn't hesitate to have one if i lived on a property because i do think they are trustworthy and fun and yet are fantastic inside dogs too.

and i don't think the white colour is really an option for you - there are only a couple in aus and were only imported here recently i think so a white pup would be hard to find! i have a s&p and i love the gunmetally grey he goes when his hair is growing out (and he has been clipped a lot because he is 5 now). i probably wouldn't get a black only cos i get enough of is he a scotty? already, a black would just increase this! but the black and silvers are cute!

i think my fave breeds would have to be the collie for their high 'eq' and sensitivity, and pretty much anything from the gun or utility groups. though i am partial to the medium sized terriers as well.

i don't like bull breeds - as in i've met lovely ones but i don't really like the appearance of them. just personal taste. though if i was looking for a pound dog to add i wouldn't discount them, as appearance isn't that important.

and i really don't like border collies. i've never met one i actually liked. they all seem to have hard eyes and no off switch. we've got quite a few in the family and whilst i'll dog-sit them for a couple of weeks i always find i'm not looking forward to it and relieved when they go home. - its not the exercise or smarts its just something about them being unable to chill well. i had collies growing up so i'm used to the desire to herd, but everything?! all the time?! just too much dog for me i guess!

actually, even though i said i like gun dogs, i don't love labradors. but only because most of the ones i meet are owned by idiots who let them body slam my mini schnauzer, jump all over everyone and believe that just because they are a lab, that they are a naturally better dog for everyone, especially families. not really the dogs' fault, but i usually get a bad feeling when i see one.

i second nehkbet. there is also a 24 hr emergency vet that has fantastic technology and diagnostics and a really good orthodpedic specialist on dandenong rd, corner of darling rd, malvern east.

but werribee or monash are go to places with state of the art diagnostics and specialists.

all small dogs can get luxating patella - until you know what grade it is and what are the best options (yes more than just surgery!) for your dog don't do anything rash and don't despair.

i've always wanted to call a dog strudle - i think it would be hilarious to call it out, highish pitched across a dog park! 'struuuu-dlllee!'

i've had cats called:

marzipan

sargeant pepper

swanny (she was the ugliest kitten at 6 weeks, then when we went to pick her up at 8 weeks she was the prettiest, so like the ugly duckling turning into the beautiful swan)

i knew a horse called giggles whose dam was chuckles. silliest names for stock horses i ever heard of!

ons: bouquet would be fab as a dog name!

all mini schnauzers i've met can be naughty as hell if just left outside. they are people dogs and want/need to be amongst the action indoors with the family. can't they just have a crate set up in a common space (like the dining room) where the dog sleeps of a night? and let it in amongst the family during the day? honestly, what's the point getting a dog if you don't have it around/with the family?

as for price, my mini was a tick under $1000 - but as a salt & pepper was a less in-demand colour, the black & silver or blacks are a little more i think

my mini schnauzer is good with kids, doesn't jump on ppl but he is a jumpy dog in that he relishes jumping on walls to walk along them, jumping up on picnic tables etc.

i think taking my dog to agility 'gets out' his desire to jump. so he can jump (something he loves) but he only does it in appropriate places. but then i was very strict about him when he was young and prblem behaviours were quickly adressed.

i've not met a 'snappy' mini schnauzer, but then i think i've only met ones that have been well socialised etc anyway. they can have a tendancy to bark, but mine only barks when there's someone not in the family on the property...

but i'd vote 1 for the either the mini schnauzer (well socialised and taken to agility) or an adult dog. i think buying an adult dog is really under-ratted by the general public. no puppy messes, so much less work initially and personality already in place, you know what you're dealing with.

mini schanuzer!

spunky, fun, adaptable, easy to train.

grooming wise, i keep my boy quite long in the furnishings and i run a comb through his hair once a week and he doesn't get matty/knotty. but they could just clip off pretty much all the hair and leave a short moustache/beard if that is easier for them. most grooming places will do it and i've seen plenty of minis cut like that - i personally don't like it but that's just me... mine isn't great with kids, but that is cos we (stupidly) didn't socialise him with kids when he was a pup - we didn't know any kids at the time and since then i've had a boon of little cousins, nieces and nephews so he is getting much much better and the kids are all getting a pretty good early education on how to behave around dogs.

or maybe a lakeland or a border terrier? met a few of each and they are both lovely little/smallish robust dogs, not too much shedding and fun and vivacious little dogs that, given a daily walk seem to settle in the house really well. all of the lakelands i've met are super with kids.

Think I'd reserve judgement until the details are published. Could be great. Could be hot air. Could be something that is going to cause a whole lot of trouble for ethical breeders as well as puppy mills.

I agree.

It also is only going to quash illegal puppy mills. I don't know what separates a legal puppy mill from an illegal mill, so the beauty will be in the legislation at hand.

in vic the diff is that the illegal ones are not paying the council for the license to hold and breed that many animals - they are effectively classified as private residences rather than animal breeding establishments. commercial animal breeders need only apply to council and pay their registrations to get out of this legislation. whilst it may stop the puppy farms that don't already pay their cash to the council, it probably won't have any effet on those that do - even if they are not adhering to the number limits on animals, welfare conditions etc.

i'm not an expert on amstaffs but yours looks like the run of the mill 'staffy x' that fill the pounds atm.

and if he's not registerable and you can't prove he's an amstaff then i would be concerned if i were you. hes red (sure sign he MUST be a pitty and therefore a child killer as well pfft) and he's a strong looking dog that could have pitty in him somewhere along the line (also could very very well not have. just saying, you dont know) if the proposed new changes to the laws down that i was reading about this mroning go ahead, then the onus will be on you to prove he isn't a pitbull or pitty x, rather than the council/court prove that he is.

if i were you i'd ensure he's registered in your coucnil as an amstaff and i would try and get some or any documentation from the person who bred him to say that the parents are amstaff or even staffy x's. even a signed affitdavid (sp?) might be of some help. cos there is a storm brewing in vic atm and he could be the loveliest dog in the world but he might be persecuted because he has red hair, so to speak.

if they think a poodle is too much exercise then a mini schnauzer would be too much, robust little dogs the bearded ones!

i vote a bichon. but they do love to be with their ppl so if they won't be home very much then maybe tell them to get a burmese cat! as doggy as a cat can be without barking. :D

gayle - if the OP is genuinely scared of the owner and belives he has 'friends' in the street then would you seriously ask her to go in there and perhaps risk violence against her and her family and own animals?

situations are complicated, not saying that the OP is right or wrong in not having taken the dog out personally but although you may have no issue risking the safety of yourself, your family and your animals for a needy dog, you can't ask that of everyone. it sounds like the OP is genuinely worried about the dog and scared of the owner and you can't predict how someone who has no issue with violence will react to having his property invaded.

at this stage i would go down to the rspca and demand that someone come and have a look at the animal, not leaving until they do - you have already reported it to council, rspca and police so they will all have records of your insistance that something must be done. usually they try and get to the 'priority' cases first and may not understand that this is a priority case. but they have an animal ambulance and inspectors for a reason and i'd be reminding them of that.

alternatively maybe ring the council and make a noise complaint regarding the dog - it may get the ranger out there as my council seem to take noise complaints more seriosly than anything else...?

ETA - just seen the dog was picked up by the rspca, excellent!

it had an article in the herald sun and the age on it about a month ago when it started...

i think it is a fantastic idea, really puts the oldies in the forefront of ppl's minds when they go to pick out a pet. it seems to have also brought in people going for an older animal and finding a different animal that suits - so more foot traffic in general.

i think there was a cat that was thought to have had it last year (maybe 2009?), and the elderly female owner died not long after the cat - it was put down to unexplained as the woman didn't have regular contact with horses.

the Qld DPI wasn't too interested at the time, but it shows that HENDRA can jump from cats to ppl.

it sucks for the dog's owners, but if only to save the other dogs who may show the clinical signs if infected rather than carrying it, it needs to be euth'd. but taking lots of samples etc from it seems at the very least, prudent.

ETA i may be wrong about the cat and woman story, as it is the depths of my memory, but i definitely remember something... does anyone else know if i'm making this up or correct?

i'm not sure protophane is still around? my mum was using that (in conjunction with another insulin for her type 1) but was instructed to change by her endo as the protophane was old and they were cutting down production.

she's now on lantus and humalog - in case you wanted brands to go to your vet with to ask about in regards to canine use. i have no idea if they are ok for use on dogs - just clarifying!

hey, I'd love for you to do my (slightly scruffy) mini schnauzer. i live in hawthorn (so easy to get to most melbourne areas) and am availble during working hours if you need any more models!

anyhoo, if you want me and my little boy PM me and I'd love to do it, your work is lovely, really expressive.