Little Gifts

She looks absolutely amazing! A whole new dog!

We've got 6 boxes hopefully getting posted tomorrow. One of the other workgroups here did 2 and my sister's workplace should end up with 2 as well. We just did male and female soldiers as I'm sure the doggies would've done pretty well off the DOL folk. And you find out things about co-workers doing stuff like this. Not one male offered to participate. One of them even opened the chips thinking they were just for sharing at work and didn't offer to replace them when told what they were for. I also learnt our youngest staff member is a professional soldier's child. Her father is back in Iraq for his 3rd tour of duty. He has a specialist skill that means unless there is a war he doesn't get much experience doing what he is trained to do. So he has served in East Timor and Iraq. This young girl contributed a lot from her measly pay because she knows how much it means. My only real wish is that each box could weigh 5kg! There is so much more I would've loved to send!

Don't get your knickers in a twist about Andrew Bolt get your knickers in a real twist about the Matt Smith who via his teaching profession at La Trobe University is indoctinating the next generation of jounalists on how we should not own dogs! ""Pooch pie on the menu if we don't cut ecological pawprint" Matt Smith November 25, 2010 http://m.theage.com.au/opinion/society-and...1124-187bh.html Go and get your knickers in a twist that The Age would print such garbage!! Sorry, I see the name Andrew Bolt and the mad woman within takes over. Hopefully those being submitted to the irrational rantings of Matt Smith will be intelligent enough to make their own decisions, particularly as a large proportion would be dog lovers/owners. There always seems to be some radicals teaching at universities - I know I had a couple during my studies.

I am going to be having stern words with my camera - I get nothing like these and it has to stop immediately! I want cool mouse and elephlunk photos!

Andrew Bolt is the biggest mud slinging journo out there. He should've had his lips stitched up and fingers cut off years ago. He doesn't abide by any journalist ethics that I want to be part of. His sole aim is to cause chaos. He is like print media's Kyle Sandilands. Don't even bother reading anything he writes because it will not contain balanced arguments or info sources from both sides, just his single minded opinions.

I was thinking about the pain it endured too Persephone. And I think I read somewhere that dehydration is a horrible death experience too. I will never understand the mistreatment of animals and in particular the physical abuse of puppies (who wouldn't know not to cry when hurt) and the neglect and abandonment of old animals. Do they think if they ignore an older animal they will just hurry up and die? Grow some balls and pts an old dog who is suffering (I can't imagine them caring enough to engage with a rescue group to rehome it). A person who abuses or neglects a companion animal should never be allowed to own or co-own another one in their entire lives. Not even goldfish.

Yep I'd be keen to hear what P&S cameras others are using so I know what mine might also be capable of! Mine is a Panasonic Lumix DMC TZ3. I will post a couple of pics up from home - don't have them with me at work. I must admit it has photographed more concerts than my dogs!

Hi everyone, I don't normally make it to any meets but am hoping to change that in the new year when I get myself more organised. I hang out in the rescue threads and Australian Working Dog Rescue are having a BBQ ont he day of your next meet - 5/12, at Clayfield. I thought I'd point it out in case you want to kill two birds with one stone - enjoy a sausage sizzle and have a meet up? Here's the link to the thread: http://www.dolforums.com.au/index.php?show...p;#entry4975510

http://www.digitalcamerawarehouse.com.au/prod4741.htm This is what I have in a lovely dark blue colour. Obviously there is a newer model out now. I just don't get the same vibrancy and crispness in my photos that my friend, who had the same camera, got.

I have a Lumix too after seeing the photos a friend took on his on the same OS trip as me. I have tried experimenting with the different options but a bad photographer is still a bad photographer! I have bravely let go of the flash for most photos but find myself fiddling so much with the zoom that the subject in question has usually moved on. My other issue is I now need seperate glasses for close up and distance things but no glasses for say working on a computer. I never to know whether to have glasses on or off and whether that is affecting my focussing. The saddest part is I studied photography in high school on a very good (back then) 35mm camera and have studied digital video at uni so you think I'd know something????? I think I suffer from pressing (the button) pressure.....

I have a kong hater here. Even with food inside it she still doesn't know what the hell she is expected to do with it. But leave a used tissue somewhere and hours of fun can be had shredding it into teensy tiny little pieces of confetti!

For me it is about what the treatment would achieve for the animal. I adore my dogs and am a VIP client who gets a discount at my vet, so that tells you how much money I have spent there over the years. As an example - I have an old staffy who has cancer. I know owners who would say they didn't care what it cost they had to try and save their dog. I say she has cancer, it is terminal and rather than subject her to excessive treatments to prolong her life so I can feel better I will closely monitor her and seek vetinary assistance if/when she needs it. I will feed her what she needs to keep her body strong. I will massage her to keep her joints and muscles active. I will change how I walk/exercise her to minimise strain. I will create more comfortable and accessible sleeping arrangements. I will give her more of my love and attention for as long as she has got left. So far that has equated to several quality years together even though the cancer is now in her organs. When there has been an accident and bones are broken I think it would be very difficult to say no to treatment but I would be seeking a second opinion and ensuring I was paying for a specialist if the bill was high. I remember taking one of my dogs to an emergency vet after she was collar choked by someone breaking up a dog fight and all her eyes went red with burst blood vessels. It would be negligent of me to have a healthy 1 year old dog go blind because I didn't get it checked, but it cost a lot to be told it was all ok and would heal. I remember on Bondi Vet ages ago a lovely dog with a deformity who had to have all four legs reset with pins and the owner had to tighten the pins every day. How do you explain that pain and encumberance of a metal frame around each leg for months to a dog? I am still not sure I could put a dog through that kind of surgery because of its inability to understand what it was going through. It cost thousands as well.

I love my old girl but don't like the fact her brain and her arse are no longer connected. It is like caring for a puppy all over again.

I've certainly come to appreciate larger breed dogs since being on DOL. Instead of thinking they just look big and scary I can see their lovely personalities and realise that they don't see themselves as a particular size - if they want to sit on your lap for a cuddle then they still give it a try!

That really pisses me off! If local councils or the RSPCA were managing the issue then there would be no need for private shelters or rescue groups whether they are registered or not. Rescue groups spring up in response to need, not because the people involved have nothing better to do with themselves. People put all the spare money and time they have into trying to give these dogs (and cats) a chance to live without expecting anything in return. I find it offensive that the focus has been shifted from why all these dogs need to be rescued to the people who choose to rescue them. Shame on you Vic government.

Mina I loved the self washing staffy and Nala! So funny!

What a beautiful collage of memories. He was such a cuter as a pup and had such a great personality as an older dog. He is missed by lots of people - even pug thread lurkers like me.....

"I was doing you a favour - pirated dvd's are illegal you know!"

Renovation Rescue- "But I thought you said I'd look after the soft furnishings while you picked the right colour yellow for the walls?"

That cracked me up! I've never had a simple or a helper dog but I have had one flop around the house like a dying fish (just in case I hadn't noticed he was extremely unhappy from the other irritating things he had done like walk very slowly in my way while I was carrying something heavy or lie on top of the things I was trying to pack). They probably think we are terribly stupid or uncaring sometimes!

I just had a very simple idea regarding this. Remember years back where people would have Neighbourhood Watch stickers on their letterboxes to indicate a safe place and responsible resident inside? What about something similar for good dog owners? People who had registered and perhaps even obedience trained dogs, or social dogs able to spend time with other social dogs could have stickers on their letterboxes. This could indicate to new residents or even potential new dog owners in your street someone who was like minded and who could give advice on local vets, dog parks, etc. I'm not saying people with stickers were experts on dog matters (no-one expected neighbourhood watch people to be experts at anything) but linking people with similar interests might provide a support and trouble shooting network. As an example - I own 3 dogs who we take to the beach and several local parks, including an agility park. I also have a great vet. A new neighbour with a dog moves in and knows none of these things about the area but sees I have a sticker and might come and ask me for some suggestions. It would be up to the owner what they then did of course. And a household with a single dog might benefit from interaction with another dog, or an owner might need to be away overnight. I'd be happy to try my dogs with other new dogs on play dates and I'd also be happy to feed a neighbour's dog and keep an eye and ear on it for a night. I have that kind of relationship with a couple of my direct neighbours now but lots of neighbourhoods have lost that. We spend all our time indoors behind locked screens and surrounded by 6 foot fences.

Is there a timeframe we are working towards? I only ask because of Christmas coming up and people out of town etc. Has this also been forwarded to any specific rescue orgs or groups in any states or are you wanting us to do that if we are linked with any? Thank you for your efforts in preparing this.

YAY STEVE! I love a good shit stir!

So the morons should get smart or suffer the consequences. I have an older sister who is all whoa is me about anything and everything. Hasn't worked a day in 27 years and claims every little thing she can from my taxes. This sister has dumped a dog and a cat over the years. The dog came to me and was a lovely boy who just needed some attention. Cat was dumped in an industrial estate. If she tried that today I would dob her in and let her suffer the consequences. People know right from wrong. Some just choose to ignore it and do whatever the hell they please. Maybe a big fine might actually impact on their self-focussed lives enough to stop them from bothering to try it again. And someone commented above that animal abuse and child abuse are two totally different things. After working in statutory child protection for over 20 I have to disagree with you. Some issues go hand in hand and I can assure you that if the kids are neglected or being subject to physical abuse/DV then so is the dog. If a parent can't give a shit about the basic needs of their children then I can guarantee you that they care even less about any animals living in the family home. I have not seen any incidences of links between sexual abuse of animals and children in the same household but with sexual abuse often comes physical abuse and/or neglect of children (and in turn any animals at the house). It is all about the absence of compassion for or understanding of the basic needs of other living things. I really think change has to happen at several levels simultaneously - use of media (inc online media and blogs/FB), public opinion/discussion, education through schools, pounds and tv advertising, cheaper desexing and micro-chipping, making it easier to genuinly rehome, better matching between owner and dog, no emotive sales (ie pet shop windows), making it easier to own a dog (ie renting, exercising locally), better law enforcement. These are my suggestions and some of them are happening right now but on a smaller scale and only locally uncoordinated. I used to think most of this was the RSPCA's role but?????? Some might disagree with shock value tactics but the use of graphic adverts has been proven to have a positive impact on the public. Think in terms of ads about road deaths and the original grim reaper ad for AIDS /HIV. I have these visions in my mind of say a man lovingly washing and waxing his hotted up car whilst out in the back yard sits an emaciated and chained up dog. Or a woman so excited at buying a pair of very expensive shoes but then baulking at the vet in paying a bill for her sick dog. Or even a small child with tears streaming down its face just sitting there by itself with nothing and then a puppy hiding because it is afraid. Or an old person in a nursing home with no visitors and an old dog shivering in a pound. Or a family all excited and going out in the car somewhere fun like the beach while their dog cries in the backyard for a single pat. We need people to make the link between meeting the basic needs of an animal and ensuring they understand they cost money and your time and they grow up and might live for quite a number of years. It is a responsibility to be taken on out of love, not a burden to shed yourself of. If you feel the latter then get a stuffed toy - not a real pet. Actually I think that is my new motto - A Responsibility, Not a Burden

Social change is always the hardest part. We live in a fairly tolerant and socially just society yet we still have crime, stupidity and ignorance. Most normal people would not consider child abuse acceptable yet it still happens in increasing numbers every single year. One of your neighbours or someone you know may even be guilty of harming a child. So what chance do we have when it comes to animals? I think we, the people passionate about the issue can immediately: 1. encourage adherance to existing laws by all pet owners we come in to contact with 2. EXPECT that the agencies currently responsible for enforcing these laws do so 3. Live as role models for good pet ownership 4. Share our knowledge about good pet ownership in a constructive way (with the laws picking up the true criminals) particularly if you are a registered breeder or legitimate rescue group 5. Continue to be passionate and compassionate about the issue whether that makes us friends or enemies 6. Have a voice when the time is right. Social change is slow and it is about setting standards for others to identify and aspire to. So many people don't know any differently. Some people just don't give a shit. I want to live in a society that doesn't tolerate either. Responsibility happens at every level of our lives and owning a pet should be no different. In some council areas you can now get fined for not keeping your yard tidy. You get fined for parking too long in the one spot. You are expected to dress, speak and act a certain way in your workplace. You can't go into a shop and take a packet of chewing gum without paying for it. But you can starve your pet, dump it and get away with it? Why? Why are we so gutless to say that is not acceptable in our community/country? I wonder what the RSPCA would do if we started fund raising and putting out media messages of our own, saturating wherever we could across the country for change? Are we scared of doing this or of giving mixed messages or looking like radical activists? Should that matter? Just putting the idea out there because we still have free speech in this country and we seem to be afraid of hurting someone else's feelings by using it.