Steph M

How painful! We're having the same problem with the two cats, ran out of one type (can not remember which) and used the last Frontline on the other and nothing at all! Sorry to invade your thread, but am at a loss myself! Can the fleas become immune to the stuff? We had a few months of wins with the Frontline and now we're back to zilch. Which do you find most effective (bonus points if there's long hair involved, I find the persian cat the most resistant. Too much fluff to hide in, next step he's getting shaved entirely)

http://www.friendlydogcollars.com.au/ ;-) These are just the best idea. Doesn't solve all the problems, but it's pretty black and white to me!

This this this! We've just gotten our lovely dream house and are on the wait list for a puppy too! (for much longer than my lovely OH knows, but aaaanyway... ) So no puppies yet, and no confirmation we'll get one but there's been a mating and a scan in a few weeks. I've got a secret shoebox of puppy things under the bed which was recently discovered by said OH, who called me a tragic! My main consolation was 'at least it has 4 legs not 2!) which shut him up pretty quick! He's quietly excited too, but I'm the household organiser and disciplinarian so he's bowing out for now and waiting to be the fun one. Fiiiiiiiingers crossed!

I think the original article said fecal samples from human and canine but heavens knows how reliable that info is. I also would like to think a bit of happy puppy time would be a plus, so long as the puppy wasn't in any danger of getting hurt. I'd love to do some of this when we eventually get a dog, I think it's just so worthwhile for all parties! Dog gets a day out and spoiled rotten, you get a chat and the feel good, doing a nice thing feeling and the residents get some human/canine interaction and something to look forward to. Lots of the oldies and I've met in these situations have had to move into care and give up their pets so it's great at least it's not the whole scheme being given the boot.

I live on Chapel Street, in St Kilda, Victoria and just the other week we saw a fox dodging a tram, must have been hanging out in the school next door over the holidays, probably a great spot to scavenge. But surely there's much worse ways to go than having to live off scraps from a bin and roadkill or becoming roadkill yourself. I can definitely get behind this idea, where mum lives, in Williamstown, there's been a run of cats and dogs getting baits/baited rabbits, mice etc. It is just so awful. There just isn't a way to manage cohabitation. Some things just have to happen, I guess.

What do you think rescuers are, Stephanie M? Most are individuals who rely on a small, usually very small, group of fosters carers. Only a tiny minority are what you could call an "organisation". Obviously Steph thinks we don't have any families or responsibilities .... she might be right - we don't have time with the huge demands of taking on the unwanted dogs and cats. That alone is a massive responsibility. Still, I have to work full time and manage my house and garden and my own dogs plus run a rescue .... hmmm. What I meant was where an organisation is involved there are more people and the responsibility is spread and less of an individual burden, believe it or not I was actually agreeing and saying that no one should be shamed if they couldn't do it, and where someone mentioned Staffy rescue I meant that they were incredibly lucky to have contact with an organisation who could guarantee they would be able to take it back in any circumstance. I didn't mean to offend, perhaps I should have used the word network rather than organisation, still, I meant no offence or disrespect.

I think there's a vast difference between organisation and individual, which is kinda apples and oranges. A breeder is still an individual with a family, house and life to manage, regardless. An organisation has many hands and fingers in lots of pies, which is why perhaps they can do a little more on less notice.

I think that's the main reservation she has, but tbh her $300 or so probably won't make much of a difference...haha.

My grandma did too! And she took to explaining this in a pub in the northern territory who had a big black dog behind the bar, and explaining loudly too (out of deafness, not spite!) while mum and I clenched our teeth and what have you in horror.... She didn't even realise it wasnt the best story topic, she was just being friendly! It was the least comfortable night of the trip, and that is saying a lot!

Hector is my cat's name! But he's named after Hector the safety cat from the TV ads. (Mum's doing, not mine, I'm a biiiiit young to remember them!) I love old man names on animals, Hector, Rufus are my cats. But Ferdinand, Alfie/Archie, Dallas and Jet are some I keep in the stockpile

Hector is my cat's name! But he's named after Hector the safety cat from the TV ads. (Mum's doing, not mine, I'm a biiiiit young to remember them!)

I agree, and for what it's worth I don't think she had picked one yet, I was just wondering if this was something others considered, it seemed foreign to me so I was just wondering really!

Hi guys! I have a friend at the moment who is looking for a large breed, shelter cross type. She's had a look online and found the GAWS/LDH shelter video ( )WARNING; not very nice viewing. Since seeing that she's decided not to go anywhere near the Lost Dogs Home and to instead look to the other shelter mentioned, the no kill one because that and a lot of the published figures paint a pretty grim picture of LDH and the like. She posted this as a status on Facebook (social media, always good for a stir up!) and another poster commented something along the lines of surely the LDH dogs are at a higher risk, so should they not take priority? Just wondering what you all think on the matter, if you were looking for a shelter dog and knew of a reputable, no kill in the area or a shambles that made for a miserable existence for the dogs, which would take priority for you? Just curious!

One of my cats is a bit like that, whenever mum's dogs come round he's so excited and gets so sulky if they don't want to play with him! Also used to give me heart attacks when we'd go out to get the mail from the front and he'd try make friends with strange dogs, assuming all are his best buddies! Silly cat indeed. Lucky we've never had a mishap, and he's indoors only these days. Noodle and Hector. Haha.

I'd be worried not just about others, but about your dog. I'd expect them to have a bit of a chat through the fence sometimes, but someone who isn't much of a dog person, or is a bit off-kilter could just as easily throw something over the fence, open the gate or give them a whack, which would be horrible. We have one here who's on a balcony above the street and just lets loose! You can see he's chewed a hole through the bamboo matting they have up, but he's a tiny dog, if that hole gets much bigger he could quite easily topple down.

Just out of curiousity mainly, would this be the sort of thing you would do from the get-go, or would you run the initial puppy course of vaccs and then go from there? I agree we over vaccinate, I'm just wondering if this is pretty widely accepted or not so much, I;E, puppy school, kenneling and travel.

Our family shih tzu has eaten some amazing things, including eating a hole through the cheesy, greasy lid of a pizza box, the whole pizza inside (without opening the box) and then most of a takeaway curry from the same coffee table after my brother and his girlfriend went to bed without popping leftovers away, she's also gone through my handbag for a single stray stale dorito (could be a sniffer dog perhaps!) and on my brothers 21st she perched herself under the spit, which was roasting pork and caught the drops, which led to a sick, greasy little puppy after. She always outdoes herself at parties and barbecues, it's quite impressive! I've always thought the fluffies could be fussy eaters, but boy is she the opposite! Even rocks and dead birds are fair game, regardless of a full belly.

Ohhhhh, we don't have that in Vic, most ones supplied at parks etc are a charming shade of garbage bag green, so I'd never have thought of that!

I think this is a genius idea, I hope it gets some recognition here too. Has anyone heard of this before? It says it's reached Aus, I was wondering if it's gaining some motion or anyone has heard it previously?

That sounds like luck more than planning to me...my cats are raw fed and heaven knows they still get the odd flea when boarding or having visiting animals etc. Crud, we could all be so lucky! Plus from everything I've read and been told worming is all the more important when feeding raw?

I wonder who called the police? Must be awful though, imagine how guilty you'd feel being the owner, and it sounds like the police were genuinely remorseful too. Nobody wins there, it's a shame.

She might be a bit uncomfortable or tired of the crate, I get snippy after a trip to the doctor too! Perhaps she can't see out of the crate so well, maybe it's a bit dark and she isn't sure? I don't know, sounds like a pain though!

They are so so lovely! The darker one is goooooooorgeous.

Seems ludicrous and downright cruel to ship a dog from state to state and cross your fingers it won't happen again. Sometimes dingbats need to realise they can't change every single dog (moreso when they aren't actively trying...)

I had both sides of the fence, while looking for a cat sitter for 2 weeks when going away I got multiple "YOUR CAT WILL BE USED FOR BREEDING, LIVE IN A CAGE AND DIE" emails, which were obnoxious because a) i wasn't rehoming, and it was clearly, clearly stated there I was just looking for someone who did in-house pet sitting in the area, thinking I'd rather give the money to a local mum or someone who perhaps couldn't have a pet than a a Jim's Petsitting kinda thing, and b) my two have been desexed since as soon as possible, so they'd have a blast trying to get them to breed...I would wish them every luck! But also, some things you see are just so stupid. There was one a while ago where the vet bills for a little JRT with broken front legs that had healed funny just got too high, so they listed him as FTGH, and said he will need more expensive work, now surely he would have been better off at a shelter or somewhere rather than lumping that on an individual who may find themselves out of funds in a few weeks too? Lots of dogs are listed as 'ok with some other dogs' or 'good guard dog' etc, which again, is just asking for disaster if they're not employing full disclosure, so again, maybe it's best to have them temp tested before rehoming? I know the shelters are in a bad way as is, and can't take more than they have, if not less but sometimes it's surely better for everyone? Still, I'm occasionally guilty of the odd email, I try not to be too nasty or forthright, just offering some contacts for breed rescue or the discount desexing program before rehoming etc. It's always friendly though!