_PL_

Are you in Sydney?

Please don't just assume she will get used to a dog just because you get a pup. It absolutely doesn't work that way, and I'm talking about the rescue point of view like Rebanne said. Pups rumble and nip and jump. If a child squeals and runs it can be even more encouragement to be silly. They hit around 12 to 18 months and it's all over. They've terrorised the child, trashed the kid's toys, eaten furniture and wires, pooped on the carpet, been put outside, unsocialised, no manners etc. Personally I'd take her to meet grown dogs, something soft like a mellow adult Cavalier. Frenchies are a fashionable dog at the moment and have become a very exploited 'investment' breed; be careful. Also be careful of the numerous free classifieds, so many are swamped with scammers who take advantage of fad breeds with things like cheap prices, offering free dogs (in exchange for you paying a transport fee) and no waiting period; that kind of thing. If it sounds too good to be true it often is.

From the title I thought the topic was going to be about wolves and wild things. :laugh:

I think your assessment is overly harsh and verging on bad taste [sour grapes??]. PetRescue has always provided an excellent, sophisticated and 100% needed resource. If it wasn’t as professional as it is, it would not have lasted. All this takes money. Try not to read things into my posts that aren't there because you have an issue with me.

Us :laugh: Actually I hadn't realised AMRRIC who started so small, have been going great guns! That's awesome.

Does it matter? In my mind as long as animals are getting rehomed it doesn't matter which group is doing it. Point is, they do get a lot of donations and money from advertising and sponsors and partners. Enough for paid staff, an office and all the things most of their 'clients' would love to have. And plenty to cover a neonate litter. Asking for $1000 means they will get much more than that and they have never operated as a rescue group; technically it's a bunch of office people raising a litter who would normally pay out of their own pocket. It'll probably go back into running the charity but the thing is; are they muscling in on a finite donation resource when private cat & kitten rescue is a quick way to send you broke? Previously I've had my whinge about the PR Donation button right next to the profiles of our dogs but the argument is still that the money goes back to running the show and we're silly to complain. Maybe so. But it still irks me. So does this kitten thing, for much the same reason. BTW it does go back in so I'm not insinuating otherwise.

I should add that usually they end up closely watching then copying the others and settling in. Monkey see monkey do. LOL And some barely look back at you despite the hard yards we both did with rehab. I do love those moments. Ungrateful little critters. :laugh:

Yes, some sit at the door waiting to go home. They do settle, it just makes me a bit sad. We do use a baby gate to stop any bolters. And are very careful to fit harnesses snugly. I know comparing animals to humans isn't the done thing but one rescuer explained it to me once in simplistic terms that even children .. no matter if it was a crap or scary or neglectful way to live ... just want to go home, home to their parent/s.

Exactly! It's basically police sanctioned cruelty because she is a BSL breed. Basically being treated like an object while she's waiting for legal proceedings. It's so wrong. 'Guilty' or not, a tiny concrete run for 2 years is unjustifiable and if she isn't kennel crazy or institutionalised by now it would be a miracle.

This.

I think there is a recent uproar about some cats PTS , which is probably what it's about. I don't know the story but pounds don't have unlimited room to keep cats. What are they supposed to do? Pile more and more in and have a disease outbreak from stressed cats? (then cop another petition) It is very very sad to lose healthy lives but to single out one pound who is trying to give extra time, takes animals to the vet and medicates them if needed, uses avenues of social media, a great up-to-date website - and has volunteer photographers.... it is a loooong way ahead of some. I know of one rescuer who takes Sydney cats but has always left her invisible regional pound cats to die quietly. No petition about that is there. Nor any about rescues who take the kittens only, I wonder how many of the cats were once mums whose kittens were taken. IMHO, all pounds should be answerable and above board given that inmates still doing their time are technically not their property yet. They should also not be permitted to give sensitive information to rescuers regarding owners/former owners, or allow this info to be published for Duty Of Care pets. But I see too many petitions made up or signed by people who have no info other than 'facts' they saw on FB. And no real knowledge of the crap staff have to take on an hourly basis. Rant over. It's not all roses dealing with pounds but you have to give credit to the ones trying really hard with what they've got.

I'm probably the last person to know about this but how the hell is this right??!! Does the 'dangerous dog' name mean we get to treat dogs like they have no right to the most basic welfare? http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-devon-35635935

Unlikely if they are only investing $200,000 into the whole of NSW! :laugh: Or am I reading that wrong? It sounds next to pointless.

Nawwwww adorableness :heart: and awesome for a speedy visit! There's no way on earth that I could have gotten useable photos of one of our monkeys in ten minutes. LOL

Reminds me of the chinese german shepherds (can't remember what they call them). But it's one of those weird trends that people are loving the jowely and/or blocky head. Why not just get a breed you like the look of instead of changing a perfectly good one? I don't get it.

Me too! :laugh: Happy Birthday Don!

:laugh: You could totally rob a shop by taking a cavvy pup in to distract staff. Free pies for everyone! The workplace visit stuff is not a new idea, rescues have been doing it forever. I remember when I was a volly dogwalker years ago, going in for one and the office staff were nice and had a morning tea collecting donations. One dog freaked and hated it, the other dog thought it was great. But this thing with cross-promotion involving a company ... hope the rescue gets as much out of it as Uber does.

What are you thinking of? What exactly could they be taking back to their kennels? Saliva from human kisses? eta nits? worms? radical opinions? From the point of view of someone who quarantines new pound dogs and does not take pups with only the C3 8wk vaccination out into the wide world. Exposure to any pathogens humans can track around on their clothes or feet. That is anything from parvovirus to giardia to ringworm. Access to any water another dog has slobbered in; for obvious reasons. Urine or faeces of dogs, birds, cats, rats etc. Close contact with other dogs. e.g After school holidays there is a spike of kennel cough from pets being boarded. Pups aren't fully covered and immune compromised pets can become very ill. All of these things go both ways. 'Unclean' rescue pets can give things to humans & pets too or infect the environment because they can be invisible carriers. To be clear, I'm not suggesting anyone is sending grotty pups to unsafe situations. :) These are just the general reasons we minimise risk as best we can. Know your enemy so to speak. And don't say nits. You've made my head itchy! :laugh:

If groups are happy to try it then I suppose if the arrangement works for them it will be ongoing. But no, not something I'd do my dogs at all. Nor the pups we've had. Ever.

Thank you T :) :) I really appreciate the giddy up from DOL photo ladies, all of you take such perfect photos and are being very kind to an L plater. xxxx

I know :laugh: absolutely shocking photo. Zoomed in view combo of courtyard dirt, decorative pot pond water and a funny pigment pattern. Managed to comb the duckweed off though. The one on the adoption profile is better but I do like the way the pattern fades away in this one.

Thanks ladies :) next time I'll definitely do the black background for everyone then muck around after that. Patterns, glitters, solid colours. It's just hard to know what people are seeing because all the kittens got a flood of applications and Glitterbug got double everyone else including the almost identical girl on the red. All have started their trials. Criss-crossing Sydney doing home visits, I hope we have a break before another litter!! The dogs, I might try the black too. And although I like the natural look of the backyard, it won't hurt to see. Looking objectively at the kitten photos, the ones where the pattern blurs look better than if they are clear. Otherwise they really are too busy. Shitty focus on her face but this is the same fabric in the background, just fuzzy and cropped really close.

Thank you Perse. LOL can you imagine more frazzling photo days?! But I am still totally loving this little camera, it's amazing. :) You can't go wrong with a black background if the aim is to have the focus on the subject - then the first thing they look at is the kitten's eyes, no distraction. I love the bling beads background, but it takes equal billing with the subject. Anything with a pattern is 'busy' so keeps the looker from locking onto the eyes first up, window to the soul and all that. On the other hand your kittens are so cute they'd look good if they were climbing paisley curtains, great work PL. Thank you! That makes perfect sense. I only took one glittery thing that day but I have several from the indian clothes shop up the road. The other fabrics are things I pick up at the japanese shop. You're right about them being busy. Maybe next time I'll do everyone on velvet first then muck around with backgrounds and see what happens? I did like the way you can't really see the black properly, you couldn't even see the wrinkles and cat hair. LOL

Here's my secret. LOL Courtyard, garden chair, old black velvet dress and a kitten on top. Then about two or more hours taking blurry after blurry photo because they are like kids on red cordial.

I've used Clomav and doggy prozac. I'm not sure it will do much for a dog who is freaking out so my advice is trial it, if it doesn't work then you won't need to keep using it. If it works, you will see little improvements and a less frantic dog. It doesn't work like magic though so Rascalmyshadow's suggestion of a pen is worth incorporating. And line the bed with clothes that have your smell. Leave a slipper that you've been wearing a while ;) and change your schedules so that someone is home at any one point of the day. Or ask someone to be a sitter if you can't avoid leaving him alone. But also please make yourself familiar with dementia behaviour as well which can cause personality and cognitive changes often dismissed as 'getting old' but can be very distressing for everyone involved. Keep a basic diary for your vet. There are treatment options, I've found Inderal quite effective. Here's a short list from Google but there's lots more; http://willmydoghateme.com/dog-health/canine-cognitive-dysfunction-a-vet-explains.