Monthly Archives: January 2013

01/7/13

Puppies – The Sixth Week

This would normally be the week where the puppies socialise heaps, but unfortunately it was very hot, and we didn’t get the puppies out anywhere near as much as we’d like to.

While up until now the puppies had been confined to a pen outside, they started to have greater access to the backyard during the last week.

On the 13th of December I took both Kelinni and Boomer out, and they each met about 20 people each.

On the 16th of December, we had a somewhat different socialisation experience.  My partner volunteers for the State Emergency Service and they were having a Christmas lunch in a park. In lieu of carrying puppies in the park for several hours, we brought a puppy pen and had the puppies on the ground – something that we never do!  However, I think the risks of parvo were minimal: We placed the puppies on a tarp, so they didn’t have direct contact with the soil, the park is in a medium-high socio economic area where most people would vaccinate their dogs, the Christmas lunch was deep in the park, and because you have pay to drive to get your car in, there’s probably less people that attend this part of the park with their dogs.

The puppy pen set up. We chose to sit back from the rest of the group in respect for non-puppy-lovers.

The socialisation opportunities were huge – and actually bigger than I expected. I actually just thought there would be a bunch of men at the Christmas function, and I really wanted more socialisation with my puppies to men. But it turns out there where heaps of kids there, too! So it was very much worth attending. Continue reading →

01/5/13

5×4 Blogging Summary

Last year, after receiving Kristine’s 11 Must Reads for 2011 (from Rescued Insanity), I created the cheat’s version in “5 Favourite Dog Blogs of 2011“, but then also committed to making a list of must reads from 2012. I then exceeded these plans by deciding to make four best of lists: My favourite blogs, my favourite blog posts by others, my favourite blog posts by myself, and the most popular blog posts from me (according to Google Analytics). So here we go!

 

My 5 Favourite Blogs of 2012

Saving Pets blog.

1. “Saving Pets” hasn’t budged from the rankings as my absolute favourite blog. This blog exposes inadequacies in welfare, predominately in Australia, looking at the failings of Breed Specific Legislation (especially in Victoria), highlighting how society currently funds kill shelters, number crunching stats that demonstrates the problems associated with the Lost Dogs Home and RSPCA, and many other worthwhile posts. I am so excited to read every post, and I particularly appreciate how breeders are never targeted as problematic in the shelter pet-killing culture.

2. I have only recently started reading the “Dogged Blog” by Christie Keith, but I am so glad I have! The posts made about sheltering and animal welfare are very well articulated, and compliment Saving Pets (above) in terms of content. I am so glad I found this blog and I look forward to continuing to follow. My favourite pieces include “Why shelter killing has nothing to do with ‘pet over-population’” and “What opponents of free pet adoption don’t get“.

3. The “Doggone Safe” blog covers a topic I’m passionate about: Dog-child safety. It very much target audiences, and it’s written in an accessible way for those readers.  For example, posts like, “My dog growled at my child – now what?“. I share this content as much as I can, as I think it’s really important!

4. Denise Fenzi’s blog (which doesn’t seem to have a name?) has been another favourite of mine during the past year.  Denise really brings fun into training and often inspires me to actually do some training with my dogs. She also has some good, novel ideas, like practising heelwork to a metronome.

5. My fifth choice for my favourite blogs goes to “Angry Vet” blog.  I love the upfront approach of this blog, that gets to the point and isn’t afraid to challenge standard veterinary practice – and it’s normally things that I’ve been thinking all along!

 

My 5 Favourite Blog Posts by Others in 2012: Continue reading →

01/3/13

The Week in Tweets – 3rd January

Welcome to our near-weekly segment: The Week in Tweets! This is where I summarise my weekly tweets (from my Twitter account) and choose my favourite as the Tweet of the Week.

 

Tweet of the Week

I tweeted a post from Maddie’s Institute, “Study: Focus on the present, not the past, to get pets adopted“. I am a big advocate of positive adoption listings, and this post by the institute covers it well.  Statements like “rescued from deathrow”, “had been used as a breeder in a puppy mill”, and “was so skinny when he arrived in care”, don’t get pets adopted!  People aren’t terribly interested in what the pet was yesterday, but more the animal they’re bringing into their household today. An excellent post on positive adoption listings.

Continue reading →

01/1/13

Puppies – The Fifth Week

In the fifth week, the puppies started to consistently be social and approach people.  They started interacting with Benjiman the cat (much to Benjiman’s disgust). They had their nails trimmed again. Most days, they spend the morning and the evening outside for a couple of hours. It has been very hot, so they haven’t been able to spend a lot of time outside.

The puppies have this small outside area with a sheet over the top of their pen, to prevent predation by birds of prey. (Chip visiting puppies on the outside.)

Continue reading →