A Confusing New Family Christmas

When I was child Santa Claus had a certain way of doing things. He would be the one to spoil us with multiple presents and Mum would do her best to get us what little she could afford and both would base it on how good or bad I had been that year. 
Now I am a father of a ten month old. My partner also has two children from a previous relationship. This new situation has revealed that Santa has changed his game plan. Mummy and Daddy have gone berserk buying the kids presents while Santa is providing one special present. One. It might be special but it’s still just one single solitary present the fucking tight arse!
At least he had the courtesy to give my daughter an early present at the work Christmas party and will be giving her another on Christmas day but my step sons are still one behind. Whatever they get at their father’s house doesn’t fucking count!
It seems Santa has been doing this ever since the oldest of these boys were born. I think it’s high time for Santa to get back into his game before we have little unbelieving grinches running around.
Also, due to family court ordes the boys have to go to their father’s for a week starting at 3pm Christmas day so we’ll be sneaking all the presents inside tonight so we can have Christmas Day on Christmas Eve. Here’s where I get more confused – Santa’s still not coming until the normal time. So after the kids open a million gifts on Christmas Eve they’ll wake up Christmas morning to see a measly 3 presents under the tree.

Merry mixed up Christmas!

What’s new?

It’s been quite a while since I posted anything here, I’m sure my blog is feeling quite neglected. There are reasons for this; life changes, routine changes, laziness, etc.

And there have been some huge changes. There’s a new job on the horizon, I’ve moved out of home (physically anyway, I’m not sure anyone truly moves out of home, but they acquire another one) and moved in with my partner and her two boys, and the biggest bestest news is we have another little bundle of joy on the way.

How does it feel? Fantastic. Scary. Inspiring. Uplifting.

“Dangerous” Breeds

Here an unassuming & well meaning individual shares a bed with a trusted yet unpredictable & potentially dangerous human.

Freya is a nine year old female dog. She weighs about 30 kilograms, enjoys a healthy carnivorous diet of Raw Meaty Bones and can comfortably do a 5 kilometre walk in under 45 minutes. She also has the jaw strength to hold herself up above the ground hanging from a stick when playing tug-of-war and to crunch through a pig’s skull. Part of our morning wake up routine is playful wrestling where she grabs and gently chews my hands like a teething pup.

Yes you read that last sentence correctly. The level of trust between responsible people and their dogs is something some people just can’t understand. I, and many other dog lovers, have a few points of view that we think all dog owners should share or simply not own a dog.

1 – Dogs are not pets, they are family. Dog ownership is a commitment. For as long as the dog lives we should provide for it as best we can as we would our own human children.

2 – House training. If you’re not willing to have a dog in the house or at least sufficiently sheltered in a secure back yard with plenty of attention you’re not prepared to have a dog.

3 – Responsibility. A responsible owner does not bring a dog home to be thrown in the yard and forgotten about. Responsible dog owners socialise their dogs. Responsible owners listen to what their dogs are trying to tell them. Responsible owners keep their dogs on a leash in public no matter how well trained. They give their dogs sufficient exercise.

Here’s a bone of contention for some – Raw Meaty Bones.
Dogs are carnivores! Even if you want to argue that they’re omnivores we should all know they are not vegetarians. If you want to feed fruit and salad to a pet go and get a rabbit.
Grains are good for humans, certain birds, hooved grazing animals etc, not dogs. Now consider that factory processed pet foods are mostly mushed up grains with a bit of abattoir leftovers swept off the floor and have a think about what that does to a carnivore’s system over time.
Dogs are much healthier, calmer and happier when fed appropriately.

Back on track now.
“Dangerous Dogs”
Just what constitutes “dangerous” these days? In some places any dog regardless of breed or size can be reported and labelled as dangerous simply for running at someone, charging at the fence in their own yard, even just growling at someone, because in some places any one of those actions count as a dog attack.
Forget the dog. I’ll growl if I think you’re presence near my home is a problem, but I’m legally within my rights to ask loiterers and trespassers to move along. For some reason though, the law is broken every time my dog asks them to move along. What a joke!

Here’s another good one – if a burglar breaks in to do some thieving and my dog bites them as a last resort, the burglar can be compensated and the dog destroyed. All for defending the home.

If people walk past my house Freya doesn’t care. If people walk in with me she is happy to greet them. The rare times she barks and growls is because there’s someone hanging around in the laneway making her uncomfortable, doing some graffiti on the fence, or (it happened) letting their dog drink from our front tap right up near the garage door.

People are stupid.
People are thoughtless.

We used to have a neighbour with a Blue Cattle Dog. Everytime he called the dog over it would hesitate so he would yell at the dog. When the dog finally came he would hit it for not coming when called. No wonder the dog hesitated so much. A perfect example of irresponsible ownership and abuse that could have resulted in an incident of a dog attack and the poor dog being destroyed.

A friend has a neighbour who has a large dog in a tiny yard and never interacts with it. The dog is constantly in the little yard alone. This is another example of irresponsible ownership and abuse. What will happen if someone does go into the yard and the over excited dog accidentally draws blood? Doctors here now have to report to police everytime they treat what looks like a dog bite. The dog could easily end up destroyed.

It is so easy for an innocent dog to be labelled dangerous because of irresponsible owners. It is so easy for a dog to be legally siezed and destroyed for defending its home and family.

How many dogs are killed needlessly by humans every day? I think the dogs are more than justified in a bite on a person here and there.

It is always so easily avoidable. All that is needed is a little commonsense and care.

Yes, every dog is potentially dangerous if provoked, if trained to be, or if insuffiently trained.

However, potential is not the same as certainty.
Let’s not condemn a potentially dangerous animal because of our certain irresponsibility.

We can be better.
Dogs deserve better.

Australia: Still An Immature Nation

Ok, so Kevin Rudd is Prime Minister of Australia again and as a result many who were still bitter about Gillard “knifing” him in his first term feel like justice has been done and the rightful king is back on the throne. That might be a fair enough opinion to hold but did the general public have to be so feral about it? I mean, ok Kevin Rudd was the Prime Minister the people believed they elected (never mind the fact that you only vote for your local member and the party elects its leader) and his then deputy, Julia Gillard, was effectively betraying him in the eyes of some, but let’s stop and look at the facts for a minute. 

Kevin Rudd ultimately was deposed by members of his party because they thought at the time they were doing what was best for the party and the nation due to Rudd’s waning popularity. But this was the Prime Minister who brought reconciliation forward in giant leaps and bounds, the Prime Minister who’s government started us on the road to the National Broadband Network, abolished Work Choices, etc, etc, etc. 

Then Julia Gillard took over the role of Prime Minister, and with her reshuffled government continued the good work towards the NBN, the work towards reducing Australia’s carbon emissions, gave us the National Disability Insurance Scheme, got the ball rolling for the Gonski Review, etc, etc, etc.

These two Prime Ministers share a legacy of advancing this nation into the 21st Century in great leaps and bounds. It is thanks to the work of these Prime Ministers and their colleagues that Australia has such a strong relationship with The People’s Republic of China, The United States of America, just to name a few. It is thanks to them Australia has one of the strongest economies in the world and stayed head above water through the GFC.

In a minority Labor Government “plagued” with internal disunity, personality differences, leadership spills, and the most constant negative, fear-mongering, fact twisting, Coalition opposition in history the Australia Labor party still got things done. 

Over the past 3 years the Australian Labor Party has shown that you don’t have to like your colleagues in order to get the job done. You can set aside personal loyalties, stay true to your beliefs, and do what is best for the nation. The ALP has shown in the past years that it is the people of this nation, not the party, that each individual in Labor prioritises first, and for this they should be commended.

Far too many people in Australia still view elections as popularity contests to be judged on points of appearance, gender, sexuality and personality. People of this country need to grow up and look at the policies that are going to affect their lives and their electorate. If Tony Abbott becomes Prime Minister the country is headed back into the Dark Ages.

Some people are cruel, some are kind, some need shooting.

Some people…!

I rescued a dog yesterday. It was left in a backyard after the

Question

Dogs are carnivores. Agree or disagree? Why?

A Dog’s Life

After hearing many differing opinions about certain aspects of Man’s best friend I decided to create this short 10 question survey to try and get an idea of what percentage of people think what. I know 10 questions is a limited survey but there will be more to follow.

Some People Shouldn’t Be Allowed To Have Pets

I thought I would hold off on another dog/pet/animal related post for a while but then I took Freya for a walk along the river bank where I witnessed two incidents that made me want to forget I have a high level of self control. We had just got out of the car and were about to cross the road when I noticed Freya had spotted something. I took my eyes off the passing cars to look across the road and saw what she had locked her sights onto. On the other side of the road was an unrestrained Staffy type dog less than half Freya’s size with its humans (I think Father and Son) walking behind it, I decided to wait for them to pass before walking Rosie across, the last thing I’d want is for the other dog to run onto the road and start a fight with traffic bearing down on us.
I thought it was funny that this little dog was in Hunting Mode with one front paw held up and nose pointing at Freya as if to say “That’s dinner” but the humour gave way to disgust when the dog’s owner kicked it in the ribs to get it walking again.
I held my tongue as I didn’t want an argument leading to a people fight leading to a dog fight. Once they had passed a certain distance I walked Freya (or she walked me) across the road and we walked along the river bank in the opposite direction.

We had a rather nice walk, Freya said hello to another dog, and the sun was just starting to set when we started walking back to the car. It was on the walk back that we came across a lady walking her Dalmatian on a choker chain of all things. Naturally when two dogs spot each other they tend to want to interact in one way or another. I think if the Dalmatian wanted to play he wanted to play rough because he lunged forward in a hurry but just as quick as he moved his handler yanked back hard on the leash (remember it’s a choker) not just once but repeatedly as the poor dog tried to pull away. No longer interested in the other dog he just wanted to get away from what was choking him.

NEWS FLASH!!!
People who think fear, intimidation, and physical abuse are the best ways to keep a dog under control tend to be the people whose dogs turn on them or attack and seriously hurt or kill other people or animals. Dogs are not born dangerous, some just end up that way as a result of mistreatment, misunderstanding, and/or blatant and deliberate abuse.
What happens when a person attacks another person or animal? Possible imprisonment.
What happens when a dog attacks another person or animal? Usually a death sentence.

When will governments wake up to the fact that it’s people who are dangerous? That it’s people who are unpredictable? That it’s people don’t back off when a distressed animal gives them plenty of warning signs and the animal sees no alternative when backed into a corner other than to lash out in self defence?

I said it in a previous post and I will say it again. We domesticated these animals so therefore we have a responsibility to them. It is our responsibility to provide these animals with food, shelter, love, affection, mental and physical stimulation, kindness, and consistency in our care for them.
If you are unwilling to allow your dog into your home, unwilling to accept your dog as part of your family, unwilling to provide adequate food and water, unwilling to stop being selfish and put the dog first for a change you really shouldn’t have a dog in the first place!

Canine Biology Lesson – Dietary Needs

In my previous blog post I touched on dog feeding. Now I am provoked to go into further detail after I jumped on youtube earlier today and came across a video of someone giving the world her recipe for vegan dog treats. Yes, you read that correctly – vegan dog treats.

Welcome to today’s lesson on dogs and just what we should be feeding them and why.

Canus Lupis Familiaris (commonly called the Domestic Dog) is a sub species of Canus Lupis (the Grey Wolf) and to the best of my knowledge every variation of Wolf in existence can interbreed and produce fertile young. I’m not a certified biologist but I’m 100% certain that members of the same species share basically the same type of digestive system and therefore have basically the same dietary needs.

Here’s a very basic food chain to remember:

• Vegetation gets eaten by Herbivores.
• Herbivores get eaten by Carnivores.

Again, Wolves are Carnivores so therefore dogs are carnivores.

Here’s a list of the types of things I feed my dogs:

• Chicken – frames, drumsticks, wings.
• Turkey – wings, drumsticks.
• Goat – heart, necks, heads (with wool and horns still attached).
• Sheep – heart, lamb heads, adult sheep heads (with or without wool).
• Ox – heart, liver, tripe, bible.
• Pig – hide, trotters, heads, ribs, guts, entire piglets, whole adult wild pigs.
• Rabbit – heads, whole rabbit, dressed rabbit.
• Fish – Carp, Whiting, Flathead, Flounder, Leather Jacket, Pilchards, Salmon.

I hear a lot of scare stories about feeding dogs raw meat and bone but to every concern there is an answer. The main concerns tend to be as follows.

• Isn’t there a choking risk? Yes, especially if you give your dog pieces that are inappropriately small. The best option is to give the dog the food in one whole chuck roughly the size of the dog’s head, that way the dog has to chew. Get that much right and you’ve reduced the chocking hazard to that of drinking water.
• Won’t the bacteria make them sick? It might make you sick, you’re not a carnivore. You’re digestive system is finely tuned to digesting fruits, vegetables, grains, and cooked meat. Your dog’s system is finely tuned to digest raw meat and bone and they cope just fine with Salmonella and E.coli.
• That must cost a fortune! No, it saves a fortune. When the dog’s diet is right and the teeth are kept clean by the chewing of bones the immune system is strong. The vast majority of problems treated by Veterinarians stem from Periodontal Disease which doesn’t occur in a properly clean mouth.
• What about food aggression? It is true that many dogs will happily share a bowl of kibble yet will guard their raw meaty bones. This is because the kibble is not food that they value. A properly fed dog is a healthy dog, a healthy dog is a happy dog, a happy dog is less likely to be aggressive. There may be over excitement at first but the dog soon learns that the raw meaty bones will keep coming. If you have more than one dog a safe bet is to feed them separately.
• My dog is fussy and won’t touch the stuff. You hand me that dog and I’ll return that same dog in better condition and with a taste for blood and bone. Some people just don’t try. If your dog won’t eat raw meaty bones the first time it’s most likely because of a few things such as addiction to factory processed junk pet foods, being unfamiliar with the new food, and not actually being hungry. Fast your dog for a day or two and then give him/her the nice juicy raw meaty bone.

The list goes on and on and on but the message need only be short for those with an open mind and willingness to do what is best for their canine companion.
To sum up in a short sentence; Dogs are carnivores not herbivores and should be fed accordingly.

Human rights? What about the rest?

You can judge the morality of a nation by the way the society treats its animals. – Mahatma Gandhi.

Human rights, as they are called, need to extend beyond the one species otherwise we have not outgrown prejudice, racism, xenophobia, slavery, nor several other human constructs we claim to despise yet hold fast to.
Caring is not enough. In order to be truly empathetic people need to change. We need to truly see other creatures as having equal claim to our human rights.

Unfortunately, whether due in part to religious belief or just a naturally occuring idea that we are better than the creatures we see as being beneath us, many of us treat other animals as if they are put on this planet purely for our entertainment and to do our bidding.

Once we have domesticated an animal for whatever reason it is then our responsibility to ensure that animal lives the best life possible. This is something we strive to achieve particularly in our relationship with the species we have labelled as our best friend. Sadly a percentage of us have forgotten our origins, forgotten the mutually beneficial relationship that developed between man and canine over tens of thousands of years. Whether we domesticated wolves or they domesticated us the fact is we gradually adapted to life with each other. First we hunted together and before long we were playing, eating, and living together.
Over the millenia that bond has strengthened to the point where we are the pack to our dogs and we should treat them as our family.

Yet we have reached a point where our dogs are suffering at our hands. While there are a lucky few there are many of our best friends locked in cages, tied up in yards, left out and ignored, forced to breed and pump out litter after litter, some even still forced to fight each other to the death. All by the will of man.

If you think that’s as bad as it gets you are mistaken. The majority of the world’s household dogs are suffering in silence. By that I mean loudly to deaf ears. Perhaps the worst form abuse we do to our dogs is our best intention. Feeding.

Today’s domesticated dog is a sub-species of the wild grey wolf (otherwise called the timber wolf) and as such very much a carnivore. As any respectible biologist will tell you this means the dietary needs of the dog is natually identical to any other wolf (including the other subspecies). We are talk meat and bone.

So why are so many of us feeding processed grains, fruits & vegetables (and a negligible amount of processed and therefore destroyed meat) from a tin or bag to our carnivorous best friend? The same reason many of us believe in a god. Because that’s what we have been told. Almost from day one a child is bombarded with pet food advertising. It’s on television, it’s in magazines, every dog you know eats it, and almost every vet you meet recommends it because they have been bombarded with it just like you. Very few vets stop to ask the question “Why?”
Why do dogs have aweful breath? Why are these dogs suffering organ failure at such young ages? Why do these dogs keep coming back with the same stomach bug? Why are the teeth falling out of this dog’s head? Why this? Why that?
To answer these questions we must ask “What?”
What is different between these animals and their healthy cousins in the wild? Diet is the answer.
Wolves eat meat. Fresh, raw, and full of bones. The proper diet solves so many problems but that takes work and money away from the vets and the pet food companies. Human greed, misdirection and false education keep our dogs unhealthy.

Diet is the first step to a healthy and happy dog. Remember they are pack animals and need to be with the pack. Guess what. You’re the pack. Your dog needs your attention, love, affection, shelter and security. Protect your dog and your dog shall protect you. Leave your dog in the yard and the yard is all it will protect. Let your dog in the house and it will protect you, your yard, and your house.

Besides the right food and accomadation the dog needs play and exercise. Fetch, tug-of-war, walks, etc are all great for keeping your dog fit and strengthing your relationship.

Last on the list is getting to know your dog. This, like everything else, starts the day you meet. Every dog has it’s individual personality. Pay attention to your dog’s behaviour and mannerisms. Listen to your dog’s barking, growling, whimpering and other noises and learn to understand what is being said. It could be a matter of life and death.

The people who care about their dogs will read this and consider the message, do some research, and then make a decision. The people who don’t care will ignore it and not change a thing and dogs, cats, and other domesticated animals will continue to suffer.

Weight up the facts. Feed your pets according to their natural diet, not what a well meaning miseducated vet or pet food ad tells you.