SIDEBAR #49 - Arias/Alexander forum

[Susza]

...and Tundra Swan:

Here's the Whooper Swan head:

Wowwww, how beautiful!!!

 

[Susza]

My daughter has an Australian Shepard. Same color as you have mentioned with ice blue eyes. They are hauntingly beautiful. A big fur ball he is and when he wags his tale his whole but shakes. It's adorable. He is beautiful, still a pup and hasa ton of energy. They like to run and be active, very active or they can become very mischievous and destructive and I have been witness to this. They need lots of excercise. They are great with her kids and is very loving to the whole family. He loves being outside, now that the weather is better. Australian Shepard are herders. Unfortunately my daughters dog thinks that people need to be herded and he tries to round everyone up by nipping lightly at the bottom of your pants. He could use some training. LOL

Interesting, thank you, Ricki. I read about these dogs being very family & kid friendly - may be he would feel sad living only with me :/
And the other doubt I have: Me too, I love moving, being active, hiking, etc. but who knows what happens with me while getting older? I'm almost 55 now.
So it will probably remain a dream as I wouldn't appreciate seeing my dog frustrated.

 

[Ricki]

Interesting, thank you, Ricki. I read about these dogs being very family & kid friendly - may be he would feel sad living only with me :/
And the other doubt I have: Me too, I love moving, being active, hiking, etc. but who knows what happens with me while getting older? I'm almost 55 now.
So it will probably remain a dream as I wouldn't appreciate seeing my dog frustrated.

You have plenty of years. If you are into hiking and are very active maybe he is the dog for you, but I believe he would need lots of exercise daily. I don't think he would be sad. They are very loyal and protective as well.

 

[LinasK]

So cute your dogs!!
I never had a dog - grew up with cats only.
Recently I started thinking about having a dog when I stop working (within 5 years, hopefully).
And: I met an Australian Shepard last time when I was treking with snow shoes - the colour was honey & white. Beautiful!
Hmmm, I'd love to have one BUT I think this would mean to leave the flat I'm living in and rent a house... that's quite an illusion financially talking.
Anybody here who knows these dogs???

Had a neighbor who had one- high energy. This dog never wanted to stop playing ball!

 

[Kensie]

Had a neighbor who had one- high energy. This dog never wanted to stop playing ball!

I did not realize that we are neighbors.

Wonderful dog new Nore.

 

[janx]

Interesting, thank you, Ricki. I read about these dogs being very family & kid friendly - may be he would feel sad living only with me :/
And the other doubt I have: Me too, I love moving, being active, hiking, etc. but who knows what happens with me while getting older? I'm almost 55 now.
So it will probably remain a dream as I wouldn't appreciate seeing my dog frustrated.

If you have the time to devote to the dog, I'd certainly consider it. You don't have to run with the dog; you can take it on trails and teach it to come back to you using treats, etc.. It seems to me that Australian shepherds are good at agility, too, so you might check into that. The dog would not feel sad living only with you as long as you spent most of your time with him. A puppy is the next thing to a human baby, as far as I'm concerned. It's not like getting a cat. Dogs look to you for leadership. They crave working and living with you--especially a working dog like an Australian shepherd-- but you have to provide that leadership (teaching and love) for them to feel safe and satisfied.

I think you should do it!

 

[janx]

That is so cool! I've had this strange bird down at the pond the last 2 days, shaped like a Kingfisher, but really dark, I'd say black, with white coverts, can't find it in my Sibley's Guide to Birds.

That's weird. Some kind of dark morph? You will have to let us know!

 

[Rhozwen]

Just posting hello to everyone. Due to work, I haven't been able to spend much time here and it's taken me weeks to get caught up on the posts.
Saying a huge THANK YOU to everyone who posts tweets, articles, updates and everything in between and off topic. This thread is so helpful in following what is going on. I've been reading along as much as I can and am not able to post much at all anymore.
Sorry to read about those who have lost loved ones (human and furbabies) and congrats to those who welcomed new ones into their lives. Happy Birthday to those who celebrated this month!

I'm happy the trial is finally over and that inmate is now in her new forever home. May she rot in turmoil for the rest of her wretched life.

Hope everyone is well.

 

[janx]

The swans are my nightmare when I go kayaking on the old side arms of the Rhein (river in southern Germany). It's a nature reserve called "Taubergiessen". Jungle-like. But you really have to take care - lots of people have been aggressed by swans.
I just slow down, paddle carefully and talk to them. Until now I never had a problem.

:floorlaugh: Maybe the swans don't like your coming around their turf or families!

 

[Hatfield]

Hi all. We just put a picture of my new "puppy" on here. She is 3 years old, a Peke mainly. Molly is a shelter dog. She was spayed last Monday so she is still sore. Sleeps a lot right now but is very friendly. I'm still having tears for my precious Buffy.. Oh yes, she is 13 lbs..

She is adorable!!!

Buffy understands. They all will be waiting for us to join them when our time comes. It will be a fantastic reunion to get to see all our relatives and past "furry family members". I am of the belief that they immediately understand once they get to the other side. They realize we did all we could for them while they were here, and they realize we are just helping the next one have a happy good home too. As everyone knows, each one has its own personality and so its not "replacing" our lost loved ones and happy memories we have. We are just "adding" another furry family member to begin creating additional new happy memories.

 

[Hatfield]

It does sound like fun. Coincidentally, on my bird walk this morning I saw a nonnative SWAN swimming around with some scaups and ducks in a pond. It apparently belonged to some humans at some point and discovered the pond near the Rio Grande. Here is a bad picture of it (It's on the right, preening):

View attachment 73404

My cousin got me into bird watching and my wife and I really enjoy it. Mainly just in the yard as we put out lots of feeders for hummingbirds and songbirds. We try to buy specialty seeds on occasion and it does make a difference to attract some different and more colorful birds.

One of the neatest birds I have attracted to the yard is the "Painted Bunting". What a cool looking bird with so many colors. I managed to get a few pictures but they came out lousy because these birds are so elusive. They just come in real quick, grab a few seeds and run off. LOL

Another bird I get occasionaly is a large woodpecker which is really neat. Its super large and makes a squawck that is really loud. I dont have my book handy to be able to write which type it is. He looks like Woody Woodpecker becuse of his size when he comes in. He doesnt stay very long either and is usually just eating insects in nearby trees as we have lots of dead trees from ice storms and the woodpeckers love those trees. We even had a few smaller woodpeckers nesting in 1 of our trees a few years ago.

Bird watching is a fun hobby once you learn to start paying attention to the types of birds and really taking the time to look at them closely and how they behave. Its a real fun hobby.
What I like about it, is it also helps you learn and appreciate more of ALL types of wildlife as you start to try to pay attention to the birds.

 

[neesaki]

So cute your dogs!!
I never had a dog - grew up with cats only.
Recently I started thinking about having a dog when I stop working (within 5 years, hopefully).
And: I met an Australian Shepard last time when I was treking with snow shoes - the colour was honey & white. Beautiful!
Hmmm, I'd love to have one BUT I think this would mean to leave the flat I'm living in and rent a house... that's quite an illusion financially talking.
Anybody here who knows these dogs???

Hi Susza! :wave: I do think that Australian Shepards need a little room to run, a small yard at least, or at least considerable walking. They are "shepards" , in that they are bred as working dogs. So they are high energy. This is just in my own experience , and hope this helps. There are a lot of good dogs that don't require as much space though. Have you thought about that ? :seeya:

 

[RickshawFan]

Interesting, thank you, Ricki. I read about these dogs being very family & kid friendly - may be he would feel sad living only with me :/
And the other doubt I have: Me too, I love moving, being active, hiking, etc. but who knows what happens with me while getting older? I'm almost 55 now.
So it will probably remain a dream as I wouldn't appreciate seeing my dog frustrated.

I had a bichon who loved to hike, camp, run, walk, do yoga stretches. He liked to sleep in and told me when it was time for bed. I kept his hair quite trimmed (not a typical bichon cut) because he was so athletic. He hiked 17 miles one day.

 

[Chelly]

Got the swan eggs in the 'bator yesterday.........so the countdown begins, -33 days. Have a goose egg in there as my "control" because you can't candle swan eggs because their shells are just too dense. And I'm not going to invest in an ultra sound contraption!!!

Yep, when it comes to incubators, I got stuck on "Go Big, or Go Home". This puppy will hold 36 emu eggs or 400+ small bantam chicken eggs, with everything else in between. It would probably hold 45 swan eggs pretty comfortably if I had that many.

View attachment 73398

I put 6 thermometers in there, with one than does humidity and another that does dry/wet bulb temp, and none of them are registering the same temp (1.5 degree variant +/-), blah, so just hoping the digital toggle switch is keeping it at 100 degrees and the water surface holds the humidity between 55-65%. This is the last of 3 cabinet incubator/hatchers I've had since 1997.........I held onto it "just in case", and I have a feeling that after this dealio, I'll be putting peafowl eggs in because my peafowl aren't getting any younger.

I'm not too enthused because the hatch rate in incubators for swans isn't good at all. 7 eggs are in there with the goose egg. Mom swan has 2 under her outside. Haven't had any luck the last 3 years doing it under the swan or substitute goose, so it will be what it'll be. Any other eggs I've had 95% or better if the eggs are fertile.

If some do hatch, then I'm REALLY going to be committed. The cygnets have to be pinioned within the first 24 hours. That involves removing the wing joint at the end of the wing. It's bloodless at that age and their nerve endings haven't developed so it's painless, similar to cutting off the rear dew claws of new born pups. At 4 days, they have to have water to float in 24/7 and continue to have a heat lamp on them at 99 degrees. 95% of a swans life is in the water, and their legs won't develop properly if they don't have it because their body mass is too heavy for their legs the first 6 months. At 4-6 weeks, I'll have to put them out in the pond in the morning and bring them back to the brooder at night. At around 6 months, they can hang out in the pond permanently. If any DO hatch, hopefully I can get them sold BEFORE 2 months, only thing is, the only way you can sex them is through a DNA test from a plucked feather.

Sounds like FUN..................and my insanity continues.

ok Bernina, You lost me with putting a control goose egg in with the swan eggs. Guess I'm going to have to google this one.:gaah:

 

[atthelake]

Oh yum, that sounds so good! The only authentic Mexican restaurant around these parts (Central Pa) closed a few months ago. Their food was so good, cooked in the kitchen by grandma. They came up from Mexico City to open up here. My family and I ate there quite a bit. Their food reminded me of the food I used to get in Nogales when I lived in Tucson.

For now, I have to settle for Taco Bell or El Rodeo when I crave Mexican. Not quite as good, but does ok in a pinch.

http://frugallivingandhavingfun.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/tums1.jpg

 

[atthelake]

Got the swan eggs in the 'bator yesterday.........so the countdown begins, -33 days. Have a goose egg in there as my "control" because you can't candle swan eggs because their shells are just too dense. And I'm not going to invest in an ultra sound contraption!!!

Yep, when it comes to incubators, I got stuck on "Go Big, or Go Home". This puppy will hold 36 emu eggs or 400+ small bantam chicken eggs, with everything else in between. It would probably hold 45 swan eggs pretty comfortably if I had that many.

View attachment 73398

I put 6 thermometers in there, with one than does humidity and another that does dry/wet bulb temp, and none of them are registering the same temp (1.5 degree variant +/-), blah, so just hoping the digital toggle switch is keeping it at 100 degrees and the water surface holds the humidity between 55-65%. This is the last of 3 cabinet incubator/hatchers I've had since 1997.........I held onto it "just in case", and I have a feeling that after this dealio, I'll be putting peafowl eggs in because my peafowl aren't getting any younger.

I'm not too enthused because the hatch rate in incubators for swans isn't good at all. 7 eggs are in there with the goose egg. Mom swan has 2 under her outside. Haven't had any luck the last 3 years doing it under the swan or substitute goose, so it will be what it'll be. Any other eggs I've had 95% or better if the eggs are fertile.

If some do hatch, then I'm REALLY going to be committed. The cygnets have to be pinioned within the first 24 hours. That involves removing the wing joint at the end of the wing. It's bloodless at that age and their nerve endings haven't developed so it's painless, similar to cutting off the rear dew claws of new born pups. At 4 days, they have to have water to float in 24/7 and continue to have a heat lamp on them at 99 degrees. 95% of a swans life is in the water, and their legs won't develop properly if they don't have it because their body mass is too heavy for their legs the first 6 months. At 4-6 weeks, I'll have to put them out in the pond in the morning and bring them back to the brooder at night. At around 6 months, they can hang out in the pond permanently. If any DO hatch, hopefully I can get them sold BEFORE 2 months, only thing is, the only way you can sex them is through a DNA test from a plucked feather.

Sounds like FUN..................and my insanity continues.

Filing for parental support on your Emu eggs...



:floorlaugh:

 

[Susza]

:floorlaugh: Maybe the swans don't like your coming around their turf or families!

Sure, of course you're right. I actually feel like an intruder (ninja???). When the river is wide I try to pass them in the most discrete way possible.
This winter, I saw the black ones with red spout - very nice!

 

[coffeejunkie]

GOOD MORNING

Link: Click Picture

 

[Susza]

Hi Susza! :wave: I do think that Australian Shepards need a little room to run, a small yard at least, or at least considerable walking. They are "shepards" , in that they are bred as working dogs. So they are high energy. This is just in my own experience , and hope this helps. There are a lot of good dogs that don't require as much space though. Have you thought about that ? :seeya:

Thank you, neesaki! For sure I will have to think about that, you're absolutely right. Right now I'm just realizing that I like the idea to live & travel with a dog... I'm not concretly searching yet just reacting spontaneously when I meet dogs; and the Australian Shepard really hit my attention immediately.

By the way: I enjoyed reading Steinbeck's "Travels with Charley in Search of America"

 

[coffeejunkie]

Update, here are the two male puppies greeting each other today. They were so happy to see each other. They live several houses apart now and it was joyful to see these litter mates enjoy their meeting.

View attachment 73353

My two little Shih Tzus. The light one is 11 years and the black one is 10 years.

View attachment 73354

How adorable!! Gonna be fun times at your place with your fur babies...enjoy