Andymann

We're seeing it with Lucy now as she gets more confident - she's got a lot of attitude and doesn't back down at all - if we don't set some boundaries then I suspect we are going to have our hands full. And rather than try it ourselves, we think it's better to get a professional involved.

I've been reading your posts about training Enzo and it's inspired me to take Lucy to puppy school early next year. We've always had older rescues and this is the first puppy-ish we've adopted - but the intelligence and character she shows makes me feel it would be unfair not to make an effort to train her properly. It was also amazing to see how much she absorbed in a week - I'm guessing 3 months in a kennel where the only stimulus was other dogs barking must have made her brain like a big sponge.

So we finally got it right! Took some wheeling and dealing, but Lucy(Taz) is home for Christmas!

Busy waiting for them to give me the number.....

So Tshwane SPCA finally came to do a home inspection and as we expected all is fine. Now all I need is a Vet in Jhb somewhere, who knows people at Booysens SPCA, and who would accept payment in advance, to convince the SPCA to let us collect Taz this weekend and first thing in the New Year let us bring her back for Sterilization..... Anyone?

you beat me to it!

It's now getting increasingly frustrating. Taz was not scheduled for her Puppy vaccinations because she was not on any adoption list. Now they are going to inject her on the 20th only, and then they have to wait 10 days before she can be sterilized, before we can collect her. Hell, the Vet that did the Cruciate ligament replacement on our other rescue even offered to call the SPCA and tell them that I would pay up front and they would personally vouch for us, but because we live in Pretoria and not Jhb, the Pretoria Vets cannot to that! I mean really. I must admit I pushed back a little and told them that if they cannot get their house in order before the end of the year, we are going to have to reconsider. One of the reasons we chose this time of the year is because my wife and I are on leave and can give a new pup all the attention it needs to help integrate it with the other dogs. Come mid January, life gets really hectic again, and we wont be as chilled. I just cannot fathom how when the SPCA is crying for people to assist adopting dogs, they make it so impossible to actually do so.

Cue a quick twitter stalk of https://twitter.com/adri_stoner just to see what Casey is up to

https://www.motorsport.com/motogp/news/casey-stoner-chronic-fatigue-syndrome/4606046/

I think you are right on the button there - although Casey Stoner struggled a bit in V8 Supercars - I remember following him and thinking that he was going to clean up and yet not. Interesting interview with him about his illness on Crash btw.

I did say if - If he does make it, he will then be together with your LEGEND Surtees as the only other person to have won Championships on both 4 and 2 wheels. I don't like him at all, but if he somehow did manage to win a Motorbike Championship that would be something pretty special.

I'm not a great Lewis fan, but for someone who hasn't got much left to prove in F1, I would follow him if he tried to make it on 2-wheels. And if he did, I don't think there would be many who would disagree that he would be a legend. https://www.crash.net/f1/news/935109/1/lewis-hamilton-brilliant-maiden-motogp-test

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QewmuWaUvR8&app=desktop I'm assuming its the same for dogs!

Making progress thankfully - I chatted to someone at Booysens who understands and can make calls - they are willing to compromise on the Meet and Greet. Unfortunately, Tshwane SPCA has to do the home inspection, and they might insist on the meet and greet, but we're hoping that with the season which is so busy for animals that they might let this one slide! But even if we do, it will only be for one of our dogs, and also one trip - we meet and greet and take her home. So right now Taz-who-will-soon-be-renamed is scheduled for sterilization which is a lot more promising than the other injection.

I have a friend who breeds rats (stop laughing you in the back...) - she regularly imports and also flys them around the country. I will check to see who she uses.

Well if anything, I have learnt quite a lot from this experience - it's still ongoing, but it's not anywhere near finalized. I have since discovered (after having a frank chat with someone who knows the ropes) that the SPCA is actually not a adoption agency - their core business is to police animal cruelty - they are not geared to facilitate adoptions which is why animal cruelty cases take precedent, and sadly, also why they do not get emotionally involved when it comes down to euthanizing animals. They do however accept abandoned or unwanted animals, but their reasoning is that euthanizing is better than being a stray on the street. They follow the rules of the RSPCA - there is no wiggle room there. If you want to adopt a dog from the SPCA it's their rules, simple. There are no set standards for home inspections so they will not allow any independent inspectors - only inspectors from the SPCA are accepted. They don't like people adopting outside their area - it's a problem for them as it creates unnecessary admin - see above! Most of the people working there are Volunteers who do so for love - but they have no authority, so trying to reason with them is of no use. Right now they are still insisting on a meet and greet first - only then will they commence with our home inspection. The sticking points we have is that it's a 150km round trip for me every time I drive from Pretoria to Booysens - I'm trying to convince them to do a home inspection first, so that if there is a problem, I haven't done an unnecessary trip. SPCA want a meet and greet first, then the home inspection and only then can we adopt. They also are still insisting that we bring both dogs - and that is non-negotiable for me - she's skittish, she's a runner and she doesn't do cars - if she somehow bolts then we will never catch her. I'm making one last call today to try and reason with them - hold thumbs!

Ja it hasn't been pleasant - on the 18th November there were some Pups which were abandoned at Pug Rescue - there were two really lovely ones so I banged off the Adoption application - House inspection was done on the 24th November, all checked out ok. We got confirmation that the pups are now at a Vet in Edenvale. No problem - can I have the name of the Vet so that I can see if "Lily" or "Blair" is still available - and arrange a meeting.... that mail was sent on the 2nd December. We're still waiting. Everyone says please don't support breeders and rather adopt rescues, but FFS - they make it almost impossible. We specifically wanted a pup towards the end of November when things calm down and we are both on leave to give it the attention it needs, before things go wild in February again. If we had got a dog off olx or gumtree we would have had it for 3 weeks already......

So we've been having some fun and games trying to adopt a new dog . My Wife used to run with our Sharpei X but he's getting on a bit - close to 11 now, and he's also had a few cancerous growths cut out, so we do think he deserves a nice retirement. Our other rescue will not walk on a lead (we gave up trying years ago) and in any case we suspect she was a caged dog, so any barking of other dogs and she goes into a panic and runs wild so we have to be very careful. She's also very attached to the Sharpei, so we figured it's time to introduce a small puppy so that instead of 2 becoming 1 one day, 3 becomes 2 and all the good habits have been carried over to the new pup. So off to the SPCA in Booysens we go on Saturday because we have seen Taz - a nice GSD X - hours drive to there from Pretoria. All good until we see their rules: Both of our existing dogs must be brought to the SPCA from Pretoria for a meet and greet - the Rescue doesn't travel at all, will be totally useless when she hears the other dogs barking, and there's a good chance she will panic and bolt. So no says me and the wife - can we arrange to have the dog brought to Pretoria so we do the meeting there. Absolutely not says the SPCA. Can you not do an "inter dog transfer" to SPCA Pretoria so it's not an hour-fifteen drive? No - the dog is booked into Booysens, so it's not allowed to leave. We need to do a home inspection - we've been checked out by another Rescue organisation in Pretoria - they are happy. So can we not give the SPCA their number? No says the SPCA it needs to be someone from the SPCA - and please be patient they are all volunteers so we can't say when exactly they will come. Oh and to reserve the Dog, will be a non-refundable R500 please. No problem - we like the dog so we pay. Proof of address please - a bit complicated - we have just bought the house and the Deed of Sale takes 8 weeks, so will this proof of purchase of the house from the Lawyer do? No - we need your Municipal account. The transfer only went though on the 1st November so here is my proof of application to open a Tshwane account - will this be ok? No sorry we need an affidavit then.The pup has been at the SPCA for 3-months. From what I was told, they don't get much more than 3-months before they are euthanized. Here is a family who is are dog lovers, and who want to adopt a dog who has been surrendered and does not have much time left, and yet the SPCA doesn't seem to want to help us do that. The mind boggles! Anyway here are a few pics of Taz - my gut-feel says we won't get her, and she won't be at the SPCA much longer. But I guess at least we gave her an hour of loves and snacks on Saturday

I know we really shouldn't be stalking the poor guy, but for all the crap going on in SA at the moment, this thread always brings out a chuckle - where else in the world would a thread exist for 4 years documenting the exploits of a guy who takes pictures of himself in a lift

Here's a nice feel-good story. Back in around 2007-ish one of my Dad's mates knew I worked at Yamaha and mentioned that he had an old Yamaha 50 lying in his garage - asked me if I didn't want it as he had no use for it. I was quite excited because i was thinking RZ or DT, but when I went to collect it, it was an old FS1-E which didn't really blow my hair back. it was also pretty ropey so I knew I was never going to finish it. Long story short, I gave it to one of the Yamaha dealers in the Free State because they had a bit of a museum, and were looking for one. Yesterday I got a random email from that dealer - says to me he heard I have some DT's and they are clearing out a whole bunch of New old-stock parts - he's kept all the DT125 and DT200 parts to one side, and I am welcome to them if I want - i just need to collect them. Apparently there is a complete DT/WR carb, as well as some discontinued plastics and a few body parts. I'm super stoked!

Nope.... box has already been flagged

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He's just emphasizing the point that Yamaha Australia will sell a boatload too......

Marquez with a 1:30.66 fastest so far Pol Espargaro just did a 1:30.68 on the 2020 KTM which is bloody impressive. Iker Lecuona did a 1:31.51 - also pretty impressive. Brad 1:32.63 - reckon he's just easing into it - in his interview he reckons that he's go so much to change with how he rides, he hasn't even started changing setup yet!