[Patrick]

I work in an animal emergency hospital. We see far too many Goldens die of cancer, usually lymphoma or hemangiosarcoma. Sometimes the owners’ only sign that there is a problem is sudden death due to an internal bleed from a ruptured tumor that they had absolutley no idea about. Understandably, the families are usually devestated. A former boss lost her two Goldens at a young age, within 6 months of each other, both from cancer. I often cringe when I see families come in with a sick Golden, knowing that we are probably about to shatter their world with the news that we have to break.

[Patrick]

You will not be sorry if you spend the time and money to go to Tim and Drew’s workshop. It is excellent. It is very close to me, but I am confident recommending it to you as well. It is that good.

[Patrick]

http://www.camelphotos.com/camel_forum/index.php

[Patrick]

The best thing about the article is that it was correct. I’m so tired of reporters getting their facts wrong, or from pseudo experts, or making anything to do with animal agiculture hokey.

[Patrick]

His Exploring Stone Walls is very good too.

http://www.stonewall.uconn.edu/

[Patrick]

http://www.minuteman-bt.org/

Funny story that your post reminded me of. Several years ago I contacted the Boston Terrier Club of America, looking for referrals to breeders in my area. The woman in charge of breeder referral asked which state I’d like to look for breeders in. Not wanting to limit myself, being willing to drive a ways for what I wanted, and knowing that our states are small comparatively, I simply asked her for breeders in all of New England, she kept asking for which individual states I wanted. After several emails back and forth, I realized that she didn’t know what states made up New England! Surprised, but understanding, as I know that there are people in this country who actually don’t know that New Mexico is a state, I eventually had to list them all for her. The funny part is that she couln’t come right out and ask, she had to play her games, hoping that her ignorance wouldn’t be revealed.

[Patrick]

I deal with animal euthanasia, and with their owners, almost every day at work. I have people tell me all the time how much of a lasting effect it had on them when their parents told them lies when they were children about what became of their pets. Things like, it ran away, or went to live on a farm. From what I’ve seen, people think that they’re protecting their children, but when they finally find out, or figure it out, it’s even worse. A lot of times they feel guilt and resentment for not being able to have said goodby. I have seen children who are better able to handle it when another pet dies, and when a close human dies, when they have been honestly prepared from the start. People occasionally ask me to lie to their children, and go along with whatever story they come up with. I refuse, telling them that I can’t do that in good conscience. In those cases, if the children ask me questions, the answers to which are not in line with the parents’ story, I just tell them that they need to ask their parents that. Occasionally there are extenuating circumstances for a parent’s reasons, but often those that I see who have to make up stories are just cowards, trying not to face that difficult day with their children. Denial doesn’t help anyone. Away from work, I see that families which have a practical farm mentality, where they learn that death is inevitable, have an easier time dealing with the death of a close pet or human. If I had a suggestion for people, it would be to talk about death with their children some time before it happens, so that the grief of the moment doesn’t compound the shock of learning of their own or a close human’s mortality. IMO you did the right thing given your circumstances, as hard as it was.

[Patrick]

I’d love to hear from someone in the US who has worked some, as far as what their general temperament is like as working animals.

[Patrick]

Not all of the arguments against the sale of raw milk are “scare tactics”. Some are very true and very scary. We all know people whose farms are less than presentable, or whose practices leave a lot to be desired. I support raw milk sales, but all it takes is one cow or one lazy farmer to cause a problem for dozens of people. We have to police ourselves, or someone else will.

[Patrick]

I might be wrong, but I’ve never heard of such a thing. If you’re a legal resident of another state, you must register in your state. I’d be very surprised to hear that Maine will knowingly register a vehicle for an owner out of state. But, if you’re sure that this is the case, call the Maine DMV and ask them. I suspect that those you know have some sort of way of circumventing the rules, such as a friend or relative in Maine who’s address they use, illegally of course. BTW, inspection is not always such a bad thing. It does keep you and your animals safer.

[Patrick]

@Carl Russell 21448 wrote:

I’m finally back, but yet to unpack completely. Truck is running like it sucked a rod on the final approach up the hill to our house. Oh well at least I won’t have to haul anything for a few weeks.

Anyway, thanks to all of you who volunteered, presented, and generally help to make this such a good event. I really like Mark’s comments yesterday describing NEAPFD as a professional conference. It really explains a lot about the attendance levels. Every year there are about the same amount of people, all of whom are very serious and focused on the content that is available. We know that this crowd is not made of money, and at the urging of several folks to try to make it affordable to attract more people, we have kept the gates fees lower than they actually should be.

When I think of this as a professional conference, which has always been the emphasis, and take into consideration that we get about the same number of serious attendees every year, and not many off the street, I wonder if those who have attended would pay $50/day. If we had been collecting $50/person/day then we would be having a completely different conversation about the future of this event and the network that it has highlighted.

All-in-all I am extremely proud to have been involved with all of you to create the event we just experienced last weekend. The weather was a challenge, but everyone was there to get the most out of it. It was so inspiring for me to be a part of a group of people who thrive on overcoming challenges by thinking on their feet with fierce determination to enjoy themselves and relationships with those around them. Thank you so much for that, all of you.

As far as Sunday, we are very sorry that we had the agenda that we did, because the obstacle course was really enjoyable. It would have been extra-frickin’ groovy to just continue all day. I really believe in having the serious exchange NEAPFD is know for, not to say there wasn’t serious exchange at the OC, but it would be very fun to have a whole day dedicated to exercises like that, scoot loads, distance pulls etc. I’d travel 5 hours in any direction from here with my horses to do that. I finally got a chance to go through at 6 pm when I skidded the logs back to behind the horse barns. Thanks Donn, Jason, John and others who got that started, I really wish we didn’t have to cut that short.

Now for sleep, staying on the farm for a few weeks, working not only the horses, but the under-worked steers, getting some soil turned, garlic planted, wood out, and then some livestock slaughtered before snow-fall.

I love you folks, Carl

I had a great time, and learned a lot, as I did last year. I don’t mean to be overly critical, and I do know how much work goes into putting on such an event, but if you were going to be charging upwards of $50, I would expect a few things to be done differently if I were to pay that price. I understand that many of the speakers are not professional conference presenters, and some of the charm of the field days lies in the style that they do offer. Still, a little bit more organization in some areas would make for a more equitable experience for all, IMO. For example, at one discussion, the presenters did not start on time, far from it. There were over a dozen attendees present, yet the presenters were holding out, hoping for more, very few which ever materialized. The dozen of us paid our gate fees, and were there on time. Why were we punished waiting for those who didn’t bother? Some better moderation in this respect would be in order if the fee were higher, IMO. Also, some of the presentations were rather limited in viewing area. For the lucky few who were able to gather closely around and see what was going on, it was great, but others in the rear could not always get in close, and they missed out on some great stuff. Here too, someone more experienced with moderating on a professional level might have been able to organize viewing arrangements to benefit all who were paying to see what was going on. The informal style of some of the presentations is great. I really love it, and it works for me for $20. If I miss out on some parts, or get slightly inconvenienced, it’s not the end of the world. For $50 I’d want a bit more for my money. JMO. I hope the feedback helps.

[Patrick]

No, Scott is right. Golden eagles are bigger than Bald. True, Bald eagles do eat more than fish sometimes, but it’s not common. The wild animals don’t read the books, and I’d never make the mistake of believing that their behavior is not unpredictable, but I’d be much more concerned if I had a Golden eagle eyeing my hoofstock than a Bald.

[Patrick]

I’ve got three old ones in my in box that I’ve never opened, from LadyXAdmin, GooDFriend and Gurrergearrox.

[Patrick]

I’m glad that someone mentioned the media and their role in all of this. The investigators who released the statement about the poor man’s personal problems need to be taught a little bit about compassion, confidentiality and how their statements will affect the man’s family, to say nothing about releasing his name too. They fed into the media frenzy by giving them a nice little hook for the story. The only reason that this even made the news in the first place is because he shot the cows too. How many of the others do we never even hear about? Maybe doing so didn’t completely make his act in vain. At least it got people talking, although I fear that in today’s world, many won’t even come close to understanding. They’ll be too focused on what the man with the “personal problems” did to the poor cows.

[Patrick]

Yes, from the architecture I was almost going to guess the Netherlands. I usually think that the Dutch are more sensible than that, but there’s always exceptions. It looks to be a school of all places, kids play gym in the background. Lots of bicycles too. Surely not the US.
Pleasure horsey people. Gotta love em.

[Author]

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