apache

We used to do 'big boosters' and 'little boosters'. Basically everything for two puppy jabs and first booster, then big booster every 3 years, lepto and parvo every year. The little booster used to be cheaper so cost less to the owner. They changed the price so they cost the same - we dropped the small boosters and vaccinate everything every year for everything. That includes my own dogs. I don't believe in over-vaccination. Things die from under vaccination or no vaccination. Please don't underestimate the value of the annual health check of the animal. It's amazing how often we pick things up that the owner has missed. Multiple times every day. If money is an issue then go lepto only (unless a breeding bitch then parvo is vital). I'd do everything (including kennel cough)

Lepto and parvo need doing every year. We had a dog die of lepto (that was vaccinated as a puppy, but never boosted) recently (6 years old, working farm Collie). It is basic care of your animal to keep their boosters up to date. Irresponsible otherwise. All dogs are exposed to lepto in the countryside. C'mon guys.

I can't buy the Bravecto for the online prices you quote. It makes it look like we are taking the ****.

Do mine all year. If you don't they can pick them up at low numbers and become established in your house - leading to a cycle of reinfection. The tablets lasting one to three months are economical and very effective. Fleas also spread tapeworms.

I must have been to a dozen clay grounds and no one has ever asked me what cartridges I am shooting. If you turn up with own gun and shells no one looks. I've used up mixed bags of clay and game cartridges before.

Whilst I am supportive of docking working dogs, own two docked dogs myself and dock puppies I will stand up for any vet operating to their own moral code. It's very difficult to call exact rights and wrongs on many things and if they don't want to do something then no-one has the right to force them. Lots of vets shoot. If you are a member of a shoot ask who they use. Even if not a member of a shoot you could ring a local estate and ask them. I do dock puppies that are not our clients, but only with the blessing of their own vet. So far nobody has ever objected.

I thought the same (also in North Yorks!)

Told my wife you shoot the dependant calf first, before mum. That didn't go down very well.

Your last shot can only be 1..... Mine is a tad unusual - a heron with a broken wing, using a captive bolt.

Try cat foood. Feed the dog before it knows it is going shooting, not when wound up because you are in your breeks with the gun out etc. I fail to see the point in chemical castration. A dog with an enlarged prostate NEEDS surgical castration. Usually they are hormone responsive (something called benign prostatic hypertrophy) but even the nasty cysts or tumours are helped by castration.

Find something the dog will eat on a shoot day - human food is fine. The other dog needs castration. There you go, both cured. For about £150......

yes

It would actually be against the law to dock the dog as an adult without a genuine medical reason. We can't just chop bits off dogs for the hell of it. Most dogs will get away and not suffer tail injuries. Clipping long feathering helps. By far the biggest group of dogs we see damaged tails in are Labrador's. £150 is stupidly cheap for an adult tail dock under anaesthetic.

3 large animal vets in the practice. All of us have all the guns on each of our certificates. Means any of us can grab any one. Obvious I'd have thought.

A silenced .410 is a lot more discrete and a lot safer if the beast is on the road. We do use the pistols, just not for RTAs and never even contemplate taking one stalking. The majority of professional guides seem to think the same. (And I do stalk deer and I have had to shoot animals more than once, I even have a real (brief) follow up in my DSC 2 portfolio as a beast moved as I took the shot and went low.) If the phone went now with a deer RTA I'd take the moderated .410, the 6.5X55 and have the bolt gun under the seat in the car. Pistols stay at home.

I'm a vet. I have three .32 pistols and a .410 pistol on my FAC. I can't see the need for it stalking and I've attended many RTAs and only used the pistol once, and that was because it was in the car. If I got a call to go out now I wouldn't take one. The real use is dispatch of horses. I shoot cows and sheep, but the captive bolt that is not even on the FAC gets as much use and lives in the car. If I was a FEO I'm not convinced that any professional deer stalkers have good reason for a pistol. The majority of people who chase after them seem to want one.

I don't like the look of that. I think a biopsy a very wise precaution.

There's one called 'Grinder' especially for men who hang about in woods.......

I found it very interesting. I'm quite academic (university degree) and studied myself. Did the assessment only route - got all the questions right and 2 deer ID wrong IIRC. All the courses send the book out beforehand - study it.

There is no provision for them to drop your allowance because you are not using the gun very much. A reduction in ammo allowance counts as a partial revocation of the certificate - refuse. If they insist get it in writing and challenge it. The 'standard' rimfire holding is 600 rounds. what id you only shoot 10 bunnies per year? It shouldn't matter. Many deer stalkers will not get through their whole allocation between renewals. There is no reason you can't have a .270 as a fox rifle. I know a farmer with a .22CF (can't remember the calibre) who has it for fox, but hasn't shot a fox in about 10 years. The local gamekeepers do a good job, BUT he's a sheep farmer and has the good reason of protecting his lambs. Good reason doesn't have to equal usage, so long as the good reason is real. I personally had a dry spell deerstalking - in about 10 paid stalks over 6 months I never shot a deer.

Everyone in North Yorkshire is open. I believe as is everyone in Scotland. Do these forces have more accidents? Not to my knowledge.

It's crazy (in my mind) but yes.

The 'All Creatures' from the Black Sheep Brewery (truncated to the right) is very nice.

I agree. It makes the job of a FEO that much harder if you know them from the local clay club, BDS group or game shoot. Much easier to be impartial if looking from the outside.

*sigh* it's a dose thing. Put some figures in here: http://www.sarc.com.au/chocolate-toxicity-calculator/ My cocker weighs 12kg. A 50g bar of white or milk chocolate would be perfectly safe, dark chocolate may upset her stomach. Something coated in chocolate should be perfectly safe to all. Just make sure there are no raisins in there as their toxicity is unpredictable and not dose dependant.