wildewillie89

18 hours ago, PJHassselt said:

I am interested in this. I have a Bang-Kaew myself. Got it from neighbours who had a litter. We could go along very well with the mother, and all other puppies.

 

First our girl was very friendly. Now she attacks all our guests, evryone who passes our fence is attacked (but she can not approach thanks to the fence.)

 

I do not have any experience with dogs in my live, but I have some good experience with keeping rabbits. Can you guys give me some advise?

 

I noticed there is a lot of knowledge here about dogs....

If you do not have any experience with dogs then maybe go for a less hard working breed. A Blue Heeler is a working dog that needs a lot of space, a lot of exercise and a lot of jobs to do. It cant just sit around at home like many other dogs otherwise all sorts of issues will arise (both physical and mental). 

Heelers, like BangKaews, can also be very dog dominant, not sure how the two dogs would go together - at the very least would have to be opposite sexes. I think your BangKaew is more than enough dog for an inexperienced household. 

1 minute ago, Liverpudlian said:

Dogs ! Cats are the way to go, they bury there own shit. ????

Lol. The dogs generally shit in one area of the yard that is far from the kids playground so not too bad. Cats cant keep all the visitors away. 

When I got married the wife of the District Office boss said to my Mrs that if a foreigner moves to Thailand then the Thai wife should look after him. If the Thai national moves to the foreigners country then the foreigner must look after her. 

That is how our house works now. The Mrs pays all the bills, and my salary goes into the development of our children and dogs. 

Do it if you want. 600 baht per hour I think is the government rate. As for the work permit, I have done work (both paid and voluntary) for the police. I have told them I have a work permit and they told me we wouldn't mind if you didn't. we just want your help. Of course much better to have a work permit.

3 hours ago, SammyT said:

Co-sleeping kills so many kids in NZ, with many of the Maori and Pacific cultures choosing to have their babies sleep with them in their bed, despite medical advice and prolonged campaigns. Does anyone know if they have similar awareness campaigns in Thailand?

 

RIP little one. 

Was a study done in Melbourne of Thai women who had moved to live there. They were only made aware of SIDS after moving to Melbourne. Cultural beliefs that supposedly are meant to protect the baby, like cutting its hair, are more important to Thais. 

Curious as to what an anti-coup law would achieve as who would enforce it? They cant even find a department to enforce the proposed dog registration law. 

Yes, many are that stupid. The only difference between the silly ones in now and the silly ones TV members want in is this notion of democracy. The vast majority are in it for power and/or money, they are mostly all the same. Or are we looking at populist politics as 'caring' about the people, rather than just buying votes? The Junta must really love the people if we take away this Western bias towards democracy and extend that 'caring' definition to them also with the food cards, handouts and the like.

Most local elections tell us that Thai works on buying votes, not real democracy. The only way to buy votes is to spend big money that you or the country doesn't have or will struggle to continue to fund in the future. 

Personally, I do not mind who is in power after the election. I do not think Thailand is ready to move forward. Would be a little bit like Obama, promise the world but as everyone else isn't quite there yet then much of it just falls flat on its face. Kind of sets everything back a little bit if you haven't taken the necessary steps and preparation. You end up with an even worse person as people see it as stability (fear dramatic change).

But it is a positive this young billionaire has entered the race, just to at least start some new conversations and offer different perspectives. I think the country needs to slowly change for any 'Western' thinking to be achievable. Thai aren't known for immediately taking to new ways, and the ways many on this forum want would be deemed 'extreme' by many locals. Yes, the younger population would handle it easier, but isn't Thai moving to be an 'aged' population in the next couple of years? Those food cards for the elderly are suddenly looking pretty good. 

Just a different perspective. 

Some may find it interesting. Maremmas have historically been used to protect sheep in Italy. In modern times they are used to protect not only sheep but also chickens (see in video), penguins and now being used in an attempt to return a species that is extinct in the wild (Bandicoot). If we can train dogs to distinguish between native animals and pests/predators, then it shouldn't be impossible to train a dog not to kill chickens. Like I said earlier (as the video shows), these sorts of things take 2 years. Mostly for the dog to mature enough to be completely trustworthy. Of course, Maremmas fit into that group where they are the SAS of the dog world (thrown out and left to defend themselves and thousands of animals over large areas of land in harsh weather against serious predators), however, the point is specific training techniques are necessary for all breeds to get the best result. Whether that is to make the dog sit or jump out of an air plane. 
 

Lol, literally the first Google search is a story of a dog that had the chicken taken off his neck and immediately went to kill another chicken. Dogs all have different personalities and we must remember they are scavengers as well as predators. It is beyond silly to think this method would work on every individual animal of a scavenger species. Many would love the chicken being around their necks.

Dogs will happily leave rotting dead chickens in their cages and then eat them 5 days later when hungry/bored, will not only eat rotten flesh but play with it. The chicken on the neck may work on a tiny minority of dogs with specific personalities. It is for lazy people who lack the ability to change/develop as it challenges their traditional ways that haven't worked (bit like Thailand). Guardian dogs will even eat rotten still borns in the field to destroy the scent to predators such as wolves do not get a sniff. 

Other suggestions mentioned are not only proven methods for the vast majority of dogs, but are methods suggested by all respectable dog training bodies. They are also methods used on dogs to actually guard birds (chickens, penguins etc) from foxes and the like. If the chicken around the neck method worked then chicken farms would use that method and save 2 years of training. The fact is they don't, they spend 2 years training dogs to make sure they get the least chicken deaths possible and full trust with the dog. 

On 2/20/2019 at 3:37 PM, spidermike007 said:

Wow. I love it. It echoes the sentiment I hear from Thai people across the nation. Hardly any I have spoken with like him, approve of him, or consider him to be an honest broker of the nation. Most of the approval I have heard, has been from ex-pats on this forum. Few, but some seem to buy into his brand of nonsense. I hope strongly, he and the army are booted out with a passion. 

Not true. The comments from expats that I have seen when quoting you in other threads have come about from the exact same evidence that you use when saying Thai people do not like him. Those expats have got their information from Thai people also, just not the circles you move in. 

I got my information from the scouts sent to find out who people were leaning towards voting a few months ago. So not personal friends or 50 people in each province that justifies a 'poll', but the people sent around to villages. Junta were looking better than what people think on this forum (at least where I am) due to things like the food card for the elderly and putting budgets into agriculture (building markets to sell crop and putting in solar power pumps and dams for farms). As a result some politicians who kept quite about the Junta before are now more happy to share stories on the things they support the Junta doing. 

I don't agree with the guy as a good choice for the long term future of the place, but please don't claim forum members are showing support when their specific words are exactly the same as yours 'Thais I speak to'. 

I also don't like the guy, but the town was up and about when he did visit a few months ago. Selfies galore. I think people just need to have more of a levelled thinking about the whole thing. Yes, many Thais do not like the guy, but it isn't as many Thais as expats on this forum think who do not like him. I think that is your own bias taking over there and just misquoting other expats to justify your own thinking. 

Important to do the shots as the dogs is getting older. Puppies and older dogs are obviously much weaker.

Do it yourself. Buy shots from the vet and do it. Either that or ask the vet, or the government vet if live close to their office to visit your house. Just muzzle him. The traumatic experience the dog will have getting the shots will be less traumatic than dying from disease.

Rabies, local municipality worker may be able to go to your house and do it. Chances are he has had rabies shots in the past if he was a temple dog. But definitely do. 

3 in 1 shot plus rabies. Over in a minute. 

Edit: if don't have a muzzle, just wrap a piece of material around the muzzle like the vets do. If cant give something as important as shots due to fear of biting, then re-home with someone who can or have the dog put down. 

3 hours ago, thaiguzzi said:

I disagree.

If this party is banned,

if the election comes out as a complete farce and fraud,

i think it will be the straw that broke the camel's back.

Thailand & Cambodia are just too historically different, economically, diplomatically, etc etc.

Hun Sen will remain in power until the Khmer people rise up, Mr P will either be on a plane out of the country or hanging from a public lamp post.

It will get messy.

As my previous post said, Enough is Enough.

Watch this space.

Depends if the relevant person or persons comes out and supports it. If we look at the factions and where everyone sits then I think the people will just continue with everyday life regardless of what happens. 

Very selfishly, I wouldn't mind another go with the military (either faction). The military have offered some extra budgets that have developed our area. Budgets made available that skip the steps they usually have to go through. For example, skipping the District Office, so less money is spread around directors and is put into the actual projects they are intended for. Of course, cuts have been taken, however, if you limit the number of people taking cuts then the total baht figure for the project at the end is higher. I am talking local government development. The local military tribunals have also helped limit local corruption for many Thais. 

Of course, corruption is still happening at the top in a big way, and human rights abuses are still happening. But it wasn't a whole lot different in Thailand with democratically elected leaders either...especially for different minority groups. They are all similar, just commit corruption and human rights abuses in slightly different ways. We are basing our extreme hated for the military on this idea that democracy is the perfect system? Isn't the current world trend starting to move away from democracy? I think so conversations do not hit brick walls, people should just comment on policy and potential for future development. As all sides are the same, this 'fatty army official is corrupt' becomes a pretty boring and irrelevant statement, as even with fair elections it will be this 'fatty in a suit is corrupt'. Whereas if policy is critiqued to a greater level, then maybe the forum will not be as boring and we will get a better insight into how different policy actually impacts members. 

Like I said, my opinion is a purely selfish one that benefits my family and I in our immediate area. Our sub-district has gone from having no water, many places no electricity, or any real government offices. Now it has supply water, electricity, roads, street lights, dams and solar powered pumps made available to farmers, solar powered kindergarten, juvenile prison, rice research lab, markets, meeting places with exercise equipment and free WIFI.

The Mrs and I just went to the dental department in Chaiyaphum Hospital a month or so ago. Have 6 or so dentists working and gave them a good and long clean (as no work needed to be done). Like with almost every government dealing in Chaiyaphum if you know anyone who works at the place you need to go then they will just book your number the night before so you can just go in and get it done without waiting too long. Was free for me (under Mrs benefits), but I think the invoice said around 500 baht from memory. 

On 2/11/2019 at 6:20 PM, Eligius said:

You may well be right, Spidermike007. 

I am becoming increasingly interested in the idea that the military is split into two main sides - and that the side of a certain person is turning against Prayut. It could well be.

But even if another faction of the military took over Thailand (in the form of a dictatorship) - it would still be totally unacceptable to anyone who believes in the will and rule of the people, and freedom of expression and conscience.

It wouldn't matter if it is unacceptable within a national context if it is supported by certain people. Very possible for a coup to happen in the future. However, in the immediate future (coup rumours), I don't think it will happen. Prayuth and Apirat are still benefiting from each other enough, at least in the short term. Wait for any real major disagreement. 

On 2/11/2019 at 6:14 PM, spidermike007 said:

We do not know that at this point. One thing I do know from talking to countless Thais about this, is that Prayuth and the army are despised now, more than ever before in recent Thai history. Most Thais, and most ex-pats see right through the charade of guys like Biggest Joke. So, I believe nearly anyone who declares their candidacy, has a good shot at beating the little guy. He is truly hated, and for good reason. Let us hope he is sent out to pasture, with his hapless army. They are not needed, they are not wanted, they are nearly useless.

Not strictly true. Before the princess came out trying to run there were scouts sent around our province (Issan) finding out who people were supporting. With the introduction of the elderly food card and the boost in new markets being built, solar panels for farm pumps etc, the junta weren't looking too bad.

I think where the commoner argument got blurred was that she was still using tax payers money for body guards, for travel, for everything and was also attending events under a title (whether official or not), rather than purely as a commoner. 

34 minutes ago, robblok said:

That is your opinion, they brought royalty into politics a big no no. (anyone thinking that she would not be treated as royalty is crazy). Anyway I don't get it people on the red side hate it that Prayut can't be attacked (and rightly so) and now they wan't a PM who is as untouchable because of her lineal and they applaud it. Guess its good when its in your favor but bad when it goes against you. Seems bias to me. 

 

They thought they could win, but unfortunately for them the other side is still more powerful and smarter. Epic fail of Thaksin not a mythic strategist as many think he is. Still a shocking play keeps things interesting. Maybe something good will come out of this.

 

 

I don't think Thaksin did think they could win. I think he saw the writing on the wall, had no real options so made things interesting for a while. Stir up the pot. At least got people talking about their side of politics/free advertising and the fact there are actually some other possible 'legitimate' runners in the country other than Prayuth. Which will help in future elections, as he sees this one as a bit of a write off. Yes, causing a bit of extra conflict within the country - but we all know none of them have morals if they can get things their way. 

Thaksin was aware of what would happen. Any expat with any sort of half decent Army connection was even aware what was happening before the speech came out late evening putting a stop to it all, so it would be absolutely mind boggling to think that Taksin wasn't all over it. 

I agree with the hypocrisy/bias point though. 

Bravecto or Nexgard where we are seem to be the best bet. Spot ons have failed numerous times on dogs within our extended family so have to go the stronger stuff. Just watch closely for side effects - the vast majority of dogs tolerate them well. 

Not sure if you want to know about prevention or vaccines. There aren't any tick vaccines (which only protects against Lyme) as far as I am aware in Thailand. Prevention is a much better option anyway. 

On 2/2/2019 at 1:27 PM, dick dasterdly said:

Yes, I suspect the vet was taking her age into consideration.  I can't see that any phosphorus level test was done. 

 

Incidentally, her allergy problems cropped up again a couple of weeks ago - and I came down with some 'bug' a week ago, and couldn't 'deal' with chopping up mackerel  ????.  Bearing in mind they get plenty of protein from their mostly raw meat diet, do you think it's ok to substitute the chopped up mackerel for fish oil capsules?

Fish will always be the better option. Although you can get the same amount of omega 3 from the capsules, there are always extra minerals and vitamins that are easier processed by eating real fish. However, obviously you cannot at the moment so the capsules are much better than not giving anything,

Older dogs need higher quality protein than younger dogs in general. Another reason the vet probably said not to worry. 

Have a 1 and 2 year old. First thing you have to do if you decide to have them is get the Thai family on board on the way you want the kids raised...do that during the pregnancy stage. It makes all the difference. Hopefully you have put your foot down about other issues in the past to set a precedent. I took the wife and grandma to our paediatrician quite a few times just so they could hear the way most Thai do it is not an effective way of raising children. Thai culture often dictates that the locals have to respect doctors, so use that to your advantage. 

Wife and grandma ended up being told by the doctor to listen to the farang as farang grow up questioning and learning/updating skills rather than being told to believe myths and fear change. That even though she lectures future doctors, as they have grown up the Thai way her students have absolutely zero social or emotional intelligence and she struggles working with them. Took a few small examples at home such as the kids getting better without antibiotics, and kids being able to use cups and feed themselves at a young age rather than having bottles, but the kid's grandmother soon understood the value in doing it Western ways.

It is important to make a impact on grandma as she will be looking after the kids at times. Both my wife and I also work full time, so grandma (active person) looks after them with a woman we hire. Wife and I both come home at lunch also. You really want grandma to be on board with your methods if she is fit as many nurseries (depending on where you live) you do not want to be sending children to. They either do not supervise enough or drill the hell out of the kids. 

If your wife is a teacher and is also an official then you will get some benefits that would make it easier. 3 months paid leave and imported treatment if required rather than Thai made meds, free health/dental for the kids until they are 20, half price private schooling and free government schooling and university.

Research parenting...the Australian government support a very easy website to navigate that tells you all you need to know - raisingchildren.net.au 

If you feel you are up to putting in the time, and the hard work sorting out the cultural differences then kids are great, certainly changed my life for the better. They make a very positive impact on your life if you do put in the time with them. I moved here at 26, so was thrown into a new culture, new job, planning/building a new house, got a new puppy and at the same time our first child arrived. Organisational skills, routines, warmth, good diet and mental/physical stimulation and a ratio of praising good behaviour 6 times to disciplining bad behaviour 1 time and the kids will not cry all that much other than for developmental stages. 

*Edit: our workplaces give us a lot of flexibility regarding our kids. Both my wife and I take our 2 year old to our individual work places every now and then and my boss allows long lunch breaks and early finishes. If your wife is a teacher and the director seems okay, chances are they will treat you like family, which makes a lot of difference. Afternoon, the kids sleep anyway. So it is really only morning they need to be taken care of. I feed them breakfast, set up their morning snack, and set up some activities for grandma and nanny to do with them in the morning until I come home for lunch. Then I come home the same time they wake up. 

Start at an early age. Leash the dog around the chickens and focus on praising good behaviour. So praise the dog when it is calm, relaxed or is showing no interest at all in the chickens. Like children, praising good behaviour is much more effective than punishing bad behaviour - especially in the context of dogs killing chickens as the punishment nearly always comes too late. 

Depending on breed/size of dog the dog will not be able to be trusted to be alone with chickens until it has matured (lose the urge to bother anymore) - so possibly 2 years old or above. Therefore needs to be separated and continually trained with a leash until it can be fully trusted. 

Naturally, some breeds will be easier than others. Some breeds you can get as pups and as long as they have grown up with some chickens they will not kill them, but protect them. These types of dogs are also used in huge free range farms (with a bit of training as mentioned above). Those same breeds that do not grow up with chickens will kill them like many other breeds. 

Hard work, but by no means impossible. We had a rescue dog that got sent to us back home from a farm because it was killing chickens. Still living with my old man and also chickens, ducks and cats.

Education and mass sterialisation is what is needed in the short term at least. However, mass sterialisation is sometimes difficult due to budget restraints and the law. For example, many municipalities want to fund a sterialisation program in their villages, however, the law does not allow it as the livestock office have to fund the medical side of it. So local officials do try, they just have their hands tied a lot of the time. 

Dog tax has already been proposed and met with some very heavy criticism, so like the people in the back of the pick up law and increasing garbage disposal fee it may just quietly disappear not to be spoken about again.

It doesn't matter what us expats think, what matters is what the locals think. If the locals don't want to make the effort to attend local government meetings and get educated on the matter of roaming dogs and the serious issues they cause (which most do not) then they also must live with the consequences (which it seems they are happy to do). By extension by living here, so should we. Any expat with young children know the dangers, it is up to them how much they choose to supervise their kids. Thais also know at least the surface dangers, but still choose not to supervise. My country didn't have roaming dogs, but parents were religiously reminded not to let young children run ahead or be unsupervised near beaches due to drowning. 

I always thought people should see if they are capable of owning a dog before they have children, especially transitioning from easy breeds to some more difficult breeds to make sure they understand. I believe this as dogs are similar in social development as young children. So the family should be able to  demonstrate they are responsible (feeding, housing, medical needs, entertainment, walking with leash/holding hand, closing gates near roads etc), are consistent in praising good behaviour and being firm when necessary in terms of discipline, can commit to routines so the dog and future child will grow up in a trusting and confident home etc. Maybe an easier option, as the contention is Thais do not love their dogs, is to try and fix the parenting issues and with that the dog solution will naturally solve itself in a few generations with improved education, structure and empathy. 

22 hours ago, dick dasterdly said:

Dogs only bark during the night (as far as I know) - if they are disturbed about something they hear or see?  Otherwise, like us, they mostly sleep during the night.

  

One of my dogs (I can only assume) has taken it has her duty to 'protect us', and barks aggressively  whenever somebody comes close to our house - and I appreciate this.  Both my dogs stay inside the bedroom with me during the night.

Depends on the type of dog. Guardian dogs. for example, are specifically bred to be nocturnal. 

22 hours ago, dick dasterdly said:

Last week I had the full range of blood tests on my dogs, as they're getting old and so I want to know about any potential problems.

 

One of my dogs BUN results was slightly higher than 'normal', and so I asked the vet about this and she said 'slightly too much protein, but nothing to worry about'.

 

Nonetheless, I obviously I do worry about it - and am looking for GOOD ways to reduce the protein in her diet.  As mentioned previously, I feed my dogs a mostly raw meat diet.

 

At the moment I'm thinking about adding more veg./kibble and perhaps baked potato/rice to her diet - whilst reducing the meat content?

If the vet said it isn't something to worry about then I probably wouldn't worry about it (number doesn't seem too high to the vet). The vet is probably looking at the dog from an age point of view (older dogs/possible renal issues around the corner).

Yes, a high BUN isn't perfect, but if you take protein out of the diet then it can lead to other things like reduced glomerular filtration rate (GFR) - so less protein means less blood being filtered through so more toxins staying, and reduced renal plasma flow. 

I think the old thinking was that high protein does have a negative impact on kidneys as studies show that, however, the studies were done on rats, not dogs. As dogs do eat high protein diets, newer (but small) studies have found high protein diets do not cause actual harm, just slightly elevate the BUN - as is the case with your dog.

I am obviously no vet but if I was to have a guess, that is possibly where the vet is coming from. Phosphorus levels okay?