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Ruin Maniac

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  • Gender
    Female
  • Interests
    History, palaeolithic and pleistocene archaeology, SWFs, octopi, lychees, jogging, ceramics

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    VIC
  1. Thanks again everyone for your kind words, advice and considerations. I am trying to pull myself together, I still get upset now and then. I know it will get easier. Thank you.
  2. I have the very same problem, and with friends that have a fear of dogs (not so extreme that the sight of them makes them panic, but certainly not the kind of people who want a dog that's half their height on his hind legs jumping on them) it is really, really frustrating that people just cuddle and coo and play with Sully when he jumps up.
  3. Depends on the circumstances. Dangerous dog in dangerous dog collar out and offlead attacking a pedestrian and her two dogs? You're going to get reported. 6 mo german shepherd earlier today, escaping out the side gate as someone was leaving and pottered down the driveway to say hello? Not going to get reported.
  4. Goodness. I completely understand wanting to save a dog if it is being brought in for euthanasia for ridiculous reasons, and I'm sure there are people that make excuses. But that doesn't mean you can just make the assumption. What if the dog is suffering? What if its a danger to people and their pets? Why would you be willing to save one life at the risk of making the animal or others suffer and even put other lives at risk? I gave my oldest friend his wings just this week. He needed them. I would be furious if anyone for a moment thought of "saving" him, unless they had a miracle cure for inoperable cancer up their sleeve. It's like those idiot "rescuers" that rehome dangerous or special needs dogs without disclosing their history. I don't understand how anyone can get an "I did a good thing" kick out of that.
  5. Fortunately our ravens are very friendly. Sully sleeps outside when it's sunny and, if he's too lazy to stop them, the ravens will fly down a few feet away and peck around, or steal some of his water or food if he brought any with him. The other day I left a bag of wool out so the birds could use it for nest making, but it was the ravens that were most comfortable coming down and taking their pick. One flew off with a piece almost as big as she was. Quite funny :)
  6. Thank you, Dogmad. I'll do just that, it sounds like a wonderful idea. Suleiman is a great comfort to me, and knows something is wrong. He's been cuddling me, trying to engage me in play and even appears to be trying to share things. Hasn't stirred up any trouble that he normally attempts when he wants me to notice and is very quiet rather than super vocal. I'm not sure if I'd cope at all without his company right now.
  7. Thank you everyone. We followed the recommendation for the anti-biotic and he was put on some stronger painkillers. For a while he was perked up, eating and enjoying himself, jumping up to play sentry on the balcony whenever anything went by and we thought he might be okay for a while. Unfortunately he took a very serious turn for the worse yesterday. My parents were kind enough to contact me and ask me what I wanted them to do. He was given his wings at 6:00 PM. I wanted to be there so badly. I thought about booking a flight there today. But I thought I might just distress him as I am already a sopping mess and leaving Suleiman in the care of strangers while I'm in this state too would probably be very confusing and stressful for him. Even still, I feel really horrible for not being there. My parents cuddled him the whole time, and they said it was very peaceful. I'm so sorry that he's gone, and so happy he's free of pain. It's a hard feeling.
  8. Hi everyone, My childhood dog has been getting on in years - he lives with my parents, since he was too old to come here with me, having never travelled such a long distance. Over the course of six weeks, he's been losing his appetite and subsequently his body weight rapidly. He became lethargic and appeared to be depressed. The house he lives in was undergoing renovations when it started, and my parents thought at first that he just didn't like the noise or the change, but when the renovations stopped he didn't improve. He went to the vet, was diagnosed with a fever, had bloodwork done and was kept overnight for monitoring and fluids, since he hadn't been drinking. The bloodwork showed that he had an infection of some sort, he was prescribed antibiotics and sent home. The antibiotic did not help, and my parents returned to the vet. He was given a stronger one. Still feverish, but nothing outwardly off and no signs other than a loss of appetite. Bloodwork was taken again. This time the vet said they suspected something was wrong with his liver. Yesterday he had an ultrasound. It's cancer, and it's consumed a huge part of the organ. He has an infection that is somehow related (parents couldn't explain exactly how, but they were very upset when they spoke to me). The veterinarian said it was unlikely it could be operated on, and he already has an infection. Chemotherapy doesn't sound promising either. I don't want him to be in pain, but I feel like he's too young for euthanasia. More than anything, I don't want to let him go at all. But I want to do what's best for him and the vet thinks it's the right course of action He has pain medication and a warm bed, but he's not eating. I'm told by others that this probably means he is a lot of pain, even if he isn't showing it. My parents would prefer he stay at home, and that we take him if we notice he's no longer happy. But I'm not sure he is happy, and I don't want to prolong his suffering. Is it kinder for us to give him his wings now? This is really hard. I just feel like crying all the time.
  9. My biggest concern is ***holes reporting dogs for "charging" them because they don't have to prove it happened with a medical bill. I know some people who hate dogs enough to file a false report. There was a discussion regarding dogs on our campus the other day and it's unbelievable the amount of fear and ignorance people had of the animals. They were advocating that dogs shouldn't be allowed in public at all.
  10. The other issue would be if they were being kept where they might be noticed, and the publicity got them scared because they had more to hide than dog thefts.
  11. What I saw was the dog only lunged when the officer himself appeared to lunge at it as if to scare it off. Bad. Plan. More than anything what infuriates me is that, in four shots at close range, this officer was unable to put the poor thing out of its misery. If his aim, when uninjured, is that terrible and his conduct even after it was totally disabled that cruel, then he should not have a gun.
  12. Sarcasm alert! Don't you silly people know? Dogs are animals! They breed in the wild, they can do it themselves, there's ZERO human intervention needed, EVER! Dogs don't need C-sections (and that's the ONLY thing breeders, like, actually ever do for their pregnant dogs, that's all their efforts surmount to), that's totally UNNATURAL. If they needed surgery in the wild, they would die, duh. You OBVIOUSLY don't care about them if you're breeding dogs that would DIE in the WILD because they are WILD ANIMALS. Oh, did I mention we need to stop breeding them anyway? We should make it so people can only adopt desexed dogs from shelters. Yeah. They'll be totes fine without those horrible breeder people. I mean they can breed on their own, so yeah, it will be SO much better. WHAT? What do you mean that will make them go extinct? How do you think they survive on their own? You make it sound like I want to kill them all or something, YOU'RE THE ONE THAT SUPPORTS ANIMAL CRUELTY. YOU GET DOGS FROM BREEDERS. Seriously, though. I exaggerated the language and cut out a lot of terrible analogies but I've had arguments with people whose position basically boils down to the above. At university. People who are supposedly the future of the country. In a subject that had a significant animal science component. It is an epidemic. What I really don't understand is how there are millions of people with millions of dogs in this country, when only a handful know anything about their behavior and how to recognize it, their needs - nevermind their biology. It is the cause of so many problems.
  13. As I said, Whippet. It's not necessarily the buyers who are posing a threat to the PB dog, it's the lawmakers. As long as there's this strong perception that pedigree breeders are greedy, contemptuous, self-absorbed and cruel, then the law is going to do you no favours. We have well-meaning idiots and not-so-well-meaning animal rights advocates to thank for that.
  14. If you want it to survive, and with current legislation that writes breeders off as criminals because people know no better (it's true! The number of people who give me the most horrified looks when I talk about purebreeders is astounding), you have to educate and be open to the public. So many people don't know. Just recently someone at my university was talking to a group of students, myself included, about getting a new dog. He had a very, very specific temperament and set of qualities in mind (low shedding, active enough to go on bicycle rides, playful, intelligent and responsive to training, alert, needed to be suited to spending time alone during the day, etc). I was shot down IMMEDIATELY when I suggested finding a breeder. The kid was convinced to get a rescue (which isn't a bad thing at all, but these kids were talking like every rescue dog will fit that bill without fail and that all breeders are murderers for "stealing" homes from abandoned dogs). And this attitude is rife. I found myself defending purebreeding in a class where we were discussing the domestication and selective breeding of companion animals for specific purposes, practical or aesthetic. I was one of 2 people in a class of 25 who believed purebreeding (dogs) has any benefits at all. All the others thought it was an abhorrent and selfish practice. They do not know the difference between ethical purebreeders and puppy farmers. They think the intentions of purebreeders are to create pretty dogs to sell or show for a tonne of money and its very hard to convince them otherwise. Some cited their own "purebred" dogs with health problems as examples of how breeders don't give a s*** about their animals - shockingly, they couldn't give me a prefix when I asked about it. Legislation is reflecting these attitudes, and people are supporting it. Even if you're selling every litter before its born, that doesn't prevent well-meaning idiots from making and enforcing laws that will drive you into the ground. I make every effort, every opportunity I get, to explain my stance on purebreeding and its benefits and I direct them to resources when they are open to it . But more needs to be done, by clubs, by individual breeders and owners if we want to shake off this stigma.
  15. I think that discussion warrants its own thread?
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