ricey

the more I understand about humans, the more I love my dog (all dogs, big, small, purebred, mongrels, smelly, clean, hyper, chilled, focused, scattered, calm, anxious; yep, all dogs). Just so much better behaved than a lot of humans. I guess I'm just a misanthrope, but I'd much prefer to spend quality time with a dog. Dogs have no shit, no agenda, just want a fun time. And they trust us....

Yeah, just had a really close look at Keisha's sterilization certificate. The date is 20/08/2013, not 2008. However, as she was at minimum 18 months when she was sterilized, that still makes her 12 years old. Plus, she is doing fine; just got her latest blood tests back: liver- fine; pancreas- fine; kidneys- fine; RBC count- fine; white blood cell count- fine. My vet checked her HR, temp, resp rate, auscultated her, and palpated her abdomen; all fine. What can I say, except that a boy loves his dog.

14 months now since Keisha was given 1 to 2 months to live. Still going strong. Just had a look at her microchip certificate; it lists Keisha's birth date as 15/08/2009. If that is correct, that means that Keisha is one month shy of being 14 years old. She certainly does not look like she is fixing to die anytime soon. Love this dog more than any of you could possibly imagine (but I guess all of us dog folk do recognise how much we love our dogs). ricey

Hey all, thank you all for your messages. Keisha is still with us and going strong. It is now 5 months since her splenectomy, and she is still prancing about like a pup. I just bought another 3 months' worth of pig's ears and raw hide chews. Perhaps she will die tomorrow but I am an optimist. Go girl! Love you to bits! ricey

Keisha had her spleen removed 4 weeks ago. She had a haemangiosarcoma that ruptured, causing a big intra-abdominal bleed. She survived the bleed, and the surgery. A week after the splenectomy, she chased and caught a big black rat in the backyard. Phuck I love this dog! There's nothing like an old family red American Pitbull terrier when it comes to indomitable. But, she is not indomitable this time. Dogs just don't come back from haemangiosarcoma. Best guess is she has 1 or 2 months at most. The usual story is that she will get a secondary in her heart, liver or lungs. This will rupture, causing a catastrophic and fatal bleed. However, at the moment she is frolicking about like 6 month old puppy. Jo and I are taking as much pleasure as we can with Keisha as she is right now. Previously I had made sure to keep her weight at 33kg, but that is not important now. Now is the time for kangaroo liver treats and pig ear chews. A few of my favourite quotes: "Do you know what love is? Sure I know; a boy loves his dog" "Beware of pitbulls; they will steal your heart" "American Pitbull terrier; anything else is just a dog" I am dying inside right now; this dog brought me back from the brink and I really don't know how I am going to cope without her

thanks for the suggestion of cemetaries; there is one around 4 kilometres away, and also Perth's main cemetery (Karrakatta) that is about 10k away. A nice stroll through Karrakatta, visit and tend the graves of a few old friends who will never grow old sounds rather charming (and Keisha will love the new smells). But I won't be able to let her off-leash; I tried for 3 months to get her used to wearing a Baskerville Ultra Muzzle, with no success. ricey

Yes, i have hired the the private dog exercise area at Morley Vet a couple of times (Morley Vet is my vet of choice, Dr Rodney Sundra is Keisha's vet). Both times, Keisha just stayed by my side and sniffed the dog smells and had her tale between her legs. I guess she was overwhelmed by all the dog smells, much more so than when we are out on walks. At the Morley vet dog exercise area I had her favourite chew toy with us and I tried to get her excited with it by dangling it under her nose and amping her up, then throwing it. She wasn't having any of that, just stayed glued to my side with her tale between her legs. One of the few places that she seems comfortable with is the Bayswater community garden, which is fully fenced, but right next door to the Frank Drago soccer grounds which is an off-lead dog exercise area. Funny thing is, there can be dogs in the soccer grounds barking at her but Keisha doesn't seem upset by them. I guess spending so much time in kennels she has realised that dogs can't get to her through Cyclone fencing. ricey

My lovely girl Keisha is an 11 year old spayed old family red APBT; she has been with me for 4 years. When I adopted her, I knew some of her back story (and it wasn't real pretty). Keisha had been in and out of dog refuges since she was 18 months old, and had a long list of failed foster homes and at least 2 failed adoptions. One of those failed adoptions was by a young dickhead male who got her into fights with other dogs; "my dog is tougher than your dog" scenarios. Yeah, so she has a lot of mental scars, and some physical ones as well. Fortunately, the dog rescue got wind of Keisha's situation and compulsorily "re-acquired" her. When I adopted her, Keisha had been in kennels for months. There aren't a lot of a lot of people who want to foster a fear-aggressive dog that can't be socialised with other dogs. However, Keisha is the most lovely of dogs with humans and people comment on how calm and relaxed she is in my backyard. We have hosted parties and other events and Keisha has been perfectly behaved, especially with children. My 95 year old mother-in-law who lives with us adores Keisha, and it is reciprocated. But.... She is not real good around other dogs and that limits where and how I can exercise her. I have found a few fenced areas where I can safely let her off lead, but these are not always available. My backyard is quite big, but not as big as your typical off-lead dog exercise area. So, any suggestions as to how I am going to exercise this athlete of a dog? I have used my nearby light industrial area for walking (no dogs there, and the couple of guard dogs are easy to avoid). I've used multi story car parks (again, no dogs there and any that are, are locked in cars). Oh, and I have accessed a respected and competent dog behaviorist to assess Keisha, and was told that these behaviours have been so well entrenched that it would be very difficult to ameliorate them. Regards, ricey

I use a Black dog front attach harness when walking Keisha (rescue American Pitbull terrier, 32 kg). After having spinal surgery 4 years ago, I really could not have coped without the Black dog harness, and I am just so happy that my dog behaviourist (Danielle Breusche) clued me up about them. Both of us (Keisha and me) are so much happier on our walks.

Hi sandgrubber, I read (and re-read) the whole article referred to in your original post and I thank you for posting it. Although I am heavily involved in dog rescue, I have never been comfortable with the rescue mantra of "early spay and neuter is mandatory". One size does not fit all, and it would seem that there is good scientific evidence that early neutering can be harmful. While I agree that spay and neuter programmes do a lot to limit the exponential increase in unwanted dogs, I don't want the remaining dogs to suffer unnecessary repercussions from too early neutering. I expect that I will be flamed by my rescue colleagues for questioning mandatory early spay and neutering, but that's to be expected. I have wanted an intact male American Pitbull Terrier puppy for some time now (I have no intention or desire to breed from this puppy, just a desire to keep it intact for health reasons). The registered breeders of any breed can handle intact male and female dogs without (mostly anyway ) unwanted litters and I am sure that I can too. Cheers, ricey

Cream kelpie cross is what sprang to my mind. I'd suggest that she would be best registered as a kelpie cross, for her safety's sake. If she is part dingo (and she looks quite a lot different to all the dingos I have met- all 4 of them lol), I'd suggest that it is a very small part of her that is dingo. Do a google on cream kelpies (images); you'd see a lot of dogs that look like your girl. Of course, there is more than a touch of dingo in kelpie blood lines anyway... There is also a post topic on DOL that is titled "How to tell if your dog is a dingo?" which quickly became a bun fight; here's the link Cheers, ricey p.s. enjoy your dog, as it matters little what she is or isn't (until the dangerous dog Nazis decide she is a restricted breed, and come knocking at your door)

My girl Keisha is a 9 year old rescue old family red nose American Pit Bull Terrier; these dogs are known for their allergies. I tried for 2 years to keep her allergies under control by washing her weekly with Aromesse Dermacton shampoo bar. This worked to a degree, but never really fixed the problem. I removed chicken from her diet and this helped a little bit. I put her on a single protein diet, feeding her Prime100 SK-D Kangaroo and Pumpkin and this helped a lot. However, she was still chewing at her butt and paws, and her armpits were still red and sometimes raw. I finally gave up and spoke to my vet about Apoquel. He advised me that cytopoint injections would be a better option. As I trust my vet completely, I had Keisha have her first cytopoint injection. The next day, the redness was gone and she stopped chewing her butt and paws. My oh my, she was so much happier and relaxed and comfortable. This lasted for 7 weeks until she started chewing her butt again so I took her to the vet for a second cytopoint injection. Same story; the next day the redness was gone and she wasn't chewing her butt. I am ok about having Keisha injected with cytopoint every 6 to 7 weeks in spring and summer (her allergies usually settle in autumn and winter). Cytopoint is not cheap; approximately $155 per injection. With your dog, an injection might only last for 4 weeks, so that's nearly $40 per week. I have been lucky with Keisha in that each injection lasts 7 weeks (8 weeks is a max). If I need to have her injected 3 to 4 times a year, I am happy with that. The improvement in her quality of life is worth it. Cheers, ricey

Yes, Ivy is a goddess and I worship her still. Ivy arranged (and paid) for so many eastern state Pit bulls to be rehomed in WA when the anti pit bull madness struck Victoria, NSW and Queensland. Ivy will never get a mention in the Australia day honours list for her work, but shit she deserves to.

Hi juice, was this dog one of the ones that came through my yard on the way to Ivy in Kalgoorlie? If he was, then he was and is still safe. Cheers, ricey

I have to be a little bit careful about photos. WA is probably the safest state in Australia to own a Pitbull, but I still have to be careful. My Keisha is the best thing in my life and I would not jeopardise her for anything. Then again, my council rangers know exactly what breed she is and collectively they couldn't give a rat's arse. Suffice to say Keisha is an old family red Pitbull and would be recognised as such by anyone who knows the breed type. Do a google on 'old family red' Pitbull (images) and you will see what Keisha looks like. Disregard the cropped ear dogs and the snarling dogs; they are not typical of well bred OFR Pitbull's.

It is over two years since Hobbes left me, and I have a new dog now. Keisha is not a replacement for Hobbes and I never expected her to be that. but she is a beautiful American Pitbull terrier like Hobbes was. Keisha was 2 years in rescue before I put up my hand for her. This time my dog is an Old Family red, rather than tiger brindle and she is rather beautiful. Like Hobbes, she is superb with humans of all ages, but unlike Hobbes she does not have much tolerance for her own species (hence why she spent so long in rescue before being rehomed). My vet (who had a Pitbull in the UK many years ago) expressed some surprise at Keisha's love of humans but dislike of her own species. I pointed out that there are shitloads of humans who are great with dogs but who really detest other humans. Sure I know what love is; a boy loves his dog (and I love my Keisha).

Interestingly, merle is the only unacceptable colouring for pure bred American Pit Bull Terriers. It seems that ethical breeders of the APBT recognised the problem with breeding purely for merle earlier than some other breeders. ricey

My next guess is an Irish Wolf Hound/Border collie cross. ricey

Yeah, as I am an admitted working dog breed tragic, I recognised the cocker in the middle for what it was. ricey

Yay! The old dogs can be the best dogs, no doubt. I have just adopted an 8 year old "Amstaff" (old family red nosed red LOL) and she has brought such joy into my life, and started to fill the hole left when Hobbes my tiger brindle pit bull died. This poor girl had spent 2 years in rescue and usually in kennels as no one wanted to give her a go or deal with her issues. FFS! This is a dog that is perfect with humans, including very small humans, but gets very scared around other dogs. Not that hard in the scheme of things really. As much as I would like to get a puppy and raise it right with appropriate socialisation and training, the adult and senior dogs are more my thing. As to whether this brings me wisdom as outlined in the original article, that is for others to judge. But yes, they help me feel loved. ricey

Ah, yes; the RSPCA Malaga WA. I remember many similar tales over the years. Although not at the WA Malaga RSPCA, does anyone else remember the story of Clive? ricey

Hi showdog, As far as I know (which isn't very far at all ) Keisha's bloods have not been done. I am taking responsibility for Keisha's care to take a little pressure off the over-worked rescue group people, and I am very happy to get done whatever vet investigations are necessary for Keisha. You query her thyroid levels; would high or low thyroxine levels affect her behaviour in this way? I am clutching at straws here, but anything that could help Keisha's behaviours I will try. Keisha really is a lovely dog in so many ways and I would love to see her calm around other dogs. Cheers, ricey

Hi Papillon Kisses and Powerlegs, Thanks for your replies. No, I wasn't given a behaviour modification plan when I fostered Keisha; I have had a phone consult with a respected animal behaviourist and I will be taking Keisha to her for an assessment and recommendations shortly. Hopefully I will then be able to help Keisha, but she is an 8 year old dog and it seems that these behaviours have been reinforced for a long time. I am having to walk Keisha at times when she is unlikely to see another dog (midday Monday to Friday, and at night on the weekends). So far this has been successful in not triggering these behaviours, but sooner or later we will encounter another dog....... I will continue putting the Lovan tabs in a chunk of Prota roll. According to the rescue group, Keisha's previous foster took her off the Lovan and Keisha's behaviour got a lot worse. I don't know if a proper weaning off over time was done, or whether she was just taken off the Lovan abruptly. If Keisha was just taken off the Lovan abruptly, I am not surprised that her behaviours got a lot worse. Humans have to taper off gradually from SSRI meds, and dogs have to as well. Cheers, ricey

Hi all, Keisha ( my new foster Amstaff from Staffy and Bully Breed Rescue here in Perth WA) is on a daily 40mg dose of Lovan (Prozac/fluoxetine) for anxiety. She gets very anxious around other dogs and I am not sure whether it is dog aggression or fear, as I'm not about to let her off lead to find which it is LOL. When I say she is anxious, it is a bit of an understatement; she is majorly distressed; whining, salivating, commissures pulled right back and up, shaking her head, pulling both towards and away alternately from the dog she has seen. Hackles are up, tail is up and flicking side to side. Around people she is the most relaxed and calm of dogs, and is only just a little bit pushy for human attention . Keisha is great with kids and quite submissive with them. Apparently Lovan is considered to be very appropriate for treating anxiety in dogs and the 40mg daily dose is about right for her size (she is 33kg, but probably should be 35kg and I am working on that). My question is this to anyone who has experience with Lovan for dogs; does it have to be dispersed in water as it says on the medicine packet? I have tried to get Keisha to take it this way by dissolving the 2 tablets in a small amount of water and pouring the water (maybe 30ml or so) onto some of her favourite food, but she won't touch it. After this had happened a few times, I dipped my little finger in the solution and tasted it! Yecccch! It tasted like a cross between licorice, aniseed and paint thinners! Bloody awful and I hope I never taste anything like that ever again. I am not surprised that Keisha won't touch it. So, is it OK to just hide the two tablets in a chunk of Prota roll and give it to Keisha this way? She swallows the chunk of Prota so quickly that she never gets a chance to taste the Lovan. Cheers, and thanks in advance for any advice, ricey