Mags

Hope your daughters little dog is OK. We had issues here with out of control huskies a few years ago - good luck with council ours was totally useless as they were only out to jump fences and attack other dogs outside council hours and surprise, surprise there were no huskies registered in our area.

Nodding here too and not just in regard to cattle.

Healthy (without me making them) dog and cat treats would be wonderful. No garlic for the cats please.

My vet has never vaccinated my old dogs (or cats for that matter) - they suggest geriatric bloods instead - a much better option imo as we can monitor how they are going and pick up anything early which we have done on a couple of occasions. Really can't get my head around the continued & unnecessary over vaccination of companion animals even after the veterinary association protocols have changed.

Lovely boy congrats Gayle hope he fits in well with the rest of the dogs.

When we had a dog wih cancer, an aggressive form of mammary cancer some years ago I found a terrific little book called Pets Living with Cancer: A Pet Owners resource http://www.amazon.com/Pets-Living-Cancer-Owners-Resource/dp/1583260226/ref=pd_ys_iyr59 As I said that was years ago and there will be more current info available but it really helped us through and we did change Dink's diet - no processed foods (to keep away from the carbs) - she ate what we made, only gave her purified water and just tried to keep her as stress & chemical free as possible. We also decided we would make sure her pain was controlled. To our vets surprise (as he had not thought she would last 6 mths) we had her with us for another 18 mths and she finally succombed to the medication not the disease. She was an older dog so we had decided not to put her through surgery as we were advised this would not really increase either her quality of life or extend her life for more than a few months. I really wish you well on your journey. Here if you want to chat.

I would have thought seeing that they were taking the puppy to eat. Wouldn't have occurred to me they were taking the puppy so it could grow up with their troup.

Horrible for his poor family. RIP little man.

What a beautiful girl that you so much for sharing ehr with us and I am so very glad she is spending her golden years with people that love and cherish her.

The two we currently have are rescues. With Bertie no planning at all and not the type of dog we every thought we would come home with - he is a Pap x Pom and came home with us as it was Christmas eve and it just seemed wrong that such a sweet little dog had been mistreated and discarded. We had only called in to the vets to wish everyone a merry christmas and came home with young Bertie. We also have Katie our grey who has been with us for a few months now. She is a lovely dog and we will get another grey when we are ready for another dog. She is just perfect for us at this stage in our lives. Katie is happy with a half hr walk each day plus charging around the yard like a loon with tiny Bertie a couple of times a day. I have recently been ill and could not take her for her walks which worried me - it really didn't seem to matter she and Bertie just did more chasing around the yard to make up for it. Katie was planned - we had been wanting a grey for some time. She is gentle and sweet and gets on well with our cats and Bertie. Requires little grooming though loves her brushes so she gets one every day, doesn't really seem to have a doggie odour. Travels well in the car. Rarely barks but has barked defensively when she was concerned about something going on which surprised the heck out of me as I didn't expect it from a sighthound. She is a rescue so does have some issues we are working through but nothing serious and certainly nothing that make her a problem to own. We have always had working or gun dog breeds so Katie was a change for us but the right one. I had meet some beautiful companion greys in my teens/early twenties and the breed has always interested me so over the years have always taken the time to talk to companion grey owners I met. After we lost our last ACD and were starting to think of adding another dog to our family it seemed like the right time for a grey. We did want one that was small dog and cat friendly so we had to wait for the right dog to come along. My OH initially had some reservations about greys joining our family but has fallen for Katie's charms amd agrees for now they seem to be just the perfect breed for us.

What I was thinking too.

We have a terrific bin from Advance and also rubbermaid storage bins for our cat and dog food

Feel for your elderly neighbour - perhaps she could get a water crow to keep the wanders off her garden - absolutely disgusting that they are using it as a toilet and so pathetic of the neighbours to make that comment - hiding indeed. The other option is to get a trap and get council to take them away. If the owners have to pay to get them out of the pound they might think twice about letting them wander. Unless you have a Zoi she could borrow at different times (that won't dig up the whole garden lol)

And not only by sight hounds and certainly not the dogs fault - if the dog was torn up by the cat is the cat owner going to pay the vet bills? As has been said people need to keep their cats contained. We have cats (indoor and outdoor enclosure only) and we are currently having to deal with tom cat stink down the side of the garage because our neighbours think it fine to let their entire male wander. Also sick to death of having the native wildlife killed - our dogs don't touch them, our cats don't have access and yet our garden is frequently a killing field. I certainly don't want the disease risk from wandering cats - if you want an animal keep it contained don't make it someone elses problem. This is why so many people say they hate cats - personally I think the owners are the oxygen thieves. Wandering cats have a life expectancy of 3-4 yrs for obvious reason. Might be fine on a farm (and even then most people I know desex their cats) certainly isn't anywhere else. And thank goodness for the lovely Katie, rescue grey, who keeps most of our yard wandering cat free despite seeming to have no prey drive and getting on well with our own cats.

so cute - does this mean you will have a foster failure as Carl can't lose his little buddy?

Have to agree with you the dog was no longer a danger so why fire?? Doesn't make sense and does make you wonder doesn't it.

BARF or Big Dog patties is very similar - BARF has 3kgs to a box v Leading Raw 2.72 kg Have tried BARF and the formula really seems to have changed so do not use it anymore - have gone back to human grade raw plus dry which seems to be working well for our dogs.

Perhaps a small rescue might suit. We have a 4kg Pap x and he is a dear little dog who is developing lovely manners (did take lots of work to get where we are though as he didn't have many when he arrived) that loves every one (people, other dogs, cats) and is bright as a button. He has a long coat but it is easy care. He is agile and clever and plays at full speed with our grey. He is bossy whilst playing but she ignores him so it works well. He is not overly vocal but will warn us of intruders and is smart enough to know the difference between wandering cats and our own (indoor and cattery only) - he with the help of his large friend will quickly tell wanderers to leave the premise. He does the telling Katie, who has no prey drive, just stands behind him and the wandering cat leaves quickly.

Such a shock to see you had lost Benson - so very sorry.

Had a look at leading raw - not readily available in NSW even if I wanted to use it.

Really sorry for your losses never an easy thing. We have always just waited and the right dog has come along in its own time. The last time we rescued a dog a month before we lost our last dog (and we knew the time was coming). Not something we were planning, not the type of dog we normally have but just the dog we were suppose to have. We went to the vet to wish them a merry christmas and came home with our tiny man - who was to be put down for aggression - not a mean bone in his body from what we could all see so being Christmas and all it just seemed wrong so home he came with us after the vet talked to his owner and we talked it over. He was badly underweight, had been shaved off to get rid of bad matts, and being eaten alive by fleas. And then Katie our rescue grey came home four months later again not because it was the right time for us but because it was the right time for her and she was the right dog for us. I wish you all well at the right dog finding your family when its time.

We feed human grade raw for this reason to both our cats and dogs and only from our local butcher not from the supermarket chains. We buy meat in bulk and break it down ourselves - much cheaper and the quality is so very much better. I do not know how our governments thinks it OK to let these companies continue to self regulate - when they have proved time and again they can not be trusted to do the correct thing. Truth in labelling should be mandated and these companies should be prosecuted when they do not comply, they should also be forced to pay for the damages they cause. At the moment there is absolutely no consequences for their failure to provide a safe product fit for the use for which it is being sold. Interesting that guide dogs are now using raw only and are marketing their product - has anyone tried it? and is it sulphur dioxide free?

I am glad no one told my cats and dogs they aren't suppose to get on. They all love each other and the dogs are both rescues, one a grey, so have no clue if they were around cats when they were puppies. Love all the pics thanks for sharing.

We have had issues with the neighbours - we fenced off that side of the yard so our dogs could not get near the fence (really annoying that your dogs can't use all their yard but necessary). And then trained the dogs to ignore the idiots - the dogs were already trained to eat only if given a release word. And yes they tried to throw food to the dogs most of which fell into the no go area and the dogs were terrific made no effort to get in to eat it or eat anything that made it to their area. When they stopped getting a response from us and our dogs they stopped bothering to cause issues - no doubt found someone else that was better sport. Morons like this pester you because you react and unfortunately moving does not ensure you won't end up living next to idiots - they may just be other idiots. Goodluck at finding a solution you can live with - shame that some people need to make other peoples life hell but our society seems to reward the behaviour so its not likely to stop anytime soon.

Totally agree with what is said here. A 32% hit rate for drugs is concerning I would have thought and a reason to continue the dogs use - not a reason to stop them. And whilst finding 5 in 551 searches positive is a low perscentage it really concerns me that they found 5!!! As a tax payer I am more than happy to fund there continued use with these results - I can only imagine the cost if we had to use officers to do these searchs especially if they were to be as effective. Much happier in fact than I am at funding three levels of government. Perhaps Mr Shoebridge would like to justify his position in $$$$ terms as I certainly can't see value for $$$'s spent in local/state/federal parliament.