RiverStar-Aura

Yes but I guess this is the way society is heading. There's a huge lack of common sense and when something does go wrong the blame is always on everyone else rather than themselves.

You were the bane of my existence being one of the many neighbourhood cats who roam the streets, torment my dogs and pee on my front doorstep, but finding your body on my driveway this morning before I headed out to work has left me feeling sad. Although you belonged to my next door neighbour, I'm grateful to the person who laid you out at the bottom of our driveway so I was able to let them know your fate. I'm sorry you had to leave us Rosie, and I hope you find peace over the bridge. RIP Rosie

I was actually a bit more diplomatic than actually stating that perhaps I should kick his kids. I merely commented that while the girls hadn't connected with the dog, it was scared of their swinging legs and that I doubt he'd appreciate a similar action directed at his children. Their mother did have the grace to look embarrassed, but if think that was more about being confronted rather than the kids' behaviour, which she had been smiling at. The father basically just told me to mind my own business and that they weren't my kids. Thank goodness they weren't my kids; had they been they would've copped a hiding! And that's why I don't have kids!

I was tempted to scoop the little dog up and take it home. It was very scruffy looking but still cute and I felt so bad for it

I just witnessed the most disgusting behaviour towards a poor, shy dog by a family of two children and their parents. I was standing outside a cafe waiting for my t/a coffee and there's a woman outside chatting to a friend with her SWF leashed to the table. It's being well behaved -- lying down, quiet and minding its own business -- when two children sitting at a nearby table start throwing hot chips to it and being encouraged to do so by their dad. As the dog stretches to reach the food they're throwing out of reach, the eldest of the two girls starts swinging her leg at it making the dog jump away startled and scared. Neither parent said a word and owner is oblivious so I stepped in to stop the behaviour. The parents got annoyed that I said something so I asked if it'd be okay for me to kick at his kids. The owner didn't seem grateful either so I took my coffee and left. WTF is wrong with people?

Kirah also had a dislike of water -- she got completely wiped out once at the beach as a pup and wouldn't go near water from then on. The dog park we frequent has a creek running through it that the dogs love and one day, Kirah came up the bank coughing, spluttering and looking like a drowned rat. I think she'd tried to follow Zeus into the water, dived in thinking it was shallow, the had an 'oh f***' moment when it was deeper than expected. . Since that moment, Kirah loves swimming in still water, however, the waves at the beach still intimidate her so she stands well away from them on the sand. I don't mind her not liking the waves; they are pretty intimidating for such a little dog. Besides which, I don't like the beach myself so it's no big deal!! I know you said you've tried treating Hank, but perhaps the value of the treats isn't high enough. Try things like cheese, chicken or even bits of steak to really get him chasing the food. Then, I'd just sit in the water, perhaps with a book, and just wait him out. It will take time, but with perseverance I think you'll get there.

I use Banana Boat Mineral Protect Kids 30+ SPF on Zeus's muzzle. Even though he has a black nose, his muzzle only has a very fine layer of white fur and he likes to sunbake. It's quite a thick sunscreen and he doesn't lick it off.

I think this is something I'd love to have a go at doing. One photo a day will be far too many for me but I might just manage one a week! I also like the idea of having just the one thread -- that way people can just pop in and go with whatever theme they choose for the year. I'm going to do 52 weeks of Zeus and Kirah -- probably most will be iPhone shots with the occasional digital camera. Good luck everyone!! :D

I got sidetracked on YouTube last night and ended up watching the Crufts 2013 terrier group judging. The Cairn Terrier was pronounced as Care-n. They're gorgeous little dogs and the one at Crufts kinda looked like a salt and pepper coloured Westie!

Interesting idea. I feel like this isn't his problem, but i noticed it with one of my previous dogs, He always itched in summer, i thought it was heat, maybe it wasn't. Very interesting. Denali, if the dog is only getting itchy in summer, he may have mites. My old dog, Poochie used to rip her hair out every summer and it took us about 13 years before a vet did a skin scraping and discovered the mites (I think it was dermodex mites). He said she'd only suffer in summer because her natural immunity that dogs should have against them didn't kick in during summer thus the mites thrived and caused the skin problems. If your Grandmother's dog only seems to suffer this problem during summer, I'd be very inclined to get a skin scraping done at the vets to check for mites. They do the test out the back under the microscope so you can get same day answers and start the meds immediately. If no mites present, at least you know you can cross it off the list of possibilities.

How do you teach a dog to balance stuff like that? I've tried teaching Zeus but he knows he's not supposed to touch it so he turns his face away or backs up and won't let me balance it on his head. The closest I've managed is to balance things on his paws but even then his head is turned away. He's a funny boy my Zeusling! :laugh: Maybe really doesn't look impressed with the stuff on her head but the banana and the froggie are by far the funniest!

I thought the dog looked/appeared stressed too. I'd be worried that the dog would eventually climb up onto the side table and into the cot to investigate further and end up accidentally squashing the baby. Not what I call cute either.

The way I see it, if the dog is overweight to obese on a 1/4 cup dry daily, then the quantity is still too much. Is it a heaped 1/4 cup? You might also find that his itchiness is caused by the chopping and changing of food every other day -- stick with one brand and leave it at that. Weight can be a difficult thing to get a hold of because each dog is different. What is the ideal weight of a CKCS? I've just looked at the ANKC breed standard that states between 5.4 to 8.4 kilos. My own little terrier who weighs 6.4 kilos is perfect weight and she gets fed 1 tablespoon of dry food twice a day; my 14 kilo dog gets 1/4 cup twice daily. I'm thinking this little dog is probably being snuck breakfast, morning tea, lunch and afternoon tea as well as his dinner.

Do I dare even ask what sort of chairs they are? I always figured a vet clinic would use tough, plastic chairs that can stand up to a beating. Their carry on makes it sound like the clinic chairs are $10,000 leather lounges or something. :/ Having said that, my clinic use plastic chairs and I don't think it's ever been an issue with dogs sitting on them. My dogs don't sit on them -- occasionally Kirah will sit on my lap -- but that's just my preference.

Thanks Powerlegs for the link. Interestingly, the research involved only 49 different dog breeds and a sentence in the actual document states that some groups (esp. terriers) aren't well represented. I think only about 10 breeds of the 49 studied are classified as small/toy or terrier breeds. How this labels the study as being about 'small dog syndrome' has me I do know the media jumped on board with it because I saw the article being discussed on The Project for about 10 seconds. There are images of the 49 included breeds in the link that Powerlegs provided.

Thanks for all the replies. I had another good look and comb through and couldn't see any skin flakes so it may just have been dead skin (scurf -- had to google this word). I know it was coming from behind her ears because I use a flea comb on her coat and the flakes only appeared when combing behind her ears and nowhere else. I had bathed her not too long ago as well so I'm wondering if I can factor that into the equation too. I will keep an eye on this in case it does get worse, but I also didn't notice any red inflamed or angry looking skin anywhere, which is why the flakes had me stumped. No worries for hijacking the thread BCC; calendula tea is fantastic to keep on hand. I use it on Zeus's armpits and belly when he gets really itchy insect bites so I have much kudos for Erny for sharing this little secret!!

I've been really enjoying this thread. There are some really well trained, hold still for the camera doggies and some who aren't but still make gorgeous shots nonetheless!! Keep the photos coming! :D Here's the best I had time to get this year. Didn't end up with the typical happy goofball Zeus smiley face, but both their expressions are matching my thoughts about Christmas this year.

I read this as being a vague part of the research. Are these behaviours more prevalent in small dogs because owners are more likely to overlook the bad manners? It could also be due to the fact that the average person is probably under the impression that a small dog is 'easier to look after/train' rather than researching suitable breeds. What exactly does it mean by "owners' reports'? That the owners have been asked for their own assessments of their dogs' behaviours? Also, considering a part of the small dog group are terriers, of course they look similar and have similar shaped skulls and size (although why size is an issue in a "small dog" survey -- one would expect the dogs to be a similar size). I'll be interested to read more of this study when it's released.

What a beautiful story Kirislin; sounds like little Neko has been just what you and Feather needed. Sometimes dogs just click with one another and other times they just don't. Hopefully Neko will give your old girl more fight in her life and keeps her going strong for many more years to come!! :D

For the past couple of days when I've been brushing Kirah, I've noticed white flakey skin coming off from behind her ear -- it resembles soap flakes. Just wondering if anyone has experienced this and how to go about treating it. The skin doesn't appear red, sore or itchy and not scaly either so I'm not sure what's causing it. It only seems to be at the base of the ear where it connects to the skull/head. Weird.

Huski posted on FB there's 2 boys and 2 girls. Nice even split!! I think she said the biggest was 509g too

Huge congrats to everyone involved with Wiz!! Very cute fat maligators!

Ditto This. I also have two dogs, neither of whom are bothered by storms/fireworks/etc. Couldn't vote.

You mentioned in your OP that your dog was constipated -- could that also be part of the reason he won't eat?

He's certainly a very white GR! I love the huge colour spectrum they can come in -- I'm kinda partial to the deep, rich gold (almost brown/tan) myself. He really is a stunning dog! Glad to hear Hank enjoyed his hydrobath -- perhaps if you're able to take help next time, they could shovel him treats during his was too to encourage him to appreciate the wash more!!