MelodysMum

Oh what a sad way to lose someone so special! An unexpected death like this is always so hard to come to terms with. It must be very hard for your dad!

Hugs to you all! My thoughts are with you!

What a beautiful girl! You must be absolutely devastated at her loss. My thoughts are with you at this sad time.

Oh no, to lose the matriarch of the family must be devastating! I am so sorry for your loss! My thoughts are with you at this sad time.

I am so very sorry for your loss. She was a beautiful girl.

Oh no, I am so sorry to read this! I have tears streaming down my face! I know how much Tara meant to you. As a fellow cocker lover I know what it means to lose such a special girl as Tara.

My thoughts and prayers are with you at this devastating time. Rest easy Tara, beautiful girl. Hugs to you T & S!!!

I am very sorry for your loss. Tiny Tim looks like he was a wonderful little man. You gave him a special home to live out his days and I'm sure he loved every minute of it.

Thank you for giving him such a special life. He died happy and loved. Rest easy Tiny Tim!

Oh how sad! But how wonderful that she was loved before she died. RIP little Cookie!

Oh how sad! Muscovies are wonderful. Ducky was a beautiful girl and I am sure you will miss her. My thoughts are with you.

Oh how sad! You must be devastated! I am so sorry for your loss! Run free little angel Loulou!!

I am so sorry for your loss. My thoughts are with you in this devastating time.

I am so sorry for your loss! Henry was such a beautiful boy! My thoughts and prayers are with you at this difficult time.

I am so sorry to read this. Dante was a beautiful boy and you must be devastated. My thoughts are with you.

Is she desexed? A dog with pyometra will have a dramatically increased water intake. I hope it isn't that, but the increased water intake was the first thing I noticed when my girl Brianna had pyometra in November.

I hope it is nothing serious!

temperamentfirst, I was watching Brianna rolling around on the floor tonight, just playing and enjoying herself, and kicking out with her back legs. If you didn't know you could have thought that her legs were twitching. I think your parents' dog was just being a normal cocker. :)

It is definitely not cocker rage, which is more of an urban myth than anything. There were so few cockers with anything like what was supposed to have been cocker rage, but someone brings it up every time a cocker does something differently from what is expected.

Had your parents by any chance just put something like Advantix, or some other 'spot on' flea or tick treatment on her? Brianna will run around and rub herself on the floor after I do that. She hates it. It could definitely have been an allergic reaction to something too.

Brianna will sometimes run around crazily and try to dig holes in the lounge, just when she is feeling a bit full of energy and bored. We say she has gone "cracker dog". She just races around the house, jumps up on the lounge, bounces around, scratches at the cushions, then jumps down again. :) She is just happy and wanting to be bouncy and play around, but it doesn't make her heart race. Are you sure it wasn't just that she had been running around energetically and seemed a bit puffed? They can get themselves pretty excited at times! :)

I have checked re flea treatments, garden sprays etc. I did find out they have been giving her liver treats from China and pet grade meat - wonder why I try sometimes as I repeatedly tell them to only use meatfruit able for humans to avoid preservatives etc, and I buy them liver and lamb treats from Cafe Bones which are Australian products.

I do wonder if my dad just got anxious - when she is here she is very active, but at their place she doesn't get much exercise, so it may have been exuberance. I keep telling them she needs more exercise and they used to have a dog walker, so when she goes home I'll try again.

I really think it is just that your dad is a bit anxious about her. It very much sounds like normal cocker behaviour to me. :)

It is definitely not cocker rage, which is more of an urban myth than anything. There were so few cockers with anything like what was supposed to have been cocker rage, but someone brings it up every time a cocker does something differently from what is expected.

Had your parents by any chance just put something like Advantix, or some other 'spot on' flea or tick treatment on her? Brianna will run around and rub herself on the floor after I do that. She hates it. It could definitely have been an allergic reaction to something too.

Brianna will sometimes run around crazily and try to dig holes in the lounge, just when she is feeling a bit full of energy and bored. We say she has gone "cracker dog". She just races around the house, jumps up on the lounge, bounces around, scratches at the cushions, then jumps down again. :) She is just happy and wanting to be bouncy and play around, but it doesn't make her heart race. Are you sure it wasn't just that she had been running around energetically and seemed a bit puffed? They can get themselves pretty excited at times! :)

I really do understand what they are trying to do, and I think it is great that they are trying to stop puppy farmers, but I don't think this is the way to go about it.

I don't know what the answer is!

I made a comment about this on animal behaviourist Joanne Righetti's FB page where she was urging people to sign the petition. I said that I understood what they were trying to do, but that many registered, small hobby breeders who produced wonderful dogs would not be able to afford the annual fee. Tim Vasudeva CEO of the NSW Animal Welfare League responded and I have been having an ongoing discussion with him.

ETA, I have removed the quote by Tim Vasudeva, as I probably shouldn't put it on here, let's just say he thinks that all breeders sell their puppies for $1500 each, litters have at least five puppies in them and all breeders should be able to cover their costs or they aren't trying!

I replied to him -

I don't know what sort of puppies you are talking about, but the breed of dog that I own is $800-$850 per puppy, not $1500. When you have paid for genetic testing for your dogs, hip scoring, eye testing etc., progesterone tests to ensure the bitch is ovulating, sometimes artificial insemination, ultrasounds, stud fee, vet's fees for difficult deliveries or C-sections, vaccinations and micro-chipping of the puppies, etc., it will be very difficult to cover costs. Not everyone is lucky enough to get 5 puppies in a litter!!

Registered breeders already pay annual membership to the canine council (DogsNSW), to their respective breed clubs, and annual prefix fee on top of all that. Some breeders don't even have one litter every year, so how can they afford to pay an annual fee of $500?

I am not saying it won't close down some of the large-scale breeders, I am saying it will also cause a lot of the small registered breeders to stop breeding. Why should the ones who are doing the right thing have to subsidise a scheme to stop the ones who are doing the wrong thing? Why penalise the people who are doing it right?

It's really scary! I couldn't believe it when I saw people who I thought should have known better sharing it on their FB page. It is not the RSPCA though, it is the AWL.

What a beautiful tribute to a special girl! You gave her such a wonderful life! I am so very sorry for your loss, but very thankful that you came into Tess's life and taught her what it meant to be loved.

My thoughts and prayers are with you.

I thought so, I loved it there, they have the most wonderful breakfasts, and the service was amazing. So was our room! I'd love to go back! :)

Thanks pers, love this app! Tried it out today and it's great! Stupid photobucket has ruined them though. Anyway here they are:

View from the 11th floor at work. These pics were taken through a very dirty window unfortunately but I just love the view from up there!

Is that Oaks on Market? I stayed there last year, it was really beautiful, I loved it!

This looks like a great app, I'll have to download it. :)

It must have been a terrible shock, and you are understandably devastated. My thoughts and prayers are with you at this very sad time.

I am so sorry for your loss! Morgan looks like such a lovely girl.

Oh what a beautiful girl Sharnie was! I am so sorry for your loss, you must miss her terribly! My thoughts and prayers are with you.