Kirislin

it would be enough to turn me off buying a pup if they were the conditions, but I can see why breeders feel the need to do it. Very sad.

This is the first I've heard of it. I dont know the boys names so they're safe from me. But you dont need a big knife to stab with. A little pointed veggie knife will do the job. The only ones who know what happened are the kids. Should be easy enough for them to clear their names. How come they dont tell?

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Thank you Stellnme and Scottsmum, your thread has helped me too. Since I wrote my comment above I have been to the vet, and he was equally as helpful. One thing he said to me is only focus on the quality of life reasons for letting her go, not any other factors because then I will just feel guilty. I won't take up anymore of your thread with Feather but I'm glad I read it.

I have just read this thread. It caught my eye because I am about to go through something similar and am trying to work myself up to making that final decision. Every word you wrote hit home with me, I understand what you went and are still going through. How lucky he was to have found you in the twilight of his life.

My friend got some recently with whole heads attached. He said the dogs loved them beaks and all.

is he thin? Does he seem hungry? I'd be basing how much I feed him on those things. BTW this thread is in the wrong place. You can ask Troy to put it in General or Health and nutrition.

amazing that if she was friendly she'd been living rough all those years. You'd think she would have buddied up with someone.

What does the vet think?

Such a huge problem nowadays because there are so many breeds of dog that aren't suitable for just anyone to own, but it's a free country and there's nothing stopping certain types of people owning certain types of dogs. What can you do?

You're such a softie

She's been doing well ever since. Back to eating, although she has to be hand fed, but I indulge her because I suspect it's a bit of senility that is the reason she just stares at her food and wont pick it up herself, and even if it is just being spoilt, I dont care, it's not that hard to feed her by hand, so what if she's got me wrapped around her skinny little paw for the time she has left.

Feathie hates having her photo taken but I got this last weekend while she was snoozing outside. I had a friend and his dogs come to visit and even though she mostly sleeps she still doesn't like to miss out on anything, so instead of sleeping in my bed, she still comes out to socialise, by sleeping in public :D instead of in private. That's Neko she is using as a pillow. IMG_4170dpp by kirislin, on Flickr

I saw that too. Very clever.

Feather whippet will be 15 next month. She is thin and frail and takes a lot of nursing, but she's only on one medication and although she mostly sleeps she still has her moments of joy, happiness and animation, so I don't think her time has come. That almost changed in the early hours of Wednesday morning. I was roused from a deep sleep by a dog panting under the doona. I pulled back the cover and poor Feather was just laying there, immovable, panting frantically with bulging eyes and bright red gums. She'd lost bladder control which she NEVER does normally but the area around her mouth was just as wet from her panting. My my poor little girl had got too hot under the doona but was trapped by the other dogs and possibly my legs, and she was too weak and frail to get out of there. I yanked all the bedding off and laid her on a damp towel and then put a damp face washer on her chest and turned the fan on her. I started syringing water into her mouth but it still took about 20 minutes for her to stop her frantic panting. After a while she seemed calm but when I tried to get her to stand she couldn't. She could use her front legs, but her back ones just dragged behind her. I just lay beside her till morning and continued to rehydrate her by syringing honey water every few minutes. I made an appointment with the vet but the earliest I could get in was 11.45am. She hadn't tried to stand once since I'd "rescued" her from under the covers at about 2.20am. I carried her outside once it was light and she was weak but able to have a wee, but when she came back inside she didn't want to open her eyes and the inner eyelid was halfway across her eyes. I wondered if she might have had a thumping migrane from dehydration. I sat sat beside her on my bed with my hand on her chest feeling her heart beat so weak, and her breathing so slow, I was sure she was dying. I even rang and cancelled the vet appointment as I didn't want to stress her and thought she wouldn't make it to 11.45am anyway.. But that time came and went and she just continued to lay there peacefully. Then sometime around 1pm she lifted her head and her eyes looked a bit clearer. I lifted her off the bed and she was able to make her own way outside for a wee, then toddled back in and went to the fridge making it very clear she'd like a bite to eat!. So I happily fed her and since then she's recovered and is back from the dead to her normal self! I know she won't be around for very much longer, we take each day as it comes, but clearly I had it wrong on Wednesday and she told me, not today mummy, not today.

I hope that lying selfish idiot never gets another pet.

very cute. Do they go back to their mums after hours or are they all orphaned? And something I've always wondered, what happens to them when they stop looking like babies?

sometimes the failures work out to be the best of all. Marcus wanted me to take a photo of Nekos puppies all sitting together looking intently at the camera. I never did succeed in getting him that shot but I think what I ended up with was much better. I don't know how to link it with this thing but it's the photo I took of them all NOT cooperating and I love it.

Neko yesterday at the whippet fun day. IMG_3665dppt by kirislin, on Flickr IMG_3668dppt by kirislin, on Flickr

Pads are usually difficult to stitch, they often pop them open, I wasted my time (and money) and put my whippet through a GA unnecessarily getting her paw stitched. In the end I let it heal on its own.

I thought that too.

Secret had her first go at live coursing yesterday. She chased a real bunny that had strayed into the back yard! It was only a baby bunny and it wasn't too frightened of her by the looks of it. It only ran half heartedly and she was very uncertain and followed cautiously. It was quite funny. I think the bunny could have bashed her up it it wanted to, she must have thought so too, because she kept a safe distance behind it.

we had a Peke when I was a kid, Pixie. She was a great little dog, she was a pedigree but looked nothing like the show ones of today, her coat was different, not as thick, it was long but not that fairy floss coat that I see in the ring. She did snuffle and snort a bit but her face wasn't as exaggerated and her legs were a bit longer. She was such a fun loving little dog, I've always had a soft spot for them because of her.

Oh No! Neko what have you done? You've eaten a mermaid!!! IMG_3566dpp by kirislin, on Flickr

very cute. the middle one looks fluffier than the others. Do labs ever come with long coats?