mita

My tibetan spaniels have always done this. Dogs can't get rid of the heat generated from exercise by perspiring, as we can. They can only do it by panting. Which is slower. So they can need some 'breaks' during a long walk, to let the body heat drop a bit. And they may 'sit' to take a break, off their own bat. Even 1 klm counts as a longish distance, for a smaller dog. I actually give my small dogs a break now & again on a longish walk. Shows up in an even more marked way with the shorter muzzled dogs, because their respiratory systems are that bit more inefficient again, in getting rid of body heat generated from exercise. Apart from that, I have no idea if your dog has an injury or sore spot.

And DOL is a public forum with 23,000+ members. So there's public education involved here.

I'm not even a breeder but I once got an email from a stranger asking did I know someone who had a young undesexed male p/b tibbie for sale. This person had bought a p/b female tibbie puppy some months back, promising to get her desexed as she wanted a pet. BUT...you've guessed it....the pup had grown so pretty & with such a lovely nature. Now the owner thought it was a big pity not to let her have one litter, so the world could have some more pretty & lovely natured little dogs just like her. Obviously, she hadn't contacted the original breeder & was searching elsewhere. Somewhere a person (who didn't know too much about the dog world) must've told her I owned tibbies.

We had a little dog that had separation anxiety. She would jump all over me, screaming at top note when I arrived home. The behaviorist vet told us (among many things) to ignore her completely for 15 minutes when we arrived home. Turn our backs on her jumping & screaming. We did that for a week or so. Then a funny thing happened. When we'd arrive home, she'd ignore us for 15 minutes. She'd just take a glance & then go back to doing whatever she was doing.

Or my childhood favourite song by Burle Ives. There was an old lady who swallowed a fly. It was a children's rhyme that Burl Ives put to music. I think it was originally one of those 'memory rhymes' taught to children. There was an old lady who swallowed a fly I don't know why she swallowed a fly - perhaps she'll die! There was an old lady who swallowed a spider, That wriggled and wiggled and tiggled inside her; She swallowed the spider to catch the fly; I don't know why she swallowed a fly - Perhaps she'll die! There was an old lady who swallowed a bird; How absurd to swallow a bird. She swallowed the bird to catch the spider, She swallowed the spider to catch the fly; I don't know why she swallowed a fly - Perhaps she'll die! There was an old lady who swallowed a cat; Fancy that to swallow a cat! She swallowed the cat to catch the bird, She swallowed the bird to catch the spider, She swallowed the spider to catch the fly; I don't know why she swallowed a fly - Perhaps she'll die! There was an old lady that swallowed a dog; What a hog, to swallow a dog; She swallowed the dog to catch the cat, She swallowed the cat to catch the bird, She swallowed the bird to catch the spider, She swallowed the spider to catch the fly; I don't know why she swallowed a fly - Perhaps she'll die! There was an old lady who swallowed a cow, I don't know how she swallowed a cow; She swallowed the cow to catch the dog, She swallowed the dog to catch the cat, She swallowed the cat to catch the bird, She swallowed the bird to catch the spider, She swallowed the spider to catch the fly; I don't know why she swallowed a fly - Perhaps she'll die! There was an old lady who swallowed a horse... She's dead, of course!

KL, that was a great post describing how the vet won Sasha over. Makes a huge difference, even in regular circumstances, when dogs learn to trust a particular vet. Even tho' I'm not in Sydney, I'm squirreling away Dr Warren's name. Never know when a friend or relative may need it.

I would have carried a small dog over the prohibited sand, too, thinking that it was not ON the beach. But looks like a 'carried' dog is still ON the beach, for legal purposes. Some wit here asked, what if she'd thrown the small dog OVER the forbidden sands to be caught by husband on the other side. Is OVER the beach (as in, thro' the air) also ON the beach, for legal purposes? I never realised prepositions could carry so much weight.

Dogs do a lot of their 'thinking' thro' their strongest sense....their noses. That's why dogs....especially when they're young & learning how the big wide world around them works...head for items which strongly have their people's scent on them. Like shoes & socks & electrical cords & sofa cushions. All those items are in constant touch with parts of people's body's that most transfer their scent. Sniffed a shoe, recently? We touch electrical cords with our hands & sit on sofa cushions. All the time transferring our familiar scents & our dogs love their owners via their scents. So, as others have said, it helps to keep those temptations...like shoes & socks (& underwear, too....another 'scenty' item!) well out of the way of specially younger dogs who are also at the stage of exercising their teeth & chewing. There's been good suggestions how to do this....like blocking off some living areas with baby gates, storing shoes out of reach, keeping socks & underwear drawers tightly shut etc. Just a firm 'No' when caught. Sometimes people get a bitter tasting product from dog suppliers to put on solid things like chair legs. You can also train your dog to have the item he is allowed to chew....his toy (some people buy soft toys from the Op Shops for their dogs). And you made this soft toy appealing by rubbing the palms of your hands & soles of your feet over it frequently. Make a big deal of his play toy....for fetching, for sticking in his bed with him, getting him to retrieve it. With this 'approved' nicely people-scented toy in his mouth as often as possible....no room left for scrounging out alternatives.

Tell your husband to try crouching down low & call the Goldie with his arms out at the side. Then a big 'Good dog!' & cuddle when she comes. Height spells dominance to a dog, so by crouching down that 'threat' is lessened. I'm not suggesting this in your OH's case, but friend's JRT slipped the lead when he was walking it beside a busy road. He took off to grab the JRT, but it kept bouncing away, getting closer to the passing traffic. Friend remembered the 'get down low' trick....& lay on the ground with his head in his hands making high pitched squeally noises. JRT bounced straight over & sniffed under his head. Got caught. Friend said he tried the extreme 'get low' because it was such a dangerous situation. Passing motorists must have thought he was insane.

I'll PM you the notice about the UQ dogs' grief study, Isiss, with the email address to offer to participate. They ask for owners who've had one of their dogs pass away during the last 5 years. If anyone else would like the notice, please PM me. They say their study is not only looking at dogs' grief for their 'pals', but also at the fact that the owner is often trying to deal with it while going thro' awful grief themselves. Ain't that true! When I was filling in the survey, I found all the feelings of grief & loss & concern for our grieving Angel came back to me, as fresh as ever. Even tho' it happened 3 years ago.

First, I'm so sorry about Jorja's passing. And second, I've been in the same position when one of our tibs died suddenly & the older one, 13 yr old Angel, (who was her follower) grieved terribly, Angel started off, lying for hours beside the side gate & the back door looking for her 'sister' to come back. This went on for a couple of weeks & I took her to the vet, who said in her experiences most dogs who react strongly to the death of their 'pal' generally come out of it, in three weeks. Even as I spoke to this vet, Angel lay on the floor looking under the exam room door, waiting for her 'sister' to come in, too. Angel's grieving persisted. Then in a couple of months it changed & she started to do a continuous 'keening' howling noise when no one was home with her. We tried everything, medications, behaviour management, but she never stopped. And was never the same happy glowingly healthy little dog, ever again. Not even getting another tibbie (who was the grand-daughter of her late 'sister) made any difference. But Angel was 13 yrs old. Thank goodness your boy is so much younger, so his brain is more 'plastic' to take in new learning. Which means all the ideas that others, like persephone, have given are so spot on. Get your boy into all the routine & new experiences. Especially get him playing & having a great time with other dogs. Get him moving, happy & busy. By coincidence, I've just filled in a questionnaire for a research study that's being done at the University of Qld, about dogs grieving for their 'pals'. I don't want to put more burden on you at this hard time, but if you'd like the details of how to contribute to that survey, I can send them on to you.

Only other thing I can think of... If you decide to have a full canopy over the back, maybe then just use a Safe-T-Belt to secure your dog. (Click on the pic to enlarge). http://www.petsplus.com.au/pet-shop.asp?id=1202 But I think I'd feel my dog was more secure in a cage. Lord knows what pressure a belt would take before snapping.

Funny you should say that, LM, because when I saw the mag pic of the fitted cage, I thought, 'All that now needs is some kind of canopy protection from sun & rain!' Looks like you've already planned the full deal.

Humans also have their pitch lowered...for career purposes. Being human, they can do it via speech therapy rather than surgery. Some women in careers like newsreading or politics have lowered their higher pitched voices this way, to make it easier on the ear. Margaret Thatcher had a famously high-pitched voice. One of her colleagues remarked that her voice could kill a passing sparrow. She had speech therapy to lower it. Asal, you're right that debarking can 'undo' in some dogs. One of the two debarked tibbies I met, had had fuller pitch return & the op was performed again. So she was back to the sexy voice. I think the vets experienced with this kind of op, tell owners beforehand that this can occur sometimes.

Recently I saw an advertisement in an Australian magazine for a strong cage that's been designed to be retro- fitted against the cabin of utes. Said it was to keep a dog (or a couple of dogs) secure & safe. Wish I could remember what mag it was. Googling, this custom-made cage was as close as I could find to one I saw in the ad. But it was a bit narrower & could be retrofitted. http://www.customcages.com.au/ My concern, in Qld, is the heat in summer. If it's too hot for a human to be exposed to the sun on the back of a ute, then it's too hot for a dog. At those times, I'm always pleased to see dogs riding inside the cabin. But I haven't seen all the ways that dog owners might have set something up to shield their dogs from the full sun.

Good advice & info, AmandaJ & Poodlefan. Many thanks. It's good stuff to squirrel away for future reference.

Socialisation is important for dogs to learn to be companion dogs & live alongside people... is a generalisation. A motherhood statement. Studies of the kind reported in this article, tease out the details and look at specific behaviours which can be observed...and 'read' in terms of what they mean for what a dog has, or has not learned. It's what scientifically controlled studies do.

Samford Pet Resort is the only place I'd send our tibbies to. They have an optional level of accommodation where the dogs are in rooms just like a bedroom at home. It costs a bit more than their regular kenneling, but it's perfect for inside dogs. They also actually have a vet on staff. They have an arrangement with numbers of vet clinics around Brisbane, to act as a pick-up and drop-off place, if an owner prefers not to drive to Samford.

It seems, from the first post, as if all the suggestions you made (above) have been tried without success. If the other dogs are not barkers and one is, debarking is necessary. Lots of dogs are debarked, and seem to suffer no ill effects. Better debarked than dead, in my opinion. Couldn't agree more with this. In Qld, the law covering debarking virtually says this. It also requires first checking off other options...all of which has been done by the OP. So I'm pleased Havaneese has posted similar good sense for NSW law. Great info, especially pointing the OP to a vet experienced in carrying out the procedure. I used to have negative views on debarking...which I'd just heard of. Then I met 2 p/b show tibbies that had the sexiest voices. They had no trouble expressing themselves, were in no discomfort...only the high pitches that make sound carry so far were lower. To my amazement, the owners told me that the dogs were debarked (they'd been in a similar situation to the OP). Seems it's more like pitch-lowering.

Our little mixed-breed dog, Tessa (later known as Grandma) lived until she was nearly 23 yrs of age. She never had any vet problem until she was 19 yrs when she had some tooth surgery. She was an out-patient of the U of Q vet clinic. She was just like Billy... whenever she had to go to the clinic, she licked and kissed everyone. She managed fine until about 3 weeks before she had to be helped to heaven. I bet Gran's up there urging Billy to keep enjoying his great life & hit the record books.

Warmest wishes coming to you & your Peke boy.

The resident therapy pet for elderly retired nuns at a Brisbane convent, was a mature-aged greyhound. He was greatly loved & his size meant he could get pats & cuddles from people in chairs & beds. They were Josephite nuns & its their founder, Mary MacKillop, who'll be declared a catholic saint next week. She loved dogs & in her last years her pet was an Australian Terrier called Bobs. Here's Bobs at her feet after she'd had a stroke.... with a doggy smile that'd light up anyone's day. http://www.ssjgoulburn.org.au/heritage/default.aspx?id=121

I think you're the very opposite of a bad pet owner. Your little dog has been fortunate to be so lovingly raised & cared for. First, take the deepest breath (because this will be hard to do) and just look at the overseas job as if you had no other worry except to get a grip on whether it, in itself, is a good career move for you. Both in the short-term & the long-term. Second, is that the only job, at the moment, that you're looking into? Is there any likelihood of another Australia-based job that you'd also like to look into? For comparison purposes alone. If your questioning, like this, leads you to the belief that the overseas job is the best career move, can you get your little dog gradually used to staying over with your parents? So that it's not a huge shock for him when you leave. He'll still be an important member of your family, just as your parents are. And you'll be kept 'in touch' with his doings & welfare by your parents. That doesn't mean it would be easy for you. You're so right, most of us dog-lovers on DOL dread being parted from our pets. The one bright thing...should you decide the job is right for you...is that you'll still have a strong connection with your boy. Quite a few adult children of our friends, have careers that have taken them overseas, for varying periods of time. From a few months, to a couple of years...to probably permanently. And I've noticed all sorts of emotionally challenging situations turn up. Like, when they marry & have children over there....& the grandparents are far away in Australia. They have to figure out all sorts of adjustments. Huge hugs to you, whatever decision you come to. I can totally understand what it'd be like for you.

I was also going to suggest a grey from GAP or GSN. They're large enough dogs that won't get under your Nans feet too. In the course of his work, man at the back had to call at a house. Elderly lady opened the door, with a big mature-aged greyhound beside her. Her family had arranged the adoption, a couple years back, with the condition they arranged any vet visits & the grey's baths etc. Our neighbour who loves & owns greyhounds himself, said the two of them were very happy together. The grey's mature-aged couch potato personality meant it was a great life being a companion housedog.

That is fantastic! I bet Andrew & Dimples (for the present) will make their mark in the obedience & gundog areas. The pics are lovely. Those 2 'boys' look as if they were born to be together. Thank you, Tapua, for updating us. And also for all your kindness to an awfully nice young man who's done a huge bit for his country.