mita

Sounds like Gus. We joke if anyone broke in he would help them out with the TV and bring them the smaller valuables. Max, the huge mixed-breed down the road was home alone when thieves went thro' his house. But he happily joined in the looting. The thieves emptied the fridge of 'tasties' & closed him in the garden shed to have a feast. He was burping for hours afterwards. His owners said they could believe Max stood beside the crooks helping them choose what he liked best from the fridge.

Great account in this morning's paper. How the authorities with all their high tech, heavy stuff gave up. But ordinary folk rolled in with spades, picks & lengths of tubing. Others brought water & pizza to keep everyone going. When the tubing was put thro' & the owner called thro' it, his dog barked in answer. So on they dug to success. Bless all who helped & who are now assisting the homeless man & his dogs to more secure housing.

I'm not a member but I admire the 2 Tibetan Spaniel Clubs (Victoria & New South Wales). Especially how they gather round to help when there's a problem. Like when a terrible tragedy struck a breeder (in which he lost his wife & some of his dogs), the NSW club supported him & helped him find the best of homes for some of the survivors. And the Victorian Tibetan Spaniel Association acts the same. They keep a list of people anywhere in the country who might be interested in adopting a rescued tibbie & lets them know when one turns up. At same time, they ask to be notified of any tibbie in rescue throughout the country so they can do some alerting & notifying. They're as good as their word, because I've notified the President of tibbies in shelters or rescue or wherever... & there's always acknowledgement. All this on top of lovingly appreciating their beautiful breed & working towards its welfare & advancement. And being a treasure house of knowledge about health, temperament & management. From what I've seen, Social Media enhances, not replaces, face-to-face activities, events and communications.

I saw the first benefit in action .... helping attract a mate. Young bloke in our family circle used to borrow our little sweet, honey-natured sheltie to take for walks, especially when staying at the beach. Sheltie, Danny, was so pretty everyone thought he was a girl. Found out why young bloke was so keen on taking Danny. Seems flocks of girls would gather around asking for pats & cuddles (from the dog, but who knows who could be next). He used to call Danny his Chick Magnet.

Pretty remote but our neighbour has a contact who often talks about the rescue huskies he & wife foster. I could pass on this request to neighbour to give to him... but that neighbour is on holidays, will be back this Wednesday. I don't even know if the neighbour would be willing to pass it on. But, if so, is there some direct way the man could contact whoever is trying to help the family with the husky, like an email address or phone no. Only other suggestion, I wonder if the excellent Red Collar Rescue which works out of Biggenden would help with temporary fostering (as they're in a country area with very experienced carers). I can't speak for them, of course. Mightn't hurt if whoever's trying to help the family asks.

I couldn't agree more. Those photos show how he was full of love & happiness with you. And you gave that to him, knowing that the price could be heartbreak. Run free, sweet Rupert boy, the greatest love goes with you.

I understand you want your tibbie to get a walk beside the mobility scooter ... but I admit I've only seen tibbies riding on the floor tray! You could tap into the experiences of a few thousand tibbie owners from around the world (including Australia) by joining the Tibetan Spaniel All Over group (a Facebook page). Maybe some other owners have found a solution. PM me if you're interested in that. Sheena's device looks interesting ... maybe a local motor mechanic could figure a way to attach it????

Neatly said.

Some time back, a DOLer posted that prey drive in dogs wasn't always necessarily connected with what'd be regarded as 'aggressive' behaviour. That caught my interest & I went searching & found a US ASPCA article that backed that up. It called it predatory behaviour & said it could cover a full sequence (eye, stalk, chase, grab-bite, kill-bite, dissect & consume) or just a part (like, eye,stalk, chase, grab-bite or stop at chase). They linked patterns with the purposes for why various dogs had been bred (& obviously there'd be individual differences within the groups). I've over-simplified what they said, so the whole article is worth a read. Also went on to discuss management: https://www.aspca.org/pet-care/virtual-pet-behaviorist/dog-behavior/predatory-behavior-dogs

Exactly. Which is why I've sometimes taken the initiative & made a breeder, just like one you've described, take more. And I mean 'made' because that person protests that placing one of their dogs in a home they know will be good, is worth more than the money to them. Now a breeder who values their dogs to that extent, is a breeder who's poured value into all their breeding/raising/managing practices. No surprise I'd just include the extra. We do the same for the pet cats we've adopted from rescues over the years. The rescues get more than what they asked for. Same reasoning .... those people have put enormous work & compassion into what they do.

When I look at the long list of what the good, ethical breeders of purebreds bring to producing the dogs they do, the last thing I'd begrudge them is putting a decent- sized price on what they charge for their puppies & dogs. A significant number of these breeders could be described as top professionals in the breeding/raising & management of dogs. Fuelled by the fact they love the dogs and are generous in sharing their expertise & knowledge with those who buy from them. We've always got adult purebreds from breeders like this ... & I've actually insisted on giving them more than what they asked. Why? You should see those little dogs, so beautifully socialized, lovely to look at and healthy as tiny horses. Regularly, we get congratulated by people for 'bringing up' such lovely natured, sensible little dogs .... & we always tell the truth, 'They came like that from their registered breeder.' So no surprise, I don't begrudge what such a breeder would charge .... & in fact, the quality of what they've done has sometimes meant we've insisted the breeder takes more!

Beautiful tribute to Peanuts. Straight from a loving heart. I love the comment of a reader on the Guardian site.... says he's got tears running down his face because he's cutting onions on his desk at work. First Dog would like that.

See details in Lost & Found forum.

A study was done in Denmark comparing longevity rates of purebred dogs and mixed-breed dogs. A number of pure breeds beat the mixed breeds .... included poodles, dachshunds, shetland sheepdogs. The point was made that the very large dogs tend to have the shortest life-span & such dogs tend to belong to purebreeds. So, averaging out longevity for purebreeds is confounded by fact they include these very large dogs, while the mixed-breed group don't. But, even given this, some pure breeds still beat the mixed breeds' average.

All the best for a great day. No doubt from me that greys make awesome pets.

I agree, carita. Beautiful pic of the pair. Did you see the dog's paw wrapped firmly around his arm... like saying, we're besties.

Great to see the military dogs get recognition! By coincidence, today I saw a lovely photo of Prince Harry, while he was in Australia doing military exercises, making friends with an Australian military dog, both in their combat gear. http://us.hellomagazine.com/royalty/1201505084554/prince-harry-turns-action-hero-in-new-dramatic-army-pictures/

I agree, dogmad, about not closing the door of the soft crate. It's a pleasant little cave that a small dog can move in and out of. I'd also suggest contacting whoever fostered the little one for the rescue. That person might have useful tips of how they did the settling for the night.

I find a soft crate a good sleeping space for a small dog... it's like a little comfy cave. And I give them access to it, during the day, too .... so it becomes their quiet, snooze place to go into at any time. I also pop some treats in there to reinforce it's a good place. This means that 'going to bed time' at night is in a familiar place. I give them a soft toy... like a little teddy & I make sure I often rub my hands all over it to transfer my scent onto it, as the owner's scent brings comfort. Means they can go to bed with their teddy that has owner's scent. As to snoring, soft crate can dampen the noise. Little tibbie girl next door comes to stay & she snores like a Mac truck, but she brings her soft crate with her so the snores get muffled.

That's exactly what the vet said, Fides. Those meds have powerful ingredients so immediate impact is huge, even at right dose for size. I agree, maybe that advice will one day go on the pack. Gives peace of mind.... I wasn't at all nervous about giving 1/2 + 1/2 later to our 15 1/2 yr small senior dog yesterday. Went well.

I got some good advice from our vet yesterday. I asked about changing our tibbies over from Comfortis to a newer product that includes anti-tick, like NexGard or Braveco. He said NexGard has been out on the market for quite a few years now.... whereas Braveco is more recent. NexGard has thrown up no major problems in that time. He had nothing bad to say about Braveco but said, given our girls are seniors, it would be better to go with the longer 'market-tested' NexGard. In a couple or few years time, could consider moving to Braveco, if it shapes up as well given longer market exposure. We went with NexGard. Our 15 1/2 yr old girl had her first dose yesterday(for small dogs, 4-10 kilos). That vet had previously given us excellent advice about giving these oral anti-parasite meds. Split the required tablet in half. Give 1/2 in the morning & 1/2 in the evening. He said it prevented one big whammy dose hitting the dog ... but only 2 lesser ones. But collectively, it would add up to protection. We always did this with Comfortis & did it with NexGard yesterday and there were no problems.

Years ago, there was a Pal Super Dog team that used to perform at public venues, like shopping centres. Border Collies mainly with Kelpies and GSDs. And one tiny Papillon. Brilliant agility feats from the big dogs but the little Papillon always stole the show. She'd do the 'big dog' things but cutting corners to allow for her size. She'd race around the course with a Border Collie that'd do everything legitimately ... but the Pap would cheat (like going under hurdles & along the top of tunnels) which gave her good chances of beating the BC. The spectators would cheer mightily when she did.

http://www.dogshome.org.au/bonded-pairs/ Pretty bonded pair! Look half their age. Smallies are still middle-aged at 10 yrs. We own a 15 yr old tibbie. I have a soft spot for Paps, exquisite creatures! I was going to enquire about getting one, when I bumped into Tibs.

Yes. Our first Tibbie needed an emergency caesarian for her first litter of puppies. Puppies didn't survive & the mother went close to not surviving. Her breeder decided that was the end of her show career, wouldn't expose her to risk again. Yet she was an Aus Ch & won Best Puppy in entire Brisbane Royal. She was desexed & retired to a pet home with us. For the rest of her long life she enjoyed outstanding good health. Agree with oakway, best to run this past the breeders.

Who owned the Tibbie that was in an exercise to figure out which cover hid a treat? All other dogs finally figured it out.... but not the Tibbie. When it was shown him, he couldn't give a damn ... wasn't the kind of treat he wanted. I thought that was so Tibbie. First you negotiate with a Tibbie what they want. I reckon life with a Tibbie prepares you to work in mediation. All my girls have been good re barking... no training from me! They've needed a darn good reason to bark & the only times they've gone seriously beserk barking was once in finding a thief coming into the house & another time when a lost toddler was out in the street. But Lily next door has something to say about everything ... she clearly says, 'This property is guarded, by me!' Funny thing when she comes over to our place, she drops that job. She figures, not her property, so let the resident Tibbies do it. Again, typical Tibbie 'thinking'.... her dad says the breed has a self-programmed computer in their heads.