Little Gifts

We are watching this show and were just gutted when we saw the message come up at the end. I personally didn't think the winning art work looked much like Frank but it definately captured Annie beautifully. It was her time to shine.

Yes a friend said that after reading the courier mail article. Imagine being his poor wife and discovering all this about your partner. Could've been a normal Friday night out for him. I bet his defence is a secret drug or alcohol problem that caused him to make very poor decisions that night. But if you are still physically capable of finding/planning and engaging at a brothel you are capable of remembering you have a living thing with you in the car. He didn't just happen to accidentally park outside a brothel - that shows cognisance still at that point even if he continued drinking after.

From a Courier Mail article -

Just read this on FB and my stomach dropped. There is something seriously wrong with this man. Maybe he left Arnie in the ute so long while he was at his mates that he was already deceased and he had to come up with a story around it? I personally didn't agree with that part of it given we live in QLD and it gets hot but understand some dogs are used to being contained that way and we weren't provided a lot of detail around the time frame of it. It's just a sad and sorry clusterf*** however you look at it.

My head wont stop thinking about what happened. Maybe once he realised it wasn't his owner he got a bit aggressive and they were too scared to open the door (it may have been locked too). Maybe he hurt himself trying to get to them? I absolutely don't want to think about the other possibility. But why couldn't they have left the vehicle in like a small shopping complex with high foot traffic where someone would've heard and noticed a dog left in a car much quicker? People are so saddened and angry about this up here. They want blood. It's just one step too far for people to accept with pointless crime. Clearly a large dog in your car is not a deterrent to theft.

My sister had 2 of them for years on her sheep (for wool) and goat (for meat export) farm in NSW. You would rarely see them up near the house unless the flock had come up that close. There was a fenced yard off the house yard where the vehicles and hay was stored. There was also a chicken run off the back of the big storage shed. They got a Maremma for there. Certainly not as big a roam space as the livestock and he interacted with a lot more humans, but there were no issues. He just hung out with his chickens. But they didn't just buy 'a dog' - they bought one specific for purpose from a skilled breeder.

I lost Jonah and Stussy close together in early 2023. It has been decades since I had no dogs in my house/life but I wasn't even capable of touching my friends dogs for many months I was just so sad. But of course there was a doggo in need and we started 'casually' fostering again late that year. Albert was our 3rd foster with the group who arrived in early 2024. He decided pretty early on that he was staying but it took us 6 months to agree. We really didn't think we could offer him everything he needed, but he thought otherwise! It was a big decision but he was officially foster failed at the beginning of Aug 2024. In Sept this year, 2025 I had a hard month. Burnt out from work I took a month off to do some reno around the house. But instead my sister had a work accident and I got sick and it ended up being a month of medical appointments and just trying to keep up with every day things that needed to be done for both of us and the house. I took a lot of naps that month just to get through a full day. Albert took the opportunity to claim snuggles. I liked it. I took him out in the car most days and enjoyed seeing how much fun he got from it. We spent a lot of time in each other's company doing nothing. I just wanted to be around him all of a sudden and really know what made him tick. I realised at the end of my 'holiday' that I'd actually finally let him in and allowed myself to love him. It's all he has ever wanted from me but my heart was still not ready. But he never gave up trying! Our relationship has changed significantly as a result and he is a much calmer and connected dog. But that is grief for you. Some losses are much harder than others and you can only do your best. I am sorry I couldn't give him more for so long, but I hope he has forgiven me for my surface love now he feels the difference.

I've been using the same privately owned vet hospital for years and know there are expectations that they have the latest equipment and technology, but of course then people say they are too expensive! Strangely, as a long term customer who listens to what they tell me and respects their skills and hard work, I often get little freebies from them - extra tests they want to run but didn't ask for approval for don't get charged and they might give me a free cream they've made up themselves to try on a rash. I even have a 10% off VIP card! I was shocked though when I had to use one of those big mobs for Albert (they'd done work on him while he was in rescue and I thought it might be a related issue). I came out of that appointment upsold in ways I have never been upsold before AND I drove and hour to get there. Silly me! I've also used specialist vets - one charged through every orifice they own (and the first so called specialist I saw there misdiagnosed something life threatening) while the other was always minimising costs wherever they could. They even told me about a dermatologist specialist and my doggo could have skin things burnt off in batches rather than repeated surgeries to remove once they got bigger. That actually saved a huge amount of money and a lot of trauma and healing time for my boy. But of course it is hard to shop around when you are in a crisis and at your closest emergency after hours vet dealing with a life and death situation, not being sure you can afford the bill. So maybe some standards could be good. I'm assuming a business will get categorised based on the services they can offer and hospital types with all their fancy equipment will be acknowledged as different to some of the hole in the wall types around where I live. I'll be honest too - why do after hours cost so much? Apart from staff wages that will be different, does it cost more in power, equipment or supplies? I do feel like they take the piss a little. The difference in cost between when my girl was pts first thing upon opening by my usual vet and my boy at the emergency vet (which was his specialist centre during the day) was about 3 times the cost for the same assessment and euth services. Both used the same equipment to assess and 'treat' and likely number of staff. Maybe it is a question I should ask my vet at some stage so I can understand more. I certainly don't begrudge paying for skilled services by supportive professionals but fairness is also important.

I saw a story about the ex wife claiming it was the husband's responsibility to restrain the dogs on the day but one of them also told the teenagers to do it. In this age of technology it is not good enough. They should be able to text an owner, have verification they are contained and after meter read is done another message can go to homeowner to say meter has been read. Or they have to get a smart metre. If people are unsure how safe their dogs will be they have to have a strategy or they get an estimate read. I wouldn't leave any of my dogs loose simply because not everyone likes dogs and you don't need them underfoot while trying to do your job quickly. So preventable.

When Stussy decided it was her time I still took her to the vet as soon as they opened. We thought she'd passed in the car and again in the waiting room. I was fearful she would have a bigger and painful event rather than just take her last breath peacefully because after owning and loving dogs for 60 years she is the first one who has ever just woken up one morning and decided it was time. So the very first thing my lovely, long term vet and caring vet nurse have to do that particularly morning is deal with the emotional wreck of me losing my old heart dog and assist in the passing of a crazy, usually full of life doggo that they have seen and treated many, many times over the course of her long life. Not a nice way to start your day and one few of us understand. It was my last day at my job so I 'had' to go in and work after I'd organised cremation services and dried my eyes. Everyone was sympathetic to me of course. But vet staff? No time out or debriefing because it's a normal part of the job and on to the next appointment. And when I lost Jonah not long after Stussy I took him back to the specialist hospital/after hours vet where he'd been treated for an MCT the year before. He had come through with flying colours and only had his monthly check in with them 2 days before. His oncologist wasn't there (it was a Friday night) but rang me on the Monday. Since she'd heard the news she had been wracking her brain on what had happened and had some thoughts on what might have suddenly happened given his tests had shown absolutely nothing of concern only a couple of days before. She was so proud of how well he'd done fighting the MCT as much as I was so it was a loss for her of a patient she'd pinned hope on. What did she miss? Could she had done more? Different? I know it affected her too. He was such a gentleman during chemo too that the staff also had a soft spot for him and he was happy to see them every fortnight. All that little stuff makes a hard job more bearable. So to do your best and still not 'win' leave them hurting as much as we do. All their hard work and success to date became null and void from that other, not really related event. I'm at least 2.5 years from losing those 2 doggos but am still right back in those consult rooms thinking about those times. Some losses are much bigger than others.

We had to stop using it altogether this year. Our boy was doing really well on it then suddenly developed food intolerances and we've had to do a long elimination diet. He can eat all the proteins we already knew about so I feel like there was some kind of new additive in the kibble that suddenly made him sick. Prior to all this I've been feeding my dogs grain free Black Hawk or Canidae for years without any problems.

A friend who lives at Boonah saw it too and is going to find out about her doggo attending. If she posts anything about it I'll ask if I can share here.

That's so beautiful! It's not far from me but I've never heard about it before.

As a long term pet owner, most of the damage is to my furniture (from dogs getting up and down) and personal possessions that get stolen and chewed on. The tiled floors are not damaged in any way, the pet mesh on the screen doors is still looking the same, do skirting boards or doors have been chewed on. Even on the patio the damage is to the outer dog beds and not the structure. Mine have not been diggers either so the garden and yard still looks the same. And in all the decades I've had dogs I've never had a flea infestation. I'm sure some property owners go straight to worst case scenario, but if your tenant has shown they are capable of looking after themselves and your property, they will look after a pet to the same standards.

Just saw a new post from Squishy Faced Rescue - they've remained in contact with council and are willing to assist but council said they have it under control, if the owner doesn't come forward they will desex and rehome them with their own rescue protocols. Apparently council is surprised by all the interest in these 2 and none for their other dogs. Sounds like owner still not found though.