Little Gifts

T has always taken the best puppy photos! I used to love her rescue thread photos of pups with wafty hair and wonky ears! Of course it helps with such beautiful subjects!

There is a gorgeous westie embroidered hand towel coming up tonight too! Not made by me of course. Also MTD does the most beautiful animal themed accessories. We are very fond of our individualised poo bag holders in this house!

Big JW fans in this house. Stussy loves the Hollee Roller! I stuff with stuffing and strips of fleece and she gets in there and rips it all out and I stuff it all back in and put it back in the cupboard! Craft for Paws also have snuffle mats and more recently someone is making snuffle balls.

I make 3 different types that sell on Craft for Paws, who raise money for 11 different animal rescue groups. All the ones I make are made from fleece fabric. I make a pom pom ball (for a dog who likes balls but doesn't like hard rubber ones) for $5, a squeaky stuffed dog bone for $5 and my latest is a crinkle chew which is a large bone shaped toy with a plait tug off the bottom, stuffed corners and you can put an empty water bottle inside the back of it for $10. I've added a link to the last album. If you like any and want any in a certain colour or print I'd be happy to make and send to you for a like donation to Craft for Paws (also tax deductible). You will see some other dog toys in the album. Mine will be be listed as 'Made by Alyson Dean'. You'll need to scroll down to the sold section to find them (if you can't find let me know and I'll post pics of them here). New items are loaded every Sunday night at 8pm. People buy straight away but as I said, happy to make for you for the same donation if you like the look of the toys I am currently making.

I think it was Pig In Mud who do dog doors in sliding doors? I'm not much help - a while since I had a pup either. I prefer harnesses when walking for control reasons (and a martingale style when just going to the vet or groomer). I've used Puppia on my stafford but to be honest I took my pei to a couple of pet stores and tried a few on and chose a brand that had a good fit for her. A bulldog puppy might be in the same boat - not average in measurements. How exciting for your dad!

That pink rabbit has always been Stussy's favourite toy since she was a pup (now heading towards 11). It is the only stuffed toy she hasn't disembowelled upon meeting. And that single photo just says so much about Jeff and Fern!

Very sad event for everyone (including the dogs) but this story has a surreal kind of feel to it. Given the description of the dogs (rather than the fact their mixes might make them larger and more agile) you'd have to wonder how the victim wasn't able to escape to higher ground/furniture. They don't sound like they'd be capable of jumping very far or running very fast. Of course a bite from any size dog in the wrong place can kill but it is not your run of the mill dog attack. If they'd left out the details about length of their legs and weight and just said they were dachshund mixes I'd be picturing something very different. The power of words.

A bit of a feel good story for you. http://www.onegreenplanet.org/news/website-match-people-perfect-shelter-pet/?utm_source=Green+Monster+Mailing+List&utm_campaign=991b49f8f9-NEWSLETTER_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_bbf62ddf34-991b49f8f9-109407533

I had mother and son staffords (mother a foster fail and the son came back to live with me 6 months after he was adopted due to serious medical issues). I lived on a small acreage property alone and had the flu. At that stage my parents were living on the small acreage property next door. I made myself a cup-a-soup and some toast and decided to walk next door so they could see I was getting better. I went to walk down the 4 front stairs and my right leg went through the stair gap. I flipped and hit my head on the brick wall on my way down, knocking me unconcious. My piggy girl stayed by my side while her scaredy son ran next door to mum and dad's. They said he was making noises they had never heard before and kept running back and forth to our shared fence line. So they decided to see why he was being so strange and followed him back to me. I had to go to hospital, was concussed and injured all 4 limbs. I still have a big dint in my right leg. No idea how long I would've laid there without him going for help. The funny part was my piggy girl devoured the toast and slurped up all the soup but not until I was carried inside by my parents! Quite a number of years later I'd moved into the suburbs. I'd only been in this house a month or so. The dogs and I had had a huge day and they were snoring next to me on the lounge. They suddenly heard a noise that concerned them and they went beserk, running upstairs. I had 3 intruders in the upstairs of my house ransacking the place. One guy was chased out of a 2 storey window (broken ankle but was dragged off by his mates) while the other 2 were chased out of the front door and off the property. Instead of chasing the intruders up the street both dogs raced straight back and stayed by my side. I had run into the back yard with the cordless house phone and had no idea how many unwanted people had been in my house. When I rang 000 they had no police to send and with emergency still on the phone and the dogs by my side I had to go back into the house, check room by room and lock the place up till the police could get to me. It was beyond terrifying. I was incredibly thankful both those dogs came into my life and were my saviours at such significant times. You like to think your dogs will be there like that in a crisis but you never really know. The son in particular had health issues and severe anxiety so I was really surprised at what he was capable of under pressure. When my current pei girl was still a pup I had a fall and shattered my wrist. It was in plaster for 3 days while I was hopped up on pain meds until I could have surgery on it. My sister took a pic of me passed out in bed with my arm sticking in the air. My pei and stafford girls were both lying all over me maximising mummy contact while I couldn't complain. But not once did they knock my arm or need to be cautioned. They didn't just lie quietly by my side either. How did they know to be careful of the arm?

Yes Snuggle Safe! If we have a cold winter my sister has one in her bed, and I have 2 in my bed (for the dogs of course!). Yes they are hard but the hours of radiating heat are worth it! I've had mine for about 7 years. They last forever.

I had a heat up one too (no pee issues). Stussy ate it (it was unplugged). We bought several of those heat up disc thingies several years back and they are our go to item for cold winters now. They stay warm overnight and the dogs can move away from them if they feel too warm. Can't remember the brand name now. They are round hot pink hard plastic things that you put in the microwave. They weren't cheap but have lasted for years. Another DOLer will surely know the brand name of them.

I'm so sorry Minxy. There are so many of us old DOLers who also have rather old dogs now too so I feel your pain but you did the right thing for your beautiful boy. Be kind to yourselves. XXX

You are overlooking your own comments - you have a responsibility to keep him safe and by your own admission he has ended up in a neighbours yard 10 times this week and sometimes multiple times a day. That is not good and it is not your neighbours dog's fault - it is yours and given you love your dog you need to accept the way you are contributing to this current situation and not put it all down to natural instincts. Many of us have or have owned entire dogs and been able to keep them safely contained (and not at risk of unwanted impregnation). Many of us have also experienced neighbours dogs who regularly roam and I have to tell you they cause a lot of problems. Shitting all over your yard, causing your own dogs to bark uncontrollably and try to escape, bailing up the postie and people walking (with and without dogs), becoming traffic hazards even in quiet streets. I also had a direct neighbour who let their little dog roam in our fairly quiet street, getting up to all kinds of chaos they seemed ignorant of. They still haven't gotten over the fact he was run over by a car and killed about 6 months ago not far from their house. That is what happens. And it is preventable. Even if you choose to neuter also consider prioritising fixing your fencing and providing stimulation for your boy to replace his wandering. No-one on here wants to hear he got stolen or hurt or that he hurt the other dog in question trying to mate with it. That's what the negative comments boil down to I think - his behaviour and the impact it might have on others and himself is preventable/manageable, but as his owner you need to step up and accept some responsibility and rectify things before it is too late for your boy. Neutering will not magically fix everything if your front gate remains open. And as for your dog being locked up while you are at work - this is the norm for many dogs so don't feel bad - make it up to him with activities and mental stimulation on and off your property. If you have cars coming and going from your property then you may have to consider securely fencing him away from driveways and your exit gate. I've had to do that myself, particularly when living on acreage with rural perimeter fencing. It's cheaper to get secure fencing around a section of yard than it is to pay for a broken hip repair at an after hours emergency vet.

As hard as it is, try not to support a back yard breeder in any way. I have a foster fail here. She was surrendered with her 14 year old mother and 2 siblings. She was only 3 to 5 months old but no longer had any sale value given her age and was probably costing her 'breeder' money in food. 'Breeder' also lied about her age based on her teeth. Her 14 year old mother had dementia. A dog and cat will pretty much breed until they die but you can just imagine the type of doggy skills a mother with dementia will pass on to her pups. Neither the pups nor mum came with any medical info because they probably never saw a vet. They were all surrendered because the 'breeder' had another litter on the ground, but of course the 'breeder' lied about the reason. The people who did the pick up (yes, too lazy to even drop the dogs off herself!) realised she was a back yard breeder and it was not a whoops litter that she couldn't handle after all. So anytime you give these scum money you support the cycle in some way and enable them to continue sitting on their arses and abusing and neglecting animals in their care. It's horrible and it is hard to leave dogs in this situation but if you are up for it contact them and say you want your money back and tell them why. Call them on their BS. Tell them you wont support them being back yard breeders and that if they were honest about who they were you would not have done business with them in the first place. They may not want trouble and might return your money.

I've seen lots of Tapua's work and if they can swing to a Labrador they wont be disappointed!