Little Gifts

Oh Grumpette I am so sorry. He was a beautiful boy inside and out and I will miss seeing his smiling face and hearing about him. Sending a warm hug your way while you get through this. XXX

What a gorgeous story!

Grass Puppy!!!! He is very handsome!

What could be cheaper is getting a new screen door made with a larger sized dog door in it. Seems a lot of security screen companies make these now but they don't like to do them in existing doors.

My current stafford, Stussy was at the vet recently and my vet hadn't seen her for a while. I was telling her since we moved to the new house (back then she was an only dog for the first time) she developed some anxiety when left alone, over some noises (like the oven timer, scissors and card punches) and had become destructive when left alone like back in her puppy days. My vet said this is the age (around 12) it often starts. Makes me sad to think she is starting this young. I don't want her to be old!

Cannibal I had an old stafford who lived to three months shy of 17. She still could've kept going physically but her mind made her dangerous. She'd often end up in a strange spot just standing there thinking 'how the hell did I get here?' My fear at that stage was that we'd be out and she'd be stuck somewhere unsafe for hours without any brain power to trouble shoot her situation. She was blind, deaf, incontinent (in that as soon as she stood up she'd toilet thinking she was outside so wore a nappy at all times) and she had cancerous lumps all over her. Yet every day she still thought she was head of the doggy pack and was in amongst it. No signs of pain or discomfort and still stubbornly wanting to do everything the other dogs were doing. No lying around sleeping for her! Very hard decision to make in knowing when it was time to let her go.

Bloody terrible.

I don't want to put anyone out to roast but I do want an effective animal protection and welfare agency in this country. If they are found to be too far from the acceptable mark on those two single points then they need to go. I'm actively following the Storybook case through the courts here in QLD. Seizures happened in March and the case has just been scheduled for mention every single month since. How do they not have enough evidence gathered to prosecute a case in 6 months? That's 6 months where a potential abuser can do more harm to animals OR it is 6 months where an innocent persons life is turned on its head. Either way it can sometimes mean 6 months in limbo for an abused animal being kept as evidence too. And what is the point of it all when even if a conviction is made the penalties are paltry? Things have to change.

Watch for any weeping from the eye too - that will give you a good indication of whether the eye has been injured or irritated in any way too and it should be already weeping if affected.

That's part of my point T - you breed a dog with genetic health issues it is the poor animal that suffers the most - a life full of breathing or joint or heart issues or skin issues and visits to the vet. Why is that ok for companion animals? Multiply that by the hundreds of dogs that might be deliberately bred from one bitch and stud who are a poor genetic match or who are passing on congenital issues and that is a lot of animals suffering needlessly and a lot of out of pocket expenses for owners. It probably also drives up pet insurance premiums for some breeds. But the puppy farmers don't care about any of that, least of all the ongoing health of their puppies. They are only worried about lining their pockets. We wouldn't tolerate any other business selling poor quality products at top dollar so I don't get why it is ok with living things? As for popular breeds not being in the pounds - I think that is because rescue (breed specific rescue in particular) tend to grab them so they can at least get the care they need and be rehomed to a more suitable owner. They don't want them to end up in the wrong hands and used for breeding. I see it pretty much every day with shar pei rescue. Seeing Frenchies with serious health issues pop up too more frequently in rescue now as surrenders.

Sorry Asal, we have to agree to disagree on puppy farms. When you look at the sheer volume of puppies they produce (and the breeding bitches they discard when they are worthless) they have to be at the top of pile. They make up breeds, they sell popular breeds and they provide little after sales support or quality control for their product (puppies). We know they are even deceptive to their customers. They are also charging so much money for these poor puppies. Tens of thousands of poorly bred, undesexed puppies are flooding our suburbs simply because this one business venture is left unchecked. The financial cost to owners of genetically poor puppies is high (especially when you multiply it by how many puppies they pump out), the financial cost to rescue picking up the pieces with sick, unwanted dogs needing rehoming is high and even the cost to the RSPCA when they have to go in and seize 100+ puppies and breeding bitches is high. We simply don't need that many poorly bred dogs being bred year in and year out. If they are not available people can't buy them and be ripped off. Back yard breeders are another issue, closely behind puppy farmers for me but I feel many backyard breeders are just puppy farmers in the making (ie ones with not enough capitol to go bigger). So you end puppy farming and you also impact the expansion of the next breeding tier down. There will always be enough whoops or idiot litters out there to keep pounds and shelters busy. And perhaps if laws made it easier for quality registered breeders to do what they are good at our canine population would be a whole lot healthier for it.

I'm on a Facebook page for a US rescue that predominantly has farm animals (and goats in particular). They go to extreme lengths to save those animals and deal with a lot of heartache as a result. They had a post recently where they expressed their despair at hobby/old school farmers still breeding, slaughtering and eating animals. Humans have been omni's since the dawn of time, seeking enough food of any type to keep their hunger satiated and their bodies fueled. Today we have more time, money and ability to eat whatever we want whenever we want without breaking a sweat than any time before. I see no possible way of stopping the consumption of animal products (for clothing, food, etc) regardless of what tactics are used. But for the sake of our collective health and that of our planet we would definately benefit from a significant reduction in our excessive consumption rates. If they focused on people being less wasteful (buying and then throwing away food, clothes, shoes, homewares and the like), more mindful and more balanced in their regularl consumption that would have to lead to less animals needing to be bred, kept in horrible conditions and slaughtered. I know there would be a financial impact on some of the big companies that control these mega farms and slaughter houses but less animals bred and killed has to be a win for the animals. Instead PETA is driving people away from the issue with their ludicrous behaviour (seen this fight with a seafood restaurant? https://www.distractify.com/trending/2018/09/06/1NVzjP/peta-jimmys-famous-seafood). They probably need to have their blood pressure monitored during planning meetings. Same for companion animals. More time, more money and more desire so our buying habits have changed dramatically and people have found ways to cash in on that. If people shopped more mindfully and were less wasteful (ie less inclined to neglect or abandon because they put more time into their purchasing) that could only be a good habit to develop. I don't care what cutesy name you call a breed, for the sake of the animals themselves we can't continue to breed at the rates we are. It is out of balance. And it is not quality breeders who are pumping out hundreds of oodles a year so the tippy toeing needs to stop. Again a national education campaign about the reality behind the different breeding arrangements and their sale/post sale support methods might actually make more of a change than new laws. I couldn't care less whether a puppy farmer or back yard breeder lost money from less sales because less sales means less bad breeding. But RSPCA wants to just keep all their millions rather than educate. Even if they used their Million Paws Walk as an education platform that might effect change in hundreds of thousands of people's minds across our country. It's all getting a bit ridiculous. There is no point banging on about the difference between adoption and buying or kill rates or animals being sentient beings. The core issue is the number of abandoned and unwanted animals that die every year because they don't have a better, permanent option. And if that better option is a lack of permanent places for them all to go then Houston, it is an over production problem. Then you go to who is 'producing' the biggest amount and bingo! Looking at you puppy farmers. I wish our legislators had the balls to focus their attentions there first and see what comes of it.

Don't want to be a panic merchant and my knowledge on this topic is a little rusty but at 5.5 months your pup could be in their 2nd fear period. Is there anything that happened 5 or so days ago that impacted your dog more than you realised? Were you out and something frightened him? Did your household dynamics change in some way? Only considering this given the medical all clear. Here is a link below about it, although it is not necessarily the be all and end all info on this topic. Maybe have a think back to before the behavioural changes for any clues too (I'd also be contacting breeder and considering more medical causes). Also we had a husky/shep cross who was a seriously picky eater all her life. She wouldn't/couldn't eat from a bowl so had a plate - perhaps try that for your pup too in case he doesn't like his nose rubbing on a metal bowl? You never know! And lean is not a bad thing in a bigger breed. https://www.doglistener.co.uk/puppies/criticalperiods.shtml

Results of the court case can be found here. Very underwhelming penalty applied as usual. https://www.facebook.com/RSPCAQueensland/posts/10157369151309326?__tn__=K-R

I have another tip for you that I used with very scared foster dogs. We had a dog bed in the lounge room and while we watched tv at night the fosters would sleep in that bed. I'd sit on the floor next to them (near their bum) and start giving them a light massage - whatever leg or piece of body that was exposed. Just rubbing and light kneading and walking up the spine if you can get to it. I'd just do it by touch while watching the tv and not the dog. After a couple of nights they'd starting shifting their bodies under my hands, offering me more of their body to massage. At any time they were free to get up and by not looking at them while I was doing it things were also less confrontational. Usually by week 2 they'd be rolling over wanting me to rub their bellies and I could look at them and talk to them while doing it. They learnt to know and trust my hands as something of comfort rather than something to fear. If your girl is hearing and vision impaired in her old age then she definately has a right to be fearful. It is a natural instinct that keeps her safe. And also at her age she may not want to be played with and touched as much but that doesn't mean she isn't happy in your company. Thank you for making her old age more comfortable and loving. X