Little Gifts

I'm a little bit speechless and she is clearly off her rocker. How dare they threaten and intimidate people to do their bidding! Who made them the Rescue Gods? Dictatorship anyone? The only positive thing I get out of this is that they have so much anger inside them they probably lose sleep every night trying to come up with ways to dominate the world. That's got to be giving them all frown lines and dark circles under their eyes at the very least!

Tempeh has been here since last September and I am yet to need to cut any of her nails. Stussy on the other hand has nails that grow overnight and she had a bad nail cutting experience a couple of years ago so cutting them now is a nightmare. She (and her talons) were booked in for a bath and a nail clip last week but then she ended up having emergency surgery before the appointment and the vet's did it while she was out. I was so embarrassed they saw them so long. We have concrete paths and walk on the road and paths but it doesn't seem to help. I've tried filing and desensitizing her but as soon as you touch her toes she flinches and runs off.

YAY! Problem solved!

Would it be worth putting out a call for another mum to feed these pups and just let Gnarla heal herself? How stressful would it be for her to lose the puppies and have them raised elsewhere? Plus it might enable you to focus solely on Gnarla? Just an idea as the health and survival risk for all of them still seems so high. T I remember that girl. Sometimes I hate people when I see what they are capable of doing (or rather not doing). I just don't get it. Surely a hungry dog would cry and once starving would be looking visibly ill. How can sane human beings ignore this? How can neighbours or extended family or other visitors to such houses not notice? If I saw that going on in the yard next door to me I would become crazy lady and make their lives an absolute misery (after retrieving the dog of course). If they have money to drink and smoke, go out, buy new clothes, own a mobile phone or even hire dvd's then they have money to feed their dog and provide suitable shelter.

This is just heartbreaking and without what you have done Cheryl there is no doubt this girl and her remaining pups would've died a painful and slow death. There are just so many people out there who should never, ever own a dog/pet/child. I'll look at my bank account and see what I can send your way - may not be till the end of the month though as I just had $2300 in unexpected vet bills myself last week. Oh and Happy Mother's Day Gnarla and Cheryl!

Oh he would look fantastic in a purple lycra bodysuit wouldn't he! Maybe look in the kids section for a turtle neck and tights in purple and some loud swimmers of undies that he could wear over them - maybe even try an op shop? If you manage it I think we need pictures!!!!

Snook I have started doing this arm shaking gesture now and making a 'brrrrrrr' noise now with my girl to encourage her and even do the arm thing and say 'shake it off' if we've done something stressful (like a vet visit). She likes me doing something silly and it totally shifts her emotions onto something more interesting. Such a great idea.

Hmmm, purple onesies with a hoodie? I've bought kids sized costumes for my staffy girl but I googled and didn't find those either. What I did see though was a white dog painted green like the hulk. If your dog is white could you consider painting it purple with black boots and the black eye mask? You could get some kids swimming briefs (cut a hole for the tail). What you wont get is the muscled arms kind of look though but it would still be cute!

Those fish schmakos that a lot of us got as freebies were fantastic! My dogs prefer them over any other flavour now!

I hope they are able to get themselves back up and running without too much problem again. I am thinking some staff may have found jobs elsewhere? Not everyone can afford to sit and wait for an outcome on workplace issues. Good outcome for the AWL at Ipswich. Sad for the animals they weren't able to assist while they were suspended.

I second that as a great idea!

Deals Direct has a special on heated beds with sides today as well as free shipping. Whilst I just spent at least $100 on some Snugglesafe heat thingies and a reflective mat Tempeh is still waking me and doing the shiver routine during the night. So I bought her a heated bed. Eventually something has to work - it is not even that cold yet!

Mine scratches at nothing and I know it is a stress thing but I didn't know about the shake off. She has a whip like tail and if it hits you while she's shaking herself down it hurts! She also does lots of greeting stretches. My other one is constantly flinging herself backwards on people so they can scratch her belly and inner thighs but she often yawn-talks. I always thought she was doing it to calm herself down as it is usually followed by a shake that starts with the yawn and talk but then follows through her whole body. I'll have to watch her closer when she does it next time.

BJ you do know that I am making custom coats and pj's this year don't you? All monies go to Peiradise - Shar Pei Rescue Qld. Info is in the Commercial Marketplace thread. I have no probs adjusting patterns (pei are hardly standard in the neck and leg areas) and would love to make your boy something. I'd give you a price before you commit of course but prices are ranging from $15 (smaller dogs) to $35 (giant breeds). Lots of pattern, style and colour options. Kelpiecuddles have you thought of making your own fleece beds? If you have dogs that like to snuggle I find a round shape better - smaller inner circle than the outer and the dogs kind of sink in to it and keep quite warm. There are also no sew options which I could find you a pic of and give you a link to instructions. I think they are very cute, cost effective, machine washable AND dry pretty quick!

I remember seeing brochures that Tapua had for training school kids how to approach dogs. It is where the learning needs to start - maybe even in child care!

I love the name! I got a fantastic and very lightweight jacket from Anaconda (on special) which is a bit longer so your bum stays dry if you have to sit on anything wet! Hood also comes off if you just need a wind breaker rather than raincoat type thing. I love technology - still remember having to wear a bright yellow plastic raincoat with separate, elasticised hat as a kid on wet school days!

Great point Corvus about small size and new environments sometimes causing anxiety and the owners being unaware of this. I've always hated seeing people dragging their dogs through busy markets in the heat of the day for this very reason. How could it not be unnerving to be surrounded by all those legs, strange activity and noises? But again this is about the owners being connected to their dog and understanding what response it is exhibiting and correcting it if needed, which could mean removing it from the area or calming it and introducing what is new in a safer way. Not all dogs are bullet proof.

If you don't want it we can definitely put it to good use!

So the answer really is it is not ok for a dog of ANY SIZE to act aggressively in public towards a human or other animal. Letting it act aggressively in its home environment (unless of guard duty) is giving the dog mixed signals about acceptable behaviour in public so is not funny and not ok either (for that dogs future). It is also not ok for an unpredictable dog of any size to be off leash in public where other strange dogs and humans might be. It is not ok for dogs of any size (on or off leash) to greet other dogs or humans in a threatening manner, to not respond to owner commands and to not understand and respond appropriately to the signals being given off by the human or dog they are trying to greet. Not every dog will like each other just as not everyone loves a dog jumping or slobbering all over them just trying to say hello. But correction when it is clear the behaviour is wrong is what is important here. Is there anything in the above that us owners/humans are not responsible for? Our dogs act as we let them act. Fine if it doesn't ever affect someone else but unless you can guarantee your dog will never escape from its prison then it is the humans that need to take responsibility for our dogs actions and reactions. It is about time we started vilifying owners when horrific dog attacks occur rather than the dog itself (or worse, its breed).

In the 13 years I've been here a family of interbred chi's have lived across the road from me and roamed constantly from their yard because the gate is left open. I've been attacked several times as has 2 of my dogs by them. Postie or mail box delivery people or anyone stupid enough to walk by also get a serve. They also come over to my front yard to toilet. If their family are out at night or away (they take long holidays and someone just comes to feed the dogs) they bark incessantly. They drive my dogs insane. I complained to council only once when my old SBT (now passed) was badly injured in a scuffle over me and I know the owners know they are pushing it because they hear my dogs go off and hear me telling their dogs to go home so they whistle them back. But they just don't get it. They are lovely people (Romanian) but everything they do is done on the street. They have a lovely and huge house, garages, carports, verandahs, a pool and a cabana out the back but still everything happens outside their front fence. Thye own one of the houses next door to me so you regularly see the dogs walking between houses and the family simply yelling across the street to one and other. Awful to say but they are now down to only 2 chi and when they pass on I will be happy.

I made up bandanas for Peiradise and they say Adopt Me! and have a pei pic underneath. We also had some for our aprons with our name and another image on them and I will be making some for our supporters soon for public events. I will admit I don't do it very well but I print the name and images in reverse on my printer onto iron on paper. I previously bought the paper from ebay and they didn't last more than 2 washes before peeling but my current batch were from Spotlight and more expensive. I hope that means they will last better! And I am now making my bandanas just triangle shapes rather than folded squares as I've already gone through quite a few!

YAY! Sounds like it went well!

Waiting impatiently to see how you went.......you are probably worn out!

This is a blatant plug to sell more custom made dog coats, with all monies going to Peiradise - Shar Pei Rescue Qld. Peiradise volunteers, supporters, foster carers and adopters become part of one big family and that family meets up every couple of months for a Peinic. It is hilarious to see people come to the park and their jaws drop when they see so many shar pei in the one place all happily doing their own thing! Our next Peinic is on this Saturday, 11 May at the Nudgee Beach dog park, which is on Nudgee Beach Road, just past the boat ramp. The Peinic is starting at 3pm but I plan on arriving by 2.30pm in case anyone wants me to measure up their dog for a coat (or even bring fabric or handknitted coats to look at/try on). Plus you get to marvel at all the pei AND meet a few DOLers that perhaps you haven't met before! More info on the handknitted and custom made fleece dog coats (including pei-jays, aka pyjamas) can be found on the following thread or by following the link to my FB page. My contact details are also on FB so I know you are coming and what you need me to bring or do. http://www.dolforums.com.au/topic/248731-hand-knitted-and-fleece-dog-coatspyjamas/page__gopid__6193448#entry6193448

No trying them on yourself Coogie!