Little Gifts

4. The more flexible you try to be with potential adopters (ie meeting times, paperwork) the less reliable they will be with you. 5. Despite the foster dog already having a perfectly pleasant name the new family will rename it something else (that you probably wont like).

So exciting!!!!!

Good on you! My older sister is hoping to get a councillor spot on Cowra's council and I've been down there pretending to be her campaign manager! The most I did was make her buy some better clothes! (I'm an enabler from way back)

Yes, maybe once the grief and emotions settle he will return Angus to you. Make sure he knows you continue to be interested in honouring your friend by given her dog a new life with you. Maybe you can also offer to visit (supervise) the children with Angus in return? I know of a family who had two healthy and beautiful rotties PTS after their son died unexpectedly from an accident. They just didn't think (or couldn't emotionally accept) that they could be loved and cared for as well by someone else. And yes a resacue group was working with them closely to try and change the outcome. All very sad.

My old SBT girl (RIP) used to always sleep with her smelly bum next to my head so I invented the 'fart pillow'. It was a soft round pillow that wpuld be plonked against her butt in case I rolled over during the night that would buffer the odours. Mind you her snoring was so bad I had to wear ear plugs as well, but there is nothing worse than waking to a hairy arse first thing in the morning! My heart SBT likes to sleep on my legs and sometimes my back. I have had dreams where I was trying to run away from danger but couldn't, like my legs wouldn't work, only to wake up to several tonne of dog lying on top of me.

Elephants are such amazing animals. Rest In Peace now beautiful girl.

I've been through this three times in my life now. The last one (just over 12 months ago) had me questioning if I had done it too early but the risk to my girl of leaving another day, week or month was too great. We never have them for long enough. Enjoy your memories and have no regrets about doing what needed to be done for your boy. Loving them means also being willing to let them go when their time has come. Big hugs to you - there are a lot of us who know what you are going through.

Due to the number of furry snorers I am forced to share my bed with I wear ear plugs every night! I was recently house and dog sitting in a location far colder than where I live and I tell you I was very happy to be pinned into the bed by a border collie on one side and a lab on the other. Even though I couldn't move or turn I was warm!

I'm sorry Indigirl. Rest easy now Chilli.

Sorry you lost some of your babies Daisy Boo. xxx

I think there definately needs to be a Neil in honour of Neil Armstrong passing. I'm going to start the guessing game and say dad was a BC!

Poor little girl. She looks miserable but hopefully it will only be for a short period or time. People suck - I wish her original owner could see what she's going through!

PUPPIES!!!!!

Look at all those boobies!

So sorry Tralee.

I agonise over the first day I have to leave the dogs alone together but strangely the only altercation we have ever had was in front of us humans when my dog misread a new foster dog's reaction to playing with a toy it found. I don't leave toys lying around for unsupervised play so it was an accident and unfortunately it happened on the first night the dog arrived so it strained the relations with my two for a while. He was a pushy foster boy all round but is a gem with his new family! I think you get a sense of when they will all be ok on their own. I really think they all just lie around and do nothing while we are away anyway so we have comfy spots to lie in at several locations around the yard so the dogs aren't in each other's faces.

Knowing the dogs Ams takes in there are some that only have a whiff of pei in them but she takes them on regardless. I don't know for her whether it is a logistical thing, a desire to ensure any pei traits are catered for or if she just falls in love with their smooshy faces? No complaints from me as one of her foster carers either way - no wrinkles refused at our house!

That poor baby has been in terrible pain since that happened (whenever it did actually happen). It breaks my heart - we'd never leave a child like that so why a dog? Even if it was an accident by the original owner take it to a vet and have it pts if you can't afford to fix it! Don't leave it in excrutiating pain! Humans don't deserve dogs.....

People are living longer and I'd like to know how best to get our dogs to live longer (whilst remaining healthy). Cats live longer, as do horses and turtles and oodles of other animals. Why? What's missing in dogs or what are we as owners doing wrong? We just don't get to keep them for long enough.

But Rascal who and where are they? Why are they not leading the industry/public towards their cause? Why are their names not commonly known and referred to in say pet shops proud to sell their quality 'product'? Why are their no media stories on the great work they are doing? Until the number of amazing, beautiful and deserving dogs (pure or cross breed) who are dying every single day in every state of this country reduces significantly I cannot support any deliberate back yard breeding, puppy farming or selling of animals through pet shops. It is simply not necessary. Nor is it in a dog's best interests. It should not be considered an easy way to make money or supplement an income.

If you are not responsible and concerned enough about your 'pet dog' to desex it then you shouldn't own one in the first place. If you aren't prepared to interview and advise prospective adopters before selling them your 'pet dogs' then you shouldn't breed them. There will always be accidental litters, dogs requiring rehome and the like but this is my perfect world for 'pet dogs'. I don't think it is asking too much either given few people of pet buying age would be ignorant about how babies are made. Saying I didn't know my bitch was in season is an excuse. Saying I didn't know my male could get out of the yard is also an excuse. Saying my dog would make pretty babies is just stupidity. And don't get me started on those rare blue staffies that will fund your wedding day!

Aphra I was sneaky - I looked on DOL yesterday to see what mature mastiffs were avail, found a breeder in WA and looked up their website. I saw they had a brindle girl on their website and I think it's the same one! PS I just went and had a look at the mastiffs avail again and the ad is missing so it must be the one! I can't remember the breeders name so will leave Ams to fill you in on that!

My story is slightly different. I had to take my dog to an emergency vet for an eye issue. When I rushed her in there, there were no people. When I came out to pay it was the same. I stood at the counter behind a lady who had a cat in a carrier. The cat was very quiet (as was my dog). The cat's precious mother went all crazy at me and demanded I move away from her and her cat. I did but she told me I wasn't far enough away. So I moved again to a seat in the waiting room. The receptionist was very, very slow and the cat's mother asked loads of questions. By the time it appeared they had concluded their business a huge queue had grown behind crazy cat lady. She didn't chastise any of these people and their dogs but did ask them to move back. My girl was in pain and needed to go home so I had to go up and try and explain to about 8 people that I was actually next in the queue. No help from the receptionist. I don't think they believed me but my dog was carrying on quite a bit by then so they let me. The receptionist was again awfully slow with me and I felt terrible for any emergency cases waiting in the queue that was getting longer each minute. So precious mums exist for animals too!

I'm a bit worried about where you're going to sleep after Miss Amnesty arrives given there's no space on the bed for you now! She looks very regal and I suspect she will probably grow taller than me....

YAY!!!!!!