Little Gifts

Big, beautiful boy, thank you for making a difference in WP and Mr WP's lives. They will never forget what a wonderful dog you were.

My wonderful rescue group (one broke person really) gives us candidae or Blackhawk Holistic for our foster kids. I've never checked use by dates but I hope she gets it discounted! My current boy was malnourished and was eating every couple of hours. He had reduced down to 2 feeds a day but at present is back up to 3. I let his behaviours guide me on how hungry he is feeling as he can still put on a little more weight. I give him greek yoghurt or sardines on top of his cup of kibble. I find he is much more settled when he is getting the food his body needs so maybe increase Buddy's intake for a while and see how he goes? My other dogs get 2 meals a day but breakfast is really just a snack - they like the routine of brekky and dinner so we humour them! Oh and we always use PB to get tablets eaten!

Oscar is only just speaking to me again after the Million Paws Walk debacle. He is going through an unsocial stage.

I'm glad there is a lovefest going on!

Hi Jackie, I think I am starting to experience this with my current foster boy. He lived with an owner who likely adored him for 2 years but then had to surrender him. He was temp cared for by someone he knew before coming to me. He has been here now for 6 weeks. I am finding he wants to leave the house (even with me) less and less and even people who he has met a few times he is now wary of like they were strangers. It is like he is only comfortable if things are a certain way. This will impact him finding a forever home and will add to his stress levels unnesecarily. So I am going to start working with him on leadership and gesture leaving using Amichien Bonding techniques. This might also help you as well. It is fairly easy to do. Try www.leadyourpack.co.uk and check out the 'status' area about reuniting and gesture leaving. Under www.sharpeirescue.com.au there is a link to 'leadership' in their library section which expands on the leadership techniques. I find the techniques quite simple, they don't cost anything and they certainly don't mean you can't spoil your dog - you just do it on 'alpha' terms. As the alpha the aim is that you take away the worry for your dog in your absence - he learns to feel safe and believe that you have everything under control for your pack. Some seperation anxiety can be because a dog doesn't know what to do in the alpha's absence. We often tend to talk a lot to our dogs when we leave and of course they don't have a clue what 'instructions' we have left them with. Then when we get home and they are all manic we feed that by talking in a high pitched voice and responding to their jumping rather than ignoring it and letting it settle. I used to have a dog I had to chase around the house to get out the door. Now I go silently to a special treat jar (only used for leaving the house), grab treats, am followed out the back by 3 dogs, they sit and get a treat, I close the door and leave, all without saying a word. It is a positive routine for them. When I get home, even if one of them is bashing the back door down I come in, put my stuff down, open up the back door without saying a word, they come running in, and I go back upstairs and sit on a chair and call them to me and give them cuddles. If they go too silly they get ignored. Usually they all sit in front of me desperate for their turn for cuddles. After that little routine is done everyone goes back about their business. It only takes a couple of minutes.

T you may not be so popular when they start defluffing them and someone has to clean it all up! I actually keep all the dead toy/pillow/doona stuffing. I seal it in an old pillow slip, wash and dry it and then make new dog beds out of it! The ultimate in recycling!

Sounds like an excellent turn out and lots of enjoyment at so many walks around Oz! Great really to see so many well socialised and behaved dogs out there. The only concern I had on the day was that some of the puppies looked a little young to be out at a public event (for vacc reasons).

He is a beautiful looking boy!

Huga I bought that fabric too for the rescue coats! I said to my sister "What trim should I add to these alien coats?" she said "Are you blind? They're moose!" D'uh.

I went to the Gold Coast one thinking I could take some lovely pics of my foster boy on the sand but he hated every single second of it and we didn't even walk - we were just wandering around the stalls and going to watch some entertainment! He's a shar pei and I've never seen him droop his whole wrinkly body low like that before. I doubt anyone had a clue what breed he was - he looked more like a science experiment gone wrong! Epic fail....

I'm soooooo jealous! I don't even like small fluffies but sometimes T you get ones that make me melt!

Poor litle guy. I know you will make the right call about him based on what the vet finds.

Bjelkier I hadn't thought of the coat issues - it has been decades since I had a dog that had a coat that used to be clipped so simply didn't even think about it from that side of things. The dog they were using was a 10 year old boy and he was extremely friendly/sociable. He was standing on the table having his hair blown dry and used the time to say hello to everyone around him, so at least it wasn't being done under any duress from him. From the look of his coat I doubt he'd been clipped since the previous year as he still had a longer 'lion' mane than body coat. Hopefully he is a well loved boy and they keep him suitably warm during the winter months after this is done. The parade is next weekend so I'll try and get a pic.

I've bought muscle tees in the Doggone brand before - maybe they have plain ones?

I was just at the groomers and they had a gorgeous samoyed boy in who had the most unusual coat colour. Turns out he'd been dyed and he was getting dried off before being shorn to resemble a lion for a parade next weekend. They showed me photos of him in his lion coat from the year before and he looked amazing! I don't have a pic unfortunately.

They look so much healthier and happier! Amazing work!

I'm so very sorry Noelle. Rest easy over the bridge Lucca.

I use that same praising tone of voice on young kids and dogs - the high pitched "Good boy!" I really should learn more dog terminology because I tend to name dog body parts by the human names. Upper thighs, ankles, feet (instead of paws), thumb nail (instead of dew claw) that kind of thing. I referred to a dogs 'cankles' recently and noone knew what I was talking about.

Thanks Kja - I'm the same - even though I have full cards floating around they are also on our portable hard drive but after trips I like to isolate the card until I sort through the photos and print out what I want, otherwise I would forget where I'm up to. I also clean my camera off every couple of days or after events. I got the bigger card because I do travel a bit and tend to avoid taking vid footage because I'm worried I'll fill the card. This way I wont have to worry so much!

I had to give my old 2GB SD card to mum as she got a camera for Mother's Day and it didn't have one. I went out today to buy another card for my camera and because of the price (and the fact I have loads of 1 and 2GB cards lying around with photos still on them from past trips that I have done nothing with) I bought an 8GB SDHC card. It is Sandisk and has the SDHC logo on it. Now I'm not sure whether I would've been better just getting another 2GB SD card? My camera is a Panasonic Lumix DMW BCD10. My camera manual is a little confusing on the topic - it recommends SD cards up to 2GB but says you can also use SDHC cards of 4GB or greater as well as long as they have the genuine SDHC logo on them (otherwise they wont be SD quality). What the? So what do you photography experts think of a higher gig card? Is there any difference in quality for a Lumix? I figured it would save me having lots of smaller cards floating around on my trips. Thank you!

There was recently another thread titled 'jammies' I think and it has a link to Kickinitalong who make the four legged jammies for a few different breeds. Megs was making them here on DOL but isn't doing it this year.

Yep, keep them warm in the cold weather - fleece coat that actually gives some leg cover is fine. He's a nice shiny boy and I love the name Lochi!

I figured it was going to be a cold winter based on the fur coat my sister's husky/shep cross has been developing well ahead of schedule. I am currently sitting at the computer wearing a beanie and wondering if I would fit on the dog's sun beds outside!

May you never again have to suffer such sorrow Jed. Goodbye precious things. There are many that know and remember your names.

The sewing room is now permanently shut. He went in again this morning, selected some fleece from the shelf and was chewing away happily in the front room. I don't mind if he sticks to offering design ideas (from a dogs perspective of course!) but eating the product is going to get him fired!