Little Gifts

Good point. Although I suppose it leads back to that "there are no selfless acts" debate. A friend's Maremma attempted to stop her daughter from going out the back door by trying to herd her away from the door. The child continued and opened the door, so the dog pushed past, picking up a snake from the back step. The snake bit the dog and he died. I consider that to be a selfless act, but I can't think of too many others! My sister has seperate maremmas both for their sheep and goats but also to protect her when her hubby is off working. The dogs bond with their flock, including human flock. Noone can get into the house yard with Frosty loose. So when her daughter (who also lives on a remote property) started having children she got them a maremma too. This dog's purpose is to stay around the house and watch the kids. Their oldest daughter was quite the wanderer so this dog has spent a lot of time rounding her up and pushing her back into the house yard over the years.

Part of the problem is also about hygiene management for animals in evac centres as well as being able to control them. Animals can panic and be unpredictable in these circumstances too. They will also take up space there and require food and water and toileting - different resources to those of the people who will be housed there, possibly for several days. Some of those people at the evan centre might also be allergic to animals, scared of certain animals and probably in shock from what has happened to them and their losses. I adore my dogs and have emergency evac gear always ready in the shed so that rather than face a forced evacuation I could leave under my own steam with my animals. If you leave it too late or if the emergency is sudden then the reality is human life needs to be saved first. An animals crate on a rescue boat is in fact a seat for another human being at risk of harm. I don't think it is fair to put rescuers (who are often volunteers) in a position like that. They are working hours upon hours trying to save as many people as possible and if you take up a boat with yourself and your pets that is another trip they have to make to save the next person. Unless you have been in a true disaster then it is easy to say you are not leaving without your animals but the reality is that hundreds or maybe thousands of people HAVE TO. Having done disaster recovery one of the most heartbreaking memories I have is of an old man out at Charleville. He loved his chooks and left them in a pen with a roof thinking they would be alright. The water rose and drowned them at the top of their pen. That man was grief striken when he was able to return home and see what happened. So while my dogs are my world that man's chickens were the same to him, yet we probably wouldn't be too keen to see a crate full of chickens sharing floor space with us at an evac centre. So sorry but based on experience I can see the need to focus on people and not animals during a true disaster. I do wish there was a national animal evac org as well as I do think there is a specific need to move animals away from harm. Even cattle don't deserve to drown. But if you can get them out yourself earlier then do it. My emergency plan includes camping gear so we can set up somewhere with the dogs well outside of the danger zone.

This relates to a dog I currently have and one that was pts a couple of years ago. They were mother and son rescues (who came to me at different times). The son was scared of everything and the mother had been raised to be a tough dog for hunting trips. I've posted in the heroes thread how they got help for me when I had a bad accident and lived on acreage. But about a nine months after we moved to the suburbs both dogs were down in the back lounge with me while I was watching tv, fast asleep after a very long and active day. Suddenly they both jumped up and ran up to the top of the house making noises I have never heard before. They sounded like rabid police dogs. I followed them up there and quickly realised someone was in my house. I grabbed the portable phone and legged it out the back door with the dogs following me and rang triple 0. The awful part was the police were all out on other jobs and couldn't come to the house so the triple 0 guy made me walk back into the house with the dogs (who were clearly on full alert and snarling) and check each room one at a time and shut each room as I had checked it and lock all the windows and doors. Dog knows what I would've done if there was someone still in there. Absolute scariest thing I've ever had to do. My sister's boyf at that time was a security guard so at least he came over and checked every nook and cranny again for me. Even though I am highset three men had gotten in a window by standing on my wheelie bins. They had torn all three bedrooms apart looking for stuff (which they threw out the windows) and had even unplugged all my computer gear and where moving that out through the front door when the dogs heard them. No police came until noon the next day and all my stuff had to stay like it was. They took fingerprints and at least one of the men was caught because when the dogs went crazy he'd jumped from one of my windows and broken his ankle. He was caught trying to rob another house the same night where a guy beat him with a plank of wood. And I can still remember to this day the smell of alcohol in the house from them.

I was just thinking back to how I exercised my dogs when I lived on acreage and realised we went for very long off leash meanders most days then. The area I lived in was being developed and I used to like to go and check out the new houses being built. There was zero traffic so we'd just go walking and being nosy until it starting getting dark and then head back home. The dogs would be running here and there chasing things in the long grass and checking to see if there were any horse hoove clippings to eat. I'm lucky here in the suburbs now to have a very large park and creek right near me so I don't have to walk past houses with dogs barking at fences. I have had to split walks now though because I have a 16+ staffy that loves to walk but can't go far. We bought her a dog pram so she could come with the other dogs but she refuses to use it. She tends to just get a slow walk around the block and lord knows where she gets all that piddle from but she makes it last the whole walk!

Our dogs don't get walked everyday mainly because sometimes it isn't light enough (I don't feel safe night walking and I am not a morning person) or like now when it is constantly raining. But we have play time with all three dogs morning and night either in the yard or house using whatever thing stimulates them the most (one loves being chased with toys and playing tug). In the mornings play is always followed by a a body massage. So walks and outings are always on top of the daily play. We do try and have a special outing with all 3 dogs every weekend to an agility park or the beach or to a park where they get to play in water. Often we will meet up with friends who also have dogs at these outings.

Thanks for the online info Mystiqview. In my head I was picturing these BYB's and puppy farmers having their own websites with page upon page of the pups they have for sale. Didn't even think about the obvious 'for sale' sites but shouldn't be surprised - maintaining your own website would eat into those puppy farming profits! I don't trust BYB's, puppy farms or pet shop owners when it comes to honesty over money so can imagine them working together to ensure a supply of popular breeds is available, so I can imagine the misrepresentation of a breed or cross breeds happening from both sides. Two pet shops local to me regularly advertise litteras of pups as pure breeds and there have been occasions when I can easily tell by looking at them that they can't be. They put whopping big prices on them because of this and I think it is wrong and that it can have repercussions for the animal. Unless the parent dogs were both guaranteed pure breed then they shouldn't be claiming a pup is. I'm not saying it needs to say it is a cross breed, but it shouldn't say pure breed. As for cross breeds there have been several 'what breed am I' threads on DOL from people who bought a pup and it has grown to look like something other than what the pet shop said was in it. I think this is a risk for anyone buying a cross breed dog of course given we know a bitch can whelp pups that have different dads. But say mum was a dalmation then advertising a pup as dalmation cross is the best that can probably be done. And a cross breed is a cross breed and sale price should reflect that. So many people actually think designer dogs are an actual breed and that their moodle is a pure breed dog!

Mystiqview I have no idea how a normal person can buy a puppy online. I wouldn't even buy plants for my fish tank online let alone a companion animal! But if that does happen then an outcome may be that less people see a cute puppy at a shop and buy it on the spur of the moment without considering the realities of dog ownership. And if you buy a dog online I'm assuming you may have to wade your way through the choices and wait for delivery so some people might also be put off by that. Or is that just me being a wishful thinker? The other thing for me is that if I see animals in a pet shop in poor condition not only can I complain about the pet shop but I can also make a complaint about the 'breeder' (using that term very loosely). If that 'breeder' gets enough complaints then maybe they get put out of business? And it's not just the health of an animal but even the breeds they list them as. That pet shop owner was already saying he didn't want amstaff's so I can already see 'breeder's trying to pass off amstaffs as SBT's (just one example). That is not right for the dog, the new owner or reputable breeders of either breed. And if I see anything saying it is pure bred when it clearly isn't then I will also be complaining about that kind of misrepresentation. A cross breed is a cross breed and people shouldn't be paying for a pure bred if they aren't getting it. Surely that has to be some kind of legal misrepresentation of goods?

Just some veyr quick tips for right now. If you touch your dog to get its attention then I suggest 2 light taps each time - anywhere but on the head. If you only do one the dog may be unsure if you just bumped into it so always two so it can differentiate. I don't recommend your dog be off leash until she has visual recall because you can't call her back if there is danger. So I'd avoid that for the saftety of your dog at present including in your driveway, near roads or on walks. Be careful around other dogs as your dog wont be able to hear them giving her back off growls. If you have timber floors at home stamping your feet will get her attention. I still talk to deaf dogs as I think they still respond to the positive body language and expressions. The key is having that dogs focus on you wherever possible so it can learn and follow hand commands. I have a deaf dog (due to age) and recently met two wonderful deaf ACD's who were very obediant (one only a young pup). One thing I've noticed though is if a deaf dog gets in trouble from their human they can make a hell of a racket. Tell your neighbours your dog is deaf in case it gets out of the yard or in case it kicks up a stink sometime and they think you are trying to throttle it! Good luck with your girl!

Last one - having a rest after lunch:

Aeroplane tail!

And of course Silly Stussy. All of these could be considered out takes - there is nothing she couldn't do in her frock!

Now our old girl Ricky:

All our dogs got washed yesterday so we could do Christmas pics but the weather was so dark and awful it didn't happen. And with so much going on today we couldn't organise all the dogs in one place at the one time so it was just mostly ribbons around the neck and random photos. Stussy (my silly heart girl) wore her christmas fairy dress all day and was hilarious. First here is my sister's dog Wolf:

I've got a pied staffy girl who I think is the most beautiful dog in the world but she hates the camera so I always get scared face. It sucks when you can't capture the essence of your dogs so I feel your pain! Stanley looks like a proud chap in his pics above!

What happens under the doona stays under the doona......

I was reading up about this after reading this story and there are organisations researching this issue. It has links to OCD and the people think the animals need them and they have no idea that they are actually harming these animals. They are generally living in as much squallor as the animals themselves. Cats are hoarded a lot because they can be hidden behind closed doors. Recidivism rates are very high with hoarders which means that they need to be closely monitored after being caught. Most of the animals removed from hoarders have to be pts. Generally only young animals can be brought to health and a social level needed for rehoming. Oh and it is not uncommon for people to start out as rescuers, working closely with pounds and shelters and turn into hoarders. More common with single women but not restricted to this demographic.

That's a lot of cats to have gotten hold of and I wondered whether some would've even been people's beloved missing pets? Imagine your cat goes missing and that's where it ends up? That would crush me. I wonder what kind of research has been or is being done into animal hoarding? It does seem to be more of a female issue but many of these people have family who also live in the house, including smaller children, so I doubt it is about being lonely or needing something to care for. Apart from the dangers to the poor animals I think it is an interesting mental health issue and there must be a way of helping these people lead normal animal free lives again.

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She sounds like a beautiful girl and you gave her a great life in her older years.

I've got a hero tale. I had mother and son rescue staffies (mother is still with me). I lived on acreage and had been sick with the flu. My parents lived on the property next to me so I was going to walk next door to show them I was getting better. But when I went to walk down my front stairs one leg went between the stairs and I flipped down them, knocking myself out on the side wall of the house and landing on the pavers. The mother dog who is not very smoochy stayed quietly with me. Her son who was a bag of nerves over even blowing leaves ran next door to my parents house and alerted them that something was wrong. They ran over and found me and got medical assistance - I injured both arms and legs and was concussed. Still have a big stair dent in one leg. I would not have been able to get help myself and no-one would've heard me shout. I could've been there for hours or even overnight if it wasn't for the dogs. I was so proud of those two for what they did!

Happy birthday Kuga! my old girl turned 16 in August so I know what owning an old dog is about - some of them just keep going and going and I do believe willpower and love has a lot to do with it. You go big fella!

I've done something terribly silly. I get very jealous of all these people whose dogs like to wear Christmas attire and pose. Yesterday I was at Big W and bought a girls Christmas Fairy dress (with wings and headband!) in size 6 - 8. I took it home and put it on one of my staffies and it fit! She hates headwear but seems to love dresses! She was strutting around, tripping over the chiffon skirt all proudly! So all dogs will be getting a bath on the weekend and we will be attempting photos. Probably more out takes than good ones given that my girl actually looks like a bloke dressing as a woman in her frock but dammit, I want Christmas pics!