Little Gifts

YAY Pipsal!

As far as I know he is being transported to Brisbane to be adopted by a carer with BFR. That's what it says on their Facebook today. Hmm, probably tigerlily73 above even???? Hope so!

I work for Dept of Communities (previously ATSIS and previously Child Safety but not Youth Justice!) so I am also aware of animal issues in some of the remote communities in QLD and understand Pipsals desire to take the pups outside the problem. I had also heard that the health issues of the strays was impacting on the human residents, which I had never even thought of before but it makes sense - things like ring worms and intestinal worms can be passed on. I read slast year that the Bondi Vet Dr Chris Brown was visiting some communities up north to treat the strays for this reason. Not sure if it went ahead or whether it included desexing but what about council's role in healthy communities and animal control? Surely they have a role to play too? And by that I don't mean rounding all the animals up and euthing them! Vicious cycle.

I wish I had known this yesterday - I have a new boss now and his eyes would pop out of his head at me bringing one of my dogs in - although it shouldn't because I am constantly doing things he's never seen before in a workplace!

FranCQ I think Pipsal would currently be in transit to Brisbane so you might have to wait to hear back from her re the pups or you could look in her original thread which I think was about what to feed the puppes. She may have explained the breed of mum in there as the thread got quite long.

Like others have said Pipsal there are pups rescued everyday that are in far worse condition than the pups you will be transporting. Two other no kill shelters have been suggested to you as well as the RSPCA. From the pics the pups look healthy and are attractive mixes. If they were carrying anything serious you would've seen signs of it already. Different vets will have different opinions but there are people on here with practical experience of doing exactly what you are doing that feel you will be ok with what yoyu have planned. And given it is Friday you will probably already be on your way down with the bundles of trouble so hope the trip goes well!

We aim for routine here. It seems to be a comfort to our pack. The one thing that they decided themselves though is that they should all be inside before dark or else there will be trouble! So we try and plan so that someone is home from work to let them all in before dark but on the one or two occassions each month when that doesn't happen the dogs go on and on and on and on about it. Mainly in the form of following us around and lecturing us. Oh and they will bark a lot more extremely and bash on the back door until we let them in the house on those nights too. The normal nights they are just sitting outside the backdoor with smiles waiting to come in, they have a bit of a chat then go off and do their own thing till dinner time. One routine that drives me insane though is my almost 16 year old girl's middle of the night routine. She needs a toilet break up to 3 times a night now after we go to bed regardless of what time we go to bed. So I usually wake up as she drops onto the floor off the bed (she's noisy). Then she has to go into the laundry for a looooooong drink. Then downstairs and outside (all lights must be turned on!) for a sniff around before deciding on whether to do onseies, twosies or both. All three have to occur in different parts of the yard you see. Then we need to sniff the outside water bowl, realising that we have already drunk inside and don't need a top up. Then we turn around and retrace our steps, turning off lights as we go, which ends up with me lifting her butt back onto the bed and not turning the beside light off until she has decided where to settle or else she just stands there in the dark all eerie. Oh and I have to talk to her encouragingly the whole time or it takes twice as long!

Ever since my youngest staffy was a pup she has had a thing for my sister's husky shephard cross - she idolises her! In her first year we took all our dogs to the Million Paws Walk and at one stage my sister was off with her dog and I had mine sitting on the ground just resting. The young staffy was going crazy trying to get to a group of huskies that were near us. Their owners called over and asked if I was ok and I had to say that I thought she was confusing their dogs with my sister's. My sister and her dog have since moved in with me and my dogs and this staffy is still the same, particularly if we are at a larger doggy event - if she spies a husky with similar wolf colours she is desperate to check them out like they are long lost relatives!

I thing you either have a suffed toy destroyer or you don't. Same as how some dogs love balls and others don't give a toss (joke!). My youngest is really the first dog I have ever owned that had a thing for soft stuffed toys and fleecy tuggies and fleecy pom pom balls. I spent a fortune on kongs that you put food inside and even though she loves her snacks she has no interest in the kongs. Same with rubber toys or balls. No interest. And she has been like this from when I got her at around 12 weeks to now at 2.5 years of age. Never been a problem with any of my other dogs (even though I got them when they were older).

I buy my girl a soft toy from the op shop once a month and let her go for it. She has a system of destruction she likes to follow with each. And I always pick brightly coloured toys that don't look like real animals. Not sure if it helps but it makes the backyard colourful!

Penny - the message above was in relation to a pm from Julie and MDBA Pacers (her mailbox was full), but I am more than happy to pass on the same info to you for AWL. The next funding rounds close 31 August so there is a while to get the applications done and you wont be competing with each other for the same small pool of money so don't worry - each application is assessed on its merits and the money pool is very large (lots of people like to gamble!). Alyson

I think my feelings towards this issue have changed. I have loved every dog in my care for their uniqueness and because they have needed me I guess. Only one dog has ever been one I chose myself - the rest are rescues that never left. But just over 2 years ago a young staffy girl came into my life and I just adore her to pieces and can't even imagine leaving her for more than a couple of days, even with family. She is just a normal dog - smoochy, funny, naughty, cute. But she has come into my life at a time when I needed her as much as she needed a home. As far as dogs go her needs have been very simple - food, shelter, exercise/play. No health issues and minimal behavioural issues. Loves everyone and everything. Always grateful for whatever comes her way. But for some reason she and I have a bond that means I can't be too far from her. I'm not sure it is reciprocated but she certainly knows when I need her affection or need to be left alone. I enjoy every single minute in her company. Is she my heart dog? She certainly is for the last couple of years and hopefully well into the future but I don't know if she will be the only one during my lifetime? Maybe it is me that has changed and not the dog????

Julie/Steve - your inbox is full so here is my pm back to you re grants - I will print out and take a copy of the guidelines home with me tonight then look at your website tomorrow and give you some suggestions on what you can apply for and how it needs to be done. Does that suit? Do you have another email addy you can pm me in case your inbox is full again? Alyson

I agree with Kissindra - if AWL are incorporated (which I believe they are) then they should be applying for Jupiters and Gambling grants. I know for a fact that RSPCA are successful with obtaining grants through these funding programs which are managed by DEEDI in Qld. I used to read and assist with grants applications for another dept and have links to someone who looks after Jupiters and Gambling so would be happy to help put grant applications together to make them more successful. Grants can be used to buy vehicles, equipment, items for events and for capitol works (buildings).

What is meant by dogs have a high value? Is that like going there is all about the other dogs (for your dog) rather than what your dog is going there to learn in relation to you the owner? I guess I looked at puppy school like the start of training - getting used to being around other people and other dogs and in a different environment and me and my dog learning from that. Next phase was beginners training - my dog and I doing more structured one on one work both alone and in a group, to the point that the focus was always on me and not on what the other dogs or people were doing around us. This was in an effort to get my dog to respond to my commands each time I made them. Further training after that was also reinforcing the bond and response plus introducing more stimulating activities for the type of dog she had become. That's how I have seen the journey to date but is that wrong? One thing I am always concious of is my friend's who have single dogs that never interact with other dogs after puppy school and seem to lose the skill to interact successfully with new dogs quite quickly. Sometimes reinforced by panicky owners as well. I don't know how you fix that so I've always felt socialisation (as opposed to training and as opposed to straight out play) is important. Have I got it wrong or have I focussed on the wrong aspects of things? To me the dog/owner relationship is always a work in progress because our lives never stay the same so how can our responses to it?

My pup was one of those that all the other 'parents' were worried about! I really thought she was going to get thrown out. She was always the first one to piddle on the floor each week and she even ate the graduation cap that everyone was supposed to have their photo taken in on graduation night! She was a rescue staffy and 12 weeks when she started puppy school. She was already well socialised with other dogs who were much bigger than her and who played very roughly with her. So at puppy school if there was screaming from around the corner then it was usually my girl at the heart of it all. The funny thing was at the end of it (I was a wreck!) the other parents told me that initially they were worried but how good it had been for their pups to be with a more boisturous pup. The feedback from one was that their shy pup had learnt to stand up for itself in a controlled environment and was much more outgoing as a result. Another told me they had been treating their swf as some little fragile thing that needed spoiling/protecting and realised that it was actually a dog who needed to be treated more like a dog than a grand child. My girl wasn't aggressive (all play no fights) but you can imagine her size and enthusiasm might've been intimidating. Funny thing is there were 2 tiny guinea pig type sibling pups there and they loved playing with my girl the best. She is now 2.5 years old and still plays rough and still loves every dog regardless of their shape, size or fur growth, but recognises and respects the signs from other dogs much better now.

Sorry I read this all wrong - I thought you were looking for someone to long term board your animal, not the other way around. If my dreams came true I would run a puppy day care business! (sleepovers would be allowed)

I was just having a clean up today and found a brochure for www.findadogminder.com.au which is dog minding in a family home. I've never used it though so am just providing the details and not a reference for them. And the brochure I have says "enter the promo code vip2010 and get 20% off membership", so you may as well use that as I think I got the brochure at some doggy event here in Brisbane. Oh but the members in the staffy thread rave about Camp Warley! (see SBT123's post)

Yep, he is looking brilliant K9Angel! You'd never know he had such a rough start. Gypsy looks part sheep in that coat!

Penny, BFR recently had an auction night and the products came mainly from their supporters and were very diverse. Someone worked for a mobile phone company and got a phone donated. Someone else was an airforce pilot and got a flight simulation donated. There were also spa vouchers that went down well and lots of bottles of wine. What I bought was a small framed painting done by one of the foster dogs. There was one done by a foster cat and both were very highly sought after - bids went high! I have since printed out and laminated a pic of the dog that did mine and stuck it on the back of the painting, which makes it more personal. I saw that there is a shelter in America that does a huge pet painted exhibition every year to raise funds. So what about getting a couple of paintings done by the 'inmates' and raffle those? Something different to the usual gift basket of animal goodies?

Just lost my reply! Anyway what I was saying before the gremlins hit is that I live half way between Brissie and the Gold Coast so Pipsal if you'd prefer to make the arrangements with AWL then I would be more than happy to come and pick them up from wherever you are in Bris and drop them to AWL for you. You will probably be tired from your trip and happy to get out of being in a confined space with the crazy things! I don't work wednesdays but can also work half days other days so pretty flexible at this end. I will keep my eye on this thread and PM you my numbers once you make your final decision on how you want to handle all this. What approx date will you be in Bris?

Pipsal they look very healthy and are also very good looking pups. They should rehome easily in a more populated area like Brisbane. Well done for not contributing to the dog problem out there by leaving them behind.

We watch a lot of zombie movies and think my young girl has been affected. All stuffed toys are despatched in the same manner: 1. immediately remove beady eyeballs so 'the undead' can't see what you are going to do next 2. remove brains through eyeholes using a quick and repetetive up and down head motion till brain area is empty and fluff is scattered all around you 3. Do a quick check of all paws and limbs to test for squeakers (don't want to attract more of the undead) 4. Remove and kill all squeakers found 5. Pull off a few limbs in case it still tries to run away 6. Remove empty head (ears must remain intact as a warning) and display it publicly so the other undead know you mean business 6. Leave torso intact where it lays - you don't want to look like a total animal do you?

I have the exact opposite. LOOK AT ME! LOOK AT WHAT I'M DOING! YES I DID THAT! ISN'T IT GREAT! Part elephant part attention seeker. Whenever she goes quiet we all panic and think something is wrong and go looking for her.

People don't think about the danger to both themselves and their poor dogs. Sure your dog likes to sit on your lap and look out the windscreen or hang out the window getting a lovely breeze through its hair but in an accident that poor dog becomes a lethal projectile. Your dog could kill you or your passenger, including itself. That's no way for your buddy to end its days of faithful companionship to you. And it isn't about your own driving skills - lots of stupid people doing even stupider things in cars everyday that cause accidents! It's just not worth the risk.