Little Gifts

What a great idea! We already have stuff hanging from the old hills hoist (that we never hang washing on). Why not make use of it more! I predict it will be snowing in my backyard about 5 seconds after I hang a stuffed toy from it!

My personal opinion is that you can/should only rescue as many animals as you can safely accommodate - safely for them and for you. As for outside chaining, if we were talking working dogs then as long as there is protection from danger, the elements and they have regular food and clean drinking water I have no issue. But when we are talking about dogs used to running free in backyards and sleeping inside at night then I don't think this environment is good for that type of dog at all. If land and a few dog houses and some chain is all this rescue could offer then they should've said no. This is no better than the minimal comfort and resources puppy farmers give to their breeding animals. If they are saving dogs for the sake of saving them then they probably aren't quarantining or doing temp tests either and you can just imagine the crazy mix of dogs all in together. Imagine if an aggressive one got loose what might happen. Or what about a contagious one? Undesexed bitch getting loose? So much could go wrong and it would be the dogs paying the price for human stupidity.

Before I read what Pers wrote I came up with Shelton. I'll show myself out too.

What kind of rescues are you talking about Steve? Large well known names or small independant groups? I've been involved with several rescue groups over the years and I am yet to see any become lucrative businesses. Even the one I have supported on and off for many years which has grown substantially still can't scrape up enough money to buy a shipping container so they can bulk buy. The rescue is still being essentially run from someone's lounge room. There are never enough volunteers, foster carers or money. Always plenty of cats and dogs in need though. Most just don't have the skilled manpower to seek donations, source and sell merchandise and be a PR machine as well as care for the growing number of animals. Any money they have coming in is spent on vet bills. Any new volunteers or foster carers they source simply means they take on more animals. The only growth is in the number of animals moving through the system. I must admit that whilst it makes business sense for a rescue org to be 'lucrative' it seems so unlikely that I would be suspicious if they were. Where were they cutting corners? What are their operational goals? What was their admin costs as opposed to what was spent on the animals? I'd hate to see more laws because people are stupid, selfish idiots but this situation is yet another example of the existing ones being inadequate when it comes to the public expectations of what is acceptable care of a companion animal. For me it boils down to what is in the best interests of these particular dogs and this definately isn't it.

Steve from what I read they had reported it and continued to monitor the situation awaiting action that seems to be slow coming (well too slow for my liking). One of the main issues for me is that these dogs were reportedly rescued from a worse fate and yet this is now where they are stuck in limbo, still without the hope of a home. It would be a highly stressful situation for many dogs who are already dealing with the loss of their original families and not used to existing in such chaos without exercise, attention or relief. Many of those dogs were probably never chained or left to sleep outside overnight before. Then you have the cold temperatures at night and exposure to the weather during the day. Someone has taken these marginalised animals and put them in yet another traumatic situation. That is not ok with me. Some of these dogs will not be good rehoming options after this as they will develop food, dog or human aggression (or perhaps it already existed unchecked because no-one seems to live on site). Some will need specialised care to get them to trust again and be used to living in a family environment. That is going to be a burden that falls on the shoulders of yet another non-profit rescue group. These are companion animals who have been deprived of companionship at a crucial time in their lives. Sure it may not be illegal but it is not in the best interests of these particular dogs who were already at risk. That's the difference for me. How has this type of rescue saved these dogs? It hasn't. They've just replaced one shitty semi-life with another and made these dogs even less likely to find new homes. If you want to rescue then at least have the decency to improve a dogs situation.

One of the FB pics has a dog with some kind of dead animal in its mouth. I couldn't tell if it was a piglet but then I didn't scrutinise it either. How terribly sad that thousands of people are now aware of the plight of 40 companion animals living in less than ideal circumstances (especially with colder months upon us) yet nothing can legally be done to remove them. Even sadder is the fact that some have been identified as stolen and some were 'rescued' from other poor circumstances. It doesn't sit right with me and I know it doesn't sit right with the OL people. As a society we should be angry that this is even possible while council and the RSPCA debate whose responsibility it is and if there are even any grounds to seize. Protecting all creatures great and small my arse. This is how we treat our most vulnerable in this country and it's not good enough.

Dr Susan Dawson, Anvet Kedron (the staff there are also amazing). She has a way of examining a pet without them realising they are being examined and she used to look after all the rescue pei for Peiradise and took on a lot of difficult medical cases for them. Link below. http://anvetkedron.com.au/Staff.aspx And Dr Sidney from BVH (see link below). Renate has been my vet for decades but she is doing less hours now and is very direct and not everyone's cup of tea. We've been transitioning to Sidney and he is very clued in on new medical treatments and strange animal health issues that require investigation. A very caring group of people, particularly when you are in a crisis with your pet. http://www.beenleighvethospital.com.au/meet-our-staff.html

Tempeh is a perfect time keeper! She knows when it is getting closer to 7am and 5pm (her self chosen meal times). If you are engrossed in something she gets increasingly antsy in the lead up to her meal times to make sure you hop to it and get that food happening! She's very much a go to bed when the sun sets and get up when the sun rises kind of dog. If I am working I get up at 6.30am and if I am not it is 7am. Thursday night I went to bed and forgot to set my alarm but somehow she seemed to know it was a work day and she woke me at 6.20. I don't put out clothes or my work bag the night before and I still stay up late watching tv but somehow she knew it wasn't a sleep in day. She also seems to know when she is due for a worm. I've noticed she gets late night hangries the closer it is to worming time. Last night she was uber whiney and I checked and she is due to be wormed in 2 days!

This is part of the education I wish would be shared with the general public before they get a puppy and decide it costs too much. I am scared to work out what my dogs cost. They eat better than me, have medical care more often than me and own more expensive accessories! They even have newer beds and blankets than me. Oh and grooming sessions and massages and new toys.

Do the incentives reach their goal? When microchipping laws were introduced its was supposed to be about identification - well if you want an incentive for everyone to microchip having no registration fees would seem to make more sense. No but I'm not sure they know what else to do as they are confined to their own local government legislation so they are trying to lead people in a certain 'take some responsibility' direction. Some people who get a dog will be happy to take advantage of discounted desex rates and registration fees and some people will continue to not give a toss. But unfortunately we are moving into a world where we have so many rules because common sense seems to have left the building and people need to be protected from their own stupidity. I wish it wasn't so. I'm sure when I was first an adult and registering my own pet the only other tick box was working dog (and they didn't have to pay anything). Now we have a tiered fee structure! In my original post in this thread I talked about educating people on a range of pet owning matters that might actually help people become more responsible pet buyers and owners in the first place. I wish education is what the RSPCA would spend some of their millions on.

I still see council fees as incentives and if you want to own a dog and be responsible then you pay the fee relevant to your situation. If you don't want to register your dog because you don't like the cost then you take a risk of it ever being picked up (like being uninsured) and having to pay through the nose then. If you don't like the fee structure then appeal to your council on whatever grounds you think are relevant. Your choice. I pay $32 a year x 2 for my desexed girls so $19.20 is a bargain. I'm sure we are also getting very similar council animal services for that money too.

Here's my take on part of the problem for homeless dogs and rescue groups and why council registration rates are like this, trying to curb the creation of potentially homeless dogs in the first place. People who deliberately mate their dogs to make some money don't care where those puppies go and I believe it is highly likely the wrong dog in the wrong home is a reason for a percentage of surrenders or dogs who end up at the pound and don't get picked up by their owners. These 'breeders' of undesexed dogs don't care about the future of the puppy they have bred but the money. Then you have the oops litters and once the owners have worked out they can't palm off a 'cute puppy' to friends, family, neighbours or give them away on Gumtree they get surrendered. These people have no clue how to work out what is the right home for that dog and just keep their fingers crossed someone doesn't try to return one. They didn't want them in the first place so they certainly don't put much effort into finding the right home - they look for any home. These puppies have no value to anyone and are the true unwanted. Enforced desexing (or by hitting an owner in the hip pocket) could have an impact on these two scenarios, making it hard for deliberate back yard breeding and harder for accidental matings. But I think education is also missing if we want to reduce the over production of unneeded dogs, inappropriate purchasing and dumping cycle. Many people seem quite clueless about owning entire dogs, wouldn't have a clue their girl was in season until after she had escaped from the yard or even imagine the creative ways a dog will access a bitch. Loads of people in rescue have heard the stories from people who own an entire male and an undesexed female in the same house - "I never thought a brother/sister or mother/son would mate together!" or "I only took my eye off them both for a minute!". Many of us have also heard the hilarious "She should have one litter first!"! So educate about the pros, cons and risks of desexing and not desexing, include financial information regarding the cost of desexing (some people think it costs too much to even consider) and also the cost of whelping and rehoming a litter and raising a dog from puppyhood for its entire life. Give people the information so they can be responsible for all their dogs needs. Create incentives for responsible ownership and create barriers for irresponsible deliberate breeding and selling. Make those effers go and get real jobs!

He sounds like such a good boy I think we need more pics!

Honestly they are just the cutest breed of dog!

I wonder if the Chilly Dog coats are made from a thermal but lightweight fibres rather than the usual fleece? Lots of travel gear for humans now has special properties. Weighs nothing and packs to be quite small. I haven't got time to check on my phone but I wouldn't be surprised.

I'm not in a position to make any custom coats at present but here is my advice. I designed and starting making a coat similar to the Chilly Dogs Great White North coat. I was doing double layers - high neck, the top section of coat (over the back) drops down a lot more at the back for more leg coverage (when they are lying down it gives a blanket effect), the under body section (which then wraps back up over the coat and velcro's or ties on over the back) to be as long and wide as I could get it without the armholes being floppy or it being susceptible to being peed on. It took a bit of playing with a commercial pattern (I got the idea from Kwik Sew 3544) and it can be made with a plain and a print. Great for dogs that need extra body coverage but their joints may not allow them to wear pyjama style coats. If you know anyone who sews or find someone who will do you a custom coat I'd be happy to pass my ideas and suggestions on to you (I have the patterns and drawings somewhere!). I called mine the Cold Frog! http://www.chillydogs.ca/index.php/product/index/30 PS Just editing to add that like with keeping ourselves warm it is about the fabric (type and thickness) AND the amount of body covered so heat can build up and be maintained. How a dog with its entire back end hanging out of an acrylic jumper made in China is supposed to stay warm is beyond me but you see it all the time. It would be like us wearing a mini skirt without thick stockings.

Each situation is going to be unique. If you think about dogs from their living in the wild, wolf background then any barriers to toileting, walking, finding somewhere safe to sleep, hunger, accessing food and water and consuming it would be considered a serious life threatening problem. But because they live with humans we can compensate for all those things. I think that makes it hard for us to see the truth from the dog's perspective and always know when the time is right. Scottsmum your suggestion about someone less attached looking at the situation is a good one - what do they see that we can't?

Thank you Swain. Yes we have lots of great memories and pictures and two other dogs to keep us distracted so we are lucky in that way. I wasn't posting my recent experience to detract from what you are going through but to express how difficult a time this is and how emotional and hard on ourselves we can get. We wait and watch and agonise and perhaps we need to be more like our dogs and be in the moment while we can. I'm sure they devote no time to worrying about the end because they are too busy just enjoying the now. Of course it is hard to find a balance between going with the flow and oh my dog we need to the emergency vet right now. There's not really a way to make this easier. I'm so sorry you are going through this but at least you know here on DOL you are not alone.

Nope, you are definately not alone. We are still recovering from a very recent loss. My sister and her heart dog lived with me and my two dogs. As a large breed dog little health issues started arising when she hit 11. Her first health issue was these weird skin growths affecting her vision. Surgery x 3 as they kept appearing. All was good and then I noticed she had a discharge (hard to see with her furry foo-foo). She had pyometra and went straight in for surgery (my sister's choice not to desex and it had never been an issue - no unwanted litters or on heat escapes). Then three months after that she was on her back having a scratch and in amongst the fur I noticed mammary lumps. Straight into the vet the next day and it was mammary cancer. She looked like Frankenstein after she got home from surgery but for 9 months her xrays were all clear and she was in perfect health. Then she started being a little incontinent and we put it down to age as she was normal in every other way. Then she was struggling with our 3 stairs due to arthritis. We started her on shots and physio (she was already on other supplements). There was initial improvement and she was able to use the stairs again. But then all of a sudden after Christmas she stopped. We bought a ramp which she wouldn't use. My sister simply moved to the lower area of the house to be with her, no biggie. She started to be fussy with her food (she was a fussy eater when she was younger). After her emergency desex she had put on a lot of weight fairly quickly but all of a sudden she was losing weight so it was back to the vet. After we mentioned the incontinence and stair issue (which we'd put down to age) he found high levels of calcium in her pee so did more tests and determined she had cancer in her anal glands. We went to our first oncology appointment on a Wednesday and scans revealed cancer in the glands in her groin, near her liver and in the anal glands. They gave us a list of 6 treatment options. Despite her age the first two included surgery and an 18 month life span prognosis. We asked numerous times how soon we had to decide and what to look out for regarding deterioration in her condition, what to expect if treatment wasn't working, etc. We went home with the dog started on the most basic of cancer meds. My sister immediately did some research, talked to others who'd had cancer treatment for their dogs and also saw our usual vet to weigh it all up. She made her decision and had an appointment back with the oncologist later the following week. On the Monday night after the Wednesday appointment her dog had diarreha (which I can't spell!). We thought it might be a reaction to the meds and when it didn't settle overnight we booked an appointment with our vet on the Tuesday afternoon. We were all shocked to find out the cancer in the groin area was stopping her from pooing and everything inside was breaking down. We basically sat with her on the floor of the consult room and said our goodbyes less than a week after scans and advice from specialists saying she was a surgical candidate and 'could' live for another 18 months (which we felt was rather unlikely and we were not comfortable with the surgical options anyway). We got one lousy hour to say goodbye to a dog that had been my sister's world for almost 13 years. I can't tell you how much that sucked. She wasn't even well enough for us to take home for just the night. I am still incredibly angry about not being told how large those tumours were and what might happen despite repeated questioning. There was no mention of blockages. We only ever wanted to do the right thing by her and were denied the ability to spoil her and spend time with her at the end because we didn't actually know when the end was. We put a lot of changes down to age, like most people would, so there is a lot of guilt. Even though we sought immediate treatment for everything unusual and she showed no signs of being that ill. I have to remind myself and my sister that all dogs die of something. Very few of them just go to sleep one night in a comfy warm bed when they are really old and never wake up again. That is a fantasy death that we'd all like for them to have. Nope. They get cancer and other crappy illnesses and they try to be strong, not make a fuss and hang on for us. Unfortunately they rely on us to make the 'hard decision' at the 'right time' whether we are ready or not. It's frigging hard. Even if you know your dog you will second guess yourself. Did I leave it too long? Did I do it too soon? My advice is if they become a risk to themselves in your absence or if they no longer actively engage with you in your presence then it might be time. Don't leave it to the last minute to spend time together or spoil them or you might miss out like we did. Comfort them with your words and touch. Live in the moment together for as long as you can. Those little things mean the world to a dog. Hugs to you. I know exactly how much this sucks.

I've so missed your puppy pics and stories! Hello there Master Derpy Ru!

Tempeh the shar pei needs her calendula tea rinse once a month. She gets a bit whiffy and greasy feeling. It takes all of 5 minutes and she hates it. Every 2 weeks her ears are done and she somehow knows and wont come near me. She hasn't ever needed her nails done. Stussy the SBT needs her nails done at least once a month. We've been working on her fear of having her paws touched and only have one scared paw to still conquer. I check out her ears just in case maybe once a month and I give her the sniff test when I do Temp but she probably only gets a rinse every few months. I love the calendula tea rinse because it is so quick. I make mine run around the yard till they are dry. No blow drying here!

It's only fair on us that you would!

The owner is the biggest problem here. If it was me, after the first one the dog would never be let off leash in public (only off leash in its own well fenced yard). After the second one that dog would be at a behaviourist and a trainer to ensure I could take it out in public safely (particularly given its size). If a muzzle was recommended it would be wearing one. After the third attack if a good behaviourist told me the issue could not be addressed the only time that dog would be leaving my property would be in a muzzle to vet or other necessary appointments. The fourth time and that dog attacked another it is going straight to the vet and getting a needle no matter how much I loved it. I'd be interested whether the owner of this dog has sought professional advice on how to address her dogs behaviours or just blamed everything on everyone else. And it actually pisses me off that states like Vic brought BSL in to target certain breeds regardless of their behaviour and SA lets any dog of any breed repeatedly cause harm when they have already been identified as dangerous. Both are equally ridiculous approaches but SA's laws are going to lead to unnecessary injury or death. Stupid, stupid humans!

I didn't notice the no sew blankies - are they just fringing cut around the edges that you knot together? If so I have made quite a few round dog beds using that technique. There is also a different style of no sew blankies I have seen done that don't give you a lumpy knot. You cut a slit in the fringes and loop them through. Link below in case you are in a creative mood! http://www.adventuresofadiymom.com/2012/12/no-sew-fleece-blanket.html There is also this one but I think it would need to be done with a much lighter weight fabric than fleece (maybe 2 layers of old flannel sheets?). http://www.adventuresofadiymom.com/2012/12/no-sew-fleece-blanket.html

We tried pretty much everything out there for Tempeh who was initially fearful of coats or being covered with blankets and who really struggles with the cold. For her the snuggle safes are the best option as they stay warm all night and the heat radiates. Plus they last forever. We've had electric pet beds (chewed) human electric blankets (one side now broken), insulated/fleece layered blankets I made (didn't seem to hold enough heat), newspaper under and blankets over the soft crate (still didn't hold enough heat). We can get her in a double layer coat now and also put blankets over her but she still sleeps by a snuggle safe in the bed as well. Us humans also use them in our beds too and the good thing about them is if you get too hot you can move a bit further away. Can't do that with electric blankets or electric beds. If you can sew or know someone who does then this is the tute I followed. It just wasn't warm enough for Tempeh but it could work for your two.