Little Gifts

Neko's puppies come in small....medium....and extra large!

Here is my take on desexing. Most people do not give it a thought until something goes wrong or it becomes a problem - a bitch in season, spotting on the furniture, escaping, unwanted litters. If they have a male dog it could be escaping, barking, marking, leg humping, paying higher impound fees every time it is caught on the hunt for a bitch in season. Then when these people have the idea put in their mind that it can all be resolved with desexing they ring maybe 2 local vets and decide it is horribly expensive. For an operation that can save you a whole lot of stress (and maybe money if you end up with an unwanted litter of puppies) it is not expensive at all. It pays for itself in lower council registration fees too. Plus many vets (and the RSPCA) run desexing specials and of course there are payment plans. Desexing your pet will be the cheapest surgery you ever get and if you can't afford that you can't afford a pet (or unwanted litters). I don't know how you educate those who are not interested in being educated but I think that is where the problem lies. So many people just don't see it as an issue until it becomes a problem for them. Compulsory desexing is unlikely to be the answer. You will just get more people not registering their dogs - council can't police what they don't know about.

I pronounce it tit-ra. Oh dear.....

Bastards! I hope it is found soon with all your gear still in it.

I've never had pet insurance and I have also been pretty lucky in having healthy dogs and an income that enabled me to cover any large, unexpected bills that came in. I've been with the same vets since 1988 and get a loyalty discount from them. I've noticed though that costs have increased to the point that I always scrutinise my bill now with a lump in my throat (my income is not what it used to be). I don't begrudge what my vet charges - I don't even think they are expensive, but it all adds up. I think you need to make sure any policy you get covers the things you need - many don't cover things like dental for instance. It would certainly be beneficial for a major illness or accident, particularly after hours, which can cost thousands in one hit. This issue is like having private health cover for humans. I reckon if I had've started putting $25 a week into a separate account when I first started working I would've had enough money to cover every specialist, dental and allied health bill I've ever had. Instead I've been paying into a fund for decades and the two times I've had major illness I've still been out of pockets thousands of dollars (plus paying for Medicare services I am never able to access as I get slotted into the private system). I'm sure you could apply the same kind of principle to pet insurance. Part of what you pay for is that piece of mind that you (or your pet) can get the tests and treatment needed regardless of how your bank balance is looking.

My nephew and his partner were in the Bundaberg floods a couple of years back. They only had to evac towards the end and packed up their ute with all their camping gear and their cats and dogs and headed to the high school because they were told no evac centre would take pets. Unfortunately they got trapped there with several other families and their pets and those other people were not very organised so they had to share all their supplies with them. Even worse, peoples pets were just roaming the streets for several days without clean drinkable water or food until rescue workers came back into the area. It really was traumatic for them even though they tried to prepare as best they could.

Dewclaws I don't have time to post in detail now but there are reasons behind the price of some pups bred by quality breeders. Litters in some breeds are small, potential need to do a cesar, importing semen, health checks, vaccinations, registering, limited number of litters per bitch, only 1 or 2 litters on the ground at the same time. Small numbers in litters and high demand for a breed can also increase the market value (just like any other in demand and hard to obtain product). It really isn't right to compare prices by backyard breeders who are offering no guarantees (because they can't), no post purchase support and who spent squat on the bitch or breeding and socialising their pups with the good breeders who are out there, particularly with breeds prone to some genetic issues. Sadly with puppies you don't always get what you pay for and most consumers don't seem to care enough to shop around. Geez you even get a better 'product' through most rescues than you will ever get for your money with a puppy farmer or backyard breeder. They are the ones ripping consumers off (as are pet shops who stock puppy farmers products). The majority of good breeders have to hold down paid jobs to cover the real outlays of breeding - they are not sitting on their arses, letting their dogs do all the work while lining their pockets. A good breeder is trying to progress the breed, not breed as many pups as they can and sell them for as much as they can. There is a world of difference. And no, I have never bred a dog and have no plans to but I have house sat for several award winning breeders (their bitches and pups) and been involved in a breed specific rescue that has a lot of genetic issues (and a lot of backyard breeders). I've seen with my own eyes the differences.

Hey maybe you should call the 'wombpo' Coal (as in lump of....).

Have a look at this DOL thread. We have three different breeds of dog here with three different coat types (including a large breed long hair) and a calendula tea rinse makes them all look clean and shiny, feel soft and smell, well, like nothing! It is so quick to bath them (no rinsing required), which is good because two out of three hate baths here. I also do ours on the lawn on any bald patches so nothing goes to waste - you can't get much more natural than that! In the interest of honest disclosure though I will say we did have some problems with the calendula and our pei girl for a bit. Her skin didn't like it for a period of time (no idea why) but we are back to using it without issue. http://www.dolforums.com.au/topic/254792-o-m-g-calendula-tea-rinse/

I reckon in an emergency or evac situation council would have to be flexible about the council disk issue so I wouldn't stress too much about that. Reuniting a dog and owner would have to be the biggest priority in that scenario. I get all my tags off ebay too - I like the tags to match the colour and pattern of the leash and harness/collar sets!

I'm pretty sure you only had two puppies. That big one looks like a baby wombat!

I have our emergency camping gear with our emergency dog camping gear so a lantern, torch, multitool, flint, waterproof matches, basic cooking gear and the absolute minimum needed for a camp out is all stored together with the human stuff in special camping crates all ready to grab and go. If anything is ever used it is all put back in its place. We have extras of most things (for actual camping trips) and they are stored in other crates to avoid confusion. If something is faulty I check it and get it repaired or replaced before it gets put back. Our camping gear is also separate from household gear so we have torches and tongs we use regularly that live in the house and we have emergency and camping torches and tongs! Seems a bit anal but after having done disaster recovery as part of my old job for many years it just makes me feel safer, especially with three dogs dependant on me. I just realised from this thread though that none of our spare collars have tags on them. I'll have to rectify that.

For quite sometime we have had a special pile of gear in the shed in case we need to evacuate with the dogs quickly. My plan is to take camping gear for them and us too in case an evac centre doesn't allow pets. I even bought a station wagon to make it possible to take all the gear we need! It does include 1 crate because with three dogs there could be times when a crate is needed for theirs or others safety. It's difficult to keep food supplies with this gear so inside the house we have the important, need everyday stuff in a box in the laundry (meds, treats) so if we had to leave in a rush we'd just pick up the box. There is also a large clear bucket next to the box that we would scoop kibble into from the big bin. It's not perfect but it should only take 5 minutes or under to pack the car with all the doggy gear needed for a week away. My hope would be that my sister was also here to help me if we had to leave so one of us could pack the car with the preorganised stuff while one of us ran around like a chook grabbing supplies/clothes for us humans so that within 10 mins maximum we would be out of there. I have no possessions as valuable to me as the dogs so that helps! We've also said that because of the dogs we wouldn't wait to be evacced into a mess of cars and people - we would choose as early as possible to move ourselves to safety to ensure we could get somewhere dog friendly (we have a semi rural town about 40 mins inland with a camp ground that we would aim to go to).

Dad is a happy lad! Is that cause he'd just found out he'd made some milkshakes with mum?

I looked at that photo and thought it was distorted and FB had been elongated in the shot. That's how much bigger he is to my eye!

But what's wrong with Fatty Boombah?

I've been reading and waiting and reading and waiting and WOW! I'm sorry Neko needed a cesar but it was clearly for the best. And you only had 2 heartbeats and images because fatty boombah was taking over in there! Can't wait to see pics of the new bubbas and hope Neko takes to motherhood well and heals quickly from her surgery.

Some neighbours left their outside only kees with my parents when they got evicted. He was only ever fed leftovers (when they had any) and they never brushed him or took him to the groomers. Anyway they ummed and ahhed about coming back for him and actually took him, got him shaved and returned him to mum and dad's with the most horrific razor burn around his genitals. So then I had to take him to my vet and get him fixed up. They decided they wouldn't be collecting him so we contacted a rescue group and he was rehomed. That dog was a saint. The family had loads of little boys and he was bomb proof. Even with the razor burn he was happy and calm with us strangers. Also very obedient even though he'd never had any training (we trained him to leash walk). Doubt he'd ever been wormed and was apparently pure but not papered. So behaviourally and health wise he was very sound with very little human assistance. We already had three dogs otherwise he simply would've remained with us. About the only bad thing was he used to mark furniture when we and his foster mum let him inside but who could blame the poor bugger being moved from house to house and living in chaos? Oh and he was adopted by a cat foster mum and whilst we don't know if he'd been exposed to cats in his past he was absolutely fine with hers. He has developed hot spots though so they keep his coat short. I see him still on FB from time to time.

Thanks for this! I am with a rescue groups that provides items to rescues beyond just cats and dogs and some have wierd items on their wish lists. I hadn't thought about Freecycle before!

I appreciate the sentiment regarding this dog doing his own thing but I worry about regular maintenance stuff for him - ticks, fleas, worming, burrs in his coat (I'm guessing heart worm is not a big issue down there?). They've also said he isn't great on the roads and that worries me too. I suspect a local vet would do his vet work for free but I'd rather he didn't get hit by a car in the first place. Yes it might initially be quite stressful for him being caught but can't you see him as the resident dog at say a farm rescue place? He would be safe, have a purpose and be surrounded by people who understand he might need to be managed a little differently and have his space.

Even the chinese use rice as an 'invalid' food. They make something called jook (spelling is not right but that's how it sounds) which is rice that has had extra water and cooking time added so that it is like porridge. Usually an easy to chew meat is added to it and maybe some soy sauce. I love the taste of it and when I used to order it in Hong Kong as a light/quick meal I would always get asked if I was sick!

How exciting! Cujo gets to spend his final years back with his original family!

I'll find out the name and let you know.

My friend's son found a kennel for his dog, picked it up today and it was limping and had a weeping sore on it! All that after only leaving it there for four days. Bloody hell! Makes me glad mine just stay here and my sister looks after them!

I think they have their place. The first time I ever took one to puppy school I was actually shocked more at the behaviour of other owners than the puppies. The owners of several swf's were treating them like they were fragile human babies rather than amongst their puppy peers and I thought no wonder some grow to have anxieties and attitude at dog parks and yap at anything that moves. The supervised socialisation with a mix of breeds, different people and in different environments is invaluable.