Little Gifts

I have not kenneled for a long time and a friend has asked me if I know of somewhere in the Logan or Brisbane Southside area for a GSD belonging to her son. It is the first time they have left him anywhere. (the dog, not the son!) Anyone have any suggestions based on experience or word of mouth for them to check out? The onus will be on them to assess and choose the right kennel for their dog of course. Thank you!

Pei are a guarding breed so he might see the sheep as some kind of threat to his household? Because of the summer heat my three dogs (including a pei) are often kept inside (air cond on) while we are at work. They seem to just sleep the time away and don't find it stressful at all! Maybe once you are at your new property and can get an idea of where the sheep are in relation to where your boy's yard and you can get a better idea on whether it is a guarding behaviour or a prey drive issue. I also second getting K9 Pro in (rather than spending the money on building an enclosure just yet). I've seen the positive changes in Canetoad's pei. I've also been seeing a behaviourist who works with Steve Courtney and we've had instant results with our pei girl's behavioural problems. Fences might keep the two species seperated but it wont resolve the behaviours and it could be the same all over again if you ever move to your parents property or another place without adequate dog fencing so why not see if you can address the issue rather than band aid it?

So heartwarming! Poor Jack looks a little shellshocked from the ordeal but it obviously wasn't his time.

Farmer Dave might love animals and he might've made efforts to address past concerns regarding his current business but let's face it Farmer Dave, perhaps all the bad luck you have had is the universe trying to tell you that you are not good at looking after other people's pets and you need to find yourself another career! How much 'bad luck' can one business owner have?

I love mud monsters! (don't have any of my own)

I'd be thinking where did he used to live? Did he have neighbours he was fond of back then and whose animals he liked to visit? I can imagine keeping up a relationship with people like this after moving (or maybe even after they moved if he has lived in the same place forever). I know this doesn't help at all!

My sister did the dry sledding a couple of times with her husky/shep mix. Oh I wish I was a photographer because the pics in the forest as the sun rises on a cold winter morning and the breath of the excited dogs misting the air was just magic. That and the sounds of the dogs impatiently waiting for a turn is what I remember most. You've got to be pretty fit for it (rules me out) as you do have to help the dogs out at times, and of course you need to steer in forest terrain or risk smacking your bike into a tree!

I used to live on small acreage and had a city friend stay for a weekend. She found it impossible to sleep saying everything was so noisy out 'in the bush'. She obviously didn't have a lot of native bird life where she lived!

I like purposeful barking or dog sounds. But dogs that bark out of boredom or from anxiety and their owners don't seem to know or care stress me out. I can imagine how I'd feel if I was so riled up I felt the need to yell incessantly for hours so figure dogs must be feeling just as worked up. I've also had fosters who never barked and all of a sudden when they did it was woah, where did that come from? Tempeh (pei) has a very deep bark for how she looks. Took me a while to get used to it. She's always been a noisy thing and has a myriad of different sounds she makes to let us know what's going on. If she was ever quiet I'd probably panic. Because Wolf is a husky cross she is a big woo-wooer but poor Stussy (SBT) has no talking skills and is it very funny to see her try given how vocal the other two can be. The best she can manage when really excited is a trillish high pitched yawn or some heavy breathing. A bit embarrassing really.

How embarrassment!

What. The. F? Absolute craziness and it seems it is enabling members of the public to behave far worse than any animal would, abusing dogs that have not shown themselves to even be aggressive. There's another country I wont be moving to. Might even strike it off my visit list and spend my tourist dollars elsewhere.

Could very well be Karen - something has changed in her world whether you or I can see it and she is responding in one of the few ways she knows how. As I said, hopefully someone with behavioural skills will come on and give you some useful advice. I'm just commenting on what I see from your story from an outsiders perspective.

Of course something has changed. You went away. She probably sensed a change of some sort was coming based on your activities before leaving. Dogs have very limited ways in which they can tell us if they are upset, unhappy or worried. Toileting inappropriately just happens to be one of those ways. Hopefully someone with behavioural skills can come in and give you advice on how to address this.

I was reading this story thinking you were a friend of mine that this just happened to! New owners, crazy dogs, upset neighbours on three sides. It all went pear shaped for her though when her dog rushed the fence and impaled himself on a ginger plant and needed emergency surgery. She was lucky and spoke to council and the new owners who had no idea their dogs were doing this and worked to rectify the situation. One thing I mentioned to my friend was about the fence. I know my fence has shrunk in the heat and you can see movement through the cracks. It is not a pretty solution (she has a Balinese garden) but I suggested she go to Bunnings and buy some of that waterproof stuff they use for real estate signs and tack that on the bad section of fence. It will stop dog injuries, anyone chewing through the fence, buffer some sound and block any visual prompts. As for the behavioural issues, in particular with your anxious dog, I wonder if it is worth getting a behaviouralist in to settle their responses and de-escalate their triggers? We've just used Jane Harper (I'm down at Beenleigh but she is north coast). Well worth the money for us and she remains available for advice on ongoing changes. It might also be worth talking to council for advice (and perhaps support if things escalate further). I'd also go round and talk to the actual dog owners and see if they are aware of the chaos that is happening and willing to rectify it with their dogs.

Do you sew or do you know anyone who sews? You'd could easily sew some loops (use lightweight tape) to the corners of the cover (or bed) you already have and also in the middle down the long sides. With the tape tabs in place you could attach it to the crate with carabiners or cable ties. If you lived closer I could do this for you in a jiffy. It really is only a 15 minute job for someone with a sewing machine. A metre of tape would be more than enough and cost maybe $2.

I made Stussy her own soft cone. I don't think it was the gift she was hoping for.

Just keep checking his physical symptoms. My stafford girl got stung by something one night and came up all lumpy over her head. She was ok (I rang vet) and we didn't need to take her in or give her anything. But the goober got herself stung by the same thing the following night and had a terrible response to it. She ended up with vasculitis which is very uncomfortable and sort of scary as it can be a sign of other more serious issues. Her skin went a dark red/maroon colour and got hot and thick. Her ears were like three times their normal thickness. My vet picked it up quickly and treated it and we went around the yard removing any insect nests we could see. So as long as your boy is recovering from the sting - the swelling and discomfort is reducing, then things should be ok. If he develops other symptoms or the existing ones flare up I'd suggest you need to see the vet to get it under control.

Yay Roova! Tempeh loves hers now. We have turned a corner and she finds it terribly boring if she has to eat out of only her bowl. I'm glad I didn't make my snuffle mat any bigger (or use a heavier base). What did you use for your base?

I'm feeling a little guilty because poor Stussy has to have another op tomorrow (unexpected) and will be swapping reindeer ears for a cone of shame over the festive season! I will at least try and disguise her antibiotics in some leg ham and turkey.

I just made some special tug toys for Stussy (one stuffed with squeakers and one a crackle bottle style). I thought I'd show her before wrapping them. Within a minute she had holes in both. She was in heaven! Gotta love a destructo dog!

If you read my post you will notice she was clipped into the seat belt, not loose in the car. The issue was she is usually in her harness (which clips on her back) when she leaves the house but due to her healing wounds she was in a martingale collar and this one thing allowed her more range to move and she was standing on the arm rest with her head out of the window after I had stopped the car. Normally with her harness this is not possible. Lesson learnt for me. I finally spoke to the dealer and the back windows do have sensors and are supposed to reverse the window going up if they encounter enough pressure. So I'm hoping that is what really happened and that whilst her head was out and the window was tight it was stopped at that point and not increasing in pressure. Still, it wont ever be happening again with my dogs!

Our streak of stressful situations continues! Stussy was in a bad dog fight a couple of weeks back and has developed some complications post the patch up surgery (and has to have more surgery). So we arrived at the vet this morning to discuss options and as she loves the smells when we go for a drive I was putting up all the windows. Because of where she was clipped I started putting the two windows on my side straight up then happened to see by some miracle that her head was actually sideways out of the back window I was putting up. I don't think it had been more than a second. She made no noise and exhibited no signs of trauma after release. I got my vet to check her over anyway. On the way home she wanted all the windows part down again and I realised the issue was she is usually wearing a harness when clipped in but due to healing wounds she is in a martingale and was able to actually reach further in the back seat. It is a mistake I will never make again but I can't believe how easily it happened. I usually put the windows up then give the switch an extra flick to make sure it is inside the seal. I did a test on my front window with my hands to see if my car had some kind of auto sensor and couldn't believe the pressure exerted as the window went up. I've called my dealer asking whether my back windows have an auto sensor (my front driver's one doesn't seem to) and am waiting for a call back. I can't believe her wind pipe wasn't instantly crushed. Has anything like this happened to anyone else? In all my years of having power windows it is my first incident. It has really eaten into my confidence. I think they will all be air cond trips from now on.

I'm still iffy simply because it is the RSPCA. I trust their matching process as much as I trust their behavioural assessment process. I agree that a lower price will enable some pet friendly people to purchase a pet, although it does still cost money to own a pet long term and meet medical needs so that does concern me a little. And I agree in principal that getting a pet while on holidays is a good idea, allowing them to settle in but christmas in some households is quite chaotic and could be stressful to a new pet. It also may not be indicative of the families normal routine.

So funny Grumpette!

I had an old stafford girl who was incontinent from both ends. I bought baby nappies from the supermarket (I went by her weight and the weight on the pack). I'd fold the nappies in half long ways and cut a cross in them for her tail to go through (much quicker than trying to cut a hole). Then I'd put the nappy on her while she was standing up, tail first, back to front - the sticky tabs being on her back. We would notice her go to toilet so would take it off straight away. The nappy kind of sags once peed or pood in so none of the contents ever touched her body. She never smelt or got any rashes. I'm thinking you might need to trim some hair from your boy so the poo didn't kind of get trapped while it was coming out.