Little Gifts

Poor Tempeh just got locked on the front verandah. I am operating in a daze at present, came home and left the front door open as I had so much stuff to bring in. Brought it all in, closed the door, got changed, had a pee, put stuff away and then thought I heard some crying out the front. Called all the dogs and one was missing. Luckily Tempeh is not the running off kind as I hadn't even latched the front gate on the verandah. Plus it's raining and she believes she would disintegrate if any rain touched her. She'll spend the rest of the day plotting her revenge on me now.

I don't know who I love seeing more - Don or Smoke. They each have their own beauty!

Government housing clients are often unable to source other types of housing for a variety of reasons. I do agree Housing has a responsibility to visitors to the property but this sounds like a house and not a housing complex and the dogs sound like they were roaming and not on the property. What's a bet the reason they needed approval to have pets is because the fencing is not appropriate for all types of pets? Having dealt with client issues briefly for that department here in QLD I know that tenants regularly breach all kinds of aspects of their tenancy agreements and getting them out of government housing is extremely difficult because the only other place many of them could go would be their car or the street. I do believe housing staff would've known about dogs and probably didn't do a whole lot about it because there was probably other significant tenancy issues they were managing. They would have to issue warnings and breaches and it could go on for months. The onus would still be considered on the owners of the dogs after being breached to rehome them or find other accommodation if they wanted to keep the dogs but I honestly can't imagine Housing getting approval to terminate a lease for this reason or pursuing legal action to have the dogs forcibly removed so the tenants could remain in compliance. They certainly would've had more push with DAS than neighbours so at the very least this should be an important learning from this horrible incident. Tenant occupancy shouldn't be at the expense of neighbourhood safety.

See I'm not so sure about Housings level of fault here because they don't have legislation to enforce anything regarding pets and they certainly have no powers to remove pets from someone's property. All they could do is refer it to DAS for action or evict the tenant for non-compliance. I think they could've put more pressure on DAS to help resolve the situation but apart from that it is the tool who did not appropriately contain his dogs that is at fault. Why do we want to dilute the blame and let this arsehat get away with it? But what an awful range of injuries that child suffered.

For me it depends on the type of dog. A dog that looks cared for with tags I would endeavour to find the owners details and reunite the dog directly but if this didn't lead to a result in the first half hour (ie phone number not current) I'd be off to the closest vet for a microchip scan and if that didn't work then it would be to the pound. Once the dog was dropped at the pound I'd put photos and messages up on FB and talk to my neighbours as well as call the RSPCA. How are people supposed to find their dogs if the most logical place to send a lost dog isn't utilised? That doesn't mean you can't also use FB but don't hold on to the dog for hours because private houses are not the first place a worried owner is going to check! If the dog looked unwell, was aggressive and had no collar or tags it is unlikely I would try to catch it myself as I'm not very good at doing it. I'd call the pound but I would also take its picture and put it on FB. I've done that twice before and found information about the dogs and their regular wanderings from neighbours. Really you can do multiple things but be sensible about it. Sometimes dogs turn up a long way from home and as has been mentioned not everyone uses FB or is even aware there is a pet lost and found network!

He is just so beautiful - even when he is being a total goober!

Thank you Kitty!

I'm sure someone mentioned in another thread a cheaper version of the Snuggle Safe? I just couldn't find what thread it was in. I'd really appreciate another link to the cheaper version or the name if possible. Thank you!

Sorry, I was filling in time at the hospital, on DOL on my phone so I got auto corrected. But I agree, they are those bags that Hazy mentioned, particularly if you are ever shopping at Aldi's! And I think the livestock rescue is called Maggie's Rescue - I couldn't remember the name. DDD put me on to them!

There is a livestock rescue group on FB and they cut leg holes in a worries bag for a lamb to help it get the strength to walk. Very cool but simple ideas!

The behaviour of the dogs in our house depends on who is visiting. Sometimes they just want to say hello then go back about their business of lying around doing nothing. Other times they are protective and want to stay close by to watch. But then of course you have their favourite people and they are just so happy they can't seem to hear any of my instructions. With my poor old mum (by far their favourite person) we make them stand back and we get her down to the lounge area and seated as quickly as we can so they can all gather round her to say hello safely. My sbt girl can get overstimulated to the point of crazy face appearing so this little routine seems to expend a bit of energy and she is much calmer when she says hello with mum seated in a less confined area than the front doorway.

Horrible news Swazzie. Let him eat what he wants. Let him do what he enjoys. Have some happy memories in amongst all this sadness. Who is doing the photos? If it is Zoo then they will bend over backwards to give you the most beautiful visual memories of your boy and will make the photo session itself another great memory of your boy. They are incredibly caring (and talented) people.

I too shall make an effort to Pooh Shop! I pushed Tempeh to the brink this evening. I got stuck at mum and dad's (mum's dementia is worsening) and I got home at exactly 5:18pm. Dinner should be in the bowl and under her nose no later than 5:30pm so I was cutting it fine. I desperately needed to pee and I had a whole heap of bags with me so dinner was not officially served until 5:38pm and she was so not happy! I heard her make noises I've never heard before! She still has the shits and instead of putting herself to bed already (electric blanket is on just for her) she is running around stirring up trouble with the other dogs to pay me back. It's going to be a long night.

I wish our meal times were more flexible but since Tempeh believes she will die if not fed according to her inner body clock we try and stick to her hours for peace and sanity throughout the entire house. She starts telling us her meal time is coming up about 45 minutes from the deadline and the closer the time gets the more irritating she gets. We've tried lots of things to address this but it was easier to give in as we weren't winning. She is very lean and active so I think she really is hungry!

Twice a day here. Kibble plus dried chicken breast crumbled over the top or greek yoghurt for breakfast and kibble plus sardines or chicken necks or chicken and rice goop for dinner. Breakfast is a smaller meal. Plus we have to do late night treats here as Tempeh can get vomitty in the early hours of the morning if she gets overly hungry. Temp gets a proper treat and the other two just get teensy token ones. They also get other stuff here and there like dental sticks and bones. Bull Breed what purpose does a day of fasting serve for dogs? How do they understand a 7 day routine as being different to a daily one?

Oh that's funny! This happens to Tempeh quite a bit but there are no small 'accessories' hidden inside!

Not just hair resistant, no, hair rejectant technology! You could put a family of pugs in there and still be able to wear black clothes!

But he's just so freaking handsome! I blame those bedroom eyes of his....

I've been unnessecarily forcing Tempeh to endure cold today. She has been grizzling all afternoon and we couldn't work out why. Normally it is one of two things - cold or hungry and given it is too early for dinner I stuck the heater on, stuck a double coat on and now she is fast asleep! Obviously this QLD cold snap affects indoor doggies too!

What is it about sleeping that leads to a dog needing to lick their bits? Tempeh is also guilty of this. Is it like when we need to wash our faces as soon as we wake up? As soon as the sun starts rising that all too familiar sound wakes me and I look over to see a leg stuck in the air and I know a bed bathing session is in progress. I tend to roll over and stick a pillow over my head because if I stop her she is like a spider weaving a web and must start all over again. I wish I could teach her to use a wet one!

Boiled chicken (with rice) is my dogs all time favourite food. I'm boiling up a chicken to make soup and once I've used what I need tonight I will reboil what is left over with rice for the dogs tomorrow. I just had to run a stew over to mum and dad's for their dinner and I came home and the house smells glorious! But poor Tempeh. It is too much for her and she is trailing dribble all down her front. Even though she is a pei she is not a dribbler but the smell is obviously causing saliva overload. And she still isn't getting any for her dinner tonight and still has another couple of hours of cooking to endure! I'm an evil mother.

People are just getting too stupid if they are paying that amount of money to a breeder they haven't done any homework on. Is it normal to even pay all the money up front? I figured a deposit was required to hold a pup and then the balance would be required upon finalisation of the sale and pick up? And I thought a good frenchie breeder would have a waiting list?

Could you set up a sting operation with squirts from a water bottle everytime she gets up on the chair if you are reluctant to try the mat or collar ideas?

There was a story about a frenchie bought from a pet store on The Project last night and yes it was a PIAA pet shop and they used the same spiel about not being able to police where pet stores really get their puppies from. In the story a dna test was done on the $4000 dog and it confirmed it wasn't pure bred. They also weren't provided with the relevant breed paperwork completed by the 'registered breeder' (I'm not sure what the forms were - might be a state thing?) and the pet shop wouldn't confirm who the 'registered breeder' was. They have been stripped of their PIAA membership. The other interesting thing is they said puppy mills deliberately like to transit their pups a long way from their operation to make it difficult to track them back to who bred them. Surely that in itself could be constituted as abuse when some of these pups are still too young to even be away from their mother's? The frenchie's owner was very distressed that she probably supported a puppy mill by buying that dog. I hope we get more of these stories so people get to thinking about where these gorgeous little balls of fluff in shop windows are really coming from and see they are being very badly ripped off.

Same here Stressy. I still remember the very first info night I went to when I was maybe 17 or 18 and they showed footage of animal testing - a pig being burnt live with a blow torch is the image I can still clearly see. Oh and bunnies who had lipstick poked in their eyes. It horrified me and changed my entire view on how we treat animals. I think I donated to them when I had money. The campaign that changed my mind was when they would throw red paint on people wearing furs. How does that stop animals being killed for fur exactly? And what about the indigenous peoples or those who live off the land who need furs for warmth and who have been killing animals for centuries for traditional foods, medicines and protection from the elements? PETA would be throwing red paint on them too and I realised they were a bit too irrational in their approach for change and that their tactics had not changed with the times. One thing I still do like about them is that even with all the money they rake in their admin overheads are extremely low - none of the loopies is making a lot of money working for them. I must go and read up on this Sea World/Orca business as I haven't really been following it.