Little Gifts

This will all sound very uninformed. This is Tempeh's (shar pei) third winter with us. Every winter I have made her new coats and I always make them bigger so that when she lies down she gets a cape effect given she doesn't have a lot of hair and struggles with the cold. Last winter she was 2 years old so I figured any coats I made would last. NOPE! Have started putting coats on for this winter and they are too small again! Her bum and thighs are all on display! My Stafford girl can still fit into the same coats she had from when she was around 18 months of age. Both breeds are medium so how come Tempeh is still growing at 3 years of age? Is this normal? It is her torso/frame/legs that are bigger - she is not fatter or even heavier on the scales. Do certain breeds continue to grow past say 2 years or is she abnormal? Should her growth stop around now or will I be making new coats every winter?

I just realised that Smoke has a doggy version of the mullet - all clean and business like at the front end and fluffy and party like from the ears and around the back!

Wow. I didn't know that! Terrible!

This man is no stranger to international travel or even living in other countries (he has been living in Europe for many years previously). He would also have staff paid to organise his travel and accom for his work - he may not even pack his own suitcases! So I find it hard to believe neither he or any of his staff failed to consider what might be required to take the dogs to this country. And since they chartered a private plane and arrangements had to be made for that, someone had to arrange that and advise what was going to be on that plane - how many people, how much luggage, dogs, etc. It would be stupid not to advise of the dogs because otherwise they would not have had suitable food or toileting arrangements for them on the plane. And even if he turned up with them at the last minute someone had responsibility before that plane landed to ensure all relevant paperwork was done. You can't tell me staff serving guests on a private plane who had not expected dogs would not have reported the existence of those dogs higher up the chain of command during that flight. It shits me that us humans constantly put dogs at risk of harm with our negligence.

Imagine if you didn't keep questioning and searching for answers! It goes to show you have to trust your gut sometimes even if experts are telling you something different.

They are who I get my dry and heartworm from. I love the regular order thingy and how they send a reminder email in case you need to delay or bring the order forward so we never run out of food. Edited to add that I agree - they have really extended themselves in this instance. Most places wouldn't accept a return of this nature.

Yes. Wolf is 12 now so she is monitored more closely. Tempeh is still full of quirks and keeps us constantly on our toes. Then we have Stussy who is my heart girl and all love. Never sick or needy, she just fits herself in. What I do is give her quality cuddles every day. She lies on me while I watch tv at night and she likes to sleep touching me at night. I try to always rub her favourite spots while putting up with the inconvenience of 18kg of dog lying on me or poking me with toenails or a cold nose. It is how we stay connected.

Don is a stunner but Smoke is like a gorgeous fluffy toy with a heartbeat!

Hey I love opening up a thread and seeing big pics that I don't have to open so post away! I love how you talk about Ernie. He sounds like such a special boy!

Stussy ate so much inappropriate stuff for the first three years of her life that I took show and tell to work most weeks. Despite all her efforts she never needed surgery - my vet being more shocked than me given the kinds of things she would eat - wire baskets, metal bins, those curly low watt light bulbs, cd's and dvd's and the usual suspects like hands free phones, mobile phones and remote controls. I'm sure the hard bits in her tummy were buffered on their way through the bowel by all the stuffing she added to the mix - whole lounge suites, doonas, pillows, etc. I still don't own a doona cover with the bottom clips on it - she still eats them all off so the doonas can fall out and she can eat them while I shower. It's still her thing. She's also eaten a 2kg bag of almonds and a family sized block of fruit and nut chocolate and several jars of Vaseline - all at different sittings of course yet her bowel movements never altered (they just looked different!). She is now heading for 8 and we still don't leave stuff lying around where she can reach it. She has the stomach acid and bowel operation of a superhero! One of my previous dogs tried to eat his way out of the laundry one night and had to pass a belly full of gyprock. By the time we found him some of it had dried on his face and he looked a little like The Joker with a weird twisted smile! This same boy once broke into a bag of kibble and ate several kilos all by himself. He looked pregnant!

Are Dany and Blaze from the same litter?

Well that is brilliant news! Keep it up (or down!) Danny!

One of the risks of encouraging puppy farming is volume - more puppies out there who get neglected, abused or abandoned. I don't think anyone wants that. I find it hard to understand how authorities can't look at the end goal - healthy, well adjusted and cared for animals and work back from that scenario. To get healthy dogs you need to care about genetics and who is breeding with who. To get a well socialised dog you need to ensure it stays with its mother to learn doggy things and you need to ensure it is exposed to sights and sounds and smells and other well adjusted animals of varying breeds. To get a well cared for animal you need an owner who understands the breed they have purchased and who has the funds and interest to keep it in good health and contained on their property. Puppy farms and impulse purchasing will guarantee you none of those things. It seems like it is a problem the government doesn't want to fix.

If it is a metal crate you can get water bowls that clip on to the sides of it so it doesn't wet or interfere with floor space inside the closed crate. I'm sure someone else will comment on the puppy issue but even if she goes to bed after her dinner she will probably need to come out for a pee break before you guys head to bed for the night.

How can companion animals in a farming environment ever meet the freedom to express normal behaviour criteria? Even if they have adequate food and shelter they never have the company and human and canine interaction they need to be good doggy citizens. We've discussed this before and for me it equates to numbers and none of these places employ enough staff to enable every single dog on the premises to have any one on one attention. It is that simple. They can sprout all the bulldust they want but companion animals are not a farming suitable species. Using farming methods to produce them en masse is basic cruelty. What other industry gets away with producing a sub standard product and still charges such exborbitant amounts of money for it? Are us humans really that stupid? I guess we are and perhaps the best way of altering that is education. Where are these people getting $7000 to buy a pup at a random pet shop anyway? Doesn't that make your blood boil if you are a breeder?

I think it's so funny you start with a black dog and end up with a white one! My oldest liver was an SBT who made it to nearly 17 and even the hairs on her bum had turned white! Originally she was jet black and shiny with just some white on her paws and the tip of her tail but here she was at the end. We were making doggy art together on her last day.

I loved looking at the page of all your dogs with jobs. You should be very proud of your and your dogs achievements!

Was Scrappy Doo the one who went to the soldier? All your dogs are just so amazing and I'm sure they don't think of it as work at all!

Weird.

Can still only see the one green cat but I found the 'dumb' SBT!

Canetoad I know Jonah has great body condition but I'm just wondering is the distance you are covering or duration you are exercising him for simply a bit too much for his breed? Could it be as simple as muscle fatigue during a long work out? Is it worth cutting back and seeing what happens with him?

I didn't realise either that the surgery was not needed! Great news though! Must go find this other thread about your poor hand!

That is such an amazing outcome for Rocky! I'm not usually a negative nelly but my gut didn't give me a good feeling about his future originally so I take my hat off to both of you for putting in so much effort to turn this boy's existence into a happy future. You are both good eggs!

Besides no shar pei I couldn't see SBT's either (but I have a lergy and am not feeling human so could've missed it). I did see the cat! Tricky! I also disagree with a lot of them but I guess seeing what they determined as intelligent might put it in to context.