Little Gifts

This is one of those times when I'd be asking my vet for recommendations for a specialist to assess him. If you live rural they may also be able to do some of it by phone or video and work with your local vet for more testing. I have great vets (and it is a vet hospital) but there comes a point when they need to refer over to someone with more specialist knowledge and experience. I hope they can work out what's going on for your boy.

I'll be interested to hear how it goes AH!!!

Someone is selling a set on Facebook Marketplace. You could check the main site to see the price difference. I've seen them for sale on there a couple of times. https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/822736381974956/?ref=search&referral_code=null&referral_story_type=post&tracking=browse_serp%3A61153712-32b2-4895-867f-4bb1c02edb0f

Dog ownership increased over Covid so it stands to reason dog attacks would also increase. The book should be thrown at anyone trying to secrete away a dog that has caused an attack rather than take resonsibility for its future security. You can still love your dog and give it a good life but you also have to keep everyone else and their pets safe from it.

@WanaHavanese Two buttons I'd like for Jonah are actually please and bored. He is such a gentleman with lots of self imposed good boi rules that I'd love to see if he uses/thinks please (it may have been taught to him before he came to live with us). And bored because he seems pretty cruisy in his old age and isn't into toys or much cuddles. I can't even really encourage him to come for a walk around our big yard like our other dog either. But he loves car rides, outings and of course walks. If I take him to an appointment I try to find a different and empty dog park for us to try out on the way home and I can almost see his little mind thinking oooh where are we going now! I want his life to be as full as I can offer. A treat button would be worn out in a week. He already has a strategy for this that he thinks we don't see right through!

You can only control so much. I'd like to think they gave her a great life for most of that time and then their circumstances changed so drastically they did the right thing and rehomed her as soon as they could. You and I might have handled it differently but that is the part we can't control. One thing I'm thinking a breeder could always do maybe 3 months after rehoming/selling/adopting out a dog is to check the microchip transfer has been successfully done. I'm seeing it with lost and found dogs on FB all the time - still in breeders name years after rehoming. Could be an indication of people who say all the right things but don't live it or could just be a technical issue but either way it is not ideal for the dog. And it actually happened to me too. There was a hiccup on paperwork with one of mine and the microchip people never contacted anyone about it so my doggo was in limbo land in their system for over a year.

I still vividly remember going to an info session on laboratory testing on animals back in the late 70s as a teen. I don't know if all the things I saw were true (and I wont explain them here) but I was horrified at the blatant suffering, particularly in regards to cosmetics testing. I really thought we'd stepped away from some of it and found new ways. 4,000 beagles say obviously not.

I don't think I can deal with that either. So many beautiful dogs harmed. How does rescue handle that many dogs at one time?

@Anne I've watched lots of Bunny vids over the years as I find it fascinating. She does actually seem to understand words and sentence structures and communicate back. There are more dogs and vids besides Bunny too when you start down the rabbit hole. I've actually thought about trying it with Jonah for a while now. He is a dog with supposedly simply needs but I know he has a lot of rules for himself too and really seems to conciously think and choose his behaviours at times. Not sure if that was due to how Duane trained him but pei are also known to be an intelligent thinking breed. He has a particular strategy he tries on every night for a treat and we can literally see him thinking he's won and suckered us in again! If he had a treat button would he just push it or would he go through his ritual of deceit first? I'd like to see if I can discover some of what goes on in his head.

I was using Canidae kibble but keeping some Black Hawk tinned on hand. All of a sudden I can't buy Canidae so have gone back to Black Hawk kibble this time around. Waiting for it to arrive so will let you know what I think. We stopped buying it because the quality seemed to be waning (we found some weird stuff inside the bag once too).

I saw this last night and loved it! Go Lexie!

It's funny how different our dogs can be socially. If we go to a pei meet up Jonah has to circumnavigate the whole park and pee on every single little thing while Stussy has to run straight into the biggest pile of dogs to say hello. Eventually Jonah comes back to say hello to the humans and sniff his doggy mates and Stussy needs a time out in a quiet corner because she's gotten way too excited with all her new friends. The outcome is of course the same - two very tired dogs!

This was Tempeh too. Hated leaving the house! We just worked around it and found other ways to exercise her physically and mentally at home - why torture her with something she doesn't like? I do regret not trying Nosework stuff with her though - I think she would've enjoyed that but again, it would have to be at home. One human thing I did start doing with her though was talking to her a lot. I've never talked to my dogs before but we saw some animal communicator (I know, I know....) and they said she would benefit from being talked to. She did and now I talk to all my dogs far more than is probably normal! Stussy of course is deaf and Jonah doesn't care but I still do it! That is probably the most humanising crime I still commit.

One thing I have always been confused about is people who walk their dogs simply to physically exercise them. They aren't allowed to stop and sniff things - they are pulled to go from A to B in a set amount of time. I've always let my dogs meander wherever they want on our walks (as long as safety is maintained). Jonah in particular loves a good sniff and it really gets his saliva going so he always needs a good clean up around the chops. Stussy just wants to be out front seeing everything. I normally have one arm pulled in her direction and the other out behind me while Jonah is still standing somewhere soaking up the odours. It's their walk, not mine. I want all their senses to be engaged. And both mine have jobs - jobs they are naturally inclined to that suit our household and fit their personalities. How boring would their lives be if they couldn't get excited about something or feel they had a purpose in our packs?

I hope this leads to something positive for all the breeding dogs and their pups! And for customers getting ripped off believing they are buying some expensive fancy breed.

So far we have had a recommendation for BVSC - https://www.bvsc.com.au/?fbclid=IwAR27u7HFzqsRortCibhGKud2YcvCtTdAz-OcYzm3GzcKjztkVcJrjE2gpLc Pei people are very particular about their vet care (pei have some unique health issues) so I do trust any recommendations passed on to me.

I am Brisbane southside but know lots of pei people on the northside so will do a group ask for you now.

I look at it this way. Anything 'created' with quality materials by a skilled craftsperson should have a higher value than something mass produced by unskilled labourers. Few corners are cut and they take their time to produce a final product that is both fit for purpose and intended to have a long and useful/enjoyable life. We pay more money for quality goods all the time - furniture, cars, clothes, handbags, shoes, homes, holidays, hell I even spend more on certain plants for my garden. Why would living creatures be any different? Farmers do it all the time too to secure just the right stock. So it amazes me some of the prices people pay for poorly bred or fancy cross bred puppies. Sadly price indicates nothing about quality and skill in the companion animal world.

People wrongly assume the microchip system works like magic but it also relies on new owners to ensure their pet is both chipped in their name and that address and phone information is kept up to date at all times. I had a foster dog transferred over to me (had all the paperwork) and a post came up about checking your pet's micro-chip details. My doggo was not there so I rang the company and was told there was something wrong with the paperwork so it never went through properly. But they never bothered to contact me on the info provided or the rescue group or even the vet who did the micro-chipping. I'd had the dog permanently about 7 months by then. And on lost and found pages you regularly hear about lost dogs with no collar on and the owner saying they've recently moved (although you'd assume the mobile number was still the same). So we also need to take personal responsibility for ensuring those chip details are always current.

Oh bless him! He is gorgeous!!! And looking healthier and happier already! How did the meet and greet go?

I'm so very sorry Rascal but don't regret for a single minute that you took her into your hearts and lives and gave her the love and care she deserved, even if it was just for a few short weeks. Run free now beautiful girl.

The info about affidavits disheartens me a lot. Actually it hurts. I'm a Commissioner for Declarations and got it a long time ago so I could sign work affidavits (which I did multiple times a day for many years). I took those documents very seriously. The staff who had written them took them very seriously too because our aim before the courts was to prove harms had occurred to children and to keep them away from that situation so that no further harm could occur. If it was not spelt out in those documents then we would be laughed out of court and the suffering of those children was on us. So shame on any person in power not making the same effort. Change your job if you don't care enough.

Oh Rascal what a wonderful thing you and your daughter have done! Welcome to your new life, Katie! And just a suggestion for the arthritis if you need it - Golden Paste and Antinol Rapid are keeping our old girl very nimble and pain free still even though she has a lot of arthritis.

There was a case in QLD I was following - a once well respected rescue who I think got in over their heads and when that happens who do they go to for actual help? Anyway the person running the group had many charges, one of their children (who lived on the premises) had just turned 18 and was also charged with multiple offences. Case was in and out of court up here for at least 2 years and suddenly the main person plead guilty to a portion of the charges, the rest were dropped and surprisingly all the charges against the 18 were dropped too. I'm not saying the main person wasn't guilty of some of these charges and needed to have done something to address an untenable situation before the RSPCA got involved but their previously well respected life was turned upside down, and that of her two young adult children. As a case winning strategy the RSPCA would've dragged it out as long as they could, this person had no hope of getting a job (or her adult child probably) during that time, they lost their accom when the shit hit the fan, they lost their small income, high needs animals who had been in their care for a very long time and of course a lot of long term supporters, so pleading guilty was the only realistic way forward. Was justice served for the animals? I doubt it. There is no deterent for this person to not start rescuing, working with or owning animals again at some point in the future with her skills and contacts and if things go wrong again they would do even more to hide it. Instead of upholding the law the RSPCA focus on manipulating the system and that is doing very little in terms of punishing or reforming the guilty, deterring others from committing harm to animals and it sure as shit isn't saving many animals before things get to the point that permanent damage is done. And don't get me wrong - I believe this person has caused harm to vulnerable animals in her care and was doing an awful lot to hide it, but I also know they did a lot of good for quite a while prior and had their been options or supports to help them at a critical time I don't think things would have deteriorated to the point they did. But who could they even talk to? The signs were there and building but it's all got to get critical for the poor animals before the RSPCA even bothers to step in. I also think this person needs some form of punishment so they never go down this path again but to strangle their entire lives and that of their children and just keep them in limbo for several years just disables people from doing better and finding rehabilitation. It creates bitterness and inertia. It's all kinds of messed up and again when are the animals being put first in any of these scenarios? RSPCA blame the legal system for lenient punishments and tying their hands but they also have the power to seek amendments to the legislation they use if that legislation is not keeping up with the times and public expectations. And they also have the ability to build a stronger case as soon as possible after the investigation commences and primary information is gathered. How a case is stronger before the courts after one or two years is beyond me. If it was shocking enough on site to remove animals (and put them to sleep because they were too harmed) then it is strong enough to take before the courts for a decision within 6 months. You owe the animals who lost their lives that.

I used to volunteer at their old Fairfield shelter in QLD. Things could be different now (doubt it) but the seized animals were kept in small concrete runs all locked away down the back. We could see the entry area quiet clearly but I don't know any volunteer who was allowed to go down there and clean, feed or exercise those animals and I never ever saw a staff member down their either. I mean you could hardly find a staff member in the areas you did need them so you can just imagine how little contact and stimulation those poor seized animals were getting. Not their fault they were part of an investigation but they were certainly suffering for it. How can they 'save' an animal from a bad situation and just put them in another? How can they have the audacity to charge that kind of money and provide so little as far as assisting that animal to recover from the alleged neglect or abuse? Bloody terrible. Just one in a long list of reasons I stopped volunteering for them. So much unnessecary suffering and negligent decision making for the animals in their care. Another thing that bugs me about them in QLD is all the govt money they put in for and receive from the gambling funds (mainly for equipment and buildings). I used to know someone who processed those and one of the approvers on the panel favoured the RSPCA so they got money every single round they put in for. Hundreds of thousands of dollars over the years. Probably still happening too. But it's all bullshit. Imagine the work independant rescues could be achieving for actual animals if they had even a tenth of the same incoming funds as RSPCA. The organisation either needs an entire overhaul (at their bloody expense with all their millions in the bank!) or they should be shut down. I think it should be the latter. They lost their way a long, long time ago.