Little Gifts

Gold Coast City Council. The additional info about Hugo's antics and the families lack of addressing them sheds a different light doesn't it. What is the council to do if an owner repeatedly ignores advice and instructions? Can't love your dog a whole lot if you aren't concerned about its personal safety. Still don't want to see this lovely boy destroyed but the owner is causing this, not the dog.

Yep, that's what I thought SAS. If it was a repeat offender the owners would've had plenty of warning from council about what they needed to address to avoid any further fines (or a seizure). I certainly don't want to see this dog pts but from the owner's comments you can tell this is all happening due to their lack of responsibility to their dog. I couldn't like their FB page because I didn't see anything in the way of what they were willing to do to change the circumstances that led them here. Nothing about their fences having been repaired or having installed a dog run or his training or exercise regime that might address his desire to wander. Frustrating. Council must be biting their tongue.

I had all kind of tags to the 'Save Hugo' page when I logged in to FB this morning. From what I can tell he is a well loved shar pei who has been seen by council outside his property on three occasions and is now facing destruction. It has started to get print and tv media attention up here so hopefully more of the story will come out. I didn't like the page or comment on it because I couldn't get past the fact that it seems from their comments that he was a serial escape artist but because he didn't harm anyone they didn't feel it was a problem and didn't take council's letters seriously. Now they are gutted he is in a cold cage and facing euthanasia. He could've been hit by a car, attacked by another dog or even stolen while he was out of his yard. What does it take for some people to get it? It is always the dogs suffering from the actions of their owners. http://www.goldcoastbulletin.com.au/lifestyle/pets-and-wildlife/fight-to-save-gold-coast-dog-hugo-from-death-row-goes-viral-after-council-seizes-him-for-escaping-home/story-fnk74alk-1227036995308

I saw the full story on Channel 7's midday news. They referred to the puppy being worth up to $3,000 and as in the online story gave it the wrong breed name. When I saw the colours in the litter I thought it must be one of those 'rare' blue ones if it is worth that much! But jokes and lack of fact checking of names aside I hope the poor thing is safe and makes it back to mum as soon as possible. https://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/wa/a/24812113/family-devastated-after-puppy-stolen-in-burglary/

My parents are in their mid 80s and have silky bantam hens, finches and a cat who is only about 3 years of age. His mum was a feral cat and he was one of the oodles of kittens she left at mum's place. Many found homes through neighbours and a local cat rescue group. The older feral ones went to the pound. Back when mum managed to gain the trust of her cat she was very spritely and healthy and none of us gave it a second thought. But over the last year she has really aged and is getting dementia. She looks after dad who has his own health issues, so if she becomes unable to care for the animals we will have some very urgent decisions to make. We have three dogs here and could not safely take on the chickens and cat. There is no other family or extended family who are overly fond of animals. I am not worried about rehoming the chickens (and will probably rehome the finches with their lovely aviary) but the cat that my mum adores so much is just your average tabby. No-one will probably want him. As it becomes clearer that mum can no longer care for the animals (and herself) I will do my damndest to try and find a cat lover with a cat run who might be willing to take him on if I offer to cover his costs for the remainder of his life. He is fine with other cats and lives in their covered verandah rather than in the house by choice now. I may even need to kennel him for a while if the timing doesn't work out as I couldn't risk leaving him there alone and just popping in to feed him. We would of course visit him regularly and take mum if she is capable if he had to be kennelled for a period. I'm not sure what else to do. Putting down a healthy animal because I can't find him a home doesn't sit well with me. Nor does staying for an extended period in a kennel really, but what other options would I have? My parents certainly didn't think that far ahead when they took on a homeless kitten that could live to be 20. So yeah, I guess I'll have to be sensible sometime in my early 70s and say no to anything with a potentially long life span. I honestly couldn't bear to let a dog down.

I might sound terribly selfish but I don't ever want to consider a life where I don't have some kind of animal, even if it can't be a dog. I would hope that unless I lose my mental faculties I'd at least be able to care for a couple of goldfish. As I age I assume the type of dog I have will need to change but the day I can no longer own and care for any dog will be a terribly sad one for me. I'm hoping it is still at least 30 years off.

I had a Stafford that lost her son and she literally aged overnight, before my eyes. She was 13.5 and only a year older than her son. He went to his forever home when he was about 10 weeks old but due to health issues returned to me when he was about 9 months old. She didn't seem to remember him when he returned but just accepted him. They were close but not dependant on each other. She always considered herself top dog. I guess I was surprised how badly she took his loss. About a month after we lost him we were temp caring for a 13 week old rescue SBT pup. But for some reason that temp care arrangement turned into her being my heart girl and living here forever. My old girl doted on the pup, grooming her and curling around her to sleep. They played tug and bitey face and did zoomies. She taught the pup to be a good doggy citizen. She even protected the pup when a neighbours dog tried to attack her. The pup brought her back to life and she lived for over another 3 years. Not long after the pup came my sister moved in with me and brought her dog. A year after that a friend of hers lived here for quite a while and added a fourth dog. All the while, despite her age our old girl still considered herself both the mum of them all and top dog (much to the dislike of my heart girl though as she matured but that's another story). It made me realise she was a dog that did better as part of a pack. It could be the same for Maximus - Bubba is not only his mate but his protector in the pack and a dog he considers higher in pack status than him. The loss of that isn't so much emotional as life and death in Maximus's eyes. So while a new pup might be good perhaps a young adult would be even better, so you know you have the right personality and dominance match to maintain Maximus's confidence? We currently have a large breed dog who is 11.5 and who is considered top dog in our current pack of three. I actually doubt our other two would be up for the job when she goes and expect we will have some challenges to face. If we decide to add a third dog again the personality of that dog is going to be very important for pack dynamics.

The only time any dog should be around the mini schnauzer is under the strict supervision of a trained behaviouralist, in a controlled environment, trying to assist the fear aggressive dog to re-learn its responses. This dog would have to be a bomb proof kind of dog used to being used for this kind of purpose. So of course you shouldn't have your dog around their dog. It is not going to help either dog at this point in time. You know your dog so don't do things with him that you know wont be good for him. Likewise your parents are not going to help their girl by locking it up and not seeking professional advice.

That sounds like so much fun!!!!!

Plan B have you watched this guinea pig interview? It never fails to crack me up.

We have three, all girls, by accident and not any careful planning. Two are desexed and their ages are 11.5, almost 7 and 2. We had a very unexpected fight between the younger two over a year ago, over a snake in the yard but worked hard to address that and things are great between them all - no jealousy or food aggression or competition for human attention. I have had three dogs for so long that anything less feels weird. I don't find three dogs any more difficult to manage than two even though there are some slightly different routines, diets, etc required due to their varied ages. And they all have different personalities and temperaments which is possibly easier to manage than if they were all alike You can still fit three dogs on the bed at the same time and overall three just seems like a lot more fun! On the down side you need to have somewhere to store all your doggy goodies in bulk - spare bedding, blankies, coats, leashes/harnesses, washing gear, towels, toys, bowls as well as all the food and treats!

I've been trying to find the trigger for about 4 weeks now and her diet had been pulled right back and the yard gone over with a magnifying glass. I was even checking my washing powder and only letting her lie on things washed pre the rash starting to see if that made a difference. We had a vet visit planned to get a referral to an allergist and put her on a special diet. Never would've thought it was that brom until I saw it with my own eyes. Once she scratched the itchy neck covered in brom fibres she has just used her toenails to spread it elsewhere on her body I reckon. And who knows if whether something in the brom reacted badly with something in the calendula? I will of course be giving her the rinses again as I am confident things are back to normal. It was the only brom in my whole yard because it came with the happy plant. I don't like prickly plants much myself (except for roses). Mum and dad have a yard full of them so I am going to have to watch her like a hawk there and give her an immediate wash down after any visits. We've been very lucky!

Just a quick update since I last posted. The day after I posted this I was tidying up on our covered back area and saw Tempeh drinking from a large pot plant that is inside a big sealed pot. It gets water trapped in there and all the dogs like to drink from it. It contains a happy plant and a big bromeliad. But with all the dry weather the brom had drooped and fallen over the front of the pot so Tempeh's neck was rubbing on it when she drank. I removed the brom immediately and knew in my gut that was it! By Wed morn we no longer had any itching and by Wed night not even any redness. As of today, Friday her skin is a lovely pale colour again and any scratching is just normal stuff that she might usually do. No wounds or even redness. YAY! I was so worried we were going to have an ongoing battle trying to address it for her.

I didn't post about my quirky girl Tempeh and I really have to mention two things I love about her. The first is how she puts herself to bed in my room straight after dinner every night but gets up every hour and sticks her head around the corner to make sure we are still all in the lounge room and see what we are doing. She does this until I go to bed which is often six hours after she does. The other thing is something she does to my sister. If my sister is sitting on the floor at night doing anything when Tempeh does her hourly check in she comes down and stands so close that my sister can't get anything done but scratch Tempeh. There will be a tail or a snout stuck in her face and Temp will not budge an inch until she has been scratched in all the spots she wants for as long as she wants before she trots back to bed. She doesn't say anything but gets into a solid martial arts stance and you can't push her away. It cracks me up every time.

I've told my stories before. Mother and son rescue SBTs. The son was a nervous nelly. I lived on acreage and had a fall down my front stairs and was knocked unconscious. The son ran off and alerted the neighbours and the mother sat quietly by my side. I had some fairly serious injuries so would not have been able to get help myself even if I regained consciousness. A couple of years later I moved into the suburbs with these two dogs. Not long after we moved in I was subject to a home invasion by three men. The dogs got the men out of the house and returned to my side hiding out in the back yard (even though they could've chased the men down the street through the open front door). Emergency services had no police to send so with them on the phone and the dogs by my side I had to go back into the house and search room by room to make sure they were gone and lock up all the house. A terrifying experience.

When she first arrived as a puppy I would lie on the lounge with Stussy on my chest and I would rub her little face and ears while she slept slumped down nose first. Fast forward many years and she still lies on me ever single night while I recline on the lounge and watch tv and I still rub her face and ears while she snorts away into my clothes. Mind you at 20kg she lies more on my belly and one leg now and I often have to get her to move so I can get the blood circulating again. It's our thing. I also have to mention how I love her numpty side. She was fast asleep on me on the lounge and my sister walked right by her, out the back door to the shed. Stussy heard the shed door, woke up immediately all alert, used me as a spring board to gain traction and ran barking. In the opposite direction to where the noise came from. Fail.

Most journalists are members of the Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance and if so will be covered by a code of ethics. The Australian Journalists Assoc got kind of merged with the MEAA a while back. But technically I can tell you that headline is correct. The opening para expands on it and puts things in more context to cover their butts.

I think they are both fantastic! Another funny idea for the series could be asking the dog "what do you look for in an adoptive family". You could have the dog talking about food and throwing the ball a gazillion times without stopping and food and being able to sleep on the bed and food and being able to lick them anytime they want and food and liking that they have a cat and food....

Before my sister moved in with me she used to have dog food available 24/7 for her fussy eater and even worse there had to be about 5 different items to choose from at any time. She also used to do a lot of hand feeding. But she and her dog moved in with me and I am of the eat it or lose it school of thought. So under the threat of competition she ate on her own at set meal times, did have her own special plate full of different items and was slow but a lot better. But since she got dementia she seems to have forgotten she was a fussy eater she eats kibble like a real dog and she is usually first to finish. And since she started on the Sasha's Blend she's become a hoover who not only eats her first but then hovers around the other two dogs in the hope they will leave something behind. So I understand the trials of a fussy eater but am enjoying not having one in this house anymore. It must drive you crazy.

PS, Have you considered doggy boots for walks? I know Cane Toad bought some for his pei Jonah (pics in the Photos area) because of allergies and the stones being rough on his feet after they'd moved from a coastal area to a mining town. Could be a simple solution to his walks at least.

Happy Birthday CT! Hope you have a wonderful day!

I'm very protective of my old and smelly wheelie bin! I pay for that actual bin and can't even get council to replace it with a nice new one even though I've had it for 14 years (no idea how long the owners before me owned it). I also pay for the bin pick up service. I catch you putting something in my bin you will be in trouble. If you asked then that's a totally different story. I once found a direct neighbour had put their smelly prawn heads, just wrapped in paper in my bin on a hot summer's day so they didn't stink up their own. Our collection happens during the day so I would've had maggot bin. I took them out and left them in the middle of our street until they were reclaimed (very quiet street and I knew the neighbour who owned them was home). Your household rubbish is not my problem. I have enough of my own to worry about. If you have too much then it is up to you to find an alternative, just as I have to here when it happens to me. Or ask. It's quite simple. One of mine likes to poo a lot on walks around the neighbourhood (not so much at the parks) so I often have quite a collection to carry. I once had to go and knock on someone's front door to ask if they had a spare shopping bag so I could pick up yet another poo on their front lawn when I'd run out of poo bags unexpectedly. Before we get in the front door it all goes in the wheelie bin out the front. I do hate having manky hand feeling though until I can get inside and disinfect my hands.

I agree. It is their environment and if I want to encroach on that and not abide by their rules then I could pay the ultimate price for that. It's like going to Africa, wanting to ride your bicycle through the bush while eating a kebab and not thinking about the consequences. You've got to respect nature or she will turn on you just to prove her point.

He has always been an exceptionally photogenic boy! Now you need to hone your photography skills and make that black girl shine!

There are some sad realities to being involved in rescue. I loved being a foster carer but don't think I'm made of the strong stuff needed to rescue independently. Contact a few rescue groups and find out about their values and practices. You want to work with people you are on the same page with because they own the dogs and if something goes wrong or gets messy hard decisions might need to be made and it would be better if you agreed with and supported them. Basically you want to feel you are all working towards the same goal. The other important thing as a carer is to feel the rescue group is respecting you and any other animals you have in your home now. I know of groups that will just dump any old dog on you while others will honour the sex, age, size and behaviours of dog you feel suits your house best. A rescue dog in the wrong foster home can be a disaster. Fights, sickness, damage to property and yet another black mark and home bounce for that poor dog. It might even put you off fostering altogether. If you have a favourite breed of dog then you could even consider a breed specific rescue group. Or you could do what I did. I have a weakness for SBT's so I fostered for another breed of dog I'd never even seen in real life before in the belief that I would be less likely to fall in love with one. It was the best experience and of course we ended up with a foster failure that first year!