Little Gifts

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!

I have an SBT girl with the same problem. I started making my own toys (tugs, pom pom balls and squeaky bones) on the basis I knew they wouldn't last long. but her real weakness is stuffing. I discovered the Hollee Mollee ball by JW and I stuff it with stuffing and bits of fleece fabric and she gets it between her paws and disembowels it with joy! The ball itself is still in pristine condition after a year and after she unstuffs it I just pick the mess up and stuff it back in and put the ball away until next time. We have a few of the JW toys here and the other she likes makes a crunchy sound - it has a plastic water bottle kind of material inside. She has chewed holes in the fabric that covers it but hasn't managed to puncture the plastic stuff and has fun chewing it. The other toy that has lasted quite well is a long lycra plait with a ball on the end that hangs from the clothes line. We go outside and fling it in the air and she grabs it and takes the clothesline for a spin till she gets tired. Because it isn't on the ground she doesn't chew it, just grabs and holds onto it with her teeth. Empty toilet rolls are an ongoing chewing favourite and don't really cost anything!

I had a dog for almost 16 years and she never appeared in my dreams once while she was alive. I put her to sleep just shy of her 17th birthday a couple of years ago. Then she started turning up in my dreams and it was always some kind of disaster scene with me searching and her disappearing out of view. She always seemed quite calm while I was the one having a meltdown. It actually stopped when we got our first foster dog again (we'd had a long break because of her age). My remaining anxiety over her is that I have never been confident that I put her down at the right time. I think she could've continued on at the same health level for a few more months and maybe I jumped the gun a little for my own sake. There are some things like this we just have to live with because even though others tell me I managed her health issues far longer than other people may have that doesn't quiet my own doubts. My old girl is still everywhere in this house. My current dogs wear her coats in winter. Her tags and silly things like stray whiskers and toenail clippings are in a little container behind me. The socks she used to wear, her collar (all unwashed) are stored with all the other dog gear. Her art work is in my lounge room and photos of her at different ages are on the bookshelves. I still remember how she looked, particularly at the end with all her lumps and bumps and grey hairs. I don't miss her snoring or farts next to my head on the bed but I still remember them. I guess the intensity of the emotion settles but you certainly don't forget. Actually all the silly stuff is what I think about now and it makes me smile. She was one of a kind. Hopefully you will get there too when your heart is ready. She gave you everything she had while she was here to try and keep you topped up for the time after she was gone. I'm sure she wouldn't want you to crumble without her. The legacy any good dog wishes to leave behind is love. So as long as she is in your heart and memories she is never really as far away as you think.

Your two are very cute and not at all spoilt!

I re-read all the info relating to thyroid and my girl doesn't seem to have a lot of the things that might point to it being a problem but getting a test done by the person in America suggested is definitely something I will keep in mind. Because of her breed I have always been really careful with her diet and it has never really changed in the almost two years she has lived here but that doesn't mean she hasn't developed an allergy to some element of it or they could've changed a component in the kibble for all I really know. Thank you for the feedback on your calendula experiences. I just want to keep my mind open to what might be effecting her and what is helping her and at the moment I'm confused. I hate seeing her in discomfort.

I'm so happy for her!

Good to know Dogmad!

Besides trying some Whiska's Jellymeat when I was a teenager to see why our family cat loved it so much I am kind of strange about keeping dog and human stuff separate. But a few weeks back I was so cold I heated up both of the snuggle safes and crawled into bed, one clutched to my chest and the other between my feet. It was heaven!

Yonjuro how do you work out the sizes? Is it the back length?

Dear Erny and Steve, Have either of you heard of a dog allergic to calendula or developing an allergy to it? Tempeh (shar pei) developed some severe itchies out of the blue the day after her last rinse a month ago and she smelt funny too. I took her to the vet fearing mange it was that bad - between her toes even and her paws looked almost burnt. I did the rinse with her standing on the grass but on a towel. Our other two dogs were rinsed with the same batch and on the same towel. I also use calendula cream (that my vet makes up) on any wounds created from the scratching. At first it seems to soothe the area but the next day it looks much worse and is back to itching again. She has been to the vet and is still on medication and we are still having breakthrough rashes (and I have still been putting calendula cream on the worst of it). We have been through the yard with a fine tooth comb and have restricted her diet. I don't feel like we are even close to identifying the cause. She seems to become quite itchy during the night while she's sleeping. Her red areas get all hot and sweaty and she starts scratching as soon as she wakes up. Because I'm not sure of the cause (and obviously we have a ways to go to work it out) I'm just wondering if I should be steering clear of the calendula too? Very sad if we have to go back to malaseb baths. And even though she is a shar pei we have never had any skin problems before. Thank you!

Has any rescue org ever made a complaint to the RSPCA about the condition of a surrendered dog? Obviously you wouldn't also want to have to surrender that dog to the RSPCA to make a complaint stick but honestly, what is ever going to change unless we start naming and shaming people like this? She should know better because of her job and deserves whatever humiliation comes her way. I'd be more than happy to see people like that burdened with fines that stop them from ever owning an animal again. It's like letting a child abuser work in a kindergarten. This kind of treatment of an animal is unacceptable and we can bitch away here about it but she is free to go on and get another animal and do the same again. Even the other staff at her vet's deserve a good slap for not intervening on that innocent animal's behalf.

I've was going to make something similar last year for one of the rescue pei with skin issues. I'd bought some lightweight, slightly stretchy fabric that is wicking and anti-bacterial (the kind they make sporting t-shirts out of). So it suits hot and cold climates. The aim for wearing it is to allow the skin to heal without it being scratched and having more wounds created, so while it might feel a tad weird, you would hope it is a short term thing and once their skin starts to settle it would all be feeling a whole lot better. I can imagine it also being useful for dogs with stitches during the night time. You put them to bed with it on and hopefully they don't get up to any mischief while you sleep!

Going back a few years now but my partner at that time and I were camped by ourselves on Fraser - we'd both been there several times before but had always camped with a group. He was down at the water fishing on this occasion and I could see him from our camp and went to walk down but I kept getting herded by three dingoes back into an open enclosure in the scrub. It was an overcast day and around three in the afternoon. This was not my first experience around wild dingoes. I had to keep doing a kind of backwards sideways walk till I got back to my own camp area and got into the 4WD. I stayed there till my partner came back because I had no idea if the dingoes were still hiding in the scrub around our camp. It was really creepy and scary. Their eyes were so focussed on me and it all felt so predatory. We stayed contained in our tent that night.

I've always felt that a group sleep-a-thon is nothing more to a dog than the pack sleeping together as they would in the wild. My two have specific spots they like to sleep in (as do I). I know that Tempeh always wants a spot that gives her full view of the room as she considers herself the advance guard. Fine by me. But if my sister's dog ever gets up and joins us the youngest one always moves and lets her sleep where she chooses, which tells me she is respecting pack order. If the weather is cold mine snuggle into me and each other, but they are still in their basic spots on the bed. I also like being able to reach out during the night and feel their furry bodies. I like having bed buddies!

Gosh I wish I knew about these years back! My dad loves to make things with wood and he would've come up with some crackers but his vision is so poor now (legally blind) that the workmanship has suffered. Plus his colour palette is a bit special. Yes, apparently bright orange goes with everything!

I think about this too, particularly the difference between how we treated dogs and how they acted when I was a kid compared to now. When did it all change? There are two things I often think about in regards to my own dogs now. The first is labelling them for their entire lives as rescue dogs. After a couple of years with me surely they have earned a release from that status. And secondly is their behaviour - what is good, what is bad and what is simply them. I actually like a dog with personality. As wonderful as it is to house sit for someone with perfect canine specimens I really do love the naughty things my dogs do, their quirks and crazy behaviours. I don't want perfection so have to accept some unpredictability comes with that. I know I have failed in some aspects as their trainer - no perfect recall and 'stay' seems to be an optional command. And other things seem to just be them - one gets over excited by lots of things and gets crazy face and one has no interest in meeting new dogs or humans and has reduced her own social circle over time. One eats things she shouldn't and one is eating my whole hand as I type this. One is constantly by my side like one of those fish that stick to sharks and the other has her own regime regarding when and how she engages. So? Isn't that what owning living things is all about, just enjoying their individuality? I put a lot of effort into minimising any harm they or others might suffer as a result of their quirks (and lack of obedience in some areas). They seem happy. I'm happy. None of us are perfect. Is it really that bad if we aren't causing harm amongst ourselves or to each other? Having started a behavioural advice thread only recently though I am always very grateful for the knowledge and willingness to share here in DOL. We used several of the things suggested in that thread and have seen positive changes. I look at the advice as coming under the category of harm - if harm is happening to the dog, or by the dog to humans and other dogs then something urgent needs to be done. There has to be harmony (even if there is no perfection!).

How exciting Nelson! Congratulations old chap!

Welcome Miss Jesse! I hope you and Jonah and CT will be very happy together!

I suspect it could only be monitored by the police being informed by a member of the public that the offender had a new animal in their possession. Or if they were in trouble with the police for another offence and they did a home search it would be identified.