Little Gifts

I was shocked when I saw what a scared rescue pei was prepared to do for a piece of lamb puff! It doesn't smell overly offensive, doesn't leave messy fingers and can be broken into different sizes so it is my go to treat. Pei can't eat just any old foods either but I've never even experienced smelly farts from using this product. I just order mine in through my local City Farmers. It comes from an Australian company but the name escapes me right now.

Wonderful news!

My old sbt boy ran to something at the back fence at speed and didn't quite clear the low retaining wall. I ran out expecting a broken doodle. It slowed him to a stagger and he was piddling in all directions but remained intent on what was going on over the other side of the fence. Doodle not permanently damaged. Doodle clearly as hard as his head.

Hopefully Feather is doing much better today.

That's another state to add to my list of places to avoid. Do they not research anything from other states or countries on this issue? It's like when they get scared they put more rules in place to try and 'fix' it.

There are a couple of link of page 1. If I were you I'd go with Steve's organic supply! Also supporting a DOLer! I feel like a total twit because I just realised that my homeopathic vet has been giving me calendula cream (that she makes herself) for years to treat wounds and rashes. How did I not make the link in my brain????

It's a doggy miracle! I hope all the puppies thrive. I am a little worried that Reba will reject any if she thinks there is anything wrong with them (which could actually be true) but I know SLF is on top of it. It would just be a miracle if all 6 pups and mum survived such a dangerous experience. Come on puppies!!!!!

So glad things turned a corner for the better. A belly full of bird seed would be uncomfortable but I think bloat/torsion would be hideously painful! Naughty Josie, scaring mummy!

Yep, fantastic news!

Hopefully the fright has knocked her around more than any serious injury. When older dogs fail at something physically I think their ego takes a bit of a hit. I know that is anthropomorphising but in nature an old or injured dog is useless to the pack and I think that old or injured dog knows and fears that so why wouldn't our domesticated canines also suffer something similar? I also hope she is just bruised and the drugs are keeping her mellowed out. It really is like your grandma taking a spill though and getting a fright!

That is fantastic news. Come on Astro! Keep some tucker down so you can go home!

Staffyluv does your park have plastic pools for cooling off or was that BYO? What a fantastic idea! Most of our local ones have natural water courses and lots of water fowl/lizards and the like. The water is always muddy and smelly so we endeavour to restrict swims but it does give the dogs a little something extra (mmmm, duck poo!).

I can't believe the madness continues. Have they not learnt a damn thing from all the court cases this has already caused? How much trauma do they need to cause innocent dogs and their families before they get that their descriptors aren't finding the dogs they think? How do they sleep at night? I don't even want to visit Vic anymore.

Sending healing vibes to Astro and coping vibes to you. This is an unexpected crisis so don't beat yourself up trying to maintain normalcy. You caught it quickly and for now he is where he needs to be and you have done all you can. Hugs to you Rascal. XXX

There is so much wrong with that response it pains me to reply. You don't have to know a thing about canine behaviour to think a dog peeing on your bag is unacceptable. Most 'normal' people would be horrified if they discovered their dog did that. I said children and not small children. Some dogs on their hind legs can be longer than a child and some can also be stronger than a child. No child, regardless of age should be around strange off leash dogs without close supervision. Dogs are often family pets which means children do walk and play with them both inside and outside the home, including in off leash parks. Off lead areas ARE training areas for some dogs. How do you think some rescue dogs are socialised? And why shouldn't a supervised blind or timid dog be allowed to wear warning gear in an off leash area? Why is that unacceptable for those poor dogs who also like exercise and who might be a work in progress or have a disability? Why should it be their fault if a poorly behaved dog and even poorer behaved human can't respect that? All off lead areas I have been to in Qld and parts of NSW contain furniture/equipment and sometimes even dog agility gear. In every single park I have been to there is something made from timber - seats, weaving poles, etc. I regularly see people sitting in under cover areas with their dogs sitting or standing on the table. I'd be interested to know if they are allowed to do that at home too but I suspect not. I have never tut-tutted in my life but I do swear a lot. And if you will notice I said that a dog's behaviour should be within the acceptable range of whoever else is in the park. This means other people and other dogs. If the park is empty then fantastic but if a family is already there with their new puppy and your dog has its crazy face on then letting it off it's leash as soon as you are in the gate is just asking for trouble. Is it so hard to keep it on the leash and walk it to a more remote area to play and let off some steam? Why must we keep letting people get away with poor attitudes and behaviours? So many people here on DOL report their dog being attacked by some other idiot's dog that is running loose without being actively monitored. Why must one or two cretins ruin it for everyone else? Don't we have the right to say that's not good enough? I don't think this is idealistic at all but some basic common sense. I don't go around humping other people or getting into strangers faces or pissing on people's stuff so I don't accept that people think it is ok for their dog's to do it either. And if they walked out to their letterbox and stood in another dog's poo then they would be angry so they know it is wrong to let their dog do the same in public and not clean up behind it. They choose to be ignorant or lazy or whatever and I just think instead of moaning about it we should be assertive and say these things to owners when we see it happening. Create the environment we want and be good role models. At the very least I say this for the dogs who are the ones that suffer the most when things go wrong.

Acceptable to whom? A casual walk past my local dog park suggests that dogs tear arsing around with no heed to their owners is perfectly acceptable to the majority of park occupants. Forget council's version of acceptable and think of what most normal people would consider as acceptable and sensible. That doesn't include an unmonitored dog jumping up on a child, rummaging in your bag, peeing on your bag, madly humping your dog or you, human crotch sniffing, pooping all over the place, chewing on the offleash furniture (wooden chairs), trying to rush out the gate, rushing at other dogs trying to enter the park, rushing at dogs who might be wearing 'in training' or other warning gear, leaving the park without a leash or human. If an owner isn't close by to see their dog then all this is possible. Basic and acceptable behaviour designed to keep everyone safe and enjoying their outing. Even picking up your own dog poo is the most basic common courtesy but if you aren't looking then you wont know your dog has even done one. And if you aren't even close by no-one else will know to point it out to you.

I'm with you Terri. Dogs running loose at off leash dog parks still need to be actively supervised and just because they want to run around like crazy doesn't mean that their behaviour is left unchecked. What your dogs get up to still needs to be within an acceptable range of who else is in the park (people and dogs). You can't just let your dog do whatever the hell it wants to in a public place.

Horrible news for you but I'm glad you have a diagnosis and got in quick to help your fur baby. I would be visiting your neighbour with a vet bill. He may not pay it but he needs to develop some awareness of how sick his own dog was and how the lack of medical assessment and treatment has put your dogs at risk. Not acceptable.

Petit-mal (French for little illness) is an absence seizure like a brief brain disturbance. Grand-mal (French for big illnesses) is the old term for seizures at the other end of the spectrum. I think that is where the 'petty' comes in.

I had a staffy boy on phenobarb from about 6 months of age till he was about 4. He was on the maximum dose possible and was still fitting at least once a week, sometimes more. He walked around in a drug like haze most of the time and had difficulty with appetite and weight and his depth perception was not great. He was never left alone and could escape the most secure enclosure if you tried to do so. My vet is a holistic one and we ran out of treatment options when he was about a year old and on the verge of pts so she worked with a local naturopath and he was on a concoction of drops and the seizures reduced, his phenobarb dose reduced and after about 3 years he was seizure and medication free. It was a lot of experimentation and finger crossing over a long period of time only because we had run out of options because the phenobarb was not controlling his situation and his quality of life was deteriorating. He lived till he was almost 13 but had lots of fear triggers - storms, the garbage truck, rustling plastic bags, etc. It was like he'd come out of a fog and noise was a little too much for him at times. He would not have made it that far though without the commitment of my vet. He didn't have any liver or other health problems linked to the fits or medication. A vet you trust is very important as this could be a health problem with no quick fix and no clean diagnosis. Sometimes you will never know why the seizures started and I could never find any triggers for our boy. Hopefully it is manageable for the lovely Ziggy and not too stressful for you. His behaviours sound really strange but certainly they aren't normal and there seems to be a compulsive behaviours pattern to them. My experiences were with the full blown body jerks and litres of slimy frothing. It used to take a lot of energy out of our boy too and he would fall into a very deep sleep afterwards. Does it seem to take a while for Ziggy to recognise you and his environment after he is coming out of these events? Do his other senses seem to be in sync or working properly? Our boy would be very out of it after a fit and he didn't seem to be getting any visual or aural (oral?) messages for maybe half an hour afterwards. We would just keep him safe and clean him up until he was back to his version of normal. One thing I always found incredibly strange was that our boy never fitted by himself - we never discovered him covered in drool or found drool piles anywhere random. We also worked and yet he never had a fit while being baby sat by my parents or the neighbours during the day. They mainly happened at night and always in our presence. Anne and I have disagreed with this in the past but I am sure our boy knew he was going to have a fit because if he was asleep on the lounge he would get down and lie in the centre of the floor before it started. But like this happening to Ziggy only when he is asleep - what can you even do with that kind of information except be thankful you are there for him? I hope the phenobarb works for Zig.

Well then Terri you are excused from Grumpy Old Dog Lady Ranting! Hopefully there will be others like me at the park who are not afraid of saying how they feel! But honestly, if this happens again then don't feel bad about yelling at them to either call their dog back or control it. They just sound lazy to me and their poor dog will be the one to pay if it injures another dog or a human or if it gets hurt running free in the car park.

I would've laid into them. They have no right to ruin the off lead dog park for other users and it is people like that who don't control their dogs who cause council complaints and have dog parks closed down or even further restricted. A dog park is not a free dog sitting service either. If you are not willing to get off your arse and move around the park so you are within an acceptable distance to your dog so you can actively monitor its behaviour then you do not deserve to own one. I have no tolerance for people who deliberately ruin things for others AND put their dog at unacceptable risk of harm. I'd be taking their pic with my phone and sticking up signs around the park outing their poor behaviour.

I really think some dogs need a purpose to feel happy or content or even confident. My sister's ex was a security guard who had several trained guard dogs who were house dogs when not working. One in particular was the biggest sook who was always complaining he was being picked on by the other dogs but as soon as you brought his work gear out he was a totally different dog. The transformation always used to shock me. I wouldn't even go near him when he was like that as he looked so fierce. He would be retired now and I have no idea how he would be coping with that.

Happy Anniversary HW! I'm a mere babe on here but have loved every minute of it, even the slightly ugly stuff has been a good learning experience! I actually have loads of new real life doggy friends from DOL and there are lots of people I have never met, probably never will, but who I like and care about a lot. You get as much out of DOL as you put in. There are also some incredibly talented, hilariously funny and downright weird people on here. Love it!

Damn you KC! Blubber city here now! I wonder if a police dog is still a police dog over the bridge or if it is able have some fun in retirement? Or is Dante in his element keeping all the naughtier dogs from getting too out of line?