Little Gifts

I've just found Tempeh's dope spot. With the big new tv and cable subscription we have been watching a few dog shows. Temp gets quite fixated on the new dogs in the house and has been looking behind the tv to check them out further. Hopefully she will learn to share!

I personally don't care where a breeder advertises and have always assumed they would be using all and any tools available to them that would illicit the right kind of enquiry. I also assumed that breeders would be advertising before the puppy was available, putting feelers out for the right type of homes? What does concern me most is how some ads are worded as I think it is the wording that encourages the wrong kind of potential home and indicates the quality of the 'breeder'. For example, wrong or right I can't tolerate advertising any live animal as a great Christmas present. I got into a fight on FB last year when an OS breeder was trying to flog a litter of pei pups in time for Christmas. I got called every name under the sun when all I simply said to him was please don't advertise them as Christmas presents, just sell them as beautiful dogs needing the right home. To me it should be the quality of the dogs that should be the selling point and the breeder's standing/history, as a lot of hard yards has probably gone to in creating this great dog. Show off a little. Be proud of what you have created. I like to see some pride in an ad. I appreciate that people take time off over this period of the year and kids are on school holidays so will get to spend quality time with their new pup and that you can't always control when a bitch comes into season, whelps and gives you a litter for rehoming, but just don't use present giving as a selling point. That automatically makes me suspicious. As does the use of 'rare' and 'blue' when it comes to staffords! Don't lie and don't manipulate the truth and don't try to cash in on big celebrations that we know often lead to impulse purchasing followed by regret, neglect and abandonment. I can't imagine a good breeder not caring what happens to their dogs after all the effort they put in to creating them. That's the kind of breeder I want to deal with. I want to carry on their pride in how I raise their beautiful pup. That's what I look for in an ad regardless of where it is placed.

Slight jigsaw miracle. When I got up this morning my sister had found 2 of the missing 3 pieces! No idea where as we searched high and low last night after retrieving the one that was mid chew. One missing piece to go.....although my hopes are low.....

I really think employment is the norm in most households so the best thing is to assess a potential new owner's thinking around how they will manage a new dog's needs, what changes they are willing to make from now until the dog dies, because we all know that every age stage has its own challenges. After having a geriatric dog I didn't find a puppy to require anywhere near as much work or worry! And anyone who has a storm phobic dog will also know the work and schedule rearrangement that comes with that! I took on a rescue pup unexpectedly while working full time but made some changes to my work hours for the first couple of weeks and the new pup also had daily visits from my mum, random visits from my then cleaner (she loves dogs) plus a very mothering older dog at home with her. Unfortunately, within only a couple of weeks I had an accident that left me bed ridden and on pain meds for three months. My sister and her dog moved in to care for me, the new pup and my older dog. She also worked full time so was spread pretty thin. Apart from a long delay on formal training none of it seems to have impacted negatively on that pup who has gone on to become a social butterfly who loves everyone and everything and is my heart girl who has been invaluable helping me raise other foster dogs. In some ways I think she became more sensitive to others in need and in tune with my moods and how I was feeling as a result of all that bed time. She has certainly been very protective of new fosters, particularly the sad ones. If she had've come from a breeder I may have asked for the breeder to take her back when I couldn't care for her, even though it might've broken my heart. But we muddled through and are closer for the experience. You can't predict everything life throws at you!

Sadly Grumpette, three pieces are currently being broken down into tomorrow's poo. The one chewed piece that was salvaged has swollen to twice it's original size due to said spit and the teeth marks in it make it look like it has the pox. Helping indeed.....

We are having a riveting night, I've been finishing up a jigsaw and the dogs have been eating the pieces I accidentally drop on the floor! What I wish for in 2014 is to complete a jigsaw with all the pieces intact!

Doesn't matter how often we go to the beach Stussy still drinks the sea water and we still have to wait till it's all out before we can head home!

The universe is strange. I look at Teddy and think he is drop dead gorgeous and can't imagine why he wasn't snapped up earlier. But of course the world was slowly turning so the planets would align and he could go to the most magical forever home! Congratulations to Teddy and you K9Angel!

Crushing losses. I'm not sure I'd get over that if it was me.

I doubt I will ever own a purebred dog from a breeder only because my door will always be open to any dog in need and I will always be full up! I figure I get the dogs I'm meant to get and I have no complaints about that, even if it means I will never have a beautiful little pied Frenchie!

What about a Maremma?

She looks like Frieda Khalo with the flowers - certainly has the right eyebrows!

Marg I was also worried it could be an abcess but it looks totally different to ones I've seen before - nothing open or oozy. I've done two salt water swabs now and it is all still looking the same and not bugging her. Thanks for the neocort offer Ams. If it looks any worse tomorrow morn I'll give you a call. I think I need to restock my doggy first aid kit! What a thing to worry about in between burning the caramel for the banoffi pie and the oven going out on the turkey!

I suspect it will make Maeby's eyes water!

I have aloe vera but no neocort or pawpaw ointment. Should I give the aloe a shot? Salt water wash is easy peasy and I will do that regularly to at least keep it clean. There is no broken skin and she isn't worried when I touch or squeeze it at present. If it is a pimple I think it has a way to go before an explosion takes place. And if/when that does happen I'm sure it will happen on my bed. :D Thank you for confirming my fears that it is non-life threatening. When I first saw it my brain screamed TWAT TUMOUR but once I figured it looked more like a pimple I have calmed down.

My sbt girl Stussy has been rubbing her bits on the carpet so I just had a look and she has what looks like a pimple on her girly bits. There is no head on it and it has not burst and it is not super swollen or hard to touch between my fingers. It is on the outer edge of her vulva (is that what it is called on dogs too?), nearer the hair line. I was out with her before and she peed and pooed easily, but she never shows when she is in pain so there could be discomfort, but hopefully no pain. Do they even get pimples? Could it be an infected hair follicle? I've never had anything like this before on any of my dogs so don't know if this is something to simply watch, something to squeeze, something to rush to the vet about or something to not even worry about? Advice please? I'm sure my vet would laugh at me turning up on Christmas Eve as an emergency with a simple bum pimple! PS Just rang my vet to speak to one of the vet nurses and they have already closed for Christmas so if we have to go it will be to an emergency centre and I don't want to do that unless it is necessary.

Iggy Mum for a start I think you need to put something soft and fluffy in that playpen with her! It looks awfully hard and uncomfortable in there! But seriously, I had a pei here whose forehead skin affected his vision and he spent the first couple of days fervently mapping out the house and yard and after that he was fine. It looked like he was pacing with a purpose. He didn't like going for walkies and stuff outside but there was a dog park he went to and again, he just went round and round mapping the place in his mind and was fine after that. He was ok once in the car (never moved) but I could sense he was worried about getting in and out and needed help. Do you have any stairs? We had three down to the lounge and this pei boy really struggled with them so we put a soft mattress over them so he could kind of slide/walk down and after those first couple of days he had the distance judged and the mattress was removed. He did zoomies snd pranced around with the others without any accidents. Remarkable stuff. Ams has very recently had a couple of blindies - one came without eyes and the other had his removed. I've seen both dogs in action and they have no probs getting around even with all the other dogs and being on acreage and out at events. She'll hopefully come in and tell you more about how they manage. There are halo frames blind dogs can wear to stop them bumping into things. Not sure how necessary it is but you could probably conjure up your own after a trip to Bunnings!

Dog I laughed at the banana - laughing with you and not at you Maybe!

Thank you to all of you - you make a very real difference to dogs in need and you change the lives of human families forever. XXX

My dogs don't do it but as a customer it would not bother me to be at the vet and see another dog sitting on a chair unless it pooed, peed or puked on it! If I was vet staff and I had to clean all the nooks and crannies of a chair after it had purged on I guess I'd be Mrs Cranky too!

Do you think this could be in an effort to keep their actual fighting skills current? I was thinking it's kind of like any combat sport/martial art where people practice a lot to get it right and do so without hurting another, all so that if they have to do it for real they are prepared.

All three of ours do it and two of them are mouth lickers too. I thought that was a submissive thing but have also been told by a dog whisperer that it can be a calming thing - one dog sharing calm spit with another that is feeling a little wound up. This is a fantastic bitey face pic from last Christmas. Tempeh was constantly trying to pull off Stussy's Christmas elf apron fearing it would eat her alive, so they were crazy most of the day. Despite how ferocious Stussy looks she has never scratched or bitten anyone during a game of bitey face with those (slightly dirty) teeth.

"I can't freakin' see mum!"

Rebanne, I make round, no sew beds and every single home they have gone to report their dogs love them. I think the reason is the dogs can kind of burrow and snuggle in to them. They can also easily be washed in your washing machine and if the stuffing gets squashed you can always add more! My first one I made from second hand fleece baby blankets and a cut up doona that had already been chewed. Three or so years on and it is still in regular use! I'm pretty sure instructions for these beds are pinned in the Craft thread but if not I'd be happy to explain how to go about it and show you some pics. They can also be made rectangle and square and as big or small as you want. How much stuffing you add is also up to you. It can be from old pillows, cut up doonas or whatever. You can buy old pillows and lounge cushions from op shops and simply wash it in an old pillow case in batches. It is perfectly fine. My dogs sleep on them summer and winter without any complaint - they burrow more in winter and kind of recline on them in summer. I'm not sure if you need something sturdier though for Fern's back but you could still apply the no sew cover technique cheaply to memory foam.

Gorgeous Lynst!