Dxenion

Weasels when I read your comment in the other thread it made me stop and think "When did it become old school and what has it been replaced with?"

I have a pack of dogs here (albeit a small one) and I can see pack hierarchy associated behaviours occurring constantly between themselves and in their interactions with us. Is there a new way of looking at this now?

I'm really interested to hear others thoughts on this.

In another thread a question was raised concerning the discussion of pack hierarchies in 2012.

The Oxford dictionary describes hierarchy as 'a system or organization in which people or groups are ranked one above the other according to status or authority.'

Do you see 'pack hierarchy' as old school thinking? Is it still relevant today for dogs that live together, or for describing the structure in dog/ human cohabitations?

If not, how do you describe the relationship between dogs that live together and how they relate/ respond to the humans that they live with?

Oops, can't see that on my phone.

I have a thread in the Member's Marketplace for a couple.

To me it seems like she was an irresponsible owner who failed to keep control of her dog. She failed to warn you to give her dog some space and I'm guessing this club doesn't use yellow bandannas as a visual warning either. How on earth were you supposed to know that particular dog needed more space? It upset me to read that she didn't even apologise. I would have had more than a few choice words for her (to remind of her legal responsibility to effectively control her dog) and then I would have reported the attack. I have absolutely zero tolerance for irresponsible owners.

Three more for the tin foil hat brigade.

We had an el cheapo one here and our vet gave us a run down on how to use it. I learned what a healthy ear looks like, and if there were any changes it was easy to spot and treat before it got worse.

The el cheapo one fell apart so I'm on the hunt for a better quality one.

Edited to add that the otoscope was only used for looking in the ear. Removing foreign objects is a job I'll leave for the vet to do. Thankfully we've only ever had to contend with ear infections from swimming in waterholes.

YIKES! My heart's pounding now and the dogs are all fluffed up and on edge!

I'd really like to know what that was incase I ever have the misfortune of hearing it here.

I can just picture a board shorted Santa with a great dane on his lap.

Seems like Rakim's not the only one finding it hard to break the puppy crate habit.

It's the metal grid windows we're trying to get out.

The grid window in the side of this crate:

Does anyone know how to take out and then put back in the wire panels on the sides of vari kennels?

...that he is too big for his crate now?

I was prepping the crate for sale and had to leave the room for about ten minutes. I came back to find this:

Is anyone watching this show?

The stressed out body language of the canadian wolf Khodai stood out like a sore thumb to me and I was surprised when they took her to a school and put her in the show.

What did other people think of the body language and how it might translate to reading our own dogs when out in public?

Thank you everyone. It's been a really difficult day and reading though the comments has let us know that we're not alone in our sadness.

There are reminders of her everywhere. Her empty beds that she was using just yesterday. Her basket of medications that are no longer required. Her dinner bowl that no longer needs to be filled. Cans of special chicken dinners that will go uneaten. Her coat that no longer needs to warm her. Her boots that no longer have feet to protect, special red doggles to put away as well as her lifejacket that no longer is needed to keep her afloat at the beach. Saddest of all was seeing her collar with her guardian angel medallion hanging by the front door.

To us she wasn't just a dog, she was a treasured and very important member of our family for nearly thirteen years. It's tough coming to grips with the fact that after well over a decade she is no longer here anymore. She was a caring sensitive being, an instinctively natural therapy dog who had an impact on many people and dog's lives. Kids always seemed to gravitate to her. They might not have remembered her name but they always wanted to see 'the black dog' and she was so gentle with them. She was a true matriarch.

The other dogs are really feeling her loss too. Tlaloc is down in the dumps and has taken to lying in her bed, Odin is subdued and Rakim is trotting around the house looking for her in a game of hide and seek that will sadly never end.

Sadly this evening Java lost her brief battle with cancer. She's now running free at the rainbow bridge. Goodbye dear sweet lady. You will be very sorely missed.

Hahah, I love the thought of a nice wild dog whipping open a can of Advance behind a handy tree :D

I just read the ingredients of my turkey flavoured 'Big Dog BARF' and it contains garlic..... Ok, call me ignorant, but garlic is poison to dogs is it not? Why would they add it to their food??

There is some debate over garlic. A family member living in the Pilbara region of WA regularly added it to the whippet's meal to repel brown dog ticks and it worked a treat.

Found a reason to smile late yesterday. We picked up some medication from the chemist for Java. Keeping in mind that the prescription was filled out by the vet and that the patient's name on the label is 'Dog Java', I found it quite amusing that the chemist put this warning label on the box (even if it is a legal requirement). I guess it's just as well we didn't let Java drive home.

:-( to hear this. RIP Bison.

Sad to hear about your girl too WSM.

We weren't given a timeline. I think that on hearing the C word, we were too shocked to ask.

We're just taking it one day at a time. We took them all for a drive this evening and she seemed to still love it. She's got a self inflating foam air mattress to lie on so she can enjoy the ride in comfort. Someone said to watch for signs that they're no longer enjoying things they used to love. Car rides are one of those things for her. It was so heartwarming to watch her trot out to the car and then wait to be lifted up into it. We went out to collect some goat bones tonight and when we arrived, the staff came over to give them all a pat. I watched as she got up and went to the window for a pat too (something she normally doesn't bother pushing through the other three dogs to get).

I treasure alll these little moments even more because I know that soon they will be just memories.

It looks like we wont have that option now - wrong time of year.

Decided to go back into the vet today after she threw up lunch (and her anti nausea tablets). Sadly we're faced with stomach cancer :-( Invasive tests would confirm this for sure but at her age anaesthetic is not a safe option and we wont put her through chemotherapy anyway.

I did ask the vet directly for their professional opinion on quality of life and if we need to help her to the bridge today. They said she wasn't there yet because other than the occassional vomiting and now sporadic loss of appetite, she's bright and alert, interacting with the others and is as steady on her feet as one would expect and old dog to be. She's now on stronger anti nausea tablets and will continue the stomach coating ones as they appear to have started working.

I asked about the B12 and the vet didn't think it was required given that we are giving her Nutrigel too. The vet will follow up in two days to see if the new tablets are helping.

So now we know what we're faced with. It's all about making this time she has left the best we can.

Last night she left us both standing there with our jaws unhinged as we watched her polish off the boy's dinner and then look around for more. We just about fell over ourselves getting her extra kibble and she even drank some puppy milk (she's never had problems with dairy).

Today's vet trip is now on hold. We're going back anyway on Thursday for a followup and we'll bring up scan and additional tests then. Saturday's dog and today's dog are two different dogs. I can't help wondering if this is just a temporary improvement on a downhill slope or have we sorted out the acid/ nausea issue with the tablets? Tests and time will tell.

I'll take this thread into the vets to check the suggestions here. Her last bloodwork was unremarkable which justs adds to the mystery. To top it off she stole some kibble from the boys tonight and ate it with great enthusiasm. It wasn't a huge amount but it's the most spark we've seen her muster up for food in 2 weeks. I guess we'll have an answer one way or the other in 24 hours.

I imagine we'll be in this position shortly. Given that at this point we don't know what is wrong, if by donating her body to science they can figure that out, then it would be a gift for dogs and owners alike.

I don't want the body back. To me, once the essence of her is gone, the body is just the shell she walked around in. I'll have memories, videos and photos.

I'm not sure how you go about it though.