labadore

Have only ever had Labradors and lost the youngest boy at 10 years of age to Cancer, girl 13.5 yrs to Kidney disease, oldest boy at 15 years of age and my current oldest lab boy is 15.5 years old and still going strong, walks every day, plays bitey face with my youngster (4 years old) everyday, chews on sticks and cardboard treats my youngster brings to him and still jumps around all excited at meal times :laugh: . My other boy who I lost to 15 was very active right up to his 15th birthday, his stamina was amazing, he gave a lot of dogs half his age a run for their money, he hardly had any grey and was mistaken for anywhere between 7/8 years old and people would get a real shock when they asked me his age. He kept up with my younger dogs and often out walked, outran and out jumped them :laugh: Because of his activity levels and lack of grey it was very easy to forget how old he was, so when he did get ill and old age caught up with him at 15 years of age, it was sudden and unexpected. My current 15.5 year old boy is still the boss and my youngster still adores him and respects him and gets bumped out of the way at the water bucket when my old boy wants a drink :laugh: and if the youngster lies on one of the old boys beds around the house and the old boy wants to lie on the one the youngster happens to be lying on, he walks up to the bed and the youngster jumps off and makes way for him :laugh: He suffers from arthritis, but is on catrophen injections, daily jointguard powder and fish oil capsules which all help keep him comfortable and he still loves his daily walks, and whilst his hearing has gone and eyesight not great, his sense of smell is as strong as ever. He can still clamber, sometimes with help from me, up onto the couch each night so he can be close/snuggle up with me, he runs pretty fast to out the door at meal times and jumps around all excited. He can still manage to cock his leg sometimes out on our walks and it makes me smile. One of the reasons I love Labradors so much are their energy levels and their infectious, joyous enthusiasm for life, even well into old age. Whilst age may ultimately ravage their bodies and curtail their energy levels somewhat, their beautiful, legendary temperaments, joy of life, undying devotion and healthy appetites are with them their entire lives. :) Love my breed and I feel blessed that 2 of my boys have made it to 15 years of age and pray and hope my youngster does to.

Great news for NSW - finally changes made to NSW Strata laws to allows Pets in Units Link to article below Changes to NSW Strata bylaws New bylaws allowing pets in units, curbing smoking on apartment balconies and preventing the installation of noisy timber and tiled floors are among the changes in the biggest overhaul of strata laws in more than 50 years. Announcing the long-awaited reforms, Fair Trading Minister Anthony Roberts noted that 30 per cent of people in NSW either live or work in strata and there are now more than 72,000 strata plans - ranging from two-unit duplexes to massive mixed residential and commercial blocks. In 20 years, half the state's population will live in apartments or townhouses. If your pet is well behaved it shouldn't really matter. "These laws were devised when a typical apartment block was a 12-unit, two-storey walk-up," Mr Roberts said. "We need to change them to reflect the way we live now." Anthony Roberts. "We need to change them to reflect the way we live now": Fair Trading Minister Anthony Roberts. Photo: Jonathan Ng The size of buildings, electronic communications, lifestyle changes and the fact that increasing numbers of people choose to rent all their lives, rather than as a transition towards home ownership, needed to be addressed, Mr Roberts said. Advertisement "In the old days, the block was managed by Madge on the ground floor, who collected the levies, paid the bills and made sure the recycling was done." On pets, smoking and timber floors, Mr Roberts said that although owners can choose their own bylaws, many unit blocks adopt the government's model by-laws by default and it's only after people move in that they find they don't reflect the way they want to live. However, once they are in place, they are very hard to change. With that in mind, he said, the new model by-laws will, for the first time, cover smoke drift and allow pets by default, rather than banning them as is now the case. The issue of noisy timber and tiled floors will be addressed before they are laid, rather than after they become a problem, as happens now. Along with an end to proxy harvesting - where one owner rules a whole building using votes mostly from non-residents - and encouragement for tenants' participation in apartment block affairs, the new laws are slated to come into force by mid-next year. And the "disgusting" business practice of phoenix companies - where developers deliberately go into insolvency to avoid the financial consequences of shoddy work and defective buildings, only to reappear with a new name but the same owners and directors - will soon be no more, Mr Roberts said. "Planned bankruptcy as a business model will be a thing of the past," he told several hundred delegates at Strata Community Australia's Owners Day on Saturday. "There will be serious consequences and ultimately offenders will be removed completely from the industry. This is frankly a disgusting practice and there will be zero tolerance." Describing strata as the "fourth tier of government", Mr Roberts announced a raft of changes designed to encourage greater participation and accountability. Effectively curbed elsewhere in Australia, proxy farming in NSW often leads to individuals ruling their buildings as their personal fiefdom, their voting power bolstered by "blind" proxy votes from investor owners. Noting that proxy farming created mistrust, resentment and ultimately disengagement from communities that are supposed to run their own affairs, Mr Roberts said the new laws will restrict proxy votes in schemes of more than 20 units to 5 per cent of the ownership. In buildings of 20 units or fewer, owners will only be allowed to carry one proxy vote. Mr Roberts also signalled postal votes and secret ballots as part of the package, as well as online teleconferencing, electronic voting, flexibility in the timing of annual meetings, and greater transparency. Executive committee members will have to declare conflicts of interest and then remove themselves from voting on issues where any exist. Anyone who has a professional financial interest in the building - such as strata managers, building managers, caretakers and agents - will no longer be allowed to sit on executive committees. The length of strata management contracts will be reduced, making it easier for dissatisfied owners to change managers, and there will be complete transparency about issues such as insurance commissions so that owners corporations know exactly what they are getting. Some contentious issues were not on the menu. Long consigned to the ''too-hard'' basket, extinguishment of strata title and other policies that intersect with other government departments - such as the thorny issue of short-term or holiday lets in residential buildings, and the perennial problem of rogue parking - have apparently been set aside for a second tranche of law changes mooted for later next year. Queens Park resident Louise, who lives with her husband, two children and dog, Wally, said she wants the option to be able to live in a flat or a house. ''I think if your pet is well behaved it shouldn't really matter what you do within your own walls, so long as it's not noisy or smelly, and you clean up after it,'' she said. ''There's a lot of elderly people with dogs and that's a really important part of keeping those people healthy and a lot of those people do live in an apartment or will live in an apartment later.''

Cracked me up, funniest thing I have read for a long time http://www.sadanduseless.com/2012/04/texts-from-my-dog/

Quality of life, not quantity and putting the dogs needs before my own are the two guiding principles I try to abide by when it comes to making that extremely difficult decision. It's not easy letting our beloved dogs go, but we have to do what is right for them. Thinking of you during this difficult time

Very sorry to hear your girl's diagnosis In my earlier post, I mentioned that I had lost one of my beloved lab boys to Cancer 4 years ago and it was also Hemangiosarcoma (Spleen_ and like you and others I was totally devastated at both the diagnosis and his loss, he was my heart dog, the love of my life and I still grieve deeply for him and will till we meet again This cancer is an insidious one and very aggressive and I am so sorry that you have lost other dogs to this awful cancer. When my boy was diagnosed, I did a ton of research and the two breeds that succumb to Hemangiosarcoma the most are Golden Retrievers and German Shepherds, but Labs are also up there as well unfortunately. As Labs are my breed of choice and I have owned them for many years, a few months after my beloved boy passed I did get another Lab male pup who is now 4 years old and due to my research on Hemangiosarcoma and cancers in general, what I have done different with this boy is: kept him intact, with exception of his puppy vacs and booster 12 months later, I don't get him vaccinated, have him titre tested instead, don't apply any flea/tick control chemicals very careful with any toys I have given him to make sure they aren't made with any toxic materials (i.e. bisphenol-A (BPA) and phtalates and vinyl/PVC free) - this can very difficult trying to find out the materials that some of the dogs toys are made from. My labs being the retrievers that they are, love carrying around toys in their mouths, retrieving etc and the boy who I lost to Hemangiosarcoma, was at the time, my most obsessed with retrieving and carrying around toys in his mouth. However, my current youngster is equally, if not more obsessed (higher retrieving drive) with retrieving, carrying toys around and whilst I was extremely careful with trying to buy non toxic toys/retrieving objects for him, I was horrified to recently find out about a recent study done on "Bumpers" which are a retrieving toy that are used extensively in the Labrador/gundog community for retrieving, which found that Bumpers readily leach the harmful chemicals bisphenol-A (BPA) and phtalates. Guess what I had been using for my Lab youngster's water retrieving toy/object and I also used it as one of the toys to train him in retrieving on land Wishing you all the best for your beloved girl and you are both in my thoughts and I so hope for a positive outcome for her as whilst the statistics are pretty grim for dogs diagnosed with Hemangiosarcoma, there have been some dogs that have beaten the odds and defied all expectations and lived for years after their diagnosis. I believe there is a dol member who had a german shepherd who beat the odds, so here's hoping your girl will do the same.

I can personally vouch for Veronika Langova as she treated my lab boy when he was diagnosed with Cancer and she was just wonderful, very compassionate, caring and genuinely lovely lady and an extremely competent and knowledgeable Oncologist. She also put me in touch with Dr Karen Goldrick, a Holistic Vet at All Natural Vet Care at Russell Lea, as I was concerned at the affect of the Chemo on my boy and I will be eternally grateful to Karen for the compassionate care she gave my beautiful boy and the emotional support she provided to me and when my boy's time came she came out to our home and her tender, compassionate and very caring manner during this extremely emotional and gutwrenching time will never be forgotten. I am very sorry about your girl and wishing you all the best for a positive outcome for her. You are both in my thoughts and I know only too well how devastated you must be thinking the worst, but hang in there and stay strong for your beloved girl.

Sorry to hear your beloved boy has been diagnosed with this awful cancer. I lost one of my beloved lab boys to this cancer at 10 years of age. This cancer is an extremely aggressive one and unfortunately by the time it is detectable, most of the damage is done. My boy had full blood tests (CBC) and urinalysis done and full examination a couple of months prior to his diagnosis, not by our normal vet, and was given a clean bill of health. A couple of months later he seemed depressed, not full of life like he normally was and the final clincher was showing no energy or enthusiasm for chasing his beloved ball at the park. Took him to our vet the next day and during an extensive examination vet could feel a lump and did full blood tests and results next day showed he was anaemic and we booked him in for a an ultrasound with the Specialist the next day where the mass was detected on his spleen. He had the Splenectomy which he recovered extremely well and quickly from and there was no evidence of metastasis. He did undergo chemo which I tossed and turned over but proceeded with it to try and give him the best chance at an extended life given that he recovered so well from the Splenectomy and showed no evidence of metastasis. Unfortunately the chemo did knock him around, so stopped it after the 4th treatment as quality of life rather than quantity was so important to me for my beloved boy and I had him put to sleep when the cancer spread to his lungs five months after his initial diagnosis. I don't think I would go down the chemo route again if ever to be unlucky enough to have another dog be diagnosed with this awful cancer. Apart from the risk of an adverse reaction to chemo, like my boy had, I think I also got caught up in the whole chemo treatment and what it entails and worrying so much about how it was knocking my boy around and second guessing myself as to whether or not I had made the right decision to go the chemo route. I think that time could have been better spent with more quality time with my beautiful boy. How much time that would have been without the chemo, I don't know, may have been shorter, may have been longer. Just love on your boy and spend as much quality time as you can with him and I hope you get to spend a lot more time with him and I am sending lots of healing vibes and positive thoughts his way. It is a difficult journey that you are both on and I will keep both of you in my thoughts :hug:

The Surprising Truth About Mixed Breed Dogs

There are always threads asking the Age to Neuter/Desex and responses listing the pros and cons with particular mention on the issue of growth plate closure. This link was posted on another forum I belong to and thought it might be helpful to post here as it is not breed specific. The link below provided by Provet, contains a table listing the range and average closure times of growth plates in dogs and at the bottom of this table there is also a link to a table for Cats. For my breed, Labradors, the consensus for growth plate closure is around 14months and the common advice for delaying neutering male Labs is 18months-2yrs and 12-18months or minimum 1st heat for desexing females. Growth Plate Closure

Dogs coming from Australia into NZ are NOT subject to quarantine. They have to be tested for Babesia with bloodtests, but no quarantine either way between Australia and NZ. Apart form the cost factor, I wouldn't subject a dog to the stress of arline travel for a two week holiday. Also NZ does not have the same dog friendly holiday accomodation choices Australia does.

Someone mentioned in this thread this Guide Dog was owner trained, a couple of us have asked for the link(s) to the article(s) that mentioned this and these links have not been provided. This thread is about a Guide Dog, and in that context, we have expressed outrage that a "trained" guide dog, presumably from a relevant organisation trained and provided this Guide Dog and due to the cost to train a guide dog and the value to the community and the age of the dog and breed of dog, this dog should have been given a chance at a new life with a new owner, whether it be reclassified if from a guide dog association or retrained or rehomed as a pet. Whether you like it or not, Guide Dogs are and should be treated differently than pet dogs due to the invaluable service they provide the community.

Did this dog get accredited as an Assistance Dog or pass the Public Access Test?

I do agree with those suffering brain injuries as was the case with my brother. However, my brother had told his friends years before he had his accident was diagnosed with a brain tumour that if ever he died he wanted his dog he had at the time to be PTS to sleep with him. This was not the same dog he had when he did die years later. Based on your statement above the "People aren't in the best mindset to make decisions when diagnosed with terminal illnesses", then they shouldn't be making decisions to have their dogs PTS after they die. Whilst some may not be in the best mindset, others are thinking and acting rationally in sorting out their affairs and are quite capable of making decisions.

But this is a judgement based on assumption. I've seen people who know they are dying get the timing wrong and they get to a point where it happens too fast or faster than expected or its a quick deterioration which doesn't allow them to follow through with their plans themselves. There are always exceptions, but the point is if a person feels that strongly on the need to PTS their dog when they die, they need to make it a priority as part of settling their affairs and most people who are diagnosed with a terminal illness know that time is of the essence and doctors cannot give them a definitive time that they have left. I have lost my parents, my two youngest siblings and two very close friends to terminal illnesses, so I do have some experience with timeframes from diagnosis. My youngest sibling, my brother died from a brain tumour as a result of a bad motorbike accident he had a couple of years prior and when he was diagnosed he set about organising his affairs and one of these was that he wanted his beautiful 3 year old Rottweiler PTS and buried with him. My brother was part of a bikie gang and even his bikie mates were horrified at his request as this dog was such a young healthy magnificent dog and none of them were comfortable with doing this and they tried to talk him out of it but he was adamant it should happen. After his death they spoke about this with with us the family who they knew were all avid dog lovers and owners and my sister and mother were also Rottweiler owners of many years and my sister offered to take on the dog if a good home could not be found for him. His wife who he was separated from at the time of his illness and death offered to take the dog into hiding so it couldn't be PTS whilst arrangements were made to find the dog a good home. In the end the dog was rehomed to a very good friend of my brothers who was a very experienced Rottweiler owner who knew of my brother's request but because this stunning dog was so young, so healthy, so full of life, he along with the rest of us (family and friends) could not be responsible for this beautiful dog's death and we all believed our brother/friend was actually being selfish in requesting this. This beautiful dog had options and our brother knew that and none of us felt guilty in not putting this beautiful dog to sleep. He lived for another 10 years in a great home.

The luxury a person diagnosed with a terminal illness has is that they are able to sort out all their affairs, so if they feel so strongly that they want their dog PTS, then they should do this as part of sorting out their affairs before they die, instead of putting this awful burden on a relative or friend. It seems these selfish people want the best of both worlds, they want their dog to be with them until they die and then place the awful burden on a relative or friend to be responsible for putting the poor dog down. If they care so much for their poor dog, then they would be there to hold it, cuddle it as it takes its last breath. Even if their illness prevents them leaving the house a Vet can do a house visit. Maybe if they had to take responsibility for organising their dog to be PTS and to be there with it, they may not be so willing it do it, particularly for a young, healthy dog with no behavioural problems. I disagree strongly with PTS a young healthy happy dog who could adjust to a rehoming and bond with a new owner and live a very fulfilled life and if I was selfish enough to think this couldn't happen and I was diagnosed with a terminal illness, I would take care of this myself before I died rather than burden my family or friend with this awful task.

Hysteria be buggered. Outcry because some of us have a different moral compass than others and find it appalling and selfish that a young guide dog was put to sleep on the whim of his owner. To many arrogant dog owners think because of the bond they have with dogs, that they could not bond with another owner. Labradors are prime example of a breed that can very easily and successfully bond with a new owner, look at the standard for a Labrador, the temperament in particular. You haven't met my brother's assistance dog then, have you? I know for a fact that he wouldn't function at all if my brother died... it's bad enough if my brother leaves him for a couple of hours - even with family he knows and loves. They share a completely symbiotic relationship - neither can really cope without the other. T. No of course I haven't met your brother's assistance dog and they may share a completely symbiotic relationship, but how will you know whether the dog will cope without him and never be able to be rehomed with a new owner until the dog is given a chance. None of us can say that and I have had extremely deep bonds with all my Labs (past and present), but would never be that selfish that I would want to deprive any of them of an opportunity to live a new life without me if I died before any of hem as they deserve to be given a chance to do so. Dogs should be allowed to grieve for their deceased owners, then given a chance at adjusting to a new life with a new owner BEFORE any decision is made on ending their lives.

Yep the double standards on DOL are mind bloggling When it comes to guide dog losing their lives, even more so (check out the other thread in the News section on a poor guide dog losing its life due to negiligence on the part of the handler leaving this poor dog to cook to death in the car ). Can't quite work out whether it is due to the dislike of the Labrador breed/it's popularity, as majority of guide dogs are Labs or whether they have done something similar or know someone who has and are trying to justify their actions. I am sure any future guide dog death posts will have the usual suspects coming in to defend the action of the person responsible for the guide dog's death. There is a HUGE difference between a service dog dying through negligence, and one that is humanely euthanaised on the behest of the owner. Seriously - we really don't know the full story or history about this dog and owner - so any suppositions from this side of a "news" article are only that... suppositions. T. Maybe a difference, but end result is the same, both dogs are dead and both deaths were preventable and the amount of defending of these people that caused their deaths is sickening. As I said some of our moral compasses are at different ends of the spectrum.

Hysteria be buggered. Outcry because some of us have a different moral compass than others and find it appalling and selfish that a young guide dog was put to sleep on the whim of his owner. To many arrogant dog owners think because of the bond they have with dogs, that they could not bond with another owner. Labradors are prime example of a breed that can very easily and successfully bond with a new owner, look at the standard for a Labrador, the temperament in particular.

Yep the double standards on DOL are mind bloggling When it comes to guide dog losing their lives, even more so (check out the other thread in the News section on a poor guide dog losing its life due to negiligence on the part of the handler leaving this poor dog to cook to death in the car ). Can't quite work out whether it is due to the dislike of the Labrador breed/it's popularity, as majority of guide dogs are Labs or whether they have done something similar or know someone who has and are trying to justify their actions. I am sure any future guide dog death posts will have the usual suspects coming in to defend the action of the person responsible for the guide dog's death.

and if she had lived in Australia, she probably would have been ! This wasn't in Australia though , and it was mentioned on here that she was trained by the owner ... Where is the link/article that says this as I went back thru the thread and couldn't find it - a poster mentioned this but didn't back it up with a link to the corresponding article.

But the point is Toffee wasn't a pet, she was a trained guide dog, doing a job and you of all people should know the value of a guide dog and their importance to the community. She should have been returned to the organisation that trained and provided her so she could either be reassigned, retrained or rehomed into a pet home, not just PTS at the whim of her selfish owner and family

Really . I disagree Can't be overdone when such a travesty has been enacted upon an innocent creature. Yep so sad :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: (one for each year that poor Lab may have missed out on)

This thread and my reply is about a "guide dog" who unlike pet dogs, would have had a valuable resource like the association that trained and provided Toffee to do the rehoming when the owner had died and guide associations have waiting lists of people wanting to adopt a guide dog whether it be a retired guide dog or one having to be rehomed for other reasons like in this case when the owner dies. Labradors in general are extremely adaptable dogs and guide dogs are selected for their temperament, trainability and adaptability and whilst their bond with their sight impaired owner would be very strong, they would be able to adapt to a new home and owner quite successfully. Out of all the service dogs, the guide dogs are the ones who are in most demand for adoption and the screening by the guide dog associations would be much stronger than rehoming a pet dog whether it be by an owner or rescues. There would have also been other opportunities for this dog beside being rehomed as a pet dog, as it could be an assitance dog, therapy dog etc as 5 years old is still young for a Labrador and they are quite capable of being retrained at this age to undertake different roles. I also have a young Lab, who is 3½ years old who I am very strongly bonded with, but no way in hell would I ever contemplate having him PTS with me if I was unfortunate to die before he becomes a senior. I can understand owners who would contemplate this with senior dogs, dogs with health problems or behavioural problems, but not a young healthy dog with a fantastic temperament who still has many years ahead of them and would be able to bond with another owner. It is part of pet ownership responsibility to ensure that we make provisions for our dogs in case somethings happens to us and none of us can guarantee, despite best efforts that our dogs will find the best of homes, but we owe it to them to give them an opportunity to do this. This poor guide dog wasn't given this opportunity and more importantly, it would have had the resource of the guide dog association to help in the rehoming, if only the owner and family had put the dog's needs above their own selfish needs. Labs can live up to 12-15 years old and Toffee may have been rehomed to a wonderful new owner if only given the chance and this dog's chances would have been a lot higher of finding a great new home than a pet dog, due to the amount of people willing to adopt an ex guide dog. Alternatively, Toffee may have been reassigned with a new role.

Very sad that this poor dog lost it's life without even being given a chance to adjust to a new home and new life This Lab was only 5 years old and it would have adapted to a new home and new owner and if given a chance would have probably been rehomed into a pet home. The family should have contacted the guide dog association who trained and provided the dog as they would have willingly taken the dog and rehomed it. There are people queuing up to adopt ex guide dogs. How selfish and tragic that this poor dog was not given a chance to even grieve after the death of it's owner let alone be given a chance at a new life. I have adopted 10 year old Labs at different times, one an ex service dog and both adjusted perfectly into their new homes very easily and in no time at all it was like they had been with me all their lives. The ex service dog lived a long, happy and healthy life to 15 years old and the other one who I still have is 2 months shy of his 15th birthday and he is also doing great. I understand the very close relationship a guide dog has with its owner and I could perhaps even understand if this dog was an elderly dog, but it was a young 5 year old Lab with still many years ahead of it and it was a well trained guide dog Unbelievably sad and should not have happened

Thanks for the results guys. Congrats to the BIS and RUBIS, gorgeous dogs, the OES is a beautiful dog and love her name "Cher" :laugh: