Steph M

I would say they probably get a lot of say, be pretty hard to come to someone in such a sensetive situation and say 'we are taking 100 of your pets.' I assume they have a lot of follow up support and ideally would take more but perhaps don't want to push them too hard?

Maybe contact dogtainers or someone who does transport, they're usually a pretty good resource for these things? I imagine they'd know the best way to get the beds and things in. Failing that, could you just post them to someone over here?

Let us know how it went! Good luck! He looks very sweet.

Gosh, that's like my grandmother popping one (or 5?) out now. I can't imagine how many she's had prior! The dog, not my grandma! Haha. What breed is she, if you don't mind me asking?

There's a few on their facebook that are really worrying, just looking now. This one says nothing but 'needs to be an only dog at this stage' with no further details, she looks a strong enough dog for that to be a real, real worry! It seems, no offence, but they get left with the dregs each week, and to be putting them out with sob stories, capturing some unsuspecting family then popping them on a truck with nothing is just heinous, moreso if there's going to be nastiness if/when it doesn't work out. Really!

Have you contacted some rescue organisations? Sure they all would love to be of service, it's a win win!

Poor old thing, hope it wasn't rubbing under his little arms! He has so little hair to begin with, too!

They do such great work, and from what I hear really put a lot of effort into the training/housebreaking and rehab to rehoming process. So I imagine any time saved there would be a bonus! Not that breeders don't do this, but then you get a karmic gold star too! Could also try having a look in Melbourne? It's not as far as some?

What would be the case with timing, I wonder? If she had a bitch 'ready to go' on Christmas day, or while you were away would you be expected to dart back and drop him off? Could be a massive bummer! Having said that, he sounds lovely, and we've always had two sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't so much, we've never had any disasters or anything, but some dogs just love love love each other, like mum's two now, actually a little problematic, overnight vet trips are a pain, any behavioral naughty is suddenly doubled, and much harder to break! We've also had dogs who were pretty well indifferent to each other, still company I'm sure, but no real care either way. Would it be worth having them meet and see how they go? Has pup had his second lot of shots etc?

try steer clear of the supermarket pet mince if you can, it's full of gosh knows what and we've always found it upsets little bellies. erk! maybe go have a chat to the local butcher, I bet they have some lamb flaps and the like for a dollar or two a kilo!

Yeah I wondered who would want a crazy dog lady too...then decided to give ideal introductions a call...specified I needed a dog person lol...voila! I managed to find the poor sap even with my two rather spoiled cats, beats being clucky in that creepy way! Talking about your dogs or cats on a date must go down MILES better than some women who talk about how badly they want a baby! Puppy on!

Would you let someone adopt a child if you knew they were going to let it run feral when it stopped being cute? I can see both sides, I have no doubt there are students who do the right thing, but one quick glance at Gumtree and see all the fluffies with "am going back home, need to rehome him/her". There's a lot, I know Australians aren't blameless either and there's a bunch of 'we're moving etc' ones, and both are sad, and rescue ops generally ask if you rent/own/have permission to have a pet on the premises, while not a guarantee nothing will change, it's a start. I think asking if you plan to stay is perfectly resonable to be honest, she sounds like she was pretty rude, but she works a pretty hideous job. Can't say I blame her being fed up with everything.

We had a dog next door who used to slam and slam against the fence while throwing a right fit, one night our little dog was down the side grass taking a piddle and he broke through the palings and got her eye. Was traumatic for everyone, we thought she was gone for sure, mum was overseas, I was on my way home and my sister, then about 17 was stuck with this bleeding, crying mess in the yard. Anyway, horrific stuff aside she was fine, her friend gave her a lift to the LDH before I was home and she's fine now, a little more nervous, but she hasn't noticed much aside from that. My grandma stormed next door with the bill and demanded they fix the fence and pay something off the bill, it didn't go anywhere and that's no biggie. I'd have much, much rather they fixed the fence and didn't leave the dog out to lose his mind at the fence anymore. They eventually put him to sleep, I assume. He isn't there anymore, which I kinda applaud taking the responsibility on there, but it's a shame it even had to get to that point. Best to just work with them, rather than against. If you're willing to pay half, by all means, but I wouldn't volunteer to. I hope the dog is okay!

Have you by any chance got a friend who's close, handy and has another dog? Perhaps in the mean time while you decide you can work out some kind of schedule to see how she'd cope, buy you some time and give yourself a little bit of a break?

I don't so much agree, I think you can have the healthiest, most well bred pet but in the end, things happen. They could be a year old and be bitten by a snake, fall from the couch, get a really nasty, resilient infection or just be plum unlucky, some breeds are just prone to things you can't see coming, and could by no means prevent. Things happen and I like to think if one of my critters was stuck I would be able to think a bit clearer and make the right decision for them if I knew I had the funds at hand and assume that would alleviate at least some of the pressure. Like I said, I work in insurance, and know for a fact it's a great business structure. As is I work in warranty claims for appliances etc, and it's highly profitable, if an 600 dollar fridge isn't repairable we offer a same same replacement, but get it substantially cheaper, and they usually insure that one too, but if it were my full fridge at Christmas I wouldn't be too phased of the semantics etc, I'd just be pleased all my Christmas Dinner wasn't ruined. I kinda feel like it's the same deal, when it comes to it, I doubt i'd be resenting anyone much or thinking how they did it, I'd just be pleased the option for treatment was available. You're right in the vet sense too though, I find it really disconcerting walking into a vet and finding they only have one or two types of food on the shelf and are wearing their logo etc, it's very hard to take them for impartial when they likely have a quota to fill.

I think it's incredibly sad, to be honest. Must be a really lonely existence and I feel awful for both people and animals involved.

No one is saying he's definitely a cross, just that you can't 100% guarantee that he's not, I suppose. I don't want to weigh in and attack anyone, just pointing out I think that's the main point, well at least from where I'm sitting that's what it looks like :)

$700?!?! You're kidding me! That's just loopy!

She might quite enjoy a day trip with you and a friend! Go have a coffee on the way home and treat yourself a bit, might just do you the world of good too :)

I think each case on it's merits, and if you start chemo etc and a dog is miserable and really not coping, there's always a chance to reassess, but personally I think I'd like the option. Having just spent a bomb on something pretty simple, it's seeming like a good idea. I had a look for the cats, and worked it out to be around 200 each a year, a little over. I think I'd easily spend 200 a year on vet trips for little things like infections, sore spots, things being eaten that shouldn't etc, so if it works out to be a good deal, and actually serve it's purpose, rather than be a bunch of red tape and wasted money, I'll be all over it! I heard another theory, that you should start a bank account and make little deposits of the premium into a nominated savings account, which is great in theory but if tomorrow or even 6 months down the track one of mine went downhill fast I'd have a hard time scraping up 3k in expendable cash, perhaps if I'd been doing this since they were kittens, maybe, but even then there's been a few whopping bills in our time, and I think I owe it to them to at least have all the options available.

I think it was mentioned they're in a dodgy or more colourful area of town. Haha.

We used to have a cat with sensetive skin and we used baby shampoo on her, which isn't the same thing but it did the job!

I would say leave it to the vet, I know you've had a really miserable time but I'd be worried any investigation or anything I could do personally would do more harm and leave me stuck in a worse predicament than originally expected. So sorry you've had a tough time, but here's hoping she's just pulled a muscle and will be right as rain in no time!

We have one who does this too! What is with the blanket/couch/clothing licking thing? One also loves his feet to the point of staining them with his drool, always has. Does anyone know what the actual deal with this is? The little wet patches are a friend to nobody!

Well keep in touch with him, maybe if he can't cope and in a few months when the silliness has calmed down he might want to reassess and hopefully you can be of assistance if he needs it.