HeelerLove

I love his smooshy face :)

It was my old mans first 'gotcha day' yesterday. So I just wanted to share some pics of him :) They aren't great pics - all taken on my phone camera so definitely not the same quality that is usually posted! We don't know when Gussy's birthday is.. or even how old he is, so instead of a birthday he gets a gotcha day instead. He snores too loud, drools a bit too much and has cost me a fair bit in vet bills but we wouldn't change him for the world. When I get home from work, he is there at the gate with his tail banging against the shed whining and snorting, as if he hasn't seen me for weeks. When I get through the house and out the back he does a happy dance with his whole back end wiggling up to me and it makes me laugh every time. He loves to play fetch, although he isn't as fast as Shez so he is usually beaten by her to whatever he is chasing and just stands around waiting for me to throw it directly to him :laugh: he is a lazy boy.. when I take him for a walk I get 5 minutes down the road and he looks at me as if to say 'can we go home now Mum?'. He loves food, snoozing in the sun and his best mate Shez. Most of all, we love him

Big hugs Jelly. Have been thinking of you.

Last time I took my two to the vet she said they needed to lose weight. I knew that my boy was on the chubbier side but thought my girl was ok. She was just under 24kgs and the vet said I needed to get her down to below 20kgs I think if she went down to 20 she would look skin and bones She is about 22kgs now and I think she looks perfect weight wise. My boy.. well it doesn't matter what I feed him, how little I feed him and how much exercise he gets he just doesn't lose weight. I think he is just naturally chunky lol.

:laugh: friendbeast :laugh:

Sorry to hear of your loss Pers. RIP Mr Wilson.

Recently read 'Until Tuesday' by Luis Carlos Montalvan. "A highly decorated captain in the U.S. Army, Luis Montalvan never backed down from a challenge during his two tours of duty in Iraq. After returning home from combat, however, his physical wounds and crippling post-traumatic stress disorder began to take their toll. He wondered if he would ever recover. Then Luis met Tuesday, a sensitive golden retriever trained to assist the disabled. Tuesday had lived among prisoners and at a home for troubled boys, and he found it difficult to trust in or connect with a human being - until Luis. Until Tuesday is the story of how two wounded warriors, who had given so much and suffered the consequences, found salvation in each other. It is a story about war and peace, injury and recovery, psychological wounds and spiritual restoration. But more than that, it is a story about the love between a man and dog, and how, together, they healed each other's souls." Beautiful true story. Warning: You will probably cry... more than once.

She's very pretty :) congratulations on your new addition!

In my household my girl is the killer and then my boy eats them lol Luckily it's not too often- she is too slow to catch them usually but occasionally one will somehow get in to our netted off vegie garden and get stuck (have tried to fix but they still manage to find their way in) and then the dogs somehow get in (doesn't matter how many cable ties, bricks and other preventative measures we use, Gus manages to bulldoze his fat arse in there) and gets them. We come home to a backyard full of feathers and no body... and we know it's Gus that eats them because 1) he is a garbage guts and 2) he has been caught with feathers sticking out his mouth :laugh:

Thanks for your reply Westiemum, especially as it sounds like you are currently surrounded by chaos :) Since I posted he hasn't displayed any of the actions that I described, so it does seem to be an on and off thing. I think I will take him to the vet anyway as he has a lump on his belly that I thought was just a nipple but seems to have gotten bigger in the last couple of days. At least then I will have a reason for going other than just 'he is being wierd!' :laugh: I'm glad that you picked up on Mac's laryngeal paralysis and he is doing much better now. Gosh these oldies can be worrying can't they! I knew that rescuing a senior dog would most likely cause stress but he is worth every minute of it in my opinion, I love my goofy old boy and it feels like he has been part of our family forever. Thanks again very much for your post, it has been helpful and I will let you know any updates once we have been to see the vet.

So sorry Jelly, I am another who has admired your determination and obvious love for Roo. So sorry to read this.

Westiemum, I hope you don't mind me posting here? but I didn't want to start a new topic as I knew it had been discussed recently. And I apologise in advance for the essay :) Lately our boy has been acting a little strange. He is a 'special' boy anyway but recently he has been doing things that are out of character even for him. He is a rescue boy and we are not sure how old he is, but both vets he has seen say that he is somewhere over the age of 10. The things he has been doing aren't worrying as such, more so just a bit weird.. I am wondering if he is starting to get a little bit of dementia..? A couple of times in the last few weeks I have caught him standing just staring off into space. The other night he wasn't on his bed and when I went looking I found him down the back of our house where he hasn't been before (when inside they stay in the lounge room or in our bedroom) just staring at nothing. I walked right up to him and he didn't register I was there until I touched him, even when I spoke to him. When I touched him he sort of snapped out of it and looked up at me as if to say 'what's going on?' then turned around and followed me back down to the lounge. His hearing is still fine (he can hear his kibble being measured out from the other side of the house when he is asleep haha) so there is no reason for me to think he didn't hear me when I called his name.. more so that he just didn't realise I had spoken. A few times in the last fortnight he has been snoring away on his bed and all of a sudden he will jerk awake and give out a couple of barks. Each time my partner has got up and checked to see if there was something that set him off but found nothing. My boy isn't a barker, the only time he barks is when my girl is going off at something and he thinks it will be fun to join in. My girl is more alert to people/things around the house than he is and each time she hasn't reacted as if there is anything to set them off either. Lastly, the other night he just wouldn't settle. When we get home from work they get their dinner and then come inside and chill on their beds in the lounge room with us. Once inside, Gus will settle on his bed and snooze away, only stirring if one of us sits down to give them pats or if we ask him to get up to go outside. The other night he came inside, sat down on his bed for a couple of minutes, got up, circled a couple of times, sat back down and looked at us and whined. This repeated for about half an hour or so until he seemed to get comfy and dropped off to sleep. I checked his breathing was ok, checked his gums were the right colour and felt him over for any tender spots etc, everything was fine. Asked OH if he had eaten his dinner with his usual gusto, which he had. We went off to bed and a while later he wandered into our room and instead of doing his usual butt wiggling, tail wagging happy dance over to my side of the bed to give me sloppy kisses he just flopped onto the floor by the door. We were a bit worried by that stage so OH bought Gussy's bed into our room so he could sleep with us but Gus wouldn't even get up to get onto his bed we talked about it and decided that if he was still being strange in the morning I would take him to the vet. Morning came and he was acting normal again and apart from the things I've described in the first two paragraphs has been acting like himself again since. From what I have described, do you think it could be old age starting to creep in? Is it worth taking him to the vet for a check over? He saw the vet about 3 months ago and apart from a bit of arthritis, a gummy eye and being a little overweight (doesn't matter how little we feed him, what we feed him and how much exercise we do he doesn't seem to lose weight!) he was in good health. I just don't know what I would say to the vet.. "he doesn't have any physical symptoms, he's just being weird(er than usual!)!?" Some days he will be his usual self, whereas others he does the above.. it will be his first 'gotcha' day in a couple of weeks so we've had nearly a year to know what he is like and what is normal/abnormal behaviour for him. Not sure whether to be worried or not?

What a gorgeous boy. Love the photo of him being taught how to dig :laugh:

I'd rather shoot myself in the foot than vote for that egotistical idiot. Can't believe there are so many people that can't see straight through his multiple facebook profiles and the bull he dribbles. Saw he posted on the Moorook page the other day under one of his fake profiles saying they should be thanking him for everything he has done for them! What part of go away does he not understand lol!

I am yet to see another cattle dog in my area. We have lots of SWF and small mix breeds. Apart from them the only ones I see regularly are a gorgeous but very, very fat bulldog that goes for a walk with his elderly owner every day, a lab that gets walked past most nights and my neighbours GSD. Yesterday a guy walked past with two Airedale Terriers as I was leaving for work - first time I have seen one up close!

I use Hills Vet Centre in Blackwood, so about 10-15 minutes from Stirling and have had good experiences with them. There is one vet there that I won't go back to see but she didn't really do anything wrong.. my dog just didn't like her at all which is strange because she likes everyone lol. If I go I make sure I am booked in to see Dr Penglase, he's very nice, incredibly gentle with my dogs and explains things very well so you understand things clearly :)

Edited - Jo beat me to it :) They were approved for their charity license. Judging from their facebook page they are still getting a lot of new dogs through their gates.

Beautiful dogs, great doco, thanks for sharing.

Thanks Snook

Not as of yet T.

The ABC Riverland article is slightly different to the one that Steve posted from ABC News yesterday. Rev Jo, the bolded bit will interest you I think. http://www.abc.net.au/local/stories/2013/07/22/3808011.htm The Moorook Animal Shelter has complied with animal welfare orders issued by the RSPCA as part of five-month investigation into conditions at the Riverland facility. The animal welfare organisation returned to the Riverland-based shelter on Thursday, July 18, in relation to three animal welfare notices it issued in mid-March. "We were very pleased to announce the shelter passed with flying colours," Moorook Animal Shelter representative, lawyer Susan O'Toole, said on Friday. The RSPCA has confirmed that it was "satisfied with compliance at the inspection". "[The] RSPCA was satisfied with compliance at the inspection and no additional concerns or matters arose at the inspection," it said in a statement. Criminal charges of animal cruelty against the operator of the shelter, Lola McLachlan, are ongoing and the case will be heard in Berri Magistrates Court this week. Working bees The RSPCA removed eight dogs and one kitten after inspecting the shelter on March 6 as part of an investigation into conditions at the facility. Inspectors returned the following week and issued animal welfare notices requiring kennels to have concrete floors, fences to be repaired and all dogs to be exercised daily. Supporters of the Moorook Animal Shelter have held regular working bees in order to comply with the animal welfare notices. "It was a great sense of relief and I know that Lola McLachlan, who runs the shelter, wanted me to express her thanks to all the wonderful volunteers and supporters who help her at the shelter," Ms O'Toole said. She said the shelter was reliant on support from volunteers. "The shelter is privately run, it receives no government funding at all and any of the money that is spent at the shelter is actually spent by Lola herself, so she is very reliant on the assistance of volunteers," Ms O'Toole said. "Lola is very happy that the shelter passed the RSPCA inspection and she is looking forward to strengthening the relationship between Moorook and RSPCA in the future." Animal numbers Ms O'Toole said the Moorook Animal Shelter remained dedicated to its no-kill policy and would continue to accept animals dropped off at the shelter. "The numbers are dependent on how many animals are taken to Moorook either by council or by private individuals, so the numbers do fluctuate," Ms O'Toole said. "Moorook has been very successful over the past few years in re-homing animals. "Part of Lola McLachlan's code of practice is that no animals will be euthanased on the grounds that there are too many animals there. "Obviously the difficult decision to euthanase animals in respect to health has to be taken but Lola takes the vet's advice on that, so yes, the shelter will continue as a no-kill shelter."

I'm not sure.. she said he still seemed to be producing tears? After doing more research today, I think she should have done the test but what's done is done, specialist can sort it out now. It was the first time I have seen her and I wasn't sure about her and my girl who loves anyone and everyone didn't want much to do with her. Might stick with guy I usually see there in future.

Hi Anne, I did some research after the first vet visit and thought it could be this. I asked the vet the second time we went in and she checked his tear duct and said it still looked ok so didn't feel the need for a STT. I am still wondering about it though, especially now you have mentioned it. ACD x Staffy. Shelter first said he was 8, then his microchip papers came through with his age as 10, I asked the vet what they thought and he thinks he is 10+. Some days white of the eye is very bloodshot, some days not. Pupil looks fine apart from clouding. When I took him in the second time the eye looked slightly swollen (hence the anti-inflams) but looks ok now, just the gunk is back. Thanks Jules. Yes the vet asked if it is possible the eye could have been scratched but surely I would have noticed if that had happened? I am wondering if it could have been from something that happened before I got him (last October) that has only just surfaced but I'm sure if that was the case it wouldn't have taken this long to come up. We've tried two different types of drops/gel now. The first helped but didn't clear it up, the second was great. I spoke to the vet last night and she told me to come and pick up another tube of second drops/gel until he can see the specialist so I did that and started them again last night. It cleared up almost immediately and this morning no gunk :) When I put the gel in last night it brought some gunk to the front of the eyeball that I hadn't seen when I wiped the eye out beforehand, I wiped it out and it looked like a blade of grass about 1.5cms long! The vet has given us a referral so hopefully we can get in fairly quickly and get this sorted. Poor old boy had a hard life before he came to us, he doesn't deserve this

I took him for a full check over not long after I got him and he was back there the other day and neither vet has been too concerned about it. I figure he's old and most old people snore lol it's just part of his old man charm :)

About a month and a half ago, I took Gus into the vet as his eye was quite weepy with green pus and didn't look right. Vet checked it, said he couldn't see anything in it to be causing it, put dye in it and did an ulcer test to make sure there were no ulcers, nothing came up. Said it was most likely conjunctivitis (even though it was only one eye and my other dog hadn't picked it up from him) and gave me some gel stuff to put in his eye for 7-10 days. Did that, eye cleared up. Fast forward about a week after I had stopped putting the gel in and back to gunky, with a red band across the top of the eyeball Back to the vet again. Different vet this time, same practice though so had all the notes from the first time. Another dye test, still nothing. Checked the eye again, couldn't see anything that would be causing it. Checked the roof of his mouth (said it could be a cancer behind the eye and if it was it would be likely he'd have a lump in the roof of his mouth from it too). No lump. Did a blink test and he had lost all sight in that eye. Gave me a weeks worth of antibiotics and anti-inflammatories and a different tube of eye gel/drops to try. Said he was now permanently blind in that eye and if he still had sight she would want me to go to an eye specialist immediately, but as there was no vision, if it was still gunky at the end of the week to go and see Dr Reads at Veterinary Ophthalmic Referrals as if it didn't clear up it would be beyond the scope of a normal vet. Within a day of him having the tablets no gunk and the red band turned to a cloudy looking something (cataract I guess, but doesn't quite look the same when I google it) over the eye. It has been fine for about 2-3 weeks now, just cloudy. But yesterday I noticed the green pus is back My questions are: Could the antibiotics have worked, just not well enough to get the whole infection? Do I give them another shot? Maybe another course is needed to clear up the last of whatever is causing it? Or do I bite the bullet and go directly to the specialist? Has anyone experienced anything like this before? The vet was stumped, said she has never seen anything like it and has no idea what would be causing it. Anyone had experience with Dr Reads at Veterinary Ophthalmic Referrals? edited for spelling