karen15

MRB is right, income and expenditure from a hobby does not go on your tax return. The best source of info on business vs hobby is the ATO ato.gov.au Just search hobby and things should come up. as to the advice of shows being 50% pleasure - if that was from your accountant I'd be finding a better one! If I were your accountant my advice would be that shows are where your animals are displayed and promoted. It is how you get known and is a form of advertising, therefore 100% deductible if you are carrying on a dog breeding business. I spent a decade as a tax accountant in big 4 accounting firms, so have a vague idea on these things

Look after yourself SM and take the time you need to take to grieve for him

I went from a staffy to a westie the westie is everything I could have wanted in a dog, so would definitely recommend them as a consideration Kajtek. I like a solid square dog and he certainly fits the bill. Boston's would have been an option too never thought I'd own a white fluffy but he's a terrier through and through. Very gutsy little dog and not afraid to give people the whatfor when they breach his definition of appropriate. Had a guy at Christmas very apologetic after he got a plane stuck on our roof. Gave him a major telling off for daring to touch mums house!

Boronia, my old boy got away with murder in his last years with me. I'd say do something and he'd consider it and more often than not go Nup, not doing that! Of course he was allowed to do as he wanted. My heart is breaking for you SM. It's so hard to do, but the kindest thing in the end. I lost my boy 2 1/2 years ago and still miss him. Focus on the good times you had together, not his last couple of moments with you.

I've always fed twice a day. They get meat and kibble in the morning and kibble at night. I feed pretty much 12 hours apart 5.30 am, 5.30 pm.

thanks Collie, that's very kind. They can't live forever, no matter how much we want them to.

collie, it could be that the boys were to go to the breeders but some had second thoughts etc so they became available later. I buy a dog once every 15 years, so do appreciate how hard it is to find a good breeder when you don't have the connections. I tend to be a planner and found the breeder of my pup four years before I was ready - my dog had been diagnosed with aggressive cancer and I was lucky to get three extra years with him after the first removal. He lived 2 months after the second removal. I contacted the breeder the week he died to let her know I'd be looking for a pup in about 9 months time. Turned out it fitted in perfectly with two litters she bred. my understanding from DOL is that breeders try to match the pup with the new owner. I gave my breeder a number of traits and personality characteristics that I like in a dog and my pup (nearly 2yo! time flies) has been exactly what I wanted.

Collie, I don't think you've given enough information. I know with my pup, there were four pups but only two were for sale to me (either one of the males). That would have been because they were a well bred litter with multiple ch, grand ch and supreme chs in their lineage and the breeder must have thought the females were breeding quality.

the only bodies that can give you advice on your situation are the council and a lawyer. If you don't want to contact either and are happy to take suggestions from unknown people on the internet, then the outcome for you and your dog may not be the one you desire. It's your responsibility to keep your dog safe. While you shouldn't have to alter your route, if you care for your dog, why would you deliberately put it in harms way? There's no point being right if your dog gets mauled. ETA I've been in the same situation with aggressive labs (the lunging, dragging its owner, teeth gnashing, trying to kill you aggressive type - 5 in my local area). If we couldn't cross the road, I would get as far as possible off the path up driveways where we could, park my dog, and very bluntly tell them to keep their dog away from us. As my dog was parked, I could keep me between him and the other dog and break its line of sight. Once we'd encountered a dog like that, I'd change routes as I wanted to keep my dog safe and enjoy our walks.

my westie is a bit the same. If the comb comes out he runs off. But if you are holding him and get the comb he is fine. Grooming I would describe him as stoic for the clippers and nails part. Once we get to the coat stripping with the mars coat king he is a happy boy. Even happier when it's finished and he gets a piggy ear and has ages to eat it while the cocker gets done.

what breed is he? My staffy had a number of mast cell tumours removed. Most were small. The one that killed him was pea sized. It became grape sized and was removed. However it was an aggressive type and developed into a subcutaneous mast cell which can't be removed. Initially just looked like a bite then a small rash. Took two months before he had to be put down - it started bleeding and cancers don't heal I asked about breed as some breeds are apparently more prone to tumours than others. my advice - don't panic but when you next visit the vet get them to check it out. Most tumours are easily removed IME however the smaller they are the less margin that needs to be taken. my guy had a fair size one on his belly. Got sent away and vet had to reoperate to remove more margin - that's the area around the edge of the tumour that's removed to hopefully get all cancerous cells. The pea sized one on his ear was tricky as there wasn't any more margin that could have been taken. Luckily that came back with the vet had removed enough.

if the itch is localised to the bite area, talk to your vet about a suitable antihistamine. Then, when pup gets bitten, give him an antihistamine as needed (possibly for a couple of days, depending) and that should stop him scratching. do that in conjunction with killing the nests. I've used a powder in the yard while the dog was in it without issue. Getting rid of the source of the problem is the best way to treat it What you don't want is the pup becoming addicted to scratching and chewing. Then it is much harder to fix. They actually feel good when licking and scratching, so it can develop into a big problem. when I got my Westie puppy he was scratching much more than I thought appropriate. So I discussed it with the vet and antihistamines to give as needed. By the time the bottle ran out he was fine. ETA make sure you check your yard for plants that cause itch like wandering dew (not sure on spelling). That used to set my staffy off scratching.

the prices you've noted for metacam, the vet is much cheaper $48 for 32ml =$1.50/ml $250 for 100ml =$2.50/ml so Vet is significantly cheaper!

my westie pup, now nearly two yo, is a character. Took me ages to work it out, but he only eats if I am eating. He might have a nibble when food is put down, but only ever focuses on food once I eat. hope you got everything sorted at the vets.

I've had an ongoing issue with the female cocker I rehomed two years ago. If I'm home, no issues. When I'm not home, peeing on the couch or pooping inside, especially if raining. Two weeks ago I totally cracked it. After being in the yard for four hours (we were getting flooring installed) I let them back in, with the pet door open of course. I went out to the shop for less than half an hour . When I got back she'd peed on the couch. That was it. They now get barricaded half way down the hall in purgatory everytime I go out. I put her crate there and purgatory is the only time it gets opened. She has two other beds to sleep on, so she's not hard done by. I have to say, it's the best thing I've ever done. No pooping inside AT ALL, even with the cyclone last week. I've got conni critters pet pads on the floor and she's used them a little but nothing like when they had access to the rest of the house. I think the difference is due to the new floor, so no residual smells, but also because now the area for toileting inside is adjacent to her crate and she doesn't like that.

I think what a lot of people are failing to realise is that, regardless of their weight or skin condition, you can't just take an animal belonging to someone else because you don't like the way they look after it. If that was the test there would be a lot of dogs that would be able to find better homes. That of course is entirely based on my definition of better. Someone else may think the animals are looked after just fine, and another person could have a totally different view of what constitutes better. Abuse is entirely different and that is why there are bodies to report abuse to. I know when my staffy was young, he had terrible foot problems. Lots of vet visits and treatments and finally found something that fixed them. If the rescue involved here had found him while we were still working out treatment they would have been alleging neglect because of the issue, which could not have been further from the truth.

the scanners can also be dodgy. When I first got the cocker I'd been told she was chipped. So first vet visit I asked the vet to scan so I could get the number and update her with my details. First attempts failed. It wasn't until she got another scanner that the chip came up. All organisations that scan for chips should try multiple scanners IMO if first scan is unsuccessful.

discuss a treatment plan with your vet and maybe a herbalist eg country park herbs. For the arthritis journey with my old dog (RIP) we started with monthly cartrophen/pentosan shots and oral supplements - glucosamine, herbs recommended by herbalist, fish oil As he got worse we added metacam as needed, which was rarely. further along I swapped the fish oil for krill oil which I found to be better. Metacam became more frequent until it was daily and as that happened prescription pain relief also came into play. Again initially as needed and finally daily. my views on medications causing other issues was that I preferred him to be comfortable and happy in himself for as long as possible. Long term metacam use is not advised due to causing other issues, but by the time we got to daily doses he was nearing 14 and to be honest, something had to kill him. That turned out to be a subcutaneous mast call tumour, not anything related to his pain management. his monthly cartrophen started when he was around 9. He had triangular hip joints and his spine was starting to fuse. A few years later his elbows went and he'd also developed a neurological problem in his hind legs progressively making him very wobbly and unstable. The last couple of years of his life he got physio to help keep him comfortable. Whilst he slowed down in his twilight years, he was happy in himself until the day he died, and that was all I ever wanted for him.

had an email on our work classifieds site asking about reputable cavoodle breeders yesterday..... Took a great deal of self control not to respond.

be careful with the recall as you have described it. You may be inadvertently teaching her to come and then leave again, as you say she is returning to her food after coming when called. I made the same mistake teaching my horse to go into a crush. He'd walk in, get a treat then walk out. All fine and dandy till I asked him to stand in there. I'd inadvertently taught him that he was to come in, stand 30 seconds and then back out, because that's what we did when desensitising with initial training. I had to reteach him to stand and stay. Your teaching your pup to come when you call but then it's ok to run off. Fine at the moment, but you may want her to come and stay, which she may not understand if she's allowed to run off after. On your initial posts, my animals are always allowed to say no. I think that is important, particularly when they are injured. All of their lives they know that if they say no but I then say, well i really want you to do it, then I expect obedience. That really helps when they are hurt and don't want you touching something. They can say no it hurts, but I've always found them to be accepting if I say, I know but I have to do it. I think animals that aren't allowed to express their feelings are the ones that can snap. Before I got my first horse the vet had never seen him with all four feet on the ground. After a few years with me he was a different animal, so much so the vet (who was very blunt) commented that before I bought him she would not have been upset to hear he'd had a fatal paddock accident. He was dangerous and I think that was because he wasn't allowed to say he was worried.

my staffy was desexed at 11 yo after developing a tumour in his testicle. He recovered fine. I desexed my male westie at 9 months as I was worried he'd get stolen by puppy farmers. That was probably triggered by strange comments we got when out walking. I never had any issues with the staffy being entire, even when we picked up a wandering onheat female boxer on a walk one day (she followed us home). For her own protection she stayed in the empty avery overnight (cement floor with small gauge mesh) but my boy wasn't interested. I'm sure that given enough time together he would have been but I managed to find her owner through the council. Bit tricky as she had no collar or microchip. Staffy was very friendly and always played well with others, including at dog park.

Thankyou to whoever it was who recommended these pads. I ordered three of the large ones mid to late last week and they arrived Monday. They are beautifully made, nearly way too nice to be wee'd on I would highly recommend them. I was telling my neighbour about them on the weekend so had to take one over to show her LOL A link for anyone interested in checking them out. https://www.conni.com.au/shop/pets/product/9-conni-critters-pet-pad

New vet. Service is not good enough. I'd call or email the practice manager so they knew exactly why you were leaving. I cracked it with my vets a while back. From memory I'd waited for a vet who didn't show (horse appointment so they're a bit different), over two hours late to make up appointment. At the same time as cracking it over the horse I added the desexing of the westie. They shaved his entire tum from ribs down and inner legs and gave him razor burn, but on top of that shaved his front leg from elbow to paw for the anesthetic. I was furious. He has a lovely proper coat that has never seen clippers. It took 12 months for me not to notice the difference in legs. Every time I saw him I was so furious with the vet. I learned that day to insist on only using the vet I like. The desexing was done by another vet as mine was away. Never again unless it's an emergency and the last emergency visit I had manhandled my very elderly dog and upset me no end, so it would have to be life and death emergency not the bleeding tumor my old dog had.

if she has a problem with the left shoulder, it could be that she has been compensating on the right leg for some time, hence the issue in the right wrist. I'm not sure if dogs are like horses (I'd say they're similar) but horses also display diagonal lameness. So if the front left is the problem, then they can compensate on the hind right as well. So you'd probably be best to watch all legs for abnormal strides, not just the fronts. glad the explanation made sense Elisa. I'm not the best at working out what's lame but can generally narrow it down to the correct leg LOL

what a horrible story. I hope they are able to get their dogs back.