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Dog_Horse_Girl

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Posts posted by Dog_Horse_Girl

  1. About time! I cannot believe it has taken this long and so many complaints :(

    My mum also ordered something early January and is still waiting. Looks like she should give up waiting. Lucky her order was only about $80.

    If she paid with credit card, contact the issuer for a refund. This operation is well known to my bank. :) I had the charges reversed within three days of informing the bank of the non-delivery. :)

  2. I paid for my order on 5 January and am STILL waiting for it. According to the latest e-mail I received, my order was sent more than two weeks ago but when I asked for tracking information, I've had NO reply.

    So it's out there in an official capacity - petfood247.com.au is a business to avoid at all costs. It took more than 400 complaints by NSW consumers and countless more from other states, but at least now the word is out. :)

  3. Thank you so much for taking the time to comment.

    We did think about running some electrical fencing but we were advised we could face criminal prosecution if a member of the public got a zap, and that's a risk I'm not willing to take. We live in an small outback town so seeking the assistance of a professional isn't really an option for us. I did phone up a dog training centre in NSW to ask some advise. The trainer said it would be a very hard problem to train out of her, if not impossible. For a while I thought she may make a good pig dog given her pray drive, unfortunately after seeking some advise I was told that given she wasn't stock proof they couldn't take the risk with her.

    Aside from living in rental accommodation and not being able to build a fully enclosed run, I hate to think of her having to spend the rest of her life on a chain. You see so many dogs around here that spend their whole life on a chain, it's really sad to see.

    dancinbcs - After the cat incident I did go to the vets and explain the situation. She told me what I didn't want to hear but I appreciated her honesty; "The dog is a liability and it's only a mater of time before she does something else like this ". It's such a hard decision to make and I couldn't bring myself to do it, but here we are a year down the track facing the same issues. You're right when you say about not getting anything back from her. She isn't an affectionate dog, more like a snooty cat in many respects. She is 4 years old now.

    I can't help but feel like I have failed her. I have successfully trained other dogs but she is not like any other dog I have come across. I knew having her pts was always hanging over us but I just wanted to exhaust all other options, hence my post.

    After reading your reply , my gut feeling would be to give her her wings-

    it is a decision hard to make, and painful to carry out , I know .

    However, she is not free to enjoy life to the full ... you are continually on edge and worrying , and if you have the other dog who is biddable, social and settled, then he is also being subjected to all sorts of 'bad' vibes.

    To obtain the services/advice of a good trainer, and to apply that advice will not be a miracle cure, as you are aware ..and will require a lot of time & effort from you.

    Chaining her may increase her frustration and drive , and cause more problems :D

    I do not envy you your position, and hope whatever you decide brings you peace ,and knowledge that you did the responsible thing.

    You can use ping string with caution, this is run along the inside of your fences near the top. The only way someone could be zapped is if they're climbing into your yard. How often does that happen?

    Anyone renting can put in a fully enclosed dog run, as others have suggested. But I would never chain a dog and especially not THIS dog. It would do far more harm than good given her history.

    You haven't failed this dog. It's probably a matter of her breeding - unsound temperament is often the result of putting two animals together with less than ideal traits and there you have it - a pup destined for issues thanks to her lineage.

    I think PTS is the kindest thing for yourselves and the dog. Yes, it's a really tough decision, and yes, there will be moments where you'll regret it and think about all the what-if's, but you have to think about the good of the dog and your local community members and neighbours. Nobody wants to see a destruction order slapped on their dog...I'm sure you'd be in that category.

    Sometimes, no matter what effort or knowledge or skill we put into training, some dogs just don't respond as we would like them to. It happens.

    Give her her wings...it's the right thing to do. :rofl:

  4. I love Rose, Pearl, Dawn, Sian (Sharn is how it's said), Tig/Tyg (could be short for Tiger/Tigger), Scout (great for a staffy), Plum, Peach, Elle (said 'L'), Gyp (short for Gyspy), Jazz...

    My favourites from that list for a staffy would be Scout, Gyp, Rose and Pearl. I like Scout because it's unusual and I think one of my dogs will eventually be named Scout. :rofl: Another will be Pearl. And Jazz...if I live long enough!

  5. Yeah, I can see how that an accident might happen with the balcony (even though the breeder assure us that miniature schnauzers can't jump too high). We always left the balcony door open so she can come in whenever she wants to. The balcony is covered so it's really nice and breezy on warm days, but not a pleasant place to be if it's extremely windy.

    I've ordered a bottle of bitter spray and will try that option first because the only thing that I need her to stay away from are the cables. Apart from that, our living room is pretty empty (no more clutters lying around).

    What do you do for potty when your dogs are inside? We're still trying to train her to pee on one of those pee stations with the imitation grass but the progress is really slow. She only pee on the balcony or when we take her for a walk. I guess it's a blessing in disguise, at least she doesn't pee on the carpet.

    The only room that I can think of is our bathroom...or maybe the kitchen area. For some reason she doesn't like both area and prefers to stay on the living room/balcony when we're at home. She's only been with us for a short period of time, basically her spots are the dog house outside, my couch and under my OH's bed (which is out of limit when we're not at home). Apart from those spots she won't even consider sitting down even though I've been encouraging her to walk around and putting treats everywhere :thumbsup:

    Any suggestion on where I can find gates?

    Your dog will want to spend her time wherever you spend yours. They're social animals which just want to be part of a pack...which is us and any other dogs in the family/household.

    As for toileting, my three are house trained. Ruby and Lilly will not toilet inside at all, except if Lilly is sick she *may* wee or poo. Molly is toilet trained to go on towels I have for the purpose but puppy pads are fine too. You can also buy re-useable puppy pads, one of the members here has a website for whelping supplies so that might be an idea. Others use indoor dog toilets. Whatever works for your puppy is best so experiment to see what she prefers to toilet on.

    I leave 3 to 6 towels out for Molly and 2 for the others as a "just in case" measure. :cheer:

    I leave so many for Molly so that she doesn't feel the need to re-visit a towel already used - she likes a clean spot every time. :clap:

    Baby gates are available in department stores, Bunnings and garage sales. I got mine at Target and Bunnings - they're worth every cent. I use the metal ones as they're more durable (one is actually outside blocking off the underneath of the house as I don't want the dogs to get through there to the front yard. :thumbsup:

  6. Thanks everyone. I'm naieve with fleas as my animals have never had them.

    There is certainly no infestation. I'v seen 2 on my girl and got the Advantage then every month I notice another 1 or 2 fleas on her so go again with the Advantage.

    I know I am completely ridiculous here, but fleas just freak me out!!!

    I move house in 2 weeks and pray we don't have the same problem there.

    What I'd suggest is that you get a professional pest controller in before you move into the new place (day before is ideal). Get them to treat inside and outside for fleas, this will also kill off other creepy crawlies including spiders, ants and roaches. You'll spend $120 or so and it will be very worth it.

    My dogs got fleas within an hour or two of arriving at my new place and when I asked for a flea spray, I was told that the property manager hadn't noticed any fleas so if I wanted it done, I would have to pay for it myself. I dare say the property manager didn't notice the bones buried below the back staircase either - presumably the fleas that were here came from whatever buried the bones OR from the neighbouring cats.

    Anyway, I arranged it and paid for it myself and it's fixed the problem. Frontline wasn't working very well on the dogs at the time either.

    I also used Capstar to knock down the fleas I could see on the dogs...which worked really well too. :thumbsup:

  7. IMO anyone with a new dog or puppy should puppy-proof before new addition comes home. It's our responsibility to ensure their safety - that is we remove anything which a dog or puppy may harm themselves with - this is obviously including things like power cords, poisons, plants which are toxic but also things you may not have thought of such as rubbish bins (should be locked in a cupboard) and floor mats/rugs.

    I would never leave an animal unattended on a balcony - I have seen this turn to tragedy with a dog dying from sunstroke as it was not able to find a suitably cool spot on the balcony on a hot day. Glass doors and windows at balconies can mean they heat up a lot more than you would expect. Can you not leave the puppy indoors somewhere safer? Eg your laundry or bathroom or perhaps gated into a safe and secure room? My dogs are all inside all day when I'm at home or out. My little dog has the sunroom which has louvered windows on two walls to keep the air circulating and keep her cool. The other 2 are in the living area with windows open 10 to 15 cms for air flow. I have a baby gate separating the two rooms for everyone's safety. I also don't leave ANYTHING of value where they may grab it. They're all older now which helps as they're content to sleep the day away but when younger, they all had kong toys, puzzle toys and treat balls to keep them amused and safe. :thanks:

    You may also want to try a DAP diffuser, google it to see what I'm talking about.

    Best of luck. :laugh:

  8. Sorry you had an uninformative Vet LM.

    Local hurts more than the staples generally, so if the dog's brave enough we just do the staples very quickly. Otherwise you have an upset dog who's had a bunch of needlesticks into the wound to get a good anaesthetic and then they won't let you near the leg to stitch it up.

    For stitching we GA, no ifs, buts or maybes. Possibly they could have a deep sedation but for a 'gaping' wound it takes quite a few stitches and often a 2 layer closure.

    Lilly most definitely didn't have a GA for the stitching. We were charged for a local so I can only assume she administered it. :thumbsup:

    She didn't want anyone near that leg for about a month afterwards. Every dressing change was horrible. And I felt so terrible for making her go through such torment every second day for nearly 2 wks. But I had to change the dressing...flush the wound with saline...ensure it wasn't getting infected. When I left it open about a week after the stitches went in, she chewed half of them out but the wound has closed together enough that it held okay - only just though. Because of that I had to re-dress the wound and keep it dressed...on my regular vet's advice. :laugh:

  9. Another time, when Lilly cut her leg open at 10.30 one Sunday night, the vet had a conversation with us about the costs of treatment. She didn't recommend anything at all, she just rattled off the possibilities and their costs. When asked for her recommendation, she said it was up to us and whatever we wanted to pay. :laugh:

    That's quite a normal protocol for an AEC really.

    Since it's $150 to walk in the door at most of our AEC's in Melbourne, lots of people have put off going to the Vet b/c they didn't have the money in the first place and then it gets to 'emergency' level and they find themselves at an after hours. Obviously yours was an accident and not something you waited to get treatment for of course, but these days owners are given options + pricing and they elect what they want to do vs. what they can afford to do.

    In the case of non-life threatening superficial injuries it's quite ok that the dog gets pain relief and anti-biotic cover and presents to their regular Vet the next day.

    Sounds pretty normal lilysmum.

    I had a similar experience afterhours with an injured horse leg. Cheapest option $250-$1300 most expensive. The vet let me decide what I wanted to do. So that's what I did.....I made a decision.

    Did you just want the vet to go ahead without your consent and treat the dog without presenting you with options?

    No, but I did want her recommendation. She just rattled everything off and expected us to know what was best - neither of us is a vet so how would we know? When we asked for her professional opinion, she didn't answer the question but repeated all options and their prices again, as if we were completely dense.

    She tried staples first because that was the first option she presented. We had to go back to the waiting room and could hear Lilly screaming - no local given to staple a gaping wound! Then she came out and said that the staples weren't a very good idea because they weren't closing the wound and in fact weren't penetrating the skin either because the skin was too thin and would just tear some more. She didn't say this when she went through the options with us before trying to staple it. That's the info we were looking for...before she started working on Lilly not during.

    So eventually, she agreed to inject a local and to attempt to stitch the wound. She kept saying she could cut the flap off and leave it as an open wound, but with no explanation as to what that meant for either us or Lilly. I had no idea a wound could be left open like that...again I'm not a vet.

    The stitches worked. But the wound took a long time to heal and when our regular vet saw it, he expressed surprise that the options weren't explained. He said the flap could have come off and the wound left open...with appropriate dressings, antibiotics and pain relief as necessary. The emergency vet didn't even tell us that much.

  10. How much do the Big Dog patties work out per kg?

    I can't find prices on their website.

    also how many grams are in each individual wrapping/patty?

    It depends on who retails them. :laugh:

    I'm not sure of the weight per patty, but I give one or two to my larger dogs and just a quarter or so to my toy-sized girl. It depends on what else they're getting that day. :laugh:

  11. For those who are recommending kennels, have they ever been and looked at them ? Or have they just been shown the "executive suites " and stood at the gates looking down onto the patch of lawn ?

    For anyone considering boarding, go and have a look. Some kennels are not what you think , dogs stand in their little pen , day in day out and have the shit hosed out around them. You'd be very suprised to find that in some kennels, unless you pay extra $ per day, your dog never gets out. One kennel can house a couple of hundred, yet they have just one out door yard area, a couple of concret areas and a few indoor/outdoor runs.

    Tell me how they get through all of those dogs and provide them with even an hours exercise in peak season.

    Also ask where the barkers and the trouble makers go. One has a blacked out block of kennels. It houses about 20 dogs, it has thick walls and a thick door. The lights are turned out, they are essentially deprived of natural light for the duration of their stay.

    Call and book a time to go and visit and ask to see the facilities and where you dog will recieve it's daily exercise and ask to have a look in the kennel blocks. The quality kennels won't mind someone booking a time and will be happy to show you around, not just the "exec suites" and a grassed area that never gets used

    Yep, I won't use a kennel if they don't show me through, properly and completely. I learnt that lesson...

    CPC was very good when I last used them. :laugh: That's how they got my recommendation.

  12. Greyhounds doesn't mean there cat Killers there no different to any other breed ,they either adapt to cats or they don't.

    The biggest issue with no fencing or a safe area for a grey is there not "big" walkers,Greys do zoomies in short spurts & then vege out.They don't get the same exercise onlead .

    I have owned 8 Greys & thinks there one of the most special breeds around but just not for everyone.

    Greys love the couch,they are home bodies but do enjoy there 2/10 min madness & ideally this area needs to be debris free as they will slice themselves open easily .

    Who said anything about greyhounds being "cat killers"??? :laugh:

    What I said is that not all greyhounds are cat-safe...I have never tested whether Lilly would kill a cat because that would be irresponsible, stupid, dangerous and cruel, plus I'm sure many other things I won't go into.

    Without a properly fenced yard, it may be impossible to have a greyhound on a temporary or more permanent basis. I know many groups also have conditions attached to adopting and fostering, which includes a securely-fenced yard and with some greyhounds, no other types of pet...other dogs being the exception but if a greyhound is put with a family with other small furries and displays undesirable behaviour, then it generally means the greyhound has to go somewhere without that type of pet in the mix. For everyone's safety. :laugh:

  13. I've owned a rescued greyhound for about 8 yrs and would not recommend fostering them if you don't have a fenced yard.

    Also, not all greyhounds are cat-safe. :laugh: Lilly certainly isn't. :bottom:

    You mention the greyhound would be inside "most of the time" which begs the question, where would s/he be if not inside?

  14. I nursed at an outer-Melbourne clinic for some time.

    Of course, we had the usual euthanasia to carry out, but I dreaded every second Friday.

    The practice owner also owned the pound contracted to the shire, and every second Friday the ute and trailer would pull-up behind the clinic and it would begin...... again.

    All the dogs of all shapes and sizes would be led in and caged, then one by one in a constant stream they would be brought into the treatment room and killed. This was usually done in the brief period between consults and surgery so there was little time. Certainly no time to be compassionate, to give them "one last cuddle" or scruff of the ears..... they would be put on the table, shaved and injected as quick as we could do it. Then they were placed immediately on the floor where we would ensure the job was done with a stethoscope while the next dog was being prepped on the treatment table. One after another.

    Over time I think I 'hardened' to it all, and probably still am a little 'cold' with such things, but I'll never forget the day I completely snapped as I felt like a murderer instead of a nurse. They stuck me back in the grooming room for a few weeks to 'calm down'.

    I quit soon after and didn't nurse again for many years.

    Oh, that's awful...I have a great deal of trouble in understanding how we can, as a society, discard so many young, healthy animals while they're in the best years of their lives. It's one reason I couldn't work in that environment...it would destroy me. :laugh:

    The difference in vets is amazing, some can be so caring yet others are very hard and callous.

    When my daughters 2 month old guinea pig was injured by our toy poodle the vet was very kind, she consoled my daughter who was four at the time and explained there was nothing she could do for little 'jelly', he had a broken leg. She gently put him to sleep and wrapped him in some cloth and pinned plastic flowers to the material. My little girl carried this parcel back to the car with tears streaming down her face, we buried jelly in our back yard. The following day we received a sympathy card in the mail with a print out of the rainbow bridge story, it was all adressed to our little girl. I thought it was a lovely gesture and one we will never forget.

    Yet when our beloved Border Collie took a massive seizure and ended up in the emergency clinic it was different. We were all very emotional and upset yet were treated coldly and unsympathetically. It was like a business transaction. Our boy was put to sleep the following day due to massive internal organ failure. He cooked himself. At least they were kind enough to cover his back end with a towel as he had pushed his bowels out during the seizure. We were allowed to spend a few minutes with him and were quickly ushered out to "finalize the bill".

    I never heard back from them afterwards, not that I was expecting it but it just goes to show the wide differences between vet surgeries.

    The first sounds like the vet we had in Canberra the last time we lived there. I had a foster dog in the waiting room, something routine that I can't recall...anyway, a family (mum, dad and 2 boys) came bolting in carrying their medium-sized dog in a blanket. I could see a lot of blood on the blanket and they were ushered straight into the consult room, with apologies to everyone else for the wait...

    The family was in the consult room for about 20 minutes. I expected a poor outcome...The dog had been in his own yard, and was attacked by two other dogs, unknown to the family. Sadly he had to be PTS because he had lost so much blood...I was next into the consult room, and I asked if my vet was okay...I could see he wasn't. His compassion and dedication was truly awesome. I told him I could come back another time if he preferred, but he said it was okay.

    The second vet sounds like the after hours vet we used in Brissy. The first time we were there, a man brought in a greyhound which had collapsed and looked in desperate need of CPR. The bitch on the reception desk demanded his credit card details...and that he complete a list of questions such as his contact details...and refused to allow him to see a vet until this was completed. He had to sign forms...yet nobody could come out to hold the dog while this was going on...nobody could take the dog to a consult room...the man couldn't do this AFTER the dog was seen.

    Another time, when Lilly cut her leg open at 10.30 one Sunday night, the vet had a conversation with us about the costs of treatment. She didn't recommend anything at all, she just rattled off the possibilities and their costs. When asked for her recommendation, she said it was up to us and whatever we wanted to pay. :laugh:

    My vet did up a consent form.If a dog was to be PTS the owner/ownerS had to sign the form. This was done after a nasty relationship break up ..and one party had the other's dog PTS for non existent reasons :rofl:

    We did on more than one occasion talk folks out of PTS an unwanted pet ... and rehomed them :love:

    The first paragraph - OMG. I don't know what to say. :rofl:

    The second, bravo! :bottom:

    But I love, too, the funny stories that vets & vet nurses come across.

    My favourite is the lady who brought in her dog's first litter of 9 identical golden retriever puppies to be vet checked.

    As the vet checked each one, he dipped his thumb in some water & left a damp spot on the top of that puppy's head. To show it'd been checked.

    This procedure went on for a while, as the lady watched with great interest.

    At last she said, 'I didn't know puppies had to be baptized!'

    Love that! :rofl:

  15. You know, there are two sides to every story.

    Don't make assumptions about anything, if you don't know, you don't know.

    Sometimes, business relationships can and do sour for a variety of reasons known only to the people involved.

    My dogs love the Big Dog BARF...if it was easier to get around here, I'd be buying it. :bottom:

    if this was meant for me - I only know what I was told and I would have been very happy to stay with Dr B's Barf if they went with a company who had better ethics and if the dogs were still happy with the product - unfortunately it never went that way and I had to seek another alternative.

    No, wasn't directed to a particular poster but in general. I'm sure that whatever happened, it happened for commercial reasons. Businesses don't stay in business if they're not aimed at making money. Dr B is obviously a business man as well as a vet, and Big Dog foods is also obviously a business interested in making profits and keeping customers happy. They also make supplements etc so aren't reliant on the raw patties solely. I understand they're also big in the racing world...greyhounds and horses? I don't know much about them other than what I see online...

    I have no vested interest here other than what my dogs like to eat. They like the Big Dog BARF patties in preference to the Dr B's...and the Dr B's have gone up in price while I think the Big Dog ones are cheaper.

  16. Canidae is a super-premium food, available in kibble and canned varieties.

    I haven't tried it due to cost...and allergy dogs...

    Mine are fed on what I can afford and what they tolerate.

    Lilly gets a mixture of good quality kibble (Royal Canin is her super premium), raw and a good quality dog roll - she has times where she won't eat anything other than dog roll so I give her the best I can find, that's usually Scotty's chicken loaf. I also find some of the Aldi brand dog rolls are quite okay for her and they're very affordable but she doesn't get much of that. While she loves raw, she takes ages to eat it and I think that's just because she's older now and has trouble with a lot of bones. I do try to smash them up for her...and it wouldn't be a problem if I didn't have two other dogs who think that anything Lilly drops on the floor is fair game. :laugh:

    Molly gets Royal Canin Mini Indoor dog and raw bones with the occasional bit of offal snuck in (she doesn't eat offal but pushes it around her bowl :( )...either wing portions or lamb riblets or neck chops. She has allergies so I give her the raw only sparingly or she flares up.

    Ruby gets Pro Plan Sensitive when she's not on raw - turkey, roo and pork bones and minces. I'd give her rabbit if I could afford it. She can't have any chicken or chicken by-products, nor beef, and she has become sensitive to lamb again. She's got sensitive skin and a very sensitive stomach...so she's hard to feed on a processed diet.

    I fed supercoat when I didn't know any better and I have to say that some dogs do okay on it...but in my experience there are better foods which aren't all that much more expensive.

    The only time I give canned is the Fish for Dogs because Ruby loves it and hasn't reacted as yet. Oh, and canned sardines or mackerel too - all the dogs love their canned fish. :(

    I say be guided by how your dogs look and behave. :laugh:

  17. You know, there are two sides to every story.

    Don't make assumptions about anything, if you don't know, you don't know.

    Sometimes, business relationships can and do sour for a variety of reasons known only to the people involved.

    My dogs love the Big Dog BARF...if it was easier to get around here, I'd be buying it. :)

  18. A lot of people sem to have noticed the changes to Dr B's patties without knowing the reason behind it. I used to like the original roll too, it was a much better serving size IMO. Then it changed...I don't know what caused that change though?

    The manufacturer of the Dr B's has changed not long ago, I don't know about whether the recipe has changed again as well.

    I think my dogs definitely prefer the Big Dog BARF though. :laugh: It is harder to find. :laugh:

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