Loving my Oldies

I have just adopted two Pekingese sisters (foster failure ) and before their adoption they each had already had two surgeries: entropion and skin folds reduction to stop hairs rubbing their eyes. What is the solution for many horrors perpetrated against dogs and other animals when Crufts has a BIS German Shepherd whose back elbows are almost on the ground and who can hardly walk properly and another year a Pekingese who could hardly breathe?

@tdierikx, for many years, my brother lived in a small house next to his hospital and was on call 24/7 for all that time. Even when the growing family moved to a larger house 10 minutes away, he continued this practice. I am glad your experiences were so positive. @Luvapoo, my brother regularly got the “you are supposed to love animals” reason for querying accounts and expecting a free service. Bad debts were par for the course . Another problem was clients who knew better and those who refused to follow rules for helping their animals heal. One such memory. I remember being at his hospital and wandering around looking at the animals. One of the patients was a beautiful Dalmatian whose owner had to be supervised and handbag taken away before she visited because she could not be trusted not to feed the dog and consequently making him violently ill. She was feeding him handfuls of peanuts. The stories, both heart warming and horrific, are endless.

A wonderful series of photos . I love the ones of them in the water. Just beautiful.

It is disgusting how some people treat others. He is long retired now, but my brother was a vet with his own hospital and anyone who wishes they had a vet in the family let me assure you it is a double edged sword. Some of the stories he told me still give me the horrors and always will. They had to call the police from time to time.

If I say that Dazzy is now Ralphie will that answer your question ? In fact, I have just arrived home from delivering him to his new home. Ralphie now has two (retired) daddies whose sole aim in life will be to make him happy. He will just love having two people to dote on him.

My latest little foster is a severe neglect case, but once he is back in full coat he is going to be gorgeous, hence his new name: Dazzy, the Tibetan Spaniel. @mita, @Wiz's Mum His list of ailments is long but all are being steadily addressed and with medication and Malaseb baths already the coat he does have is starting to shine. Dazzy on arrival. N Back from the vet. Cherry eyes fixed, desexed, dental, hernia repaired, biopsy taken of little mass at anus. This turns out to be an Adenoma and will be removed shortly. Settling in. Well, what can you do? The coffee table has long been a favourite of fosters over the years. Dazzy has a meeting tomorrow with prospective adopters, so we are keeping our fingers crossed. He won’t be ready to leave until his Adenoma surgery has been done, but, in the meantime, I have a really sweet, happy loving little dog keeping me on my toes.

@Boronia, fancy you remembering Danny Yes, he was a bit of a legend - he will always be My Boy. As for the Cheeky Peekies (as the groomer calls them), when the rescuer, Denise at PAWS, asked me to start writing their adoption story, the first thing I wrote is that despite being totally gorgeous, they were not ornaments. @Deeds, I do the easy bit. The really special people are those who start rescue organisations and see the horrors day after day after day. They person I am fostering for at the moment has been doing this for 30 years!!! And the really tragic thing is that she and other rescuers say it is getting worse.

On 28 December, my precious Sooty crossed the Bridge and my heart was broken. She was such an amazing little girl who’d graced my home for just short of three years. She was so brave and resilient having coped with starvation, untreated broken leg, blindness and neglect before old age and dementia overcame her. I am so thankful that a managed a decent selfie a few weeks before she passed away, so I have this photo of us together. I had been fostering two 8 years old Pekingese sisters for a few months who had brought Shala (adopted in June 21) out of her shell and despite telling myself 1000 times, “No, no, no, no!!!” I felt I could not take them away from Shala and am now in the process of adopting them. So this is Shala jumping up on the couch and giving me kisses for the first time ever. And here are the little sisters, Bunches (mostly white) and Beatrice, who, despite coming from a puppy mill via the RSPCA, are happy, confident little girls who bring so much brightness into any day.

Devasting Deepest condolences @Katdogs. Coogee said it all so meaningfully. You are in my thoughts.

Yes, I was wondering the same and hoping she is much improved.

And then we turn around and find the hose in a hundred pieces . . . .

Good luck, Gilgandra and Huckleberry. Thank you for doing your best

Breed is always a necessary consideration, but the personality of a particular dog would be of more importance IMO. For example, I am fostering two Pekingese girls at the moment and I would never rehome them to an apartment. They love with abandon the outdoors to the extent that I call them The Dirt Girls. Whereas some supposedly “high octane” breed could love nothing more than a life spent on the couch with you. Have you considered a Greyhound?

I’ve gone through this for the past few years with Sooty and it is getting worse. I bought runners through AU Rugs on line. They have to be cotton so I can put them in the washing machine - there is not a lot of choice. Long ago, I did try one of those polypropolene runners (for looks mainly),but they eventually start getting smelly permanently no matter how many times you hose them down and expose them to the sun. I even tried those toe grips (which extraordinarily I had forgotten about until I saw your topic) and will see if I still have them. They come off, of course, and are not cheap. Some time ago, I started a thread regarding the growing weakness in Sooty’s legs and in that @tdierikxsuggested Robert Jones Splint Bandaging. I tried various things with Sooty without success, sadly. I do hope you can find something that works for Hugo.

What can we say. Katie is in heaven on earth. Thank you and your family for giving this glorious girl life and love.

And THAT is what we, as dog owners, should all aspire to.

As you found, @giraffez, catching a dog on the run can be impossible. So the answer to your question is that it really depends on the circumstances. The worst situation is when (as in your case) the dog is on a busy road. Also the responses from vets differ. Some flatly refuse to take in found dogs and rangers in some councils refuse to come and get them. Difficult at so many levels and a matter of assessing the situation at the time. Slip leads, check chains, treats in car at all times.

I really do feel for you with the guilt and loss you are burdening yourself with. You have taken absolutely the right action for the dog. You say she is happy and loved with someone who is with her all the time. There is your answer. As hard as it is, you have said it, “… just let her be.”

Happy happy this morning. Sooty eating on her own

My precious Sooty is going steadily downhill, but we have regular vet visits to ensure we are doing everything that needs and should be done to give her quality of life. Her back legs are deteriorating and she now has dementia quite badly. She is still a good weight, eats and drinks well, albeit she needs to be hand fed. We still have good times and she still enjoys bopping around the front garden, but she needs a lot of comforting as her dementia presents itself in anxiety and seeming inability to move from the spot she is in. We have lots of cuddles and I regularly bring her into bed with me these nights as once she gets distressed in her bed at night, that is all that can comfort her. She generally sleeps through the night. Here are some selfie videos (no idea how I managed it LOL) that I took giving her a midnight snack. I am so happy to have these videos to remind me of our loving moments.

This is happening on my iMac: When I open Photos, I can see all my photographs. When I open Flickr, then click on download photos/videos, the photos I want to transfer aren’t there. Does not happen on my iPad. I used iPad to transfer the pix to Flickr and worked easily.

No one here would ever lightly tell you to euthanise your loved dog. We know the pain and heartache you are going through. We know the sick horrible feeling in the stomach and the heart of having to make this sort of decision. Most of us have all had to do it at some stage. What @tdierikxhas said below is 99.9999% guaranteed to happen. The rescue group is totally at fault in this case and have been derelict in their duty to the dog, the foster carers and, in particular, to you and Sam. My deepest sympathies are with you, but for the sake of Sam, yourselves, delivery drivers, tradies, you don’t really have a choice. Chose a day and time, load Rebel up with painkillers, give him a great time and the true love of releasing him from his devils.

No words - just sorrow.

So why pander to them and tell others who anthropomorphise with an understanding of what they are doing but still know that an animal is animal? AND, as @moosmumsays, they are beings with pretty well much the same feelings and needs as humans. The other day on FB someone called me a snowflake. I responded along the lines that if caring for animals and caring about how they are treated makes me a snowflake, then I wear the name with pride. Ditto Anthropomorphic. I’ve been called worse and it worries me not a jot.

Beautiful