Loving my Oldies

There is very little activity on the Rescue forum these days as most orgs have websites and FB Pages. That said, it is nice to see the bits and pieces that do find their ways there.

What an understatement of how time flies, K. But it has been a beautiful journey for DOLers too. Such gorgeous puppies and adults and so much love we have been privileged to share.

What fun. Brings back memories of painting by numbers over 60 years ago. Mum framed a couple of my “artworks” and I’m sorry I threw them out years ago.

How beautiful Well done .... Zeena’s previous people and now you. She will have a wonderful life.

As sandgrubber says, dogs can “gum” as well as chew with teeth. My Mezza (tiny Pom) doesn’t have any teeth and he gets Satiety kibble and a bit of home made mix (cooked mince, rice and vegetables). He is fed in a slow feeder he eats so quickly. I have five elderly dogs and, apart from some GI cans and the Satiety kibble, I make their food. I have a big cook up every couple of weeks. With one dog this would be the easiest thing in the world to do probably only once a month.

God that is sad. People can be such negative knobs. Fancy making comments like that. Perhaps get a t-shirt with some pithy comment telling people to be careful .... your dog will demand kisses and cuddles. Tell them to go volunteer at pounds and see what big softies most dogs are. It is a long time ago now, but I consider the five years I spent as a Saturday morning walker at a pound was the best education a person could ever have. Pitties, Rotties, Irish Wolfies, German Shepherds, Dobermanns ...... I walked them all. I actually had dreams of having a couple of Rotties when I was older and we’d plod around the neighbourhood together. (Dream over as I am now even older and still have five very elderly little dogs .)

Deepest sympathies, Pollywaffle. Talking about love and loss is never an intrusion: on the contrary, you are giving us the gift of knowing how your Polly was so loved and such an integral part of your family’s life.

All good, found what I was looking for.

This morning was cold but sunny. Jeune and Sooty decided to stay downstairs soaking up the rays. Terrible pic of Jeune, but the sun was very bright, and she is now very old. IMG_1091 by Cynthia Waters, on Flickr I took this one from the deck as I kept on coming out and checking on her. She seemed very contented just to sit there. IMG_1093 by Cynthia Waters, on Flickr

Sooty finally was returned to me on Wednesday. Lots of tears. She is doing well. Here she is playing Greta Garbo in the bedroom. Please note that when little girls have bandages, said bandages MUST match bedding. fullsizeoutput_c00 by Cynthia Waters, on Flickr

It happens sadly. I’d waited years before I was in a position to have dogs. The day finally came when my puppies were coming home. I picked up the little girl from her breeder took her straight to my vet ......... diagnosed with heart disease which took her at 3 and a half. I used to say that my car could make its own way to the vet. The boy came to me on the same day from another breeder and he died at 8 and a half from cancer. You have had a gut wrenching experience, Bluefairy, but no matter how long your dogs live for, you will experience the loss. Such an individual thing, really, balancing the love with the loss.

And their jaws get very hard. Mezza missed his little treat (wrapped around a pill) the other day and got my finger instead. Hard !!!!

Sweet question, @teddybeans. Many years ago, I rescued a little elderly dog from a pound who had terrible teeth. His dental, during which all his remaining teeth had to be removed, was in the morning (the vet was very worried because he was a tiny dog with a fragile jaw) and that evening after I brought him home he was “gumming” chicken necks in my back yard with my other dogs. Dogs develop very hard mouths and can eat very hard things. I have an elderly little homed-from-the-pound dog at the moment, a Pomeranian, who had all his teeth out last year. He is on a diet and I feed him Satiety kibble because I can weigh it and know exactly how many calories he is eating. I have to put the kibble in a slow feeder bowl to slow him down !!! So, don’t worry. Feed your dogs whatever he likes.

Yep, clothes pegs have lots of uses

Fold over top of bag and use sticky tape .

Interesting.

I have a question about GoFundMe pages. I found out the anonymous person who donated the $1,000 - the people didn’t tell me, someone they know did. Naturally I rang the donor (whom I know well) with profuse and never ending thanks because if it hadn’t been for that donor, I think Sooty would still be waiting for her surgery. However, during the course of our conversation, I asked the donor if they had received a receipt and donor said an emailed receipt had been received. Donor also said that, despite some people preferring to remain anonymous, whoever started the GoFundMe Page could see the names. Is this correct, does anyone know? I was surprised and so was donor, because I would have thought that was against the spirit of wanting to be anonymous.

It’s not really a new fad, @Dogsfevr. I used house sitters years ago, as well as professional dog sitters on a couple of occasions. I knew (lost touch) of others who were set up as you describe (council approvals, insurance, BSB, etc). I was thinking of doing it about a decade ago, but decided I had enough on my plate with my dogs and not really wanting to go through all the all the paperwork required to do it professionally and correctly. Plus, if anything happened to a dog in my care (despite fostering many over the years), I don’t think I’d be able to live with myself.

Ain’t no one goin’ to take my poo away from me.

@Bow Wow, do you want to buy mine? One 500g unopened and one about 3/4 used.

GROODLE !!!!! I don’t know anyone, @kamuzz, sorry. 8 month old puppy of two happy lively breeds?? Yep, I’d be going with kennels, too, but I would be checking them out microscopically. A dog of that age could easily come out damaged as two weeks is a long time. Or maybe a house sitter who was home all the time and making sure that the house and yard were better than Fort Knox. We all know that stressed dogs will go through plate glass trying to find their owners.

One of the things that has always driven me insane is when, meeting up with someone else walking their dog, their dog starts sniffing mine and vice versa and the owner pulls their dog away chastising it. I always say that they are just saying hello. It makes me so sad for the other dog.

You are right, @sandgrubber. Words don’t come easy and often it is hard to find them at all especially through the tears. RIP Jarrah.

Because my dogs are all very old, they haven’t been vaxed for years. The only treatment they get (apart from a host of medical issues ) is flea and tick prevention. However, I do recall some years ago one of my vets saying that she would never give C7, it was completely unnecessary. Can’t remember the details, but I am sure someone here has much more up to date information.

Exactly. When my little dog had a reaction to an injection, my vet at the time was absolutely mortified and felt responsible. Such a difference over the years.