Loving my Oldies

I take them into the backyard before bed. The dogs have always gone outside, but as they get older with all the attendant problems, we do have accidents in the house. It can be a long way out for little elderly dogs (Bunter is the “biggest” at 6.6kgs): through the house, across the deck, down the stairs or ramp ..... sometimes they decide the deck is far enough and that’s okay as I wash up any mistakes and hose down every couple of days. Jeune has had THREE meals today. . I had to have a nap to get over the shock

What country are you in, Sunny1979?

Poor little baby. You obviously care deeply and want your puppy to be healthy and happy, but HE IS A TINY BABY. He is tired and overwhelmed by all the enormous changes in his life.

I can assure you that some days, I am all for bundling them into the car and off to the nearest pound I have a little foster dog now, so that means a fifth place to eat, but he is very easy - I brought the crate in from the garage. (In fact, I always bring a crate in when I have a foster so if I have to go out, I can keep the new one safe until they know I am coming home.) Bunter is still in the study and Mezza is in the bathroom. The bedroom trick with Jeune and Tamar lasted that one time (or maybe a second, I’ve forgotten), so they are fed now in the dining/lounge kitchen as the deck is like a furnace these days. I finally relented in desperation and, on the suggestion of a friend, am buying those little cans of dog food for Jeune. But when I give her those, I have to separate her from Tamar as Tamar is on a renal diet. I did take one of them down to the vet to ask the vet if the cans were okay for Tamar and she said only in tiny amounts, so that is relatively easy to police.

Run free sweet Tuppence. I wonder if you will find my little puppy, Tuppence, who died 68 years ago. Deepest condolences stellnme. They sure are precious.

I’ve not seen him gagging at all and I’ve “played” with his mouth to assess reaction and/or any pain with no indication of sensitivity. He also fetches the ball and drops it at my feet; although I know obsessive behaviours will ignore pain, I don’t think he has any problems there. Thank you all for the suggestions; I will be taking him to the vet next week. He is such a sweet dog, very needy as can be understood and I imagine the rescuer will be swamped with applications when he goes on the website. Loves everyone we encounter particularly children as they tend to sit down so he can climb all over them.

Wonder if this works? This was before my groomer gave him a gorgeous tidy up. He is looking very svelt now LOL. IMG_0899 by Cynthia Waters, on Flickr

Hmmm, I watched the you tube videos, @jemappelle, but what Simba is doing is quite different. He isn’t looking around like those Cavaliers seem to be and he is much more vigorous - for want of a better word. When I find how to get to Photos from Flickr , I’ll post a video.

I’m told by the rescuer that he has papers attesting to his being pure bred. But, thanks for the attachment which I will read. He sometimes just sits down and snaps away

She might be , but she sure is

I’ve just spent about 20 minutes in the backyard throwing a tennis ball. He brings it right back and drops it at my feet, so I can only imagine that at some time in the past someone must have played with him. He would have kept going but I let him down.

9 years old, @persephone. Spent his life relegated to the back yard. . Brother (from a later litter) still there. I am pushing the rescuer to keep trying, but owner not on board .... yet.

Sorry, persephone. I’d forgotten I’d put photos onto flickr so I could post here. I was going to start a thread about him but thought I’d better get approval from his rescuer. So for now, I will just post a pic. He doesn’t look moth eaten anymore as my lovely groomer tidied him up as a freebie because he is a rescue pup. He looks a lot better now. IMG_0886 by Cynthia Waters, on Flickr

Had the best Christmas present on Monday, Christmas Eve. I took Mezza, Jeune and Tamar for check ups on Monday (yes Christmas eve, but the place was rocking so obviously I wasn’t the only one leaving things to the last minute). Simba (new foster) and Bunter came along for the ride but also because I wanted to weight them both. Bunter’s diet has worked and I can now relax and feed him normally. I especially wanted to weigh Simba so he doesn’t suffer the fate of dogs who come into my household who actually eat normally and that is ending up on a diet. . He is delightfully slim and very active, so just keep on doing the right thing and don’t over treat him. Anyway, best news is that, although a slow process, Mezza’s weight continues to drop and he is now down to 5.33kgs. Still a kilo to go, but the main thing is that the graph line is still going downwards .

Super dooper update, T. Trouble is quite a girl and I am sure she and we will romp in 9th Feb .

Thanks everyone. I will go to that other thread. @crazydoglady99 I will have to experiment with his diet. Thank you. It has been fairly varied since he’s been here, but the majority of it has been beef.

I have tried searching and scrolling through, but can’t find it - unless I was imagining it. I didn’t take any notice, but then along came Simba - my latest little foster dog, 9 years old Apricot Toy Poodle. Sweetest little dog, but sits around “catching flies” like a maniac. Goes on for ages , poor little darling. I have also noticed that he goes racing around the the back yard looking up and yelping as though there is something there. At first I thought he might be seeing one of the neighbourhood cats, but after a while, I realised there was nothing there. I also began to wonder if it is something he does to amuse himself as, reportedly, he was just left in the back yard and occasionally given some kibble. I have discovered that he plays ball and brings it back and drops at my feet - wonderful since I can hardly walk these days.

Mezza and Tamar have been on RHV since 6 December - I haven’t noticed any changes at all. However, we are all going to the vet this afternoon for check ups so will see what she thinks. Mezza was shaved on Friday and has gone from full coat Pomeranian to a teacup Akita . He was very quiet for the first couple of days, but seemed to get back his mojo last night and this morning was playing solo soccer again, which made me happy.

Oh wow!! What a time you have both had. Hopefully all on the up and up now.

Such beautiful stories and photos, Koala

Link https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-09-16/insect-bites:-australias-emerging-insect-farming/10253494

I saw a program on ABC tv recently about using insects as protein .... think it was Landline. There is a woman who has been supplying “the industry” for years now and she visits schools doing taste tests. She sells insect powder to be used as a part replacement for flour and also coats insects in various ingredients (eg chocolate) as nibblies. The program also featured people from [forget - maybe Brazil] who use insects and insect powder in their commercial cooking - the business is in northern NSW, I think. They have to import their supplies as the Australian industry isn’t sufficiently developed to meet the demand. Nothing about dog food though. I have never been adventurous with food, so I won’t be giving it a try. I imagine Bunter would wolf it down, though

Gosh, what a beautiful girl Button was and what a wonderful life she had with you, but, oh, how we miss them. Deepest sympathies - a huge loss. Beautiful Button.