Loving my Oldies

Glad the stinkies have stopped, @Boronia. Have you looked into Vets All Natural? Bunter put on quite a lot of weight when he first arrived and I had him on the VAN diet for a long time and he managed to lose weight. Unfortunately, he went off it and on the weight piled again. He really needs to lose weight, but luckily seems to have put himself on a diet and I am reinforcing that by giving him only small meals with a mixture of meat and pureed vegetables. Trip to the vet tomorrow to hop on the scales.

I saw the other thread. Poor puppies on bare cement. However, different country, different attitudes. In the other thread the parent dogs seemed happy and healthy.

What is this all about? Is this a rescue or someone posting about their own dog??

Sadly since starting this thread, precious Orla has crossed The ‘Bridge, but I though I’d give an update for those who might be interested in my experience. Recently, two of my other dogs really needed a bath and, in the interests of economy, I realised I simply had to do them myself instead of taking them to the groomer. So again, I used the Dermaveen conditioner. This time I was more relaxed about it and used it a bit more freely. Oh my goodness!! What a difference it made. One of the reasons I go to the groomer is that Tamar (Maltese x Shih Tzu) and Bunter (Pom x Corgi) have hair that knots so easily and also takes ages to dry. After using the conditioner, their coats were so easy to comb out and, consequently, they dried off very easily as well. Now, several days later, their coats are still so soft and manageable. Looks like I will be saving some money from now on.

I use a face washer. When bathing them I close their ears to prevent, as much as possible, water getting into their ears. I regularly clean around their eyes with cotton wool balls dampened with warm water.

I agree. Off you go to the shops, @poochmad

I have had a couple of dogs who would scoop up a large mouthful of food, drop it on the floor and eat it from there. They all have their own little ways and we will never know why LOL LOL. Long before phone cameras, sadly, I remember fully one episode. I’d given my dogs a treat and one of them was running around with it in her mouth, backwards and forwards, around the kitchen, into the lounge. My brain clicked, I threw a little hand towel on the floor, and that was what she wanted - a little mat to lie on while she ate her treat You are in for so much fun and laughter with your little girl.

I think you misunderstood my post, persephone.

I think it was just a cruise on the Harbour. Christmas parties and all that. Much more important than doing her job.

I feel this is the case. As with any business, there and good and bad, very good and very bad and everything in between. We need to do our due diligence.

Your compassion for the walker is misdirected persephone - at least I think so. As I understand the report, she went on the cruise and realised some hours later while still on the cruise that the dog was in her car. Instead of calling the police or someone close to where she left the car, if that was possible, she texted the owner who was some distance away. Thursday was a cruelly hot day and I can’t see that the dog would have survived for very long.

Do you think she looks cross? I thought she was looking well satisfied that her strategies have worked to date and deep in contemplation of next plans to have her mum under her paw Little does she know that Vet DOL can be very strict. Get eating what you are given, little gal

This is all over FB. I hope the dog walker is sued from here to kingdom come.

You are so right. I know it is silly to worry about things that didn’t happen, but I can’t help feeling sick with horror at the thought it could have happened while I wasn’t at home. The place feels so empty without her.

Today has been totally devastating and I am feeling shocked and so so saddened. Today, we said goodbye to Orla who had been here only for five months and was so contented and so totally at home. My heart is broken for that funny, smelly, pooping little girl. Last night at about 1/4 to seven, I started getting dinner for the dogs. As Orla is usually in the kitchen under my feet at the first sound of the frig door opening, when she didn’t appear, I looked into the lounge to see her panting very heavily and holding out her front right leg. I picked her up and gently went through the routine of trying to find where she hurt, whether she had a burr in her pads, the usual examination. Only when I reached her shoulder did she react and took my hand in her mouth to tell me that hurt. My immediate thought was a pulled muscle and I quickly phoned her rescuer who met me 1/2 way between her place and mine with some pain medication. I made up a little pen in the lounge with barricades as the crate wasn’t big enough for her to stretch out in and at 6.30 the following morning gave her another Tramadol. She was hungry and after I’d taken her downstairs to pee, gave her a little bit of food. Her leg was useless and knuckling over so as soon as they opened, I made an appointment to take her to the vet. The vet was very concerned that Orla had torn nerves, but said to continue with her pain medication, watch her over the weekend and bring her back on Monday. The time elapsed between leaving the vet and getting home would have been about ten minutes and as soon as I’d put Orla on a bed in the lounge she threw up, something she’d never done. I picked her up and she went into one of the worst seizures I’d ever seen. Well I’d never seen anything more than a dog have a little fit and be out of it and fine within a couple of minutes. This just wasn’t stopping. I couldn’t stop holding her, but managed to call a neighbour who rushed around and drove me to the vet and I met the rescuer there. Orla was still in a bad way and I honestly thought she might pass away even before we reached the vet. To cut a long story short, the processes that the vet said we would need to go through to just perhaps find out what was wrong with her, filled me with dread at the prospect of this elderly, already health compromised little girl going through it, being all alone in hospital and then perhaps not making it. We discussed it for a little while and it was decided we should let her go. She was obviously in a very poor way, the seizure had taken a huge toll and even when she was given a calming injection, it was obvious that another seizure was coming on. Goodbye my little darling:

I am just so sorry to read this, @Rascalmyshadow. Cortisone can be magic and hope it proves to be so for Claudia.

I am tempted to try these, expensive, but if they worked they could be a bit of a salve to my environmental worries: https://www.floraandfauna.com.au

@Scottsmum I gather you are laughing at my description of Jeune . She most be one of the most stubborn dogs ever born. I’ll be lying in bed reading and she will come around to my side of the bed and I’ll tell her to use the stairs. She stands there with her back to me, then wanders around to the stairs. And then comes back to me side of the bed ...... repeat this several times. Guess who generally wins?

Tamar, Jeune and Bunter can still get up the stairs, but Jeune likes to pretend she can’t when we go to bed and wanders around looking up at me piteously until I lift her up. However, if she needs to go out through the night she is perfectly able to get up via the stairs when she knows I am sound asleep . So they are still worth having.

Oh my. Be still my trembling heart ...........

They have a couple of gorgeous ones right now - one called Claudette

I saw this on FB and I think someone has put up their hand. I was about to and I saw a post saying “have sent a pm” or word to that effect. I’ll keep a watch on it as I am next door to Thornleigh, but a long way from Kemps Creek - haven’t been that way for quite a while since my helping and rescuing days.

First thing I thought of was if there were any tattoos. Apart from that, unless Blacktown Pound could put you in touch with the previous owners which is highly unlikely (huge privacy issues), I think your dog’s background will forever remain unknown. I’ve adopted many dogs from pounds over the years and it is human nature to wonder about where they came from, what were their lives like, how they came to be lost, what they were like as puppies, etc etc. As some of them have been in pretty poor condition, sometimes it is better not to know as we could end up in prison, IYKWIM

I actually think ramps are better than stairs. Unfortunately, I don’t have the space for one . I did buy one without measuring first - stupid. Just could not make it work LOL. I have a ramp outside from the deck down to the back yard.

Photos of doggy stairs. Sorry about the size of the last one - can’t work out how to change. IMG_0570 by Cynthia Waters, on Flickr IMG_0571 by Cynthia Waters, on Flickr