Loving my Oldies

And these are the stories that are going around and need to be highlighted as to how much of the truth they are. I also heard in one news report that some of her injuries were old - ie she had been bitten on other occasions. There is so much hype in the media today and on social media that we hear and on tell so many stories and how many of them are true? We need to hear the truth, because other rescue groups would have rehomed that dog, probably telling the new owners he was wonderful and loved people. We have to grieve for that poor woman suffering a horrendous death and also feel horror and compassion for her daughter finding her. We also need to point out the foolishness of some people out of the goodness of their hearts. Just so sad.

Horrific! Impossible to imagine what the daughter is going through. Gut wrenching. You are right, Simply Grand. So many questions, really, that should be answered truthfully and unemotionally and without media hype.

Minnie left the building yesterday . She is such a sweet dog and a lot of fun to have around. Despite my last post about her ears clearing up, the infections and yeast are still there so her medication has been changed. The new owner was given the option of waiting a few weeks so we could continue treatment, but she wasn’t having that LOL. Minnie is off to live in a very social retirement village with a few daily walks in beautiful surrounds of pathways, gardens, strategic seating and lots of people around to stop and talk to and have admire her. The new owner collected her from my place and my only concern was that her face might split in two such was the size of her happy and excited smiles. The new owner had bought a rain coat (pelting rain yesterday) and had already set up a doggy seat so Minnie could see out . She left decked out in new harness and lead and her beautiful new rain coat ------ and guess what silly billy didn’t get a photograph I am so cross with myself.

Thanks, @Boronia. They are definitely getting better and last night’s gentle cleaning was quite encouraging. Very little muck on the cotton tips.

She really is a sweet little dog and so far, I haven’t discovered any vices. Poor little darling was an outside dog, no coat, no shelter, no treatment for fleas or her shocking ear infections. Despite constant treatment for her ears and the vet having cleaned them out, they are still mucky. Yet she is happy, has never wee’d in the house and snuggles under the bedclothes all night.

Uh oh! Don’t think mention of p**c*** is allowed.

Oh, poor little darling - some dogs just never recover fully from their experiences. Stevie is nothing like Tempeh, thank goodness, although he is a funny little fellow, very sensitive and it is a bad bad idea to chastise him, evenly gently. That said, he is very stubborn and at the moment, I am dealing with him and Minnie digging under my fences as I have dogs at the back and one to the side. They would be safe from the dogs, if they made it through, but the side neighbour's fences are not dog proof. I am constantly going around checking for holes, now, and filling them is with bricks, stones and anything that I can find. Very stressful My first attempt at rehoming Tamar when I first rescued her was a disaster, too, and she has remained timid to this day - 13 years on.

Thanks for putting up the pix, @Scottsmum I didn’t take my camera today, so you will all just have to take my word for this: I walked the six of them this afternoon LOL. They were remarkably good and we stopped to talk to a few neighbours and encountered only one other dog, the owners of whom went another way when they saw us - I don’t know why.

I applaud your self control, Maddy, but wonder why you would bother with this person who is obviously a legend in his own mind and pities the rest of the world.

Blimey.

Something has gone radically wrong with my plans to “downsize” ...... I now have six little dogs. Stevie’s meets and greets have not turned out, I have another little mini foxie and another little oldie. Why do people lie? A couple had been talking to Stevie’s rescuer ever since they saw him on the website. Many phone conversations, very detailed discussions about fences, deck balustrades, the importance of 100% security, photographs, etc etc and the fact that a yard check was not negotiable. The man visited me on Saturday to meet with both Stevie and Minnie with a view to adopting them together. Fencing and security have been discussed many times and even when the man was here on Saturday, we discussed fencing and how if there is the slightest gap foxies will find it. I even pointed out that I thought I had Fort Knox, but Stevie found a weakness which has, of course, long since been plugged - much to his annoyance LOL. The man was here for a couple of hours and at one stage said that he thought he would be able to take them home with him after the visit and he’d bought some things for the car !! After he’d left, I texted the rescuer saying that if everything went to plan and she was happy, Stevie and Minnie would be adopted. When she phoned them to organise a yard check for Monday the people kept tripping themselves up causing Tania to probe more deeply until, finally, the truth came out: despite it being discussed many times they did NOT have a fence because the man had taken it down. Hours and hours of wasted time on the phone, via texts, emails, etc etc. I was absolutely furious with the couple. I have some delightful photos of Stevie’s new cougar girlfriend but now I can’t use Photobucket, I am a bit stymied. If I can email them to someone wonder if that someone would do it for me. The other little girl is a fully paid up member of the geriatrics club and looks to be a cross between a Poodle and a Bedlington. Very sweet, very cuddly ........ and very unreliable with her toileting Luckily she is not interested in sleeping on the bed . I think (everything possible crossed) that she might be on the improve, though. Ditto with photographs.

Lovely photos

He was very subdued when he came back. I think he felt as though he'd been punished or deserted. He has been okay today. Benji is going great guns. Officially adopted now and we could not want for a better home. I feel very happy when I think of him and how it all worked out for him.

Experienced the shortest trial ever yesterday - 3hours. Rescuer and I took Stevie off for a meet and greet. I had previously said no to this party because they lived in a unit without even a balcony. They did have another little dog, the man often worked from home, the woman worked a few days a week for 4-5 hours. Their current dog is walked twice a day and in summer they spend every weekend at their house near Port Stephens. Even so, I did not believe Stevie was a suitable dog to live in an apartment even with owners dedicated to walking and taking outside to pee. Rescuer spoke to the woman on a few occasions and during one conversation she said that they hoped to move full time to their beach house in 12-18 months’ time. Eventually, I agreed that it couldn’t hurt to at least meet them. After we’d been there for a couple of hours, including a long walk with both dogs and lots of playing in the house, the woman asked if we could leave Stevie for the weekend. Now this is not something either I or the rescuer would normally do, but it did seem to be a good idea as the man was going to be home all weekend and the woman was working for just a few hours on Saturday. Their dog was a lovely little fellow and the house was full of toys, the dogs were allowed on the bed and the furniture. Less than three hours later the call came through: they just couldn’t cope, because, despite being taken downstairs every 1/2 hour, Stevie was peeing everywhere and after a while their dog (who was 100% reliable while they were gone) started peeing over the top. Please note that they were told over and over again, that this would happen, but I guess until it does, people don’t realise how bad it can be. Their house was carpeted end to end with lots of rugs and scatter rugs and I can tell you that, knowing Stevie, my heart did sink when I first walked into the house as I thought of the commitment and management required to make it work. Unfortunately, I didn’t check my phone for some hours and so didn’t see the message from the rescuer until much later at night, otherwise I would have gone straight away and collected him. Even so, the rescuer had to dissuade me from hopping in the car LOL. The man dropped him back at my place just after 9 the following morning. Pour little boy was soooooo subdued. Apparently he’d been sick and had had diarrhoea. So lesson learned, but hard on Stevie. I took him out with me yesterday afternoon to PetStock hoping to teach him that car rides didn’t result in his being left behind.

Very True I am amazed that you are worrying about the backlash some groups get. Several deserve it, of course, but if you feel you are doing the right thing, why take on the criticisms that other groups are getting?

You could try BM Animals in Melbourne or Clear Dog Treats in Queensland.

Oh that is fabulous

Trip to the optometrist, I think.

Spesh ....

Australia is really lagging behind other countries in terms of adoption of technologies (except those that enable us to bury our heads in mediocrity - phones, games, etc). Yet we have scientists and inventors who are nothing short of brilliant and world leaders. So hard to understand.

I was thinking about cannabis oil for dogs only yesterday, because I saw on ABC TV that a forum was being held in Melbourne to teach doctors et al more about cannabis; the fellow who’d organised the forum was being interviewed. Considering the TGA approves millions of alternative meds which have been proven ad nauseam to have no benefits at all, why cannabis derivatives which have been proven again and again to have changed people’s lives to extraordinary degrees, hasn’t approved is beyond me. Apart from the fact that it has been stated again and again that the “high” qualities of cannabis are not in the plant used for medicinal purposes, what on earth does it matter if someone who is in chronic unresolvable pain or having 20 plus fits a day gets a bit of a high? Ever the cynic, I cannot help but wonder how much the TGA is in the grip of big pharma. One little bit of healing oil taking the place of millions of useless pills and potions? Not while big pharma is in charge !!

Thanks Scottsmum. I still have foster failures from 2003 and 2004 living with me (Jeune and Tamar).

Many years ago on DOL when the Rescue forum was much more active, someone started a thread on emotions when foster dogs went to their new homes. I was pretty sanguine and said that I happily waved them off to their new homes. Someone else said they cried buckets. I certainly didn’t feel superior , but I did feel a sense of relief that I wasn’t a mess when foster dogs left me. Well the years have passed and many dogs have come and gone, my own have grown old and crossed the ‘Bridge with just the oldies Jeune, Tamar and Bunter still with me. On Satuday, Benji goes to his new home and guess what? I am already feeling very teary. It will be such a lovely home for him (another similar age, size and playful dog and people home all the time, several walks a day), but I will miss his gorgeous blocky face and the way he pushes his nose against my legs as he follows me around the house. I will miss his soft and warm body keeping me warm at night. And then Stevie has a meet and greet on Friday and a home situation that sounds very attractive. Soooooo things is changing around here . It has been only three months since I embarked on looking after dogs again (Stella in late March while her mum was in hospital) and then fostering Benji and Stevie the day Stella went home, but I think because they are all young and lively, I have invested a lot of emotion and care into them. Aren’t I silly? I know I will be fine, just rabbiting on.

This made me laugh . You never can tell what sort of dog someone is going to click with. Lurcher type dogs are here, too.

Totally unnecessary