Loving my Oldies

Bunches today. I couldn't get Beatrice to look at me, she was too interested in passers by. I love them so much.

The Dirt Girls go in for their surgery tomorrow and I confess to being very nervous for them. I know the surgeons are very very experienced, but the last time I took a little dog in for eye surgery (different specialist) it did not end well

You could say this about just about any policy passed by any level of government. The only policy that is enforced with alacrity is locking up children. I became involved in the dog world in 1999 when I became a volunteer at a pound and around the time The Companion Animals Act was being legislated. Silly me, I thought the numbers of dogs in pound would fall away to just about nothing. 24 years later and the situation is worse than ever, absolutely catastrophic. There is more than the one factor that laws aren't being enforced, of course, but that is the one where countless hours spent on paperwork, red tape, wording of legislation, etc etc and then what happens? Nothing. Thousands of policies put in place across the country without the proper back up of support or trained people who actually take a pride in their work. How many times have people just on this forum alone tried to call rangers only to be told they don't work on weekends, there is no one available and any other excuse under the sun so they don't have to do their jobs?

Confession - I haven't read the whole thing, just this paragraph. Sorry to be such a Casssandra, but none of this is going to happen in any area of our lives, in the world today. People want, people demand, people going to get by whatever means possible and bugger anyone or any morality that gets in the way. Aren't I cheerful, but when we can't even look after babies and children known to be in danger, how do you expect people to care about morality in breeding, training or owning dogs and other animals?

Wonderful

Apart from the fact that my question was simply rhetoric, I think you missed my point, @tdierikx. You were saying that dogs don't reflect on past experiences. I am saying that I am sure they don't, but they are influenced by past experiences and this affects their day to day behaviours. I am living with one who is severely traumatised by past experiences. All she knows is that she is frightened and reacts accordingly, despite never had anything but love and kindness since coming here. And I wasn't referring to other animals, just dogs and humans. That is another conversation and millions of words entirely.

That is a strange comment, @tdierikx. Dogs might not sit around thinking, "OMG a man was dreadful to me in the past, this is a man, ergo, he will be dreadful to me." But they are influenced, why else would some dogs be afraid and some not of the same situation? Same as intergenerational trauma. And PTSD. ' And I am one who firmly believes that dogs are like humans (we are animals too) in that we are all born with different personalities, characters, prone to fears, love all things dangerous, etc etc.

That's true. I have actually counted the days.

She has a sixth sense because only if I creep very very slowly and silently down the hallway in the dark will I actually see her in the bed.

The terrified look in her eyes is so damned sad. And the place she came from is still operating.

Getting much deserved cuddles

She still runs away . This was just a few days ago. I admit the voice would scare anyone, I guess LOL.

We are now over 5 months into Operation Strawby. Not a lot of progress, sadly, just the little things I wrote about before. HOWEVER, the other day we did have a tailwag. I wasn't feeling well, so went back to bed, but took Strawby with me. She was as stiff as a post, shook most of the time, kept looking at the door, but I was firm LOL. We probably just lay there cuddling for nearly an hour when I simply had to close my eyes. So I popped her onto the floor and she strutted off with tail held high as if to say, "Yep, got you trained LMO." The rescuer visited the other day and announced that she didn't think we would be ever able to rehome her and that she was with me for good!!! So looks like I have me a "Unicorn" dog. Strawby is spending quite a bit of the night inside now, once I've gone to bed. A few weeks ago, I had to get out of bed and go into the kitchen for something and she was racing out the door to the deck. I set up the Furbo camera again and found that as soon as I had turned the lights out and gone to bed, she was coming in and getting into one of the beds in the lounge. She is always gone by morning, so I don't know how much time she is spending there. The camera doesn't record. I have some photos, but have to put them onto Flikr first.

Well the bookings have been made and Bunches and Beatrice will have their operations on Tuesday 18 April. I will not be having the prosthetic inserted for Bunches; I don't want her to be put through more than necessary. So that should be pretty straight forward. Beatrice's op will be a little more intensive because, as well as having the scar tissue frozen, she will have a slow release implant inserted in her eyes. Specialist says we have to "hit her hard" with medications to stave off deterioration as much as possible. He says there is the likelihood she will go blind over time. So a scary time coming up for me; the dogs will probably sail through with not a care in the world. They sleep through it all and wake up feeling better. I will probably be scoffing Strawby's anxiety medications.

I don't have any specialised advice, I'm sorry, just wishing you all the best. There will be others more qualified than I to advise you. Little guy is just a puppy, so hopefully with the right treatment, he will become a happy little soul. The breeder may not have deliberately lied to you and the puppy might have been traumatised by the plane trip. It depends a lot on the breeder's facility, whether they knew how to prepare a puppy for a life outside his litter, whether he was given all the appropriate experiences, etc etc. Breeders don't necessarily do the right thing by their puppies, more interested in a quick sale. And they can be at the other end of the scale where puppies are wonderfully prepared for life and grow up to be happy, healthy, totally adjusted dogs. Good luck.

People and dogs being harmed by ignorance and hubris.

There seems (or seemed now that a lot has been deleted or changed) conflicting information. Apparently Freya bit the child about two weeks ago, but in another place he said he had had her for about a month. So maybe he had worked his magic (yeah right), sent her back home and family found it was all smoke and mirrors.

Yes, I looked for it last night.

A dog training facility for dangerous dogs !!! And left alone in cages for 9 hours!!! What on earth were these dogs doing there and how stupid/gullible were their owners. Put these bloody awful places out of business. I once looked after a dog for a woman who was training to be a dog trainer ON LINE, FFS. She brought her little dog to my place and I was in the kitchen getting coffee or something. I could hear a couple of my dogs playing, but she came rushing into the kitchen, “Cynthia, Cynthia, your dogs are fighting!” I looked at her dumbstruck. And, yes, she was on DOL and after a while had “Dog Trainer” under her name.

I also experienced "the shock horror, how dare you stop my child" attitude. Too bad. They would be the first to demand your dog be "put down" if it bit the child.

You have to be firm and tell them to back off, you are in training. Because there is a small park at the end of my street which I used to walk through in the days when my dogs were walked, I regularly had little children come running towards me, particularly as I walked several dogs at once. I would put my hand up (like a traffic cop if anyone remembers them ), call STOP and proceed to give the child and the parents a lesson. All done with smiles and goodwill, of course. And then pats were allowed. Good humour all around. I think in the interests of bringing up a well adjusted and happy pup, you need to put your (perhaps) embarrassment aside and do what you have to do. Good luck.

That is shocking, @Diva. Unfortunately, your stories have resurrected a conversation from many years ago with my brother-in-law. I was supposed to have a shoulder operation which would have put me out of action for 3 months. To my absolute horror, my sister offered to come down to look after me - I am in Sydney and she is in Brisbane. Says my BIL: you’ll have to put the dogs into boarding, of course. I replied: I could hire a full time nurse for what that would cost. He said: How rude. I said: Dog minding is a business. Anyway, couldn’t get through to him, so gave up. I didn’t tell him that possibly the only thing worse than having my sister “look after” me might be @Little Gifts’s Scary Sister.

I’m sorry you experienced similar, PK. Sure as hell knocked me for a six . I have decided against the prosthetic. Too big a surgery with a long recovery time. I won’t put Bunches through it.

Yes, that is for sure. I just have a background of sorrow all the time, which I know is bad for the dogs, but I am trying to keep overcome it. In some respects, though, I am very lucky. Last year I received a refund from my super account following the financial royal commission, of fees paid. It wasn’t much but huge for me because my house needs some urgent repairs. Despite numerous visits from tradespeople, I haven’t managed to get them done except for new fences. So, I will have another talk with the specialist this week and get things underway.

I know. Absolutely incomprehensible to me.