Loving my Oldies

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.

Yes, I need to just put it aside and, as you say, concentrate on my girls. Bunches is getting more cuddles than ever because she is on eyes drops several times a day and she tends to hide under the couch or the cabinet. In the morning she gets four different sorts a few minutes apart, two more at different times through the day and the same four in the evening as in the morning. Beatrice is on half that number and she just sits there waiting for the onslaught. Shala is on one in the evening, so she is the easy one. Strawby (foster dog) is on meds that go in her food. I love them all more than words can say. Needless to say, I have a typed out program that gets checked off through the day. Busy, huh !!!

I have been so sad this week since being given the news about Bunches and Beatrice, but a further shock has been added and I simply don’t know how to process this one. I told a friend (not very close, mostly email correspondence) about their diagnoses and how much it was going to cost. This person sent me a reply suggesting that I put them to sleep and go out and get another dog. I could hardly believe what I was reading and have been feeling sick ever since that someone would actually put this in writing. I know I just have to shrug it off and forget it, but it still shocks me to the core.

Yes, that's the reason.

Really beautiful. You have really captured their essence and should be very proud of yourself

She is very beautiful. Sadly her eyes are like those of my foster dog, Strawby, who came from a puppy farm at the age of 11. Whether she was there all her life, I do not know, but she has been with me for nearly 5 months now, and only because I live with her can I see any improvement. It breaks my heart daily to see her wildly scramble to her feet to rush out the back door when she hears me walking down the hallway. At least now, she doesn’t go tearing downstairs, but stops on the deck to look back at me. I talk to her, tell her how beautiful she is and give her treats (she runs away again so I have to put them on the floor) and eventually she will come inside, just inside the door, ready to bolt all over again. You have obviously worked wonders with Cassie and I hope that one day both she and Strawby will be free of their demons.

If I were 30 years younger, I would be helping to take Miniature Bull Terrier off the Vulnerable List. Love those little dogs.

@Papillon Kisses, Kelly Caruso is married to the specialist I am seeing with Bunches and Beatrice . I used to see her with Danny many years ago.

No, Eye Clinic with offices at Artarmon and Crows Nest.

@Deeds, yes, I did consider this, but not sure which way to go. I have had experience with the eye specialists at SASH and was far from happy. The specialist I have been seeing is pretty well the leader in this field, lectures, books, etc and was the hospital partner for many years of another specialist who did the operation on Bunter many years ago.