spottychick

That's very sad harryviolet, such a beautiful baby. I'm with you, no dangerous substances anywhere near my dogs or on my property. It's not worth the risk.

Great news! I hope they do more than fine that stupid woman. So good to see the pooches looking so much better

Thanks for the tip MM! Glad they made you smile Anna. They do that for me everyday Pepper is an absolute cutie and very charming. I call her "the diplomat". And yes, Tango's focus has become quite astounding. He is also very attached to me now, he tends to follow me everywhere like a little shadow I keep tripping over hee hee He's put on heaps of weight since I got him but when I was looking at the pics I realised he's also developing muscles everywhere that he didn't have before! They both look years younger than their actual ages I reckon! So do I Makes all the "hard work" so worthwhile :D

The posts from the OP can be a little confusing. Are you saying you might pts the two dogs you take if they are stressed or fear biters???? I hope you will give them time to settle and work with them if they are snapping out of fear before deciding to do that. My fella Tango bit me a couple of times out of fear but we seem to be dealing with that okay. As for the cherry-eye issue, doesn't sound like a huge problem but then it's not something I know a lot about. Perhaps it's worth treating them - what if they have the best temperaments in the world? It would be a tragedy to lose them just because they need a little help with an eye issue (again - so does Tango!!!) Would donations help with this?

Oh what the heck - here's a couple more Tango and Pepper gazing over their new domain Another kitchen one, Tango once again is dancing (tho blurry) and this one has pepper more in the frame. Gosh it's hard to get them both to keep still at the same time LOL

Here's a couple of pics to be going on with. Taken on a mobile phone and so they are pretty crappy but they'll do for now Pepper in our new kitchen. The lino matches my dogs! Tango running on the porch, exploring his new home! Tango and Pepper looking for treats. Tango is doing his best eye contact wot he learnt from our TOT training. Also note the foot raised - he is dancing as usual. I've also pointed out Tango's eye that has the indolent ulcer we're currently treating and just for fun, the marking on Pepper that all the kids think is an angel. It's clearer in the bigger version of this pic but I had to make the pic smaller to fit the quota here. I'll try to get a pic or two of them on the forest walk next time.

oh Tyra, those look divine. Since it's a bottomless box and one can't gain weight in this waiting room, I think I'll have one of each I bags the jelly bean ones Er.... what about teeth? Can they rot here????

Good for them! A much more sensible and effective strategy.

Yoghurt (or kefir) is also good for digestion. I fed my old girl cottage cheese too and that helped her put/keep weight on. ANd yes, lots of smaller meals.

Yay to everyone involved in helping this lovely girl. Boo to the old owner and the new owner - whoever they/she/he were/was. LOL I am curious about whether they were one and the same person as someone suggested. Seems a bit convoluted but people can be wierd.

Another candle lit. Of course we missed you MM

Kirty - Don't get me wrong - I wouldn't use those methods and I try to discourage people from using cruelty but if I'm looking at someone who feels they have to use poison and making a choice between laying out second generation poison or laying out cement-laced cornflour then I'd rather they did the latter. But I agree - there are much more humane methods out there that people should use, the Rat Zapper is quick and relatively painless, not that expensive and does a long term job. Does anyone know if there is a similar alternative as they have no stock left there? FUnnily enough I've just discovered rat poo and a large rat hole in the wall in the granny flat out the back!!! So I need something soonish too. The only other way I can think of that is as immediate and quick as zappers is shooting the little divils (and I know some people who do exactly that - rats I'm talking about not mice LMAO) but I'm not experienced with rifles and would probably shoot myself in the foot hee hee

YES - and the dog can be very sick before you even notice This is a worry for me at the moment. I manage a dairy farm that is over run with rats and mice due to the pallets fed to cows at milking. My cat eats mice that he catches and my Kelpie Ruby constantly hunts and sometimes catches mice or rats. I havnt seen her eat one yet. Our boss wants me to lay baits and I said no, but Im going to have to work out a way to lessen the population somehow. Do rats carry lepto?? Did you see the posts about the Rat Zapper??? Ratzapper This might be useful in your case :D What's lepto? I read somewhere that a safer "poison" you can make yourself is a dry mixture of cement and cornflour. The cornflour attracts the rats/mice, then the cement mixes with their body fluids and blocks them up so they die. Nasty but effective and less risk to other animals (I think...) But I have no experience with this as I still prefer the fast kill.

As soon as I find my camera - this unpacking thing is a pain I have an entire room full of boxes and general rubble - and this morning I discovered my roof leaks so I've been frantically trying to deal with that. But I'll try to find it ASAP. Or I'll just go and buy a cheap point-and-shoot if all else fails. (I have a nice DSLR). And thanks everyone for taking an interest in this fella - it helps to have the encouragement and people to talk to about it who understand

It is beautiful - I had to keep reminding myself to stop looking at the view and keep an eye on Tango LOL I'll try to get photos :D

LOL Yes I've had quite a few doubts about him But..... Ah he's always been clearly a sweety underneath the snarling and snapping hee hee, I was more worried that I wasn't up to the challenge than 'regretting' taking him. At the very least I was thrilled just to get him away from those other people...... I'm still concerned with his behaviour toward Pepper but it seems manageable. Wish I knew how to stop it but generally I just yell a brief "Oi" and it all stops BTW I suddenly got an email from his previous "owners" - completely out of the blue asking how he is and stuff. I havent answered yet because I'm still too mad at them. I'm surprised they even bother to contact me - and they still haven't bothered to fill out the paperwork I needed for his microchip transfer. I just think they have some nerve after what they did with him...... ;)

ROFLMAO - I havent seen that movie yet so I'm in

I love "Team Tango" LMAO It's great that you can see what I'm trying to get across in my posts about him. Pepper has never understood why Tango was always on a lead, she used to run back and try to get him to follow her. So she's very happy to have a rampage buddy on walks!! I'm just so happy atm

Ahhhh, my dear little adopted Dally has really been making great strides since he came to live with us on NYE. He's learnt how to walk on a lead, socialise with other dogs, be calm around other animals (well mostly), he's learnt to sit and wait for his dinner, didn't attempt to bite the vet at all and now lets me handle him almost everywhere (still a slight issue with his back legs/feet). SO many things he's learnt it's impossible to list them all. But today I took the biggest risk or leap of faith if you like - and Tango out-did himself. Tango has never been allowed to run off-lead anywhere, even tho all of my dogs have always gone for forest walks without leads and there's lots of quiet places to walk I just havent trusted Tango enough to let him loose. But today, in a new town with no mine shafts around, a local told me about a great place to walk through the forest. SO, armed with just a half pack of Natures Gift doggy treats I drove up this dirt road at the back of my new house and found somewhere to park. Then took Tango out of the car on his lunge lead and we (Pepper off-lead) all walked a bit further up the dirt road till I found a track that led off into the forest. It was all green, mossy, wet and sheltered and the track was covered in brown pine needles with a beautiful fresh aroma everywhere. We walked a little way along the track and I called Tango who came to me immediately so I gave him some of the treat. Then..... I took a big breath and let him off his lead. Then crossed my fingers. He raced off up the track with a delighted Pepper (showing him the way) and they rounded a bend so I couldnt see them anymore. So after a bit Pepper came racing back (she never lets me out of her sight for long) and as she got near me I very noisily gave her a treat saying "Hi Pepper!! You want a treat???" loudly and the next thing a deliriously happy Tango came racing back, sat and danced a bit till he got a treat then raced off with Pepper again. He was perfect. If he was out of sight and I called him, he came back. If he was ahead and I deliberately turned off the track into the bush he came back and followed. He would often run over to wherever Pepper was to see what she was looking at/sniffing and several times he came racing back to me without me calling him (whereupon he got a treat or a quick pat and lots of praise that made his bum wiggle!). On the way back - just before we reached the road - I called him and he came back to me and got the last bit of treat - and went back on the lead. He was such an exhausted happy little chappy when we got back home!!! I can't tell you how thrilled I am with this. Finally he gets to run free when we go for walks (and I get to walk instead of having to run with him on a lead hee hee - and I could never run fast enough for him anyway) This definitely deserves a celebration ;)

Yay Patch!!

Thanks fiveplusone - I just want a cheapy to see how my boy goes. I think the Topbuy ones will be just fine. He's a dally and I'm wondering if the next size up would be better - it's hard to tell when you cant see them in front of you - but a GSP and dally is fairly comparable.....

Where did you buy the cheapies from?? And what sort of dog is it big enough for?

OMG That is amazing! What a find and you're right - he/she was barely visible. Arent they clever! We get a lot of them around here, one of my dogs once shoved his nose in one and got punctures all round his muzzle. And did he scream!!! LOL He refused to go near the area where it happened for a long time after that, would start making these funny whimpery noises when we went past Great pics!

Also, keep an eye on them to see if they get diarrhea - if they do then step it back just slightly.

Tango lets me know when there's a mouse in one of the traps (even tho he cant see them - eg the trap is in a cupboard - he still knows they're there). I havent had the opportunity to see if he could catch them but I suspect he used to do exactly that to try and get food when he was starving hungry. So I'd love to see if he'll do it but I'm not prepared to have little mices or big rats frollicking around the house just to see that LOL I've seen him catch and kill birds including a lark and a pigeon. Not sure I should get chooks