spottychick

Good lord! I suppose they were sitting in the warm car sipping lattes or something LOL What a bunch of thickheads! Yes, my two were great. Pepper always is - she really is a treasure. But Tango is coming along brilliantly. He's still a bit inclinded to have a go at Pepper but otherwise he seems to be dealing with everything really well. There's a gorgeous ram in a yard near the PO that has got to be the friendliest ram in the world. He jumps up with his front feet on the fence to say hi and get a head scratch - and beg for chips if you've got them. Tango sticks his head through the gate and they touch noses and smooch or he jumps up on the fence and rubs heads with the ram over the fence. It's really quite remarkable for a dog who has had no experience with .... well.... anything! in his past. I'm hoping the idiot bloke was just passing through and NOT a local. When did you become Aiden the second?

Just needed a little vent. I have just moved to a new town and I'm really liking it so far. I've met other dog owners who have all been very responsible and my two neighbours are animal rescuers (one of them rescues EVERYTHING! Even Llamas). Anyway, I went down to the PO and tied my two dallies up outside. When I came out they were being very good as usual and a tall man with an Eastern European accent asked if they were mine. I said yes and he pointed out his dog that was sitting in his minibus. I told him he looked like a beautiful dog and we chatted about how no-one can work out what breed he is (he was large and hairy, black and white - possible a border collie x bull terrier or something). Anyway, the bloke starts heading towards the bus door while rabbiting on about his dog and I say "Don't let him out". Of course bloke totally ignores me and lets his dog out - on a lead. Okay I think - at least he's under control - WRONG. Pepper is off-lead and Tango is still tied to the post behaving very nicely. Big dog is clearly untrained and totally hyper. He hurls himself enthusiastically at Pepper who goes into a play bow and darts away. Then the bloke smiles and starts to lead him toward Tango. I stand between his dog and Tango and say "Don't bring him over here". Bloke ignores me, keeps coming at me. Big dog pushes past me and immediately lunges at Tango and jumps with his front body over Tangos head and his front legs on Tangos back. I don't think he was being aggressive, more dominant, but his approach to another male dog was totally inappropriate and Tango is stuck to a pole with very little chance of moving away. The big dog is at least twice the weight of Tango and is an in tact male. My fella looks so fragile and weak in comparison! ;) Tango doesn't react but stays still and looks at me for help. I immediately rush in and get back between big dog and Tango, at the same time pushing big dog away and pulling Tango in the other direction (having quickly released him from the pole - thank goodness I had him on the handy lead that clips around posts!!!) and well out of reach of the other dog. At this point I also call Pepper to me and grab her collar and asked bloke to please move his dog away. Idiot bloke, however, obviously interprets my words as "PLease bring your out-of-control big dog over here where he can possibly start a fight with my male dog and I can get caught in the middle of it and end up injured too!!" so he keeps coming toward us with this stupid look on his face. SO I YELL at bloke to get his dog away from Tango and try to explain to him why it was a stupid thing to do - but he can't hear me because his dog is barking it's fool head off and leaping about like a maniac. Bloke gets all offended and acts as tho I've done something wrong. Eventually he says all huffily - "Well we'll leave then" and I nod enthusiastically and say "Yep. Good. Go!" and his dog then suddenly yanks him over toward the car park and frantically drags him around the area for the next couple of minutes. It's patently obvious the bloke has no control over this dog. Meanwhile we can't move because they're in the way so we stand there waiting for him to get his dog back to the minibus and inside. Bloke decides to act like a 5 year old and takes his time, puts big dog in the bus but leaves the door open with big dog off the lead while he stuffs about picking up some paper off the floor, stretching and looking around. I'm standing just a couple of feet away with my dogs keeping my eye on his dog and taking note of where I could escape to with my dogs if anything happened. FINALLY idiot bloke shuts the door, glares at me, gets in the other side and flies out of the carpark with much screeching and carrying on as if he's really annoyed. HE'S ANNOYED!!!!??????? Man - people are so F#*@*ing stupid!!!! We all take a moment to regroup and recover from this scarey moron moment and then went on our merry way. That could SO easily have ended up in a disaster. I really wish we could stop brain-dead people owning dogs. Kudos to my two tho - Tango was as good as gold! BTW - just an aside but Tango licked my hand today - something he almost NEVER does - he just doesn't lick people. But he actually did it twice, for no apparent reason. I was gob-smacked

YUM! I absolutely love chicken and camembert pies!!! Another candle lit and looking forward to "seeing" Jane soon!

I'm sad to hear he will lose his leg but it's great that he has such loving owners. Hope he's doing okay

Haahahahha Great photos!! I love the Cooper and random dog chase shots - totally hilarious and so full of joy. Thanks for posting this - it is good to see an off-lead park experience that's so wonderfully harmonious

Hi! Thought I'd fly over and join you all in the waiting room. We did have some flowers but .... what can I say? Tango will eat anything..... Any more news on Jed????

Another one who will use Nature's Gift - because I know it's not full of rubbish and fillers. It depends on your dog and why you want to feed her canned food. Most canned food is a waste of money. But you may have a reason - like I do with my dally who's a stone-former. But I prefer to feed raw food if possible

I can't remember the costing but I would recommend Eagle Pack - especially the holistic select range but any of their range will do. Their production methods are safer than most and they were one of the few who didn't get caught up in the pet food recall a while back (due to chinese rice with melamine(??) in it). They have a very good reputation and if I have to give my dogs dry for any reason (they generally get raw food where possible) its the only one I will happily get for them.

Ah well, I DO live in Tassie Dagmar - which is like one big green freezer atm

I'm with you Kissindra. Wonder how much moola they were paid to come up with these "results" based on sweeping generalisations?

FWIW My understanding is that the seeds can be stored for quite a while without going off and don't need to be regrigerated but should be kept out of the sun, kept airtight, etc. It's the oil in the seeds that goes rancid so its only when it's ground or made into oil that you need worry about it (ie once the oil is exposed to oxygen in the air). Once ground it's best to use it immediately but oil should be stored in the refrigerator. Makes sense to me because they are just seeds, the same as sunflower, sesame, pumpkin etc - all of which can be stored without refrigeration. My flaxseeds are stored in an airtight jar (large moccona coffee jar!) in the cupboard and have lasted months with no problem You can tell when oil or ground seed has gone rancid by the smell. Believe me, it'll be obvious. Maybe just experiment a little, leave some out in the cupboard and put some in the fridge and see what happens!

That's great PM! Nothing to add to Dagmar's post, my boy was also 30ks and I used about the same as Dagmar for him.

Hi Dagmar, this is the article I read that made me put some sesame oil in Maggies food occasionally. Its supposed to also have a good amount of Vit E... http://www.healingdaily.com/detoxification-diet/flaxseed.htm Its not specific to dogs so if you dont think its appropriate let me know. I have not been using the grounds seeds, but am chasing up a coffee grinder so I can start asap. thanks Brigitte Dont forget to try second hand shops when looking for a coffee grinder. I picked up a brilliant old electric one from a local 2nd hand place Can't remember the brand name off-hand but a very good brand.

Oh dear. That's the problem with animal welfare leagues who "help" out in situations like this - people just assume the animal is in great hands when it's not always so..... I sure hope this one beats the odds, like you say, the firemen's interest might help.

Still checking in here - I've just spent the last 2 or 3 days moving house so I havent been online much but I've caught up on Jed's news - Sorry to hear she's had a set-back but the good thing is we are very good at dealing with burns victims in Australia so she'll be getting the very best of care and treatment. I'm keeping her in my meditations for her speedy recovery. Yay for the cat survivor!

You shouldn't feel bad - none of us know everything about nutrition etc and what matters is what you do once you know the facts. I'm sure everything you do for your dogs is done with love - and they'd know it too. I felt so angry when my boy got cancer (in his muscles - I couldn't save him in the end despite spending a fortune and all my best efforts) because I am so careful about their diet (or so I thought). But then so many things cause cancer - it most likely had nothing to do with me. But you can't help but feel you let them down eh!

Thanks Spottychick At last a use for the egg cooker ! it has a 'soft' setting Honestly, there is so much you need to get up to speed on quickly when you find out your beloved little princess has cancer. I feel gutted for all the things I have not done correctly - like the eggs I have read a few people's comments about the honey and fruit into the cottage cheese/flaxseed mixture, why do you add them ? - I thought honey would not be good for Maggie (too much natural sugar? ) Maggie has some apple most mornings, should I also give her some berries (blueberries?) ? would it be okay to get frozen ones and just defrost a few a day ? That should help with the vitmin C wouldn't it..... Brigitte Pugmum Honey is okay in small amounts - quite good for them actually (unless they have an allergy) altho molasses (Blackstrap only) is very good too - a lot of natural animal supplements have that in them. I used to sometimes give my boy who had cancer Manuka Honey - medical grade - just a bit coz it's expensive and he'd just eat it right off the spoon. But the honey is optional as are any other additions, I mostly added it because I was eating it too and I liked it with honey - but you can add that last if you want some LOL - after you've served theirs ;) Blueberries and apples are very good for dogs and especially for cancer fighting - most berries are good for that for the Vit C I think frozen should be ok just make sure they havent added anything like syrup or sugar - I tended to try and rinse any of the extra juice off if I was suspicious of it but the berries are fragile so you have to be careful Banana is good tho and almost any fruit except citrus. Just make sure you vary it a lot ;)

Hey pugmum The avidin is only in the egg whites. You should give your dog soft boiled eggs because it's important to have the yolk raw (or runny) and the whites cooked. Poached is good too as long as you cook the whites only. You can still mix it with yoghurt - just allow it to cool down first I'm another one who made Budwig for my dogs who had cancer and have ended up eating it myself so I make enough for all of us - i start by blending the cheese and flax oil with a hand blender, then, using a spoon I add honey/molasses, bananas or berries or whatever I have on hand that the dogs can eat and I also like, then I also freshly grind up some flax seeds for the lignans and throw that in as well. I love it but I find the dogs nag for more while I'm trying to eat my share so I rarely get enough of the stuff

Awwwww poor little guy! Hope he gets his confidence back.

Thanks all - I just thought a little positive stuff would be good right now VC - I dont know who Jamison is. Hope things worked out there. I always try educating as much as possible. I just know people respond badly to anyone who is confrontational - and I kinda understand it. I never got the sense these people were deliberately cruel tho - so that effects my approach. They are generally nice people who do a lot for everyone else in the town. They just didn't get it about their dog. MM - Yes it was sad. I don't know if people can imagine but he has spent many freezing cold Tassie winters in that little hell hole - and this town is just next to the Ben Lomond Ski Fields so it is VERY cold. Wind and sleet would whip into his little kennel. Arrgghhh - let's not go there.... He's in a better place now - I noticed he's got a good fenced run at his new home and no chain!!! His kennel is between the house and the garage with area at the back and front for him to look out and see everyone (which he does a lot - rasping happily at all and sundry!) And the house is in the centre of things so lots of people wander past. Just great for him. MM - Terribly sorry about your mascara :D

That's a lovely idea TD! I might try something similar - I never buy Lotto tickets but this is a nice reason to do it.

I mentioned this in another thread but I think it's kinda great and deserves it's own little thread. Warning - one of my long waffly posts ahead - I have tried to keep it to a minimum but .... well, you know how it is :D Ever since I moved to this town, almost 4 years ago, I have been concerned about a little Jack Russell who lives exists up the road from me. Every day I've walked past him as his yard is just out of town on my walking trail - and he always strained excitedly at the end of his short chain, his front legs in the air as he leaned out from the chain and bounced on his little back legs, barking at me for all he's worth. Without thinking, I used to go into the yard (I thought the house was empty - it was but there's more to it) and let my dogs run up to him and say hi. I'd give him cuddles and check his water bowl. Once I even let him off the lead (the yard is fenced!!!) and he just ran around the yard following my boy. Often I'd find he'd pulled the pitiful thin blanket out of his tiny kennel and had no bedding to sleep on coz the blanket was wet. So I'd hang it up to dry and return later to put it in his kennel. I'd also find he'd knocked over his water and food etc and the food would be covered in dirt and flies. After making enquiries I found out the JRT's name is Jack and his owners live in another house on the other side of town. They keep him there, alone and with barely adequate shelter, 24 hours a day to "protect" the house. Never walked, never played with. Just left there all alone. They would drop by now and then to drop some food in his bowl and check his water but that was it. I asked his owners if they'd mind if I walked him and they reacted with anger and told me to stay the hell out of their business. They also told me to stay out of their property (ooops!!!) ANYway. Over the years I've managed to get them to let me walk Jack now and again - especially once my friend with the greyhound moved in to town and we both worked on them. We bought him a harness because he's damaged his trachea from straining on the chain and we didn't want to make it worse. He's so excited when he's walked he's totally hyper and pulls a lot. THen my friend gave the harness to the owners who promised to walk him regularly. Of course they didn't. Both of us tried constantly to educate Jack's owners, choosing to take the gentle path as much as possible rather than be confrontational. It helped that Jack's owners really admire my dogs and my friends greyhound and want a dog that behaves that well. We worked on getting them to realise our dogs didn't magically arrive with brilliant manners!!! It takes love, work and commitment etc.... Meanwhile, dear little Jack was constantly getting into strife. Throwing himself over the fence and hanging himself on several occassions, fortunately someone always noticed and rescued him. He also kept tangling the chain up so he couldn't move more than a couple of inches. That sort of thing. They kept moving him round the yard trying to put him somewhere "safe" he just kept inventing ways to get into trouble He started losing his bark - I think it was from the damage he was doing leaping around on the end of the chain. So instead of barking when he heard us coming he was doing this wierd little rasp..... ;) I'd always stop and talk to him and let him say hi to my dogs through the back fence (it backed onto a vacant block where I walk the dogs). I am moving to a new town soon (tomorrow in fact) and worried about him so much I have to admit I was a bit tempted to kidnap him when I left. He really is a lovely little chappy and I just couldn't bear the idea of leaving him in this appalling situation. FInally, a week ago I discovered he'd got under the fence and into a roll of fencing wire - his chain was wrapped through the wire several times and he was stuck fast - but worse than that - he was surrounded by pieces of broken glass and jagged metal. I was amazed he hadn't cut himself open on anything. :p The poor little dude had obviously been there all day and the first thing he did when I released him and put him back in his yard was race to the water bowl. I told his owners who did nothing about it (didnt even move the roll of wire) - so Jack did it again the very next day - only this time he managed to catch the clip to his chain on the wire, released himself and buggered off!!!!! (I now fondly wonder if that's what he was trying to do the first time and when I went and kindly unwound it all for him and put him back he was thinking "Stupid bloody woman!!! I was almost there!!!!" ) He disappeared for nearly 2 days - my friend and I searched for him everywhere - it took his owners over a day to even notice he'd gone. ;) The upshot is - he was eventually found alive and well and now they've actually MOVED HIM down to where they live!!!! They were a bit shamed by our level of concern for him I think and asked us why he keeps doing these things. We explained about things like dogs needing to have company, needing to be loved and love them, how he is bored and lonely and being driven insane because they leave him tied up by himself - how would you like it? we asked them...... What would happen to you if someone did that to you??? They have had him down at their house for nearly a week now and he is such a happy little fella. But even better - I've seen them walking him EVERY DAY. Not only that but they are training him and they seem to be enjoying walking him. THe lady brought him over to my fence today to say hi to my dogs (he adores them!!!) and I was nearly in tears seeing how happy this little fella is and what a huge change to his life he's had in the last week. I gave his owner lots of praise and encouragement and she has clearly grasped why this dog needs to be with them and walked etc. So, that's my long story. One very happy little JRT and I have to say - one very CLEVER little JRT who has eventually achieved his goal and got himself into a much much better lifestyle. Yay JACK!!!! And what a great present for me - just as I'm leaving town ;) I feel really good about this! (And my greyhound friend will be keeping an eye on him now I've gone - if they stick him back up there again, well .... I think I should keep the rest of that sentence to myself )

Spottychick - so am I. But one thing that niggles in my mind when I read these stories and comments made without knowing history/story. And that is, could the owners have reasonably known it was a likely, plausible thing to happen? I'm speaking generally, and what I mean is : Were the fences in a good state of repair and sufficient to reasonably be able to be expected to house whatever dogs it is that they have? Perhaps this was a 'first time' event where the dog decided to dig, yet perhaps had never done so before? Should anyone who has any dogs always go to putting down concrete footings along the whole of their fence line, on the "just in case" even though their dog might not ever in its lifetime have made or shown any attempt to move beyond its own yard? There was a poster here on DOL who I think had taken on a rescue. Six foot high fences, secure in every way. Not a tall dog. But turned out he was a Houdini and was able to scale massive heights. Should that new owner have somehow known in advance, or could she be excused for the fact that it took 'once' to evidence the 'unlikely', and from there to modify things to accommodate and prevent? I ask these questions of others and also of myself. Because have I covered every possible angle of escape by my own dog from his yard? I think so, within "reason". But if it did happen that he escaped his yard, even though he's shown no signs of wishing to even attempt to, am I to be held as being guilty of being "irresponsible" ?? Would it be different if my dog got out and did no damage? Am I only "irresponsible" if my dog does do damage? (Remember, I'm talking 'first offences' here.) Do I have to have a crystal ball to be able to escape such a label in the future? I am sure that if my dog was savaged through no fault of his own, especially in his own back yard, that I would be angry. I'm not sure exactly how I would react or feel beyond that and I am not defending any dogs here, but I am seeing often cries of "put the dogs down!!" even well before anyone even has an inkling of what has really occurred. And I hear cries of "irresponsibility" when I wonder, could those owners have reasonably foretold this? In this instance, maybe they could have known. Maybe they are irresponsible. But who are we to know, at this point of time? Just read update, Pockets, and I'm so glad that there is hope for Tyson and I will keep my fingers crossed the Vets are able to help save his leg. Sending healing thoughts from here. Yes I agree Erny. My comment was less about the fencing (as I didn't know where they had come from at the time I commented) and more about the behaviour of the dogs that attacked Tyson. I doubt well trained, well socialised and happy dogs would do that sort of damage. I've had neighbours dogs leap over my good fences and get into my yard but not one of them has so much as growled at my lot, let alone tore them apart like this. Usually they just play together and hang out. In this town few people keep their dogs in their own yards except me and my friend with the greyhound (except for the few morons who have their dog/s chained to a post 24/7). But thankfully nearly all of the wandering canines are friendly and happy dogs. The one dog who has attacked mine is one of the poor chained up souls who happened to be out on a rare trip and sitting in the back of her owners flat-bed truck when I walked past. Her owner is the epitome of the "irresponsible" owners I was referring to. Oh and I certainly wouldn't and didn't advocate putting the dogs down. As always, it's the OWNERS I have issues with. I am keeping a watch on this thread and hoping like mad that they can save Tysons leg and that he'll recover and be his old happy self again!!

Those beautiful photos, the poem, quotations and everyone's support and thoughts are just all so heart-breaking and heart-warming. What a lovely community this place is and it makes me think this is what the internet should be all about. I am thinking of Jane/Jed today and hope all is going well for her in hospital. So nice to see the surviving furkids.

That's awful! So sick of irresponsible owners causing so much damage (and I mean the 2 strays owners of course). I hope he will be okay.