noisymina

Feral genes do exist. We've seen it before - specially in a litter my B-i-L's cat had a long time ago. Taking them from the litter too early is bad too. Add the two together.............and it's not good news. As my DH found out not too long ago. He's had cats all his life and this one was the first cat he has ever taken to the vet and got PTS for aggression. It was a pet shop kitten, bought on impulse by someone elase and re-homed by my kind (sucked in? DH). We paid for de-sexing etc and did all the right stuff. Had the thing for about 2 years. It was always a challenge, but DH thought it was doing ok. But then it started getting worse and worse. We did have another cat - and it was belting her up more and more as well. In the end, we had to put an end to it when the cat started attacking him. We have a 2yo grand-daughter who visits as well. And, like an aggressive dog, one cannot just pass the problem onto someone else, can one? I'm sure it is quite possible it had some medical problem we could not diagnose. Anything is possible. But the mix of feral genes and early separation were paramount, I think.

Yeh - but one sees it all the time. My brother and his family STILL have not worked out that their SWFs (won't mention breed here) NEED proper goomimg. I even told him to take them to a groomer - if only to get the faces and feet tidied up. But, no, they will charge too much. I've explained about matted hair and what it does - but they just don'tseem to "get it". The dogs are treated like kids.

Just go with the extra fence and the Energex lock. The advice that was given sounds crazy. But I'm not familiar with any of that. Sufffice to say that, in time, that will be sorted out. But that won't help the current situation. Kids love animals. They are innocents and DO want to pat them. Parents are not always very intelligent and common sense is a very rare commodity. I'd go the extra gate.

The cost of ther dog depends on what suits your needs, what your want, and what you can (or choose) to deal with. Our present Dobe came at the cost of...................inspection of prospective home by the owner who needed to re-home. As we were more than happy to meet and show him around, that was nothing. Registered, pedigree dog, already de-sexed and immunised etec etc. She was basically what we needed, wanted. We were able to cope with her issues and she's a gem. 20 yeras ago, our obedience champ. desexed Wei cost .... $100. We had her for 15 years. When I was an 18 year old, my first dog, a purebred Poodle cost about $20 from the RSPCA. But a fair bit in vets bills due to her ongoing issues from neglect etc. That is proably a lot more in today's terms. But any dog can have problems. IF you are after a family pet, then I do recommend looking at re-homeing or buying an older dog. The cost of de-sexing alone can be more than you pay for an adult dog that needs a home. :rolleyes:

I had a sign on our front gate: Horse loose Dogs loose. Entry by prior arrrangement only. Well, nobody came in while it was there. It finally fell off from old age. But it was a pain when all the delivery people would stop at the gate and call me on their mobiles to come let them in. Like I didn't know they were coming? I would have thought that WAS "prior arrangement", but apparently not. Sometimes you can't win.

I agree woth the OP. I've had one incident where a lady came into the waiting room with a child in a pram and DA dog that immediately took after Kaisie. We were cornered. Fortunately, the vet nurse got to a door and opened it and I pulled Kaisie through it qick smart! Idiot woman. That is why I keep using the check chain. We certainly needed it that day. Not because Kaisie wanted to fight back (she was just wanting to get away) but to get her to follow me quickly out of harms way and not slip the collar. And we saw a person with cat in arms on our last visit. My DH, who is the cat person here, remarked on how stupid that is. We are well aware of what a cat can do if it takes fright - and when out of their normal surroundings, they can very easily do that. I've seen a cat claw holes in venetian blinds. Their claws are like can openers. I can see a pretty damaged owner happening some time soon.

We got Kaisie at 4 years old. She was very quiet. Never a whinge or whine. I think we taught her. Maybe it has more to do with the owner than the dog/breed?

Pet insurance only covers certain eventualities. It doesn't cover a lot of things. I did the figures once and it was ridiculous. It does take discipline to put an amount aside each week/fortnight/month, but doing that (even if it is just the same amount you woudl pay for pet insurance) makes more sense than paying out to an insurance company. Yes, it is still a small risk, but if you think about it, the insurance actuaries don't have that amount determined without good reason. And company profits are factored into it. Given the number of dog owning years we've had, the vet fees IN TOTAL from all causes (not just the ones insurance MIGHT cover) have been far less than what we would have been paying for "insurance".

Kaisie has got pretty whingey in the last year or so. I think she's a bit uncomfortable with arthritis etc. So I can sort of understand it. I'm probably making it worse by being "understanding" actually. She is getting treatment etc. And I've put her on a slightly changed diet to help (from the Troy Behave thread) and she seema bit less anxious now. It can be annoying. I agree.

Maybe the first post should be edited to claify the siutation. Do you know this person IRL Moko?

I'm glad Divani is ok. I got a wasp sting myself day before last - on the finger and it was swollen and sore for a while too. Must be a good season for bities this year. I am so happy my current vet treats Kaisie on the floor. All three of us end up sitting on the floor. When we had the Wei, I used to take my DH with me to help them get her on the table. It struck me as a bit weird at the time. So when we got the next dog, we also changed vets (for more than one reason) and we have been happy floor dwellers ever since. Why the heck do they insist on lifting big dogs onto (comparatively) small, slippery tables to "examine" them?

One school of thought (opinion..whatever) says it is best not to feed loadbearing bones. I sort of thought that was a good idea. Saves worrying about this stuff (even tho I've fed large bones many time without issues in the past). It also made sense to me when I watched the dog eating and realised that large bones did not do much for the back teeth - only the front teeth were being used. So now we go for non-load bearing bones (with the occasional exception being chicken legs, which I don't think really count). So our list goes along the lines of chicken wings/necks/frames, lamb ribs, turkey necks, roo tails etc.

Might I suggest that they do need to talk it out even if they do get upset. Ask then to talk to you. There could be more behind it in a child's eyes. For example, it is quite possible that at least one of those kids thinks (or has wondered if) the same thing will happen to them one day - if they might be taken away or disappear also. Kids think like that sometimes.

There would not be too many cement ones around, if any. Try looking for concrete ones instead,

Kids are like adults. They grieve and go through the stages of grief too. They also do it in their own time and deal with it according to their own schedule. You cannot hurry it along. The problem with a disappearance is that there is no closure. Which makes it more difficult. As they - and you - are aware, there is always the chance that the micochip will be a link to recovery some time. Your children are not too young to be able to discuss this with you. You can approach it with them. Ask them what they want to do/not do. Keep the lines of communication open. Let them know how YOU feel too. Let time pass and stay aware of how they are travelling - and one day the subject of a new dog will come up. Hopefully it will be their idea - and then you will know the time has come to move on.

I don't believe JulesP is trolling. Either something is wrong (we all have rotten days/weeks/months that accumulate and get on top of us from time to time) or there has been a misunderstanding of words, intent ... or both. Give her a chance. As Ravyk has mentioned, she is a long standing DOL Member and generally her posts have come across as being very sympathetic to her dogs. Didn't we have an instance recently where someone else (friend or family) had used a DOLers computer and posted stuff that was inconsistent with that DOLer's history?

I guess my next dog will have to be a Grey, then.

Actually it CAN be locked. Check with whoever does the meter readings and find out who the local locksmith is who provides the locks. They charge you for it and give you two keys with it. Then the meter reader uses his master key when he wants to get in to read. Ours has always been re-locked by the reader and the system works well for us.

Yep. And that ws the day I found I could free lunge her around the yard. I too have been known to take my dog to the vet with very embarrassing results. But you know, I'd do it again in the blink of an eye. We all (including the vet) just had a good laugh, came home relieved and moved on.

;) Does your Dad care about the electricity bill? Hint: Making sure it is in a container woudl be alot cheaper.

MY doctor says she has seen animals of the two-legged variety WALK into her office on spiral fractures. I sent one of my kid's friends to the doctor (long story) but he only had "severe bruising" after a fall. But even the doctor had to get an x-ray to tell if there was a break or not - so how the heck were we to know? Both of the above were old enough and vocal enough to tell us what was wrong. Right? Unlike a dog. My dog gets 24 hours if she limps. Usually she's ok after 12. But if it went on longer than that, even if I knew she had done nothing major (like being struck by a horse) she's go for a vet check. I do pay the vet for his (her) time. ;) By the way, I still get sore where the horse jumped on ME a year ago, so I bet the dog is sore. ;)

I met a lady at the vets one day while I was there with my Dobe. She was there picking up somethiong (I gather for a cat). I noticed she seemed particularly worried about the presence of my dog. A lot of people are worried by Dobes, but she seemed unusaully frightened. So I kept the dog well away from her and we started chatting while waiting. The lady was dog phobic because when she was younger she had been attacked and bitten many times by a Chi! It caused her a great deal of damage and trauma. Eventually she did face her fear and patted my dog. But I felt do sorry for her. So it is a worry when you say this lady appears uninterested in training and disciplne.

:D

The freezer bags leak when defrosting - so we put them in another container for defrosting in the fridge to contain the mess. That container could have a lid put on it if needed. We have found that if we take the next night's food out at the same time as we feed, it is usually still pretty icy and un-leaky at the same time the next night. So it is taken out and fed partly fozen - not a great deal of mess at all. And partly frozen slows down the consumption rate.