westiemum

The thread 'What to do with the dogs'? made me wonder... what plans/arrangements do you have in place in case something ghastly happens and your dogs are left homeless or potentially homeless? I've officially appointed 'god-parents' for my three westies through my will - if anything happens to me they go to them for rehoming or for keeps - whatever they decide. I trust them completely to look after my guys best interests - whatever that might be at the time. Other ideas or thoughts?

Big hugs to you and you Mum. This is a terrible situation to be in. Normally I would agree with PTS the older dog and rehome the younger BUT... if I was in your Mum's position I doubt I could cope with a PTS. So I think trying to rehome both is the way to go. Good luck cleo - all fingers and paws here crossed for you.

Exactly Erny. When I got the westies I introduced them all to the neighbours, took them to 'say hello' to all the 'next doors' so the neighbours knew them by name and they were not just the nameless dogs next door. I asked the neighbours to let me know if there was ever a problem - as if they didn't tell me I wouldn't know if I was out or at at work. On the odd occasion that Sarah has a bit of a bark to the world (she does occasionally like to 'talk' to the neighbours if she senses they are in their gardens during the day) then one neighbour just pokes her head over the fence and tells her to be quiet and usually she does. I also make a point of asking the neighbours to feed them for me occasionally - it then becoems a much more community type relationship. And even though I have three westies, I've not had one complaint. :) And IMO that comes back down to the owners - they should say "hi" to their neighbours when they get a dog and invite their neighbours to contact them should their dog prove a nuisance.

OK - on the weeing front, so far so good so fingers and paws still crossed here that the mega washing and vinegar rinses does the trick. An interesting anecdote about Mac - I'm working very long hours at the moment and am up and away before 7 am 4-5 mornings a week and I'm not home until after 6 pm - so 11-12 hour days and the babies are usually starting to get very ratty by the weekend. Over the last two weeks on 2 or 3 occasions I've had to race home and race out again which has meant Mac hasn't had his Herb Robert - but has still had his Viviitonin and his Hills B/D - and his purposeless growling behavior definitely got worse - and after a day or two back on it he's defitely more alert and less growly... H,n... So not a deliberate experiment but interestingly I think it shows what I've suspected all along and since I started him on the Herb Robert - that it's an important part of his dementia routine - and in Macs case it seems to help him enormously. :)

Remarkable. Good for you. But would never happen here - my council is still in the dark ages...nasty lot of regulatory bureaucrats and policy police that they are....

What a cutie - hope she enjoyed her snack! :D

And none of us would have it any other way! Great photos Kitkat :)

Me too moosey - the bone in the patties is ground if I remember rightly. :)

More weird stuff... walking to the door, pawing it, walking to other door, pawing at it... then I take her out and she just stands in the garden like she's forgotten why she's there. I call her name and she kinda snaps out of it and seems ok but then wants to go back in... My first thoughts were something neurological or something vision related. But in all honesty I don't know these are just the thoughts that came from our descriptions. I like the idea of the video as that will give a vet a full picture and also trying to see someone who can do a very thorough check. Has she had bloods done? Has she seen an opthalmologist? When my dog went blind my vet knew that she was on the way to being blind (she had cataracts) but didn't realise it was to the extent diagnosed by the opthalmologist - the vets we usually see in practices can't be experts at everything! Sometimes it is good to see a specialist if you have a suspicion something is wrong. She had bloods done - everything totally clear, the vet checked her eyes and said they were perfect. Her eyes seem to be functioning just fine if her skink hunting is anything to go by! Yesterday evening, my hub and I were talking and I raised my voice a tone or two to say something funny and Em ran in barking, looking around for a stranger. She didn't recognize it was my voice at all. That was pretty worrying. That and random barking at the slightest sound. Annabel I don't want to alarm you but the selective quotes above are exactly what I didn't want to hear. As far as I know, pain behavior is usually very purposeful. The thing which distinguishes canine dementia from other diagnoses is the aimless purposelessness of the behaviorr and the apparent forgetfulness. Sadly, my Mac's growling and barking into space was a key diagnostic feature. Some dogs also lose their ability to problem solve eg they get themselves into a corner and can't get themselves out again. My Mac also has perfect bloods - so nothing there to explain the changes. In this forum there's a thread entitled doggie dementia - suggest you read it as in it is some really good discussion in it. In that thread, Corvus suggested I contact deerhoundowner by pm who has been studying canine dementia for sometime and has a diagnostic tool on her website - strongly suggest you look at this. Lastly you need a vet who is a good observer, listener and diagnostician - lucky for me this wasn't a problem - mind you I made it easy for her with a detailed diary of observations and occurrences - so suggest you do that too. It becomes much clearer if you keep dated objective notes. Having said all that, I must say that 6 is pretty young for this I think - but not unheard of. If it is dementia then I really feel for you as you've been incredibly unlucky for it to strike so young. But the good news is as you can see in the dementia thread that it is manageable. So good luck, all fingers and paws crossed for you here - and will be very interested to see how you get on. :)

OK - mega washing with a vinegar rinsecompleted on all bedding - don't think I've ever done so much washing in all my life! So fingers crossed the weeing on the bed stops - would be good... :)

I think you'd find its fine - and if you ring Meg I'm sure she will be happy to help you out. Have fun. Book early and will be very interested to hear what you think. :)

Hi again, OK if you are prepared to spend the money, I think if you bring some mats ( think there are mats already on the floor but I cant quite remember) then Burdetts would be perfect. It's 35 minutes from my place (inner south-eastern suburbs), fenced yards which are very private with wonderful views, Meg and Andrew are the most fantastic hosts - and they are dog nuts themselves - so understand doggie requirements. The provisions they supply are so generous that you barely need anything else. The only down side is you have to book well ahead - they're very popular! So although not cheap, for the quality of the accomodation, the beautiful setting and generous provisions I actually think its great value for money. Hope that helps. Have fun. :)

I'm probably going to regret posting this - but my favorite doggy friendly place to stay is Burdetts Country Retreats Not cheap but quite superb and the supplies are incredibly generous. Really special. :)

No I havent heard of it either B. But how to identify it is a good question - particularly if it's showing up in Victorian litters...

Thanks tons. :)

OK Thanks Sheridan, I'll leave the napisan out of the sheets in future and see what happens... :)

I'm not very good with sizes but here goes: Toy: Chi Small: Mini Schnauzer or Tibbie if I can't have a Westie Medium:Aussie Shepherd Large: Standard Poodle (snap Clover!) Giant: Newfoundland

Thanks Sheridan - yes they have a doggie door and not sure about the influence of the weather - so yep my strongest suspicion is your number one - that I'm being punished for my absences. I talked to the vet at work who has been seeing her for her itchies today and told him the weeing on the lounge story - he said it was 'very in your face' for her to wee on the lounge right in front of me like that - but we agreed to regard it as a 'once off' for now. If there's a repetition we'll have to do something about it. She has had a recent wee test three weeks ago and it was normal and she had another one today as part of her itchies treatment so should get some results in the next day or two. Thanks for the bleach suggestion - that's got me thinking... I have used some Napisan liquid on them I think. I wonder if that's it?

Yep its possible Sheridan - although the only time she seems to take any real notice of him is when she growls at him if he puts his paws on the coffee table! (She's quite a bossy girl this one!) I'm actually wondering if its a reaction to me instead. Apart from the lounge episode last night,which happened in front of me, it always seems to happen when I'm not home - like tonight. Got home at 9.20 having left at 6.20 and there's a wet patch on my bed again... yes I know I'm going to have to close my bedroom door when I'm not home but I'd really like to get to the bottom of this... so any other suggestions of how to deal with this? TIA.

Hmn... I too have a weeing inside problem - and up until tonight its been on my bed! . Not often, but once every couple of weeks. I thought it was Mac but had never actually seen him do it. Yet Sarah scratched around in a fake sheepskin bed thingo on the lounge tonight then promptly squatted down and wee'd! Right in front of me. So I'm now wondering if the unobserved weeing on my bed was Sarah and not Mac! And what might be causing this in Sarah... she's usually the boss and very reliable (or so I thought!). This weeing inside can't go on and I've ordered a belly band for Mac... but its possible he's not the problem! Advice anyone? TIA.

This. My old westie Mac is 13 in august and by the averages he should be falling off his twig in June at about 12.8 years - and judging by his health and latest blood tests that's highly unlikely! Although he's slowing down and has some early dementia, he's still a delightfully happy old chap and I'm expecting quite a few more years with him. I really thought about this breed longevity issue a lot before posting as its not something that has really occurred to me or influenced my choice. All my westies came to me as older dogs (4(?), 5 and 6) which means regardless of how long each individual dog lives I will generally have them for a shorter time. Which while a sad reality, I would chose an older dog again in a heart beat. As another poster said I think its quality not quantity of life - and I love every milli-second I'm lucky enough to have with my guys - regardless of how many milliseconds that ultimately ends up being. :) You can't predict for individual dogs anyway. Just because a breed is given a group average 'life' of 14 + years (or whatever), doesn't mean every dog of that breed will do so.

He's divine! Look at that face! And judging by those paws he's going to be a big boy!! :laugh: Great pick-up K!

Thanks Sheridan - yes things have improved. - after our set back a few weeks ago Mac seems to have bounced back. He's bright eyed left nd really smoochy. :) Have you bought a new car yet?! ;)

Mel p these are serious allegations so I suggest you do as Sheridan suggests - substantiate your allegations and make a formal complaint which requires formal investigation. The balance of posts here suggest the organization has made substantial improvements and again if you read my original post objectively then you would see that I only reported improvements and nothing else. You are in a minority of one to suggest it isn't happening. As to amateur management I suggest that the previous board and management were the amateurs...hence their kill rates, waste management approach to running the pound and their ultimate removal... Do you have some relationship or interest in the previous board or managers / staff? I ask as your vehemence suggests to me another agenda... Westiemum, I have read your post, but what I am trying to tell you is that there is still a lot of killing that is going on. Figures are not being released and the figures that were released are from accurate. It is a case of not releasing figures because they are simply not much better! I for one do not agree to the killing of so many cats and kittens because the organisation does not have adequate measures in place to contain cat flu. It may be early days but this is a clear breach of the DPI Code. Insted of getting amateurs in there to run this shelter, perhaps it would have been best to get people in who actually know what they are doing! Dogs and cats have been put down prior to their eight days being up, surely this is not something that DOL would applaud. Would DOL applaud the temperament testing being carried our by unqualified people?

Mel P if you read my original post, you would see where I reported that Geelong admitted they were not having the success with cats that they want, particularly when compared with dogs. So to can the organisation on that basis I suggest is unfair - particularly since its such early days. The point of my original post was to acknowledge a large old organisation that was trying to do things differently and in a way that DOL would generally applaud. Change always takes time and in this case its only been months. I have no doubt they are finding it tougher than they initially imagined when the new Board and mangement took over. However improvements are already evident and their kill rates are already better than many comparable pounds on the east coast. I expect there will be further improvement as time goes on. And believe we should support their efforts. To aim for 'no kill' of rehomable animals is laudable and I for one congratulate them on their early efforts. And if 'low kill' has to be the intermediary step then as long as they continue to aim for 'no kill' then thats fine with me. :)