westiemum

Same here DD and Yonjuro - it was never viable at my place either - and much asker just to cover the furniture than be constantly telling them to get off the couch! Sarah in particular likes her home comforts and has become known as the 'Pillow Princess' or the Cushion Queen' - given her love of anything soft!

Thats fabulous Yonjuro!!

Krislin she's gorgeous - make that another ear rub from me too!!!

Sheena your cottage is sounding better and better - just lovely - and I'd love to visit one day - and I promise you wouldn't know the westies and I had been there. I'm out of Agility Dogs school of thought and I try very hard to leave properties I stay at in a better state than I find them - with or without the westies. Its just something I do. I lived at Coffs Harbour for two years and loved that part of the country. Maddy said it well I think - my B and B friend in the Adelaide Hills decided that hers were not suitable for children but were suitable for dogs for the reasons Maddy outlined. It was very clear on her website. And that worked for her and her business. I so wish you luck - its a lovely thing you are doing.

Litchfield is a rural council IIRC so likely to be much more helpful. Just glad Robert wasn't found around here - the local councils here would have put him down and asked questions later.

That post for the former owner is highly suspicious, contains a lot of supposition is is very short on fact. Absence is not negligence. Says far more about her than Paul and Elizabeth Hicks.

Sheena that spot looks just idyllic! Gorgeous!

A friend of mine who has run a great pet friendly B and B in the Adelaide Hills for years (sadly she is selling at the moment after the death of her husband ) , says 'going dog friendly' was the best thing she ever did. Apart from no end of bookings, she says the 'dog people' were the best guests - the only people who trashed the place in 15 years were non-dog people. She said she has never had any problems with dogs staying and their owners in all those years - her theory is they are so grateful to have somewhere to go with their dogs that they are extra careful. So I took all my furniture covers and rugs for the westies when I went there and yes they were on the covered furniture. And you wouldn't know we'd been there (except for the rather empty fridge at the end of the weekend ). I tend to choose places with reasonable pet guidelines rather than rules, that are genuinely pet friendly - not 'pet friendly' but with a thousand rules - and certainly not the 'outdoors only' type. And I've always been invited back. )

Sorry I haven't got back to this thread sooner - we saw the vet late last week - he was very helpful. We are trying a course of Flagyl first. Then if there's no improvement we'll test some more. I must say she's been on them a week now and seems much better - but I'm wondering how long it will last. Will report back in a week or so. Thanks for your help everyone. :) ETA: Forgot to add I bought a small bag of Earthborn Coastal Catch this afternoon and will slowly change Sarah over over the next couple of days. Hoping that will help her too.

Kitty those photos are just amazing. We'll sleep well tonight here. If there was a Grey Walk here in Adelaide me and the westies would love to come - although Mac would have to go in his Macmobile that Perse found him! But even that would create attention!

Just wanted to say Jonah is just gorgeous canetoad. A Shar Pei puppy named Kobe, beautiful chocolate boy, hitched a flight with me to Adelaide from Sydney to a new foster carer some years ago. He was a beautiful boy too who was so snuggly in the car at the Adelaide end! I think he was re-homed somewhere in the southern suburbs of Adelaide. :)

Great thread.... I'll have a grey one day... Just sayin'

Excellent post Jumabaar. Wish there were more vets like you around. That rehab link is amazing and that is one gorgeous westie - thanks for posting - I wish that had been around when Mac was going through his first ACL repair in early 2007 - we might have avoided that first lot of ACL surgery. My Mac is a 15.5 year old puppy farm rescue dog who spent his early years almost exclusively in a concrete dog run - the vet commented when he finally got out that his back leg musculature was really poor and his knees were really unstable - very 'clicky'. Also should have mentioned that the second ACL rupture where the first repair failed needed the leg angle surgically changed (from memory it was too straight?) Not to mention that I had no access to decent rehab - 'DIY rehab' was my only option - so surgery was the best option for us. Mac now has a plate in the leg which is apparently typically used in repairs for large breeds. But you're right and I'm happy to be corrected - rehab certainly has its place with ACLs. Have forwarded your link to my PT friend with a new mini schnauzer puppy!

I too have been through three ACL repairs with the one westie and all three times surgery was required. I agree with previous posters - you are most likely to end up with the other leg going almost regardless of what you do - which is why its a virtually automatic exclusion under most pet insurance policies where there is a pre-existing ACL tear. (The second ACL repair failed and needed specialist re-repair which in hindsight - a wonderful thing - should have happened in the first place) Then there is the enormous effort to rehab non-surgically and the associated pain - not to mention if the non-surgical rehab is unsuccessful you've had a dog in pain at risk of the other ACL going for probably months. Then the cost of surgery on top of that. Often surgery is seen as a last resort - usually on cost grounds. But I've learned with Mac that its not always the last resort and non-surgical 'mucking around' can sometimes be more expensive in the long run. For example I really regret not having Mac's ear ablation done sooner - would have saved months of expense and severe pain for him. So for me the bottom line is I think there are some things where surgery should be the first option - not the last - and structural issues like ACL repairs are usually one of them. Hope that helps and best of luck from me too .

I had trouble with my youngest westie barking at the house-sit last year and breaking their week up with doggy day care (I work full-time). I also used Adaptil Spray on their beds on non-doggy daycare days and that helped a lot. I'd be careful with citronella collars - I've seen dogs completely depressed and shut-down with their use.

That's great Stitch - great to hear of your success. I have a Westie with a dicky tummy and strong Manuka in the cupboard. I'll try her on it. Thanks again.

I'm the old lady with the Poise Pads on special by the truckload in her trolley - people notice and look away very quickly obviously thinking they are for me!! Yes they are genuinely for Mac... And he's also a bit poo incontinent - and it always slips out of his bottom in front of the visitors...

The ABC did do a story last year on greyhound wastage, people were outraged at the death of thousands of greyhounds for about 5 minutes and then it was business as usual Yes, but this time there are names attached to those who are doing this and indisputable evidence available. It is up to every one of us to make sure it isn't just business as usual - now we all know the truth. Well said Do your research there are plenty of names of trainers all over this country that take greys in to be euthed at greyhound vets every single day. Not one or two half a dozen at a time, that's how got my Maddie. So what's your plan of attack? I'm not being smart it's a genuine question to both of you. Hazy you're right. About 20,000 greyhound puppies are born each year in Australia. A fraction of those are racing, and less than 500 make it into greyhound rescue and overall about 2000 end their lives in loving homes. No prizes for guessing what happens to the rest. Your question is a good one I need to think about... adopting a grey and promoting their adoption after Mac falls off his twig would be a start... Thank you for the reply. Yes I'm well aware of the statistics, I have been involved in greyhound rescue for a while now. In actual fact GAPVIC rehomed 538 greys last year alone so add to that the many other groups and there were far more than 500 rehomed. The rehoming stats have been steadily increasing each year as more people become aware of what wonderful pets they do make. Hazy they do make wonderful pets as we talked about in another thread. And yes one day when I can do one of these beautiful dogs justice I'll have one here. Thanks for the rehoming stats - thats magnificent - I must have old information. I was also highlighting the stats gap.

This report appeared in InDaily today (InDaily is an independent online newspaper here in Adelaide). I've deleted the distressing photos which accompanied this report but they are online if anyone would like to view them - www.indaily.com.au It would suggest this is systemic... Ed to correct partial quote.

The ABC did do a story last year on greyhound wastage, people were outraged at the death of thousands of greyhounds for about 5 minutes and then it was business as usual Yes, but this time there are names attached to those who are doing this and indisputable evidence available. It is up to every one of us to make sure it isn't just business as usual - now we all know the truth. Well said Do your research there are plenty of names of trainers all over this country that take greys in to be euthed at greyhound vets every single day. Not one or two half a dozen at a time, that's how got my Maddie. So what's your plan of attack? I'm not being smart it's a genuine question to both of you. Hazy you're right. About 20,000 greyhound puppies are born each year in Australia. A fraction of those are racing, and less than 500 make it into greyhound rescue and overall about 2000 end their lives in loving homes. No prizes for guessing what happens to the rest. Your question is a good one I need to think about... adopting a grey and promoting their adoption after Mac falls off his twig would be a start...

Hi Krislin, The Victorian Integrity Commissioner is calling for people to come forward - you might want to consider making a submission - and I hope you do. where did you see the call for people to come forward? Perhaps wreckitwhippet can report, every trainer she knows does it. With what evidence ? I'm sure as hell not going down a dirt road at the end of an industrial area with camera in hand to film it. I have already reported dogs not being kept to the required standard, sent photo's (risked being caught getting them). They were living in a paddock without kennels and some others were living in smaller runs, with overgrown grass and no kennels. They are still there living the same way. If the authorities want to stamp out corruption and cruelty, then they need to get off their arses and get out there, as suggested with random inspections. Agreed. There is a formal investigation underway in Victoria and the Victorian Integrity Commission is asking for information and for people to come forward. You can give information anonymously as well.

The Victorian Integrity Commissioner was on ABC 24 this morning and gave the 1300 number and email for people to come forward if they had information. They would then investigate the validity of the information.

Happy to agree to disagree raz.

Depends how evolved you are I think.

The ABC did do a story last year on greyhound wastage, people were outraged at the death of thousands of greyhounds for about 5 minutes and then it was business as usual Yes, but this time there are names attached to those who are doing this and indisputable evidence available. It is up to every one of us to make sure it isn't just business as usual - now we all know the truth. Well said