Malamum

So sorry for your loss Kavik.

Not always. In our house Indy is higher in the pecking order than Kira and she always submits to him but he knows he is not allowed to interfere with her food and she would never ever do it to him either. Once they have both finished they swap and lick each other bowls but only after the dog who was eating out of it has moved away of their own accord.

I have one dog who is very intelligent and one dog who is very bidible and as the others have said they are two very different traits. The smart one is very good at problem solving, learning new things and following direction as long as it's something he wants to do. He always understands what you want but that doesn't mean he will always do it. The dopey one just likes to please for the most part and if she understands what you want will do as she is told but she gets confused very easily so is often more frustrating than the smarter but more stubborn one. When I used to take Indy to obedience classes it was always one extreme or the other, if he was interested and in the mood for training he would be the star of the class and would often get used as the demonstration dog but if he was in FU mode you couldn't get him to do anything. After being reduced to tears a few times I quickly learnt that if he was in that mode then it was insanity on my part to try and force him to cooperate so we'd just call it quits for the day. However on his good days he was amazing, I still remember learning heeling about turns and we couldn't seem to get it, when I asked the instructor for help she watched us and then cracked up laughing and said "You're the problem, Indy is doing it perfectly and it's you who is turning the wrong way" :laugh: Training with Kira was frustrating in a different way as she never actually listened or followed instructions. She would get so excited and worked up at the prospect of a treat that she would just throw any behaviour regardless of whether it was the one you asked for or not. She's still like that at dinner time, Indy sits and waits patiently, you don't even need to tell him as he knows the drill but she is up and down like a yo-yo as she can't decide if she should be dropping or sitting and which one is going to get her the release command quicker. Another time when we were staying at a property which was not our own we called the dogs in from being allowed to run around free as we wanted to lock them in the house yard so we could go inside. They both came running but as soon as Kira realised she was going to be locked in she went to turn back around and run away as she was obviously not ready to stop exploring and Indy noticed this and dived on her and pinned her to the ground so she couldn't move and held her there until I got to her and made her come inside. So as well as being smart he's also bossy. I've tried the tea towel over the food with both of them and Indy figured it out instantly. It almost broke poor Kira's brain and I had to take it off for her as she just couldn't figure it out.

She's gorgeous!!

Congratulations. I’m so glad it’s worked out so well for you all.

We ended up with Kira via a private rehoming and although it's not what we set out to do, it just ended up that way and it was one of the best things we ever did. She is the most gentle natured dog and we've not had a single issue with her from a temperament or health perspective. We didn't actually get her from the owners though, we got her from the owners next door neighbour. The owners were moving and were just going to take her to the pound but the elderly neighbours who used to pat her over the fence couldn't bear the thought of that so said they would take her and look after her until they could find her a new home, she was about 8 months old at the time. She's now 10 and I still often find myself wondering how someone could not want her. In regards to payment, we did offer the elderly couple some money for her but they refused as they were only interested in her going to a good home.

Another vote for Angus Martin. Highly recommended. And me too! We see Angus down at Hornsby too. Penny Mead who also works at the same practice is also great. If I have to take mine in for anything more than their vaccinations then I ask to see either Angus or Penny.

I don't get why other people are so worried about what others might think. Not all people like dogs and they don't have to. You can't control someone else's reaction to something so ignore them, mind your own business just enjoy your walk. My dogs are now quite old so walks are few and far between but when they were younger we never had any issues with people when we were walking it was just other dogs so if someone picked up their small dog in order to carry it past my large dogs I would actually be relieved rather than offended as at least I knew they weren't going to let them run and launch themselves at my dogs so it was a win/win situation.

I would never occur to me to invite my dog up onto a chair in a vet waiting room and it would never occur to them to try it either. They sit on the floor right at my feet and that is all they are allowed to do. I've also never seen anyone else do it either and if I did I would think it strange if the dog were larger than toy size. It's not really about germs but more about taking inappropriate liberties in a space that is not your own, however with that said I have on occasion had to go into our vet surgery straight from work and I'd not really be happy about sitting in chairs that had had dogs clambering all over them when wearing my work clothes.

Thanks for sharing fieldsy63. Sorry to hear about you boy. The only symptoms Indy doesn't have are seeming to be ravenous (he's never been a big eater though) and excessive panting. I was keeping an extra close eye on him over the weekend and the poor things was spending most of his day drinking a hell of a lot of water then going straight outside to go to the toilet and then doing it all over again. He's also got very skinny and boney (can easily feel his spine and his chest is very boney too) and he's got so many bald patches that he's going to start looking like an overgrown Chinese Crested soon. We've got another vet appointment tomorrow morning so I guess we'll talk about doing the next round of tests.

Thanks guys, I have done a bit of search and read some of the other threads so some helpful info there too.

We play this game too with Indy's thyroid tablets. He knows he has to have them and they are just part of the food routine now. He sits, the tablet gets shoved down his throat, I hold his mouth shut until I'm sure it's really gone down but I still find random pills on the kitchen floor.

Does anyone have any experience with cushings disease? We don't know for sure yet (and still need to do further tests) but all the signs are pointing towards Indy having cushings disease. I can and will ask my vet a thousand questions and I can of course do some reading up on the internet (which I've done a bit) but I was interested in getting some first hand stories of people experiences. The types of things I'm curious about are; What were your dogs symptoms? How many tests were required to pinpoint that your dog actually had cushings and what type? Did you decide to treat? How did treating or not treating impact your dogs quality of life?

We do padlock our gates and we also have a 6ft wooden fences. It doesn't mean someone can't get in our yard but they have to go to a fair bit of effort to do so and there is no way in hell anyone is getting one of our dogs over the fence.

We have a dog door so they just come in and out as they please, so nothing changes for them if we are home or if we are out. We baby gate the kitchen off from the rest of the house though so they are limited in that regard.

I don't do barking dogs at all so that would drive me absolutely mental. My dogs don't really bark but one them will go into a bit of fence war with the dog behind us but I call him inside immediately when that happens.

Yep, another one here who is not messing with nature. My dogs were bred for the cold but I do truly believe their coat insulates them against the heat too. The trick is to not let their body temperature raise too much and if they start cool they seem to be able to maintain it just fine. That just means no walks on really hot and humid days and I keep them inside and keep them as calm as possible. As soon as their body temperature raises it takes them forever to bring it back down again. Indy had a hot spot on his back when he was quite young and the vet shaved a very large area of his coat. It never grew back properly and we kept having reoccurring issues in that same area as he didn't have his coat to protect him. Even today his coat is terrible and it gets really dirty and all sorts of plants and prickles stick to him and I'm forever picking at him to try and get it all out. Kira on the other hand still has a beautiful thick double coat and although she sheds like crazy her coat does it's job and protects her, everything just slides straight off and she always looks clean.

I do know there was definitely surgery involved but I don't know the specifics other than it was on one hand. Maybe is was just bad luck that rather than a clean puncture wound a tendon in the hand got torn or something. I'm really just speculating now though.

I actually know this person. From my removed position (I've not seen her in person in months and don't really know her that well, but I did hear about the situation through the grapevine), I think it's just a case of someone getting in way over their head and when it comes to siblings and the likelihood of fights, you don't know what you don't know. I also met the puppies in question once and gave them pats and cuddles and it's a real shame that things have turned out they way they have. As it is, I have two dogs of my own who fight from time to time so I know what it's like to a certain extent. It just takes a bit more time and effort but it can be managed. I think people only ever hear the good stories though and see pictures of two dogs snuggled up together and think that is what life with multiple dogs will be like. No one ever assumes the worst will happen to them.

Yep totally agree and it's not limited to small dog owners having to worry. The amount of times I've had small off leash dogs launch themselves at my dogs mouth is crazy.

Indiana is named after Indiana Jones. In the third movie we learn that Indiana was actually Indy's childhood dog's name and that the dog was an Alaskan Malamute so we figured it was perfect. There is no story behind Kira's name, we just liked it.

I totally agree with this and even if it was "staff" who caused this it's still the business owner's responsibility to ensure they run a safe salon and that staff are hired with appropriate experience, trained properly and not left unsupervised if they have not yet gained enough experience etc. I'd want more information about why this happened such as; Why do they use choke chains in the first place? Is leaving a dog on the table standard practice? If not why did the staff do so and think this was ok? Are staff not sufficiently trained? Is the owner so removed from the grooming floor that they don't know what's going on? I personally don't know if I'd sue as I'm not sure I'd be interested in compensation but I would fully go after them to ensure that they are either shut down or measures are put in place to ensure it can never ever happen to another dog. I don't get my dogs groomed professionally but the boarding kennel we use send them home bathed, after this I'm leaning towards telling them to forgo the bath.

I'm so so sorry. It's really really scary to think that this type of stuff can happen. Where the hell was the groomer and why was he left alone for so long?

Looks gorgeous!!! I love it when everything is covered in snow and there is bright blue sky. When I visited my Aunt in Germany they had a massive dump the night before I arrived and the the day I got there it looked like your pictures. I was so excited I even volunteered to shovel the driveway and the footpath in front of their house. :laugh: