Danois

Hahaha i know right! couldnt believe it...you try and reply to a friendly post and get assaulted about the way i treat my animals! i wouldnt be on here if i didnt love my dogs! :D Ah no - I meant your post in response :D

what a delightful way to start out on a new forum

Geez - what an old thread to dredge up Wish I could say my original post was a one off but sadly no. I even had to resort to roaring back at a SWF who was nipping around my dog's face (after putting my dog behind me) while its owners attempted without success to recall their dog. I even started to think - ok maybe it's something about my dog's body language etc so got a professional assessment only to be reassured that he offers all the right behaviours. And PS - it is not amusing from my perspective for you to encourage your dog over to mine telling me you want to see what happens (i.e. how your dog reacts to mine).

So sorry Horus - I've only just seen this. Thank you for giving Lucky a great retirement home so he was able to leave this earth as a healthy, happy and loved dog.

God I can imagine, especially because Stormie has become your friend but it's good that you could take some of the heat off by a light hearted moment. Well this is the vet nurse that went and lay down with Angs in his room (he was set up in the spare exam room) and had a nap with him and did his nails so he was not alone. She (along with dogslife) were both there as I said goodbye.

Boo knows how to open the front door (once I have unsniped the lock) - very handy when you have your hands full! He lets out one bark when someone knocks on the door and its loud and deep enough that unless the person is there for a reason like a delivery, they don't knock a second time I had thai food delivered recently and by the time I got to the front door the poor delivery boy had shut the security grill and the gate and was waiting on the pavement

When I lost Angs there was no comment even made re paying the bill. I sorted it out later by phone. I do remember Stormie having to call me to tell me that their usual place was unable to take Angs' body as he was too big and giving me the options. In hindsight - I can imagine it must be hard to call a client on something like that but from memory we had a bit of a laugh about the matter at hand. I have to acknowledge that my vet and Stormie's compassion etc made the whole process a lot easier than it could have been.

I must be a baaad dog owner - I have a black check chain on a black dog.

I'm so glad to hear you say that. A few times I've been waiting at a vet surgery & out comes someone obviously blinded by tears, with their car keys in their hand. Like, once we sat near a 30'ish woman who had the dearest little very elderly, very frail poodle on her lap. I had no idea she was there for the kind PTS. We came out of the exam room with one vet, just as she came out of another room. We walked thro' the front doors together. She was absolutely blinded by tears & her hands were shaking. And no elderly poodle, of course. Yes, car keys in her hand. I asked her, 'I understand, been there myself. Is there anything we can do?' 'No,' she said, 'I just want to get home! I had that little dog since I was a teenager. She was mine & shared every bit of my life with me.' Maybe the vet staff did try to sit her down somewhere & she said the same thing to them. Just wanted to get home. But I worried so much about her getting there safely. That's a really good point. I am glad I had a friend to drive me home (and put me to bed!) when I had to say goodbye to Angs as I was in no state to drive. I would put having to walk out of my vets clinic that night knowing that was the last time I would see him as one of the hardest (and heart breaking) things I have ever done.

The lady behind Porteen told me that Australia is her biggest market after US

Hey - what you doing tomorrow and Thursday - I'm moving house and need a few repairs to some woodwork

Because my dog is part of my life - he is not my life. I holiday without him because I want exactly that - a break from my usual routines and obligations. Add to that I usually head overseas or interstate when I have a holiday and for interstate travel, flying is not an option. Also - I can't be arsed with the logistics of worrying about a dog in a strange property and leaving it alone so I can do things I want to do. Unfortunately it is not as easy with a giant dog compared to a small breed - no stashing them under cafe tables etc He has a ball at Pax's kennels in my absence.

Nope - I knocked that behaviour on the head as a pup as its not something I want my dog to be doing.

But I guess this scenario also depends on how you respond to the events. If my dog was in the car and I ran in to someone I knew I'd say I couldn't stop to talk because my dog was in the car and I needed to get back to him and would suggest giving them a call later. If there were 15 people waiting to be served I would leave my basket of goods, take my dog home and come back and get my shopping (unless of course it was the evening and there was no way the car could heat up). If I'd been gone that long and then realised I forgot something I wouldn't go back and get it without first checking on my dog and if it was something I could do without for another day I'd just leave it. There's no way I would leave my dog in the car for that long in 28 degrees, shade or not, no matter how much it inconvenienced me to leave what I was doing. You missed the point of the post. I was illustrating the point that it is easy for a 'quick' trip into the shops can easily get derailed by things out of your control and time slips away quickly.

Giant breed and a inner city terrace/ semi with a small paved yard but about to move to a place with a paved back and grass at side and front. Dog only uses the backyard to sun bake and go to the toilet. Walked most days - usually with some off lead time too.

I just had a good example of what was meant to be a quick trip to the small local IGA which, I've I'd taken my dog for the trip, would have caused problems. - Parked and ran into someone I knew when I was getting my parking ticket and had a quick chat - Got the few items I needed - usual brand was not in stock so had to look at alternatives - Went to checkouts and 15 people in the line to be served. - Paid then realised I had forgotten toilet paper which I needed so went back - only 5 people this time - Leaving ran into another person and had a chat - Back to the car and I had been away 32 mins - this was supposed to be a quick trip. SMH says its 28 degrees here at the moment.

Whining and destruction is caused by anxiety and does not just happen if you baby a dog too much That's the bit I have found interesting - my house looks like a box city (although I have confined a lot to the spare room with the door shut) but the dog is not interested in it - he'll sometimes be around watching me pack but that's just cos he's being nosy (does the same when I clean and do everyday things). He's never been through a move before. The cat is not fazed - he's moved a number of times before and adjusts straight away to a new place.

I would never leave my dog unattended in the car on a hot day for 10 mins. I plan my errands and dog activities seperately.

I'll watch this thread with interest as I am moving next week and Boo can be an anxious dog. I have organised to work from home for 3 days so will have 6 days there to settle him in and will come and go. Also going to use a bark collar just in case he starts anxiety barking. I will not bring him to the new place until I have got the living area and bedroom set up, his beds down and food bowl out and was then going to make sure we went for some slow walks around the area so he can get used to the new smells and noises.

This is what my dog looked like when he was bitten - no idea what but I suspect a spider. The shot is looking down the underside of his head - the black area in the bottom centre is his jowl. Given the pup's age, vet is the best option.

Its NFS Pet Supplies isn't it? http://www.nfspetsupplies.com/main.htm

If you're disgusted at a dog looking like that you would have reported me to the RSPCA. My dane was leaner than that and that was going through at least 5kg of food a week.

Only wardrobe item here is coats for winter - mainly from Chillydogs in Canada. I don't understand the whole need to dress dogs in clothes (other than for practical reasons). There was however a dress up competition at the same Dane Fun Day which stormie mentioned. It was for a good cause....

I can understand completely why vets stop extending credit and I am not sure why there is an expectation they do. Like stormie said - people would not expect the same from other service providers. Account at Vet The problem is 1 is that the vets have to account for it in their financial statements as would be considered income. The only way it could perhaps work is if a vet ran a trust account like lawyers use. Lawyers hold money on trust for their clients and can only transfer it from a trust account to a general operating account on written instructions from a client. Only issue is that this brings in another layer of admin and costs for a client as trust accounts need to be audited and there is a bit of admin with receipting and posting to the accounts. Suppose it comes down to whether vets should act as our bankers. If you're going to go for an option like this then why not put the same money into a savings account you cannot touch? Pet Insurance If people are not confident in their ability to pay vet bills then Pet Insurance is essential. I know the majority of the insurers require you to have paid first but some will pay a clinic directly. Perhaps this should be looked at further. But then again - why should vets have to hassle insurers for payments, only get some of the money and have to chase a client etc for the money. Charity There will be some genuine cases of people falling on hard times and no longer being able to afford vets - but doesn't Centrelink allow advances against benefits and some church organisations can also help? Education This one is where it starts. Many people do not understand/ appreciate the true cost of owning a dog. I remember a number of us in the dane thread worked out how much we would spend annually and a couple of people considering the breed were a tad horrified and had not realised it was that expensive - for example, a course of ABs for a dane can be close to $100. But it does come down to the basic principle - if you cannot afford to properly care for a pet then you should be considering carefully whether you should have a pet.

Isn't there a Mastiff and Neo breeder out west who has a pool? Ah yep - Mastdoch (guy with NFS Pet Supplies) at Leppington.