Ker

My vote is for the lappie too. I mean, how can you resist this?

Thank you! That is exactly what I was after. The council sites didn't have info on what exactly substituted a nuisance barker. My dogs are definitely not nuisances. When they are let out in the morning, my lappie will have a run and bark, because she's happy to be out, but she settles down quickly. The malt is a bit of a barker but she will stop if I tell her to. And both bark when someone comes to the door. That is about it. I'm very mindful of them barking and correct them. I'm actually wondering if they have the wrong person. There's a dog somewhere at the back that alternates between crying and barking. ALL day.

Yes, on my lease it includes the dogs. There was nothing on there that I had to pick up their droppings or anything about fleas. I do and the lawnmower man can and will attest to that. When she was here yesterday she said she doesn't see any problems. The dogs did bark when she knocked at the door, but stopped when I told them to. I'm hoping I don't get a council visit.

I assume my friend does. And I'm pretty sure you can find out through the council.

I had a visit from the real estate person in charge of my house yesterday. Apparently, there was a complaint put in about me. There was a lot to it, including that I have been abusing people. I have barely spoken to anyone around here! One neighbour, I took my kids over to apologise when they were caught throwing plums over his fence and the lady on the other side I have spoken to numerous times, but we get along very well. Anyhow, the person also put in a complaint that my dogs bark. Yes, they are dogs and they occasionally bark. I am very mindful of it and always quiet them when they do. They are not barking while I am out as they are crated inside whenever I am not home. They sleep inside so it's not a nighttime issue either. I have a feeling I know who did this. It's either an ex friend who I had an argument with, or it is the strange man next door. He told my son to shut up some months ago. He was playing on his swings and not making a huge amount of noise. My RE agent and I get along very well and I told her I think I know who did it, and that it was an ex friend. The complainant didn't give a name - naturally. What could happen from here? Am I likely to get in hug4e trouble? How much does a dog have to bark to be considered a problem?

Ok, Vic has just messaged me and she's a little upset. The spot for Kasper has fallen through. Can anyone take him until she gets a place? He is an entire male who is dominant.

I don't think she needs anything. It was her birthday yesterday so I basically bullied her into coming out for coffee lol. She's still lookimg for a rental and work has been going ok.

Since the change in size, I would say a male lappie. They are the consummate kids dog! Mine adores my kids, over me. She is very dog social and even likes cats. Actually she loves everyone and everything so she is no good as a guard dog. They come in a HUGE array of colours. Temperament is second to none. They do shed, but only once a year. The hair gets caught in their guard hairs and needs to be brushed out so it doesn't matt, but a good rake brush makes quick work of it. Another bonus is they don't tend to smell doggy, even when they haven't been bathed for a while. I haven't met a lappie owner who isn't head over heels and doesn't want another one.

So sorry Teebs, but thank you for trying so hard. RIP Tip. Bugger you DA, now I'm sooking.

Thank you everyone for your lovely words and commiserations. Although I only had him for 2 and a half years, he was so sweet and so silly you couldn't help but fall in love with him. Cats are special, and Raggies even more so, He was living with my sister (also a DOL member), due to not being able to have cats here atm, so she was the one syringe feeding him and shoving Nutrigel down his throat. So she also had to deal with this in a BIG way. It's only thanks to her and her DH that he survived this last 2 weeks. When she called yesterday and said he was really sick, I thought that I would be having to take him to the vet to have him PTS. Nova spared me that, and I'll forever be thankful to him. I took him to the animal welfare to have him cremated (I do it with all my pets) and the woman there was SO lovely. She was extremely sensitive and explained what would happen and said they were very respectful and never treated the animal roughly, even though they were gone. She made me feel very at ease. I chose a lovely wooden box for his ashes to be returned, and I just have to think of what to write on the plaque. I also kept a piece of his fur to have with the box. Kids were very different. My son's eyes got huge, he got quiet and said he would miss him. My daughter asked a million questions "Why did he die, can we go see him, why was he sick, where is he, can we play with him when he comes back, can we open the box?" Blah. She's a horror.

I saw you on the Mildura Pound website back in September 2008 and fell in love. You were a big, very p*ssed off looking blue point Ragdoll stray. I called and put my name on you straight away. Craig, the ranger was dubious. He said "Are you sure you want him? He's not a very nice cat". You were just scared. I didn't care. I wanted you. The vet estimated you at 6 years, but I was doubtful. I believe you had been used as a breeding stud, hence the name - Casanova, Nova for short. You came to live with me, perhaps as a foster, with cat flu. I nursed you back to health and for the first two weeks, I thought I would definitely have to rehome you, as you appeared to hate me. After that time, you waltzed out of "your room" and joined the rest of the tribe and that was it. You stayed. You loved Wish, the Birman kitten. You were the first to welcome him to the house and you could usually be found curled up with him. If it wasn't him, it was our maltese, Indi. You were Indi's favourite hump toy. You put on weight and blossomed into a lazy, fat, 9kg boy. My beautiful boy. Apart from a couple of lesser bouts of cat flu, you were extremely healthy. Nothing sated your appetite. You still adored all other cats, but humans were more of an annoyance. I remember laying on the lounge a year after I got you and you jumped up, laid on my chest and went to sleep. 9kg of cat on your chest isn't too comfortable, but I was too scared to move. It was the first time you had ever done it. 4 short weeks ago, you got sick. Cat flu again, but this time, it was more. You had lost a LOT of weight. We went off to the vet and got you antibiotics. he vet's exact words were "He is a very sick cat. There is something more there. I suspect Chronic renal failure". If the vets estimate was right, 8 and a half is quite young for CRF, but you were older than that, weren't you? I told you then, through copious tears, that if you needed to go, that was ok. If you didn't want to fight anymore, let go and I would be ok. Being syringe fed water and Nutrigel wasn't to your liking, but you were too ill and too sweet to fight. ntibiotics fought off the flu. You seemed to turn a corner, started drinking, eating tiny amounts and having a bit more energy. This morning, you were bad. I was rushing to get you to take you to the vet and you died before I got there I'm so sorry I couldn't help more. I'm so sorry I didn't have a magic pill to make you live. We gave it a try, tried like hell to save you, but this battle we lost. I hope your last 2 and a half years was better than your first part of your life. Thank you for teaching me the Ragdoll magic. Thanks you for the bumbling silliness that you blessed me with for 2 and a half years. Thank you for the memory of the Ragdoll paws thumping down my hallway. Thank you, more than I can ever say, for going on your terms. I didn't want to have to make the call and you ensured I wouldn't. Thank you for being you, my special fat boy. Your pawprints will forever be etched on my heart.

Yes, this is the youngest. She didn't have a name, so I needed to name her. She's very cute!

Miss 4 was playing with the puppy and making silly noises. I asked what she was doing and she said "playing with Anja". About 30 seconds later, she said "look Mummy!" I looked and started laughing and ran to get the camera. Anja does not want to be Miss 4's friend anymore.

Well, he picked up his girl yesterday and she was fine. They ended up charging him $930. She only ended up needing one bag of IV and two lots of meds. She had a little bit of peritonitis starting in the stomach lining, where the infection had leaked through the uterine wall. He's so relieved his dog is ok that he is not fussed about the price. I told him it was far more serious than a spey and if he had got it done AGES ago, before pyo developed, he would have been far better off. It's a lesson learnt, but a hard one for the dog!

Yeah, with a stethoscope

Not an emergency. They booked her in for the next day though. But, I can usually get dogs in for desexing with a days notice. No complications, although pyo is complicated enough. They didn't really explain much. They first gave him a quote of $1,700, offered him finance with GE money (plus 38% interest) and said they could do it for $1,500, then dropped it to $1,200. He's glad his dog will be ok and still put her in after the quote. Maybe a little "I told you so", but I mentioned "well, I told you to get her desexed. That would have been a lot cheaper and better for her".

Yeah I understood that it's more indepth than a spey. But why did they list the anaesthetic separately? And is 2 units IV normal for pyo? And what would be the 3 meds? This vet seems slightly dodgy. She also told him she was doing a health check, checked her heart only and charged him $100 for that!

Yeah this is open and she's a 19kg dog.

A friends dog has pyometra. He took her to the vet last night and she is in now being desexed. He was telling me about the quote he was given and I wanted to check what others have paid for it. His quote includes Anaesthetic costs of $240, pyo removal $455, 3 lots of meds at $100, 2 units of saline $155, plus ear cleaning at a charge of $160, bringing the total to $1,105. Granted, I have never had a dog with pyo, but this seems excessive. He also was given one lot of antibiotics yesterday, so why three lots of meds? Painkillers, Anti inflammatories maybe and ?

No, the dog wasn't chipped. Unfortunately, we dont have the microchipping laws here. He definitely did mention chipping and she will be getting it done.

A friend found a little dog running on the road yesterday. A woman was chasing it, and he stopped without hitting it and spoke to the woman. Apparently, she had found it 10 days earlier, and had it at her house - not notifying pound, vets etc. She told my friend that it wasn't house trained and she was taking it to the pound - albeit 10 days later. Friend took puppy to the vet and had it scanned for a chip - no chip. He left his details with the vet and took it back to his house to look after and hopefully get a call from an owner before taking it to the pound. Today he got a call from a very relieved owner. The kids had accidentally let it out and she had been looking for it ever since. She was a bit perplesxed and annoyed that the last owner had done nothing to look for the true owner. And this is where the gullible bit comes in. Friend asked what breed the dog was. "Oh, it's a Russett". A what? Jack Russell X Basset Hound. He tactfully explained that it wasn't a breed. She told him the full story - they wanted a dog and went to the "most reputable pet store" - Pets Paradise and paid $650 for him! PP told them that it was a "purebred Russett" and for an extra $100, they could get "papers". They got chatting and friend told her about dog rescue and puppy farms. The woman had NO idea and was horrified. It was her dog and when she came to pick it up, she had photos, her neighbour as extra back up that it is her dog, and the stuff from PP. She had paperwork from them that showed her dog was "registered with the Canine Ownership registry". Never heard of that organisation before! Must be a new thing from PP lol. So the upshot is that there is a very relieved owner, reunited with her pup and hopefuly educated a little more as to what happens behind the scenes of the cute puppy in the window industry.

She can't go wrong with a lappie. They shed once a year if she has it desexed. And it mostly gets caught in the guard hairs anyway! They are PERFECT with kids. Mine seeks the kids out, over me. She will go and lay on their bedroom floor when they're sleeping and watches them dreamily. Mine is definitely low drive. She'll go for a walk, and run around the park quite happily, then she's done and just sleeps. Mine mixes well with all other dogs and has gotten out of the destructive puppy chewing stage. They DO need grooming though...brush through a couple of times a week to keep their coat lovely. Another bonus is that they dont tend to get the horrible doggy smell if you haven't bathed them recently. And they do need to be allowed inside. They LOVE being with their family.

Pup and Mum are doing well here. Poor pup is starting to respond to Wombat ( she looks like a baby wombat), so Julie, am I able to name her?

Julie I have a fairly free weekend, so I can help with packing/moving. Let me know.

I sent Heather a message too. I was speaking to her today for about half an hour and her phone was going flat. That could be why.