Snoopy21

I'm guilty of telling gullible people that our girl is a Greater Southern Snorehound I get bored with telling people that we aren't really sure what breeds she is because she is a rescue. I had one woman argue that there is no way she could be a mutt because she is too beautiful. It would be nice if the rescue dogs in question could be named after some of their characteristics rather than possible breed make-up. I'd adopt a Crazy-eyed Fluffybutt or a Slow'n'sweet Snugglepup anyway! Seriously though - it's about raising the profile of rescue dogs and finding some homes for dogs isn't it?

Love it!!

Our girl had a small lump (it got uglier as we left it) in the same position as Josie. It was a histiocytoma and went away on its own. A friend's GSD had a similar looking lump again in the same place - hers was a Mast Cell Tumour which was thankfully removed with clear margins. I would get it looked at to make sure, then it is easier to fix if it is something nasty.

Find the documents out there on the web about PETA's kill rates at their US shelters. Now there is an eye opener.....

Do you have a Petbarn? The new one in Derwent Park seems to carry a good range of premium and super premium foods. Wouldn't a pet store stock it for you if you were going to buy it regularly? You would think so, but maybe it's too much to ask.

That poor little boy and his family. Sleep peacefully angel.

I'm so sorry the news wasn't what you hoped. Poor Tess. Take some time and think it all through.

Willow's eyes are brown but shine blue at night. Riff Raff's are also brown, but lighter, and his shine yellow/orange kind of colour. It scared the beejeezus out of me the first time I saw it. I assumed they would all be the same colour too. :laugh:

I'll keep my fingers crossed for you and Tess. Having recently had a similar wait myself, I know it is no fun at all.

Sounds like your perception of gradual and hers might be slightly different?? I've always found that my guys don't generalise behaviours that they have learned in close to distance well without a LOT of reinforcement. Might be that you need to increase it by 6 inches at a time rather than 2m. Oh - sorry I explained that badly. I have been creeping back, probably about 10 cms at a time, and that is fine until I get about 2 metres away, which is when she suddenly jumps up when I ask her to do something. I toss treats normally, but maybe a bait station is worth a go, thanks. She also know to to go to her mat, so maybe using the mat as a defined space might work, I'll try that too. Thanks Sheena, I'll pm you for those notes.

She is great with signals on the most part. I've tried increasing distance gradually, but she just doesn't seem to get the whole 'you stay over there' bit. She's really smart, so I'm sure it's something I've done/am doing wrong.

Willow knows lots of commands and tricks and is generally very keen to train (over enthusiastic really!!). Things fall in a heap as soon as I add any distance. I usually try just slightly increasing the distance between us as we continue to work a command, but once I'm about 2 metres away, she jumps up and runs over to me before she does what I ask. What am I doing wrong and how can I fix it? She isn't a performance dog or anything, I just like to be able to keep her brain ticking over and don't want to inadvertently teach my new pup the same thing.

Teach the kids first. If puppy jumps, turn around and cross arms over chest. That way pup is being ignored and hands are out the way. Our pup hates being ignored, and will then try all his other tricks to get attention. As soon as he sits the kids make a fuss of him. We also taught paws up and paws down. Pup was putting paws up on furniture, benches etc as well as people. So we put a cue on it and turned it into a game. If your pup already knows how to sit, then reinforce that heavily, and get him to sit when there are kids.

Amazing news!! You must be immensely relieved. I hope Oscar enjoyed his chicken dinner! Willow sends a big, wet lick for Oscar and hopes that he is healing up nicely.

Thanks everyone - we are very relieved! I'm also very glad that your dog's results were good Lily. Awesome!!

Willow snapped and growled at my BIL because he jumped to his feet, shouted and waved a fist at my DH. Willow jumped I front of my DH (he was sitting on the floor) and growl/barked, and air snapped. We were all taken aback - especially my BIL - he was just repeating a scene from the footy club :laugh: . Willow is most definitely a family dog, sleeps inside, LOVES kids, is gentle with all, but has big prey drive. She is stubborn, and hard in nature, but not aggressive.

Vet just rang, and the verdict is........histiocytoma! So relieved. We will send a sample to the pathologist just to make sure, but at this stage it is looking good.

Willow sends her gentle regards to Oscar, and hopes he is feeling very much better this morning.

I'm still worried. It's either a histiocytoma or a Mast Cell Tumour. The vet did a needle biopsy and will ring me with preliminary results tomorrow. If he finds histiocytes he will send a sample to a pathologist to confirm, and we can leave it and see if it resolves on its own. If he finds mast cells he will remove it and hope it doesn't come back or hasn't spread. He should be able to get good margins, and it seems very much on the surface so I'm hoping that is a good thing. She was such a good girl today - she made me proud. She loves the vets and happily licked the nurse's face as the vet was poking her. :laugh: She has a course of antibiotics to complete now just to make sure we have covered all bases. Thanks everyone - it is nice to feel like Willow has so many people on her side!

Thanks everyone, it really does make me feel better. I am hoping it is something small too and easily fixed since I have gotten onto it straight away. I hope the story is good for your JR too Lily. I'll update after we see the vet this afternoon. My girl is such a sweetheart I hate the thought of anything bad being wrong with her.

Willow has an ugly lump on her flank. We have been watching it for a week or so, but it is looking worse, so I've made an appointment with the vet this afternoon. I thought it was a bite or someing at first, but now it is growing fast and the top has flattened out and is red and sore from her licking at it. I just thought i'd pop in and get some positive vibes for Willow from the people who understand that dogs and owners need these things.

Grrr.......why can't people keep their dogs contained? Poor kids, I hope they are soon on the mend. I can't imagine how frightening it would be to be confronted by a Rottweiler when you are only 5.

Forgot to add that the kids have re-dubbed him "the land shark" for obvious reasons.....

We just named our new pup Riff Raff. We've had some interesting reactions to it but we just thought it suited a tan pup of very mixed heritage from the pound. Plus we LOVE the Rocky Horror Show. :D

Run fast and free little guy.....no more pain.