Michelleva

I think she's trying to find the animal it belongs to.

My sheltie is acting very strangely over a bag of alpaca fleece I bought home today.. she's been sniffing it constantly and whining at it.. I'm convinced she thinks I bought an alpaca home..

This owner appeared to be in his garage with the dog loose.. clearly the dog doesn't listen as he was yelling and screaming for it to come back, it had no intentions of listening to him, it just kept running. I don't think it was being territorial, it just saw another dog and thought.. WOO HOO, lets play.. the problem isn't the dog, its the irresponsible owner. Thanks for the input everyone, it helps to hear others opinons on how to deal with this sort of situation.

I think you're onto something Megan. And instead of stopping and letting the dog circle around us I should have kept calm and walked off. Georgia is also quite reactive to other dogs, but only from a distance, once they are in her personal space she gets scared and thats when she'll hide behind my legs. Whereas if I kept going Georgia would have picked up a more positive vibe from me, which can only help her. My problem was this silly pup was running all over the road and although it wasn't a busy road, I felt compelled to get it home. Even though its not my pet, I didn't want to see any harm come to it either.

I was just in a surburban street and the dog came charging from across the road. He really meant no harm, but it still rattled me, but not for long. Thankfully it doesn't happen too often, I'm just trying to be have a positive impact and not freak out myself, when its unnecessary.

This afternoon I was walking Georgia, my sheltie and out of nowhere this black biggish dog came tearing towards us. My first thought was OMG, its going to attack her, but within about 10 seconds I figured out this was just a young dog just wanting to play.. he was wagging his tale the whole time and walking around us trying to sniff Georgia's butt. She's a sook and tried to hide behind me. Is there anything I can do to try and be a bit more positive, so my dog doesn't pick up on my anxiety? I get very anxious myself when off lead dogs approach, because I don't know them, I'm vary wary. As soon as I realised this dog was ok, I just talked to him and talked to my dog and returned him home. This dog was outside with its owner, and flat out refused to go home regardless of him calling it. I didn't make any further fuss and just calmly walked home. What do you do in that scenario? I never know if I should stand still or keep moving, I feel like I should know where the dogs head is, in case it tries to bite.

Georgia and I love watching The Dog Whisperer... she goes crazy everytime there is a barking dog.

that was so well done..

I can only imagine.

Thanks for your input Colliehound, you've given me a lot to think about.

Ok, thats doable. Thanks Kirsten.

Thats what I'm afraid of Kirsten. How long does it take to become qualified if you are doing distance education?

I'd love to work with animals, I've never had any trouble pilling any of mine and often help out friends with their difficult ones. But the biggest thing I have reservations about is helping in surgeries.. I honestly don't know if I could handle it or not.

Cool, how did you go finding employment at a vet surgery?

I've been thinking about vet nursing a lot lately.. but wondering if I'm too old to start all the training, or even gain employment in the field. I'm turning 40 this year, what do you think? A friend who is a vet nurse, thinks I missed my calling. I don't know, but I can't stop thinking about it either. I've never done any work with animals in a paid capacity. If I did go for it, distance education would be the only way I could do it, as I have school aged kids.

I have a wonderful update to share.. A friend of the lady who passed away just learnt the sad news and her first question was, whose taking the cats? When she learnt no one had put their hand up, she drove straight over there and picked them up. She used to visit her friend and have them sit on her lap, so they will live out their days with someone they already know, who loves them... I'm so happy I could cry.. :thumbsup

They are already on there Mags, but thanks.

yes, as well as the cat forum and FB.. we are trying, but not looking good at this stage. They have a no kill shelter ready to take them in.

I've been trying to find someone to help two nine year old birman girls who've lived the life of luxury and been spoilt indoor kitties. Sadly, they now find themselves homeless as their owner has passed away and there is no family to take them. They are located in Werribbee, Victoria. If anyone knows someone who can give them a wonderful home, I'd love to hear from you. Their time is limited and they'll be going to a shelter today or tomorrow if we can't find someone. Please share around. I can be reached on 0403 869 404.. thanks Michelle

People like that upset me, they have no interest in the dog, they however want to "profit" from it.. or thats what they think. I have a young relative who had the same idea, she had 2 chi's, one boy, one girl.. of course before the girl was one she was preggers.. they were so excited and expected me to be. My prediction came true, the dog was far too small to deliver the babies and ended up in labour at 10pm on a public holiday.. A C section was required to save 2 of the 3 pups and Mum. I'm told the bill was huge. After that they came to their senses and had her desexed. Feel free to share their experience if it helps them realise breeding is not all smooth sailing.

I think you should try skim boarding with her. Check out twig... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nagbJcRe-vA That looks cool, I reckon hubby would even have fun attempting that.

Georgia loves the beach and swimming, but she's a sook and won't go in on her own. So as long as we go in, she'll follow. We did take her to hydrotherapy for a while after knee surgery, and she was a natural then. Each summer we take her down there and she thinks its great, lots of kids, dogs and swimming. She was hilarious on the boogie board, just standing there with a goofy grin on her face.

We decided to take Georgia to the beach this morning. Dogs are allowed off lead till 10am, and with the hot weather, why not. It was great, we met so many lovely doggies, everyone was well behaved and we managed to teach Georgia to ride the boogie board... Hubby was dragging it around in the water while Georgia stood on it, she even figured out how to shift her weight so she didn't fall off. We had a ball and so did the other kids swimming, who all thought it was hilarious. Its a shame we didn't get pics, oh well next time.

That is excellent, I just saw the news on FB.. think I have something in my eye too.. have to agree, that is the best way to start the day..

Thank you for caring Rachel.. little Lucky was just too special for this world.. RIP little one.