Danielle

It's his quick. The same as the pink part on our nails, don't cut it as it will bleed, only trim the white tips off. ;)

Oh yeah and as for kids not being safe around dogs, that BS. We have five muttlys and our six year old daughter has grown up with them. She's very dog savvy and tells all her little friends the rules about how to act around dogs when they come for playdates. This kid is gonna turn out to be an amazing dog owner, she's better with dogs than most adults I know. Sure there's been a few incidents with my old ACD nipping her but we just make sure that they don't interact unsupervised. All is well here. ;)

As a kid we had a toy poodle and a Rottweiler. The toy poodle used to nip and bite us kids but the rott was amazingly gentle, I used to do everything with her, wash her, walk her, feed her etc. I remember making little jumps and stuff and doing wannabe agility with her. She was the perfect dog. Our toy poodle used to beat her up regularly. Go figure. Your friend is wrong.

Question for anyone with experience. Is a general heart stick humane? Is it legal in Australia? The reason I ask is that I'm on another dog forum from the states and from what has been said there the heart stick has been banned in different counties due to being cruel. Can anyone enlighten me on the facts of this way of pts. What does it involve and is it painless?

Dobesrock - My heart breaks for you and your family, may you feel peace soon. I'm so sorry this has happened to you and your kids. Sometimes there is no reason for these things, they just are. My thoughts are with you and your family at this terrible time.

Tony are you affiliated with Cesar Milan?

Ok so if dogs don't have specific memories then why do they grieve when their companion dog passes away? When we were kids our toy poodle passed away and our corgi mourned for a long time. She wouldn't eat, she searched the house and backyard. She lost a kilo in two weeks and had to be put on medication to make her eat. Her behaviour IMHO seemed like depression. Within three to four weeks she was back to her usual self. So if it's true that dogs 'live in the moment' and don't have 'memories' as such, then why do they grieve? Shouldn't she have instantly forgotten our poodle and got on with life as normal? I dont agree with that study at all, I believe dogs have a concept of time in the way of their body clock (as do humans) and I believe they do in fact have specific memories of events. I'm not sure if they can predict what will happen in the immediate future, I tend to think it's more of a pavlovian response, but they do have memories I'm sure of it.

Same thing happened to me with one of my toy poodles. Took him to school to pick up lili and all the kids crowded him wanting to pat him. I saw his body language change and he felt threatened. I asked the kids to please back off, they didn't, so I raised my voice and yelled "back off!". It took for me to yell at these kids before they would listen. If they hadn't moved away someone wouldve lost a finger as towards the end he was baring his teeth. He is a great little dog but I thoroughly understand his feelings that day, having about 15 kids surrounding him and hands reaching down to touch him. I've never taken him back to school again as I don't want to put him thru it again. My five year old daughter is very dog savvy, as I have taught her from a young age to respect the dogs personal space etc, but you can't guarantee other ppls kids r the same. Best of luck. Glad uve decided to keep your beautiful boy.

Double post sry!

Firstly I'd like to say, please don't take other members posts to heart, some members on here are blunt and to the point or they have limited time to reply. The reasons behind the constructive criticism is because they care. Now, has he done obedience? If not, try to book him into a class. Lots of classes run on weekends or at night to accommodate working or busy people. Obedience worked wonders for my BC! After that we went on to do agility and flyball. It kept his mind busy and made him a more relaxed dog, we only did it once a week but it was enough to see a change in his behaviour. I also did training in the afternoons at the offleash park or our backyard. We made up an obstacle course (it's amazing what you can make out of scrap timber and PVC pipe)! At the time I also had an ACD who competed as well, and a new baby to juggle but I did it. I just had to manage my time a little better that's all. Some professional counseling for you would not go astray either. You've been thru a traumatic experience and most likely have mild PTSD. Get yourself sorted, you are important too. I'm rural and have livestock. A working dog with little training and a high prey drive would not be welcome here, don't send him to a farm or he's likely to be shot if he chases chooks, cattle, horses etc. Nipping kids heels is a normal behaviour but one you can train him not to do, it just takes time and patience. Best of luck and I do hope you keep him. My BC was a terrorist at this age but blossomed at age 2 and was an amazing dog to have. Sadly we lost him at age 5 due to epilepsy but he will forever be remembered. I know it's hard to have a high energy dog like this but I do believe if you persevere and put in a bit more effort you will be rewarded with a wonderful dog.

Nope, just saturated fat And your point is? EI - I enjoy crisps too! I love salt and vinegar, that is my weak spot, I could crunch them till the cows come home! Much better for you in my book, sugar is bad for your teeth and at least crisps r made from potatos which are a vegetable! I'll just keep telling myself that eh!

Hyenas aren't hermaphrodites. They have an enlarged clitoris shaped like a penis and capable of erection. They have two sacs behind the clitoris shaped like testes but are in fact just sacs of fat. They mate thru the clitoris and deliver litters thru it too, it's also their urinary tract as well. It's not uncommon for this organ to rip during delivery of puppies and become quite damaged. Their testosterone levels are in fact higher than the males of the species and the males are the omegas of the group and are fiercely dominated by the females. People believed hyena were hermaphrodites until recently when we were able to study them closer. Sorry for the gross details, lol, just wanted to clear that up as a lot of ppl still believe hyenas are hermaphrodites. :D As for this puppy, I'm sorry that this has happened but I'm sure she will still be a special member of your family and you won't love her any less, she sounds like a cheeky little monkey. Enjoy her! I don't think the breeder is to blame as she probably didn't know, but I do think some kind of monetary reimbursement is in order to help pay for the up coming vet bills. Let us know how you go with contacting her. Best of luck.

Where are you located?

I choose not to feed horse because of the conditions they are kept and slaughtered in. Horses are very sensitive and most of the horse meat in pet food was someones beloved pet at one time or another. Ugh. Cattle on the otherhand are bovine by name and bovine in nature. No doubt their slaughter is no less brutal, but I can't imagine a cow or bullock understanding their situation as a horse would. Camels? I've never fed it for obvious reasons.

A "Snuggle" of Chinese crested dogs. My new crestie always wants to snuggle in my jacket at night, under blankets on the couch and on my lap at day, even if it's 35 degrees! A "snuggle" suits cresties down to a T!

If the lumps pull back into the bony area of the chest they sound like lymph glands. That's where the lymphs reside on both sides of the chest. Lymph glands will swell up due to a few causes, the main two being infection and cancer (lymphoma). Cushings and Addisons can also cause swelling of the lymphs in some cases. Get her checked by the vet, they will assess her other lymphs on her body and will possibly do a fine needle aspirate to check for cancer cells. A blood test for white cell count will probably be done too. Do you have a doggy thermometer? If so, check her temp rectally. Not trying to scare you, but this is exactly how things started for Abbi and her diagnosis was cancer. She's still kicking along two years later. Best of luck and let us know how you go.

The worst I've ever heard came from the boss at the first grooming salon I worked at. He informed me that we had a "Doggy-deb-a-doe" booked in. I was like "what?" and he repeated it. Sure enough, half an hour later arrived a "dogue de Bordeaux"! He also used to call Lhasa Apso's "larso apsies", and one day tried to edumacate me that the "Skippakey" (Schipperke) only comes in black. This guy owns a chain of grooming salons and was an absolute moron to say the least.

I agree with other posters, she needs to be pts. I'm so sorry that you are facing such a hard decision, but take comfort in the knowledge that it's the right thing to do. She is obviously not a normal dog who will never fit into society properly. Dogs have no idea of age or death so don't be sad for her, she won't understand. She sounds very difficult to live with and I don't believe any person should feel obliged to live with a dog that is a true burden. When I say burden I mean untrainable and a liability that is not enriching your family life. No doubt your STB is feeling the strain of having her around and you always stressed out, it's not fair on him either. I would not rehome a dog like this, it would just be passing the problem onto someone else. Don't beat yourself up over this, the situation is out of your control and you shouldn't be made to suffer for it. Give her her wings and move on in your own time. Big hugs to you and take care.

I wanted to take photos but I've never met these ppl before, they are neighbors of a lady up the road I know from school. The marks were really weird, not like normal clipper blade marks, more like the clippers they use on sheep, either that or really wide skip tooth blades, but real close to the skin like a 30 blade, bizarre. I did tell the old lady that she has a responsibility to other unsuspecting pet owners and that she needs to put an end to this before someone elses pet is hurt, but she seemed reluctant to do anything. Her husband on the otherhand was furious, I had a quiet word with him and he assured me he would take the dog to the vet. I'm going around there this morning to see their neighbour (the lady I know from school) and I'll casually go over to see how the dog is. I'll try to get some pics. Poor bloody dog, and poor old lady, fancy having to pay for a job like that eh? If I could get my hands on that groomer....

Ok, well a lady from down the road turned up at my place the other day asking me to quickly come and see her neighbours dog, it had been to a local "groomer" and the dog was in a bad way. I was thinking it must be a bad haircut that they want me to fix, but it wasnt the case. This dog (Bichon X Toy Poodle) was shaved off with what i can only describe as a 30 or 40 blade and was cut to ribbons! It had massive gash marks out of its skin and flesh and you could see where the teeth of the blade had dug into it and been dragged down its body. This dog is in a terrible way and i was horrified. Ive never ever in my life seen anything like it. It was like something off one of those rspca case tv shows. Its ears were cut, its face was cut, its whole body was covered in gashes and scratches. It had bits of hair hanging off its legs and bloodied spots on its tummy. It had open wounds all over its body, no lie, there mustve been around 20 injuries to this dog and they werent little superficial grazes either, they were gashes. I told the owner of the dog that she needs to report this but she does not want to "make waves" as we live in a small town. Her husband is absolutely furious and i told him to take the dog to the vet and get photographic evidence of this horrendous abuse. I do not know this groomer but i know where she lives, she works from home. I feel like turning up there and giving her what for, but of course i cant, its not my place to. They have now vowed to come to me from now on for grooming. This woman needs to be shut down, no groomer i know would be capable of such abuse. Apparently her excuse was that the dog was playing up. Well im sorry lady but if you dont know how to handle a dog you should not be a groomer. People like this give us good groomers a bad name and it pisses me off, that dog is someones pet and deserves more respect. The old lady who owns the dog even paid this woman! She paid $40 after her dog had been hacked to pieces. I told her to go get her money back and demand the groomer foot the vet bill but she wont, she just wants to let it go and forget about it. Is there anything i can do to stop this groomer from doing this to someone elses dog? I feel really helpless and worried that someone elses pet is going to cop the same treatment.

I currently have four with a fifth on the way. I am on 40 acres and can happily manage them all, not a problem. I must admit that at feed time it can be a bit overwhelming, but asides from that they all get along perfectly fine and are happily managed. I love having multiple dogs, our pack is very important to our family. Although i will say that five would be my limit regardless on how much land we are on, no more than five.

I had something similar happen to me on NYE. Was coming home from the city and noticed a dog running on the center median strip of a main road. Someone had already pulled over and was trying to help. We pulled over aswell and tried calling and herding the dog to get it off the road. It was panting and shaking and was obviously scared from nye fireworks. Eventually he crossed the road and while I was trying my darndest to stop traffic he was hit by a taxi. People would not stop! I was standing in the middle of a main road at 2am waving my arms around signalling pol to stop but no one did. The dog got up and ran off, god knows what injuries he had. We couldn't find him after that and I never found out what happened to him. Poor little bloke. And I hate dogs in utes! It's an accident waiting to happen. When I was a kid my brothers mate came round with his new puppy, a 12 wk old blue cattle dog called Manson. I was about 12 yrs old and I remember this like it was yesterday, I was inside and heard squeaking, I went outside and saw this little tiny pup was tied up in the back of my brothers friends ute and had jumped and hung itself on the side of the tray. I raced over and lifted him up, he had blood pouring out of his mouth. I remember taking him inside and wrapping him up and trying to help him. At that point, brothers friend came and got pup off me and I never saw it again, I don't know what happened to it. Ever since that day I've hated seeing dogs in utes, it's so bloody dangerous.

Id also be getting her checked out for cushings disease. Cushings comes with different symptoms for different dogs although increased thirst and urination is a common symptom. They call cushings "The great pretender" as it can manifest itself in so many different ways. How is her coat and eating? Does she seem overly hungry or is she gutsing her food?

Ok wow! I've never heard of wet clipping, I'll definitely keep that in mind if I ever need it. Thx! Do you find that wet clipping rusts your blades? That's the only thing I'd be worried about. And yes I agree, the skip tooth blades are soooo handy when it comes to matted dogs, but I could barely even get a skip thru this poor little bloke. :rolleyes:

Jules - by wet clipping do you mean a preclip? (that's wat I call it) I did that, there was no way I could dry him with that coat on, it was too thick and solid. It was awful Jules, it broke my heart, I felt so sorry for him, he is only about 8 months old, just a baby for gods sake. I think these ppl bought a cute little puppy, it was fun while he was little and now that he's growing he's been shoved outside. The novelty has worn off now. Bingo - I charged her $50 last time I groomed him as he was pretty much Matt free and had no fleas, I fined her $5 for flea treatment and $5 for extra time spent due to the state of his coat. It's written on my price list that extra charges may be added if puppy is in a bad way. I know the job was probably worth $80 but I didn't feel right about it. Next time if he is in a state like this I'll either turn her away or charge accordingly.