Rascalmyshadow

29 minutes ago, Papillon Kisses said:

Rascal, if things don’t work out, look up Family Paws Parent Education. Several of the Aus people do Skype/phone consults (if you enquire, they may not advertise it). They specialise in this stuff.

 

I second switching to soft flaps. We had to do that for Mal though we used a light clear plastic material... kind of like a plastic tablecloth but clear. I think people use it to protect tables but still see them? Don’t know the name!

Thanks and yes I know the plastic stuff you are talking about, hopefully changing over to something like that won’t mean the chooks will work it out, they are pretty smart.

I never worried about the dogs using it, normally I just let them out when they ask, the only reason we put it in was so the cats could go in and out without the chickens getting inside.

The shower curtain is a great idea, that might work for my female cat, she won’t use it either.

This happened to my old next door neighbor, they were told they were buying a little Jack Russell x, dog kept growing and turned out to resemble a GSD kelpie mix, they ended up rehoming it because they weren’t in a position to accommodate a large dog (dog was closer to GSD size than kelpie size).

Thank you I’ve spoken to a few people today, only one sounded perfect but she isn’t sure if he’ll work out because he doesn’t use the dog door, I’m going to give it another try over the next few days and see if I can persuade him to go through it.

The others although nice people don’t sound like he is suitable for them.

Thank you I’m normally quite resilient but being quite pregnant (only 12 weeks to go) and having to make such a horrible decision is taking its toll without the added stuff

I have decided to leave the group, I don’t have the mental energy to deal with so many nasty people.

i guess if the few I’ve spoke to in person don’t work out we’ll just get on with life and do the best we can for Hugo.

Hard to believe people think I should give him away for nothing especially not even knowing how much I am asking for him.

I have finally got up the courage to put Hugo up for adoption on the suggested Facebook page, I have numerous great sounding homes to chose from so hopefully one will be just right.

i now feel, sick, nervous and can’t sleep.

Hi sorry for not replying, I don’t have any breeder connections or any other real connections in the animal industry, when I gave up rescuing then grooming I completely removed myself from the dog world (except these forums).

Not all of these xbreeds/mongrels do have lots of health issues and a lot of them have great temperaments so unfortunately that isn’t a great argument to the general public.

I love both purebreeds and xbreeds (some more than others) and I think there’s a place for both, providing they are health tested and bred from dogs with sound temperaments, the issue is mass production and breeding for $$$$ and that happens in both.

I’m struggling with letting go so I haven’t put him on there yet, everyday I think about it but just can’t seem to take the next step.

If you teach her to use an indoor toilet why not give her run of the house once she’s 100% reliably toilet trained.

No dog should spend more than a couple of hours a day locked in a room or pen.

It’s really good news your girl is improving, our previous old poodle girl fell off the bed one night (she was almost blind) and injured her neck, all the vets would do would give her pain relief, we took her to the Chiro which had much better results.

I would also recommend if possible take her to see Michelle Monk at Dogs in motion, even if your girl is improving she will be able to assess her properly (better than the standard vet) and give you an ongoing management plan.

I have joined the group that powerlegs suggested, I’m just looking at as many options as possible.

What is rescue network?

On 24/08/2018 at 7:23 PM, mingaling said:

Message @Troy and see if you can put him on the breed rescue page on DOL. I was able to list a couple of pure breed rescues that came through on there a few yrs ago. https://www.dogzonline.com.au/breeds/rescue.asp

Unfortunately Troy has turned down the request as it’s a private rehome, thanks anyway for the idea.

11 hours ago, Her Majesty Dogmad said:

The Facebook page that Powerlegs shared is where I post all Poodles looking for homes.  There would be heaps of members in VIC just waiting for a poodle.  Ask a lot of questions - with poodles, I look for breed experience, ask for a groomer's reference, a vet's reference and I do a yard check.  I want to know they've been properly groomed.  I've rescued a few poodles and they've always been badly matted and in need of a dental so I want to find the very best for them next time around.

Thanks I’ve never used Facebook for anything like this.

Yes I’m going to be very thorough since I’ve had the same experience, when we were rescuing almost every poodle we took in were matted wrecks with ear infections and bad teeth, also saw so many neglected all the years I was grooming.

They are high maintenance in every way, one of the reasons I am so scared about rehoming, at least when I was working the majority of fosters came back to me for grooming so I could keep an eye on how they were being cared for.

12 minutes ago, mingaling said:

Message @Troy and see if you can put him on the breed rescue page on DOL. I was able to list a couple of pure breed rescues that came through on there a few yrs ago. https://www.dogzonline.com.au/breeds/rescue.asp

Thank you had not considered that at all.

Thank you, do you know how that particular group works.

Was going to do that but it seems there is no poodle rescue in Vic (I was the one that used to do a lot of the poodle rescues) and I have no idea which other rescue groups to contact, in my experience a lot of them are not very approachable.

After much consideration we have decided rehoming Hugo is the best option for him and ourselves, we have been working on his behaviour with my young daughter and although his reactivity has improved he has started to pee on her stuff as well as on my pillows, clearly there is jealousy and he is not 100% coping with having a toddler in the house and myself being pregnant, I think things are only going to get worse once there’s another baby in the house.

I need to advertise him but as far as I know the only options are Gumtree or the trading post, can anyone give me any other ideas, I’m not handing him over to a shelter or rescue group, I would like to put him on pet rescue but since it’s been a few years since I’ve done rescue myself, I no longer have an activated account.

2 hours ago, PANDI-GIRL said:

@Rascalmyshadow  What do you use for a snack before bed & how much.

 

@crazydoglady99  So you feed 4 small meals a day,  I find it hard keeping portions small enough for  Pandi,   I love feeding her,   also I don't want her to put on weight & get fat.

 

Thanks for the help & advice   

Before bed we used to give just a few dry food bits since they would only get a little (soaked)dry food with their breakfast, I found it was easy to portion out for such little tummy’s.

Even when we had big dogs they were fed twice daily, I don’t agree with once daily feeding for any dog but I’m sure plenty of people would disagree.

As for the peas and lentils debate I don’t know, growing up before all this research was done our family dogs were fed everything (including sharing chocolate) and they rarely got sick.

Our boys get breakfast around 7:30, snack 12:30-1:00, dinner 6:00-6:30 and when we had the tiny dogs (under 3kg) I would give another snack about 10:30 before bed.

Having owned tiny dogs for quite a few years I found feeding two main meals a day with a snack in betweeen and a snack before bed works well.

Even now the boys are 4kg and 6kg so small but not tiny, I still feed two meals plus midday snacks.

Oh and to add I don’t like free feeding, most of the dogs I met that got fed like that were over weight, also leaving dry food out all day sends it off not something I would want my dog eating.

10 hours ago, alpha bet said:

Like in any profession, there are good and bad .... and the indifferent.... Vets are no different.

Personally it is not a problem for me as I learn as much as I can about my breed and health issues, so that I am equipped and ready to question any of the vets.

However as a professional Trainer and also as a breeder - My biggest issue is that most of the public are guided by the vets and believe the statements given as gospel... however the vet has a tendency to give throw away lines without giving the clients the full breakdown.... also there is minimal time that Vets spend with clients to cover the health aspects with their animals.

Now when I talk with my training and boarding clients or when we have Breed Information Days is that I now have to go thru the various aspects of health to give as much information and references to provide the alternatives to the 'Marketing Hype" that is being feed to the vets and hence being passed to the public.

 

My main beef with the Vets is on the following topics.
1. DESEXING - Vets still seem to insist on puppies need desexing at 5-6 months.... often using scare tactics of - prevents cancers,  it prevents males from marking and reduces aggression issues... Note all of this is actually showing up to be incorrect information yet most vets seem to be completely obsessed with this.....

2. VACCINATION - Seem to be ready to throw around the annual vaccination and no further discussion, very few seem to offer any alternative information.

 

3. DIET REQUIREMENTS - it is almost standard to hear vets reciting what we read on the packaging and in the Pet Magazines... "dry food has all the nutrient value your dog will need"..... "use a good quality dry food (just like the one we have here on the shelf)"....... "don't feed human food it is unsafe for your pet"...... "don't feed raw diets"

 

I have met some great vets... both going back to the 70's and 80's and also some now... I am sure there are many... but as we see Commercial Companies start to take over local vet practices we are going to find less and less good vets as they will just become employees of the Corporate and hence will be hamstrung my the idea of producing profit.

 

All those things are where I have clashed with vets, especially when working in a clinic, I struggle to understand how someone can spend so many years and money educating themselves and in the end don’t do any of their own research and instead believe only txt books and drug companies.