Rascalmyshadow

Thanks for all the replies. Love the photo's of all the foster failures they all look so happy. At this stage I'm leaning towards Grayson staying. When he arrived one of his main problems was severly infected ears, for the first few days it took two of us and we had to muzzle him just to put the drops in they were so sore. Yesterday I thought I would try plucking them (on my own) since it's been a month with no infection, I was so suprised when he let me with no fuss, even though it sounds minor it showed me how much trust i've gained from him over the last few weeks. His skin has also dramatically improved but looks like it will be an ongoing problem, his teeth have been cleaned and all the redness is gone from his gums but also another thing that will need to be monitored and maintained. At least if he stays with us I know he will be looked after and never end up in such poor condition again. Hopefully we can stop the boys peeing on things, I think my youngest boy is the main culprit I have caught him twice now.

I would like to know how others decide if a foster will be a keeper. So far I have managed to let all my rescues go even though a couple of them could have become failures quite easily, if they had fit into our home environment better. Now I have a dilemma, I have a little poodle here that is 7 years old and when we took him in 6 weeks ago he was scared and in appalling condition. Now he is a bouncy happy boy in almost excellent condition, we are still working on some skin issues. He reminds me soo much of my first poodle and I dont think I can let him go. He is good with the kids and other animals and fits in very well. Problem is now we have 5 dogs which is our limit so no more rescues. Four are boys and a couple of them are now peeing on things inside, something we are working on. Both my girl cats are a bit upset with having a new dog around. I have a couple more weeks to decide but my heart is having fight with my head and I'm finding it hard to make a choice. What should I do?

I regret rehoming the only greyhound we have ever rescued. She was (still is) the most beautiful blue with soft orange brindling and her name was Pheobe (now Ruby). She had the most wonderful temperament, great with cats, kids, little dogs and pretty much anything else she met. She also had very good recall. As soon as she arrived we bonded and she stuck to me like glue, unfortunately at the time she was one dog too many and we rehomed her to a wonderful couple with a Weimaraner and two cats. I have had updated pics sent and she looks very happy and well cared for but I still wish it was our couch she was curled up on.

We do have a baby gate so the cats have part of the house, they also have the sideway and front yard. I will watch closer to see who's starting it then work with that dog first

We have 4 cats, all were here before the last three dogs. The two boys are larger than 4 of the dogs and are very confident so the dogs leave them alone. The two girls are smaller and not as confident and the dogs are starting to chase and annoy them which is making them more nervous. All dogs were raised with cats and are fine it's only when there all together. I'm not sure of the best way to train them to stop it.

Sorry deleted post

Check out www. dublindog.com there no stink collars are great and I can pm the website of an Australian supplier to anyone interested.

Trinabean thank you for all those pricings. Cat lady I would advise you stop using aloveen it is oatmeal based which actually promotes yeast growth. This is the reason we are using malaseb - to kill off the yeast and tea tree shampoo to sooth the skin and also it is anti bacterial.

I am very interested in these replies as we are now going through the same problem with our new boy we rescued a couple of weeks ago. He was a mess, yeast all over his body and coming out of his ears. I wash him in malaseb every second day, then re wash with a tea tree based shampoo, this is helping a lot but allergy testing souns like a good option. Sorry to hijack the thread but does anyone know of any good specialists in Melbourne and also approximate costs.

No worries, vets can be very frustrating even when you work in a vet clinic. I have come to realise over the years you need to do your research before seeing any vet. It took me 6 months to finally convince them to do my girls first surgery, they kept telling me it was only a partial rupture, turns out it was fully ruptured. Poor girl has more arthritic changes because it was left too long.

I have put my guys back on earthborn holistic and they are all back to having thick healthy coats and none of them are scratching. And they are happily eating it.

The vets suspected what the problem was but it wasn't confirmed until they went back in. If the knot of the suture material is poking or pulling the skin that can cause enough discomfort to look like a major problem, I experienced this myself after having a Caesarian.

The suture could definitely be causing this much trouble. My old poodle had her first cruciate surgery three years ago, about 12 months later she became very sore and lame on that leg, we though she had redone the cruciate but she hadn't. When they went back in the nylon suture had broken through and had to be replaced.

My Muttley has an obsession with mine and everybody else's hair, he will jump up on the table or couch just so he can try to eat it. Rascal greets us ( if we've been out) with a toy in his mouth, his lips curled into a smile and making weird noises all at once. The other dogs are all normal lol.

The dogs I have now would be good to alert of any danger and help keep me warm but that's about it. I would choose my old standard poodle, she had a very high prey drive and would hunt anything that moved, she was very loyal and always came back when called and she was an exceptional guard dog. Not sure how I would maintain the coat however.

Thank you. He looks like such a wise old man. He actually makes my 12 year old poodle look young. He looks better from the front he has less hair at the back and a lot of it is brown from where he's been chewing himself. A couple of weeks and he'll be a new man .

I thought I would introduce the newest member of our 4 legged crew. This is Grayson, he is a 7 year old (very fat) toy poodle. He belonged to a customer of mine, due to a bad family breakup he ended up needing somewhere to live. He has arrived in appaling condition, rotten teeth, badly infected ears, covered in fleas and horrible skin. We took him to the the vet Thursday night and have now started ear drops, Malaseb/Nutriderm baths every second day, he has advantage for the fleas and next week he goes in for a dental and possible ear flush. For the first two days he was so terrified we could hardly get near him, but with lots of encouragement and rewards he is now coming up for pats and playing with the other dogs. He has quite a personality and greets us at the front door with a toy in his mouth. He is supposed to be a foster but I have my doubts he will be leaving.

I homed a 1 year old poodle to an 84 year old lady, she is turning 90 this July, the dog is kept in exceptional condition, walked usually twice a day and she lives on her own. I groom the dog every 5 weeks and have done since she adopted the dog. Don't assume anything until you know the person there are many capable elderly people out there. Never mind the offer.

There are many places to walk around here without constantly running into off leash dogs. My old standard poodle was dog and (sometimes) human aggressive, I had certain times (early morning or late at night) and places where I knew I could walk her safely. If I walk all 4 dogs on my own I also do things different than if I have 1 or 2, or if my husband is with me. It is definitely a situation that is different depending on where you live and what your dogs are like.

From some one that had been on both sides I think the biggest problem is the application forms, I think a phone call first is a much better option at least potential adopters have a chance to explain their circumstances properly before spending a lot of time on paper work. A lot of rescuers don't take into consideration how emotional looking for a 4 legged family member can be especially is someone gets turned down multiple times or never gets a reply. Only once was I abused because I refused a family to even come and look at a dog I had for adoption, they had 4 or 5 young kids and even though I had advertised her as being good with kids (she was great with mine) I felt that many would be too overwhelming. Rescuers need to be friendly and accessible to the general public otherwise they will find easier less desirable options.

Would he be interested in a poodle? I am about to take in a customers 7 year old toy poodle to foster until the right home comes up. The reason he is being surrendered is because there has been a marriage break up and the owner has a couple of you children and isn't coping.

I agree no dog should be allowed to approach another dog on or off lead without the owners consent. Just because people have their dogs off leash doesn't make them all irresponsible idiots, mostly around here we all call our dogs back if we see another dog and they're all put on leads. We are a quiet beachside community not an inner city suburb, it is a very friendly area and everyone knows everyone. We have numerous great off leash areas and at busy times you would be lucky to see anymore than 5-6 dogs at the one park. Just because others are unlucky enough to live in areas where it is impossible to have so much freedom doesn't mean us lucky ones should be criticised.

Just to clarify I didn't have my own dogs at the beach but everyone lets their dogs off at our local beach it's considered normal around here and most people have no issues with it. If you go up the beach to the pier and shops it's completely different, most dogs are kept on lead.

I also groom a huge number of dogs from pet stores for the same reason. I know I will get shot down for this and it is hard to admit because I know better but my youngest boy is a pet shop puppy. If I wanted another poodle I would have gone to a breeder because I have owned them for so many years and have enough knowledge and confidence to approach them. But we wanted a little x breed that was suitable with the kids and I honestly just couldn't face being rejected so when my son and I saw Muttley we fell in love straight away, his priced had been reduced dramatically because he'd been there so long and we both felt very sorry for him.

I dont come into rescue very often anymore but after reading the op I just wanted to say you have done such an awsome thing for this person. Over the years my husband and I have done a lot of private rescue, mostly poodles and a few small fluffies here and there. I have adopted out dogs to a few people that had very bad experiences with shelters and other rescue groups. One couple had a male pom and was looking for another small dog as a companion but every dog they liked was male, they went to multiple shelters and rescues and were turned down by every one of them because they were told not to keep two males together. They ended up adopting a little 'male' toy poodle x from us and the boys became best buddies and have a great life. I still groom them regularly. Another lady was turned down due to her age, she adopted a little toy poodle from us that I was worried would never find a suitable home, he has extreem fear of unfamiliar people especially men. He is now one of the most spoilt dogs I've met, she is home 24/7 with him, he gets multiple walks each day, if she needs to go out to any family functions he comes and stays with me, she brushes him everyday and kkeps him in beautiful condition, I pick him up every 5 weeks to be groomed (she baths him inbetween). She turns 90 in July. She has actually asked me if she can put in her will that if anything happens to her he will stay with me for the remainder of his life. My best mate went to the local shelter to adopt a cat, he owns a (plant) nursery and lives on the property so there is someone there 24/7, he also has a little dog. He was turned down because of where he lives even though the cat would have had the best home. In the end he bought a kitten somewhere else and it is very spoilt and gets heaps of attention, is also best mates with the dog. When I was working at the vet clinic I heard numerous other stories as well and many people gave up on rescue/breeders due to the way they were treated.