Legz

Thanks for the replies guys, appreciated. Haha Monah he is the type of kitten who will just literally run circles full pelt around the room leaping and jumping with or without toys with no encouragement from us, we can ignore him completely and he will do it. He will entertain himself if we don't do anything, but we can be sitting quiet and the next thing we know he has latched on to our ankles, or his favorite is to attack when someone is walking past... he hides behind the couch/in doorways and leaps out feral. We have one of those wands with material and a feather on the end... we try to direct his play to toys only not us. We don't play with our hands with him (im going to have to check if the partners parents are doing this though) we try to keep it to toys only. Ill pass on all advise about stimulating him and no shouting when he latches on...he has drawn blood numerous times and its hard not to yelp when hes latched on for the 5th time in 30seconds. In saying that he is gorgeous and has a huge personality and boy does he make us laugh. We never have him and the dog together unsupervised and we keep a close eye on things that hes not pestering the dog to much or the dog isn't getting to excited trying to play back. Its just hard at the moment because im thinking he should run ragged til he falls down exhausted but he gets more and more wound up that after 2 hours of still going mental my partners parents have had enough (cant blame them) and put him back in the crate where he hangs upside down from the top! He also gets to go outside in a secure courtyard with lots of bushes and things to hide/play with for a few hours everyday but still maybe not enough. Do we still use the water bottle or stop that? So far it seems to work when we have it, but if we dont have it near we're not sure what to do. Thanks again!

Hi all, sorry its not a doggy post, its a kitten one as i have no idea where else to ask and lots of people on here seem to have cats and dogs so thought i would give it a crack. We have been given a kitten and we have had him for approx 2 weeks now, we got him when he was 6 or 7 weeks old. Long story short he was found under a hedge one night by my neighbours daughter and taken to the vet who estimated age was 5 weeks. She kept him for just under 2 weeks but her little boy developed a rash and they thought it was cat allergy. Neighbour asked us if we could take him otherwise he was off to the animal welfare league. He was more than likely a stray he somehow separated from his mum. Haha now im thinking maybe it wasn't a rash maybe they just realised this little kitten was very hard work and we got suckered. Now the issue is i haven't had a kitten for years, my last 2 were chinchillas from a breeder and i cant remember much about them as kittens (would have been 7 years old at the time) but they were sweethearts and this little guy seems mental! He is not scared of anything (he was chasing and pouncing on the staffy after 2 days) will purr and smooch and have a cuddle, then like a switch go from purring and snuggling to outright feral, bite your face and claw and attack. It seems like play, he runs feral around the living room (has heaps of toys) but will constantly out of no where attack us, grab arms, legs, pounce at our faces etc. Just sitting down on the couch and playing with toy with him will every time resort to him attacking arms/hands etc. He really bites and wraps himself around whatever body part he has and claws in. It seems like very rough play, hes certainly not scared and you can untangle him and say NO and push him away and he'll fly back at you and grab hold. Even picking him up when he's in a feral mood will result in him latching on and biting. The problem is he seems to be feral most of the time!! What can we do??? We have now resorted to a spray water bottle to spray him when he latches on, is there anything else we should/shouldn't be doing? At night he goes into a crate (extra large is my brothers am staffy cage) and during the day he is either running loose or in the crate (he's at my partners parents house while we renovate ours) so doesn't get to run around all day long which i don't think is helping the issue. How long is he going to be this crazy for?? He certainly doesn't act like a timid stray, more like an in your face tiger. Any suggestions? My partners parents are being great allowing him there but they are getting pretty over being attacked constantly.

CW EW thanks for the offer but i live in SA so just a wee bit far away Lanabanana I guess we thought she was winding herself up to much, she has growled at us of picking her up while she has been playing and doesn't want to stop and has growled when she was lifted onto our laps when she was tired and obviously didnt want to be picked up. They arent usually vocal, my westie doesnt make a noise and we let them go at it pretty hard but when the cairn seems to get really wound up she starts growling and trying to shake the westie. Should we ignore it all? Yeah puppy school she is pretty funny, its when she is off the lead she stalks them. The instructor hasn't said much, just separated them when she started having a serious go at another puppy. And she has growled whilst being held by someone else (they make us handle others puppies) She just kept going, the person thought it was funny and was winding her up so she just kept growling, i was not happy and told her NO and told the person shes not allowed to do that. Now im not sure what to do! Ignore the growling while playing but don't let her growl with us? She really is a sweet, independent, loving puppy and we want the bring her up right lol

Hey all just in need of some advice, we have a 10week old Cairn terrier that is attitude on legs when it comes to taking her to puppy school! She wont really play or run around tail wagging like the other puppies, she either lies at our feet/lap and when she is down she stalks the other puppies! Like stiff legged, tail strait up not wagging and follows them pushing her chin into their necks/faces/backs and she will growl at them. She wont really play at all and she has seriously fired up at growled a lot at the other pups for no reason it seemed. They don't gang up on her at all but she seems either not interested in them at all or trying to be little miss dominant. At home we have an old 15yr maltese x and a 6 month old westie female. She LOVES my dogs and the westie and her play all day, they can be quite rough and if we hear the occasional growl (usually from the cairn) she gets a firm NO and gets lifted for some calm down time. What more socialization can we do? My westie LOVED puppy school and is such a gorgeous little social thing but the cairn seems to hate it! She doesn't seem scared at all, she will sit/lay quietly while the others are around her so we dont know quite what to do. We really dont want her growing to be dog aggressive so any advice please!

Yeah i was in shock myself, i was actually thinking i cant believe im hearing this. What i still cant get over though is after him telling me about 4 times why she shouldn't be on a lead and me nodding and be polite and saying ill take it on board and trying to smile and fob him off a bit he turned so nasty and agro. How is that normal? What normal person does that to someone they don't know? How on earth did he think he had a right to lecture me on his on beliefs then turn so horrible. Very scary, can you imagine if that was a young girl? Im 26, what if that was a 16yr old? Scary.

Wow dont you just love off lead parks I had a run in last night at an SA one where i had to call the police and council after a man decided to call me a c**t about 5 times because i chose to NOT let my 4.5 month old westie who was there for the first time off the leash. She was carried in, put down in a quiet area, walked around, happy to say hello to the smaller dogs etc. There were bigger dogs there going nuts chasing each other and being quite rough and i didnt want her first experience to be a bad one (trying to be responsible). He took it upon himself to have a go, when i politely declined for the 4TH TIME but said i would take what he was saying on board but she wasn't getting off, i explained she was a pup, had no recall, didn't want her getting chased etc. He called her anti-social and it was people like me that cause problems and i will be the first to start screaming if she got hurt - even though its my fault. I wasn't facing him, trying to ignore but he just kept on at me.He started having a real go, very aggressive (nice to pick on the lady by herself with her puppy). After telling him politely to leave it alone, i then got firm and said ive been polite, now your being rude, now its time to mind your own business. He actually kept going kept going, i told him i didn't care what he was saying just leave me alone etc etc. To which he shouted see your not taking it on board your not even listening you don't care about your dog etc. I had enough of taking it so picked up puppy to leave, told him it was dic heads like him that make people not want to come here, he called me a c**t, i said don't call me that, he said why not c**t, told him that i would be reporting it to council and police he said go ahead c**t, i was flabbergasted, and he yelled out seeya c**t ill be waiting here. Completely unprovoked, when someone asks the big hulking man to leave them alone about 4 times and is so polite then finally gets called that in front of others (who said and did nothing) its horrible. Police and council now involved, the council will be going tonight to look for him, and the police went down last night to find him. Thats what they call indecent, so if i see him again im to call, although the thought of going back by myself wont happen. But the police were not happy and taking it seriously. The council were good about it, made a report last night and got a phone call back today so they are being proactive although they did say not much they can do as its not a dog fight etc, which i understand.

This thread is heart wrenching. I have had the horrible loss of 2 dogs, last year my heart dog and then early this year her daughter, they were both 15yrs. WE had 2 very different experiences, jo my heart dog had cancer, dementia and blind (already lost one eye to a tumor) and was slowly fading. She was pampered, coddled and spoilt and preferred to sleep her days away at the end. We Knew her time had come when she stopped eating and we had to carry her out to the garden to toilet (small terrier). We took her to my vet and we stayed with her and held her and spoke to her and she was calm and relaxed and she basically just fell asleep in our arms, very very peaceful. We were all a mess crying and sobbing (whole family) but she was part of the family and used to the crying and cuddles that she got when one of us was having a bad day. My other little dog that went earlier this year had a very sudden rapid decline that involved seizures and sudden loss of vision over 2 days and she was rushed to the emergency vets late at night after a seizure she wasn't coming out of. She was very distressed, panting, hyperventilating and shaking. We were again a mess but knew it was time, she had already been rushed to my vet earlier that day who warned us that we had until he end of the week, if we had known it would be that night we would have had her done at our vets. Anyway we were offered sedation which we agreed to as she was so distressed. She didn't fight it and soon fell asleep in our arms, However when the the euthanasia drug went in she started arching up and screaming/howling, so much so the vet tried to hold her mouth shut (i felt like punching the vet for this) i was so angry. We just kept holding her and talking to her and kissing her and she passed away but it was horrible and very different from the fist time. The vet and vet nurse were cold and uncaring and just didn't seem to give a sh*t. As for souls, well i will just tell about a dream i had with my heart dog. I was devastated at her loss and had a dream about 6 months later that was so vivid that she had come back, and i was running around telling everyone it was just a dream she had died. In the dream i soon realised she was gone and was just visiting and telling me she was ok and it was so peaceful and i awoke with such a sense of relief and peace that she was ok, like she had come to me to reassure me it was gong to be alright. I don't know what others will make of it, and some may think just a dream, but i truly believe she came back to give me some peace.

If her paperwork is for an American bulldog i would say you could safely assume that's what she is, some idiot from the pet shop who doesn't know what they are doing has no doubt just written pitbull o the sign. Chip her as a bulldog, that's what her papers say she is

I agree miss B, i wouldnt/couldnt tell someone to put their dog to sleep because the pet shop told them she was a pitbull. My post before was simply saying they may not actually have a pitbull because we all know pet shops arent exactly reputable places when it comes to making up what they want in order to get pups out the door. She could be anything under the sun, a multitude of crosses. I'm by no means telling them to pass the buck, just to make sure she is in fact a pitbull before they do something as drastic as PTS. If she IS chipped as a pitbull and there is no question/doubt that she is then of course that leaves little that can be done for the poor girl.

Sad situation to be in for your friends and sugar. The one thing i keep thinking is how do they know she is actually a pitbull? She came from a pet shop, they label whatever suits them so for all the owners know she could be an Am Staff, an English Staffy, X bulldog .... you get my drift she could be any number of things under the sun. Unless they have had her micro-chipped as a pitbull Then i would be saying staffy X, as she more than likely is. Poor sugar not a nice situation to be in. Hope things work out, if shes not chipped already i would chip staffy X before they try to find a loving home. If she is chipped pitbull there is not much to be done for the poor girl ;) Good luck, not a nice situation to be in.

Thankyou for all the replies, our lil terror is back home now albeit not 100% but so much better than she was. She came home last night on a drip which they still wanted on her but didn't feel she needed to be hospitilised another night. She was better, hated the collar around her that stopped her chewing the drip line but we after some sooking and crying she settled right down, took her out into the garden for a stretch of the legs and pee and she was good. Back at the vets this morning to remove the iv and we can start her on small amounts of boiled chicken which is good... she most certainly has an appetite. She is on pepinsol (sp) anti-biotics and another thing to line her tummy. She has also been made up a sugar/salt water as well as normal water to drink. She is so much better, her poor little bottom is red raw though from all the diahorrea so we are putting vaseline and making sure it stays as clean as possible. They think it was something she ate (god knows what) that really messed her around, vet said it was one of the worst cases of gastro. But she is home and happy to be here and starting to bounce back, had a little bath today to clean her all up (used no tears baby shampoo) and she ran around the living room chasing my other old boy which was really nice to see. thanks again everyone

Thanks guys, she has tested negative to parvo thank goodness. She hasn't had anymore vomiting but still has uncontrolled watery diahorrea that is just dripping out of her. The vet seems to think that this can be contributing to the fact she is on a drip with glucose infusion and keeps having fluid put into her. She is having more anti-biotics today again. They did an x-ray and it showed nothing obvious but didn't rule out the need for more x-rays. Her tummy is sore and her poor bottom is so sore, they have been using barrier cream but she is just constantly in a mess. She has perked up though overnight, she ate food last night, wandered around her cage and was pulling at her drip which is a big improvement, she is being kept in today and if she continues to improve and eat food they said she can come home tonight. She is much stronger than she was, still very quiet and unhappy but not the flat lethargy that she was yesterday. I will mention those viruses to the vet that you have suggested, we are hoping its just gastro. Thanks everyone its much appreciated.

Oh sorry and i forgot to add shes been given pain relief and started on anti-biotics.

Hi her temp was normal the first time then the second visit it had dropped a bit, but not abnormally cool. She was vaccinated 2 weeks ago and has been the picture of puppy health and energy since we got her. She is from a registered breeder so not a pet shop puppy either ( i know it doesn't make a difference but just the background of her)

Hey people just wondering anyones experiences with gastro in puppies? We have a 9week old westie we have only had less than a week, has had her first vaccination and was a bundle of energy up until yesterday night when she started getting quiet and off her food. She has had increasing diahorrea starting this morning, no blood in it but increasing to uncontrolled like brown water this afternoon. She was perky but still not her usual self this morning. We all had to work but i came home on lunch break and she was covered in it so cleaned her up and called mum to leave work (im a paramedic so cant just leave work in a shift) to take her to the vet at 3pm as i was very worried. She had also lost 300grams since the previous day (this freaked me as she is only a little puppy) Vet checked gums, temp, glucose etc stated not dehydrate and sent her home with the instructions to come back tomorrow if she still hasn't eaten and they will do bloods. Now she was quiet and bit lethargic but went downhill rapidly so back to vets at 7pm to get bloods, and x-ray of her tummy and drip put in. Her x-ray was clear, her bloods were pretty much normal but very flat/lethargic. She has been transferred to the animal hospital for overnight care and parvo test (though the vet thinks its not that and they have had no cases in the area) They think maybe bad gastro? Or worst case her intestine has telescoped on itself? They will do other x-rays through the night if needed. She has been given electrolytes and glucose through the drip and they will monitor her and its a bit of a waiting game. Has anyones puppy had bad gastro and was like this? Im so worried. I know its all different but its so distressing to see, we have only had her a week and she is part of our family already, cant imagine not having her she is such a little character and my other dog loves her.

What a gorgeous puppy, haha what a surprise!!! Nothing else much to add except good luck, read lots, google is your friend. Just one thing is she outside? It looks like brick wall behind mum. that she is only on a blanket? Probably a good idea to actually have her in a box/crate etc that will protect against the elements as well as keep her contained, you don't want her having nothing to stop her moving around and wandering away unsupervised when the time comes. A big box that mum can get in and out of at will and puppy cant is good idea Good luck looking forward to seeing her grow

Hi guys, we are going to be the proud owners of a little westie puppy as of next Friday. We already have a 15yr old maltese cross dog. On a whole he is a friendly, happy boy, still relatively full of beans for his age etc. However he has never been properly socialised (our fault, wont happen with this one) so he can be a bit funny with new dogs. Not nasty, not dog aggressive just used to his own 2 girls to play with (both passed now) and not used to interacting much with other dogs. How do we introduce them so that neither feel threatened or scared? Do we hold her on our laps and let him sniff her? Do we put her in her puppy pen and let them sniff each other through the mesh? We want them both feeling happy and dont want to cause any issues at the start. We also dont want her stressed out in a new home after a plane flight she may be a bit overwhelmed with everything. What do others do when introducing a new member of the family to your dog?

Wow they look great, that's exactly what i had in mind, ill go tomorrow and buy two to them to join together. Thankyou so much for the photos, haha much better than trying to picture them in my head.

Thanks guys I will head out to bunnings tomorrow and have a look at them but that sounds like it could be a goer. Cheers

Hi all, some may remember i lost my little dog about 3 weeks ago quite suddenly leaving us with one 15yr male maltese X who has been very lonely since his sister died. Anyway due to him being a generally healthy happy active little dog who has been very lonely we decided it wasnt fair to have him as an only dog after his whole life was spent with other dogs, so we bought a puppy :D She is a Westie from a registered breeder (thankyou dogzonline) and we should be getting her in a couple of weeks. Now my boy has the run of the house with a doggy door into the very big back garden, and we obviously don't want the puppy to have free access to the house and garden when we arent home. We don't want to lock her in a room as my dog will fret not being able to see her and its not fair on her to have him on one side of the door and her on the other.So we were thinking about a puppy pen we could leave in the back room (very cool) that she can then see him and he can lie next to her on the other side of the mesh. That way she can have all her toys and water/food and bed in there and its nice and safe when we are not home. Where do we get a pen from? How big should it be? My brother has quite a large crate he used for his Am staffy that he has offered but we think that it will be too small for an active puppy to stay in for 8hrs. She will only have 2 days where someone isn't home, i do shift work and on the days im at work my station is only around the corner from home so i can pop in during the day to feed and take out for the toilet. I'm not sure of the dimensions of the crate save to say its pretty big but maybe too ideal to keep her in. We don't want to stress her out and want her happy. Any ideas? Also as a shift worker i do 2 nights a week so have to sleep during the day, and my old boy is always on his bed sleeping in my room with me. What do we do with puppy, do i bring her into the room (haha i cant see her sleeping all day with me) or does she stay in the puppy pen whilst im sleeping? We plan on crating her to start with at bed time as we don't want her roaming the house at night and getting out the doggy door (blocking it up isn't an option because of the old boy needing out at night). I really cant see her sleeping in her crate with me though during the day, haha goodbye sleep Any suggestions or advice would be sooo appreciated, we want to do the right thing by our old boy and new puppy and want them both happy and content

Thanks guys thats very nice of you, we appreciate it. Well that makes us rest easier, i think we were all feeling very guilty and upset at the thought of 'replacing' our girl so soon. We are looking at puppies from breeders at the moment (thankyou dogz online breeders pages) so hopefully we can find a lovely little girl cairns or westie to become part of the family soon. We will continue to try to make it as easy as possible on dougal (the boy) in the mean time . Thanks again everyone

Hey all, just after some advice/experiences. We had to have my little maltese girl put to sleep tues night, we knew she was sick but it was a sudden turn on the same day including seizures that was very distressing for both her and us that lead to the decision. Very very hard to loose her, we lost her mum the year before. Now we just have her brother left, a 15yr male (de-sexed) maltese. He is quite healthy and active and showing really no signs of slowing down. He has always been with other dogs (we had 3 for 15yrs then 2 for the last year) and had never been on his own. We were expecting him to realise she was gone but he seems quite down and pining for company. We have a rabbit that lives loose in the garden that when all the dogs were alive he never really bothered with, but now when we come home (tonight we were out at wedding) instead of waiting at the door we have found him outside in the dark (doggy door) lying beside the rabbit or just following her around. It is really heart-breaking to see this and very upsetting. He then goes nuts when he sees us, running around and barking at us basically telling us off for leaving him. hes a lot quieter and more subdued (he loved playing with our girl) Now the thing is he was never well socialised with other dogs (our fault but i was a child and didn't know any better) as we always had 3 they were their own little pack and did everything together. He is generally well behaved, we raised a duck from tiny and he loved it and basically adopted it, the rabbit we brought home as an adult and he did the same. But we are a bit worried about getting another dog, that it would threaten his security, that its too soon and we don't want to replace our beloved sooty that we just lost, or that he may feel like we are shoving him out etc etc. We basically want him happy in his last couple of years with us. Do we get another friend (would be very very well loved) if so do we get a puppy? Or an adult? It would be breeders or rescue, but we have to do something soon as its killing us watching him change. Someone said he would get used to it and it would take time.... but it doesn't seem fair when he was always in a pack to be by himself when we are at work. Sorry its a rant, just want any advice really that can help us out. Thanks

Thanks erny that means a lot. Dog lovers understand its just like losing a human loved one they are such a big part of the family.

Very sorry to hear about your dog i know how horrible and distressing it is. We lost my little dog last night, she had just started having seizures yesterday. She was a 15yr old maltese with mammary tumors and spread into her liver, spleen and was going downhill slowly though still happy and would trot after the neighbors cat etc.. This was diagnosed 6weeks ago and we were told she didn't have long. Yesterday she had a turn of sudden limping and quite distressed so into the vets in the morning for pain relief. She then had a suspected unwitnessed seizure after we got home and it was horrible, she had settled nicely and i thought she was sleeping comfortably. She came stumbling into the kitchen to find me crashing into walls, her back end kept going, she couldn't walk strait just stumble and fall over, then she started circling and walking into walls. She wouldn't let me hold her kept struggling to go, incontinence, panting and crying etc. Very distressing. Back to vet, she had lost her vision (perfect before) but had started coming out of it as in acknowleding our presence and walking bit more normally. Vet suspected brain tumor as some of the behaviors (gorging on water past week but normal tests of kidneys) pointed to this and told us prepare for her to go by friday. After much discussion we took her home to say goodbye and give her final love and cuddles. She settled ok, still panting but didnt seem to distressed and would sleep quietly. She had another seizure late that night in front of us lasting ages and came out of it very very distressed so it was time. Took her to the emergency vets and let her go. I havent cried so hard that whole day since we lost her mum a year ago. Feel numb now.

I feel for puppy too, you sound like your trying to do your best for him, but hes by himself all day and hes going to be by himself all night? An strictly an outdoor dog, so when he gets older he'll by again by himself while you are at work, and locked outside when your home at night. I think dogs are part of the family and should be treated as such, i have no problems with them outside while your at work if there is no doggy door, but locked out all night at well by himself? How boring and lonely for him. You may change your mind when you see his little personality developing and you start to enjoy spending time with him and realise he is his own little character and that dogs pine for companionship to. If you want him outdoors only then maybe you should by him a friend so hes got another little dog to keep him company. I only know of one dog that was strictly outdoors by himself, what a sad dog that was, forgotten about and given away at 9months due to behaviour issues. Is there a reason he is to be outdoors only? Smell? Dirty paws? Just because that's how dogs should be?? Im just curious as to why, and take into account when hes sick, bad weather in winter and temps in summer, he'll need to (hopefully) be indoors in come situations. Anyway take care of your little puppy, he has feelings too.