lovemymutts

Sorry for your loss Greytmate :D Thank you Jed, I know I will have to make a date within the next month & it kills me. My old boy has always been loyal & followed me but I have noticed that he has been following me alot more lately. I know he is tired & I will do the right thing by him.

Ohhh, I am so sorry you are having to go through this In a way I am relieved this thread has come up. I don't want to hijack this thread at all & it is totally not my intention, I just don't want to start another very similar thread. I too am faced with having to PTS my old boy soon, he is a 12yr old Curly Coated Retriever x Border Collie. I really don't know how I am going to do it You are right Jed, it is harder with a dog with heart problems. My old boy is my first dog & I begged & begged to have him, he has always been my protector & by my side whenever I am home. I am moving out shortly, so would like to do it before then as he is very loyal to me & also I am the only one who gives him his medication. His problems started quite suddenly overnight a few months ago, even though he had already been diagnosed with a mild heart murmur it was still sudden. Basically he has a bad heart murmur plus fluid that builds up on his lungs so he is on daily heart meds plus a fluid tablet a day, the fluid tablet is probably keeping him going. I know what some people would say just based on that. I feel something else is also going on with his lungs but am unsure of what (even after xrays). Anyway he still loves food (more than when he was younger) & a good pat, wags his tail etc. but he can no longer walk very far at all & has bad arthritis in his back legs. I don't feel he has 'let me know' yet & I don't know if he will but I don't want to drag things on either. I can tell he is a little frustrated that he is no longer as super active as he was, but I don't think he is in pain. My biggest thing is I don't know if I'm strong enough to set a date & take him in & be there with him. I was terribly upset when I had to take a lamb in that I'd only had for a few days but Kaspa is my first dog, my protector & I just do not know if I'm strong enough I do not want this to sound like it is all about me because I know it is about doing whats right for him, I don't know....

Thanks for a great day guys! Even if I was feeling a little wiped out & Elsa was a tad anxious, it was good to get out with the dogs, whom now are snoozing on the lounge hoping to come to the next one & hopefully we'll have the whole park next time

Oooooohhhh....BIG Scruffy Dogs!!! ;) :D I know where I'll be leaning...or being leaned against. Definitely leaned against!! ;) Edited to add, will be bringing Elsa & Tashi

Of course you're welcome to come along. Your dogs are gorgeous! Are they wolfhounds? I came once a while ago, but then moved etc etc. I am alot more educated now & would love to bring the dogs out for the day, especially Elsa who needs more socialising, they are both dog friendly. I'm not exactly sure what breeds are in them as they're both rescue but I would say deerhound/wolfhound. I'm the lucky one moving out to DBT's place

might come with my 2 if i'm welcome??

Very beautiful dog

so sorry to hear this. I do believe you did the right thing. Surgery of that kind on a human is huge & a high risk let alone in a dog. I had a good friends dog pass in similar circumstances only in this situation the vet operated, she went home the next afternoon, ate tea & then died in her sleep. Big hugs to you!

I only heard about it the other day, that they did it with feral goats somewhere. Totally disgusted me. The stress for those poor animals :D

Foxes are an animal, they did not choose to be brought to this country. We as humans are responsible for that as well as the slow destruction of this earth. That being said they are a pest in Australia & need to be eradicated BUT it needs to be done as humanely as possible. Just to add, I have previously worked on a sheep farm & every week we would go spotlighting for rabbits & foxes, it wasn't a drunken affair like you see many city folk doing on long weekends in the country, but only done to stop pests. It was one shot to kill (if possible) not "maim the animal & let it die of infection/starvation" it was the most humane way we had to eradicate them. I would far prefer a pest to die this way than a bait. Anyway getting back to it... Maybe if you go past the drain tomorrow & they are still there it might be worth seeing if you could collect them in a box/cage & take them into the vet for euthanasia. No it's not nice, nor is it your responsibility but it's better than them starving if their mother has been shot/baited or them drowning. Hopefully council get off their butts by then & do what they're paid to do. Also to add, there are some zoos/wildlife parks that do keep foxes on display in Australia. Poor little guys, it's a cruel world.

That is so fantastic!!! I rescued a dog which ended up becoming a hearing dog & the ladies were wonderful!

Pointless post really as we're too far away but a friend has a dog that isn't trained to speak on command but if you're talking & he thinks he should be involved in the conversation he will bark or just open/close his mouth at you, it is sooo funny as he's got a big furry block head. He's a rescued boy (probably some weird mix that looks old english sheepdog x amstaff or something) probably a very cute pup that turned into a big dog, tried to use for pig hunting but was too much of a wuss & now he's with my friend being spoilt rotten! I would really love to make a film with him though, he's so comical & with his "talking".... Anyway I do hope they find a suitable dog!

I used to answer all wildlife calls for a 24/7 number. Most of the calls regarding reptiles were people wanting me to remove "this filthy lizard" from "their" yard to which I would explain the reptiles were there first & I lived over an hour away & it IS illegal to remove reptiles further than I think 1km ( someone correct me if i'm wrong, i'm a bit rusty). I usually recommended they try to catch the reptile, with a few different suggestions depending on what they were comfortable with & then they try to find a neighbour with a suitable yard within 1km. Most of the time this worked. Then I would suggest to get some garden edging etc to run along the bottom of the fence so if the people did have dogs the lizard wouldn't enter their yard again. Of course this did not always work, especially if the callers were "uperclass poshies" but it was always worth suggesting

Yep I'm thinking of going with my 2 younger mutts, I know the old boy wouldn't appreciate it much. I could probably enter the 2 into the category 'only a mother could love' as I often get comments that they look like dump dogs Will be good to see others there too!! Looking forward to it!

Wow great work! I have just shared all on my facebook page. I cannot believe Courage was still alive! I wish the punishment for the scum who owned these dogs was the same as what they did to the dogs. Thank you for sharing this!

Interesting isn't it! I remember watching a documentary about Juliette DeBaraclay Levy (spelling) and a woman on the dvd bred I think Bernese Mountain Dogs & said after changing to an 'all natural' diet suggested by Juliette her dogs were living to 16. But my rellies who are all farmers have working dogs that are fed on pal, chum or some other cheap dog food from stock feed places & they all live til a good old age (14+) unless fatally injured. They do get the odd scraps from killer sheep as well. & my grandparents cat who lived on their farm was fed dry food its whole life with the odd rabbit chucked in & that was at least 25 when it went off to die, no one knows its exact age only it was at least that old. My dogs get supercoat, raw food, canned food, rolls, bones, scraps when I run out of their food, sardines every now & then & they are all very healthy. They also get plenty of exercise. My old CCR x boy is 12 now & I would say he's probably got a good couple of years left in him, he has only just started slowing down now due to arthritis in his back legs & a heart murmur.

doesn't surprise me with RSPCA needing a kick up the bum. The things I have seen them turn away from are absolutely shocking. Some say legislation, some say paperwork & even broken promises. I do not understand people. We were put here as caretakers of the earth and animals. We don't seem to be doing a very good job of it. That poor dog, 16yrs of suffering, wouldn't it be great if the law made people suffer the same way they have treated their animals including farm/companion animals rather than receiving a petty fine, I bet that would make people take a bit more responsibility!! I have no other words...

Getting ready to be flamed but...The govt should not have allowed puppy farms in the first place. The legislation that's in place isn't enough for the RSPCA to do anything. Pet shops should not be allowed to sell live animals. Breeders should have to have a licence. Any puppy sold should be vaccd, wormed, microchipped & desexed. There is NO excuse for not desexing your pet. People need to think about the decisions they're making, no just as far as pets go but things like where their meat comes from if they eat it & other food etc. Found it interesting that the bloke who spoke about the poor condition of the pups bought one anyway! That's how these people stay in business! People I know bought a pup from him years ago, they had it a week, it got sick & later died after them spending mega $$ at the vet. When will it end??

I know there's an aussie pooch mobile lady who does around the Murray Bridge area & does other towns also, not sure about Strath but worth asking

Oooh this is so hard & I apologise but couldn't shorten! Borzoi Afghan Hound Irish Wolfhound Deerhound (own 2 x's) Bearded Collie (grandparents had one I grew up with) Kelpie (worked with) Border Collie (worked with) Bloodhound (I blame Lady & the Tramp ) Doberman (grew up with one "Marsha") Neo/English Mastiffs (knew a mastiff called Rumpole) German Shep (grew up with one "Hussel") Curly Coated Retriever (have a one now x) Blue Heeler Maremma Old English Sheepdog Golden Retriever St Bernard Staffy Great Dane Collie (Rough) Boxer Rottie These are my all time favourites!

This is DOL!! If you post a question you are going to get answers, some you may not like & when you reply with what you're doing anyway without taking advice that you came on here for of course it's going to end badly, as I said it's DOL! No point in making "jokes" it just gets worse....I am thinking topic should be removed before it continues any further. But again this is just MY opinion

Donkeys are such beautiful creatures, I cannot watch anything but I can imagine & there are no words to describe people that would do this Does anybody know what actually happened to/with the donkey?

Similar thing happened down here, there was a dingo hanging around a friends property even though they aren't supposed to be in SA. Started killing sheep & the farmers noticed, it was eventually shot & my friend had been in contact with authorities but they had to send a 'specialised' team down to collect it & take DNA just to make sure it was a dingo. It WAS a Dingo, fullstop. But you know what govt departments are like. There were also 2 others hanging around but haven't been found. I do believe there are some strange things out there that we will never know about. But I agree, that would be wonderful if there were Tassie Tigers out there somewhere... ETA: So I'm glad they believed you when you said you saw a fox, if there can be dingos here, there can be foxes in Tassie, it's definetelty not unlikely. Hopefully they find it before it causes too much damage to the wildlife!

I grew up with my grandparents bearded collie. He LOVED tennis balls & always had a great supply, he did have the habit though of tearing off the green stuff. They never did him any harm, he lived to be 16, I'm not saying this is the case all the time but let a dog have his fun

Thankyou, I was wondering about the ticks! Yes thank you that would be great! I think I will be there then but not sure.