ESCS

We went on a very big holiday before we got our puppy! Once we got our puppy, we anticipated we would not be able to go away much until we thought he would cope in kennels. He was about 12 months before we found a kennel we were happy with. The kennel is about 1.5 hr round trip for us so weekends away are a rarity. We do plan 2 holidays a year and we budget for the kennels. My husband often comments it is an extra overseas air fare but he's used to it now! The Easter break is always with our dogs at a holiday house that allows dogs indoors. The end of year holiday, we travel and our dogs go away for their own holiday at Samford Pet Resort which they love and we trust. In answer to your question, we haven't found a house sitter and it's difficult to leave our dogs with my parents so we have had to give up spontaneous weekends away. We have children so their weekend sporting and other commitments hold us back anyway. I'm not a fan of leaving dogs alone with pet sitting service popping in as I worry our dogs will be lonely and may annoy neighbours with barking. Perhaps a house sitter for your pup is the way to go if you're able to find a trusted person or reliable boarding kennels. I do sympathise as it's a huge decision weighing up possibly giving up a lifestyle you enjoy with the joys of having a dog. Dogs are for the long haul too (ours will be with us even after our kids fly the nest). It really came home to me recently when the kennel staff told us that our tibbies had the company of two 22 year old tibbies while they were at the kennels. Our two are only 5!

As you're in Brisbane, I would also recommend Jane Harper. We live in Brisbane West and she was happy to come out to us. She did a great job with us and one of our tibbies who is quite reactive with other dogs. She did bring a therapy dog with her but it was a greyhound not big fluffy dog. One of our tibbies is as calm and steady as they come (very different from our other one) . She just turns her back on over excited dogs and ignores them until they are calm. She is small so I never put her in a situation where she is at risk. We'd be happy to go for a walk with you if that helps but being a tibbie, she is fluffy but not big! Very different to spitz breeds so she may be of no help. I agree with Megan's suggestion of professional help.

We went from a SUV to station wagon. I have a VW passat wagon diesel and very happy with it. It is not quite as wide as the SUV but the boot is very deep. It fits our 2 dogs comfortably and the rest of us ( 2 adults and 2 kids). We have tibbies so small dogs but I could fit at least another tibbie in the boot. The diesel is very fuel efficient and has good power too ( has turbo engine).

I would recommend tibetan spaniels too. They have an independent spirit and manage some time alone quite well. Ours are great with kids of all ages as long as they are treated with respect. We have young children and they are devoted, loving companions for them. They also interact well with other children and gentle with little ones (toddlers). They enjoy walks but don't need heaps of exercise. They are generally great little house dogs who are happy and cheerful as long as they are part of the family. They don't really need a big yard (ours think walking to the fence is a long way!). I have to say they can be a tad stubborn but will mostly do what we ask if we make it worth their while. It's great mental stimulation for us humans trying to outsmart and outwit the tibbies!! Your Mum's criteria is similar to ours when we were looking into breeds. Cavaliers, chihuahuas, whippets and tibbies were all on our short list.

Crows? The crows scavenge the food left out by kids in the school nearby and often drop them into our yard. It took me awhile to figure out why I have such a large collection of food in our garden when the dogs and kids don't eat outside. I am convinced the crows drop food my own daughter (who goes to the school)has chucked to them as she doesn't want to get in trouble bringing her uneaten lunch home!

We had to do the same to graduate from puppy school! I taught the salute trick by gently blowing towards his face and he would wipe his face. I would say 'Salute' at the same time and treat. It was the one trick he learnt really quickly . He now does it all the time when he wants something!

I had similar issues in the Mt Cootha/ Slaughter Falls area a couple of years ago. Lots of off lead dogs. Ironically, it's one of the most well sign posted areas re. keeping dogs on lead! One of our tibbies is reactive with other dogs and we were working with a behaviourist at the time. It was such a set back for us when an off lead dog ran up to our tibbie. It wasn't aggressive but it makes no difference to our tibbie. He will react regardless. I asked the owners to put their dog on a lead because my dog is fearful with off leash dogs coming up to him and their response was if I didn't treat my dog as being so "precious", he wouldn't be so nasty. They point blank would not put their dog on a lead and got quite nasty about it. They carried a lead but I have no idea why if they won't use it. We have not been back since. I completely understand your frustration.

One of our tibbies loves watching dog/animal programs, tennis and Masterchef (must be the food and all those people rushing around!). I was curious about his interest in tennis on TV so we took him out to Uni QLD tennis courts where he was fixated on watching the ball go back and forth. It kept him entertained for ages. My husband said it was really good 'environmental enrichment'!

Having met Lily, my money's on her to keep out those invaders! I suspect she is tougher than Miki who is a bit of a chicken in spite of all the chest banging. I was horrified when I saw the possum fall on top of Miki but I'm rather pleased now that there's a truce without any strategic action on my part. No more nonsense from either party!

Our tibbie has made an uneasy truce with the resident possum who stubbornly refuses to leave 'home' even with one determined tibbie hassling him. The possum would sit on the lowest branch of the tree hissing and carrying on at our tibbie while he barked at it. The truce happened one night when the possum somehow lost his balance and fell off the branch right on top of a very astonished tibbie. Confusion reigned and after a bit of a scuffle, the possum ran up the tree and our fearless tibbie came running into the house with his tail firmly between his legs! They are both now too scared of each other to hiss or bark. Peace reigns!!!

There's a good article with advice on managing anal glad issues on the Vets All Natural website. One tip was to add whole oats ( husk and all) to their diet. Since we changed to a raw diet (including raw chicken bones) and steel cut oats, our tibbie's anal gland issues is much better. We used to visit the vet monthly to have them expressed but she hasn't needed expressing for many months. No more leaking and that horrible smell!

Congratulations to your friend on their gorgeous tibbie pup. She's cute as a button! Mita is a genius at finding the right tibbie for people. She found us our lovely tibbie girl who has given us nothing but joy and a fabulous friend for our other tibbie.

Our tibbie does a great job shredding our palm fronds for us. Great little gardener! He also takes his job as watch dog very seriously ( bit too much for my liking sometimes!) . We have had burglaries on our street but our house has been safe as they probably did not want to tackle our ferocious dog!!

Beautiful sweet dogs. I think I may have just found my 2nd favourite breed!

The Glen Vet Clinic (Jenny White) at The Gap is excellent. Our tibbie was spayed about 8 weeks after she weaned her pups. She also had a couple of teeth extracted at the same time. Total cost for spay and teeth was $300. Post surgery service was great and our girl recovered quickly with no complications. This was about 2 years ago so I am not sure if fees have changed.

Shortly after our cat passed away, I was hanging out washing in the garage where her ashes were kept inside a cupboard (waiting to be taken back to where she was born). I heard a persistent tinkling which was the sound the tag on her collar would make against her food bowl. At the back of my mind, I thought it was one of the tibbies but at the time they were in the garden no where near the garage. It occurred to me it might be neighbours' cats but none of them wore collars. When the tinkling continued, I turned around and saw my cat flash past me. It was a split second and the sound disappeared after that. The most wonderful thing about what I saw was my cat back when she was young and healthy(she was a very different cat towards the end of her life). It gave me great comfort as I'd felt much guilt about putting her to sleep particularly as her passing was not as peaceful as I'd hoped. I never saw her again but felt strongly that she was trying to tell me that she is ok and in a better place. She was my friend for 16 years and always a great comfort at troubled times. She continued to be a comfort from beyond. It makes me feel so humbled to have shared my life with her. Incidentally, she came from Young (small country town in NSW). Fairly soon after she passed on, our lovely second tibbie came into our lives and she was also from Young. I have an incredibly close bond with this tibbie just as I had with my cat. Thank you to Mita and Helen's breeder for our very special gift.

Jelly, I have not spoken in this thread until now as I just couldn't think of what to say during such a heartbreaking time. I just want to say that there's nothing to forgive. You not only made a difficult decision in Roo's best interest but you made that decision from love. So different from perhaps someone making the decision to PTS because they didn't care. She's so lucky to have someone who obviously loved her so much. It's what every dog deserves but doesn't always get. I was riddled with guilt too when I made the decision to PTS my 16 year old cat when she had end stage renal failure. I was with her to the end. I also felt that she was frightened as she did not react well to the sedation. It takes time to come to terms with a great loss especially when it's been traumatic but I hope that in time you will find peace in knowing she was a wonderful dog and you are a wonderful person.

Mice. They are funny, busy little things. My daughter wants a blue tongue lizard and I love them too but I am thinking they might be better off in the wild.

Our tibbie, Miki, appears out of nowhere when I take the lid off a tub of cream. He flew down the stairs and presented himself at the kitchen when our girls took the lid off a bottle of cream ( the ones that you squirt). He turned up before they had even squirted the cream. We've never had the bottled cream before so I don't think he would relate to the sound of the lid coming off so I think it's the smell. This is from the dog that was the only one at obedience class that could not (I think more like would not) sniff out the treat under a witches hat. The trainer lifted the hat for him only for Miki to glare at the treat before trotting off. Perhaps we should have put cream under the hat!!

Our tibetan spaniel pup was $800. Great with well behaved kids but they do shed.

I never thought of myself as being breed loyal as I love many breeds, big and small. However, our Tibetan spaniels are my first dogs(none during childhood) and I absolutely love this breed. I think it's because they fit in so well with my family and lifestyle and are devoted to our children. They are very sweet and loyal but have that stubborn/independent spirit that I admire (most of the time!). I have a feeling it will be tibbies all the way although I may be tempted by a greyhound or 2 in the future!!

I love the name Chewbacca ( I am a Star Wars tragic)! Our tibbies have very non Tibetan names. We did have the opportunity to re-name Miki as he came to us as a pup but he already responded to his name(given by his breeder) so we decided not to change it. The kids were so disappointed as they went to a lot of trouble getting everyone to vote on the list they came up with! It took them much debating to come up with a list too!!

Mita, what a sweetheart he is! If I didn't already have 2 of my own, I would go to Sydney and beg for him!! He's probably going to find a forever home soon being such a gorgeous guy. ARQ once had a red tibbie x that looked similar to this tibbie. It was before Helen and I was very keen on him. When I inquired, I found out that this tibbie x had a long list of people wanting him and he was rehomed to the foster carer's daughter. I didn't even have a look in and believe me, I was not beneath begging!

What a handsome boy! I quite like his tie too!!

Betadine and curash powder has worked well for us.