ESCS

There's a section of the beach at Fingal Head on Gold Coast that is off leash (from memory it is the beach towards the light house). It's a beautiful beach and I have seen dogs swimming. Ours loved running on the beach but won't get their paws wet so no swimming for them!

So sorry for your loss.

I have quite severe allergies to cats. Many years ago, my housemates brought home a persian. I took antihistamines daily for about a month and then slowly reduced the frequency until I was able to tolerate the cat without using medication. I'm not sure if this will work for you but it did for me and I used to break out in welts (plus other symptoms of hayfever) if I entered a room where a cat has been in (even if they were no longer there). I had cats for many years after with no real problems until my cat passed away a couple of years ago. I have had next to no contact with cats since (my tibbie is not cat friendly so could not have another cat)until a few weeks ago when I patted a friend's cat. I reacted badly again and I assumed it's because my tolerance for cats has diminished with lack of contact. I have no scientific or medical evidence for anything and it's best to run it past a doctor but this was my experience. Also, dogs could be a different kettle of fish.

The clipped tibbie is very cute, Mita. Is that Annie?

I have 2 tibbies with very different personalities and exercise needs. While I would much prefer to walk them together, it doesn't really work as one is energetic and reactive (to other dogs) and it is too difficult to manage him when I have the other one as well. One loves to walk while the other much prefers spending time at a café! I work 3 days/week and on work days, they make do at home with access to the garden. They are great friends so I don't need to keep them separate. On my days off, I take my energetic tibbie for a long walk where I can concentrate on just him and do some training along the way. The other tibbie stays home with a Kong wobbler or treat to soften the blow of being left behind. I take her with me to do the school run in the afternoon while the other stays home. The short walk from car to school is enough for her and she enjoys meeting the other dogs that also do the school run. It took me awhile to figure out a routine that works for everyone (family, tibbies, work) but once I established a routine, life became easier a little easier. However, I have to admit that even with a routine, it often feels like life is one big juggling act! Your deck area is lovely. Your dogs must love it out there, lucky guys!

Like Mita, we also clip our tibbie girl at the beginning of summer as she has a thick dense coat. She is the daughter of Mita's Annie and has the same coat as Mum. Our girl kept getting hot spots during her first summer with us in Brisbane. Once clipped, her hot spots cleared up quickly and she has not had any since. She is much more active after she's been clipped and is not nearly as affected by the heat .Our tibbie boy has a longer coat but not thick so he has never been clipped off. I understand it is not ideal to clip double coated breeds but sometimes it is a reasonable step to take when there are health issues and comfort to consider. Our girl doesn't shed much and is not difficult to groom when she has a full coat so she isn't clipped for easier maintenance.

Glad to hear that you have had a nice day and Friskie is starting to eat. It must be a relief! We adopted a lovely, sweet natured 3 year old tibbie when our resident tibbie was around the same age. The new tibbie had a very calm, laid back nature but even so it was touch and go for about 2 months with lots of squabbles. Our first tibbie has 'issues' (he's not that great with other dogs) and we had been receiving help from a behaviourist. Both the behaviourist and our new tibbie's breeder recommended lots of walks together, separate feeding areas and time. I second the recommendation for walking the dogs together. I had my doubts when it was suggested to us (I had these visions of 2 dogs having a go at each other with me trying to referee in the middle!)but it really worked and quickly too. I lost a lot of weight during that time from all those walks but the tibbies became firm friends in the end. They still fight over food (on the odd occasion when someone finds a treat that was hidden without my knowledge)but otherwise great with each other. I still have to keep them separated when it comes to food as it is the Achilles heel to their relationship! I really hope that with time, patience and guidance, Perry and Friskie can live happily together and you can enjoy having a peaceful life with your 2 beautiful dogs. You have my admiration for giving a homeless dog a chance of a new home and life.

My thoughts are it would be safer to teach his daughter to be calm around dogs rather than to fear them. Dogs are everywhere in our society and often off lead in parks where children play. My daughter was 3 when she was chased by a small terrier type dog.She was running around with her friends squealing and carrying on as young kids do. The dog entered the park at the far end and immediately chased after my daughter who was the smallest of all the children. The owner called the dog but to no avail. We both rushed to help my daughter but she stumbled and fell. The owner reached my daughter and lifted her up just as the dog snapped at her face (just missed her eye). My daughter became very scared of dogs after this experience. We could have kept her away from dogs after that but realised very quickly that we have no control over when we will come across dogs. We were at Pet Stock one day. There was a puppy in a pen and as soon as we stepped in and my daughter saw the puppy she absolutely freaked out. I am surprised we are not banned from the store! Her hysterical reaction would have frightened most dogs and I realised she is not safe while she was so fearful. It took many months of helping her through it but she is now happily living with 2 tibbies. Safety aside, it would be very sad if she spent her whole life avoiding dogs as she absolutely loves them now (hers anyway!).

My tibbie had a reaction too (looked like he had been burnt and he was in pain). He was fine on Frontline Plus.

Mita, that tibbie boy would be our rogue, Miki. Funnily enough, he came across a rotti yesterday and did not react at all! He had a flat face so must be friend not foe!! Carter is gorgeous. All the best in sorting out his reaction to small dogs. We received professional help with our dog aggressive tibbie and it made a huge difference.

We've had the same experience as Huga with our white tibbie. The staining on his paws and around his eyes cleared up once we switched him to a raw diet. He is also a lot less itchy.

We use Samford Pet Resort as well for our tibbies. One of them is reactive with dogs and they have managed him very well. He loves going there. Both tibbies happy when I drop them off and clean, healthy and happy when I pick them up.We pay around $30/day per dog for standard accommodation. Deluxe accommodation is between $50 & $60 per day depending on time of year. The prices are on their website.

Miki rubs against and weaves between my legs like a cat. Tibbies are suppose to be 1/3 dog, 1/3 cat and 1/3 monkey. I'm convinced he is 100% cat disguised in a dog's body!

We stayed at Montville Holiday House at Balmoral Lookout. You can book with the stayz.com website. It was the old postmasters house and has a lovely wood fire. The deck has an amazing view over the valley below. Our two tibbies loved it. They allow dogs inside and the deck/verandah can be secured with the gate. There is a fence around the yard but It's not foolproof so we had to keep an eye on the dogs when they were in the garden. They were happy to just sit on the deck all day and check out the surroundings near and far! Probably what they are meant to do in Tibet!! The house is well equipped for humans and dogs (heaps of dog bowls etc.) . Has a BBQ on the deck. We love the place as it is so quiet and peaceful. It will be lovely in winter.

T, I was thinking the same thing! I don't know much about microchipping but those pups have me weak at the knees.

Would hiding treats around the yard keep her busy for awhile? When we just had one tibbie , I hid treats in puzzle balls,kong wobbler, frozen kongs and planted them around the garden. It kept him going for some time although admittedly, he isn't a high energy breed. I once hid a bone in some palm fronds (we have a lot of palm trees!) and he ended up finding his own entertainment by shredding the fronds! Kept him going for many hours and made it much easier for us to dispose of the fronds. We did obedience training once a week and I found he would sleep all day after one hour of training. Our tibbie is reactive but I found that he settled down quickly in class as it was a controlled environment and no dogs off leash to worry him.

Wow, Angel is gorgeous,Mita. We had the same experience as Mita with our second tibbie. Our Helen is the daughter of Mita's Annie and from the same breeder. She was retired to us at 3years and is a wonderful , well behaved dog with a lovely nature. She had 2 litters and while she was a terrific Mum, the breeder felt she has had enough babies and wanted her to live the rest of her life as a loved pet.The breeder was in tears when she sent Helen to us and obviously cared very much for her. She refused to take money for Helen (only asked for us to have her desexed) so I had to send her a gift card instead. She told me that all she wanted from us was to love and care for Helen. Truly wonderful breeder and definitely not a 'greeder'. I am so grateful to breeders like her who make it possible for families like us (not involved in show world) to have lovely, quality pets.

I thought I saw a bottle of calcium syrup at Greencross Inala yesterday but not sure of the brand. Vet shed is closed until 7th.

Miki will also go through his whole repertoire of tricks/commands. If he doesn't get a treat, he will pull out his trump card - the salute! We were overseas the first time Miki stayed with my parents. We got a call in the night from Mum who was in a flap. She told me something was wrong with Miki 's front leg. I started to worry and asked what was wrong. Mum said that Miki keeps lifting his paw and touching his head and he keeps on doing it. I asked if this happened while she was cooking in the kitchen. She said " yes" in which case I relaxed and told her he is saluting her for a piece of whatever she is cooking and he'll keep doing it until he gets what he wants! If he gets very desperate, he will salute standing up,then sitting and finally in a drop position.

When you have a present sitting under the tree and you're not allowed to open it before Christmas. Even has your name on it!

I really like Jenny White at The Glen Vet Clinic at The Gap who was recommended to us by Mita. Jenny spayed our 3 year old tibbie and we were very happy with the support we received from her post op. Desexing went well and no complications with recovery. I thought she was reasonably priced and the desexing was $300 less than a quote I got from another vet clinic.

Bob, I think I was paying approx $65 for a packet of Atopica which I think lasted about 2 weeks. We then got the compounded version (cyclosporine) which was cheaper and closer to the amount you quoted. Sorry for being so sketchy (we haven't used it for a long time). It was suggested to me that I could get a script and order it directly from the company that makes it but we were able to manage without the medication soon after I was given this info so I did not follow through on this. For our tibbie, the cyclosporine/Atopica reduced his itching significantly but he was still itchy. Putting him on a diet that worked for him (sweet potato/fish based) with supplements to improve his immune system/skin barrier meant we were able to wean him off cyclosporine.. We were fortunate that we did not experience issues with incontinence while on the med.

It might be worthwhile talking to your vet about cyclosporin(Atopica). It's pricier than pred but worked well for our atopic dog and I was told it doesn't have significant long term side effects. I also increased our dog's intake of omega oils which I think helped as well.

After today, I won't be returning to one. I stopped by at a fenced dog park with my tibbies when out for our walk. I have a reactive tibbie so do not generally go to dog parks but this one was completely empty this morning with not a soul in sight. However, soon after someone came along with a few small dogs. I put the tibbies back on lead to leave the park but had trouble getting out as the other dogs were at the gate barking at us which then wound mine up! Getting out felt like walking the plank!!! Not saying the owner of the other dogs did anything wrong but we will be staying clear of dog parks as even exiting the parks can be tricky. Plus the dogs did nothing in the park but sleep under the bench (not even a zoomie)!

When my reactive tibbie walks past another dog without losing the plot. Makes me want to break open the champagne!