nickyp

Not a dog, but when my parents lost their cat they went and adopted another 2 days later. They had initially said "no more", but their house has never been without at least one dog and one cat and just felt wrong without a feline presence. My older brother lost his big dog about 18 months ago and for a long time said he wasn't ready for another dog. It was the first time in his adult life he'd been without a dog and, like my parents house, it just didn't seem right. I heard from my mum yesterday that he's just got a staffy x jrt pup from rescue and it's made a huge difference to him. I'm so pleased for him.

Tears in my eyes for you ... Cordelia is one of the famous DOL dogs that I've never met, but feel like I know. It's hard to imagine that she's not there any more. Run free, beautiful girl, with four legs and no more pain.

My cat, Cosmo (RIP), used to wink when he was feeling particularly playful. His eyes would get all big and saucer-like, the way cats' do when they're excited, then he'd look at me and give a very deliberate wink. We called it the 'mad cat' look because it always preceded really insane behaviour. Emmylou winks at me sometimes when she's in trouble. She drops her head, curls up her lip in a smile and winks at me.

Horts, that was a beautiful tribute to Kuga. I hadn't seen some of those photos of him as a young dog. He was a stunner and aged into a gorgeous old gentleman. You gave him a wonderful, long life of love and, in the end, the greatest gift of release. My heart goes out to you. RIP Kuga.

Funny you should mention this at the moment. I haven't walked my dogs for a week due to a sore shoulder and I've noticed a distinct difference in their demeanours. Em, very active 10 year old kelpie x acd, has been licking and chewing her feet a lot and stealing things more often. She steal paper or cardboard items, including books, craft items the kids have made and toilet rolls and eats them. There's also been the increase in barking for attention that I was expecting, but the other things are more of a surprise. Em really enjoys her long walks and it's obvious that there's a lot of unexpended energy when she doesn't get them. Indi, older kelpie x, who walks more for the sake of getting out of the house than for exercise, has been more reactive generally. She's barking more, but also picking on Em for imagined transgressions and was freaked out by the sound of the next door neighbour's bug zapper last night.

Yep, Indiana is the fun police here. If Em is having too much fun with a toy, Indi just has to take it away from her and put it in her own bed, where it will be 'safe'. If my skinkids are tearing around the house making a lot of noise, Indi will get in there and try to get between them and stop them. Even the cat is not safe! Zelda was lying on the couch, batting a ball of paper around the other night and Indi came and took it away! The poor cat can't go anywhere or do anything without one or other of the dogs hassling her!

So they tested the parents for PRA and HD too? If so, for BYB's they are paragons of virtue. If not, you might like to rethink your statement that you wouldn't change a thing. I will cross theat bridge if it happens... but I will still love my dog the same no matter what. Just because the dog may not be perfect or doesn't have some special certificate stating that nothing maybe not be wrong at the moment. Yes it is nice to have reassurance but like I said I would not change anything, if these things did happen yes it would be a bit sad but he is still my dog and still part of the family. Comments like this is what is putting me off coming to this forum...., what happened to the positive. Its meant to be a exciting and rewarding experience getting a new member of the family. I respect that people have their own views, but some go to far. So you're saying that you'll go back to another BYB that doesn't health test for inheritable conditions for your next dog? But me taking issue with that goes "too far"? Health testing is more than about your dog being "perfect". Its about your dog not going blind from a totally preventable genetic condition while its in its prime or not having to live a life in pain with dodgy hips before being PTS far too young. Its an animal welfare issue IMO. You were on this forum before you got your pup. You were advised to seek out breeders who tested for PRA etc. You even asked questions about PRA in the ACD thread before you decided to commit to this pup. You ignored the advice given. If you wanted a positive response to your statement that you wouldn't change a thing about the source of your pup, perhaps you're on the wrong forum. Responsible breeders, registered or not, don't turn a blind eye to preventing health issues in the dogs they breed. That's "positive" breeding. Your pup is 12 weeks old. You could have bought one that you could guarantee would never go blind from PRA. You didn't. I find it hard to put a positive twist on that. I agree with poodlefan. I think some people fundamentally misunderstand what this forum is all about. DOL is a pure breed dog community (you can see that in the masthead), with all that implies - reputable, registered breeders, breeding for the betterment of their breed. The objective of the site and forum is to promote that. A BYB doesn't really fit that profile, does it? And no one should really be singing the praises of BYBs here. Your BYB sounds like they did a good job, but I have to ask, why aren't they a registered breeder? Why won't they go that step further? That is what would put me off even the best of BYBs. I know (from reading here) that the various bodies have their issues, but their members at the least are prepared to agree to a code of conduct that should give puppy buyers a level of comfort. Not all will follow it - nothing is foolproof - but it's an important part of the whole picture. I own two lovely mutts - one a rescue, one a petshop puppy. My dogs have been healthy all their lives and have pretty good temperaments. I've been lucky. But I would not recommend that anyone go the route I have to bring a dog into their family and I won't go about it that way again because it's a lottery. Future dogs in my household will come either from a reputable rescue that fosters dogs in home situations where a good assessment of normal temperament can be made, or (after a lot of research) from a reputable, registered breeder who does all the appropriate health testing and raises their pups in a home environment.

On long trips our dogs travel in the back of our station wagon, behind the cargo barrier. For a short trip in my little hatchback, they're also in the back cargo area, but there's no barrier, so I have a lead attached to a child restraint point which is then clipped to the dog's collar (these trips are usually to the vet and only one dog goes at a time). It's long enough that they can lie down comfortably, but they can't jump out of the car or over the seats, etc. On very rare occasions (and very, very short trips) I will let our older girl ride in the front with me, but she likes to lie down in the foot well so she's pretty well protected.

The same applies for our girls (kelpie x and kelpie x acd), even though they're 11 and 10 now. A half hour or so just serves to rev them up and they want more. An on lead walk needs to be at least an hour (about 5km). Off lead can be shorter, because they run themselves silly. The other evening my OH took them for a 9km walk and they slept very soundly that night!

After reading this thread and looking at the Thundershirt site, I ordered two for my dogs yesterday. Neither like storms or fireworks, but Emmylou is substantially worse than Indiana. When I'm home during a storm I can put them in their crates, which works, but I worry about what happens if I'm not home - particularly as I'm going back to work next year. I'm also curious to see if the thundershirt will help Em with her general reactiveness, especially things like the way she yaps and bounces around prior to a walk, lead pulling (like others, we've tried all sorts of things), seeing other dogs on walks and her excitability around visitors and children.

You're absolutely right, Souff! I think the best thing purebreed dog owners could do for their breed, and for the dog world in general, is get out and about for a walk with their dogs along a busy road in peak time. Dog shows, obedience classes and trials and dog sports are all very well, but it's largely like preaching to the choir. Joe Public needs to see well bred dogs out and about more. I love it when I see a nice looking dog walking down the street. I'm no expert, being a mutt owner, but I can tell a well put together animal when I see it and it's a joy to watch. This is why I suggested in one of Steve's threads that local councils should make a public space available on, say, a monthly basis for a 'dog day' where obedience clubs, dogsport groups or breed clubs could bring their dogs along and do activities where the general public could see them easily. I imagine there'd be also of issues with liability insurance, etc. but I still think it would be a great way for people to become more familiar with different breeds and dogs doing what dogs do.

You're absolutely right, Souff! I think the best thing purebreed dog owners could do for their breed, and for the dog world in general, is get out and about for a walk with their dogs along a busy road in peak time. Dog shows, obedience classes and trials and dog sports are all very well, but it's largely like preaching to the choir. Joe Public needs to see well bred dogs out and about more. I love it when I see a nice looking dog walking down the street. I'm no expert, being a mutt owner, but I can tell a well put together animal when I see it and it's a joy to watch. This is why I suggested in one of Steve's threads that local councils should make a public space available on, say, a monthly basis for a 'dog day' where obedience clubs, dogsport groups or breed clubs could bring their dogs along and do activities where the general public could see them easily. I imagine there'd be also of issues with liability insurance, etc. but I still think it would be a great way for people to become more familiar with different breeds and dogs doing what dogs do.

For dog owners, I think there needs to be strong incentives to be responsible and strong disincentives to be irresponsible. Incentives could include free/cheap microchipping, free/cheap registration for dogs that can pass a basic obedience test to encourage owners to train their dogs. Disincentives are things like more/better enforcement of local laws regarding off-lead dogs, roaming dogs and poo clean up. In my council area, for example, rangers are only available during business hours, which is not the time when most infringements occur. It's the early mornings, evenings and weekends when people are out and about with their dogs that the rangers need to be out and visible, talking to people and issuing fines if necessary. Also, in my area, only leash-free areas are sign posted as such. The council expects people to assume that a dog must be on lead, unless there is a sign saying otherwise. In reality, people make the opposite assumption. Any time I've mentioned to someone that their dog should be on lead, their instant retort is that there's no sign saying so. All parks and reserves should have prominent signs saying what is and isn't allowed within their boundaries, so that there is no doubt. Education is the other prong of the attack, IMO. Kids should attend annual workshops about responsible pet ownership and how to approach dogs, etc. so that the message is getting sent home from an early age. I think individual councils should run annual pet expos (I know some already do, but not all) featuring demos by obedience and dog sport groups, info sessions, micro-chipping, vet checks, on-site rego. As well as this I would like to see them encourage breed, obedience and dog sport groups to run their own regular demonstrations, etc. For example, our local civic centre and a good-sized lawn area out the front. They could have a 'dog day" there once a month where the local obedience club or professional dog trainers could do a demo, maybe run a drop-in class or there could be flyball, agility, herding, doggy dancing etc. Breed clubs could even hold a small 'fun day' with some fun comps for their members. The point is to get responsible owners and healthy, happy dogs out where they are highly visible and make responsible dog ownership attractive. This has turned into a long, incoherent ramble and I don't have time to edit and clarify atm, but I hope you get what I mean.

This year seems to be particularly bad for allergies and hayfever. My 7 year old son, who has never had much trouble with hayfever, is taking antihistamines daily atm because he was getting really red, itchy eyes. I'm living on antihistamines too. So it's worth keeping in mind that this year is a bad one. I'd also go for sending him to the groomer to really get rid of the dead hair. My kelpie x acd girl is usually a shocker at this time of year, leaving tufts of hair everywhere. I had her professionally groomed several weeks ago and there's been barely any hair since. I'm going to make another appointment for both dogs to go as I just can't do as good a job as a groomer will.

Agree. I'm not trying to promote oodles but my MSx poodles coat is MUCH easier to care for than my pure MS's coat. She has knots if she isn't brushed every second day. I never need to brush him between grooms and he doesn't knot at all. I don't agree with oodle breeders making claims about easy to care for coats, just as I don't agree with generalisations that oodle coats are somehow harder to manage than any long coat. Talk to a few professional groomers Megan and you might find there's a basis in fact for the assertion. I know two local pro groomers who rate some oodle coats as the most challenging to groom. The lack of care given to coat by some owners between visits is no doubt a contributing factor. Combining double coat and curly or non-shedding coat = grooming nightmare. See comment above. Furthermore, maintaining a Maltese coat and maintaining poodle coat is not "just the same". You dont generally clip Maltese in the same way for a start. 70% of crossbred poodles dont have true poodle coat. I would second this. My sister has a labradoodle with a 'poodle' coat. She says her groomer absolutely hates doing her dog's coat because it's much thicker than an actual poodle coat and mats as soon as it has any length on it. The only thing that can be done with it is to clip the dog really, really short. My sister's other dog, a spoodle ( :D ), has a much easier to manage, silky coat which can be left with a bit of length on it and can be brushed out if it gets dirty or knotted. I much prefer the coats on my two kelpie x's. Dirt doesn't stick to them, no mats and when they go to the groomers (because I am too lazy to brush the dead coat out in Spring) it doesn't cost me a fortune!

My MIL's dog is probably about 99% perfect. She's a failed guide dog and the reason she failed is that she's a dreadful thief. She can't be trusted around food at all, which is a big no-no for a guide dog. Apart from that, though, she's a fantastic dog - attentive, bomb-proof with kids, etc. I had a Bull Terrier x that grew into, IMO, the perfect dog. Once he was over his youthful habits of eating and destroying everything in his path, he was a fantastic dog. He was never going to be an obedience champ, but he was a lovely family dog who was a complete pleasure to have around.

This thread is (mostly) fascinating. I have to say thank you to Nekhbet and others for explaining how ferrets do their work. It's really interesting. As for some of the rest of the discussion and commenters ... well, the less said the better. I'm female and I really don't think I could ever kill an animal for food, or even to put it out of it's misery - I'm far too soft weak. I have nothing but admiration for anyone - male or female - who can kill an animal quickly and efficiently without causing any undue suffering. I think hunting rabbits, which are vermin, with ferrets to feed yourself and your pets is an excellent use of the animal. And it seems a much better way to go than being loaded into an overcrowded truck and carted off to an abattoir. I cringe when I drive past stock trucks and see the animals on them. When my children are older I'd be quite happy for them to go out with someone who knows what they're doing to see how to dispatch an animal correctly. I see it as a useful life lesson in where food comes from and what has to happen to get it to our table. I would hope they would learn appreciation for animals, and what they give us, from the experience. Nekhbet, I hope your ferreting expedition is a success. If I wasn't such a wuss I'd come along.

The problem with Em is that she gets SO excited and revved up when she knows she's going out with the bike that any concept of training disappears! She yaps and howls until the pace gets fast enough for her. I'm sure the neighbours think she's being tortured ... I came off the bike once when she decided to stop for a poo. She stopped and I kept going over the front of the handlebars. I wasn't seriously injured, but after that I stuck to riding with Indi, who is more sedate and dependable, until she stopped suddenly on me and I came off again. I left the dog biking to the OH after that.

OH used to cycle with the dogs on lead (one at a time, he never took them together), but stopped for a couple of reasons. One was the loose dogs that used to rush out at them. Our dogs would often veer sharply to avoid the loose dogs and OH was worried about the bike being pulled off balance. The other reason was that Emmylou, our kelpie x acd, would tow the bike along. It didn't matter how fast he pedaled, she wanted to go faster! His bike computer clocked her at 26kmh once! At that pace and with the dog steadly pulling he didn't have a lot of control and worried about coming off. It was fantastic exercise for them, though. It's a pity that we don't have any bike paths where we can run the dogs off lead alongside the bike here. We have paths, but they have to be on lead.

You can listen online here.

It might be worth checking her ears, etc. She may be uncomfortable and trying to distract herself. One of my girls (9yo also) chews things up when her ears are bothering her. The big giveaway is when she starts pulling hardcover books (usually old and of sentimental value ) off the shelf and eating them. At one stage she had a bacterial infection deep in her ear that I didn't pick up because there was no smell or other sign, except for this behaviour.

Em is incredibly stubborn when she has her mind fixed on something. One of her regular habits is to clean out the cat's bowl in the laundry. If for some reason she can't get to it when she comes in after dinner (eg. if the door is shut), she will go back again and again until she gets to it.

One of our dogs is like that. Indi has always been happy to be active when there's activity to be had, but basically shuts down and sleeps if there's nothing going on. When we've taken the dogs out for the day or away on holiday she's been able to go all day, but at home she's quite happy to sleep 23 out of every 24 hours. Em, on the other hand, is always looking for something to do, something going on and, if there isn't anything, she'll create something.

I cant speak for these guys as i dont know, but the ones my gran got had plucked each other mostly naked and had there beaks clipped - feathers grew back pretty quick and beaks never seemed to bother them. Perhaps jump on FB and ask the people organising? I am assuming they wouldn't be diseased if they are going to go as pet food (that could just be me being naive). What DA said. They'll probably be missing some feathers and their beaks will have been clipped. From what I've been told, they'll need to stay in an enclosed space to begin with (if they're battery hens they've never been out in the open) and gradually introduced to bigger spaces. They will need deep dishes for their feed and water because of their beaks and they may not grow all their feathers back. They're unlikely to be diseased, just worn out from the way they've been living and possibly more susceptible to disease once out in the world because their immune systems will be weak. They'll just need a bit of tlc to get them back on their feet.

Pandii, there's a lady in Warrnambool who is co-ordinating for the west. You should get in touch with the chook rescue people and get her number. I bet she could help you organise something.