Little Gifts

I know, I know but if I flew down I'd want to stretch it out but with the physio appointments twice a week I wouldn't be able to stay more than a long weekend. Don't even get me started on how broke this has all made me! Bottom line is I think I just have to suck it up and focus on this repairing itself or it will never come good. I am naturally very easily distracted by thoughts of fun and fur but think I need to have my mature, adult hat on at present. I totally wasn't expecting more surgery. So I can only hope that there might be another BBQ offer down the track! Plus there are so many DOLers I desperately want to meet down that way and I'd love to come out to your rescue to see how it operates. And of course family that I'd want to see. I might need to create my own Contiki Tour and drive down a bit later in the year as we are also looking to move back to NSW but don't know where so I could add new town scouting to my itinerary!

You must've missed the PM? I got news only the other week that my wrist hadn't healed after the 6 weeks, bone was indenting and 3 of the screws were in the wrong place, which was all rather depressing. So I had to have more surgery on it last wednesday and am back to being one handed again for a bit. I'm back in physio already and will be having more post op appointments to make sure it works this time. My surgeon would crack if he thought I was doing anything risky (like going to see The Snowdroppers tonight which I desperately want to do but can't) and I think dragging around luggage and catching public transport (even a plane!) would be on his risky list at present. Let alone letting me loose with a whole heap of new dogs to smooch! So no meeting everyone and no Sammy or Harper (or Pickles!) kisses for me. I'm going totally stir crazy at the thought of another 6 weeks of not being able to do things properly (washing and brushing hair, shaving armpits, wearing a bra, etc). Do I let myself go totally or do I cling on to whatever sense of ladylike behaviour I can still muster? Sorry for OT - I'm sure Sammy would love me regardless!!!!!

Tempeh has a new and funny habit ever since we saw the pet psychic and she got given the pack job of 'adventurer'. She has started inspecting the mail. Whatever arrives in the letter box must be brought into the house, displayed in front of her and she sniffs and nudges things around with her snout and nibbles on some (usually window envelopes and cardboard packages) and eventually she decides we can have it to open. I'm going to video tape it because it is quite hilarious and can go on for up to 5 mins. She takes it all very seriously and does each item thoroughly one by one. I don't exactly know what she is smelling or why she has developed an interest in our mail habits. I have asked her but it must be a secret job because she wont divulge anything.....

Poor Harper has gone from part staffy to part great dane I think! Tempeh is also eating far in excess of what it says on the kibble bag (or what the others eat) but looks lean and empty even after a meal. She does have those long supermodel legs to fill I guess. And I can remember almost losing a finger or ten to Tapuas starving labs at bikkie time! As for the drugs - all legal, just what they gave me for the surgery, but I really think it sends me a little loopy over the days afterwards as I have had my crazy hat on! I've not needed any pain meds since the screws were replaced so can't blame that. I have to keep reminding myself I just had surgery and need to heal up.

Apologies - think I still have drugs in my system - i just looked at that last pic of sammy and thought 'oh he's got pauline's eyes!'

Unfortunately I have never owned a dog that required attendance at a groomers (I used to keep my OES brushed regularly and never had any matting) and I did mean to add that the main person responsible for the keeshond's condition was the owners who never brushed him (or fed him properly or wormed him, etc) but I did want to speak to the groomer who shore him to ask if this was normal and how it could be avoided as I did appreciate how difficult clearing his matting must have been (he had red bits on his back as well from the clipping) but was still dissappointed that the razor rash was so severe to require vet treatment. I have a salon I go to for toenails and malaseb baths who I love. She in turn loves dogs so is doing a job she enjoys. Please don't think I have a general issue with groomers. I also don't think Danny's Darling thinks negatively of groomers either - she has several rescue swf's so I know she uses them. Both she and I are very fond of Cazstaff so might be coming off as a bit protective and anti-groomers so I apologise if it feels you are under attack. I personally have a great deal of respect for groomers snd the important service they provide and appreciate they would have to bite their tongue and deal with neglected and difficult dogs as a result of neglectful and difficult owners. This thread to me is simply an eye opener of what can and has happened and how easily tragedy can be avoided by common sense. I would hope the bad groomers/salons would only be a small percentage of those that exist but I would still like to see them either pushed to upgrade their equipment and skills or move on to non-pet related careers if they really don't care for their charges. I'm sure word of mouth about good groomers works just the same/quickly as it would for bad pet services.

It still shocks me that people don't just drop off dogs they don't want at the pound or a local shelter! Why dump them and assume they have the skills to hunt and kill their own food or be taken in by a kind stranger! I really don't understand humans sometimes....

It would be good to know which salon this is (and indeed which salon is responsible for Buddy's death). I agree. If this industry isn't regulated and the owners aren't self-regulating then all we have left to us is word of mouth. If a salon owner wants to challenge that then all they need to do is explain how they have actively responded to previous issues that have arisen and show some evidence that they care about dogs placed in their care, the standard of their salon and staff and the quality of their work. I understand how Caz may not be able to share details of the salon she went to in case she is pursuing things legally, but street and suburb names of any salons where dogs have been negligently placed at risk could help other dog owners at least assess/question any salon in that area that they may be thinking of using. This has also reminded me of the reason I joined DOL. A heavily matted Keeshond had been left in the care of my elderly parents and needed rehoming, so a breeder friend posted on DOL for me and I joined to see what other assistance might be available on here for homeless pure bred dogs. His owners had been thrown out of their accom and eventually fessed up that they were unlikely to be taking the dog back. We asked them to at least take him to the groomers and have his matting attended to. Whoever they took him to shore him back to his skin so badly that he suffered severe razor burn all over his boy bits. We had to take him to the vet so it could be treated as he was in so much pain. I tried to find out who the groomer was so I could contact them about it but the original owners were hard to track down.

If you need strength to pursue whatever you are going to pursue regarding Buddy then you only need to come on here and you will receive it in bucket loads. Buddy's story will never be forgotten here on DOL and many of us continue to share it so that his loss might save another life.

Stuff like this makes it all worth it! Go Gracie!!!!

I've been in today (just as a looker) and had no probs except the dog we wanted to look at (adopted by a co-worker) has no pic attached!

There's not a lot of traffic going by Tapua's place - he's a country kid in the big smoke remember!

Thanks everyone. I'm sure the vet staff would've looked after her had they known but the waiting room is off to the side. My sister and I actually told her we had been through the same experience and how very peaceful it would be for her dog, how he would just become very sleepy and not wake up again. We talked about how it is sad dogs can't live as long as we do and how the other dog at home would need lots of extra cuddles as she would also be sad and miss her friend. And we told her how we have little mementos of our dog and photos to remember her by at home and that makes us feel good. She said she had photos too. I think her parents had tried to prepare her for what was happening as she asked lots of straightforward questions and given her level of maturity we tried to give honest advice without scaring her. She even asked what would happen to him afterwards and we lied a bit there saying that if mum and dad could not take him home and bury him there that the vet could make sure he was buried somewhere lovely if that is what they wanted (didn't know how to broach the cremation/urn idea). I'm still thinking about her today and how sad she must be feeling. He was a large breed, guard dog type so I'm sure he kept that house and the kids under his watchful eye whilst alive. His presence will be missed.

Bjelkier I would totally respect if someone was on that emotional edge and needed to be left alone. I kind of shut down when things get too much for me and my vets have always pts for me after the clinic is shut so I didn't have to deal with anybody sitting in the waiting room. I didn't feel we had a choice with the young girl though. I rubbed her back first when she started crying and she leaned into me so then I stroked her hair and we talked and she played with Tempeh and looked at the fishes with my sister and then the chickens, all the while talking. I'm sure her parents never expected to be so long and were overwhelmed by what was happening and thought leaving her in the waiting area was the best option.

We had Tempeh at the vet today to arrange for entropian surgery on her eyes. She was being a bit of a pork chop. A man and woman came in with a rotty and told the daughter to sit in the waiting room where we were. She started telling us her dog was getting put down. So we sat with her and asked her about the dog, her family, other dog she had at home, school, what she did on holidays, anything we could think of. She was only 6 and told us that the dog was a puppy when she was still in her mother's tummy. She was very sad and had obviously been crying. So we gave her lots of hugs and just kept talking. We also talked about why dogs die and what would happen to his body and the ways she could remember him. After about 20 mins it was our turn to go in but her parents still hadn't come out so we took her in with us (and told the reception staff and left the door open). But she got very upset all of a sudden and so my sister took her back out and stayed with her till her parents came out and left with her. Apparently she has an older sister but she had to stay home with their other dog who was going a bit beserk. I just thought what an incredibly sad experience it was. Obviously she was too young to be in there while the dog was pts and in their grief I think her parents forgot about her and took the time they needed to be with their dog. In a way I'm glad we could be there with her in the interim and I hope we didn't say anything opposite to what her mum and dad might have about the situation. She was quite bright for her age and seemed to understand everything but was still very sad about it and probably felt a little alone going through it with strangers. Once before I was outside my vet and a really tough looking bloke with an old staffy was heading to the clinic. I asked him how old his girl was and he told me that he was taking her in to be pts. I hugged him (having been through the same thing not long before with my old sbt girl) and told him he was doing the right thing and wished I could've stayed there with him while it happened but I had dogs and family in my car and it was a warm day. I cried for him and that old girl once I got in the car. He didn't look like the kind who shed tears very often himself. This is the sad side of owning a pet and having been through pts twice I feel an empathy for people in this position. But is it wrong to stick my nose in like that or do you think it helps? Do some people think the vet staff should provide this support, particularly when a child is by itself like that? I just feel its human to care and have always been lucky enough to have someone by my side when I was going through it so can't bare the thought of others feeling so alone. It is a big decision and going home with empty hands is not easy if you have no-one to share the loss with.

This is so lovely Jed, a million thankyou's I copied it to paper and its on the wall. I keep reading it over and over. Its comforting. The hardest part of this is how horridly Buddy died so Im using your words to try to overide the heartbreaking images in my head. Caz can you speak to your vet about the reality of this? I don't want to make raw wounds bleed but maybe after his initial panic of not having his feet find the floor it may have triggered some kind of endorphins so that he physically wasn't suffering? I've heard reports that when people drown and stop fighting it they feel quite euphoric so loss of oxygen from choking might also be similar? It is still no way for any animal to die but I would hate for you to be suffering because you are imagining Buddy felt more than he did. At some stage, for your own sanity, you might even need to rewrite the script of Buddy's passing that you have running in your head to something you can accept. We are all thinking about you and Leah constantly. XXX

That kind of temperature is just ridonculous! I'm actually suprised so many of you have air con down that way - it is a must up here but I really feel for people in unit blocks that might only have fans or something equally useless in that kind of heat. Before I got air con I remember one night falling asleep with a bowl of ice perched on my belly (overhead fan on) and I was eating the ice to cool my innards as well as my outards. Another day when it was in the low 40s I bundled the parents and all the dogs into my car and we drove around all day with the air con on high. Now of course - bliss!!!!

Many of us have learnt something important from Buddy's loss Caz. Glad you got to debrief with DD. He had the happiest, smoochiest face!

I hope kitty comes good Katdogs - could be the heat really knocking her around.

Lillysmum, thank you for being there for Flossie and giving her a new life, even if it was not a long one. The bigger the animal, the bigger the heart.

Oh Pipersal that is such a hard decision to make. Magnum will live on in your lives though. When I had to do the same for my old girl in mid 2011 my sister bought me a lovely sparkly ceramic heart dish that is covered in angel wings. All those mementos of my girl have gone in there - dog tag, council rego tag, socks, a couple of stray whiskers I found on the bed - any time I found anything I'd just add it to her trinket box. Her collar is still in with all the other dogs collars, as are all her jammies. She is always close by still. Your heart will mend eventually and it will be filled with the good memories of your wonderful boy.

The back seat of my car used to be charcoal grey and made of a lovely fabric! Our vaccuum refuses to go near it anymore and tells me I need to call a professional in....

So your dog doesn't seem to understand English or Could my dog be deaf? Sorry...not helping I know but the selective understanding/hearing loss drives me crazy. They do it on purpose!

Don't worry Jed, they are not going anywhere! I love them to bits but yesterday they tested us to the max in the heat! Noisy I've got aloe and put some on tonight. I even told her I was just checking her paw and putting some cream on to make it feel better and she let me! She hates having her feet touched! I could just be imagining all this of course but this house is awfully serene at present! Tomorrow I'll be up early and take whoever is interested for walkies so we'll see how well we do. If they play up I'll probably be saying to them "Well you asked for this!"

I even heard myself saying this afternoon "Tempeh, are you listening?" when I was telling them what I was doing this afternoon, just like you would a kid who you weren't sure was paying attention! And last night for the very first time ever in my entire life I told each of my dogs I loved them out loud. It just felt right. I've become an anthromorpiser! (or whatever that word is).