Little Gifts

Check out Off Topic in the market place threads - someone on there is making them for a good price. I'm a sewer and bought lovely fabric on several occassions but still found it much quicker to just buy jammies for my old SBT girl! You can also get some DGG ones in Big W and KMart that fit - XL. I've bought them in hot pink, purple and sky blue colours all fleece with black stretchy trim for maybe $12 each. If your girl has mobility issues then don't get the ones with back legs in them as mine hates letting me lift all 4 legs to get hers on. After the front legs are done she has had enough. Oh and even if the coat part looks a little long/large that's good as they fully cover their backs and legs when they lie down. I just tend to fold the back over if she goes outside to toilet so it doesn't get dirty. Hope this helps?

My youngest is the only real cuddler I've ever had. When she was a pup I used to lie on the lounge with her on my chest, rubbing her while she was asleep. Big mistake now she has grown up because she can't sit or lie next to me - she still has to drape across as much of me as possible. Her fave position while we are watching tv is me reclining and her draped over one thigh but with her head back in to my body for maximum body contact. She is a huge kisser as well. It is nice after never having a dog that was such a smooch. In the mornings she jumps on my chest and scratches at the bedclothes for me to wake up. Then she flings herself on her back beside me so I can rub her inner thighs and chest. Yep, inner thighs are her fave spot. Also my bad because when she was a pup I'd put her on her back and blow raspberries everywhere till she squealed like a piglet. I think our fun has rubbed off though as my sister's dog is a snooty thing yet after 3 years of living here she has just started enjoying proper cuddles from me. Prior to that it was just a few scratches on the bum before she wanted to be alone again. PS What's a zerbert?

Julzjc I just saw this and I can't believe it! I am so used to seeing your posts with the pic of Bonnie and Indie that I feel like I know them both! And to lose her to bloat is so unlucky. I'm really sorry for your loss and I hope Indie comes to term with losing his mate. Some dogs struggle more than others. Big hugs to you guys.

My sister has a husky/shep cross and it is a total dibber dobber. When we get home from work she spends about 15 minutes 'telling' all the things the others did wrong that day. If we are all in the house but one of the others is somewhere they shouldn't be or doing something suspicious she comes looking for one of us mouthing off about it till we go and check. She also has this look on her face afterwards like she is telling the other dogs "I told you I'd dob but you wouldn't listen!" She's our doggy fun police. Actually she reminds me of Sheldon off Big Bang Theory - she has all these self-imposed rules about how she is fed and where she will or wont sit or sleep.

I have an SBT, always a beautiful shiny black with only a couple of white toes, white tip of the tail and small streak on the snout. She's still shiny but at almost 17 is now mostly white everywhere but her back! Even her butt hairs went white! I have a soft spot for white dogs with really dark eyes but never thought of black dogs as evil! Chinese wont eat a dark skinned dog either so that could be part of it?

Two of my staffies went through a phase of savage fighting and getting them apart resulted in several injuries for us adults. Without our intervention they would've fought till someone dropped and stayed limp. We had to get a behaviourist in to assist us and luckily nothing ever happened when the dogs were on their own. So I really feel for you because I too have worried how I would feel if one killed the other - could I still love it? I know I would put it down but would I still care enough about it to bury it with respect and hold on to the great memories? And would it be the dog I've had for so many years or would it be the younger one who I consider my heart dog? Both were starting the fights and neither would give in. You've all been through a very traumatic event and may need to talk about it as a family and allow each other to love and remember both Jazz and Bodie in ways that feel individually comfortable for you. Dogs are big parts of our family lives so in essence you have to come to terms with the senseless loss of family members. Big hugs to you and your hubby and your children. This was just a tragic accident and nothing anyone could have done would have changed the outcome.

What do they call those people who feed up their partners till they are so obese they are totally reliant on them for everything? I think Ms Carr is going to turn Irwin into the fattest, unhealthiest and immobile child she can because it suits her needs to care for something helpless. Maybe she needs a lesson in what kangaroos eat in the wild because I'm pretty sure chees puffs aren't on the list. I don't understand how any animal can be happy with being permanently paralysed. Go and buy yourself a stuffed toy you stupid human.

I don't care who is on duty when I come to pick up my dogs. I would expect any injury, even small ones to be noted on the cage door or on some kind of record for my dogs, as well as the reason behind it and any treatment that was provided. If you left your car somewhere for safe keeping and it got a little scratch you would expect the person caring for it to tell you how it happened so why should it be any different with your dog? Anything that scabs up will have leaked blood so someone should have noticed and been able to estimate how it happened based on where the dog was at the time. And as a puppy surely you would pay more attention to it anyway? I'm really unimpressed by this place and disagree with an earlier poster who talked about her dog getting scrapes or nips from other dogs at day care. If it bleeds it is not ok, even if it happens accidentally. Face wounds on a BT can stay very visible due to the thinness of the hair there and a tendency for the hair to grow back in a different colour. I'm sorry you had such a bad experience.

I have bought most of mine which are fabric with the plastic clips from an ebay seller called Aah Paws. They also make matching leashes. They have a website www.aahpaws.com/Adjustable_or_Martingale_Collars_s/42.htm. The prices are reasonable and they used to have 3 for 2 deals so we have at least 6 collars and leashes here from them that we have been totally happy with. Our dogs are 2 staffies and a husky/shep. The fabric has worn from the youngest ones collars in spots as she is rough on everything but they have never broken and are used all the time and just washed in hot soapy water and dried. We've also had no rusting on the lead clip parts. I've been using these items for at least 3 years so can vouch for their durability. Also no fading desptie repeated washes and scrubs. If you like the Maya styles then one you might like is the 1" motif number 7 (brightly coloured squares). I have it in collar and leash and it is so beachy and much nicer than it looks on the screen. Just noticed you have little dogs though so 1" will be to wide. Hopefully you will find something nice and colourful for your fur kids.

Lesley and Dogfan I've worked in child protection for many years and the names we see for children are appalling. Alcohol and motorbike names, drug names (including prescription medicines!) and then the other is the hideous spellings of made up names. The ones that make me shake my head the most are children not yet old enough to be in primary school who already have a list of alias names they can be known by. Personally never seen a child called Tampon before but it would not surprise me. Dog names seem to be much more tasteful!

This thread is so funny for me at present. A couple of years ago I came upon a fantastic sale for great quality sheet sets so I bought a set in every colour they had - 6 all up I think. The only set never taken out of the packet was the white ones because there is no point with three dogs who sleep on our beds. I was talking about this at work and a co-worker with no pets is moving into a unit she has just bought by herself. She has to buy pretty much everything to set it up and so she said she'd buy the sheet set off me. I started to panic because I rarely get rid of things even if I am not using them and may never use them, particularly when they were a bargain. But I relented. Took the set in a sold it to her for what I paid for it. I would've let those sheets rot inside the packet before thinking of reselling them or returning them or even giving them to a non pet owning family member. Hey I probably would've dyed them had I thought of it earlier! Must learn to let go....

Can't remember if I posted on this thread before - as I age I am inheriting my mother's memory! We had a nubian goat named George, a tabby cat name Ben the Bastard (because he had attitude), a corgi/shep cross who was known as Hey Dog but also came to the names Gordon and Ian. He was a rescue dog so I wouldn't be surprised if he'd had a few names before he came to us as an adult. I have a female staffy called Ricky (supposedly after Ricki Lake) and my youngest staffy is named Stussy. I really wanted to give her a gorgeous girly name and my friends and I tried out hundreds of names on her and this is the only one she would ever respond to. My mother still can't say it and calls her Shooshy. My sisters husky/shep cross is called Wolf. Funny to hear her calling the dog and people looking around a bit worried. One of my rescue SBTs got called Stolli after the vodka.

My sister's dog spends most of her time on my sister's bed keeping an ear out for danger regardless of where the rest of us are, day or night. We call her snob but she is just doing the guard job she has in our pack. Basically there are beds and soft crates in 5 different areas of my house so if I am on the computer then my two dogs are crashed out here but if I am watching tv then they are crashed down in the tv room - mostly on the lounge taking up my valuable space! They only get up if I look like I am permanently doing something elsewhere. My bed time varies and since they just follow me they come to bed whenever I do and sleep on the bed with me. When we've had visitors and I've slept on the lounge they have no problem and don't seem confused as it is really wherever I am that they are. We have no before bed wee routine as my older dog gets me up three times every night to drink and pee anyway so there's no point.

I'm another fluff saver! We have a pillow and doona chewer - the human pillows and doonas that is. I have been known to restuff a dog bed and stitch it back up rather than buy another......

Back in 1979 my father bought me an Old English Sheepdog pup from a breeder in the Tweed Heads area for $150. I'm sure they'd spent much more than that on a siamese cat for mum a decade before. My dog was apparently pure bred but had no papers that I recall. She was a beautiful animal that thought she was human and she never once came into season and back then desexing wasn't something you thought much about. All other dogs I've had since then have been 'free' rescues, some of who have cost me a fortune in health and wellbeing care!

It's KMart Anne - $12. They always have them up here and the fabric and style looks exactly the same as the pics I saw of the $7 ones. We have the KMart ones here and I haven't noticed them slippery. They wash well and are one of the few that haven't been taste tested in this house!

Bye Beautiful Girl! If you see a big, boofy bundle of fur called Phobie up there tell her we still think about her and miss her. She was also a special girl who was always doing something stoopid.

I just went to the vet this morn and we got given cortisone tabs and he clearly told me it will increase her thirst and hunger.

My sister and I got very excited by free spoons (that you could get engraved for a fee) at the last event we went to in Brisbane but it was all cramped together in the hot sun around the stage and it was all too much for one of my dogs so we went and played in the shade. I'd really love to go to an event that was a bit more homestyle/homemade fete type event. I can go to the shops and corporate events for all the regular stuff but would love to be exposed to some new products including homemade toys, collars, leashes, clothes, blankies, beds, grooming products, treats. I am likely to spend more money too when I see kind of original stuff. One idea I've always had for a stall is to either make your own tuggy or ask for a tuggy to be made up on the spot in the colours you want. There are so many different style of tuggy and the strands could be cut in advance and it might be something cute for kids to do as well? Or even for kids you could do the old cover a doggy cupcake stall? Things like that would be easy fundraisers for say a rescue group. We've lost the fun feel at a lot of these events and we all seem to go home with brochures and other shite that is only suitable for the bin.

I remember one of my dogs escaping from the kennels at the sound of my car coming into the driveway. I opened the car door got out and a white blur flew in behind me and glued itself to the back seat. Very funny given the kennel staff thought that he'd done a runner on the same day as I was due to pick him up. My sister's dog is part cat and if she spends even a night away she gets serious cold shoulder treatment for days afterwards. I think it's hilarious but then it's not my heart dog doing it to me! Mine are always very excited to see me when I get home from trips. Everyone crowds round like they are waiting to hear all about it and see what presents I bought!

I think the owner just wanted 15 minutes of fame for herself and didn't have anything else to offer the world but an expensive dog wedding. When she put her make up on she should've drawn a big L on her forehead at the same time. Horrible waste of money.

Let us know how you go. I have one terror here who at the ages of your dogs would've wrecked everything she could get her gob around so I'd be more worried about damage to the house than to the dogs!

I'm facing THE big decision again. I'm really hating this ageing dog thing. Ricky had a pts appointment for 29/01 after she had a couple of small strokes but by the time of the appointment a few days later was doing well. Since then she is off her dementia meds and I've had to change her diet and she has been as happy and active as ever. But her back legs are really giving out on her now. One in particular is always stiffened out straight and she will often walk on the toes on that side. I have to follow her up and down the three stairs we have in case the back legs don't keep up with the front, always lift her on and off the bed/lounge and sometimes hold her upright to eat and drink as her legs want to slide into splits. We give her pain meds when we think she needs it (daily now) as she has always had a high pain threshold and rarely exhibits any signs of it herself. So back to the vet this weekend for another serious discussion. This all sucks when otherwise I have a dog loving her older years, still eating and drinking well, still nosy and annoying, still playing everyday with the younger one and still finding things exciting enough for an aeroplane tail effort. Even with the problem she has standing and walking it still doesn't stop her following us from room to room and being at the front door when we get home. But of course I don't want her to have an accident and be seriously hurt in a fall and at her age with this stiffened leg that is very possible.

Itsmeg here on DOL makes them in summer and winter weights and is selling them in the Members Marketplace. I don't think you have enough posts for there yet so why not PM Itsmeg instead. She makes them to size and colour options and is very reasonably priced.

That last photo is just magical!