Little Gifts

So if the consensus is no then what other options are out there for exercising DA animals safely? Do you try and give them the same level of exercise within their own yard or always keep them leashed or use a long leash for them to get a bit of a run or always keep them muzzled? I was just wondering what the options were as I feel sorry for DA dogs given some can't help how they are. Are there any securely fenced off leash areas that can be booked so these dogs get a leash free run but don't come into contact with other dogs?

We mostly have the urinating under control since the advice from nekhbet and DO. We are very careful what furniture she gets on and what she is doing on it. Actually we have restricted all the dogs and everyone is still happy and comfy. The latest issue is her just being so active and so smoochy. I don't think she has any pain (as Jigsaw suggested). She's just decided sleeping is boring and that she likes being touched all of a sudden. Given she is awake more during the night she is getting off the bed more often (and waking me to get her back on the bed) but she is locked in my room so can't really wander anywhere. I'm going to get another soft dog bed so if she wants to just lay on the floor rather than get on and off the bed she can. I guess I am lucky given some older dogs can get snappy - mines going the exact opposite!

We seem to have some new behaviours from my old girl this week. I rang the vet about it today but she said not to worry but I'd be interested if anyone else has experienced this? My old girl Ricky has never been much for patting or scratching, except around the ears until she's had enough. This has been even more so since she has had her tumours. Thurs about dawn she woke me up to go to the toilet. When we got back in bed she didn't want to sleep. She wanted me to rub her under her jammies. All over for about an hour. She was standing and moving around showing me where she wanted a rub. I fell alseep or it may have continued on. Then last night instead of sleeping on the lounge while we watched tv she was crawling all over us for rubs again, and grooming us and the other dogs (the night before she spent quite sometime grooming the sheets while I rubbed her!). During the night we got up to go to the toilet and off she wandered to the most remote part of the garden where she never goes for a long sniff. And her eyesight is poor so normally she doesn't go too far from the outside light. Back to bed and even though she wasn't sleeping she snuggled up right under my arm (which she never does). She moved around the bed quite a bit during the night, sleeping in totally new places. Then today she has had the sniffs - she has been wandering around the house checking out things she has never shown any interest in before. It is all very wierd to watch and experience! I have a smoochy dog! I have a dog who spends more time awake than asleep! I have a nosy dog! As long as she is happy and healthy I'll go with it, but wonder what other changes I can expect? She turns 16 next week too which we are very excited about! Over to you again DO.....

My sister's uppity husky shep cross is nicknamed the fun police and always poo poos when my young staffy is zooming around with a toy in her mouth but every now and then we catch her chewing on one of them or playing tug with the staffy and she looks at us as if to say "oh just get over yourselves!"

QUOTE (Puppy_Sniffer @ 6th Aug 2010 - 12:23 PM) So here is another question for you. I have a very old black brindle. Her legs, bum and face are now nearly all white. So does the colour fade or lose intensity in old age like with people? Not sure what you mean here I mean how come dogs hair turns 'grey' like people? Does the colour fade or is it new hair growing through without pigment? Sorry, we are possibly moving into hairdresser territory now! And why do snouts go grey first in dogs? I even notice the greying in my sisters husky/shep cross. I hope there wont be a quiz on this later....

A second this recommendation! I was crying by about page 8 on this one!

Yep, I think I'm understanding it now! I know from experience that my 'white' dogs with 'black' markings seem to get darker over the years and if they ever get a cut in the 'black' areas the hair will usually grow back a different shade giving more of a brindle look in that area. So here is another question for you. I have a very old black brindle. Her legs, bum and face are now nearly all white. So does the colour fade or lose intensity in old age like with people? In her youth she only had a very small strip of white on her face and some patches on her chest. The chest has actually darkened while the rest has lightened considerably. Oh another question - is the brindle gene also why most whites have ticking? And is ticking just the hair or hair and skin? Based on mine it has seemed like it started as just the skin but that's also where the darker hair came from over time. Would that be right? This makes me all laugh now when I know that we basically all have spethal brindles!!!!!!

Sandra, what do you mean they don't come in black? Are black coloured SBT's referred to as something else? And what about whites or pieds? And is there a term for brindles that are different coloured brindles like red brindles or grey brindles or dark brindles? Just trying to learn some new info is all as I find all this stuff strangely fascinating! Oh and why do they call greys blues? Is that just being fancy?

Before the dementia hit my old staffy girl was a shocker but only at the vets. She would start in the drive way with these deep grunts like she was pushing out a puppy. Then once we were inside she had this high pitched staccato whine she used to make followed by horse snorts. She would always take the opportunity to pee or poo whilst in the waiting room to prove her point. It was always very embarrassing when there would be SWF's there calmly waiting to be seen, while mine was putting on a big show for what was probably just a vaccination (which she wouldn't even feel).

That has to be the cruelest way for an animal to die. Incredibly sad for all involved as I doubt staff want to see that happen anymore than an owner does. Let's hope it prompts a change in rules or better adherance to the existing rules so more aren't lost.

I often use aloe vera (plants not cream) on my dogs to heal wounds and rashes (reduces the itch). I have the same prob with my white staffy - she has some bald spots on her snout from rough play scratches and where she has black eye patches the hair has grown back white.

t-time I have sent you a PM about Best Friends Rescue as they are also an option for this girl if Lab Rescue can't help.

Thank you, thank you, thank you! This is a huge relief for all of us with dogs that 'might' be considered Amstaffs as well as those who definately are.

I may be in these stats but one of my staffies was the victim. Across the road we have a yard full of feral chihuahuas. I was on the front lawn with my sister, a lady with a lab walked by, several chihuahuas rushed out of their open gate and attacked the lady and the lab. Problem was our 3 dogs thought my sister and I were being attacked and tried to bust through my front security screen door to protect us. (They bent it but didn't get out, plus we have a gate on our verandah because we are responsible dog owners!) My poor old staffy girl got slammed into the wall in the rush, into a ceramic pot that mum put there at xmas. The pot broke and her leg split open in 2 places and she had to get 8 staples. I was livid and contacted council and complained. They may be small dogs but they cause problems being loose all the time, scare people when they rush out and can bite so why should they not be held accountable? So when they say 'involved' in the article maybe they have twisted the info to include victims and not just the attackers.....here's hoping for the sake of my staffies!

I know BFR had a situation where a man in his 30s died (not sure how but some kind of accident). His 2 rotties (very well looked after and loved and not old) ended up in the pound (again I'm not sure how) and BFR was helping the family by finding a foster carer for them so the father and son dogs could come out of the pound, stay together and be rehomed together. They searched far and wide for a suitable carer. The dogs went to them but the family still decided the dogs should be pts. I didn't hear the full story behind that decision but I think it was linked to how the dogs would cope without their devoted owner. And the family were obviously grieving and not thinking how resiliant dogs can be. It was very sad for all involved.

All my dogs have been the ones no-one else wanted - too fat, too old, too sick and too naughty. They all ended up at my house and never left! HEY DOG (RIP) came to me to show me that even if you were only born with stumpy little legs you can still run and have fun! BUNDY (RIP) came to me to prove I can successfully care for another living thing RICKY came to me to show me the cycle of life STUSSY came to me so I could experience unconditional love and appreciate how simple and wonderous life can be

My sister (and her dog) now live with me (and my 2 dogs) so we made a pact that if one of us goes the other has to care for all three dogs. We share the care now and try to meet each other's idiosyncracies. My old girl is almost 16 and there will come a time when she leaves us for the rainbow bridge. I tentatively asked my sister if we could still get another dog (probably a foster) after that happened. She surprised me by saying she couldn't imagine us without a house full of dogs and expected that at some point we would head back out to acreage and have even more dogs than we have now. Awww she's a good sister!

My old girl has always hated the rain. In my old house there was a permanent track through all the garden beds around the house, right against the walls under the eaves. In my current house the back door is through the lounge/entertainment room where we spend most of our time. My old girl's trick when I force her out to toilet when it is raining is she walks till her butt is just out the door before going. I'm sure it is on purpose!

This is what I love about DOL - all the knowledge!

Rumour has it that mating of very white particoloured Whippets has seen deafness crop up in the breed. There is a definite link between black dogs and increased risk of some cancers and between black and tan dogs and susceptability to parvo. And of course the lethal white gene crops up in merle to merle matings.. in dogs and in paint horses. Poodlefan I am interested in this bit. I have a staffy who is black with minimal white markings. I don't know her full history but I doubt she came from a registered breeder. She was diagnosed with cancerous tumours about 3 years ago. They have not been treatable and they are everywhere all over her body. These have not negatively affected her in any way. A couple of months ago she was diagnosed with mammary cancer. Again no treatment is possible but she remains well. She's almost 16 so her quality of life is very important to me and her level of health and activity surprises me daily even though I know that will change at some point. I'd never heard about the link between cancer and black dogs so would be interested in what kinds of cancers are likely to see if she fits the profile.

I'd really love to hear how you go with this. Is the house old? Do you sense or feel anything yourself? I have had strange psychic 'epiphanies' all my life but only in relation to either people I am very close to or people somehow linked to people I am very close to (if that makes sense). Basically not strangers or co-workers. Not all come true but I pass them on if the image is persistent enough, just in case! Anyway a close friend lives in the UK and she and her husband renovate old houses. I was last there in 2006 when they had just finished an old farm cottage. From the minute I walked in the door I could sense someone in the kitchen - a young girl who had worked in the house and who had stayed there in spirit because that was really the only 'home' she'd ever had. It was like she just belonged there as part of the house. I told my friend (she is used to me) and the wierd thing was she had someone else tell her exactly the same thing when they first bought the house and it was all gutted and empty. I can still picture this girl today even though my friend and her husband have since sold the house. She actually gave their kitchen a sense of warmth and it was a real gathering spot for the whole family. The dog used to sleep in there too. That has been my first and only spirit experience and I don't know how I would've coped if it felt like a bad spirit. Hence my interest in your situation. I always reckon truth is much stranger than fiction so I'm not suprised by what might 'exist' out there!

Behavioural and psychological issues are different from mental health issues Rommi - that's what I was thinking when I read this. Some people can have both of course, but mental health issues are those that can be clinically diagnosed like schizophrenia. Often people with mental illnesses act in ways they simply can't control - there is no intent to harm or kill. Think of animal hoarders - some of their animals die from neglect because they can't cope, not because they wish harm on the animal. Conditioning and having an abusive background are behavioural issues and can be changed. Just because someone comes from an abusive background does not mean they have to go on to be abusers themselves, whether that be directed at other humans or animals. Likewise with conditioning - it doesn't mean a person can't at some point think for themselves and make their own decisions. Particularly in today's society where education is the norm in most countries and the Internet exposes us to so many different world experiences and perspectives. So a decision to continue being part of something that might be considered morally wrong by general society becomes a personal one at some point. That could be because you like it or because you want to fit in or because you're scared of not doing it. That isn't a 'mental illness'. And "I didn't know it was wrong" or "I didn't know any better" is not a mental illness either - that's more commonly known as ignorance and denial. "I didn't care" is also behavioural and not the kind of person I'd want to know.

I had a boy with very debilitating epilepsy for several years. Long story but he always had problems working out where he was and who was with him afterwards. It was like he couldn't see or hear. He would be sniffing the air like he was trying to work it all out that way. Hopefully this is the worst it will ever get for you and Tag. It is manageable.

OMG - I made the mistake of checking out other abuse clips on You Tube and now I feel physically sick. The neglect and abuse of some dogs is more than I can imagine any living thing suffering through. There is a pit bull on there called Loius Vitton who was set on fire and survived. Their will to live and trust in humans must be incredibly strong. I'm not sure we deserve their love after seeing those images. No more for me.

I missed the show so was checking out clips on You Tube and the arsewipe who was kicking the small dog in the elevator was arrested for what he did. The dog had no broken bones or internal damage from the kicking. I hope the girlfriend dumped him too.