~Anne~

You are very clever :) btw I wasn't being sarcastic or rude. I thought I had better explain... You can't always tell on the interwebs! :laugh: It's all good. You didn't need to explain. Same :D Yes, I think anal is the correct word for us Anne

And this is Colliere in the South of France. For happy snappers like me, the iPhone is all I need. I am always amazed at good some of the pics are from my phone and also my iPad.

Ok, I've now downsized them and will try again. Incidentally, they all seem to be around 400-500kb hence why they won't upload. This was taken from my phone when we were out driving one day while in Switzerland.

I purchased a beautiful urn from a company in Victoria. They had a great variety, but many were expensive. This is the one I purchased. If you like I'll find the company details again for you.

What are the lumps? I understand what you are feeling. My pug, Boof, has just undergone his third surgery since September to remove problematic lumps. Some were just lipomas and others are MCTs. He also had an MCT removed about 3.5 years ago.

I've never run out of their 'normal food'. I guess I'm just really well organised..... or anal. :D

Thanks everyone. Boofy's leg still has some swelling but he is bouncing around almost entirely normal which is great. I'll give him one more pain killer tonight and then I think he'll be ok. Monte is still looking poorly although there is a slight improvement in him since last night. He at least made little whimpering sounds when I was getting is breakfast this morning. Normally he squeals and last night he didn't make any sound at all.... Which was scary. This boy is so food focused he eats rocks and leaves so for him to not carry on when I am getting his food was really disheartening. Kayla1 - discospondylitis is what the Vets are considering at the moment.

I've come home to another one sick. My daughter rang me to say Monte as acting poorly. He was hunched, twitching and not his usual enthusiastic self. Off to the vet we go and they cant pinpoint what his problem is. He has a temp, is on obvious pain around the skull and spine and is not himself. They think he might have an infection of the spine. He's had an anti inflammatory and is on antibiotics and if there is no improvement by tomorrow they'll run some bloods and do am X-ray. My two special boys, sick at the same time.

Thanks. He's much better today. Hes sleeping a lot but thats to be expected. I'll keep him his painkillers for a few days to make sure he is ok.Such resilient little things they are. He's still obviously sore but is now using the leg again. My little devils don't even know its hot as they're inside with the air con. :laugh:

Congrats!

Omg, how tragic. What a senseless and terrible loss.

Boof's home after his surgery. He's not putting any weight on the leg at all this time and it looks very sore. My poor little old man. Here's hoping the next path results show clear margins.

I'm lucky, I have a couple of friends who house sit my 3, and another who will take them at her place. I also had a cat and birds until fairly recently and they were all cared for on different occasions for up to 4 weeks at a time.. 2 of the 3 friends own pugs as well (in fact they were rescues they had adopted from me a few years ago) and one of them brings his two pugs down with him for a holiday. He finds it difficult to find people to look after his 2 as he hasn't any family in Aus and there aren't a lot of places he can holiday and take his dogs, so he holidays at my house while I am on holiday. The arrangement works really well for all of us. If I boarded my 3 it would cost me an arm and a leg as one of them is an epileptic which is considered 'critical care' and he isn't suited to being left in a run on his own as his seizures can be very regular. I also do not vaccinate my dogs so this causes issues.

I haven't used kennels. I always find other alternatives. I am not sure my guys would deal with a kennel anyway to be honest. I think the business owner needs to be consulted. It may have been a once off mistake. All of us make mistakes, if they show a cavalier attitude, deny responsibility or try to move the responsibility to someone else, and they are clearly at fault, then more fool them for such a mistake.

I understand. We've all been there... And I have a very good history of it, just ask Troy. :laugh:

:laugh: I'd forgotten how stupid these conversations can get at times and how far off track they can go. I'm sorry I made comment on the implied worthiness of an animal. I should have just read, muttered to myself, and glossed over it. I was not discussing the behaviours or health problems in dogs, just commenting on a word that I didn't convey what it was intended. The greater majority of people involved in rescue know what an inappropriate rehoming is. I'm not sure you need to push a point that isn't being disagreed with. It's semantics as I said on the use of a word, that's all.

I prefer the term pragmatic to realist. That's more semantics though.

I think every dog is worth it, but some aren't suitable. :)

Agree Greytmate. I can see where Steve is coming from though and I have been amazed really that Blacktown Council aren't stepping in to ensure that this seemingly out of control issue isn't going to affect them legally or have ramifications. I've stepped back from rescue and haven't spoken to anyone on Council about this for at least a year so I'm a little out of the loop. Still, it would be very alarming if Blacktown are allowing potentially dangerous dogs to be released to the community via this group. I can see from what has been written on the abundance of FB and forum threads created about this group that it appears to be so but I've learnt to be sceptical with what is written. Either way, someone somewhere is in for a potential major liability of these stories are true.

I'm not sure I'd put much credence in anything the site says. It seems like someone has had an idea and created a web page. Anyone can do it without having any real knowledge of what they are doing, including a school student. What they hope to develop and offer is a huge ask and they're going to need a lot of knowledge, skill and support to make a success of it. As some already know, there is a lot of work in creating an adviocacy group, offering education and training and supporting others with resources and finances. In fact, it's a littler bit of a joke in my opinion and shows a great deal of naivety the more I see the lack of detail on the site. Pie in the sky stuff really. The lack of contact details is another big issue. They're asking for members, sponsors and even vets to come on board. If I was a vet and I wanted to ask the what it involved, how would I contact them? I can only find an email which doesn't give me much information as it doesn't give a name even I don't think. A telephone number would be more sensible and a registered business address if they really want to be taken seriously. I notice that Winterpaws is offered as a source of referral and recommendation.

Semantics I know however the statement I have bolded is so very wrong in my opinion. Perhaps a better way to say it would be "A lot of dogs just aren't suitable for rehoming and that is the sad reality."

Thanks shepherds. I'm not in Sydney anymore but travel to Sydney is pretty easy and I do it fairly regularly. I have another pug who has epilepsy and his neurologist works out of Sydney uni and one of the specialist clinics and we travel for this with him. Sorry about your boy's prognosis. It sounds like youre in good hands thoghh. Thankfully with Boof it seems it will be treatable particularly if we can get clear margins. This won't be entirely easy due to the area it is in (just above his hock where it is all bone and gristle and not much else). As for thread hijacking - hijack away. It's great to see, read and learn about all areas of cancer in our dogs.

Thanks Staffyluv. I'd love the name of the holistic Vet if that's ok? He is booked in again for surgery on Monday to remove more.

We have mixed results. The left is grade one with clear margins. The right is grade two without clear margins. In the new gradings they are both low. We have to go back in for the grade two and take more to try and get clear margins. If we can't we are looking at follow up treatment and therapy. Staffyluv - when you said above that you decided not to operate anymore, can you expand on that. I can't see any other way but to go back in to ensure they get it all if they can. I realise at 10, and with an average lifespan of 13-14 for his breed, he only has a limited time left in his life anyway. Of course, he might also live to 18 or more if he is lucky but how do you know. Thoughts and advice?

Yes I agree. There was some fabulous information in these discussions. I wish we could go back to spirited discussion again.