~Anne~

Bugger, what a shame Pugger. Looks like you might be best going back to the original plan and allowing Joanna to arrange foster care for him and look for a permanent placement. Sorry it didn't work out, it sounded like a perfect match on both sides. Oh, and Ollie won't be confused. He'll settle straight back in I'll bet and will have no ill effects. Trust me, Pugs are pretty well bomb proof.

I hope it pans out for you. You're probably best hiring a car also if you can, particularly if you are going to travel more than just to Eastern Ck and back, as taxis will be costly.

Do any of these suit you? Cottage, Guest house Cabrera Cottage Penrith has undergone major renovations with new kitchen and bathroom and freshly painted. Well behaved 4 legged family members are welcome at Cabrera Cottage. Cabrera Cottage Penrith is centrally located in Penrith CBD close to shopping centres, restaurants, Penrith Panthers, Nepean Hospital, International Regatta Centre and Whitewater Rafting and a short drive from Eastern Creek Raceway and the Blue Mountains and the historic towns of Richmond and Windsor. Holiday unit It is very rare to travel to accommodation which is every bit as comfortable as home. This property will more than exceed your expectations. Immaculately clean, fully furnished and completely self contained with a large undercover outdoor living area and fully enclosed back yard. This three bedroom Townhouse will comfortably sleep 8 persons and is suitable for Business or Family Accommodation. Two large bedrooms with queen size beds (one with a TV and private balcony) and a third with two single beds is available. A family size modern bathroom including a bath with linen and towels supplied. The kitchen is fully equiped with modern self catering facilities, dishwasher and family size refrigeratorfreezer. The laundry has a washing machine. All the extra facilities e.g. Foxtel, access to the internet and parking space are available. This is top quality accommodation within easy reach of Penrith and nearby Blue Mountains and situated in a very quiet position 2km from the M4 Freeway and 1km to Penrith CBD, Nepean Hospital, University and the International Regatta Centre. Public Transport to the Railway and Shopping Complex stops at the front door. Holiday experiences Family Friendly, Great view, Pet friendly See here: http://www.takeabreak.com.au/SydneyWest/Pe...ccomodation.htm

Is there a possibility you can leave the 3 large dogs elsewhere or do they absolutely have to be with you? If so, there are a couple of cheap hotels not too far away. Edited to add - what about a Caravan Park? Wasn't there one on Redmayne Rd somehwere or am I imagining things?? Edited to add agahin - doh, sorry, I can see now where you have said that you can't leave or baord the other dogs.

I don't even know what half of the ingredients are! How does anyone know really. For example, what the hell is animal digest?? Without doing an elimination test, no-one could tell which, if any, were an issue.

Let us all not forget that there are not only dogs in need, but cats, birds, livestock..... Donate where you can, it will all help.

I like the low maintenance and the placidness of the Pug.

Troy also lives in QLD... he may be experiencing his own issues with flooding and may not be available perhaps???

My husband is not a 'dog' person. In having said that, he likes dogs, but he is not one that considers a dog a 'child' and he would never ever allow an animal to suffer. He considers them animals though, and not little humans. For me, this is great because I think along similar lines although I am more inclined to consider them 'my babies' and to treat them as such. (edit: None of that really makes sense when I re-read it... I know what I mean though! )

3 dogs, 2 with dew claws. I have had one with his dew claws, from 8 weeks of age (now 8), one with his dew claws from 2 years of age (now 9) and one with hers removed for only a year. None of my dogs has ever injured a dew claw.

I could never free feed, not with Pugs!

Good work Pugger! Seems like it might be an ideal placement. Apologies, but I'll give the FB thing a miss... I'll be happy getting the odd occassional update from you.

On the subject of puppy farms, the majority of the general public have no idea what one is, let alone the conditions that can be found at some. Most of my friends are average pet owners. They don't show, breed or even particularly have any interest in lineage, conformation, raw and barf feeding or any number of things that we who have a particular passion for dogs, know about. On occassions when I have mentioned puppy farms, the response has varied from 'what is that?' to 'oh, yeah I read/heard/saw something about them but I am not really sure what they are all about' to 'bloody puppy farmers, so cruel!' If there was widespread knowledge, puppy farmers would possibly have a harder time than what they currently experience. I am unsure really what this whole thread is about - and I haven't bothered to read it as it now stands at 30 odd pages. My response was initiated after reading a post or two on the previous page or 2. Apologies if I am re-hashing or 'whatever' ....

Good news Pugger. How will she go with training him though? This has been an issue now for him in 2 homes.

I think that a 'hidden camera' walk in would be great. Another little bizarre story on pet shops - I saw 2 little fluffies in a pet shop in Parramatta the other day. They were advertised as "Toy Poodle x Mini Poodle" They still didn't look like Poodles, even though allegedly both parents were Poodles, and they were tri coloured. I am not an expert on Poodles but I haven't heard of a tri coloured Poodle before. Nonetheless, one issue with Pet SHops selling pups is that the puppy farmers will tell them they are Gt Danes and the young shop assistants have no training and believe whatever the farmer says, or they simply don't care. In this example, the purchaser will think they have a Poodle and nothing could be further from the truth. There have been several members here on DOL who have purchased dogs from Pet Shops and have posted a picture of a now adult dog or near adult dog that has turined out to be twoce the size they expected or were told the dog would grwo and nothing like the corss breed it was originally meant to be. This is an issue not just in size and expectations of new owners, but also of the immense behavioural differences and needs of different breeds of dogs. When the dog ends up 'not as expected' it then contributes to the large number of dogs dumped or surrendered each year that are killed.

Good decision Pugger. As hard as it is, it is the best thing for all of you. By all means ask for updates, but I wouldn't visit with him... there's nothing more devstating I don't think than your dog all but ignoring you when you expect they are going to jump for joy to see you. Pugs move on very quickly. Give them love and food and you're forgotten in a falsh! I am sure, if the foster carer is experienced, they will get him trained up. It is pointless him going straight into a new home as his issues will see him re-homed a again. He needs discipline and training by someone who can work around his pugbutt stubborness. You did well getting him this far. *hugs* to you, I know how hard it will be for you all.

In Aus there is a Cert IV in Veterinary Nursing and a Diploma in Veterinary Nursing so yes, if they are qualified they ARE Nurses and they CAN absolutely provide medical information to their skill level. Maybe the nurses are only receptionists at your clinic but that is not the norm. Please don't denigrate our profession further than it already is. MANY nurses are qualified in medical and surgical and MANY get paid less than a Safeway checkout operator!!! Denigrate? I think you might be a little sensitive. I don't believe that the Vet Recptionist and Nursing industry is thought of in a bad light at all. Stop taking comments about the Veterinary profession personally and please stop focussing on single aspects of my comments. I am not talking about you. I also clearly stated that there are highly qualified nurses. I will stand by my comment that many are not however. As a former Vet Nurse, and a 'frequent flyer' customer, I feel qualified to comment on what I see and express my views and opinions. I am sorry that you think this is against you personally or if you do not agree, but please do not even try to suggest that I am maligning the industry.

I don't have my qualification but have way more knowledge about medical problems than our other nurse who has her qualification. I regularly have clients asking me if I'm a vet because of the information I am able to give them. But I shouldn't do this because I don't have a piece of paper??? eta: I did get part way through my qualification but stopped because it just seemed pointless at the time. We were learning how to mop a floor, for goodness sake. I have done training days with Anaesthetists in Advanced Anaesthesia, gone to many Specialist Seminars on all sorts of topics, studied Vet Text books (simply because I'm a nerd) and spend countless hours learning from my boss. But again, none of this is recongnised as a qualification... I consider myself competent in all aspects of nursing. I take bloods on my own, put IV's in on my own, do all our anaesthetics, wound treatments etc. I have a sound understanding of what I'm doing because I've learnt it. So yes I consider myself a nurse regardless of the fact I don't have a Certificate on the wall. Tell me you're not serious with your rebutal? I consider myself very knowledgable too, and I was also once a a Vet Nurse and I too have worked in various areas including radiology, dentistry and pathology. I have even speyed a bitch. However, I would be VERY remiss to think I am an expert and free to give medical advice in that capacity. Quite simply - I am not qualified. I may be qualified to give simple advice over the phone, and as I clearly stated in my post, there are many nurses who ARE highly qualified. Many ARE not though Stormie, and that includes the Nurses at the Clinic I frequent. They are NOT nurses, they are recptionists and kennel hands and I would not seek advice from them at all. I like my clinic's nurses, they are capable and efficient, but I would never expect and nor do I ask for advice from them unless I was seeking advice about something they were qualified to advise on. I do the same with the receptionist at my own Dr's clinic funnily enough. I would never expect them to provide me with advice in areas they were not qualified to give advice. The standards I expect for me is what I also expect for my dogs. :D

I think 3.5 might be a bit inaccurate. I don't see this age as being bad though, it simply means there are more young dogs than old dogs. Why are older dogs in smaller numbers?? Maybe they are dying through disease? Maybe the collection of the stats skewed things? Not sure. but I don't think I would be alarmed just yet... but then maybe I haven't thought the whole concept through poperly yet.

The Vet Nurses at my Vets are great. However, I dont expect them to give me advice on treatment or anything else and the term 'nurse' is possibly not accurate. They are not trained in much more than reception and kennel duties. If I have an issue with my dogs, I phone and ask to speak to my Vet unless it is a simple question about opening hours or whatever. A Vet Nurse should never give medical advice unless they are qualified to do so. Some clinics train their nurses in this regard, and some nurses in some practices are very highly qualified, but many are really only trained for reception and simple procedures.

Congrats Marg! A triple crown would be smashing! Congrats to all nominees. I am really looking forward to the Melb awards.

Way to go Lesley!

Bob May - Chipping Norton. If he still has the same number it is 9602 0747... but then, that was the number I knew more than 20 years ago when I worked there so it might be wise to check. :D

Ring your local Vet perhaps.

Thanks Rappie. I appreciate the advice. I've never had to deal with tick prevention before so this will be a bit of a learning experience for me.