Pretty Miss Emma

I feel like Emma was just snatched from me with no warning. Realistically there probably were a few warnings that I ahd noticed in the week or so before I lost her. But after she struggled through her bout of pneumonia and then hyperglycaemia in April I made it my priority that she just got to do everything she loved and had everything she wanted (within reason for a diabetic!!). At least then I knew if it was the last time, she loved the last time!!! So we always went for our walk if that's what she wanted, she came and hung out at the dog club and at agility even though she couldn't participate, we visited everyone who lovd her or they came to see her, she came everywhere with me she was allowed to. So at least when I had to make the decision on the spot to have her PTS I knew she hadn't missed out on a single thing. Really it's probably how we should all be trying to live our lives every day, you never know when things will change in the blink of an eye. Do your best to carry on as per usual but with a few special extra things!!

Emma was a spritely senior until she went blind (at 12yo). That aged her immensely. But she did still keep up with everything we were doing. Really it wasn't until a few weeks before she was PTS that she really seemed really old (a bout of pneumonia didn't help!), and just like you that seemed to happen almost over night. She was 12.5yo then.

Lost my old dog 8 weeks ago. Her regime is absolutely concreted in my brain due to the intensity of it!! Miss my beautiful Miss Emma every day. This is what she looked like as a puppy. I found out who her breeder was and she had a mug with her picture from the Melb Royal when she was 10 months old and gave it to me just weeks before she was PTS.

RIP Jake. Go find Miss Emma at the bridge, you'll like her she was a rescue like you!

I would imagine they won't have a problem with crates (here in Vic they wouldn't as some of their trainers certainly recommend crate training), they will have left a card because the police reported it and so they have to follow it up. If anything after speaking to them (and I'm assuming you'll have no problems, because you really shouldn't have any!!) I'd be having a chat with the police who reported it (well whoever is in charge of complaints there!) about what was really going on. I'm sure the RSPCA will be equally annoyed their time has been wasted following up something that probably could have been cleared up with a quick conversation between you and the police at the time!!

I also can't get back in, but in case you don't get the email address elsewhere the person doing the survey is... "Linda Watson, a researcher at MUARC ('Dog Bite Injury: an investigation into the effectiveness of regulation')" which is Monash University, so you could probably track it down that way if you need to.

It's been really interesting to read everyone's replies. It certainly seems there are some patterns I can see (as well as many many individual differences!!!). Anyway, we had a really good weekend and the munchkin coped really well at agility tonight. Mainly I think this was due to me!! My reinforcement rate for what I'm wanting has increased and also I've felt a bit calmer about how to deal with things. I think I am giving her signals unknowingly, so that is something I want to investigate further and do some more work on. But it's so nice to have positive moments with a reactive dog and for me I think that's part of what helps me get more confidence and stop givng her the signals that set her off. We had a great few days and I think that sets me up to feel better about dealing with her issues and see that we can improve. Thanks for sharing your stories, partly it's just nice to know that there are other people out there dealing with dogs with similar issues (and part of me says thanks to all of us for dealing with our dogs as we do because it could be awful for them if they were living in households that weren't equipped or willing to deal with their special ways!) and aI always like to hear the many different ways similar problems can be managed.

Have been through the pulling thing!! Well, probably so have most people on here. Definitely look into either seeing a trainer or at least joining a local obedience club you are happy with, advice from someone with knowledge and experience who can see you working will be invaluable. What sort of harness are you using? Front or back attach? If it is back attach then it is doing absolutely nothing to stop the pulling and may well be helping encourage it. If you want to use a harness make sure it is the sort that is designed as a training tool to help with the pulling problem not just a "seat-belt harness". Also in terms of halter type tools, I would suggest go with the theory of "don't know if you don't try". If you're prepared to try one, maybe it would work. I have seen beagles with them and they haven't seemed to be any better at getting them off than any other sort of dog. Is there any reason why pup can't have heaps and heaps of treats to encourage no pulling when walking? As in, can you use part/all of the daily food ration when walking and have a really high reinforcement rate? My dog still gets the majority of her daily ration to help her with some of her issues out on the street. If it is a system that works for you, use it! Some other things that entered my mind... is the walk fast enough for pup (ie. are the humans dawdling?)? Pup will need to learn that it walks with the people, but I found with my girl I got her walking really nicely on lead by starting the walk fast and then once the excitement of being out was subsiding we could slow down a bit. Beagles tend to follow their nose, is she just doing this? I don't know how scent hounds work but can she be trained to somewhat ignore this? Also can you ask her to look at you when she walks, looking back will maybe slow her down a little? I know my puppy school teacher swore by "red light, green light". She told us about her pup and she played red light green light (red light = if the lead goes tight stop, green light = if the lead goes loose walk) very strictly to do one lap of a smallish park near her. Apparently it too her 2 hours to do one lap, but after this she had a pup that walked on a loose lead!! I haven't had the time and patience to do this, but who knows - maybe it would work!!!! But definitely look into getting help from one of the trainers here or someone in your area (person or club) who comes with good recommendations - will save you lots of time and frustration to have someone watch and see what is going on and be able to give you tailored advice.

Hmmm, no good. We will continue to cross our fingers and paws for you.

So it's nearly 7 weeks since my beautiful girl left me. There are still tears on a daily basis, somedays more than others. They're happy memories but so many tears because that's what they are now - memories - and I still really want my dog back. I just found a video from 5 days before she was PTS, and she looked so happy and there was justno obvious sign of what was to come. I'm hoping that soon the tears will stop and I can smile at the memories. I try to do this, but the tears keep winning out at the moment!! So Kenzie gets a special hug every night, the one that was always for her and the one that was for Emma. I think she misses Em a bit, but she's doing a lot better at getting on with the life without her than I am at the moment. Maybe I'll have to start following in my little girls footsteps and trying to be a bit braver about it!!

All of Emma's eye drops were human ones, but they were prescribed by her veterinary opthalmologist. So yes there are many things along these lines where the human equivalent is much cheaper than the animal one but check with your vet (or in this case maybe a vet opthalmologist) to make sure.

I'm hoping the link works (I had a bit of trouble revisiting it, so fingers crossed). But this is a survey link into recognition of dog breeds. I found it interesting, even just to test my own judgements of dogs based on their appearance. Dog breed survey

and from me. And licks and cuddles from Kenzie. Follow your heart, it will make the right decision for you at the right time. You will know what to do. Makes me think back to almost 2 months ago, and really you do know when you should treat and when you should not.

Fingers and paws crossed! Positive people and pooch vibes heading your direction.

Yes I am! Just looking for others experiences with similar situations.

So, my 22 month old BC can be reactive in some situations. She is desexed, was exceptionally well socialised as a pup (in terms of variety and types of experiences; there are things I would do differently next time but everyone who knows her and what I did with her agrees that she was probably better socialised than many dogs during this time), goes to obedience and agility classes (has manners of gold 99% of the time at obedience, has become much much better at agility and is usually only reactive at the start of lessons and this seems to be due to the excitement of what is going on around her), she is still socialised in a variety of situations. In terms of her reactivity she has become a lot better, but I'm wanting to hear what others have done in these situations. I know she is a work in progress, but am interested to hear others experiences. Things that I notice about her reactivity... It is worse with me than it is when others walk her (she doesn't do it at all for most other people) - I'm trying to work out if I'm signalling to her, but it's hard for me to see! Meeting dogs one on one in the street causes the greatest reaction. Much much more reactive on lead (almost no reactivity off lead). High levels of excitement/movement can cause her reactivity. She doesn't deal at all well with dogs that stare at her. We have been playing LAT, and there has been an immense improvement in her behaviour. She used to be reactive to the bus driving past us and now she can sit and watch it go past. I am also in contact with people with expertise in training and behaviour who know her, so am working with their advice also. So really I'm just looking to see what expereinces others have had, how they've dealt with it, what you have found worked or didn't work. My biggest concern at the moment is dealing with dogs we meet on the street as that is always going to happen at some point (yes, whenever we can we cross the road or dart up a driveway to try and put some more space between us - tonight when I walked her that was an impossibility and she told the other dogs where to go. It was the only time she was reactive for the whole walk but I just felt bad for her as I could tell she just wanted to get as far away from them as she could). Sorry turned into a ramble!!! Thanks for any responses!!

KODTC (Keilor Obedience Dog Training Centre) in Niddrie/Airport West, KODTC and Planet K9 in a few locations (but based out of LDH), Planet K9 I'm sure there are also others. May be useful to know which region would be most appropriate for you. I've just started using a Halti sometimes and it has been working very nicely.

There is a fenced off lead park in North Melbourne (near Lost Dogs Home) and also another in Footscray. But don't know how good they will be to teach recall as they are often very busy. To be honest I don't find much of Melbourne to be well serviced with off lead areas that are safe (ie. away from traffic, some sort of barrier to "distracting" things, etc) but see if you can find a local park with fenced cricket nets they often do well to provide a safer location for this type of training.

I'm paranoid about eyes after Em had all her problems - most vets really don't know a great deal about eyes (and not because they don't want to they just have so many things they need to know about!!). I'd suggest seeing an opthalmologist as cost wise it isn't a great deal more than seeing your usual vet and you'll get a quicker more accurate diagnosis. You don't want to mess around with eye's they're really delicate. I know I was able to just book us in without a referral from my usual vet, so if you can locate one in your area it may be a good option. But as I said, I'm really paranoid about eyes!!!! Good luck, hope it's a simple problem!

Emma had signs of arthritis when I got her so I immediately put her on to fish oil capsules (on the recommendation of a natural therapist) and also Sasha's blend. I definitely saw improvement in her - do't know what caused it as I think when she came to me she probably also lost a bit of weight and had a better exercise regime. So there were a number of factors at play. But they do say fish oil is good for general health anyway and it certainly helped give her the most beautiful shiny coat!!! In her last couple of years she was also getting cartrophen injections - these did make a differencee. i don't know how they go as a preventative (from my understanding of how it works I assume it could act as somewhat of a preventative) but it made a big difference to her ease of mobility up until the day she left us. Definitely do the shop around for whatever product you choose. I bought my Sasha's online and there was often up to $20-30 difference in price (between shops/clinics etc). Also if you go the natural way with things like fish oil check out all options as again there is a big variation in price.

I was told today by someone that they will not take Staffy or Staffy x dogs in classes (they weren't able to enrol for this reason ). So there are probably some other breeds also but don't know which.

I just wanted to say well done on doing great research!! So many decisions to be made!! Enjoy the whole process, and how exciting it will be for your parents (and I'm thinking also you by the sounds of it!!!).

Airedale Terrier: Abbey Akita: Kyojin, Kuma American Staffordshire Terrier: Tua, Max, Juno Australian Cattle Dog: Elvis, Matilda Australian Cattle Dog X : Frosty Australian Shepherd: Banjo, Archie, Lottie Australian terrier: Bailey, Brandy, Jasper Australian Kelpie: Revan, Abby, Bluey, Cahill, Franky, Izzy, Spfyre, Milky, Kinta, Banjo Australian Kelpie X:Toby, Cooper Bearded Collie: Charlie, Bonnie, Bailie Belgian Shepherd (Groenendael): Fleming, Ivy Bichon Frise: Jag Border Collie: Roy, Molly, Kirra, Rory, Rumor, Diesel, Kobie, Emma, Kenzie Border Collie x: Anna Borzoi: Oberon, Boris, Sonya, Kurgan, Ursula, Apollo, Atlas, Adonis, Argus, Alektos, Arinyes, Athena, Aphrodite, Aidos, Andromeda, Ares, Alexander Boxer: Bruno, Nelsson Brittany: Zora Bull Terrier: Bonnerville, Atlas Bull Terrier (Miniature) Lainie Cane Corso: Ali Cavalier King Charles Spaniel: Bree, Ingrid, Jersey, Lacey, Fern, Floyd, Indy, Arnie, Joey, Renae, Bailey, Murphy, Maggie Chihuahua: Chelsea and Pansy, Heidi, Bertie, Moose, Archi,Pepe, Squirt, Limpet, Jasper, Bella Cocker Spaniel : Maggie,Jesie, Bonnie, Chelsea Dalmatian: Appollo, Cleo Dogue De Bordeaux: Moose & Chevy English Cocker Spaniels: Jesie,Bonnie, Chelsea English Setter: Spartan, James English Springer Spaniel: Buddy Finnish Lapphund:Halo, Vienna, Jaana,Magnus,Aurora-Rose,Niina,Paddington,Maximus, Ahsoka, Fable, Demi,Varda, Asha, Boots, Echo, Alera, Annika Flatcoat Retriever: Moraig French Bulldog: Lola, FeeBee, Alexis, Claire German Coolie: FlashBazil, Latte German Shepherd: Java, Odin, Tlaloc, Rebus, Indi, UnoBuffy, Bronx, Sabre, Kynan German Shorthaired Pointer: Pip, Coco, Polo German Spitz (Mittel)- Amber Golden Retriever: Onslow, Matilda-Rose, Chester, Genie, Ella, Rosie, Bruce, Chloe, Chaos, Ruby, Sasha Great Dane: Sparkles, Whitney Greyhound: Harry, Kiff, Sally Griffon Bruxellois: Mocha Hungarian Vizsla: Flynn, Rogan Jack Russell Terrier: Ringo, Nandi Japanese Spitz: Emmy, Angelo Keeshond: Jedi Labrador Retriever: Lestat, Bailey, Tia, Mieka, James, Harry, Lily Rose, Miniature Fox Terrier: Cleopatra Miniature Long Haired Dachshund: Mini, Rover Miniature Pinscher: Mischa, Cleo Newfoundland dogs: Annabelle, Katy, Lukey Norwegian Elkhound: Odin Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriver: Nova, Darcy, Jovi Papillon: Blaze, Minka, Portia, Tyson, Coco, Tonka Pointer : Kite Audrey Poppin konrad, Badger Poodle (Toy): Chilli Poodle (Minature): Caroline Poodle (Standard) Merry & Pippin, Poppy & babies. Pug: LotusFlynn, Elyse, Ted, Misty, Elly, Poppy, Sally landers,Archie, Beau, Haidee, Millies, Ivee, Jack Rhodesian Ridgeback: Meisha, Bakari, Boss Rottweiler: Roxy, Feonix, Radar, Neo, Abby, Dyzney, Fame, Jag, Nellie Rose, Baylee, Dee, Zephyr, Mini, Diesel, Fire, Flint Saluki: Bella Samoyed: Mistral, Alchemy, Yngvie, Dante, Bundy, Kamikaze, Fergus, Kato Schnauzer (minature): Maximus, Coconut,Betty,Jigga Shar Pei: Askari, Acheron, Asante sana, Sirius, Chippy, Christina, Diezel, Shih Tzu : Gizmo Siberian Husky: Akira, Tikaani,Romeo,Baby.Riddick,Indie, Esky Staffordshire Bull Terrier: Kiara, Zola, Diesel, Kaos, Brutus SWF: Zoe Rescue Bitsa: Keely, Fred & Ginger, Ozzie, Tess, Maverick, Bosco, Kyah, Charlie, Astrid, Mala, Bella, Tiny Tim, Jen Jen, Lilly White German Shepherd: Casper White Swiss Shepherd: Rakim, Whippet: Herbie, Buzz, Lewis, Rommi Weimaraner: Ariane, Lulu, Louie West Highland White Terrier: Penny, Mac, Daisy

So glad you followed through with testing and now have some answers. Fingers and paws are crossed in this house for you that the antibiotics do the trick and it's all been the UTI. Keep us updated with how it is all going. Good luck!!!

Yeah it was, to be honest it was all a bit crappy. But such is life and I was lucky enough to have a brilliant beautiful girl who never complained about anything and was the perfect patient through all her different treatments. I was also really lucky with all my vets as they were super supportive and always prepared to give Em every opportunity and chance. You know they say some things make you stronger - well these are the things that have done that for me!!! And they're also the things that have taught me just how exceptionally wonderful dogs are and that there really are some dogs that are just beyond super special in the world!!!