nawnim

A hearing assistance dog is the same as a guide dog, and they should be allowed access everywhere. Usually they are trained to tap the owner not bark. If the owner is totally deaf he/she will not hear a bark so a dog that barks is not appropriately trained. They also let the owner know if the phone rings, and if a fire alarm goes off. If the owner is hearing impaired, not totally deaf, a barking dog would be very irritating. In this article the dog is not a correctly trained assistance dog. If the dog was correctly trained other residents would not even be aware of its presence. Neighbours barking dogs are very irritating everywhere and I imagine that in an apartment block the noise could be intolerable. In the case in the OP perhaps the hearing impaired person's hearing deteriorated so that he needed the dog after he had bought the apartment. As far as people being allergic to dogs, the dog is not in their apartment. Can someone with an allergy insist that other residents are not allowed to use a certain perfume or cleaning agent because he/she is allergic.

I've tried calling every day this week and she hasn't picked up so I don't know. I'll try again tomorrow but after that I guess the ball's in her court. Given the situation maybe something has happened to her. Perhap you should notify the police. Just a thought. Not wanting to be alarmist.

MUP. What happened to these dogs?

I have also noticed that sometimes when my dog yawns without licking her lips she makes a noise (like an outloud sigh) at the end of it, and then settles down. Is there a difference in dog yawns? Are some like human yawns expressing fatigue and are the lick lipping ones an expression of conflict?

Methinks that people that make mistakes are most likely to blame somebody else. And there's a difference between 'cause' and 'blame'. To improve outcomes in the future.... in respect to potentially preventable things going wrong... it's necessary to tease out what events/decisions caused the problem. Seeking 'causation' has become the correct catch-cry around mistakes/errors in hospitals...so that there's openness in examining factor/factors which led to something going wrong. 'Blame', which is full of emotional overtones of witch-hunts, only leads to temptations to cover things up or total emphasis on punishing someone. Meanwhile the opportunity to learn for the future gets lost. As it's in danger of being lost in this thread. The immediate cause is as T just said... an owner acting, after a phone call with a vet, to give a cat 4 times the dose of a medication recommended. And the causes of something like that happening need to be further teased out. Like, need for highly specific instructions, including warnings about dangers.... from vet to owner. Teasing back further.... the need for debate about the nature of that medication being given to animals. And further back ... the opportunities for emergency vet treatment.... with cost concerns.... in that area. Far more potential for illuminating veterinary emergency treatment .... than running with the notion of 'blame'. Incidentally, the very subject heading for this thread.... is one of 'blame'. A 'cause' heading would say something like.... 'Medication use/dosage linked to cat's death.' Well said Mita. My post was aimed at other threads on this forum as well as this one and its title, but I do agree with your clarification and refinement of some of the issues in this thread.

Apologies, I'm going OT, too, nawnim. But that's interesting what you say about Lottie behaving differently in the two environments.... shelter & then with you at home. It sure shows the power of the environment in dog behaviour (but, then, it does too with humans). I was wrong with my first guess about 11 yr old Sita in the case I cited. She'd been an only dog of an older lady since puppyhood, had not had much to do with other dogs, didn't like the cat that hissed at her in the retirement village where she lived. I thought she'd best match a similar environment. But the highly experienced Cav Rescue Qld lady went & assessed her. And said she'd be fine adjusting to a different environment. And she did.... as I said. Walked in & was completely at home with a busy home of 4 adults, 3 male tibbies & 1 cat. Yes Mita it does. At the RSPCA she was part of a litter (5 months old) and she was the runt and she was not going to let anyone take her pig's ear. I usually leave my dogs to eat in peace although I am supposed to add tasty morsels to her bowl when she is feeding to continue the training the RSPCA did. As far as the children issue I have grandchildren and I have seen enough of her with them to know she is not safe. I have made arrangements for her with my children if anything should happen to me. It is all in my will.

Thanks, I think she is gorgeous of course. When I first saw her I thought she was so ugly, but I went home and thought about it and went back for her the next day. I have never regretted it.

I thought your Lottie came from the RSPCA? I am not sure what your query is in relation to but Lottie did come from the RSPCA five years ago. She was rated an orange dog because she was a resource guarder. She has shown no signs of being a resource guarder since I have had her and she has won two obedience titles but she is an epileptic and I fear may not be good with children. I am not sure how she would go and I don't plan on finding out because I plan to outlive her. ETA I consider your query to be off topic and personal. Why are you asking?

We had a situation like that with an 11 yr old p/b Tibbie. This lady knew her health would be fading over the next few years & wanted to see if Sita (the tib) could be rehomed while she was still well & alert enough to supervise that she went to a good home. She, too, was frightened that some bad health event would leave Sita stranded. So she phoned the Tibetan Spaniel Association of Victoria... who put her on to tibbie folk closer to her in Q'ld. Wonderful lady from Cav Rescue Qld was nearby.... & went and talked with her and had a look at Sita. Her view was that Sita would settle happily in a new home... even if it had other dogs. Sydney Tibbie pet owners put up their hand for Sita & drove to Tweed Heads to meet the lady & Sita. And Sita did settle in.... with 3 Tibbie boys for 'brothers'...& an adoring family. Happy ending all round... the elderly lady is kept up to date with pics & stories about Sita. That 78 yr old lady might like to hear how this option worked out. I also agree that there can be legacy programs (AWL & RSPCA run them up here in Qld). Older person undertakes to provide a legacy payment on their death (or disablement) & the organisation will rehome. I enquired about this program (bolded part) here in the ACT with the RSPCA and I got the feeling the dog would need to pass a temperament test first which has made me reluctant to leave them any money. I may be wrong. I doubt mine would pass such a test.

Thanks Powerlegs, I think she does. I want to practise uploading photos so here is another photo of her with her pack taken by koalathebear. The dogs are waiting for the ball to be thrown. She is first in line.

MUP I want to thank you for caring about this old lady. You probably made her day.

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Thankyou Corvus for that video. My dog is not doing as much of the lip licking but more yawning but her behaviour is similar to your Erik's. The yawn in the middle was very similar to what she is doing. I am quite comfortable with what she is doing now. I was concerned that I was stressing her in the way that I was patting and stroking her. When she yawned or licked her lips I stopped petting her but now I will just continue. I believe that part of her behaviour is because of her temperament. She is usually very happy when she is doing something/working, and she probably finds it hard to switch off and relax.

I am also elderly and I can understand exactly where this older person is coming from. I also am afraid that one day I might not wake up and then what would happen to my dogs. After a few days would they eat me? I know I do not want them ever to be in a pound because I love them so much. They are my world. I think this older person should be reassured and given some community support (the Red Cross daily phone call is a good start.) Her wishes about what should happen to her dogs should also be respected. Also maybe she is a bit depressed, maybe suicidal. I think she needs support and reassurance that if she were to become unwell her beloved pets would be cared for sympathetically and it is safe for them to stay with her.

I have been observing my dog overnight and I would say she yawns her pleasure about what is happening to her. She licks her lips and yawns when she is excited and pleased about the world around her. She is showing no other signs of stress and I think the experts are wrong. A dog yawning and licking its lips does not always mean the dog is stressed. Maybe Corvus is right and there is some conflict. She finds it difficult to relax and be happy. Mrs RB I am not looking into her eyes. She is sitting on my knee and I am watching the television and I would like to think I am relaxed. I can only see her head from the side, Because of the hair I cannot see her lips. Her ears are expressive though. When she settles I can tell from her ears if she has closed her eyes or if she is still alert. When I woke up this morning I turned the radio on and she jumped up on the bed to be with me. She then yawned about four or five times, licking her lips in between. Maybe she was in conflict because I don't usually allow her on my bed. So Leema I agree with your post.

Do her a favour and trim the hair around her eyes regularly. If you can't see her eyes, it must be hard for her to see through her hair too. :) Sorry but I do trim around her eyes. One of the problems is that her eyes are the same colour as her hair. In that photo I can see her eyes quite clearly and I am aware of changes in their colour and sparkle. Possibly not a good photo so I will remove it. ETA In the above post I meant I can't see her eyes from the side because of the hair. She has very dark eyes almost black.

Thankyou Corvus. This may be true. She is a very alert high energy dog. I will have to observe her more closely. I can't see her eyes because of her hair

Turid Rugaas describes both yawning and licking the nose as calming signals and I think the yawn by itself before she settles down is a calming signal, but the yawn and nose lick together puzzle me and she does not settle afterwards.

Thanks for this suggestion. I am not aware of any tensing but I will look out for it. ETA when I think about it she is always physically tense watching out and listening for any intruders that might dare to come on to her property. When she lies back against me I am aware of the lovely relaxed body. So yes I would say she is tense but that is normal for her.

Hi, I wonder if some of the knowledgeable dolers who contribute to this forum could help me. I have been reading a lot of dog books lately, (Suzanne Clothier, Brenda Aloff, Patricia McConnell, and currently Leslie McDevitt) and they all tell me that a dog who yawns and licks its lips is stressed. I have a 5yo mixed breed (she weighs 10 kilos and looks like Hairy MacLary so it is difficult to read her body language) who often yawns and licks her lips when she is sitting on my knee. I do not hug her around the neck, stroke the top of her head, and rarely pat her on her back when she is on my knee. I usually stroke under her neck or her tummy. When she yawns and licks her lips I stop touching her altogether. Am I making her stressed? I am often an uptight person and she is an anxious dog. A vet in Canberra who specialises in dog's behaviour issues told me she has a working dog temperament. She seems to like sitting on my knee and often she initiates the contact and sometimes I pat my knee and she leaps up obligingly. Sometimes she just yawns before she lies down, but on my knee she is both yawning and licking her lips. Sometimes she licks me as well. Some would say she is kissing me but I don't encourage this. Sometimes on my knee she will lie back against me, put her head against my chest, and go to sleep which I love. Usually she gets down of her own accord or I put her down because I have to do something else. Is my dog stressed and if so am I causing it?

Christina and Phyria at first I blamed the pug's owner too and I also questioned the competence of the vets because I have owned boxers in the past and a vet told me that there were some anaesthetics boxers should not be given because they might have an allergic reaction. What surprised me was that the pug owner and the program producers did not seem to expect viewers to be negative in their judgements. I thought about it later and I realised that I have never owned a female dog that was not desexed. For all I know the pug owner may have been left with the dog after someone else did not want it. She may not have been able to afford desexing. She may not approve of desexing. She may have been told desexing was dangerous in such an elderly dog. Maybe she couldn't care less about the dog's welfare. I don't know. Then maybe the anaesthetic the vet used was usually perfectly safe and the dog's reaction was not expected. I don't know. Then I thought about this thread. Why are people so quick to blame? We all make mistakes. Hopefully we learn from them. It's not helpful to blame others for our mistakes but neither should we be hard on ourselves because that leads to depression. From memory (I can't see the OP from here) the vet expressed remorse. The owner of the cat blamed the vet but perhaps he was so upset about the loss of his cat in such tragic circumstance he was not thinking straight. Why does someone always have to be blamed and condemned? ETA Why is this thread titled 'inexcusable negligence'?

I watched the Animal Emergency show on the television the other night. It is real life events from the Lort Smith Animal Hospital in Melbourne. A woman brought in a pregnant 12yo pug who was having problems giving birth. The vets decided she should have a caesarean. She died on the operating table because she had an allergic reaction to the anaesthetic. Two? pups were saved and the program showed the owner with these cute newborn pups who would now have to be handraised and insinuated what a wonderful person she was for being prepared for all the hard work this would involve. What interested me and what is relevant to this thread is that no-one blamed the vets for the death of the elderly pug nor did anyone blame the owner for allowing such an old dog to become pregnant. Being DOL sensitised I blamed the owner. :) Why do we always have to blame someone? Why not just accept that people, and that includes all of us, make mistakes?

Are you serious Well yes - should have phrased differently - so far as a medical professional who supplies medications directly to a client will go over the dosages etc with them and ensure they have an accurate understanding. My understanding is that he was advised to use the Nurophen after a late night phone call. It does not say she supplied it directly to him. This thread is most unpleasant. Anonymous posters vilifying a 'real life' vet's reputation when they do not even know all the facts. It reeks of cyber bullying. I thought I had made it clear I was not referring to this vet particularly - rather expressing an opinion regarding supply of medication by vets in general as the discussion had touched on that issue. I'm certainly not vilifying anyone. My second paragraph was not aimed at you directly. I was referring to some of the earlier posts. Sorry if I did not make myself clear.

Are you serious Well yes - should have phrased differently - so far as a medical professional who supplies medications directly to a client will go over the dosages etc with them and ensure they have an accurate understanding. My understanding is that he was advised to use the Nurophen after a late night phone call. It does not say she supplied it directly to him. This thread is most unpleasant. Anonymous posters vilifying a 'real life' vet's reputation when they do not even know all the facts. It reeks of cyber bullying.

Diva, that is a good post. While I do not know Jan personally I have also met people who were very grateful for her services and had nothing but praise for her abilities. It seems to me that she is prepared to be non-conformist if needed and I like people with that sort of courage and I believe she does not deserve to be denigrated on a public Internet forum. I believe she is trying to do the right thing by both her clients and their animals. In the case in the OP the owner of the cat is responsible because he overdosed his cat. My current vet does not demand a credit card up front, (I would be in trouble if he did because I do not have one.) but I have heard of so many others in Canberra that do and it is scary. My current vet actually offers a pensioner discount and unexpected expenses can be paid off in instalments.