Her Majesty Dogmad

A very moving story and the story behind it is also fascinating, so much sadness in the world but some people are managing to make a difference.

Blonde Phoenix - I'd recommend you do some more reading on the health benefits of a dog being desexed. I'm not sure how many undesexed females die of pyometra I'd say it is very common - only last week I was speaking to an owner who very much loved their dog, since they were a puppy and they were now around 10, suddenly became quiet - it was pyometra and she didn't make it. It's not just dogs roaming in the streets with bad owners (rescue groups see it all the time, I've had 2 fosters alone with it this year) but also in homes of otherwise responsible owners. Have a look at the risk of prostate cancer for undesexed males. I just rescued a male dog and he was too far gone to save with a "peritoneal hernia" - read up about that, it was an education to me as I'd never heard of it but the main cause is being an older undesexed male. Not lecturing but just suggesting that you read up on these illnesses that are very significant for the undesexed animal. I work in rescue and see the sad results.

Mandimoore - I haven't just made this up or imagined it - it is advice from qualified dog behaviouralists and trainers and it isn't always about sexual urge, it can be about dominance.

No I don't think that's OK, I don't see anything funny about allowing one animal to harass another. As for those of you who breed/show - please read the original post again - they are normal pets, they are both desexed. I did not answer with regards to breeding/showing dogs. I would expect them to have normal urges but unless breeding, I'd also expect owners of undesexed dogs to prevent issues because it's a huge responsibility. And yes - I've had both undesexed dogs here plus bitches on heat. You CAN desex male dogs later in life and remove the sexual urge - I've had 2 out of 4 desexed males show zero interest in a bitch on heat. the other two were interested and fought so, as a responsible owner, I separate the dogs and got the bitch desexed asap but then I'm also rehoming rescue dogs and would never rehome an undesexed dog.

I love it, it's got me all teary - that couple and their dog are truly amazing!!

So sorry Dogslife, you really are having a continually tough time - I hope things start looking up very soon. Trifecta - thanks for the offer of help - I'm sure she'd go well in Canberra. Had my first enquiry from Petrescue today - it wasn't the right home but that is encouraging! She could well have some Kelpie in there, she's a very big girl though - bigger than a kelpie. I need help to get her to the vets - her owners were supposed to have taken her in the last 2 weeks but they haven't. She needs a vaccination and heartworm test but isn't used to going in a car and I don't have a cargo barrier unfortunately.

It doesn't always take an older dog a long time to get housetrained, shouldn't take a month generally (I've trained many dogs and always adopt old dogs - even housetrained a 14 yr old that had never been in a house). I have copied my method below. I own old dogs and often resscue them - there are some that simply can't go through the night. If you are feeding shop bought biscuits, some of them do create thirst in dogs. Best to stick with a good quality food and nothing to salty to go with it - I fee raw turkey or tuna, veggies etc with good quality biscuits. It's also really much easier if you get a doggie door - dogs don't want to be dirty once you've housetrained them (I'm not including my male malt cross who will wee inside if it's raining or he has a grievance against me) and they need to be able to get out, esp when they are older. Here's my housetraining method: HOUSETRAINING TIPS Ok - first thing to do is decide on the command (I call it “do wees”) you will repeat over and over. You have to really focus on the dog for about 2-3 days to be successful. You have a pocketful of special treats on hand all the time for the first 2-3 days. Walk the dog several times a day and every time the dog wees, you get very excited and keep saying “Good boy/girl, do wees, do wees” – give the dog treats every time. First thing in the morning, last thing at night and every time you see the dog eat or drink (both precursors to weeing) whisk the dog into the garden and repeat the command “do wees”. Get very excited and present treats every time dog goes. The dog’s aim in life is to please you. If the dog should have an accident inside the house – say NOTHING at all. The dog soon gets the idea that when he/she goes outside you are really, really pleased and he/she gets rewarded. NB: Please note that the smell of urine must be properly removed for any housetraining to be successful. There are products on the market such as “Urine Off” but they are very expensive. A mix of white vinegar and water is a much cheaper alternative and should work for tiles and other surfaces although you should always take care with wood etc. For carpet/rugs, I use either a mixture of Napisan/water or bicarb of soda and water. I completely soak the stain using a dab on technique with a cloth. When it is very wet, I use an old towel to soak up the excess moisture. Again, be careful on any expensive carpet/rug, I have never had any problems but I cannot guarantee any method here.

Thanks Panto - any help would be appreciated!

Thanks Dogslife - no she's not a barker. She has been left alone for most of the time since she was adopted 6 yrs ago, noone in the family has ever been interested in her - that's what they told me. The only time she barks is when you approach, she's a good guard dog and quite intimidating but I've lived with Shepherds before and wasn't worried by that, it's pretty typical. I'm so sorry to hear about your Dane, you've really been goign through tough times lately.

Don't forget to introduce them on neutral territory - you are taking two desexed males onto an undesexed male's territory which could be a real issue whether the dog was desexed or not.

I contacted GSD Rescue in Canberra and they suggested I call someone else in Sydney which I did. Am waiting for them to call me back. Problem is she isn't purebred and there were about 6 in just one Sydney pound this week alone, it makes it very hard.

I was actually going to do a thread about this as a colleague has a young Golden Retriever and he's ruptured his CL and she was quoted 4-5 thousand dollars. I suggested she get another quote although I do know it will be thousands.

It is unacceptable behaviour actually. A spray with water or perhaps a loud noise should stop the behaviour, it's about dominance and can lead to fights but also not pleasant for the dog being dominated.

I've ticked quite a few boxes. I have many years experience of rescue - getting dogs from pounds and from owners who no longer want or can keep them. I like to find out where they got the dog the first place and why. So, from my experience, I would recommend the following: 1. Close down petshops. 2. Compulsory desexing for all cats/dogs (apart from breeder's breeding dogs and show dogs) 3. Attendance at a course on responsible pet ownership BEFORE adopting This sounds harsh of course but when you know the statistics in Australia, something really radical needs to happen or it will just continue unabated. We are not only up against petshops now but the internet "quick fix" sales. We are up against morons cross breeding and creating fancy names and claiming they are "breeders" and the average idiot doesn't know that they haven't got a purebred dog because the "breeder" mated their female Shepherd to a male Husky and created a "Snow Shepherd" with associated b---shit, making someone think they have something special ... when they've got a mongrel. I dont know how you address the greed in society (making money from breeding animals and selling them for a ridiculous amount of dollars - having money doesn't appear to make people more discerning unfortunately) or the lack of commitment to animals - far too many dump their older and sick dogs in the pounds for someone else to rescue and find out it's all too late so that they can go and get a "new" dog. I've heard and seen it all, too many times. I despair of people.

I suggested that someone at work contact a local vet inc the All Natural Vet and they found a lovely vet nurse who housesat for them. Don't know what the cost was but don't think it was unreasonable. Several vet nurses at my practice also do this but they can charge anywhere between $40 and $60 and it doesn't include walking or poop scooping even so best to get what you expect or need out in the open beforehand! I wasn't fussed about the walking as I have oldies but I had expected the poop scooping ...

I'm afraid that they are really not very smart and don't want to learn either. When I was there on Sunday the flies were buzzing around Ellie and I asked about the cream you'd left for her ears. They said they hadn't put it on because it only worked for a few hours .... I said that's better than nothing and you must apply it every day. Glad they listened about that. I should have taken the chain and lead back with me because I said for them not to walk her after a few minutes of talking with the owner, she was so terrified of Ellie doing something that I said it would translate down the lead. She said her mother has a bad knee and I said she shouldn't be walking her either as she's so strong. No sign of a foster home - I'm afraid I wasted a month at the beginning of this story because I had an interstate rescue group offering a foster home. They then proceeded to keep me hanging on, saying they were organising transport etc before finally saying they couldn't do it. I am trying various avenues all the time, I had a potential home in VIC (they would drive up here first) which fell through yesterday. Quite honestly it's not easy, by wasting the month I lost crucial time as rehomings have started slowing right down and don't pick up again until Feb now. What to do? Do you leave her where she is or take her to a shelter and hope for the best? Most rescuers know at this time of year that it would be certain death for a dog like Ellie so I hold out hope that one of my ads or word of mouth will bring Ellie the home she deserves and asap.

Well done Rachel, thank you for taking some time with her, it makes such a difference. I don't believe it about the clamshell, it wasn't out yesterady either. Why wouldn't you just leave it out ...

Here are some pics we took yesterday, it was a hot day so we couldn't go too far. Hard to get a good pic of the dogs together but you can see how good they were with each other anyway.

so sorry Gillbear .... hugs

Mother Moocher left a large trampoline bed here so I took that over for Elly today. Thanks MM

Elly met "Bon" (the most beautiful bull terrier in the world!!) who belongs to Juice. Bon is a very good girl and put up with Elly barking excitedly. Eventually we let them get closer and Elly was very pleased to meet Bon. i will put some pictures up but thank you so much to Juice for bringing Bon along!

I went last Saturday night and he was a speck in the distance. I found him reasonably humorous but would learn more from his DVDs perhaps. I do have a lot of dog experience, the lady with the poodle irritated me! I was more interested in the dog obsessed with the pine cones ...

Lilli - I'm sorry but I don't agree on this. Maybe guardian breeds are more reliable but I've come across dogs from every group that have killed all sorts of small animals. A very dear little dog I wanted to rescue from the pound last year had been put there by his owners because he had killed a guinea pig. They surrendered him to the council and he died, he didn't deserve it and nor did the guinea pig. I rescue all sorts of dogs including Italian Greyhounds. They are extremely gentle but many of them will certainly kill a chicken or other bird, if not guinea pigs. Maltese, Chihuahuas, labradors, shar pei, terriers, Shih tzus, cattle dogs are just a few amongst the dogs I've known to kill birds and other small animals. Only a month ago I had someone contact me because his dog of 4 yrs was about to attack his children he thought. Why - because the dog had killed several chickens (yes he was in the same area) and it was bound to lead to an attack on the kids.

Sorry but generally speaking it is not realistic to expect dogs or cats to live with birds, guinea pigs or rabbits and suppressing their prey drive completely. With most breeds of dog it is perfectly normal to kill birds - chickens are espceially easy as they can't fly. As a rescuer I am coming across this requirement more and more often - that a family is seeking to have a dog run freely amongst chickens/rabbits or guinea pigs without causing them harm. Whilst there are a few individual dogs (I won't generalise across a breed) that might be OK, it's a high risk scenario for the small animal which is simply unfair!! They pay with their lives. You are proposing to stop an animal from following its instincts - I sincerely hope you are not punishing the puppy for what you consider to be wrongdoing?? If you must persist with having chickens and dogs - it can be done - get yourself a very secure chicken pen and this will protect your chickens against foxes, cats and other predators. You have a responsibility to all the animals in your care and you need to work hard and take whatever measures are necessary to prevent any harm comign to any of them.

Oh no Juice, you poor chook! I will be out and about in the area on Sunday - picking up an IG at Narellan at midday and delivering to Yagoona area so would be able to get to Merrylands around 1.30 - 2.00 or so?