Her Majesty Dogmad

OMG, Mack looks amazing! Well done Cathy!

Strangely enough I've just been through dealing with a large lump on a rescue dog's head (front on top) today. Giorgio is an Italian Greyhound that arrived in our care 3 weeks ago. He is 4 kilos and had an olive sized lump on his head. rushed him to the vet and she said to find out when it had happened. Pound staff said he'd hit his head the day before release, on a wooden kennel. Lump started to go down. It didn't completely disappear but suddenly on Tuesday, it ballooned up again, bigger than ever. Today he had an ultrasound, needle aspiration and surgery. Lump was pus filled, no foreign objects found. He's got a lot of stitches and a plastic tube draining the lump. Poor little man! Hoping this sorts it out, we can't rehome him until he's 100%. Hope you can get to the bottom of the cause of your dog's lump.

I worked at a shelter and there was a huge Rottie/Shepherd cross there, grew up from a small puppy into a young adult with no training. I didn't know how/what to do myself and brought in a trainer that the shelter used. I knew the dog very well, he was a gentle giant, the sweetest man on the planet and that's why the shelter had kept him for so long. The trainer was using harsh and punishing methods on this poor pup and in his terror at one point he swung round and bit my calf hard, but not hard enough to break the skin. He had been writhing and spinning round and I hadn't gotten out the way quick enough. My calf was badly bruised and sore but in no way did I blame this dog. I knew him well. I had begged the trainer not to treat him so roughly and she kept going. I know so much more now, she was an old fashioned trainer and he just reacted. This dog loved me, there's no way on earth he meant it. Happily, he went to a home with a nice couple who were going to take him to training with kindness. This was an entirely different situation from another dog who bit me there - a red cattle dog I was just walking along. Didn't pull the dog, didn't bump it, no other people/animals in sight, no sounds and the dog suddenly turned and bit me on the thigh - breaking the skin. I was terrified and screamed at him, walked back to the shelter in shock and showed them what he'd done. I really thought he was dangerously unpredictable (it wasn't the first time I'd walked the dog and he'd been fine the first time). To my horror, they rehomed him.

What a dear little girl, they take a huge piece of our hearts with them, you'll never forget her. Hugs to you.

rescue can be so tough, thank you for doing all you could for these poor little souls. Hope Mum keeps fighting and recovers soon.

I'm shedding some tears after reading your lovely story of Chantie. What a beautiful soul, so glad you all found each other. Hugs to you, she went too soon.

I've had a few dogs with dry eye. Only one required Optimmune twice daily, the rest only once. I also supplement that with Alcon's "Systane", a liquid eye drop that you only need one drop of for great lubrication. The twice daily dog had her eyes retested after a few months on Optimmune as the vet was hoping for some improvement but sadly not. I have dry eye myself and use Systane and a thicker drop at night. I should add that the dogs I've had with dry eye have all been rescued from the pound and had obviously suffered for a very long time with untreated dry eye before I got them. It would have been very sore and their eyes were damaged.

how very French ... I'd say a Sheltie cross!

shame he didn't go inside and see what I saw when I visited, a place of terrible misery, needless suffering and far too many needless deaths.

Sounds like she's getting the most out of life, lovely update Judy!

What a sweet old girl, I know she would have appreciated all you did for her, she was lucky it was your kennels. So hard on our heart, I still remember a big old girl I only had for 5 months, she was the sweetest girl and it completely broke my heart when my vet could do no more. Hugs to you, so sad to lose them but so wonderful to have had them even if only for a short while.

Poor little dog with a crappy owner. Loose dogs are a major bugbear for me, doesn't matter what size they are. A little dog loose is in danger of becoming the victim of a car, another dog attack, even a cat or worse, some evil human. And yes, some people are frightened of even a tiny dog. WHY can't the stupid owner keep the dog inside???

He was lucky to have found you that day and vice versa. Foxies are wonderful little dogs, often unappreciated but it sounds like Jasper was the perfect match for you. RIP little man and hugs to you.

Not sure what you mean Lilli but I'm where I have been for the last 7 years, at the rough (and expensive) end of rescue, it's just constant. Got a purebred puppy aged 7 months approx on Friday, dumped at the pound by elderly owners because he kept getting an upset stomach. Never mind they were feeding him a completely inappropriate diet. Not desexed, wormy and presumbly unvaccinated too.

Urinary infection? It's the first thing I'd be checking, bladder stones, kidney stones, kidney infection and so on. If it's a major change in habits then something has changed to cause it. A little too young for dementia but I did have a 7 yr old dog develop a brain tumour and he leaked urine and didn't even know at the time.

I'd recommend going to a vet with a slightly different approach. I did have something similar with my 7 yr old foxy and went to my own vet, like you the xrays etc didn't reveal anything, they thought it might be arthritis. I took him to the all natural vet and they did some chiro and accupuncture on his neck and he was much better. He was OK for a while and then started getting worse symptoms and it turned out to most likely be a brain tumour - many symptoms that led to the diagnosis by 3 different vets. Didn't do the MRI for various reasons.

I was so angry when I read this. And the judge didn't think he was "sadistic" - what do you call it when people do this to defenceless animals? Would she consider him evil or wicked if not sadistic? I hope his newly diagnosed prostate cancer is long and agonising before he finally gets to hell, he deserves nothign less.

Oh no, another loss for you to cope with, sorry to hear this. So hard on our hearts. RIP Gypsy.

Call the Council, the dog needs help. One bite and this dog will be history, obviously has lousy owners who haven't checked their fencing properly or keep/let the dog outside with gate open or holes in fence.

So this is a dog for you? I don't recommend you mix the sizes, especially if your large dog has already displayed a predatory instinct towards a small dog. It's highly risky mixing the sizes unless you supervise 100% of the time, one incident when you are in the next room and that could be that. Chis wouldn't be any good as they often have or develop knee problems. Personally I love the terriers, a great mix of intelligence, boldness and loving nature, willing to go wherever you want them to. All of mine just love to lapsit, sleep on the bed etc but give them a garden intruder such as a blue tongue lizard (sadly), overly confident Mynah bird or a rat and they don't last 5 minutes. I've had an Italian Greyhound and other types of dogs and none of them would suit what you are asking of them.

Italian Greyhounds are often called "Iggies", and DOL indigirl and I call our rescue "Iggy Rescue"

That poor old girl, her face says it all.

It may not be as bad to get them to QLD providing the relis were willing to take them. Dog Movers are very reasonable.

this is a practice that should be stopped somehow, so wrong.

Disgusting and smacks of a backhander. When will these morons in power educate themselves before they allow these things to happen??? There is plenty of information and evidence out there on how appalling puppy farming is that would lead any decent human being to do everything in their power to prevent any more from happening and to be fighting to stop the practice entirely.