Her Majesty Dogmad

I just clicked through to the ad and the info has been taken down. How old are they?

I'd recommend contacting VIC Whippet rescue. I will also go back to an enquiry forwarded to me on our recent Whippet.

That's very interesting, I haven't had any emails but today i had two calls on a dog I have there which was encouraging.

Great news!

Didn't Emma get through to her this morning? I have another option if WAR are unable to help. Can someone pls update?

I see some of mine quite regularly and get emails from other owners from time to time. But considering the amount that I have fostered over the last 10 years, it is only a small percentage really. Some of my friends have adopted my former foster dogs so in that way I'm lucky. Recently I did get told the sad news by two families of 2 of my former foster dogs passing away, it's very sad, especially as one of them was reasonably young at 9 yrs old.

Great Emma, I haven't heard back from the person I thought might be able to help and it is a very urgent situation!

How horrendous for the poor little mite. He needs to get out of there asap, I cannot believe that you'd mix those breeds together. Can she contact the original breeder? I've contacted someone who used to do Dachshund Rescue, not sure if they still are. I also have another suggestion and will contact that rescuer as well.

It was a similar length of time for me to receive a reply to an email. :)

I had a look to see where this was and it is a "suburb of Maitland"!

If you don't find anyone I do know of a friend who is heading there for a holiday at the weekend with her dogs!

I've had 3 dogs with Cushings (2 diagnosed and 1 suspected). My first had a pituitary tumour and was around 12 years of age. I was going to a very expensive vet that overserviced at that point and the diagnosis cost me around $4000. The tablets were terrible - Lysodren and had to be given wearing gloves. They were dangerous to humans as they had DDT in them. She was expected to live up to 3 yrs with medication, up to 1 year without. She actually managed 4 good years but dentals were a big issue. She had to come off the pills for a couple of months, go on a drip and have the surgery and then back on the pills. She also had turns as the tumour grew but nothign terrible or long lasting. However it was the Cushings that killed her as for the last couple of days of her life she was hallucinating, she was storm phobic and she kept acting as if a storm was coming, getting very distressed and stressed. My vet said the tumour was now pressing on part of her brain and i let her go. My next dog was perfectly fine, just older, but one day both his cruciates went and didn't respond to treatment. My vet (different one) said that it was most likely caused by undiagnosed Cushings. He was my heart dog, very precious. I would have done anything to keep him with me but it wasn't to be. My current dog with diagnosed Cushings also has a pituitary tumour. He's on a new medication which is much easier to give. The diagnosis was still very expensive at around $2000 of tests. He was diagnosed about 2 years ago. He's had his cruciates go but responded well to treatment, he's not allowed to run around at all which is sad as he used to love it. He's about 13 yrs old and has been very well on it. He can have a dental without cutting out the meds although he did just have to go on a drip. Pills are $95 per month. If I had a very old dog get Cushings then I would not put them through all the diagnostic tests. It's a lot to put them through and at an old age something else could take them.

If PetBarn and PetStock can manage to be successful businesses without selling live animals, there is no reason why others couldn't. There is no need to be selling live animals bred in misery to have a successful business. It is unethical and unnecessary.

I don't think it is all that safe to walk 2 very large dogs, accidents happen. i've tried walking two GSDs and various other large breed dogs at the same time and it wasn't at all easy. If something goes wrong it's a very difficult situation to manage.

Save Our Strays have a potential home for 2 Rottis in Horsley. Is anyone available to help with this before the weekend please? Call me on 0422 498 960.

SM - have a look for a breed club or go onto the front of DOL and look for English Setter Breeders - there would probably only be 1 or 2 in QLD if at all.

I use vinegar/water or Napisan and water to clean up their wee, disinfectant or wool wash are no good. Your shelter should be providing this type of advice to all foster carers. I run a rescue group and foster carers should be housetraining dogs and providing any feedback to me on any health or behavioural worries. All of our dogs go straight to the vets with any health issues and adoptions don't go ahead unless the dog is 100%. Should it have an ongoing condition then this is disclosed before adoption and people can decide to go ahead or not. Someone from the shelter should have come out to watch her behaviour - they need to be expert enough to know what is causing it and to delay adoptions until it's fixed.

As an experienced rescuer I'm very concerned and surprised the dog has been rehomed without getting to the bottom of this issue. People might say that it's OK for the dog to be weeing continually inside but I'd say they are a saint amongst men - rarely is it OK if it isn't solvable. I've just taken on a dog today for the same reason. Owners had for 2 years (having been given him as a 6 yr old) and were unable to housetrain so decided last week he was going outside 24/7. They had just replaced their carpets after he'd ruined the first lot. But then guess what? He was still going on the new carpet so outside he went. Left outside was barking too much (he's a Maltese type) and so they decided to take him to the vets for the green dream. Luckily PAWS have stepped in and he's come here. My assessment is that he isn't housetrained. The former owners only used disinfectant to clean up which doesn't work. I often wonder how many dogs spend their lives outside because the owners were unable to housetrain or how many get put to sleep for being a nuisance after a chain of events led to it. I've also known vets to tell people that you can't housetrain an adult/old dog and they should put to sleep Yes you can but how many owners take a vet's word as gospel, a lot I expect.

Plenty of bad rescuers around. Why anyone would want to rescue an 1.5 yr old dog and then hand it to an 80 yr old is beyond me. That's a rescuer I heard about this week ... 80yr old suddenly became unwell so couldn't take the dog. It's not about handing a dog to the first person that calls OR wants to adopt it. It's about making a match so the dog isn't looking for a home in the next few months or years. I rescue different kinds of dog as well as a purebred. Even with the purebreds they are still individual and we make the individual match with a home, we don't just say here's the next Italian Greyhound available to the people on our waiting list ... If it sounds like hard work - it is. The worst aspect of it are the people who really muck you around and make ridiculous demands of any dog.

Alloveen is a great shampoo for an itchy dog and Frufru is right, sometimes one flea can make the dog go crazy.

Do you have any Wandering Jew in your yard?

He is a bouncy dog apparently but that's what cockers are like and I imagine he's excited to have company .... as it seems to be a rare treat from what I understand.

I'm waiting for pictures but am hoping to find a great new home for this poor dog. He's lived outside his whole life and only occasionally been allowed inside the house. His owners seem to think he's housetrained but this would need to be tested I guess. He's good with other dogs, although he's not walked often he has been to dog parks without a problem. His owner has health issues and he has tripped her up, causing her to break her wrist so he does need to find a new home. I'm waiting for a picture but if anyone knows of someone who'd like an older Cocker, plesae let me know. All his vet work is done and his owner has agreed to vaccinate him before he goes to a new home. He's sable in colour apparently.

Yes - that was part of what I was saying - it's urgent and you need to get that sample there NOW. Read about the repercussions on the web of leaving these things if you are not sure. I've known one dog rescued by PAWS last year who died because of a long period of untreated urine infection, it was very sad and so unnecessary ...

I was with a rescue group and took my first foster home. The rules were you had to get their approval before getting vet treatment - but that was if you wanted them to pay for it and it is quite reasonable. Many people would rush dogs off to the vet for things that are very minor or not even real. In my foster dog's case, he had a real skin problem - this was 10 years ago - I paid $350 or so for his treatment. I was very inexperienced. I had a lot to learn and have since had dogs with many skin problems that have been overcome with good housing, hygiene & diet. The vet def. overcharged me at the time and conducted all sorts of tests. Sounds to me like your little dog has a bladder infection. Please either contact the shelter and explain - they may have some antibiotics to give you or send you to their vet. This is not a condition that is safe to leave and is also painful for the dog and a nuisance for you cleaning up. As for the shelter charging xxx for any dog - that's up to them. As someone who runs a rescue I can assure you there is NO PROFIT to be made from rescuing dogs. Sure, you might find 1 dog that comes in and is in great health and had all it's vet work done. brilliant. You might sell that dog for $350 (should you sell it for $0 because it cost you nothing? No of course not). Then you get the next dog in and it needs all standard vet work done and some teeth out. It costs you $600 but your standard adoption fee is $350. So there you are $250 short of your vet bill - I hope you can see what i mean. I have rescued numerous Italian Greyhounds this year. Two died. They cost over $1000 ... I transport them from all over Australia, I quarantine them when from a pound. Honestly, rescuers are normally in the red so please do not presume that your shelter is profiteering!