Kaffy Magee

When I had my 2 litters earlier in the year all pet males had vasectomies before leaving. My vet charged me $170( discount price). I have now shifted to Hervey Bay and have found a home in WA for one of the boys I ran on, now 8 months old. Of the 5 vets I have called in the area only one will do it, for approx $1000! WTF! While trying to justify the price after I questioned them, they tried to tell me they use clamps from the hospital and they do it so the tubes don't join back up, (which I told her so did my vet). My vet explained it is not that much different than a castration, the prep is the same, it's a little bit more fiddly as he has to pull the tubes out of the small hole, cut, cauterise and put back with one stitch. How on earth can there be such a price difference? So what do I do now? Didn't want to castrate yet, he is going to be a huge boy and wanted to give him more time to mature. I'm just gobsmacked.

gremlins....

Well thanks must go out to Apple for their stupid glitch in their iphones that stops the alarm from working now its 2011 SO bloody annoyed, OH and I set our alarms for 6am. COme 8 am my OH wakes me up and tells me the alarms havent gone off. Sure enough they were still set for 6am :p Get on the net and it seems we are not the only people to have been caught out! Apparently the glitch is supposed to be fixed today, just a little too late for me Today was supposed to be my last show in Victoria before I move to QLD, I was supposed to catch up and have lunch with my friend who I only see at dogs shows. Seriously pissed off. Will be atleast another 5 weeks before I get to show again. Not happy Apple!!!

HI. We are making the big trip to QLD next weekend and need some pet friendly places to stay on the way. First night we will stop some where in line with Sydney, but dont actually want to go into Sydney or its immediate outskirts. Smaller country towns are fine as long as we can have the dogs and cats. Second night we will probably drive another 8-9 hours and stop near the border somewhere. We dont want anything flash but an enclosed exercise area for the dogs would be a bonus but not essential.Anywhere you think might be ok, please let me know. Where we stop and how far we go will all depend on the location of pet accommodation. Cheers,KM

Thank you so much for your responses. I'll give Dogs Vic a call tomorrow. Cheers

Merry Christmas from Chase

Sniffy!

My Vic Dogs membership and prefix renewal is due this month. I will be shifting to QLD next month. Do I renew in Vic and then transfer or can I just sign up for QLD membership. What will that mean for my prefix, will I have to reapply for it, becasue technically Im not transferring? Any help appreciated

Thanks for the replies. I might try more palings on the side fence, but the back fence has the rails on our side, so might have to go with weed mat and the bamboo screen stuff. WE are on a bit of a budget at the moment so colourbond is out

Im shifting to a new house and the palings on the fences have quite wide gaps between them. Not wide enough that any of the dogs could put any part of their body through but wide enough that they can see things going on in the neighbours yard. If the neighbours or their dogs(one has one dog the other has 3) are outside my dogs might bark at them if they can see them through the fence. So I want to put something up to cover the gaps. I know I can get that brush screen fencing stuff but was wondering if there was any alternatives, something more solid, short of replacing the fences. I have never had neighbours with my dogs before so I want to do everything possible to minimise any reasons to bark. My dogs will sleep indoors at night, to limit any possible reasons for barking and contact with cane toads but will spend some time outside during the day. My dogs are not a breed that barks often, so if I can just limit any visual stimulant via the fences, I should be right. Any suggestions much appreciated

I took on a 6 motnh old pup not long after losing my 16month old, my heart dog, to cancer. I had just started a new job and I also had 2 young pups that I had kept from the litter I had at the time. I didnt have time to grieve properly and took this boy on thinking I was ready. I was very wrong. We couldnt bond. And I dont know whether its just cos I still missed my older boy so much, but this dog seemed to be the devils spawn, sent to bring me down. He barked when confined in a run, dog trailer, crate (except at shows, he was angel then). Unfortunately living on property, with neighbouring sheep, he couldnt just have run of the place when I couldnt supervise, so he had a run, for during the day and a crate for inside at night. I bought a bark collar, he barked through it. He wrecked my wire crate, bent it all out of shape, and ripped the aluminum strips of the inside of my trailer and bent it all up. He wrecked every coat I bought him, to keep him warm through winter. He hated my cats and wanted to kill them. He hadnt had as much socialisation when I got him as I had given my previous boy from 8 weeks and was not as confident and as outgoing when I took him anywhere else other than dog shows.None of this made it easy to bond with him. I persisted for 12 months, we did lots of training, he was super smart and loved to work, but it just became apparent it wasnt working. I also wasnt happy with how he was turning out for the show ring. So, I rehomed him to a wonderful lady who had another of his breed. She regularly takes him biking and competes in obedience trials with him, and he is doing really well. He is on a normal house block, so no need for dog runs or crates and no longer barks. So after writing all that, yes I would rehome a dog I didnt bond with. Its no good just existing together, when you both could be so much happier. I also recently rehomed one of my pups from my recent litters that I was running on until I found a home for her. She was 6 months old. I never planned to keep a girl and was always going to place her in a home but everyone told me I was crazy for rehoming her as she was a stunning bitch, so I seriously considered keeping her but then I decided it wasnt fair on her when I didnt have that connection with her as I do with her brother Chase. My dogs might be show/breeding dogs but they are also my pets, that spend time with us in the house and go on outings with us. They are not kenneled dogs(not that I have anything wrong with that, providing they are provided for) just for breeding and showing where you dont need to have that connection. As family pets, you need to have a bond imo, to get the best out of the relationship.

Thanks everyone! I took Chase in today for an xray and he got the all clear He also has a big hard lump between his shoulder blades, vet thinks its a reaction from an injection he has had while in hospital. The vet did a biopsy and something else on it just incase but says all seems fine and it could take up to 3 months to go away. If not, they can take it out. Its pretty big, and hard. I also found a dermatology veterinary specialist in Melbourne that does testing for bee sting allergy and they also have bees ting vaccines to give tot he dog to desensitise it. I was so excited when I found the info, I rang them and it will cost nearly $900 for the consult and the testing Sadly I cant afford that right now Its already cost me over $4000 plus we have just paid all our savings into our new house. Hopefully once we shift and get new jobs, I'll be able to work something out for future testing, but until then, he is mainly indoors and I'll get an epipen. Atleast I know it can be tested for and I will most definitely get it done at some point, so I can stop(or continue) being a paranoid freak Heres a pic of the lump on his back, does anyone know much about these and is there anyway I can help it go down quicker?

And a couple more

Chase yesterday

Sorry Crazy Cresties I didnt see your question Well I thought I would come in give a quick update. Chase is going great guns! Its crazy to look back at the p[hotos I took of him when it first happened to now, only 4-5 weeks later. He looked like such a baby back then, but has grown so much since. He has just finished his anti biotics today, so I will call the vet and ask if they want to do more xrays to see if its all clear. I was told they may not if he appears healthy and not coughing, which he is not. I think I'd like to have them done thiough, just incase he needs to be on anti bitoics for a bit longer, I'd hate to take a step back now. The vet that originally treated him (and thought he was a boxer), whom I dont like, has told me he is sure it was the treat that became stuck which caused him to vomit and then aspirate, so he doesnt need an epipen as it wasnt an allergic reaction. And he knows this how??? I cant see such a tiny treat becoming stuck and if he vomited why did he aspirate, unless he was struggling to breathe, which he would be if he was having an allergic reatcion He says " at this stage I dont think you need an epipen" He has no way of knowing if it was anaphylaxis or the treat that caused this. I sure as hell would rather have an epipen on hand "just in case" and not have to use it, than need one and not have it. Im going to wait until I see my normal vet and talk to him about it. He'll give me one Chase the day I bought him home, looking so sad,lol

Ive just been through this with one of my pups. My other dogs are insured but I had not got around to insuring this one. Of course, it was him that I nearly lost. The specialist vets were telling me his operation would cost around $10,000 if not more(thats on top of what my own vet had charged me already for treatment). I was devestated, WE had just bought a house, I had my husband, vet and mum all getting in my ear about the money, "you have to think of the family", "you cant afford it"etc etc. I knew I could probably scrape $5000 together but $10000 was just too much, and I didnt think it was fair to my OH. He doesnt love the dogs as it is. I wasnt going to make that decision thought to put him to sleep. My last resort would have been my own vets doing the op, not a specialist, atleast he would have had some sort of chance. Turns out I cam eto an agreement with a specialist that my boy would come back to my vets for aftercare, which would cut the costs greatly. So we went ahead and the best news I have ever heard, He didnt need an operation!. One thing for sure is I will ALWAYS get a second opinion! To think I could have PTS and I didnt need to. It still cost me $4000 all up but I dont care. I still had people tell me they would have put a bullet in him than spend that money ;) What it comes down to is there is a line, I never thought there would be, but I knew in my heart I simply could not afford 10 or more thousand dollars. Maybe in the future if I have a better paying job then it wouldnt matter about cost but I will now always have pet insurance. I dont ever want to go through that again, if I had the insurance, I could have just said yep do it and not worried about price.

group 1....1-190 group 2....191-278 group 3....279-391 group 4....392-522 group 5....523-637 group 6....638-753 group 7....754-869

OK, my plan was to keep one male from my litters born in May. Ive kept 2, I have one girl on co ownership to get a pup back from her in the future and I have her full litter sister here, who I never planned for her to stay. I wanted her to go to a trusted show home with the same arrangement as the other girl. I had plenty of people wanting her but not in a position to take her on. So in the end I decided to place her in a pet home. Ive found a wonderful home for her, they have fallen inlove and it would be the very best of homes. However, now I have numerous other breeders (and not just any breeders but top breeders in my breed) tell me, in short, I am insane for rehoming her. She does have a fault that stands out like dogs balls to me, however it is not a disqualifiable fault and they all think that its nothing to worry about as she is outstanding everywhere else. I know she is a stunning bitch and a very sweet girl and logic says to keep her and rehome one of my boys but my heart is not in it, I just dont want her like I know I should. I have one older bitch who I planned to breed in 2012 and keep a bitch from but as we know things can go wrong. I also know I may rehome one of the boys in the future anyway. All three of my babies have done well at specialty shows in big classes, all placed at both specialties we have attended and both boys have won a baby in show and the girl opposite baby in show under specialist judges. So do I go with my head or my heart? Not to forget that I feel incredibly bad for the poor people that had their heart set on her. Everyone told me "they'll get over it" "your breeding for yourself"etc etc, but Im not like that, I hate to disappoint anyone and I know if I was in their shoes I would feel very disappointed to get my hopes up and then let down. I have emailed them to let them know whats going on and they were very understanding but I still feel really bad. Im going out of my mind with this decision. SO what would you do?

That Bullmastiffs are NOT about to rip you apart. They are not boxers or classed as a dangerous dog and they are wonderful with kids.

The entries for Vic womens show are closed( if the reason you were looking for an entry form on their site was to enter). Show entries usually close about 4 weeks before the actual show, except for Royals and they close alot earlier. Does the breeder of your pup know you want show? If not it is best you tell them because not all puppies are suitable to be shown, I would hate for you to get your pup and find it is on limited register and cant be shown or have a fault that disqualifies it from the ring. Good luck with your pup and the showing!

I'll be shifting to QLD before schools starts back next year and Im freaking out about all the lovely creatures QLD has I will be building a couple of dog runs at my new house and want to make it as safe as possible, so cane toads and snakes cant get in and preferably bees (due to one of my boys possibly being highly allergic to them). What sort of mesh would be suitable for this?. It needs to be strong as I have entire dogs and bitches and will need to withold crazy boys trying to get to my girls. Would I better off using normal mesh and then covering with shade cloth? Any suggestions would be wonderful as I have well and truly freaked myself out reading up on cane toads snakes and ticks,lol.

HE'S HOME!!! HE'S HOME!!! I went in to see him this morning and I walked out with him!!! Anti biotics for the next 4-6 weeks, 3 times a day and kept quiet for the next 1-2 weeks, on lead walks only to toilet etc. Plus coupage 3-4 times a day (banging(gently but firmly) on the side of his chest to loosen the crap in his lungs). Been into town, bought him a new bed, new blankets and a new cuddly toy. After being in at the vets all this time and having to toilet in his cage, has interefered with his toilet training here. As soon as I got him home and put him in his crate here he weed everywhere But really thats the least of my worries, Im jsut so glad to have him here to wee everwhere in the first place!

Hmmmm, you got me really thinking now, Bilbo Baggins! :D I dont give my number out all that easily so you are very sneaky or very clever,lol. Tdierikx, that caption is sooo cute, made me laugh out loud. He is such a sweetheart and as you can all see, very very cute. Monah, it sure has been a week! Our excitement at buying a house has been overshadowed by whats happened with Chase, but there is plenty of time to be excited about the house, when Chase is in the clear. I have been getting sleep now, both days this weekend I slept all afternoon, didnt get anything done I wanted to but God knows I needed the rest. Thanks all for your comments, I cant reply to them all indiidually, however know that I read every one and they mean so much to me and my little Chazzy

Ok, power back on here is pic taken this morning

Pic didn't work obviously but I can't find the edit button