dididog

Yeah he is in good condition for an older dog so it's not a bad case of neglect or anything and I think he's relatively well looked after it's just they aren't providing him with basic necessities while he's outside which I don't think is good enough. I can't really do much till I get pictures of him out in the morning and afternoon with no water and being exposed to the elements.

I know BC Crazy it makes me so sad I just want to take him home and let him spend his final years curled up on my couch. I will go over there today and see what it's like, it's quite a mild day but I think it might rain this afternoon so if it does I'll go then to show how his shelter is not sufficient. The tricky thing is they aren't consistent with leaving him outside but he is definitely outside often enough for me to know it's something they do regularly.

He's an old placid and friendly dog and mine is also friendly and gentle and they are both know each other... He always comes to the gate wagging his tail and I scratch his chin and the dogs have a sniff and then we continue on our walk... I don't just let my dog say hey to any old dog through a fence and I don't let Didi stick her head into his side either.

Here's the little fella. You can see here he can easily stick his head out which is another thing that worries me.

Yeah I know what you mean, there's nothing really concrete about the situation other than today where there was definitely no water or container for water anywhere. The yard is very open and bare so it wasn't hiding anywhere. I often let Didi chill on the front porch in the sun whilst I'm home but never leave her out there otherwise so there's no water and if you walked past at the time you'd think she was kept outside all day with no water too, which is why I hesitated a bit on calling council but just the overall look of the yard and the way he's kept all day is not nice. I think I might give them the benefit of the doubt and leave a note tomorrow and hope they change some things, after all not much council can do unless they leave him outside with no water again and I see it happening. It was lateish afternoon when I saw it today so I wasn't sure if they'd bother sending anyone out or could in time and I would have gone home and brought him some water but I thought it was coming close to the time his owners would come home and by the time I'd gone home and come back they might've walked in on me giving him water and I didn't want things to get weird or confrontational.

After today I was seriously considering calling the council, I feel bad I didn't now. My only worry is they might leave him out the back instead where it's impossible to see inside. Today's the first day I've seen him with no water tub. Yesterday the tub was there but there wasn't anything in it but it was the end of the day so he could have just drunk it all. I can't confirm actually if he is left outside all day as sometimes I've walked passed on a weekday and he wasn't outside, I generally only go passed midday onwards but I'll try going passed in the morning and seeing if he's out there and then come back in the afternoon and see if he's still there. I live about 5 streets down but I'm going to walk passed everyday and take a picture in case I need to prove anything. I know I have forgotten to fill Didi's water bowl once when I was in a huge rush so if this isn't an isolated incident I'll definitely call the council. The other times I wasn't sure if the council would actually care as he always had water and technically had some sort of shelter (not what I would consider sufficient but some people have pretty low standards with dog care.)

There's the cutest Cocker Spaniel who lives on my normal route. He's an older fellow, very grey and sleeps a lot (and I think a bit deaf) and he's kept in the front yard of his house which is a terrace house so it's only a small space. The only shelter is there is a very narrow (maybe half a metre) awning that extends from the house but the yard is really open to the elements, only really providing a little bit of shade and a bit of protection from rain but only if it's raining straight down otherwise rain easily gets blown in. He first caught my eye because he was being kept in the front yard which most people don't do around here and the fence is just a low, slightly sagging picket fence that I could easily lift my leg over and a gate which has gaps big enough for him to stick his head out of and the rest of the yard is just concrete and dirt. The only other thing I've seen in the yard is a little plastic tub of water and sometimes a dirty pillow thing for a bed. I've walked past on a day when it was raining and the rain had been blowing in and had drenched his pillow and he was curled up on the cement also wet. The last two days I've walked past and there hasn't even been water left out and he's kept there all day while the owners work (I assume as I've walked past on evenings and weekends and he was not out the front and over Easter I didn't see him.) Obviously there's nothing wrong with keeping a dog outside while you're not home, I do that most of the time too but I just worry about him as he's a lil skinny and his coat isn't that great so I don't think he can really protect himself from the elements and today was quite hot in the sun which hits the front of that house all afternoon and he had no water all day. It was also only 8 degrees this morning so if he was out when his owner's first left for work he would have been really cold. Anyway I was thinking of leaving an anonymous note in the letterbox to remind them to always leave water out and maybe get a kennel if they plan to leave him outside during winter as I'm under the impression those are the very basics you are legally supposed to provide a dog. Any ideas how I should word it so I come across concerned rather than judgy? He seems to be in pretty good condition and his yard is clean so I don't want to assume the worst but I have a soft spot for him and do worry about him. There's also the issue of the fence.. it's fine in the sense it can keep him in but I worry about him being able to poke his head out as the gate is smack bang on the other side of a corner and I worry about him poking his head out and surprising another dog as it comes round the other side of the corner. He's a friendly little thing and always enthusiastically says hi to me and Didi so even though it's not my business it really weighs on my conscience especially as I have to go past him everyday. Any suggestions about the best thing to do would be appreciated :)

To see if Didi would like wearing a coat I just put an old jumper/t shirt on her that wasn't uncomfortable or restricting movement and just left it on her for a few hours while supervised to see how she reacted. Didn't want to buy her coats if she hated it or tried to destroy it straight away!

Didi is always sneaking stuff out of the bin but her stomach has this weird special power where it knows something isn't food and she just throws it straight back up which is disgusting but the better option I suppose. One morning she woke me up by oh so sweetly retching over my face and then chucking up a piece of old bone she'd buried then dug up from the yard all over my bed :) The piece sounds pretty little so hoping for you it just passes through and that your little guy's okay!

Awh he's so sweet! :)

Ahh that place looks awesome! As soon as I have my own car I plan on going on a nice road trip holiday with the pup, definitely want to check that place out :)

I can imagine :laugh: poor Didi has had to be the test run.

I echo SG's advice to make sure play does not become higher value than you. My pup is nearly 7mths old now and we went to puppy school which in retrospect put too much focus on free play and socialisation and as a result Didi LOVES dogs and is very confident around other dogs and plays nicely but also knows she needs to be gentle and can tell when she should leave someone alone. The problem now is she loves dogs too much which makes recalling her from a play session hard sometimes (depending on how fun the other dog is) and means on walks she tries to pull me over to say hi and I'm now having to work on getting her attention and holding it when we encounter another dog. I wish I'd been a bit more restrictive about her social interactions as I am now trying to reverse the high value she has for other dogs but of course this is much more difficult than starting her off on the right path. Of course play and gaining confidence around other dogs is also extremely important and I am glad that I know Didi can handle herself well and keep a cool head around all different sorts of dogs especially as she is so big and has the potential to do a lot of damage. As a result though, I now have a dog that can be a bit hit and miss with focusing on me and responding to me when other dogs are around which is obviously not ideal. I know I'll definitely do things a bit differently with the next puppy I get.

Thanks esky I always have my eye out for cheap coats... really need to get onto actualy buying one! today I bought Didi the cutest bandana hehe not really a necessity but she pulls it off so well ^.^

Nixon looks so soft I just want to cuddle him :) I've been such a bad dog mother! I keep forgetting to buy Didi a coat and tonight was freeezing and dark when I got home but she still needed a walk... good thing my jumper fits her nicely. Sorry puppy I'll buy you one this weekend I promise

I'm going with my Dad on Saturday, I want to go another day since I got a free three day pass and don't want to waste it but I am too busy this weekend Hopefully four hours will be plenty enough time.

Yes I doubt being rehomed 4 timed by 4 months old is purely down to having a nose defect. He is very cute though, I love his paws.

Hmm not sure what's 'trendy' but in terms of what's popular I live in inner city Melbourne and I'd say it's mainly purebreds around me with a handful of large breed mutts, swfs and oodles but never in puppy form, only older dogs so I'm assuming they are slowly becoming less popular. Most popular would be German Shep, Labs and Goldens, Beagles, Miniature Schnauzers, Kelpies, BCs and Whippets. There's also a fair few Boxers, Danes and Ridgies. Yesterday was a a really diverse day at the dog park. There were kelpies, two older boxers (one in a wheelchair who is a sweetie), a Sharpei, lots of labs and lab crosses, a small pack of SWFs owned by one guy, some whippets, a Mini Schnauzer, a German Shepherd, a White Swiss Shepherd, an Irish Wolfhound, a Basenji (seen a few of these too surprisingly) a couple of terrier crosses and a beagle. When we were leaving I also saw a sheltie and a papillion! You see a few staffys and staffy crosses but I'd say kelpie and large dog mixes are the mutt of choice around here. I've only ever seen two Frenchies in my suburb, owned by the same person outside a cafe so I'm not sure if they were even from my area because I've never seen them again. British Bulldogs are quite common though I've seen a few at the park and bumped into a lil puppy on a walk once.

Definitely something to get on top of... we were just at the park with maybe 20 dogs all playing nicely when Didi calmly approached a huge shepherd to say 'hi'. I didn't see it had a ball in its mouth and it growled and went to snap at her(even though she had not even looked at his ball) and I just thought about if your pup had been in this situation and had actually stolen this particular dog's ball that he may have gotten very badly hurt. I can understand people throwing a ball in very large parks where you can completely separate yourself from others but I can't stand it when people let their dog walk around with a ball in its mouth or throw a ball amongst a large group of other dogs when they know their dog is possessive about the ball. Common sense to not let a dog with resource guarding behaviors have access to a ball around other strange dogs.

Will be great to see you again Terri- tell your dad to stay for some lunch if he isnt busy :) I'll see if he wants to, I think he secretly enjoys doggy related activities :laugh:

Didi and I will come :) I can bring bread/rolls and something sweet!

Yup she's all muscle! She is already so strong I'm glad she hasn't realised she could pull me over if she tried :laugh:

Eugh, terrible! The park we go to is frequented by so many dogs everyday that I'm sure if anything dodgy happened it would be noticed quicklyn but it's still pretty unnerving to know something like this happens regularly nearby.

The silly puppy is now 31kg and is so strong! I put a few silly ones in here so you can see she doesn't always look regal and dignified :laugh: Testing out her new toy :) Waking me up in the middle of the night for a cuddle ...Testing out how much she would like wearing a coat before we buy one :laugh: sorry puppy!

31 kg at her weigh in today! 6 and a half months old and still putting on over a kilo a week... Playing with her new toy :)