Scottsmum

Hey Sean Lots of people have answered your first post over here: http://www.dolforums.com.au/topic/265893-need-help-finding-the-right-service-dog/page__p__6789101__hl__%2Bservice+%2Bdog__fromsearch__1#entry6789101

P.S. Welcome to the forum - wish it was under nicer circumstances.

It's such a personal thing - with so many factors to consider. I read about a guy the other day who waited 20 years - life just got in the way I suppose. In some respects I think you were obviously ready to have a dog in your life which lead you to your dobe - so go get the new dog. You never replace a dog and it sounds like you've done the best by your current pup. It's a tough decision to make to put any dog to sleep. That said, maybe you need some time to breathe and heal. Again, totally a personal thing and only you and your family can answer / decide that. I'd probably call the breeder and let them know what you're thinking and sound them out - see what they think. Don't ask them to hold the dog but let them know that you need a few days to get your head, and heart, in the right space and you'll get back to them. Personally, I "lasted" 6 months between dogs. I warned my husband the day we put the old girl to sleep - and said - this will be the first time in my entire life I haven't had a cat and a dog. I don't know how long I'll last without a pet. We adopted the first one which we saw that met our criteria. Our land lord didn't really care that we had a dog - but we had a "senior black and white fox terrier" listed on the lease - which is what we got to avoid problems - so in some ways we did "replace" our last dog. Lucky "senior black and white fox terriers" are totally my thing. Lucky they never noticed that the old female had magically acquired a willy. ;)

They're just totally and utterly adorable.

Great shots :)

This group state that they can source and train pups http://www.adnsw.org.au/?page_id=2 This site says https://www.olg.nsw.gov.au/content/registering-assistance-animal-more-information This organisation might also help. http://www.servicedogtraining.com.au/ and they have a PDF which seems like it has sensible advice in it: http://www.servicedogtraining.com.au/articles/ConsiderationsWhenApplyingforanAssistancedog1112.pdf

Hi Sean, I don't have any experience in either Maltese terriers or assistance dogs - but maybe sites such as this one http://www.assistancedogs.org.au/ might be a good place to start. Maybe you should call them and have a chat? And please keep us updated on how you get on with the process.

Well - if nothing else - we can all agree we all pronounce it differently. I had a dream about it the other day - it was going to cost me $2500 to get it done.... crazy.

I think it's a real mixed bag. Min wage is about $14.75 here, not $16.87 it is at home. That's a bit of a difference over a week. We're finding the cost of food to be more expensive on the whole. But there is more range - a lot more imported from the states (I think) and a lot more parallel imports. When I was here for last easter I did a hand basket full of shopping (admittedly in the wellington CBD area) and it cost about $70 - which blew me away. I can't remember exact contents but it was bread, milk, eggs, butter, tea, bacon, maybe a few other things. We have family who grow cattle and they've said they could not afford to eat meat if they didn't kill their own beasts. We only shop at the cheap supermarkets - can't afford countdown (which is woolies). And last week I actually had leave a few things (non-essentials) and put things back on the shelf (I was going to do some baking) so i could grab bread and milk and finish the shopping. I needed to see a GP and get a script filled yesterday - took me 4 attempts to find a doctor who took walk ins - then I had to pay a casual fee, you can enroll which gets you a cheaper fee and gives you the ability to make appointments - but that can't be done on the spot. So I paid $70 for the casual visit- which was $20 more than the enrolled patient fee and then took myself off to the chemist to get the script filled - dreading what they were going to charge, after a trip to the vet and the doctor all in one day - and they only charged me $5 for 6 months worth of pills. Also find that the cost of second hand goods and cars is astronomical - I was a very active member of free cycle at home and bought and sold on gumtree, facebook and ebay a lot. Over here, ebay is almost not used at all and the second hand sites are a sellers market - lots of old second hand stuff going for crazy prices. the facebook buy swap and sell sites are basically full of small businesses pushing their goods - lots of lawn mowers, couriers, Avon and Jamberry - - people trying to make ends meet. I've seen 2 things listed on free cycle since I've been here. Sure, I think some of it is that I view things from the perspective of a sydney sider - but our town has about 90,000 people - it could sustain a good free cycle and cheaper second hand market - and we're not alone - another set of rellies commented that trade me (the local version of gumtree) is great if you're selling but terrible if you're looking to buy.

Why not divide Davey's kibble into three serves while puppy feeding Polly? dont increase the serve - just divide it into three - but really - if he's not eating it all so be it. Scottie has days when he doesnt eat a full ration - he's probably my first dog ever which self regulates.

No Snook - Was not suggesting you were being negative in any way, shape or form. Promise. I love your perspective and advice. I have actually said I don't like them here - a while ago. I now have one in the lounge room too. I suppose I was trying to say some times, some posts can been seen as negatives, when they're not. Other comments, genuinely negative or not, might spark something in the person asking for advice - now or in the future - which helps things click together. In my case I made a complete turn around on the idea of crates. I actually cringed when I re-read the post - which would be about 18 months old now I suppose.

Ah - I had a big long post but I deleted it - t was getting messy. LOL. Don't worry too much about the stuff which comes across as negative. Sometimes its not meant that way and who knows you might find something in there that works for you. You said in an earlier post you're kind of compiling everything and working it into what works for you - which is great. As an example - I've been posting here about my dogs separation anxiety - and I mentioned a few weeks ago that he'd been for a huge walk and while we were out he lied down to sniff - and someone else basically said "urhg - not so great - he's showing who's boss - hope you gave him permission to sniff". I kind of fobbed it off "my dog doesn't need permission to sniff - his walks are for him - not me". But at the same time I'd had a conversation with my husband about the dog being a bit bossy around the house but me not thinking I was strong enough / brave enough to try this thing called "nothing in life is free", and I'd started reading a book which was basically focused on regaining leadership in the household / your pack (NOT asserting dominance) and this comment about how inappropriate it was to let the dog drop to sniff kind of helped click things into place. So now, we kind of do our own version of "nothing in life is free" - I can almost guarantee he'll poop before we cross our first road on our walks - so I let him free sniff until he's done his poo - then he comes to heel and we do our walk. On the way home we also do some things to help him remember "I'm the boss" - like if he starts pulling towards the house I keep walking and come back into our street another way. He's really good - he's all but stopped pulling at the normal places he used to and all the other stuff is coming together - slowly - but really well. But I do think it was this "negative" comment which helped. I've also got a comment on this forum which says something like "I don't like crates - to each their own but I think they're terrible" - and now I adore crates and sing their praises from the roof tops. I'm sure there are at least 1000 other examples from me alone. There was so much more I wanted to say - so I'll try to keep it short - I hope you like the behaviorist and you're running your ideas past them as you fold them into the mix of behaviors you're using/trialing. You've said you're walking 3 ks a day - hope this doesnt sound preachy - but that's not very far. You'll see it here a lot - My dog can walk and walk but X,Y, or Z really tires him out" My 12 year old dog easily does 3km a walk - usually twice a day. He also needs a good mix of sniffing and free running or other 'enrichment' activities to help keep him mentally tired too - it might be worth looking at options there to help mentally exhaust her. hard when you've got a reactive one. I know. Keep us up to date. :D

That's a really good way to look at it :) thanks :D

He looks it too - what a lucky old man to have such a loving family. Did they breed him? Did I miss that info?

Huga - I just clicked on your link under your signature. Love LOVE LOVE Those photos of Kate, Lynn and Max.

So we've been to the vet today for a top up on the little blue pills. Clean bill of health which was good - I was a bit stressed about a lump I found on him about a week or two ago. So I'm glad that's sorted and the vet isn't worried about the lump. Best thing about the visit was actually before it - I know that sounds odd. But I was giving him a brush to make sure I'd removed evidence of fleas (after finding one and subsequently giving him a comfortus the other day) and I noticed while I was brushing him that he appears to have stopped chewing his tail. Can't believe I'd missed the hair re-growing - but it's all nice and thick and lush again after close to 12 months of it looking kind of ratty in places. So that was a nice little surprise. The vet had zero advice for me re: behavior - he was happy enough for me to continue what we're doing or to crate him and suggested that we might like to consider bumping his drugs up to something stronger when I return to full time work. I'll be asking for a referral to the behaviorist before that happens. I feel guilty enough having him drugged - even though he's a more level dog, who is a lot better to live with when he's on them. I don't know what the long term solution is - but I don't think it's stronger drugs. .. Maybe it is? This time next week I'll be 2/3 through my fist day. I'm seriously chickening out and thinking I might crate him the whole time - which seems wrong - but I do know it's totally physcially do-able for him. Hubby will be home for a pee break at lunch, it's nice and cool in the hall way where I'd move the crate, I can leave the fan on, we can keep the flies out and if he cries - the house will muffle some of the sorrowful howls. But he doesn't *usually* cry in his crate - and he was crated every night, for up to 10 hours, except for one or two from May through to November last year.

Here are my grid lines - I did try to make sure that there was one post in each third when I cropped it on my computer later on. Far from knowing much about it all - but what Snook says sounds like good advice. Also think a lot of composition is just personal taste - I did a free online course where all these people were really into cropping - everything had "too much dead space" for their liking - it was basically the only thing they'd recommend - "crop it tighter" but I did take their advice on my first photo (bumble bee) and did end up liking the end product almost as much as the first. I've got three versions here: https://flic.kr/s/aHsktxMZ3i I always save a copy of my files and just muck around - cutting and cropping, bumping filters up and down - comparing the original to the hot mess you've made with your editing options :)

Quick update. Finally made it to the vet today. I) The vet laughed (in a friendly way) when I mentioned the heartworm. We had a student vet in with us too - he looked genuinely surprised when I mentioned that HW and vax protocols were different in NZ compared to Oz. II) We vaccinated for Lepto and he had a kennel cough booster - they were the two he recommended keeping topped up - and he only said we needed the KC because I said we "might" board. So that's done. III) not mentioned in this post - but our anxiety drugs are much cheaper here (yay) IV) Scottie has a lump which was worrying me - looks like it's just an old man fatty lump (phew) V) It was really cheap. I was paying about $45 for one packet (50) of our anxiety medications in Sydney's inner west. I just paid $16 for 100 tabs. Two boosters, a fine needle aspiration + the meds only came to $105 - for which I am very grateful!

I have one which hangs. Could be larger, does get knocked off during tantys, but works. I think id get a bigger one which screws in if i had the opportunity. I like having it up off the floor so it doesn't get buried.

7/52 Hubby picked it. Not my 100% first choice but I've stock piled a few which may make an appearance. It's one of our new walking spots - lots of scrub/bush which backs onto what I can only assume is part of the local university. Lots and lots of twists and turns and pops of vivid colour. It's a little bit like the secret garden. I really struggled to make my camera capture what I was seeing. While holding the dog leash, and keeping an eye on the dog, and later, also incorporating holding a poop bag. :laugh: All that aside, this is just before the park / walk. It's the main road into town from our part of the world. _Keep IMG_3404 - Copy by Superspanger, on Flickr

https://www.railtrails.org.au/

There are a few rail trails in NSW - many more in victoria - they're mainly designated for cyclists but they're available to anyone who wants to access them - they're shares paths which follow along old train tracks - worth looking into - there is one that I know of in toronto (Cnetral coast NSW) I don't know it's distance. Otherwise, my dad has ridden a number in Victoria. He's a very vocal supporter trying to get them up and running in NSW.

She's such a beauty. Breakfast looks pretty good too!

Lovely Huga xxx

I can almost smell them... mmm. Sleepy puppy.