Sheridan

I have taken Grumpy to shows to visit wheaten people several times. On one occasion, a couple inquiring about getting a wheaten pointed at him and said to the breeder they were speaking to, 'Can we have one that looks like him?' I had to laugh. I don't take him now because he can be grumpy.

Well, it happened. Grumpy went to jump up on my bed, missed and fell backwards, twisting his back. Thankfully he wasn't hurt. I bullied him into his crate that night and the following but he wasn't having a bar of it the night after. I now have the mattresses out of the sofa bed on the floor for him to jump up on and then onto my bed as an interim measure. Last Friday I just bought a $1500 bed that's fairly close to the ground and because it's Australian made, they will cut the short legs even shorter by 7 cm so he can just step up on the bed.

I think I might have them in my ceiling, at least, I have them in a pipe of some sort because it always sounds metallic. Little bastards won't get on the ground because then the dogs would get them.

Wheatens and kerries: can't imagine potatoes not being in their diet. Or as we like to say in County Kerry, schpuds.

I think it should be noted that I haven't defended the man and haven't denied the conditions, Hotwyr. I think it should also be noted that given the amount of wheatens reported as being there (not necessarily in the media), odds are that the jumping dogs are wheatens.

A couple of further articles: I was retching says SPCA inspector SPCA accused of exaggerating case I don't doubt that these dogs were in horrible conditions but on the parts I've bolded, I'd be very surprised at any wheaten terrier that didn't jump a lot or reacted 'over the top' to the presence of people. Whether that behaviour was because of the conditions or because of breed traits, I don't know.

Short article on TVNZ site. Link David Balfour is a wheaten terrier breeder.

Thank you, Lauren.

Can I suggest that this may have been the Tramadol talking? After one Tramadol at the emergency vet Grumpy was off his head for nearly a week. I still can't put him in the back of the car without him going berserk. I had to take the week off work because it sent him so loopy. Same for Kiwioz's dog. I'm betting it was Tramadol.

My mum takes her dog to Best Friends and says good things about them. I took my previous wheaten to Roll Over Rover, actually even before Narelle owned the place. It would take three people to hold my dog to do his feet after the Great Grass Seed Incident and Narelle was very patient with him.

I went to some bedding shops and asked which were their lowest beds. Expensive ...

I don't know why you're so confused. Sometimes there isn't a right carer. Your solution seems to be oh, don't worry about it, she'll be right. Not every dog copes with strangers and kennels and for those who don't, it can be utterly horrendous. But hey, thanks for just dismissing people with concerns about their dogs as fussy worrywarts.

How are your mice doing?

Since you missed it, you're taking this thread as a criticism of kennels. It isn't about kennels. It's about people not wanting to leave their old dogs for whatever reason. Those reasons may be stupid to you but I can assure you, they are not to others and it is not your place to say otherwise.

And how exactly did said person learn his surgery skills?

Honestly, the whole tale sounds rather dodgy. Has the owner got her dogs back?

So, john.davey.1960, your name wasn't GavinM in a previous incarnation, was it? I thought the arguments and the style of writing reminded me of someone. Presumably, you've never had a dog scared to go to the vet. I've not had one myself; indeed, I've had dogs drag me into the surgery, treating a vet visit as a grand treat. I have, however, observed dogs utterly terrified at a vet surgery, who scream as soon as a vet touches them. Should we not take these dogs to the vet on the grounds that they're terrified?

It isn't a matter of a kennel being uncaring, it's a matter of an old dog not coping. It's about the dog not about yours or anyone else's kennel.

Whatever.. you just have to love it when we get down to the "I'm waaay more sensitive than you" level of argument. While we're recommeding learning, I suggest YOU research Godwin's Law. ;) Someone just had to mention the Nazis.

Not surgery but notably the vet who tried to save my first wheaten knew nothing about the disease he had and had indeed, never heard of it. I knew more about it and I was the one who gave her all the research materials and put her in contact with the specialist. Vets can't learn everything and the more practical work they have, rather than pretending practice, the better. And I bet every single one against vet students operating on dogs that would have been pts in a pound anyway, wouldn't want their dog operated on by a graduate who had never done any practical work either and if they were honest, they'd admit it.

Grumpy is nearly 15 and a half and his coat still shines. Miss Mini also shines at nine.

Wonder what he means by "performance". Perhaps he thinks a high kill rate equates to high performance...? With the amount of lethabarb LDH must run through, I'd hope they'd get a good discount.

I'm not going to dignify this sort of hyperbole with a response. It is rather hyperbowl, isn't it.

I take you have no animals and thus no use for veterinary surgeries.

I haven't been anywhere for several years now because of Grumpy's age, that he freaks out now in the car, and that I cannot leave him with anyone. I will not kennel a 15-year-old dog. It's unfair on him and it's unfair to expect anyone to take care of him given his diminishing eyesight and faculties. He's an inside dog so I can't just get someone to stick a bowl of food out for him. I understood this may happen when I got him. I'm the only person he has.