Christina

It won't be possible for her to have patellas done, be desexed & have her teeth cleaned all at the same time as it is too long for her to be under the anaesthetic & her discomfort & pain after would be too much. My vet won't do a desex & teeth clean at the same time unless its advisable for the dog not to not to be anaethetised much due to any other health issue but I have heard that some will do both. At her age they may prefer to do it at the same time. So your plan should be teeth first, as toothache is painful. Desex 2nd Meanwhile stop your dog jumping up on couches & beds before it does a ligament or causes more damage & then when you have had the other 2 things done book her in for the legs. Vets vary so much in their prices so phone 3 for comparison. For desex it may be $200 to $250. Teeth $300 to $400 Patellas $$2000 + for both legs. That is only a rough guide. You need a vet assessment on the patellas, it may not need operation depending on expected outcome or grade.

Its a personal decision but sounds like he is feeling bad now. To be honest as they can't talk & tell us what they feel by the time we do know its usually bad with cancer so for the 4 animals that I have had that suffered cancers that were terminal & aggressive rather than let them get to the not eating, being miserable pain stage I have euthanised before it got that bad. What was the point of prolonging their life until they suffered for my sake ? That was how I saw it but we are all different so only you can choose what to do.

Flatulence wasn't a problem at all. They just softened her stools so she was able to go. I had tried metamucil, pumpkin, liquid paraffin & making half of her food mixed vegetables & non of it worked but the sprouts did on the first feed.

Tried all sort once for a dog with constipation & nothing did much until I tried brussel sprouts. Cooked a few until soft in the microwave, mashed & mixed in with food & it did the trick like magic. Added them for about a month & stopped & lucky the problem never recurred. Old dogs get things & sometimes there is no cure only relief. Worth a go & not expensive.

When people are on it they have regular blood tests to check the liver. I did. Maybe ask the vet for these. I know its more expense but it may ease your mind to be sure & liver damage is a serious issue. The dose is high in comparison to people dose in ratio to body weight.

Pack order changes when one dog leaves & is gone. The remaining dogs decide the pack order & one of them has to be top dog. Normal thing. She may be more confident now but as long as she isn't doing damage why is it a bad thing if she is pack leader ? You decide that people are top of the pack & intervene if or when things get too aggro between them & nip it in the bud before it escalates. The dogs will sort the rest of it out but a little bit of squabbling is to be expected due to the changes.

Under someones bum :laugh: Had a couple visit to see my kittens & when the man stood up there was a rubber toy bone. He had been sat on it the whole time & neither moved it nor said a word Maybe he liked it. I mean wouldn't you go oh whats that when you sat down ?

Your dog is only young & having a dog companion is probably the best thing for her IMO. One that is confident & she may follow the others dogs lead more & cling to you less. She is going to cling to something so its better its another dog. She will be happier too. Leroy will probably settle down out of the boisterous pup stage with some training, especially when his excitement wears down. While they are seperated take the time to work with Leroy on some training & give him time, 3 weeks is no time for him to learn the rules. Would have been better for you to go for an older dog that was more sedate but you have Leroy now so why not see what you can do with him. If they like each other & he is good natured that is a great start & she could have buggered up her leg in any way really from the sound of things. She is only 2 so its a long life without a friend & her having issues being the only dog.

Only found out this year that we can get fines for unrestrained dogs here in SA. Awful IMO & another revenue raiser. Yes the police should have & do have the right to pull people over if they have dogs in the car that are being idiots or making the driver a danger to others. Unrestrained dogs on the back of open utes as an example but my dogs are all trained to sit & behave on the back seat. They love looking out of the window with it open a tiny bit at the top & there are never more than 2 dogs at one time. Going for a ride was a pleasure. Now they are stuck in a crate feeling trapped. Harnessing or seatbelt type thing I would not trust as if they wriggle or get themselves in an awkward position with it driving on my own that may be a bigger risk to them than having them loose. As dogs being flung through windscreens, injured in accidents or causing crashes is a very minor percent of road problems & for years dogs did survive & were car trained its just more money for little crime & people not training their dogs & being idiots. Penalties of $5000 to $22500 as quoted by keasarge above are ridiculous. Drunk drivers who injure people don't get fined that much.

Any where they want, except turns each on my bed when I choose. Except for when they are puppies as being so tiny its not safe to let them jump up on furniture or beds until they are about 4 to 6 months old so its a big playpen for them in the living area so they don't feel alone.

That is actually a good point. They didn't do anything & they had the committee. Which goes to show how useless it was & a waste of money. Money that could be put to better use. They don't need a committee to know what is going on & to do something about it. They already know.

Mine leave between 10 & 13 weeks. Never had a problem or any reported back & I do keep contact for the first few weeks with all & lifetime with some. Way back even as a child we had pups at 6 weeks & they were fine too. It depends on how they are treated & raised much more than the age in my experience. Genetics also play their part. As long as they are loved & handled & taken out of their own environment so they know there is a world out there that is enough. Not exactly rocket science merely common sense. Doubt there is any one rule fits all. Some people believe that the dog won't bond with them if they don't get it at 6 or 8 weeks but that is not true either. I have dogs come to me as teenagers & adults & we have bonded amazingly.

When you meet a Toy Poodle Hmm after owning many over a lifetime I have to say there is no set rule or generalisation except if in doubt RUN Because you & your dog may get licked & loved to death or You may suffer deafness or headache from the whinging or squealing for mummy or daddy or whoever is on the other end of the lead to pick them up because they are scared or They may be snooty ones & completely ignore you & your dog & stroll past with their nose in the air :laugh: They are a people dog & love people but some have to know them a little more & some just love anyone at first sight. May be ok with other dogs depending on their socialisation but they can be timid or shy if not exposed much. Not a dog to worry about being aggressive overall although some are at the groomers if they have been roughly handled but that is fright more than nastiness. If there is any problem with meeting one on the loose it is more likely to annoy you & your dog if its a naughty one than do any damage. They are not brave dogs. They respond to kindness & are eager to please, sensitive little souls & are very affectionate & clever. Tough discipline does not go down well with this breed. Gentle but firm gets good results & makes a happy little dog.

But it hasn't got humanity for animals & everything is related to money. Even many of the known welfare groups have their own agenda which is often based on money, power & control & crackpot ideas. We have recently had parliamentary committees for companion animals & some of the proposals mentioned were not really very good for the welfare of animals either.

I never use a hot water bottle on anything more than a couple of weeks old. Pups do chew & dig. They also go cold fairly quickly. Buy a Snugglesafe microwave heat pad. Much safer & stays warm for a lot longer. The igloo type beds are warmer. The ones with a half hood. I got 2 from Kmart for only $9 each for the cats & put them on the kitchen table. Turned around & there was a poodle in each one :laugh: Munno Para still have them as I got 2 more this week or phone your nearest store & ask. Tiny puppy & maybe nervous too. It is still cold some nights.

Keep your puppy on a lead & take a big stick with you on walks. Don't go to dog parks. Any dog can be aggresssive, its not really breed or size related although small aggro dogs are easier to deal with than big ones of course. If a loose dog comes charging up to you try yelling sit first. Many do it without thinking. Understanding dog body language helps but its not always that easy or foolproof. I always pick mine up if dogs run up but they are toy dogs. If you want to walk the same route daily maybe do it alone first & check out any trouble that may occur. Not always foolproof either but you may find out where the idiots are.

As much as I can't stand him he may have a point depending on whether this particular committee did anything of any use ? There are so many useless committees that cost the tax payer millions & that actually achieve nothing of any practical use or value whatsoever. Millions spent looking at the blatantly obvious & then publishing the blatantly obvious with no obvious solutions seems to be a common thing. The live export still goes on, puppy farms still carry on with approval for pet shops to buy from them & then sell, chickens are still over crowded, greyhounds & racehorses that are not fit for racing are mass slaughtered/disposed of & shelters & welfare organisations mass euthanise. So what were this advisory committee doing ?

Good idea. Thought about this & instead I have sent a polite email to their media department explaining how the ad comes across. Hope they take some notice but there are bigger things in life to make a huge ado about if I was more motivated to kick up.

It was on channel 10, not sure if its on every channel but would think so being Woolworths.

That you need pet insurance because big dogs attack small dogs ? That bulldog breeds are dangerous to toy breeds ? Its the most stupid advert showing the 2 dogs tied up near each other with the small one acting nervously & saying you never know when you need pet insurance. There is enough of a problem here with people being dog phobic, big dog phobic, breed phobic etc & to use it to try & scare people into taking insurance in case of attack is low, pathetic & ridiculous. Am I the only person who is seeing the advert this way or does it have another meaning that I have missed ?

After seeing this tonight on TV I don't care how they found out I am just glad that they did. The sheer horror of the footage made me burst into tears & hug every one of my own dogs & the 2 cats on my bed. Still having bursts of eyes filling up & it will disturb my sleep. Feel traumatised after seeing it. How many of these dogs would have suffered & some would have died too with our extreme summer heat. How could they have left 45 dogs there ? While I am not a great fan of the RSPCA often it is a lousy, horrible & essential job that they do, even if they sometimes get it wrong. There is no way on earth I could do it. My way of dealing with the man they arrested would have been to lock him in one of his dog cages without food or water & tell him I would be back in a week. Sadly this will all go out of many peoples heads, even after seeing it, as soon as they want that little doggie in the window

Cant say 20 years ago as I never saw many dogs around in Australia but going back 30 years to England where I grew up many people had pure breed dogs & country folk usually had the border collies, they were always what were used at the sheep dog trials I went to. In the city lots of boxers, german shepherds, labradors, pekinese, poodles, retrievers, red setters & various spaniels, basset hounds, corgis & yorkshire terriers are the ones I recall seeing most. All working breed or large cross breeds here in my rural area.

If 2 dogs are fighting its the 2 dogs temperaments clashing not their sex, if they are desexed. Once the desexing is done each of the dogs has no hormonal smell that tells the other dog its sex & causes a sex related action so get whatever sex you like. Same sex fighting is just coincidental to the 2 particular dogs. Entire is a completely different matter.

All my life I had my females desexed if not breeding & every dog I have ever sold. Never had even one of them get an infection or be incontinent. Try not to worry & don't give anything extra. Its the exception rather than the rule. There are thousands of desexed dogs without any problems except a common theme of tending to put on weight a bit quicker, which can be fixed.

No they don't all do it. There are 2 easy solutions. 1. Always keep the bathroom door shut 2. If above not possible put a small corner shelf up high & keep the toilet brush on it.