Sam the man

We have a foster dog (Charlie) here since last Saturday (week ago). Because he technically isn't our dog I haven't left him and Sam both loose in Sam's pen while we aren't here. They do spend an hour or two out there with both dogs loose with no major dramas but I'm here to keep an eye on them. I don't know if he has a touch of separation anxiety e.g. when inside some of the time he'll come and sit right near me or when I'm in a room with the door closed will lie outside it. Now we are going out this afternoon and will be away for about three hours. I've been reading some of the SA threads and am going to do the following.......take him for a walk, leave him with the dress I'm wearing and handle his 2 toys. I don't really know what else I can do. I was going to leave the wooden laundry door open (which goes out into the pen) but have the screen door closed. Is this a good idea? I was thinking he may not feel so shut in if I do this. He does spend the majority of his time inside.

Just reading this makes me feel sick and upset

Well when I went in to help walk the dogs (that are in the care of the RSPCA) yesterday afternoon all the dogs had been taken for a walk. I then asked about any dogs to foster and still quite a few there. I had been very fond of another little dog (fox terrier cross) but found someone else had already asked for him so I have brought home this little dog who I have called Charlie. In hindsight I think he was the better choice anyway. He seems to have made himself right at home. As yet we haven't tried him and Sam out in the pen running loose but both okay in the house and when out walking together. At present he is a foster dog. Not real sure what breed/cross breed he is. Australian silky terrier???? crossed with something else.?????? I'm not reaaly up with all the terrier breeds? He is a lovely natured dog. I'd be interested to know what sort of bones he would eat? ATM he is on the dry food and tinned food supplied by RSPCA but I will gradually get him on to the way I feed Sam. Wondering about bones? Chicken necks??

I have been helping to walk the dogs that have been picked up since the flood and are under the care of the RSPCA. Some have owners who can't have them at home because of flood damage making house and yard unsuitable and others are strays. The council pound will only keep a stray dog for 72 hours and then it seems the RSPCA are taking over these dogs to give the owners longer time to find them or be traced. All these dogs ATM are in a temporary shelter. I have become very keen to either foster or adopt a dog who needs either a temporary or forever home. We have a 6 yr old JRT desexed male who can get very excited at times but can be very laidback too. I have a few questions re:getting another dog. I think the same thought should be put into it whether a foster or adopt as both will have the same needs. Which is better male or female? Older or younger than Sam? Bigger or smaller? Sam is taken for a walk twice a day and then is inside after the evening walk. When outside he is in a large fenced off area which is attached to the house (this area would be about the same size as a small suburban back yard). The fence is 4 foot high accessed through the laundry and with gates at both ends which we lock whenever we're away. Any other dog would be given the same care as Sam. What sort of dog would be suitable given the above info. There is a lovely little fox terrier cross male said to be 1 year old (no known owner) whose paper says possible adopt in about a week's time. I could easily bring him home if I let my heart rule my head.

Sam is outside during the day (in a large fenced area attached to the house) but inside at night after he has his late afternoon walk. He comes inside too when there is heavy rain or storms. There is no way I would leave him outside at night time.

The last sentence of an article in today's Morning Bulletin Re: the evacuation from Theodore "The management group is working with the RSPCA to evacuate pets." From the Morning Bulletin website http://www.centraltelegraph.com.au/story/2...tions-theodore/ I have copied out a section of the above story. Theodore deserted, eyes on Taroom UPDATE 5PM: WHILE the clean up has begun in towns like Jambin and Wowan where the waters have receded, Taroom and Theodore remain isolated and under threat of even more water. Theodore residents are unlikely to get back in to see the devastation the flood caused to their homes for at least five days, with the Dawson River yet to peak upstream at Taroom. With the last of the residents evacuated this morning, people’s animals were air lifted out. C Vaughn Becker was air lifted out last night and spoke from the mine camp at Moura, where he said people were being well cared for. He said only a police presence would be left in Theodore.

I hope Tess is found safe before too long. She reminds me of Sam

Now that the school holidays are here the children across the road ( and their friends) are swimming and playing in the pool. Sam would LOVE to join them and has been doing a fair bit of barking and standing up at the fence. We are on 1 acre blocks and his pen is set back from the road so we are a reasonable distance away. Any ideas how I can distract him? I don't want this to go on for the whole 6 weeks.

What toys would be suitable to get Sam for in his clamshell pool? I want things that will float and not sink to the bottom. I saw a ball at KMart today which would have been okay sizewise but maybe not dog proof material.

I live at Glenlee which is about 10 mins north of Rocky. There wouldn't be much accommodation of any sort at The Caves or Marlborough. Henderson's Farmstay as mentioned by another poster is advertised as being pet friendly also a place at Zilzie (near Emu Park). I just put in "Rockhampton pet friendly accommodation" into Google and those 2 came up. http://www.stayz.com.au/11590 http://www.stayz.com.au/18353 I tried to add a couple links. Hope they work.

I feel sick ,teary and sad reading this :)

Sounds like he's getting quite a few chicken necks relative to his dry/wet food? That could cause dry skin in a baby (and other health issues). Like Ososwift says, I'd put him either on either a balanced raw diet (including organs & red meat & skin), a balanced commercial diet, or some combination of the two. Although it's quite OK to give a dog on a commercial diet bones & chunks of meat for dental health, substituting a substantial amount of his commercial diet with chicken necks alone may not be doing him much good. As mentioned, fish oil is good for coat & joints (include vit E with it), flaxseed oil is also good for coats. I'm just curious about the chicken necks. Why would they cause dry skin? I give Sam chicken necks 3 nights a week.

We take Sam to Rockhampton Veterinary Clinic in Dean St. Ph 4928 4266 www.rockyvet.com.au(closest to where we live). Alma Street Veterinary Hospital www.almastreetvet.com.au Ph 4922 8138 advertise that puppy preschool is available. We took Sam to a class at the High St Vet Surgery Ph 4928 3566. http://www.highstreetvets.com.au/ There is a Dog Obedience Club here but not sure what it's called. I think they use Duthie Park. ROCKHAMPTON DOG OBEDIENCE CLUB Inc Duthie Park North Rockhampton PO. Box 5064 Rockhampton Mail Center QLD 4702. Mobile: 0419717619 ...Not sure how current that address is. Capricorn Vet Surgery Ph 4927 3688 is on Gladstone Rd.

OH is happy for Sam to be in the house at night time. He'll even fix up Sam's (inside the cupboard) bed to make him feel more comfortable!!

The tablets are the heartguard plus . I will ask the vet about them next time I take Sam there.

Recently I bought some chewable heartworm tablets online. I bought a couple packets to be more economical re: postage costs. I picked them up today and found that both packets exp June 2011. This means there will be 3 months next year where the tablets will be past the expiry date. Will they still be okay to use? I also bought 2 lots of Advantix but both of them don't expire until Nov 2012.

Thanks for posts so far. Since I did the first one OH has been talking to MIL and she suggested using the plastic garden edging from Bunnings. We may look into that. I would prefer something with a straight edge (rather than the clam shell) to make it easier to mow around.

We've had a clam shell for Sam's sandpit. OH wants to make him one out of timber (with no bottom) so when it rains the sand is able to drain better. Now he is wondering if it is made out of treated timber and Sam decides to chew it, it might make him sick. Then he was thinking of ordinary timber which would have to be sealed/painted and thought this might make him sick also. Any alternatives to timber or is either of the above okay. Thanks

http://www.themorningbulletin.com.au/story...ear-of-baiting/ We live maybe 5 to 10 kms from there and less across country.

Just thinking about this makes me feel very teary. I cannot understand anyone being cruel to their own pet. :p

How awful

We use Sam's clamshell pool . I tip in buckets of warm water so its not too cold for him. Of course I always check the water temp with my elbow

brham Ali Andrew Andy Angus x 2 Angus Rip Anzac Apollo(different spelling!) Appollo Archie +1 Archer Arkhan Armand Arq Ash Ashke Attila Atlas Bailey x 6 Baloo Balou Bandit x 2 Banjo Bardigrub Barney Bart X 2 Barton Baxter Bear x2 Beau x 2 Bender Ben x 2 Benji x 2 Benny Benson BERT! Billy Bing Bluey Bob Bomber Boo Boof Bosch Bosco Boxer Brady Brian Custard O'Doggle Brock Brockie Brody Bronson x2 Brownie Bruce Bud Buddy Buffy... he came with it Bumble Bundyx3 Buster byron Caleb Cannon Caramel Carl Cash Casper Champ Changwe Charlie x 5 Chester Chevy Chief Chip x 2 Chok Chubba Chops Clifford Coco Columbus Cooper x3 Cory Cowan x 2 Cowboy Crikey Cuba Daniel Danny Darcy x 2 Dashx2 Deakin Dean Declan Delgado Denim Dennys Dog Diablo Diesel x2 Digby Digger x2 Dillon Dinky Douglas Dominic Dumas Duncan Dylan Ebon Echo Eddie Edward Elijah Elliott Elvis Edge Ernie Esky Fergus x 2 Finn Fox x 2 FlashBazil Fleming Fletcher Fly Flynn Focus Forester Foo Frank Fudge Galahad Gandor Geo Georgex2 Gordon Gossy Greedy Grover Guiness mcGuinness Hail Hamish Harley Harper Harri Harrison Harry Hector Henry Henschke Hey Dog Hogan Hudson Hugo Ian Ivan Jack x 3 Jake x 2 Jasper x 2 James Jay JayDee Jed Jethro Jet Jett Jonsey Joop Jordan Joshua Joxer Judd Juggie Kahn Kai Kaiser x 2 Kane Kasper Kaos Kiba Kei Kingston Kippy Kisho Kuga Kynan Kyzer Leo Lincoln Lenny Leroy x 2 Lestat x2 Logan Louie Luca Lucius Ludwig Lughie Lukas Lukon Mac X 2 MacKenzie Mandrake Mark (the cat) Mars Mason x2 Maverick Max x 7 Maxie Maxwell THE DOG Maze Mel Merlot Merry Milky Milosh Milton Minook Mistral Mojo Mokha Moo Morris Mr Darcy Mufti Nammu Napoleon Nelsson (yes two s's) Nicky Nigel Noah Nova Nudge Nugget Occy Oliver Omar RIP Onslow Oscar x 3 Oz Pal x 2 Payton Pete Phoenix Phantom Piikki Porsha Puck Punch Quick Quincy Raffy Ralph Rambo Randy Raymond Reeve Reagan Rex Ricky Riku Riley Ripley River Rocks Rodney RIP Rolly Rory Rove Rover Roy Jones Jnr Rudnick Ruff Rumour Rupert Rusty Sam x3 Sampson Sarge Satchmo Scooby Scout Scrap Scratch Shadow Seth Silas Snitch Sonny Soul Spartan Speed Spencer Spike Sport Spud x 2 Sterling Stig (The) Storm Stryker Sumo Swanky Tag Tally Tana Tanga Tazz x 2 Teddy Terry Tey Dog Thomas Thunder Tiger Tirra Toby x2 Tolkien Tommy Tournie Tub Tusca Tye x2 Tyson Udo Ulf Valdez Wags Walker Wally Watson Weave Whisky Willow Willy Wilson Woody Wycomb Yoshi Zac x 2 Zedley Zeppelin Zephyr x 2 Zeus

I am hoping to come for a look. Which would be the better day Saturday or Monday? I guess it is open to the public.

The Aussie claimed she was forced to leave her $1.5million luxury mansion and had no choice but to move into her car with all her pets, which she considered her "children". ??????