piperspal

We currently have the following - Dogs Addy (or Addles) Piper (or Madam) Milo (or Miwo) Tonka (or boofhead) Jebadiah or Jebediah oobadiah) Birds Lee-lee and Tippy Chooks Blackie tail-up Julie (x4) Nicole Gavin (rooster) Ducks Tighty whitey Ducky Dora La'ronge Peking Past animals have been - Vaquero (horse), sooty (dog), Magnum(dog), Boots and spooky (cats), Spike (bird), Costa and Fizz (dogs), Chiquita (horse), Monty Nicky Penny (dogs)Smoky Dandy Dinky (Cats), Geezer (chook). plus we named all the cows and calves, so we had lots of names.

We have a 24/25 week old rotti male at home at the moment, he weighs in at 27.5/28 kga at the moment, and seems to be putting on about a kilo a week. However he is quite leggy for his size, and its all muscle at the moment. While he is still growing I will keep the feed up to him, however I will cutting it back when he seems to level out a bit. His father is 62kgs, his brother from another litter (same mum) is 65kgs. But at the moment they are both working dogs in peak condition as well, absolutely magnificent animals. They are also quite leggy for a rotti, which I prefer over the shorted stockier type. I am pouring the food into this one at the moment as well as he needs to be able to cope with the medical stuff he is battling with, but he keeps growing so I figure I am doing something right :laugh: edited cause I can't spell 'the' apparently lol

Yep, Addy is the intigator here. She will start barking, the pup will run out onto the lawn to see what the threat is (he is turning into a good watch dog) and the littles inside start thier crazy I'm-going-to-kill-you barking, which goes straight through my head and I cant stand it inside. Outside, no worries, not inside, I need to teach inside voices. Usually Addy will not even bother getting off her bed, she does it at least once a night, just because she can.

Thanks Guys, I keept walking out the back and expecting him to be there, or turn around and he is not behind me. The other dogs have been a bit subdued today as well, which just makes me feel worse.

Yesterday afternoon at 1pm, we had the vets come out to the house to give Magnum his wings. It was the hardest decision I have ever made, amd one that did not come easily for me. However I knew it was time when he did not want to come for a walk, even to check on the chooks. I bred Magnum from my Pitty bitch with a rotti father, and he took after the rotti in many ways, not just build. He was calm, very tolerant with other dogs, never started a fight but certainly ended a few!!! He was naturally wanting to stick by me, and was my shadow for many years. He saved me a few times from some not-so-nice people, and was known as a cheeky dog by the local indigenous people as he wouldnt tolerate them at all. Worked for me, I was never broken into or had anything damaged. Mags was the calm solid influence on not just myself but also the other dogs, they would watch him for whatever his reaction was, and take thier cue from him. He tolerated thier attention, and would simply get up and walk off when he was over it all. Everyone lovedhim once they knew what a softy he really was, although a few remarked on how they thought that would all change if anyone touched me. He adored my hubby, but I was always alfa bitch to him. We walked him down the back ofh te block for his final goodbyes, and he would not go unless I went with him. He went to sleep with his head on my lap. I will miss his big boofiness for the rest of my life. I was ther when he was born and I am so grateful he wantedme there when he passed.

My guys all have thier own personality, starting with the oldest - Magnum - 11.5yrs old, love to lie on his back and play with a ball, like child would with an overhead toy, he also loves to lay on his back in the water, with us holding him up. He puts his head and eyes underneath the surface with just his nose out and just lays there with us supporting his weight. Addy - 10 yr old, loves to bounce. She will run beside us when we are walking around, just bouncing up and down in place until we go and do something. She is also a hoarder, although she doesnt detroy whatever it is she takes, just take it and loves it, then hides it in her kennel for a while. Piper - 9 yrs old, is a total clown. She does the ballet thing, 'aroo's' at me in the morning when she yawns and will pat you on the hand for pats if she feels she needs them. She also gets a toy, throws it away from her, then cauaully walks over past whatever it was and acts like it touches her. OMG, she jumps around and pounces on it for a while, back and forth, then she will take it and run around throwing it in the air. Then suddenly she will stop, look at us, and casually walk away as if nothing happened. Moli - 3years old, is a smoocher. Doenst matter where you touch him, he lets out a groan like its the best pat he has ever had and OMG IT'S SOOO GOOD! He also has a habit of falling backwards when he is on our lap, so he literally falls into our hands. He also lies there when hubby is callign him (not in a proper way, jsut teasing). OH Sits there going 'Milo!......Miiiilo...... Miiiiiiiiiiiilo....' and the dog pretends he is asleep. Tonka - 22 weeks, is stil developing his little quirks. The latest one is very useful. I have to clean a wound on his neck 2x a day. As soon as walk out with the bowl of saline and treats, he walks over to the outside banana lounge and leans up against the wall so I can sit on the lounge to do his neck, I hold the treats above his head to get him to stretch his neck out.

What a terrible thing to happen, so sorry to hear this Cazstaff.

The 2 little ones are insode snoozing in the evap, the big ones are outside on teh verandah. I wet the verandah down as often as possible and they ahve a clam shell on it as well for keeping cool. There is also pleanty of shade, as well as where the laundry water flows out onto the ground to dig in and stay cool.

The local vet here has a brand new setup, its in a purpose built building so pretty good. The counter is in a big U shape, so you can take your dogs around from one side to the other if you dont want them ineracting. There is also a seperate cat area and a hydrobath area, so if you have a real problem you can get well away from the rest of the patients. The main area ia nice and large, with about 15 feet between the chairs and the counter, and the chairs are a good choice as well, only 2 main legs so the dog can walk underneath with out the lead getting wrapped around the legs. They also have 5 consult rooms and a seperate entrance for intensive patients. I usually find people leave me alone in the waiting room as I often have the 5 dogs in there at once. The nurses will come out and grab a couple when I arrive, then I take them all in the room with me and they lead a couple out when we are finsihed. it helps that the nurses are all in love with my dogs as they are so well behaved.

I was very surprised at the reaction from Tonka last night when the neighbours were letting thier fireworks off, illegally of course. I had thought that as nothing has really fazed him so far he would take it in his stride like everything else. Nope, he became a blithering mess!!!! Poor baby. I ended up taking all the dogs into the enclosed back verandah and giving them a bone, but he wouldnt eat. I had to put him on the lead to stop him running around and once I did that he settled and went to sleep no worries. Milo took himself to the shoe cupboard and hid in there as I wouldnt tolerate him trying to climb up and sit on top of my head. The other 3 couldnt give a rats about it, hopefully Tonka will settle and realise its nothing bad, although some of the bangs were huge. I feel like going over and waking them up this morning, idiots letting off fireworks when there is a complete fire ban. WE are in a rural area as well, lots of fuel for a fire out here. The ban is so serious there were no official fireworks in town last night.

Just after some advice at the moment. As some of you know, we have a now about 20 week old Rotti pup who has had ongoing issues with a lump on his neck. Long story short, the lump has come up again after stronger antibiotics and anti-inflams, and I did my passive agreesive thing at the vets and they went in to have a look at it today via surgery. So far they have taken fluids from it 3 times, each time the histology has been different. The first time it read like an abcess, and responded to treatment, then it read like a salivary cyst and was drained. 3rd time it looks like an abcess again. The vets have just rung me, and they want to take a less invasive approach and give him a stoma to allow the lump to drain itself constantly and are hoping this will, over a period of a couple of months, allow whatever it is to drain out and hopefully fix the issue. So, aside from keeping it clean 2x daily and using a warm compress on his neck to help it drain, any other tips for making sure it doesnt become manky? I know with horses we used to rub vasaline around the edge of the hole to stop gunk sticking to the skin and making it easier to clean, and he wont be able to lick it where its located, so I will do this anyway. I dont think i will be able to bandage it at all, as he will just tear it off for something to do. Any other pearls of wisdom from anyone who had had something similar? TIA

One thought might be to set up your bed so the crates can sit under it, saves on floor space.

Magnum - magna-bum-with-the-big-fat-bum, Mags, old-boy, fat-boy, dingleberry Addy - Addy-daddy-dingle-dog, Addles, Addy-daddy, deaf - bitch, cow (depending on what she is doing) Piper - p-p-p-piper, madam, baboon-butt, stinky-butt-breath-dog (fron the OH when she is blocking his view of the telly by standing on his stomach and licking him) Milo - Milo-the-didlio, monkey-face, ferret-face, sooky-la-la-dog Tonka - Tonka-tuff, tonka-tonk-badonkadonk, doofus-head, bug-a-lugs, At various times they all get sworn at for stepping out of line... so at that time it could be the first thing that comes to mind......

We have family staying with us and in hotels while they are here for our wedding, and while I will be making a few adjustments for them if they raise any issues they will be getting told the name of hte nearest motel. OH's mumi s staying with us, and I think she will be fine as she has a dog inside at home, but I wills till make sure she can access the house without having to wade through the dogs. More for her safety as we have a half grown pup who is still learning about getting out of the way of humans, plus the other 2 outside dogs. The 2 little dogs inside wont be an issue, they will love having her there. My parents, or more my dad will be the ones that have an issue with it. Last time he saw my toy poodle he mentioned how well she would go for crab pot bait. I think he got more of a reaction to that than he bargained for. He did end up playing with her by the time we left, so he did come around.

2 weeks ago he did, they xrayed his lungs again yesterday and aside from one small area, about the size of a 10c poece, they have cleared up beautifully. Hence staying on the antibiotics for another couple of weeks, then more xrays and I expect to get the all clear. Like I said, he is healthy, he was trying to pull the drain hose from the washing machine out of the wall this morning...... (we let the water flow onto the ground the other side of the fence) The pneumonia has come about (we think) from being under a GA to investigate the lump, he asperated some fluid as he was coming out of hte anethetic.

Aside from the lump, he is perfectly healthy. If he wasn't I would have put him down long ago. The antibiotics were requested by me to make sure the lungs have cleared up properly and also to see if it clears up the lump. I requested that he have the heartworm now, as he will be in line then to come in with the other dogs when they have thier boosters. I wont have to make seperate trips just for him.

A further update on the little monster, the vet in town here and the specialist in Adelaide have been talking, and they have agreed that it is probably not a cervical mucoseles, but to be on the safe side they want the specialist to have a look at the lump. At the moment there is no lump there so we have to wait until its up again, prior to making any arrangements. He is on heavy duty antibiotics for his lungs, which were xrayed again today, and while on those the lump is staying down, so I think (and this is just in my opinion) that the ABs are knocking the 'infection' around a lot. Hopefully it may fix it properly, I dont think they hit it with a strong enough dose or for long enough the first time. He is now up to 17 kgs, so growing like a weed. I am being positive, he had his first heartworm injection today, we are thinking ahead to the future with this one!!!!!!!

Our smallest does it on carpets or rugs. I call it the 'doodle drag', he also does it when I get dressed so I can use my foot to rub him back and forth on the carpet while balancing on the other leg. He has it all sussed out......

MBS he is bouncing around like a loon!!! At the moment I am waiting on a call back from the vet that does the surgery here, we had a chat yesterday and she thinks they could do it here, although she is not convinced it in the cervicle mucoseles. Her reason for that is when she asperated the lump the first time, there was no saliva in it. Instead the untrasound looked like it was an abcess, and it also responded to antibiotics and anti-inflammitories. She was going to send all the information to a vet in Adelaide and get another opinion, so hopefully we can sort it out. My big concern at the moment is that I want to do some training with him, but I dont want anything on his neck to aggravate the lump, so we are doing lots of 'sit' and other commands he will do for food without needing a lead. his lungs were xrayed last friday and there was a marked improvement from the Tuesday, so that was another good sign. He had also put on 1.7 kgs in the 4 days so he is healthy in every other aspect. If it wasnt for that side it we proably would have decided to have him PTS last week. IMO the only thing that needs fixing is this dammed lump, then it should be clear sailing from here on in.

Thanks Leema, the offer is appreciated. Am waiting on a couple of surgeons to call me back.

Thanks for the recoomendations everyone, they are much appreciated!

OK another update, Tonka made it through the night, only chewed his drip out once and they put an E-collar on him. Apparently now he is much brighter, letting them all know that he is better and will be released at 1pm. The diagnosis about what caused him to crash and be listed as critical? Double lung pneumonia. I will be having a discussion with the vet about this, considering he has been to the vets 3 times in the last 2 weeks, been on antibiotic and antinflammitories and they had him under a GA yesterday, how was this missed? How did he develop pneumonia when he is on antibiotics anyway?! I am a little suss on how quick it came on, they said it could be caused by being tubed? Not sure what that would have to do with it? So shall pick him up, take him home and shake him!!!!! Just kidding, he will be getting spoiled rotten :laugh: This dog is giving me grey hairs!!!!!!!!!

Thanks everyone, another bad turn Tonka is back at the vets in intensive care. He went downhill when he came home, from bouncing around to not being able to breathe, drooling lots and panting really fast. He has had xrays and apparently has pheumonia!!! poor little bugger cant take a trick at the moment. KHM many thanks for that kind offer, if he gets through this I may take you up on it!!!!! And Danny and Dobesrock, thanks for the well wishes, he needs all the prayers he can get.

We have a decision to make regarding our latest member of the family, a now 13 week old rotti pup. We have been informed that he has a cervical mucoseles, which is basically a big pouch of saliva that has collected in his throat. Its pressing on his windpipe and oesophagus, so its pretty serious. The vets have drained it today, but that is not a long term alternative, surgery is the accepted option. The local vets are reluctant to do the op, understandable as its a delicate area with the jugular and nerves in that area. So we have to decide if we look at the having the op done, or make the alternative decision. If we can get a vet in Darwin it would be preferable, as I can stay with friend up there and would look at driving up there. Adelaide is an option as well, if I can find accomodation close to the vets that wont break my bank. If we go the Adelaide way we would have to look at flying down as I have no experience driving in a big city like Adelaide. Can anyone suggest a specialist vet in Adelaide of Darwin that we can look into?

We have a 13 week old rotti pup, who has developed a cervical mucoceles under his neck tending towards the right of his throat. Has anyone heard of this? the vets have drained it now, but are reluctant to do it again as it inhibits surgery later on. If we decide on surgery we will have to have it done in Adelaide I think, the local vets seem reluctant to do it in Alice Springs, and I cant blame them, they will be removing something from around the pups juguler after all.