Life sucks ...

All toes and fingers crossed for you Aldaniti.

It really does knock you for six when a family cat or dog (or rabbit, or bird or any other beloved creature) gets sick or injured. Sounds like you've had a pretty rough year, Aldaniti. Brave decision, my thoughts and hopes are with you.

It was over 18 months before I stopped getting twitchy about Dougal. He doesn't turn a hair (not that he has many during his bald weeks!).

Hope springer and Jess are with you for a good, long, happy time yet.

Something I hope will make you smile - it is official: Tilly is a Tart!

Tilly is a rather unusual cat in that she copies what we do and I am sure that she understands quite a bit of what we say. Not just the tone of voice, but the words as well. For example: the other day was horribly wet and windy, the kind of day that makes cats eat two breakfasts and retire to the warmest spot they can find until the weather improves, keeping their legs crossed until it does.

Tilly tucked herself up on my bed, next to the pillows. I went in to fetch a book and she got up to greet me. Normally she will raise her head and touch noses while you make a fuss of her. This day she kept her head down and wouldn't look at me, but purred loudly while I stroked her ears.

I tried everything to get her to touch noses, but she wasn't having any of it. So, jokingly, I rested my elbows on the edge of the bed and said to her: "Give me a kiss and I'll give you some treats". Darn me if she didn't raise her head and touch noses, then sit down and smile at me! What else could I do but get the Dreamies out? Then she turned her back on me and wandered back to the pillows. As I said. A tart.

When I say "smile" she really does. Looks quite crazy when she grins at you, but she is copying our facial expressions as best she can. She also kisses properly - pouts her mouth and makes a little sound like blowing a kiss - but she will insist on kissing your lips (yuk) no matter how hard you try to avoid it.

She will catch a kiss if you blow it, and she will also clean her paws on the doormat before coming in. Just as we do.

Otherwise, she is her usual grumpy, stumpy self.
 
My dog biggie died a couple week ago. I talked about him a bit before on here, and Edgt gave me some advice about using evening primrose oil.

He lived until 12 years which is good going for a Rottie. Never bit another dog or human and a credit to the breed.

R.I.P Biggie.
 
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Cheers Benny. Biggie had such a great life, enjoyed the walks and seafront in the North so much. I'm just glad we did it at the right time, that was the key thing for us. We wanted to give him as many more days as humanly possibly, but he was starting to react to the tramadol he was on.

Myself and mum will always have the memories, and all in all I'm not as gutted as I thought I'd be. Thanks again.
 
Lost my Chocolate Lab Murphy three weeks ago and still feel he is following me around. He ate the rat poison round the farm by getting into the trap. The vet said he was OK and he died two days later. He was dull but very much a part of the family. I don`t think you get over it until you get another but now we have a big family debate over what to get.
 
Just got a new lab last week after losing our little terrier of 13 years. Very tough when one goes. Hopefully if you get a new one, it settles in quickly Roddy
 
12 years for a rottie, that's fantastic, High Rate! It's always sad to lose an old friend, but that was a wise and brave decision. I'm glad you aren't hurting too much.

Sorry to hear about Murphy, Roddy. That's quite a harrowing end.

It's interesting that you say you feel as though he is following you around, he probably is still with you. I used to hear my old cat following me around the house, chirruping a greeting and, sometimes, I would just catch a glimpse of him from the corner of my eye, either walking across the room or curled up on his chair.

Because of the animals in my life I am convinced that something survives after physical death, and where there is love between two people, or a person and an animal, they never really leave you. Sounds really New Age and soppy, but that bond is just not easily broken. Murphy is probably trying to comfort you by letting you know "I'm still here, Dad!".

RIP to Biggie and Murphy and condolences to their humans. I hope you find new friends to love soon.
 
Sorry to hear about the choc lab, Roddy - we have a rat problem here, too and have to use rat poison but am paranoid about it and we always hide it under stuff but have also had a dog get at it. Massive vit K jabs and emetics worked fine, luckily but it can happen so easily.

Well done on the good age for the Rottie, too.

Four weeks ago I took on a 10yo Weimaraner male that came on Rescue due to family break up. When I picked him up from one of the rehomers, I nearly cried and I'm pretty tough when it comes to animals.. He was so pitifully thin it was horrifying. Such a sweet dog, too and luckily he has settled in beautifully with my others. Has also put on around 3 kgs and is starting to look a lot less like a cruelty case. He wasn't treated badly, btw - weight loss was purely stress related as his owners were divorcing very unamicably. There were teenage kids too, so dread to think how upset they were with all that going on and losing their dog as well. Luckily for us, he is used to stock and was worked up until a season or so ago, has a great nose on him still so hopefully he'l enjoy our next shooting season here.

Also know exactly what you mean about feeling about dogs that have died being just out of sight. Often get that feeling when we're out for a walk, enhanced by fact that my breed is also known as The Grey Ghost!

Am keeping fingers crossed that my young Wei bitch will come into season soon, as will breed her as she's three next month and with two over ten and three people waiting for puppies as well as myself, just hope she gets in whelp!
 
Glad I read this [although not glad that it's happened, obviously] because I've got a big problem with rats in my compost bins and the S.O. suggested I put some poison down. I said I wouldn't because I'd heard that a lot of wild animals were being wiped out by eating poisoned rats etc. I'll think up another way [probably get rid of the compost bins]. Weimaraners [and even more so, Viszlas] very much pick up on bad vibes, don't they. By the way, I had a friend that owned a Weimaraner called Spook, which I though was a fantastic name for one. Sorry to hear about your dogs Marb and Roddy.
 
There was a very well known stud dog was back in the eighties called 'Spook' owned by the Burgoins - as you say, a very good name for one! I currently have Diminuendo's Baz here, a Wire Haired VIszla I bred and I can certainly confirm how sensitive they are...I have him while she's covering the Punchestown Festival and they are a very sweet natured but sensitive breed.

Dogs would have to eat quite a few rats poisoned conventionally before becoming sick and tbh, none of mine have ever wanted to eat a rat they've caught or the cats have - different with bunnies the farm cats bring in, though! We have to put rat bait down - with the amount of grain/feed we have on farm we can't afford not to but we use those lockable plastic rat bait containers made for the purpose. Badgers and foxes again prefer to feed on baby rats in the nest if they even bother - usually easier pickings such as rabbits, frogs, slugs etc.

if you have a serious rat problem, poison will be the only sure fire way of controlling the problem - as I say, used properly, there should be no danger to other animals or birds. The dog I had that got poisoned found the bag of rat bait in the back of my truck, so that was totally my fault - wasn't from eating poisoned rats or finding the bait in the bait, box. Rats carry seriously nasty diseases that pets and people can pick up - Lepto for one.
 
I see; I can get a container to put the poison in. So the rat stays in the trap and I can dispose of it when it's dead [how long does that take?]. I have got some poison given to me by a friend that had an infestation at her office. I've got quite used to killing mice with traps [started off wanting to do it all humane but soon realised I was wasting my time] but the rat I saw was seriously huge and I can't imagine how big a trap would have to be. Was more concerned about my dog eating the poison than eating the rat but we have a lot of buzzards and sparrowhawks round here that I didn't want to eat a poisoned rat. The farmer did have some chickens next to my garden for a while and I wondered if that encouraged the rats. Worried about my dog catching Weils [sp] and suchlike. [nope; got that wrong..just use the trap to keep the poison away from non rats...]
 
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Rats eat poison and then go back to their nests to die - sorry, not nice but they carry a lot of diseases, hence why they're vermin! Highly unlikely dogs or cats will eat them, as I said - they'd have to eat an awful lot before they got sick.the lockable bait trap is to stop anything else eating the bait.

Chicken houses could be culprit - either broiler (disgusting) or even free range..
 
Cant rate Labs highly enough - although our choc one is a beast (38kgs and not an ounce of fat or a single brain cell!)

Want to stand him at stud but not sure.....
 
Ballydoyle said:
Cant rate Labs highly enough - although our choc one is a beast (38kgs and not an ounce of fat or a single brain cell!)

Want to stand him at stud but not sure.....
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Well, if you do and want to be responsible about it, you should get him hip scored and PRA (progressive retinal atrophy) tested. Sounds like he has a lovely temperament, so that's good - a dog that's been used at stud is always keener around bitches and can wander if not carefully watched!
 
I was told that brown labradors have a different temperament to golden or black ones in that they don't tend to ever grow up. Always wanted one of the black Sandringham type labradors but can't see it happening now [need too much exercise for me these days]. Chickens by house were free range; beautiful bantams they were. Farm worker who own them has moved them closer to his house [just across the field]. However, it's just given me an idea [light bulb moment] to phone up one of the other farm workers to see if they've got any terriers they use to control rats in the barns.
 
Songsheet said:
Well, if you do and want to be responsible about it, you should get him hip scored and PRA (progressive retinal atrophy) tested. Sounds like he has a lovely temperament, so that's good - a dog that's been used at stud is always keener around bitches and can wander if not carefully watched!
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Been trying to get him scored for hips and eyes but its the cost - about £200 for the privilege!

He has a wonderful attitude - maybe not the best trained but he is laid back (once he has had his 5mins of madness when I get in!) and only barks at people he knows "breaking" into the house with their keys.... Guard dog material this Lab isnt!
 
Ballydoyle said:
Cant rate Labs highly enough - although our choc one is a beast (38kgs and not an ounce of fat or a single brain cell!)

Want to stand him at stud but not sure.....
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Ballydoyle said:
Been trying to get him scored for hips and eyes but its the cost - about £200 for the privilege!

He has a wonderful attitude - maybe not the best trained but he is laid back (once he has had his 5mins of madness when I get in!) and only barks at people he knows "breaking" into the house with their keys.... Guard dog material this Lab isnt!
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Yes, it is expensive but if you want to have a stud dog, I'm afraid dems de costs! Bearing in mind an average Lab stud fee must be around £450 plus, then the initial investment isn't excessive, although unless you actually do something competitive with him, he's unlikely to be widely used. There's been a hell of a lot of bad publicity re pedigree dogs, those that breed them and the KC or IKC. It's true, there are unscrupulous breeders out there but they tend to be in the minority. The major problem about the spread of genetic problems within breeds is - and please try not to take offence - pet breeders who have a 'nice' dog and decide to breed it. Nothing wrong in that whatsoever as long as they do the proper genetic tests and obviously rear the puppies well and vet the prospective owners properly but if they don't, it's not surprising that the problems spread and breeds don't improve and get a bad rep.

Having bred and shown Weimaraners successfully since my teens and kept stud dogs and brood bitches, believe me it's both rewarding and disappointing, not always in equal measures! You just think you're getting somewhere and then Mother Nature throws a spanner in the works and back you go to breed that particular problem out but I like that type of challenge - it's why I also breed horses and cattle! Nutter!
 
I was pretty upset [and so was the puchaser] when I sold a spaniel pup that had an undescended testicle only to contact the owner of the stud dog I'd used and was told that. yes, there was a problem in that particular line. Especially as the purchaser was replacing a dog that had died as a resut of that particular problem. Even whippets [known to have very few genetic problems] are having dna tests done to make sure the breed remains free of any health issues.
 
Hi Songsheet - no offence taken. We didnt buy him to show or breed but the vet of all people suggested it to us when he was 1 (now 3) as she said he has both the temperment and looks to make a good stud. But like you say its finding the right match and with the number of LAbs at stud I doubt he would be in demand.

Our previous Goldie had the most terrible hips ever - he was diagnosed with displaycia at 6mths old. But he died after 10yrs from cancer. I did ring the breeders up when he was diagnosed and they were totally uncaring - looking back I hate to say but it could have been a puppy farm but these were pre-internet aware days and we hadnt bought a dog before. This time round we (I) was much more aware and did a lot of research into the stud dog. They only bred to bitch-es who had a score of less then 9.

I would like to get his hips tested though just to make sure that he is sound.
 
Testing for HD would be a great move - if only for your own information as if his hips should turn out to be not brilliant, you will know just how to minimise the problem re diet and exercise as he gets older.

As to taking any recommendation from a vet about breeding dogs, unles he or she is an established breeder in that breed or similar - run a mile. They honestly don't know what they're talking about! We have a fab vet practice for the farm and the Weis - I love 'em to bits as they really do go the extra mile for us with the cattle but when it comes to dogs, breeding, management - they're crap and will admit it, too! Most of them have got entire cross bred males that they're delightfully potty about but have used at stud - talk about breeding business for themselves! They let the dogs out on farm and wonder why I get shirty, as they're badly trained mutt makes a beeline for one of my bitches which is in season - it's her farm, she's entitled to be there!!!

Nope, in general when it comes to stud dog selection or whether or not to breed a particular bitch, I wouldn't be asking my vet first off - only part they play is to conduct any tests necessary for that particular breed.
 
I always find it amazing when people turn up with dogs and promptly let them out on your property without even asking. I would never do the same at theirs - if there was a cat around for a start it would get chomped. But I have too much respect for other people's property etc to allow my dog out un-asked. We have had "friends" arrive with dogs, let them out only for them to chase and kill chickens, pee on the furniture - I could go on! Why are some people so ignorant?
 
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