Dogs and other family pets


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How times have changed, the dog we had as kids on Brixton Road Radford, my Mam kicked him out in the morning & he mostly came back around tea time always looking disheveled with a smirk of his face, no special dog type food here, he ate our scraps, not even sure vets where invented then?   

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My two chihuahuas were put into a large crate ( cage) when we first got them. They were very small, the smallest didn't even reach 1 kg in weight so we were afraid to leave them to wander.As my other dog who is older and bigger and my daughters dog( pinscher) were very curious and unsure of what they were, we separated them when they were all free and only put them back when I knew we couldn't watch them. Must say it didn't take long before they were all friendly. They really were only in the cage during the night. As they grew the younger and bigger chihuahua protected the tiny one whenever she thought the others were getting a bit too close.

Its funny in a way because we have an Alsatian next door and they can see each other through the wall. Billy wants to play ( he only has 3 legs fault of a reckless driver, speeding down our country rd) so starts barking at my little ones when I take them a walk, but my two just ignore him til about 6 pm when they want to have a mad and noisy 1/2 hr. Billy barking with his nose up to the wall and my two barking at him and chasing him up and down the wall . It hilarious because the tiny one is so courageous. If Billy ever gets his nose through or Lulu manages to get up to where the protected wire is she'll get eaten. Fortunately it's never got to that stage and I know when it's going to start . You could set your watch by it.So long before it reaches that point they are ordered into their beds.

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1 hour ago, radfordred said:

How times have changed, the dog we had as kids on Brixton Road Radford, my Mam kicked him out in the morning & he mostly came back around tea time always looking disheveled with a smirk of his face, no special dog type food here, he ate our scraps, not even sure vets where invented then?   

RR. We had a pure bred Boxer in 1960. Kim was built like the proverbial brick s@*t house and everybody knew him and loved him in the neighborhood.  Like your dog he too was let out in the morning and came back at tea time. He wandered the streets of Bells Lane Estate, not many cars on the roads then to worry about, and we did wonder how many part boxers there were around us. Folks didn't spay or neuter in those days. Vets? He never went, if any problem we took him to the mobile PDSA that came to the Cocked Hat car park, and gave them a few pennies. Tinned food?. Nope, he had lights from the butcher mixed in with scraps. So different then to nowadays.

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People who like animals are my kind of people. The care and attention they show to their pets fills me with admiration and a feeling of warmth. My own 15 year old Staffie recently came to the end of her road and the feeling of sadness and loss will not easily be put aside.

 

The American entertainer and humourist Will Rogers once said, "If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went", a sentiment I fully agree with.

Hindu mythology believes that dogs guard Heaven and the gates to Heaven and if you are not kind to dogs during your life they will not allow you to enter Paradise.

 

During a trip to India, well pre lockdown, I saw many undernourished specimens on both two legs and four, and on a ferry from Mumbai I travelled to Elephanta Island to view the temples. On my return to the pier to go back to Mumbai, I spied three thin street dogs and was advised by a nearby stallholder that they liked her biscuits.( Salesmanship ?)

Throwing them each a biscuit a forth, fifth and sixth dog arrived until I was surrounded by forty plus canines all waiting patiently, without squabbles, for a taste.

Will a tenners worth of confectionary get me into Heaven, I ask, as I do not fancy my chances of getting through the eye of a needle.  

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Must say I agree with Will Rogers too. The dogs I have had the honour of sharing my life with have been a blessing. Wouldn’t have missed one minute of all the muddy footprints, furry carpets, wet patches (or worse), cold, wet, snowy or sunny walks (sometimes when I really didn’t want to go out just stay in the warm), destroyed lawns and flowers, chewed shoes, carpets and furniture and heartbreak offset by an unconditional love (on both sides). What more can you ask for? 
I have had cats as well, once had 2 German Shepherds and took in 2 stray cats who ended up thinking they were dogs as well, used to accompany us on our walks.

But I must say my heart has doggy footprints on it!

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4 hours ago, Cliff Ton said:

nonna.........your link to the photo didn't work, it was just a line of code, but I've fiddled around with things and managed to produce a photo - so I hope that is Lulu after all !

 

Yes CT it is Lulu. When I posted it I saw that it had come out with just a line of numbers etc.  I have seen this sort of line before but eventually the pic comes up. I was going to go back to the post to see if the pic was there but I forgot. Thankyou for correcting it. I have noticed that postimage isn't working for me correctly so sometimes I'm lucky and sometimes I'm not. I don't think I've changed anything.

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Went out earlier today, shopping. Staggered in from the car with a large bag filled with cat litter, spot on flea treatment,  cat biscuits, Gourmet Gold tins and Sheba dishes, etc. Nowt in there for yours truly!

 

Dropped it in the hall (cos it was heavy!) and bent double for a moment, getting my breath back. When I stood up straight, I saw a row of 4 Moggies in front of me, no doubt approving of the genuflection!

 

Now, get those biscuits dished up! :blink:

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SG I've had dogs as long as I can remember, all shapes, sizes and colours. They are a joy to have but when they're gone your life is empty. I can leave them on their own and they behave but when I get back the fuss they make is unbelievable. They are all there trying to get to first position. My husband before we married had never had a dog as a pet but you should see him now. The first thing he asks when he comes in is " have the dogs eaten?" Plus " you are my baby , I love you. Isn't she beautiful " Competition?  A bit. :(. In the mornings he gets his " my time" with them as he goes back to snooze on the settee. 3 dogs lying on him, then arrives my daughters dog and then jealousy arrives, they all want 100% attention. Wouldn't change it for the world.

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Jill same shopping different animals in this house for whatever it is we've shopped for.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Famous last words. Veterinary Nurse yesterday “don’t give Kai raw food at the moment it might have bacteria on it, just add the spring water from a can of tuna to his biscuits to soften them (he has had to have 6, yes 6, teeth out, I am devastated never had a dog that has had to have teeth out) and he will eat them”.
Firstly there isn’t much liquid in a tin of tuna and certainly not enough to soften biscuits for my 36kg boy, not even in 2 cans of tuna. I also mixed the tuna in as well, he had taken the few bits I hand fed him and also added just a bit of water that I swilled the cans out with. The biscuits were a bit softer and he was interested in what I was doing so I put the rather unappetising looking bowl on the floor for him.

(This was an hour ago.)

He sniffed it very suspiciously and gave it a lick and backed off. So I did the encouraging bit, gave him a bit of tuna (which he ate) and a biscuit (which he spit out). Picked bowl up and mixed it up a bit more to see if the biscuits would soften any more, tried to get some of the bigger bits of tuna on top to get him (hopefully) started and tried again. 
With a bit more encouragement, did everything but get down on my hands and knees and eat the flipping stuff, he had a sniff and then very gingerly started eating. 
I didn’t want to make any more fuss so sat down with a drink and my vape just making encouraging noises and not looking at him.
Success ...... not a chance. When I eventually had a peek at him there was a pile of biscuits by the side of the bowl, I think he was eating the tuna chunks and sucking the tuna off the biscuits then spitting them out. Gritting my teeth I got the fork I had mixed the concoction up with and moved what was left in the bowl into the middle, he does tend to push food into the edges of his bowl, while surreptitiously putting the pile of biscuits back in. More encouraging noises, more suspicious sniffing (Kai not me) and a quick lick, then the “look”. 
We are now at an impasse with definitely a war of attrition going on. He is now laying next to his bowl looking suitably unimpressed and every so often sighing, obviously trying to make me feel guilty, not only can he not have his lamb spaghetti/pigs ears (he gets 1 treat every night when I have a cup of tea) I am trying to get him to eat what is obviously a meal not up to his expectations. 
Stealing myself against his emotional blackmail I am going to leave it down, perhaps he might try it again later on (not holding my breath). Back to raw again tomorrow, unless I get some chicken gravy granules and try to soften his biscuits with that? 
So much for “experts”!

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Think yourself lucky. A cat would eventually have eaten the sodden mess, provided you didn't cave in and give them something else.  Then, at 3am, you'd have been woken from a blissful repose in the land of nod by an eerie wailing in your left lughole, seconds before moggie chucked up the whole lot on your best duvet cover!

 

NOW...are you going to give me a tin of Gourmet?! :P

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Whilst out shopping yesterday I purchased some Bisto chicken gravy granules, not for myself I might add can’t stand chicken flavoured gravy give me beef gravy granules every time. So tonight I am, again, going to try and get Kai to eat his biscuits softened with the chicken gravy (they are chicken flavoured biscuits at least that is what it says on the bag). 
At the moment he is blissfully unaware of the drama to come later this afternoon, he has had his goats milk and is having his afternoon nap. It seemed a good idea yesterday, not so sure about it now but I suppose he has two choices just hope he makes the right one. I will report later!
He goes back to the vet on Friday morning I am hoping he can go back on his normal diet then and can once again have his lamb spaghetti treats. I now don’t have a cup of tea about half past 7 in the evening when he would have had it , just have water, couldn’t stand the “hard done to looks” that were thrown my way by him when he didn’t get his treat. I have got him some soft chicken treats which he enjoys but still expects his other treat as well. I expect that these will become part of his nightly routine as well, it was a silly thing to do really but we pet owners never learn unlike our pets!
He has taken to laying by the cupboard in the kitchen where they are kept and sighs when he doesn’t get one. I ignore him and go into the front room and he sits in the doorway looking at me very intently, makes me feel really guilty and I find myself explaining to him why he can’t have one. Luckily he can’t open the cupboard door (it is what would have been the original pantry with a cold slab) as the handle is a round one otherwise I am sure he would have helped himself. Only thing with dogs with German Shepherd in them , they do work out how to do things especially if food is involved, my friend had one that worked out how to open the fridge, she had to put a child lock on it. 
There are a couple of hours to go before he is fed, got a Brad Pitt film recorded think I will go and watch it, chill out before I gird my loins and let battle commence:(
 

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Patch our Jack Russell is a lovely little chap. When the chickens are out he just wanders among them having a sniff. We expected him to chase or attack them but no problems at all. He barks and chases pigeons and ducks though. The chickens are still going for the cats even when the cats are not threatening.

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The cat in my avatar, Crystal, could open any door in the house, even those with round handles and those at a human's shoulder level. It was fascinating to watch her do it but I had to observe secretly as she never did it if she knew I was looking.

 

Crystal was a tiny cat but could jump up high. She'd whack the handle repeatedly until it turned enough to unlatch the door and then the bigger cats put their weight against it and pushed. Then they were in! Real team work.

 

I didn't allow them in the dining room because they were using my highly polished antique dining table as a skating rink! Loads of fun. 3am, I'd hear thump, skid, miaaw, thump, skid, miaaw...

 

Slinking quietly downstairs, there they'd be, scooting across the table, jumping off and running underneath for another go!

 

Crystal was a deaf, odd eyed, white rescue cat and very, very intelligent. Her favourite trick was to open the door of the longcase clock, jump in and stop the pendulum. Drove me mad! She was the only cat who was small enough to do it.

 

She passed on two years ago. I miss her very much but my furniture doesn't! However, every now and again, I'll come down in the morning and find the door of the longcase  is open and the pendulum stopped. :wacko:

 

 

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I wouldn't put it past her, Loppy. My present cats wouldn't be able to open the door. It's locked with a key but Crystal knew how to turn it.

 

When it happens, I have to move the hands manually and let it strike every hour until it reaches the correct time and I can start the pendulum again!

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