Dogs and other family pets


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When our pets needed to take tablets we used two spoons to crush them and sprinkle the powder on their food.  Surprisingly the cats never made a fuss but Jack (the Jack Russell) was suspicious and gav

Yes friends, our little Jack is now resting peacefully 4 foot beneath one of our flower beds.   I’ve just not felt like logging on here for a couple of days.  Yesterday morning the very diff

I have now had my new companion for 4 days, Ripley became Jj, got fed up of being asked why we had named him after the place called Ripley! He has settled in really well and up to now has: Pulled

Lizzie no words can comfort you in this sad occasion but no one can cancel or take away your memories of him. When we met in that terrible snow storm he came in with you and Roger side by side and came to nuzzle me after I'd made a fuss of him. A lovely memory for me so can imagine the beautiful memories you have of him.

Lots of love to you both.

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Lizzie, sorry to learn about your loss. I know exactly what it's like - it's just over a year since I lost my dog, Growler and it seems that my second dog, Gnasher, will not be with us much longer. She has never recovered from the loss of her friend and companion and has become very "clinging" to us, seeming to want constant reassurance although there is little sign of physical illness.

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Jonab, love your doggie names, reminiscent of Dandy and Beano dogs of my childhood.

 

Lizzie, it is a very very sad kindness we do for our 4 legged family members. It's a pity we can't do the same for humans when they no longer want to live through ill health. My m-i-l, for her last 2 years was not in good health.  Her nearby brother and wife had gone and so had every friend she had there, also. She relied on carers to bathe her etc. Everytime we went over to visit, and we did a lot those last couple of years, the first thing she would say is, I wish I could die. It was heartbreaking.

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25 minutes ago, katyjay said:

 

 

It's a pity we can't do the same for humans when they no longer want to live through ill health. 

 

I have to agree with you on this, last week we lost the brother in law, the 2 months before his demise was heart breaking, he was pleading not to be sent to a Hospice, which he wasnt,  but he was begging to be allowed to die. What a sad end to a proud man.

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I know all of us pet owners can relate, Lizzie.  I've been through it three times and it never  gets easier,  Last time was ten years ago with my beautiful big black Lab, Solomon.  Sollie to us.  The two I have now could, potetially, outlive me.  So then I fret about what will happen to them when I've gone.

My thoughts remain with you both through this difficult time.  Try to remember the good days.

 

Dave.

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So sorry to hear about Jack Lizzie. It is a heartbreaking decision to have to make and never gets any easier. My thoughts are with you.

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Thanks everyone for your lovely comments, we appreciate them very much.  I’ve spent the day getting rid of a great box of unused insulin needles, dog food and flea treatment things.  We have 4 dog beds (2 in Nottingham and 2 in Dorset) which I’m going to drop off at the lovely Doggie Daycare place in Bulwell  that Jack went to occasionally.  They loved him and he was happy to go to them, he’s stayed with them for 2 weeks when we’ve flown away on holiday.   It’s been strangely quiet and empty in the house for the past two days but we’ll soon come to terms with living without him, hopefully.  
 

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After looking out of the bedroom window this morning and seeing the weather forecast I decided it is not a dog walking day today although I have no doubt Kai would disagree. (If Kai asks to go into the back garden and I open the door and it is raining he just looks out the door for a bit then looks at me and then goes back to his bed, I have a feeling it wouldn’t bother him at all if I put his lead on for his walk.)We have been out every day for a while so missing one day isn’t too bad. So it is going to be a brushing day, I don’t tell him that just kind of sneak it up on him. I have started brushing him about every 3 days recently which helps keep the dog hair in the house (hopefully) less.

Now Kai is a gentle soul, very laid back in fact almost horizontal, but and it is a big but very stubborn if he doesn’t want to do something. He knows when I get the basket out of the cupboard that he has to go into the front room to start our ritual of finding the most awkward place to lay down so I can brush as little of him as possible. Today he laid down between the settee and the armchair which meant I would have to either lay on the settee to get to him or “drape” myself over the arm of the chair. So there was then about a fifteen minute stand off before I finally persuaded him to move but then had to quickly get hold of his collar to prevent him laying with his back to the settee. 
I managed to get him to lie down in the middle of the floor eventually and started with the brushing. With him having German Shepherd in him he is double coated so his coat is thick, more so at the moment as his winter coat is coming in, so the brushes/rakes I have to use look like torture instruments but if I don’t get down to the second coat it becomes compacted and takes the groomer ages to sort it out. 
I did his front leg and it’s fringing, down his side and then the back leg (this is just with the first rake thingy), even managed to get his tail half done and then he rolled over onto his back with his legs in the air. So I then did his belly with both brushing implements and he rolled back to the original side. Thought this was going to go okay. I started brushing him with the wire brush like thingy. This is for the undercoat, always worries me using it in case I scratch him with it. It was going quite well until he decided to roll onto his back again so his belly was done again twice. 
Now for the tricky bit I had to get him up and turn him round so I could do the other side which is a concept Kai has never grasped.After a load of cajoling and much eye rolling from Kai I managed to get him up, grabbed his collar before he shot out the door and tried to get him to lie down again. After much messing around I managed to get him to lie down and he was on the same side as before. So we went through the same rigmarole again but with success at the end.

Brushing commenced again together with his belly being brushed a couple of time’s again. Just had his tail to do when I got the “look” and he stood up, shook himself and went and laid in his bed. I decided not to push it any more, he was obviously fed up if it and I needed a nap. So he had his reward chew (lamb spaghetti), I had a cup of tea and a chocolate biscuit. 
Got 3 days free before I have to do him again. Then the groomer comes on Saturday so he will look and smell beautiful (the latter for a couple of days) and we will have a few days grace before we start the ritual again. 

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SG How long does it take to groom Kai?  With my cats, I just have to keep the brush and comb handy all the time, so whenever  they come over to me, I just do a very quick brush before they wander off again.  If I tried to groom them properly, they would definitely react adversely!

Talking about the rain, our cats peer out the back door and if it’s raining, they don’t want to go out, so (o cats of little brain) they go to the front door to see if it’s raining out there.  This happened this morning but they DID go out the front door helped by a very, very gentle kick on their rear!!!!

 

 

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SG you could have been talking about one of our dogs, Lily a long haired chihuahua. She used to love being groomed until the groomer decided to strip her. It left her feeling she didnt want to be touched. However now i get her up on the kitchen table and start with the stripping comb. She always wants to lie down on her right side. That done she turns round and sits down again on her right side. If im on my own i get my arm under her body and hold her up like that .( shes a big chihuahua) Body and tail done i begin with her pompoms she doesnt like that and theres such of lot of down to comb out. I have the dyson hand held nearby to quickly get rid of the excess fur. Then everything needs washing down and disinfecting so its a long job but she looks beautiful when shes finished.

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It depends how cooperative he is Margie. Usually about an hour, if he is being really awkward (he is after all male) could be longer. He does let me know when he has had enough though so sometimes it might just be 30 minutes or so. He can be a bit frustrating at times (but then a lot of males are) when he has his stubborn head on but he makes up for that in other ways. 

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I never knew about this grooming malarky, (apart from those Asian gangs) sounds like animal cruelty, all the dogs we had where kicked out onto the street with us when we left for school & ran round in packs & came back when it was dark to eat any of our left over scraps. 

I know which dog I’d rather be. 

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RR. Our little dog (1950 - 1961) was a bit the same.   He didn’t  actually get kicked out  in th morning but he frequently escaped and went on his own adventures.  He wasn’t neutered (most dogs weren’t in those days) so I suspect it was often because he wanted to go courting!  
Sometimes when I took him out on his lead to the park but then let him off, he’d stay around for a bit then go home by himself!  He followed me to infant school at least once that I remember (encouraged by little me I expect!) and that was almost a mile away.

He ate our scraps and occasionally unmentionable stuff from the butcher - I particularly remember mum boiling a sheep’s head for him.  She once bought a tin of Chappie for him and he just rolled in it!

His name was Scamp and he was a mongrel but I loved him.

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One day when he was out and about 

, my friends and I found him on the street stuck back to back with a little white bitch.  I was very young and didn’t understand it at all, so I ran home and told my dad.  He went round and whacked Scamp on his rear end with something or other which separated them.  I wasn’t told what they’ d been doing - and just thought they’d got stuck together!

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I can't remember the last time I saw a dog trotting around on its own without a human. Generally, these days they're on those long leads...the dogs, not the humans, although that wouldn't be a bad idea!

 

As a child, the Amos family who lived on Alfreton Road just round the corner from us, had a dog named Nell. She was a black and white collie. Very friendly. She wandered about all day and I don't remember ever seeing her on a lead.  I recall seeing her rounding the corner at the bottom of our road and trotting very purposefully as though she had a list of calls to make.

 

Nell had fleas but I don't recall her ever having puppies, so she must have been spayed.  She lived for many years and everyone knew her, would call her name if they saw her and make a fuss of her, which she seemed to enjoy.

 

 

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Growing up in the 50s on Bestwood estate most people had a dog,,,it was let out in the morning met its mates and off they went for the day.....they roamed the streets in Pacts,,but seemed quite happy,,never saw a lead...They were like the humans of the day really,,,went for a walk with friends,,found somewhere nice to eat....did a bit of ''Courting''' then home afore 10 oclock osses came''...

                      Remember my first Dog ''Rex'' 1 was about 4 and he followed me everywhere.....sadly the first traumatic thing i saw,,i was on my 3 wheeled bike and 'Rex' decided to chase a 28 bus on Andover road,,a dry cleaning van ran straight over him,,to me i'm sure it was deliberate,,,that scene has stayed with me all my life,,,

                 My Dad put poor 'Rex' i a sack and buried him on our large Garden,,,My next Dog was Floss,,a black and white Spaniel,,had her when i was 7 and she lived till i was 22..........loved her like a sister,,,i buried her on the same garden as 'Rex'

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