The dog thread is better than the cat thread, because it features dogs.

[Bahnhof Strasse]

Pepper’s favourite time of the year, she spends all day here, going up the hill to bark at something, then chilling…

 

[BoatieBird]

The dogs (and Mr B) enjoying a steam train trip in the Lakes

 

[hash tag]

I'm sure your dog's deserve better .

 

[Epona]

The dogs (and Mr B) enjoying a steam train trip in the Lakes
View attachment 321701

So jealous! I would love to go on a steam train and have dogs to take on it with me

 

[Saffy]

Trying to get a bluebell photo and failing today. She appears to have lost her ears.

 

[keybored]

Cooling off after a walk on the beach.

 

[Saffy]

Brilliant!

 

[Sweet FA]

Ew what's this?

Tick? Cyst? Alien?

Spoiler: Bleurgh

 

[May Kasahara]

Looks like a tick to me Sweet FA Obvs am not a vet and have only seen them on my cat, but yeah.

 

[keybored]

I reckon engorged tick too.

 

[Sweet FA]

 

[Looby]

Yeah looks like a tick. Have you got a tick remover? It’s really important not to just pull it out. I think you get the tool and twist until it’s all out.

 

[Sweet FA]

A brief google tells me it's me and a pair of tweezers?

 

[kabbes]

Get an O Tom tick twister for a fiver. Brilliant tool.

 

[Sweet FA]

Can this wait til tomorrow night or is it going to explode in a spray of pus and lymes disease?

 

[kabbes]

Can this wait til tomorrow night or is it going to explode in a spray of pus and lymes disease?

It can wait. It’s so engorged that it might possibly fall out on its own by then, in which case try not to tread on it. But it’ll probably still be there.

At one point, I was pulling 20 off these a day off Ted, before we put him on anti-tick medication (following advice on this very thread). You get used to them, frankly.

 

[Looby]

I think you need to get it out tonight.
Mr Looby reckons if you put alcohol on it, the tick will die and drop off. This was his 80s experience though so I wouldn’t totally trust it.

 

[keybored]

There's gonna be loads of conflicting advice here. As a kid I used to drip lighter fluid on them whenever I found any on my ferret, the tick apparently breathes through its skin so would suffocate, turn black and fall off.

I've since been advised this is bad because it can stress the tick and cause it to secrete unpleasant stuff back through its mouthparts into the host animal, so I use a tick twister now. But if you're handy with tweezers you could use those. You need to grip the tick near its mouth and gently twist and pull it away, don't pinch or otherwise squeeze the main body.

 

[Saunders]

Yeah looks like a tick to me. I’m not great with parasites, wounds or dead things, but have found a tic fork to be a very useful thing to have around

 

[kabbes]

I think you need to get it out tonight.
Mr Looby reckons if you put alcohol on it, the tick will die and drop off. This was his 80s experience though so I wouldn’t totally trust it.

Don’t do this. You want to take it out still alive, otherwise you risk infection

 

[Looby]

Don’t do this. You want to take it out still alive, otherwise you risk infection

Thanks, I suspected it was one of his parent’s ropey pet care techniques! We’ve actually only had one or two which is surprising but I guess they are townie dogs.

 

[Steel Icarus]

Poor Blue. Hope he's ok

 

[Sweet FA]

Thanks all xx

Looks good I think - tweezed it out; looked intact and nothing left in the hole. Have disinfected it and he's snoozing away as usual.

(Have ordered a tick removal wotsit)

 

[bcuster]

 

[two sheds]

 

[Epona]

Fuck, I think my heart nearly stopped watching that. My cat that I used to have, Radar (may he rest in peace), once nearly fell out of a window - it was open a little bit and he (thankfully!) got stuck in the gap when he tried to launch himself through it to get to a pigeon on the roof and I had to free him and pull him back inside, hanging half out of the window 3 storeys up and with concrete pavement below.

Took me about an hour to stop shaking and I bet the person in that video went through similar - absolutely terrifying.

 

[Epona]

Animals = not always as intelligent as we'd like to give them credit for, basically

 

[Sweet FA]

Blue doing his thing earlier

 

[ice-is-forming]

My old dog will not lie on any bloody thing. I've tried everything. He's getting old now and we're going into winter here. Today was very wet so I grabbed a blanket and made a fuss of putting it down where he always lays. And of course he's now laying elsewhere and looking at it

 

[ice-is-forming]

no old dogs were harmed; I did move it, and he went back to his spot under the window with no creature comforts.