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

[two sheds]

That sounds good approach. I've just signed up for local fostering/adoption place and I assume they're going to tell me I need 6 ft high hedges round the garden which is going to involve a lot of work. I had no fear at all of my last dog disappearing out of the garden because we'd bonded so well early on. And there's no busy roads within half a mile of my place.

So when can you take a dog off the lead on a walk? And can't you just keep the dog on a lead walking it round the garden for a couple of weeks until it's settled? I suppose a danger is if it becomes spooked and just bolts, but that's more of a danger on a walk outside the garden.

 

[kabbes]

You can let him off when you’re completely sure he’s not going to disappear. Most of my walking with Ted is always going to be on-lead because whilst his recall is “perfect” as a piece of training, when he sees a deer, the dopamine floods his brain and nothing else in the world is getting through. He literally doesn’t even hear me when that happens. It’s like expecting a heroin addict to hold a sensible conversation with you about taxes when there is a whole load of heroin sitting right there on the table. They might be a tax accountant in their normal life but that ain’t going to count for shit in that moment.

 

[Boris Sprinkler]

Autumn time almost 1 year. Waiting for the snow so he can flex. Only breed legally allowed to be kennelled outside in the winter in Finland. He prefers to sleep on the balcony with no shelter. He is mostly a good boy.

 

[two sheds]

some flavour of alsation?

 

[Saffy]

Autumn time almost 1 year. Waiting for the snow so he can flex. Only breed legally allowed to be kennelled outside in the winter in Finland. He prefers to sleep on the balcony with no shelter. He is mostly a good boy.

Oh he's beautiful!

 

[Boris Sprinkler]

some flavour of alsation?

People often ask us but no. He is a Finnish Lappdog - herding dogs used by the Sami people, he is quite fluffy if he lets you comb him and it’s all hidden under his training bra.

 

[keybored]

Candela

We fostered a Galgo about a week ago, poor thing was a bit of a wreck when we picked her up as she isn't good with other dogs and it was a long journey for her from Spain and time spent in rescue centres etc. Great with cats and people though, and hopefully in time she'll stop going berserk every time she sees another mutt half a mile away (great eyesight!).

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So Candy finally got adopted in September and we arranged to foster another Galgo in October. We planned a holiday while we were dog-free (Spain, where ironically we only saw one Galgo and he was down with his adoptive family from Belgium) but before we left we learned that Candy had not settled well in her new home and the couple who took her could no longer home her. We agreed to take her back as a stop-gap and she was back with us within 2 hours of us coming home, looking miserable and 3 kilos lighter.

Fast forward 3 weeks of her stuffing her face and being spoiled rotten and an amazing woman agreed to take her to her home in Cornwall with a good bit of enclosed land and many other sight hounds. We were concerned because of her intense reactivity around other dogs but needn't have been. After settling down Candy is now as happy as a pig in shit, running around with a bunch of Salukis and grinning her face off. Urban life clearly wasn't for her.

This one is Chanel. We get the ones with all the best names. She's 7 months old, not properly house trained and chews and bites everything, including me. She eats like a horse. However unlike Candy she loves other dogs and we're able to walk her locally without traumatising the population.

 

[two sheds]

A few Salukis round here (mid Cornwall) - wasn't a dog I was familiar with but they're handsome.

 

[keybored]

It's just as well she likes other dogs because as of tomorrow she'll have a playmate. Laika is on her way from Spain and we'll be picking her up from the man in a van at a service station tomorrow evening. She's on the right, 4 months old. That's all we know.

 

[Saunders]

Candela

So Candy finally got adopted in September and we arranged to foster another Galgo in October. We planned a holiday while we were dog-free (Spain, where ironically we only saw one Galgo and he was down with his adoptive family from Belgium) but before we left we learned that Candy had not settled well in her new home and the couple who took her could no longer home her. We agreed to take her back as a stop-gap and she was back with us within 2 hours of us coming home, looking miserable and 3 kilos lighter.

Fast forward 3 weeks of her stuffing her face and being spoiled rotten and an amazing woman agreed to take her to her home in Cornwall with a good bit of enclosed land and many other sight hounds. We were concerned because of her intense reactivity around other dogs but needn't have been. After settling down Candy is now as happy as a pig in shit, running around with a bunch of Salukis and grinning her face off. Urban life clearly wasn't for her.

This one is Chanel. We get the ones with all the best names. She's 7 months old, not properly house trained and chews and bites everything, including me. She eats like a horse. However unlike Candy she loves other dogs and we're able to walk her locally without traumatising the population.

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Oh gosh she looks Gorgeous. And great to hear that Candy has found a good home with space and other dogs to run with.

 

[keybored]

Oh gosh she looks Gorgeous. And great to hear that Candy has found a good home with space and other dogs to run with.

It might not be a forever home. Donna fosters dogs with behavioural issues and has loads of experience in rehabilitating them. She's already got Candy feeling safe and secure around her other dogs (some fosters, some permanent residents) but she's told us that if Candy can never stop going apeshit around strange dogs when out and about (which as far as I know she hasn't tried just yet), then she can join the permanents and live out her days in sunny Cornwall.

Here she is running rings around her new pals.

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[keybored]

Bit chilly downstairs; pyjama season.

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SNAP!

 

[Dandred]

 

[Dandred]

Six and a cat in there if you can spot them

 

[Puddy_Tat]

are you warm enough, or can i get you another dog?

 

[Callie]

It might not be a forever home. Donna fosters dogs with behavioural issues and has loads of experience in rehabilitating them. She's already got Candy feeling safe and secure around her other dogs (some fosters, some permanent residents) but she's told us that if Candy can never stop going apeshit around strange dogs when out and about (which as far as I know she hasn't tried just yet), then she can join the permanents and live out her days in sunny Cornwall.

Here she is running rings around her new pals.

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such a lovely tail!

 

[Callie]

Candela

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ska invita

 

[BoatieBird]

Precarious

 

[Looby]

The dogs had their jabs booked for today and I thought it was Thursday so booked a meeting 2 hours away and Mr Looby doesn’t drive.

The poor bloke had to take all 3 in, somehow weigh them and do crowd control with three dogs in one clinic room.
Lucy was shaking with fear, Humphrey was like a kid at Christmas and Albert was cool as a cucumber.

Apparently the vet didn’t say much about how great my dogs are. Maybe I should call tomorrow to ask for detailed feedback.

Stunners.

 

[petee]

Six and a cat in there if you can spot them

i see 5 and the cat.

 

[Rebelda]

I see 6 and a cat

 

[Puddy_Tat]

Can I give you a call bark? DogPhone lets pets ring their owners

When dog moves ball containing device it sends a signal to a laptop and launches a video call

www.theguardian.com

 

[Mumbles274]

Meatball and Mabel

 

[Edie]

Meatball and Mabel

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Oh god they’re so cool

 

[Looby]

We’ve finally switched the insurance for the older two after their joint monthly premium topped £250 a month!
Last time I tried to switch we couldn’t find a decent policy for any less money because of their ages.
This time we’ve gone with a specialist oldies policy for £100 for both of them.

We’ve left Humphrey where he is for now but I’m not going to let the premiums get out of hand again. I’m really pissed off with myself that I left it so long.

 

[two sheds]

I insured Cosmo fully comprehensive for seven years I think it was so until she was 10, eventually premiums got to £700/year The excesses were about £80 which was anyway most of the costs so it was actually pretty bloody useless.

I stopped and left it with Dogs' Trust (lovely people) for just 3rd party fire & theft for the next few years, cost about £25/year? for membership, £1 million insurance is included, in case she caused other damage/attacked someone.

Some wise person on here said that they insured their dog for a few (not many) years only because after those few years you'll likely know whether they are likely to have something that actually needs insurance for.

eta: I've elsewhere seen that putting the insurance premiums in a separate account is a good idea

 

[Looby]

Some wise person on here said that they insured their dog for a few (not many) years only because after those few years you'll likely know whether they are likely to have something that actually needs insurance for.

I don’t really think that’s true though. Dogs do get more expensive usually as they age and I wouldn’t want to rely on that.
We did have the chat a while back about what we would and wouldn’t be willing to do if our dogs were ill/hurt. Obviously I can’t totally predict what we’d decide but we’re both fairly resolute that we wouldn’t be putting them through big operations/invasive treatments now they’re older.

My friend’s dog had two major ops on (I think) her cruciate ligaments. Without insurance I don’t think they could have afforded the several thousand it cost.

I know a lot of people don’t insure at all and save the money which is a great idea but we haven’t been in a position where we could save and pay premiums until we had a good amount saved up. We could probably cover a big claim now on a credit card but it feels like a huge risk.

MoreThan has just gone up and up. For Lucy the premiums ended up around £1800 a year and the excess was £200 plus I think 20% of each claim. It’s a crazy amount of money.

 

[two sheds]

Fair play.

As Cosmo got older I wondered too whether I'd put her through complicated operations that might extend her life somewhat but would mean she was in pain for a fair amount of it.

She eventually got arthritis in her back legs which got worse a lot quickly, and I don't think anything would have helped her.

 

[wemakeyousoundb]

Current insurance premium for the older dog is £127 a month, but, it is a lifetime policy with a yearly maximum spend rather than a per condition maximum spend without actual ceiling, £85 excess per condition per year and a 10% contribution since he reached the age of 5.

He has just had his second cruciate ligament operation (+/- £3500 each time) and has been followed with regular scans for his cancer (500 to 1800 depending on which scans ae done) and had a major operation (smilar cost to the cruciate ligament one) for over 3 years now obviously staying with it as if we shifted insurance the cancer scans and any operation needed for it wouldn't be covered under the pre-existing condition clause.
If we had to pay for all this I'd be in a shedload of debts by now, the total cost is over £15000 by now and ongoing.
Obviously he is unlucky to have so many medical issues starting at a young age.


Cheeky face.
And the young'un at pupy playgroup:

 

[Sweet FA]

For me and Mungo, recall (such as it is) is a mixture of training, bonding and management.

We’re still a work in progress but he’s mostly off lead and mostly likes to come in to me when I shout.

The training part; when I first got him I used a whistle and delicious food reward. I started with him next to me. Blow the whistle (I used 3 pips) and put sardine in his mouth. Did that a few times over a day or so. Then gradualtly increased the distance between us, so like him in the sitting room, me in the kitchen. And then me in the kitchen him in the garden. And then me in the garden him in the house. Once I felt he was ready for us to try this outside, I had him on a long line and tried it in the park where we walked. And then again gradually increased the distance between us both physical and mental. I spent probs 4 or 6 weeks on this process.

You can let him off when you’re completely sure he’s not going to disappear. Most of my walking with Ted is always going to be on-lead because whilst his recall is “perfect” as a piece of training, when he sees a deer, the dopamine floods his brain and nothing else in the world is getting through. He literally doesn’t even hear me when that happens. It’s like expecting a heroin addict to hold a sensible conversation with you about taxes when there is a whole load of heroin sitting right there on the table. They might be a tax accountant in their normal life but that ain’t going to count for shit in that moment.

Cheers Saunders, bought a whistle a couple of weeks ago and have been treating him every time I blow the whistle. Not tried it in the wild yet but we're going to the beach tomorrow so will give it a go on a long lead (lightweight climbing rope).

My main concern is that other dogs are being twats to him; he got bitten by a springer last week which was really out of character for the spaniel - I've known him for a few years & he was always v. friendly with Nico. Is there a vibe he's giving off? Having said that, he didn't have any problems with other dogs on the beach in Cornwall, maybe because he was off lead and could just run off?

How's Ted, kabbes?

Cat sighted:





I can sleep like hooman.