buddyboy

what does your dog have to wear by law in the UK when out in public (then the kids can nag parents to get a tag)

Stolen from the Hope Rescue Forum - the beasties and me, winners of the Happy Family class at their show on Bank Holiday Monday. Me at the back gripping Bo who was desperate to bounce over to say hello to everyone, then Big Jed (deaf), China (deaf), Cassie (sadly losing sight and hearing now) and Reg - looking incredibly relaxed!!!!

Just back after a few days with no internet access!!! Have skim read and well done, great news, oh dear as appropriate! Sooooooooooooo proud of the beasties!!! We were representing the Deaf Dog Network at the Great Dane Club of Wales on Sunday and then Hope Rescue's Barking Mad event on Monday. We raised lots of awareness and on Monday I heard a call for the class "Happy Family" for 2 or more dogs living together.... so on the spur of the moment I entered us into it. We WON!!!!!!!!!!!!! Got a lovely trophy but have to wait for the pictures (managed to get them all lying down but then of course Bo had to stand up so the pic is of 4 lying down and me gripping him to stop him bouncing)......

slept for 14 hours last night so human again now! (well, started to watch "A place in the sun" at 5, woke up with neck ache at 7.30, went to bed, woke up 7.30 today). We got a new caravan on Tuesday from Mansfield - so in theory a 4.5 hr drive in a car meaning a 5.5hr drive towing each way ............ but we got stuck behind so many things and in traffic that it took 6 hrs to get there with just a very quick comfort break on the way..... Love the new van - in theory would have been back with it here on Tuesday night but as darkness came my eyes were getting tired so we parked up in a layby (thanks to Welsh laybys with loos where you can pull off the road!) and tried out the new FIXED BED!!!!!!!!!!!! Did not have a sleeping bag or blankets but did have my cheap fleece jacket so that plus 5 dogs kept me warm till 3.45 then we set off for home after a quick walk and got back just in time for work yesterday..... The van is second hand, 2 years old but has only been used a few times and is pristine (well, make that WAS now that the beasts and I have been in and out of it).

wow - amazing what you can get in Asda these days Loobie!!! We only have a Tesco - maybe I will have to start travelling to get my shopping?!?

Can someone please explain to the boys that when a gate is put up to stop them going into the back garden due to an angle grinder being used to cut down a metal post the gate is not to be jumped over, nudged aside, pawed to move, wriggled round etc............ similarly when said gate is left in place for a concrete base to be laid for the new shed the same applies. Cassie is officially 9.75 and not likely to make old bones due to her severe heart problems. The rest of the gang are either definitely 6 or guessed to be 6 ............. not convinced that China will get to double figures but hopefully the 3 boys will go on into their teens, but then probably all depart around the same time.

Jed woke up Saturday and could not open his left eye ............ you would think with 2 dogs having heart problems (one severe) they would be the ones having to see a vet in a strange place! ABs, anti inflams etc and it is getting better. Thought I was losing Cassie last night - Jed had gone outside the caravan to sleep on the grass as it was getting hotter.... at 1 a.m. she was huffing and puffing a lot (she has grade 6 murmur and her heart is so enlarged you don't need a stethoscope to hear it). Wetted a blanket and made her lie on it for half an hour with the fan on her - fine today (tho I am shattered as kept on waking up to check she was ok, then had to tow the caravan home from Somerset to West Wales)

Very, very, VERY proud of my beasties... two different couples came over at different times during my meal to say how well behaved they were!!! They can be monsters but they can also pull best behaviour out of the hat when needed. (Lovely waiter came out while we were waiting for our meal - they had chicken dippers while I had steak!! to ask if they would like a bowl of water).

Hope it all goes smoothly for you Jazz

oops sorry Michelle!!!! Knew it was a name with J but did not check who!!!!

Jazz - I have used this a few times..... really handy as although you have to decide the size/weight yourself you can then just take the parcel to a local shop and ours is the Spar open 7 days a week from early morning to late at night. http://www.collectplus.co.uk/orders/new

hmm - was talking to a neighbour the other day and mentioned it, she knows Tess as well..... we also said about China's other mortal enemy the collie near the garage - who when he is out is behind the gate and wall, and in fact there is a new barrier so he cannot now even get to the gate..... with them it is only ever death threats at loud pitch. Neighbour knows him and "ooh I do worry in case he gets out and attacks my dogs" ........ ummmm excuse me but it is YOUR dogs who attack others, one of them has attacked Jed (as in Jed's throat has been soaking wet) 3 times!!!! But of course he is her baby, therefore it would be any other dog at fault.

Michelle - I have just got a Galaxy, huge amount of space in the back for the boys and girls and you know how big Jed is!! I have made it even bigger by putting Cassie's crate on the folded down middle seat in the middle row (secured by strapping to the seat and cannot move forward as also fixed by tape clipping into the seat belt holders. This means they have the whole back with tailgate guard and dog guard so safe from flying forward plus extra space (yes it was bought for a cavalier but the staffie x and boxer also take turns in there!) and even with it in place I have 4 seats (albeit I would have to unclip the seat belt part of the securing)...

Phebe - what year is the car? It sounds incredibly like the problem Brenda had with her Tacuma (sure you know Brenda - Priory Vets??)..... so I could ask her if her mechanic would pass on any details of a secret stash (mind you it did take 7 months for him to sort it for her). Snow - my garden was lovely when I moved in but then it sort of grew and grew so this year I got someone to trim the bushes..... like you I got a massive shock when I looked, but now (a couple of months later) they are filling out nicely rather than being tall and straggly. Merledogs - well done. Thinks - if the window is down slightly and you happen to lean on it and it happens to push down further would it be fiddly for the owners to repair??? Oh dear if so (although of course the dog may protect its car etc!!)

She does come out and grab her but luckily it is rare that she is out (and we sometimes go to the beach, other times road walks so we "collide" rarely) ............ theirs are the chickens who take free range to a new dimension so people would knock on my door to ask if one of mine had got out and wandered down the road..... ( It was only Scarey Mary who got out once, and that was to go and raid the neighbour's kitchen while I was having a telephone interview for a job!!! "Do you want to go and answer the door bell?" "no, it's ok" then neighbour walked past window so I opened it to mime that I was on the phone - only to see him turn round with her in his arms!)

What makes this even more morally wrong (using the case of this staffy) is that the dog is CHIPPED, with tablets etc providing internet access anywhere there is a signal (or mobile broadband) if there is someone on hand who is offering to scan the dog it can be seen immediately if the details match those of the person with the dog.............. it is a simple case of logging in to the databases (and yes I have done it so know how easy it is) - there are forces where the dogs are left with the owner until assessment and quite honestly if someone is walking their chipped dog in a public park they are hardly likely to abscond. Instead the dogs are seized, stressed, the owners are stressed and are then billed for kennelling on top of paying for the privilege of having their own, socialised dog at home with them. I doubt very much that many of the dogs who are meant to be targeted are actually being taken out to public parks to mix with other people since the publicity about the crackdown. There is no way I would take my boys to Merseyside or other areas where this heavy handed approach is taking place - they are both temperament assess Pets as Therapy dogs, both chipped, neutered and insured - and Jed especially would become very stressed in kennels. I have read through the measurements used for determining if a dog is "type" and ANY medium sized dog could match several of them - in fact a Labrador could well tick more of the boxes than Bo ....... but he is a Staffie X, need I say more!

China will charge around and play happily with any dog offlead but onlead she can be a real pain - bouncing, snorting, yapping etc. For this reason when we have onlead walks I have the big boys on a coupler on my right hand, the Littles on a coupler on my left and China on a lead on her own on my left. She has mortal enemies where as we approach the house Bo pulls and pulls to get past (so much for staffie Xs wanting to fight everything!) and she bounces and has to be dragged past. Today Tess the JR was loose in her garden so ran out to chase us down the road (which is the reason she is one of the mortal enemies). China of course was bouncing facing backwards and hurling death threats back at Tess until I grabbed her collar to force her forwards. During all of this of course the Littles were getting jumped on, add to that the fact Reg is still worried by other dogs so one exchanging threats with his sister is even scarier - and the combination of his trying to get away from Tess and China bouncing on him meant he got out of his harness! Luckily it was a case of getting out of it and running to in front of me and the others (who were pretending they were not with China) where he felt safe and standing still (which is when I realised he was out of the harness) ...... even with a couple of cars coming down the road. Well done Reg - that is massive progress and you took the right option moving out of the way but then standing still as soon as you felt safe.

umm - we have moved to July :-)

When people asked me about children I would put on a sad face and say "it just hasn't happened, I can't help wondering if my husband's vasectomy has something to do with it".......................then tried to keep a straight face as they went from shocked to embarrassed

For Amy - plan B as there had already been one gazebo wrecked when we started to set up! How is Ted getting on at home?

DT show was rather windy so we used plan B which was my car as the gazebo!! same fencing as the caravan around the back so the dogs could get in and out. I use the self supporting stuff @ 4ft because my beasts just plough through the safety netting - but other people use that with great success.... (4ft is so they can go onto back legs to be fussed by visitors to the stall but not put paws on the top of it and crush it). I got some stakes from B&Q but just use them at corners (they are just over 4ft tall) and then in between use electric fencing posts from the farm co-op which are much cheaper (and easier to push into the ground - do not need a mallet).

We are in the caravan in Gowerton. I modified the fence so although the space outside for the dogs is slightly smaller than before it is much easier for me to put up. Got a glare off a woman with a JR who was going mad when it saw mine - but too bad... my dogs have been very well behaved, only a couple of woofs which were stopped as soon as they started whereas I noticed last night she was strolling round the site with her dog at the furthest extension of its flexilead so it could go and sniff everyone else's van! New fence is definitely secure because Bruv visited us today and when he left Bo was heartbroken and sat whimpering at the gate. We were waiting at Reception to meed Bruv this morning and Bo went absolutely berserk when he saw his uncle.... (Bruv's idea of a good pressie to bring when visiting 5 dogs in a 2 berth caravan --------- a pack of 12 tennis balls which he unwrapped for them as soon as he was inside). We will be at the Dogs Trust Fun Day tomorrow at Margam Park so please come and say hello if you are going (we will be on the Deaf Dog Network stand - nice red gazebo to stand out from the crowd!)

Owl - I have been driving one of those since Friday as my Hyundai did a very good dead impersonation so Brenda loaned me her car!!! Hers is automatic so apart from having to get used to my left arm and leg waving around with nothing to do I found it very good. She is away so I have been transporting her dogs back to my house for overnight and mine up to hers for exercising them all before bringing hers back so with the back seats down there has been me driving, Bo strapped in the front seat, the 2 Littles on padding in the front footwell and then tiny tiny Jed (40+kg), China (small boxer), Trumps (Labrador), Deeze (collie) and Ash (humungous Rottie x Dobie pup who dwarfs Jed and is only 8 months old) in the back!! Yesterday was weird driving wise as first thing in the morning I transported all the dogs to Brenda's for exercise in the field then left hers there. In the afternoon I drove my resuscitated 2.9 litre manual Hyundai to the dealer and then drove back in my new (well, new to me) Ford Galaxy which is 1.8 litre but 6 speed manual - so had to get used to changing up and down instead of just putting my foot down!

Zooming on here quickly so apologies for not taking the time to read back and find out the facts myself!!! Who was it who wanted a young female staffie??? 8 week old dark brindle girl who is now safe but was being given away free online If you have facebook https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151504906872469&set=a.430585982468.252370.224130822468&type=1 if not the info taken from West Yorkshire Dog Rescue page is " WELCOME THIS NEW BABY !!! Molly Puppy with UK GSD RESCUE Text Suzanne 07789881850 ..... This sweet bundle of love is 8 week old Molly, who was being given away via Facebook !!!! She is now safe in UK GSD rescue care, and desperately needs a... home. We have wormed and flea treated her as she was very thin. She is a typical cheeky puppy into everything!!! Great with other dogs, CAT FRIENDLY - plays nicely with the cats. This BABY girl needs a lifetime commitment. In foster care in the Northwest. FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT PUPPIES CLICK THIS LINK http://www.westyorkshiredogrescue.co.uk/brochures/DunbarPuppy.pdf TO REGISTER AN INTEREST CLICK THIS LINK http://www.westyorkshiredogrescue.co.uk/contact2.htm"

It is up on there! Good luck Murtle - keep hydrated and have lots of ice cream breaks to cool down!