cindere528

Mine do, we're all still in bed To be fair, I did take them downstairs a couple of hours ago for pees/poos & beakfast, then they came back to bed with me & are now snoring their little heads off

It's always lovely to hear good news, so don't feel bad about posting. WTG Malcolm, keep it up old lad

Oh my goodness, how fast that 4 years has flown Happy Birthday Holly

All my dogs have developed fatty lumps at some stage in their lives. From what I understand, they only need removing in certain circumstances: If they start to grow If they are causing the dog any discomfort If they are on or near a joint My two both had fatty lumps removed from their legs last Friday. The vet said they would be best taken off as soon as possible because they could cause problems with the joints if left. My advice to you would be: don't worry about them & keep an eye on them, but don't prod & poke too much.

I still don't know what sort of Christmas I will be having Last year, due to my son being away working on the QE2, it was just my mother & me at Christmas. She wasn't well enough to come to my house, so I cooked dinner & took it to hers. I did a Nut Roast with roast potatoes, veg & gravy, followed by home made Christmas Pudding. I had to leave my dogs home alone from about 11:30 am until about 5:30 pm because they don't get on with Mum's Yorkie . Mum did nothing but moan the entire time I was there, she criticised all the rest of the family, the meal, the neighbours, everything & anything was moaned about. Anyway, this year, she has been invited to my niece's in Ireland for Christmas. My niece has 4 children and my sister & her husband will be there as well. It will be a lovely family Christmas that Mum would really enjoy. She says she's not going! My son is now home from his travels but his girlfriend is in Hungary with her family. They have agreed to each spend Christmas with their families but I know they want to be together, however, I can't stand another Christmas alone with Mum. I told him that if Mum goes to Ireland, I have no objection to him going to Hungary and leaving me on my own. The prospect of a Christmas alone with the doglets is rather pleasant. I would love to have a Christmas with no pressure, no stress, just me & my doglets. My son knows he is more than welcome to spend Christmas with me, whether my Mum is here or not, but I know that he wants to be with his girlfriend. My sister is coming next week for her annual visit, so I'm hoping that she can talk Mum into going to Ireland. I know she would enjoy it there with all the children, and at the age of 86, it could be her last Christmas, so it would be lovely for her to have a good one. Hopefully, I will know more after my sister's visit

They're home The vet confirmed that the lumps were definitely just fatty lumps, so no further investigation is needed Nelly is behaving fairly normally, looking for food Dillon is slightly subdued but he is wearing a PINK bandage on his leg His street cred has hit rock bottom

Update: Nelly was VERY nervous at the vets, I'm so glad I asked if I could stay with her. It took 3 nurses and me to get a blood sample, she was so scared, poor love. Dillon was fine, he always is, as long as he can't see any other dogs. After the blood tests, they were given their pre-meds and after a few mins, Dillon was taken into theatre for his op. I asked them to remove a couple of warts while they had him anaesthatised. I sat near the nurses station waiting with Nelly & I saw them bring Dillon out of theatre to take him to the recovery ward. Then, just like on a film, the vet who had done the operation told me that it had gone well, the lump was definitely just a fatty lump, so no need to send it off for tests. The warts were just warts and he had cut them off, then cauterised them, so there are no stitches where the warts were. Then Nelly was taken into theatre. She was very sleepy with the pre-med, so she didn't struggle at all when the nurse took her off me. I'm now back at home and I should be able to pick them up around lunchtime, if they don't call me, I will be calling them around 1pm. I think we're very lucky with the vets that we have, they not only understand the animals, they also understand when owners are nervous because their pets are having operations. Edited to add - the vets have just called to say that everything is fine & I can pick them up at 12:50pm

Dillon & Nelly are going to the vet's in the morning to have fatty lumps removed from their legs. Any positive, healing thoughts would be very welcome please. They aren't at all worried at the moment, but they won't be happy when they have to leave the house tomorrow before they've had their Weetabix

Good luck for tomorrow Bumpy

Nelly says "Fank ewe all wewwy much four yor gud wishus. Eye has bin eetin sozzidgers four tee and eye has hadd a walkie wiv Dillon & our mummeee. Eye did av a wewwy gud bark wen we wus out four us walkie. Aftur all vat, eye is tyud now an eye duz wont two sleep an dweem ov sozzidgers" After writing all that, she has fallen fast asleep & is snoring her furry little head off on the rug. I will try & take some photos after she's been to see Auntie Sue on Friday for her haircut

It's Nelly's second Gotcha Day today Two whole years have gone by since I drove to Bristol to meet & pick her up from her foster mum. When she first came here, she didn't bark. Her foster mum told me that she had previously been beaten for barking, so she had learned to be silent. She was in foster for about 6 weeks & was never heard to utter a sound in that time. Now, she barks all the way round the fields on her walks, just because she can . She also takes the initiative in barking in the house. Even if Dillon hasn't seen whatever she's barking at, she still barks . She was also terrified of men at first. It took her a couple of months to accept my son when he came to visit and one male friend of mine scared her so much I had to ask him to leave (don't worry, we're still friends - he understood). Nelly is now so confident that when I had the plumber out last week to service the boiler, she was playing with him in the kitchen & he couldn't get on with his work She's had some special biccie treats for lunch and she has requested sozzidgers for tea so I will have to get them on my way home this afternoon. She will share them with Dillon because she wuvs him wewwy much Happy Gotcha Day sweetheart and may we have many more together

I've just had an email from my son to say that they've booked their flights & will be coming home on 27 October - only 10 weeks to go

I've only just seen this thread. I'm so sorry Wendy, you must be devastated Run free now lovely Poppy, play nicely with GDog and wait for your Mummy at the Bridge

I pick up on footpaths and in parks, also on beaches on the occasions we are lucky enough to go to the seaside. Mine have been known to do extremely wet/sloppy poos on beaches sometimes and it's almost impossible to pick those up, I always do my best, but inevitably, some is left for the tide to take away. However, I don't pick up on farmland because there's so much cow/sheep/horse muck there that I feel it would be pointless. If we're walking along a footpath on farmland though, & the dogs do a poo near or on the path, then I do pick up.

They are the best dogs in the world & I wouldn't have any other kind of dog. They can be willful & stubborn, but they are also very affectionate & loving. I swear my two hug me back when I hug them They do need to be shown who is the boss, but they respond best to positive training methods. Punishing them has very little effect, but rewards make them learn quite quickly. (Before anyone jumps on me for that comment, I have had dogs for a long time and training methods were different 30 years ago, we used to smack dogs in those days if they did wrong - it didn't work - offering treats for good behaviour gives much better results) Anyway, back to Cocker Spaniels, they are fabulous little dogs, happy to go for long walks, but also happy to stay by the fireside on a cold wet day. They have a tendency to get a little plump, but that is up to the owner to control with diet. They are also good with children (well, mine were). Grooming can be a problem, but I have mine clipped right down, so just an occasional quick brush stops any matts forming and helps with the bonding between us.

My two have only got a Mummy, so they don't have a choice

How's Jess this morning?

How's Tasha this morning?

Is she actually bringing anything up when she's sick? If she's not, it could be that a bit of bone has got stuck somewhere. I don't want to alarm you, but if she's retching without actually producing anything other than bile & froth, she may need to go to the vet's.

We've been for a long walk (about an hour & a half) across the fields. The doglets have had lunch and are now playing "Flat Spaniels" I think the game may last until dinner time tonight

You're not on your own Elaine, I used to do that too. We used to go on caravan holidays and Duncan always had to come in the ladies showers with me. He didn't like it, other women didn't like it, but I wasn't leaving him on his own and I certainly wasn't going to let him go in the mens' toilets/showers on his own. Thank God for more modern caravans that had their own showers/toilets by the time he reached puberty

The people next door to me have recently got a chocolate labrador puppy. He looks about 4-5 months old. They seem to be taking good care of him, although it's about 20 years since they last had a dog. We don't talk a lot, don't get me wrong, we don't "not speak", it's just "hello, nice day" etc. I've just seen them come back from shopping & they've just brought in a 15kilo bag of Bakers I think some tactful over the garden wall conversations may be needed

Poor Tippy I hope your poorly paw is better very soon

Bless his little Sheltie heart He's quite a mountaineer too judging by the way he climbed up there

I was in such a state of panic, I just wanted to get away, but I've kept thinking about the girl with her dog and about the lab who followed us. I do hope he was reunited with his owners.