GoldenOldie

Have all the scarves gone? Sally

Where is he in France? My son and daughter in law live in Sospel and run a pet food and accessories business. They have 4 dogs and have extensive experience of large breeds. If necessary I'm sure they would help to find a suitable home for him. Un fortunately I know they couldn't home him themselves as , apart from visiting family children, part of their house is a holiday let in the summer with regular visitors. My daughter in law has had rescue dobermans and retrievers in the past and one of their dogs now is a lab x belgian shepherd which had been in kennels in St Tropez for 18 months before they rescued him; he required an awful lot of work and is now a lovely dog.

I regularly walk my dogs up a footpath alongside a field in which cattle are grazed at certain times of the year, along with their calves. The field has a dry stone wall which a determined or charging cow could easily negotiate. My dogs are elderly and we all suffer from arthritis in varying degrees so in fact only my profoundly deaf collie x could move fast enough to escape. I therefore choose another route , particularly when calves are around, which is no hardship for any of us . I do struggle sometimes with the attitude of people who don't respect basic safety rules for themselves or their animals simply because they have a right to do something. I've lived in farming areas in the countryside in Wales and in Derbyshire and also know how difficult some farmers can be, but every year it seems we again read of potentially avoidable tragedies like this vet, lost at a young age to her family and to her profession .

All of mine are rescues and over 30 years I have had a mixture of pedigrees and x breeds - but all through sanctuarys, my vet and some just dumped. My lifestyle has changed with age and I can no longer manage dogs with bad temperaments which may need to be separated, or dogs which are not cat tolerant, dog friendly and child safe. I can't manage young,dogs needing lots of exercise and training as I have in the past, at one time managing a pack of 8 of varying ages, sizes etc. which were all walked twice daily and I worked full time as well! At the time my mother was alive and lived with me and provided a considerable amount of daily care for the dogs and cats, in a bigger house and garden at the foot of a country park. I now live in a terraced cottage with a small garden but lots of walks minutes away, but the advent of grandchildren, arthritis and the need to continue to work part time has led me to modify my foster/adoption life; I have 3 elderly dogs, 2 labs and a deaf collie x, all rescues within the last 3 years at ages 12, 13 and 14 now, and all with health problems ranging from heart murmurs to arthritis and tumours. I also have a 2 yr. old foster Bichon who I have rehabilitated to rehome and she is in the process of introductions just now. I love the oldies and have no issues with health problems, simply adapt and pay the vet's bills! My last foster was an elderly GSD with epilepsy and CDRM (rather like Ian's dog) and she was a wonderful dog who brought great joy in the few months she was with me until she went to the Bridge in Jauary. I must admit I am quite prepared to work on house training as I have with the Bichon, but I would think twice before taking on a dog with long term house training issues as you do get to a stage in life when you really don't want to be shampooing carpets and permanently mopping floors! Of choice I will support elderly dogs and in my experience they want a comfortable life for their remaining years, with good food, vet care when necessary, gentle walks and lots of love ; they also give so much back.

Too right!

In some cases youngsters come from ordinary 'normal' families, whatever normal is,and commit offences like this perhaps influenced by peers. Others, however, are part of the feral generation so evident nowadays,youngsters without parenting, guidance or boundaries who have no respect for themselves or others and have no consequences for their actions.They are filled with energy but have no outlets or guidance and from age 8 upwards (sometimes even younger) are exposed to TV, DVDs and games which promote violence. They are not parented adequately or at all so their 'family' is from within their peer group or from older children - think Lord of the Flies.

Like everyone else I wonder what on earth this mother was doing leaving very young children in a position to take such a very young pup away from it's mother anyway and be unsupervised long enough to have it in the garden etc. etc.I'm sure a lot of us have had pups/dogs when our children were small and taken precautions for the safety and welfare of them all. Trouble is yet again the media coverage and the messages this story gives to mindless , thoughtless people who treat animals like toys.

This is the second incident recently in which the RSPCA fail to prosecute because an animal was killed but 'didn't suffer'. The other one was the Yorkshire terrier killed by a kick from his owners boyfriend during a domestic. I'm sure there are more which never come to light or are unreported. It gives people carte blanche to abuse animals with no consequences in a climate in which cruelty and neglect are on the increase. What a sad message for yet another generation of young people who are growing up to have little respect for themselves or any other living thing and treat children and animals as disposable commodities. This is not a generalisation, by the way, as there are legions of wonderful, stable, achieving youngsters out there, but in nearly 30 years of social work it is very depressing to see the number of youngsters nowadays who have absolutely no respect for the police, teachers, medics or their parents because there are absolutely no consequences for their actions. Sorry for the rant, it has been a sense of optimism that has kept me in the job this long, as well as involved in animal welfare, but cases like those reported highlight the messages given out to adults as well as children that somewhere there will be a loophole in the law so do what you want.

Mobile phone charms

My yorkie went blind in one eye at the age of 5 thro' an accident then got cataracts in the good eye at 7. She had laser surgery and completely regained the sight, losing it again at about 11. She was completely blind for the last 3 years of her life and coped very well as part of a pack but I didn't make any changes to the household so she was very familiar. The only thing she stopped doing was jumping onto the windowsill in the bay window! She even managed to go out and get in the car as she always did. I fostered a really ancient poodle who was blind and partially deaf and he only took a few days to establish where doors were etc; negotiating furniture took a bit longer but he lived happily and safely for 2 more years. In both cases the dogs were part of a well established pack and this made learning much easier. In my experience blind/partially sighted dogs cope very well and as Jacobean says, its about thinking ahead

I'm putting this poster in my local vets where my 3 oldies are registered - where in Derbyshire is George? They have branches in New Mills and Buxton.

Wonderful news for the lovely pair of Oldies!

Buxton is just 9 miles from me so any help with transport or homechecks I'm happy to oblige. Our vet has a branch surgery in Buxton and certainly in my local surgery has an Oldies poster I put on the notice board.

How can people decide in the space of a few hours to hand them back without giving them a chance to settle - it's so unrealistic. So frustrating after all the checks and preparation. People never cease to amaze me! How good for them to be able to return to their foster family who sound absolutely great.

Wonderful news! A happy ending for two lovely dogs.

On the day my foster GSD was pts she was very quiet and peaceful and after going out in the garden (clean to the end) she settled herself in the living room on her mat. The rest of my pack 2 dogs 4 cats all gathered round in the room, the dogs beside her on the mat, completely out of normal routine and all had treats until the vet came. Afterwards they all moved off to their normal daytime sleep places; when a newbie arrived a week later she isolated herself at first and is now totally integrated into the family. One of the old labs. I have had allowed the GSD to eat out of her dish and to lead when out walking. With the new girl (aged 12) she quietly established that she needed to take the lead on walks and permission is needed to consider sharing dishes. All of this without a squabble - aren't they just amazing our animals!

My granddaughter has the hot pink one - withstands all sorts but not sure about teeth and claws!

I have 3 dogs. lab. aged 14 lab. aged 13 collie x aged 12 both labs fed on BURNS HIGH OATS with the addition of veg./stock to moisten collie x fed on ROYAL CANIN SMALL DOG MATURE moistened with warm water or stock All fed morning and evening All have small amounts of Butchers Tripe or similar with a handful from their daily dry food last thing at night. No behaviour problems and no tummy upsets.

I have had 3 dogs minimum (sometimes more) for years now and I'm on my own with them. I t really does depend on the dogs and how much effort you need to put in . Until January I had 2 large elderly labs and a GSD, 2 bitches 1 dog. 1 deaf, 1 with epilepsy and CDRM and 1 aged 14 who loves his daily plod! I lost the GSD in January and now have a small collie x terrier bitch who is stone deaf. I'm semi retired and have arthritis but with the right dogs it can work and I have been fortunate with nearly all my adoptees and fosters. Clearly nowadays I have had to cut my coat according to my cloth and can no longer take young dogs needing lots of exercise or training as I used to, but take on oldies who need gentle daily walks, lots of TLC and comfy beds to dream away their days in between walks and meals! I have no trouble managing the 3 Good luck in whatever decision you make.

There is always a formal process for reviewing children /adults receiving provision from social care and it was brilliant that you noted the appalling care you observed and reported it - hopefully effecting change. It seems it was enough for an emergency review! Well done! Some providers take on inexperienced and also totally innappropiate people to staff units and the results speak for themselves. Hopefully there will be a good outcome for your grandson and the older woman.

I have one partially deaf old girl and one oldie new girl almost totally deaf. Both are amazing in reading facial expressions and body language and the new girl can also hear certain pitched sounds like the local tearaway terrier screaming abuse at all the neighbourhood dogs! They adapt so well to disabilities unlike humans. They also follow the lead of the geriatric gang leader of my pack and if he shows interest in something they do too!

My old lab. has been on low dose prednicare for over a year now, currently on 5 mgs. alternate days together with antibiotics to treat and manage an ear infection, was on a higher dose when treatment started. This has been the only effective treatment for a pseudomonas ear infection as she won't tolerate topical application and the only option was removal of her ear canals. She is partially deaf as a result of neglect when I got her 2 years ago. She does drink a lot and has a huge appetite but she is a lab.! Both my old dogs have arthritis but couldn't tolerate steroid treatment even with medication to counteract the gastric problems, a shame because when it works it's brilliant. My oldest cat at 16 has been on steroid treatment nearly all her life for a chronic skin condition and currently has monthly depo. injections. I believe cats tolerate this better than dogs. Good luck. Sally.

Changed my elderly overweight lab from Hills to RCW obesity management and she's maintained a steady weight after losing the extra pounds for nearly 2 years and is very well on it. Get it delivered to the door by Vet UK

My aunt owned horses and I loved to sit on them from a very early age. I was about 10 when I started riding and spent every weekend at local stables, progressing to helping out during weekends and holidays doing anything and everything just to be around the horses and earn free rides! My daughter rides and both my grandchildren are learning. I haven't ridden for many years now but still get enormous pleasure being around horses.

Fabulous stuff, looks good, easy to clean and gives a good grip for very young/elderly/infirm pets. Comfortable to walk on too!