Ruthi (borrowadog)

Its not that unlikely, you know. We've had a dog we walk hit with a stick - by a lad with learning difficulties that wasn't under proper supervision. If the dog (who happened to be a powerful bull breed) hadn't been on lead, there would have been an equally nasty outcome.

How very sad for the poor dog and its owners. Of course the parents were partially to blame, but I must say that I only allow people to stroke my own dogs. There are some excellent dog walkers out there, who I would trust with my own dogs. And obviously I think Petpals are great, but then we have strict rules about how we handle dogs. Our staff are trained, our dogs are carefully assessed, we never walk dogs off-lead without written owner permission, etc etc. But the other day I met the woman who claims to have been the first dog walker in the area, who has been going for 21 years. She had nine dogs off-lead! Your man should, and probably will be prosecuted for not having the dog under control. And he is stupid, when I am near children I watch them like a hawk. If I have my eye on the children, I can see if they interact with the dogs. And I never give permission for children to touch the dogs, other than my own, and when I am holding them (they'd run away otherwise!) We have a rather protective staffy bitch that we walk (being staffy has nothing to do with her temperament, I might add), and I have insisted to the owner that she should be muzzled when we walk her. She's fine with people, but if she has a barney with another dog, and the human gets in the way, she is the one that is going to pay with her life, and my staff are going to be prosecuted. Training and certification would be great. It would stop every unemployed dog 'lover' setting themselves up in the dog walking business and giving me a bad name! However I can't see it happening with the current government.

Colouring is normal, and metacam doesn't seem to make that much difference. He's obviously a bit unusual because metacam knocks him out, and he can't take a full dose. So maybe not surprising that it doesn't do much. Having now taken the other one to their vets, I am of the opinion that a change of vet is in order. It wasn't that he was incompetent, just... When Seamus had been limping - AGAIN - for over a week I took him to my vet. Phil spent a good 15 minutes feeling, feeling the poorly bit, feeling the 'normal' side, testing various unlikely possibilities just in case before finally saying yes, he'd torn yet another ligament. That is the level of care I expect, to be honest. I won't say what happened when I took Will to his own 'vet', but lets say the examination was cursory in comparison. And the consult charge was the same as my place. Mumble, mumble. I hate it when I can't go against the owner's instructions!

Murphy used to do much more walking than he can manage now - and no, he was struggling long before it got hot. I've given him a homoeopathic remedy (phosphorus) and we'll see if that makes a difference.

My trainer used to carry a small spray bottle with Bitter Apple in it. Squirt the b****r without mercy. It does no lasting harm, but is off-putting. If you have a dog warden then I'd be inclined to complain while I was waiting for my bottle of bitter apple to arrive. As for your letter, why don't you send it to the local newspaper? Its far too good a piece of writing to be wasted!

Murphy is staying with me for his holidays. He is a black lab and 10 years old. He's an absolutely sweetie, very well behaved, loving, with that typical subtle black lab sense of humour. He's quite shy and retiring, but not really anxious, as long as I don't put him in the van! My concern is his lack of stamina. He can barely manage a half hour walk, and is completely shattered by the time we get back. Murphs is a bit overweight, but I've seen much fatter labs. He's a bit arthritic, but not all that bad, and the glucosamine and CLO seem to have it reasonably under control. He had an op to remove two tumours near his bum at the beginning of the year, and has never really been right since, according to his mum. How normal is it for a lab of his age to be such an old man?

Oh, Clare! I do so feel for you and Murph. :GroupHug:

:GroupHug:

For the first week or so of using the BNM I noticed no difference, but after 10 days on the stuff we've found no more ticks!! Early days, I suppose, but so far so good. And it improves their breath too!

I'm insured to walk six dogs at a time, but the only time I would take that many out would be if I had 3 well-behaved pairs off-lead. And I'd take them somewhere very quiet!

Yes, absolutely, Mark Carpenter in Beaconsfield Mr M Carpenter VetMFHom (1997) Straid Veterinary Hospital, 121 Station Road, Beaconsfield, Bucks HP9 1LH 01494 673101 Mark is a homoeopath and acupuncturist, but also a conventional vet (because he can't make a living just doing the holistic stuff), so he is able to talk sensibly about the options. When I took Tiger he had acupuncture, and we talked diet quite a lot, and he referred us to a chiropractor. It helps that he is just a lovely man, and adores his own dogs (who are labradoodle rescues).

Everybody loves Dysons, and they all seem to be mourning their demise. I've never heard of anyone buying something so expensive, and accepting that it only lasts a few years! I vote for Sebo, even more expensive, a bit heavy, but unbelievably efficient, use bags (which are still cheaper than the filters in the bagless hoovers) and live forever.

Well, of course. In fact lets shoot anyone who looks shifty, it'll save lots of money, and means that any spiteful person who 'reports' someone for looking wrong can have them shot by the state.

Whoops, tried to edit that, but the board had a hissy fit and said I'm not allowed to edit my own post. What I wanted to add about the ex OH was that basically, if he wasn't the centre of attention, and my attention in particular, then he would either throw a tantrum or make sure I had to set my own needs aside for his. Don't get me wrong, I really feel for control freaks, because they do it out of a lack of security and a need to be loved. Trouble is that we can't put that right by being devoted to them. They can never feel better about themselves for long just because someone else is kind to them, so they just demand more and more. Its the usual thing, you can never change someone else, they have to do that for themselves. Much of what I read suggested that its usually a personality disorder that causes it (ie its nothing to do with childhood experiences, rather its how they were wired to interpret the world) and its not really curable. Which brings us back to being selfish. Because no matter how much I loved him, he hated me for not loving him enough, so I had to leave.

I don't want to be nasty, Fran. But is OH going down because you are coming up? My ex would certainly be doing that in this situation, it was part of his armoury of control. Or is he also depressive and in need of medication? Men are so awful about getting help!

Fran, if you do go to the meeting, you absolutely MUST have someone with you, who takes notes. If you can't get anyone for that date, simply tell them that no-one is available on that date, and choose another when someone can go with you. You will have to go sometime, unless the doc says you are not fit to go. Zoloft (sertraline) is good stuff - the best anti-depressant I have been on and believe me I've tried lots. But it takes about 3 weeks to really be effective, so there would be a good reason for delaying the meeting until then. Where are you?

Fran, this is only reflecting back what you've written, but.... You are saying that OH is feeling the pressure, so he is pressing you to go back to work even though he knows you don't feel ready. He won't come with you to the doctor, and he's spoiling the one thing you are looking forward to because 'he doesn't feel like it'. He's pulled that particular trick before, too, and as a result you lost your only friend in the area? He is also threatening to leave you? I sounds like both work and OH are bullying you to me. Its very easy to get the wrong idea on forums, so I am hoping that isn't really what you feel is going on. But if it is, then you need to tell the doctor about that too. Forums are a great place for letting off steam anonymously, but you won't get any real help from us here, other than 'listening'. You need to talk to your doctor, and probably to people who are your friends, wherever they are.

The stuff has arrived at last, And Ceri did reply when I used the That's disappointing! Not really surprising, nothing else has worked either, including the expensive, and no doubt noxious, stuff the vet sold me. I check them over daily, quite often more than once. But its very difficult with rough coated dogs, and about 10% seem to be missed and end up crawling around on the floor. I really don't know what else to do. For the ones I do find, the Trix Tick Lasso is fab, much better than any other device I have used.

Kathy, have you tried the Cinnamon Trust? They help the disabled as well as the elderly, and might be able to help with the walking. And maybe if you make it clear when offering her for adoption that you can't walk her any more, that shows what plight she is in. I think someone has already said, Dogs Blog is very effective. Ruth

Well, I'm very disappointed in CSJ. After I read what you said, I ordered the BNM. 7 days later I emailed them to ask when I might expect it, and I've had no reply. I'm really pinning my hopes on this stuff, the ticks are rampant around here!

Good luck Murph! Back to your terrible best tomorrow, OK? No Clare, you aren't the only one!

Well done! You'll start feeling much better soon. It takes about six weeks to reset your appetite, so you are half way through that bit too.

So sorry Mel :GroupHug: Run free, Turbo. Loved forever.

Sleep tight, baby. Hugs for you, Wendy. :GroupHug: You are such a brave lovely, loving woman. How you put yourself through this so often I don't know. Ruth

C'mon Merlin, you are too gorgeous to go! You get better and get back to your mummy.