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Spike's son had owned a Pit Bull for 18 years. She was the biggest wimp of a dog you could ever come across. She went with Little Spike no matter where he was working. Sure made for a lousy guard dog. All she wanted was to be with Little Spike.

Last week Little Spike noticed that she had some very large lumps in her tail and couldn't wag it. So he took her to the Vet's. To remove them individually, would have caused too much pain and discomfort. So the vet amputated her tail. A couple of days later Little Spike heard her wheezing. Back to the Vet's. She was filled with cancer. So he called his father and asked him to go with him to the Vet's on Saturday to put her to sleep. Spike brought Teddy with him and went in the room with Little Spike and his dog. Spike was holding Teddy in his arms when after the Vet inserted the needle, Teddy wriggled out of his arms and onto the table and laid down beside Little Spike's dog. He started to lick her face. Little Spike's dog left with a lot of love surrounding her. Spike said that there were three people who left that room crying. The vet said that is the first time she has ever seen that happen. She gave Teddy a hug and a treat for being there for Little Spike's dog when she needed him most. Sheila has crossed over the Rainbow Bridge.

Little Spike grew up with a three legged Pit Bull. Another wimp. They couldn't take her to Little Spike's baseball games. She always wanted to run the bases with the kids on her three legs. She would just tug and tug at her leash to be let go. She was the first dog that Spike and Little Spike had to put down. She too lived to be a ripe old age. :angel:
Pit bulls of all varieties are banned in the UK under the Dangerous Dogs Act along with Japanese tosa, dogo Argentina and another South American dog whose name escapes me. The DDA was needed but is an example of an Act of Parliament passed in a panic and not very well worded.

Pit bulls over here were used for illegal dog fighting and were generally owned by the sort of thugs you'd expect to be involved in such a foul "sport". The unfortunate thing is that their reputation has spilled over onto Staffordshire bull terriers who mostly have a very sweet nature and wouldn't hurt a fly and aren't covered by the DDA.
 
Thanks, everyone. She wasn't ill so much as just getting old and slowing down. The last couple of weeks, she started eating and moving around less and less. It was just her time.
I guess that's how most of us would hope our furbabies depart this world. It's still sad and still hurts.
 
So sorry about Elwing, GG :(. It takes a while to get used to them not being there after so many years(our BK passed 2 years ago at age 22/23) hugs to you and RIPPED sweet Elwing
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Pit bulls of all varieties are banned in the UK under the Dangerous Dogs Act along with Japanese tosa, dogo Argentina and another South American dog whose name escapes me. The DDA was needed but is an example of an Act of Parliament passed in a panic and not very well worded.

Pit bulls over here were used for illegal dog fighting and were generally owned by the sort of thugs you'd expect to be involved in such a foul "sport". The unfortunate thing is that their reputation has spilled over onto Staffordshire bull terriers who mostly have a very sweet nature and wouldn't hurt a fly and aren't covered by the DDA.

I doubt if my grandson would have anything but a Pit Bull. Some towns in this state have also banned them or placed restrictions on them like "always on a leash, six foot high fences, etc.

The two that my grandson has had, I would put a newborn baby in the same room with. Both of them, just like Teddy were afraid of thunder. His first one with the three legs, (auto accident) went on every job with him. Little Spike would find a nice shady place for her to stay, gave her water, food, and then went to work. She always kept an eye on my grandson when she wasn't sleeping. He works construction. So many of the workers would go right up to her and pat her, play with her, etc. Never barked, growled, or misbehaved in any manner.

When his girlfriend moved in with him, Sheila immediately attached herself to the girlfriend. My grandson's nose was bent out of shape for a while. All of a sudden his best friend had found a new best friend. It surprised my son and grandson the way Teddy behaved just before she died. Teddy knew. He was going to lose a playmate. He too needed to say his goodbye.

It is so hard to put an animal down. I have even seen a race horse who leg was bent backwards put down. My 4-H kids watched and started to cry. That is unusual for farm kids to get that upset. They are taught to take something like that in stride.

Dog fighting and cock fighting are mostly a southern thing in this country. You will find some up north, but not much.

We had a professional football player that went to prison for maintaining a dog fighting facility. I don't understand that kind of cruelty to animals. When he was raided, the authorities took all the dogs and were able to find places for them to retrain them. They are now all living in homes with children. They are not vicious dogs unless they are trained to be. :angel:
 
Our sweet 18-year-old Elwing died yesterday. I was feeling pretty sick (side effects from a new med), so DH was home when it happened. I'm so thankful for that. He took this photo of us last fall.

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so sorry to hear about your kitty dying, gg. the pic of you two is precious. remember elwing just that way, all sweet and snuggly at your side.
 
The two that my grandson has had, I would put a newborn baby in the same room with.


Addie, I understand that you said this to emphasize how gentle the dogs are, but I would not put a newborn baby in the same room with any animal. Even the gentlest can do something unexpected. When my grandson was born we wanted to get a muzzle for our Maltese but we couldn't find one small enough for his tiny little snout.
 
Addie, I understand that you said this to emphasize how gentle the dogs are, but I would not put a newborn baby in the same room with any animal. Even the gentlest can do something unexpected. When my grandson was born we wanted to get a muzzle for our Maltese but we couldn't find one small enough for his tiny little snout.

Now I would never leave a baby with Teddy and he is a Maltese. He is so hyper compared to my grandson's dogs. Barks at everything, jumps up on your lap so you can pet him, races around like crazy. And he is not a puppy any more.

I have known some dog owners that have trained their large security dogs whereby you could feed them a large piece of raw meat and then be able to put your hand in their mouth and remove it. To me that is going too far.

One time I dated a man that trained Doberman dogs for security. They started out as puppies living with the family. As their training progressed, they still lived with his family, but when he took them out of the house they stayed on a leash all the time. One time we went out dancing and he had the dog with him. He couldn't leave him in the car. When we got up to dance, one arm around me and the other holding the leash. One dance was enough. We both decided to wait another day when he didn't have the dog with him. :angel:
 
One time I dated a man that trained Doberman dogs for security. They started out as puppies living with the family. As their training progressed, they still lived with his family, but when he took them out of the house they stayed on a leash all the time. One time we went out dancing and he had the dog with him. He couldn't leave him in the car. When we got up to dance, one arm around me and the other holding the leash. One dance was enough. We both decided to wait another day when he didn't have the dog with him. :angel:
:LOL::LOL::LOL: To paraphrase the late ex-Princess of Wales "There were three of you in that relationship"!
 
A young woman in our area put her newborn in his carrier and set it on the floor while she went to the bathroom. She had 2 dogs, a Pit Bull and a Husky. The Husky mauled and killed the child. Strangely, she fought to have the dog returned to her. She said she lost her child, don't take her dog away, too. The dog was eventually euthenized by the authorities.
 
I spoke with a midwife in Denmark. She worked out in the country and attended many home births. She said there is a way to keep dogs from becoming jealous of the new addition to the family.

You let the dog lick the babies feet, while the baby is still covered in goo from being born. That dog will protect that baby as if it were its own.
 
My niece had a dog that always slept beside her bed. When she got married, they lived in her parent's house, but the dog would not let her new husband get into bed with her. They had to put the dog in the basement before they went to bed. After they had a baby, the crib was in their bedroom, and from then on, the dog slept beside the crib.
 
I spoke with a midwife in Denmark. She worked out in the country and attended many home births. She said there is a way to keep dogs from becoming jealous of the new addition to the family.

You let the dog lick the babies feet, while the baby is still covered in goo from being born. That dog will protect that baby as if it were its own.

That makes sense. Even domesticated farm animals if left to their own devices, will eat the afterbirth. And they lick the newborn all over. :angel:
 
We got our beloved Joie from friends who had a baby. Joie kept trying to get to the baby and ripped my friend's stitches in the process. They kept him in his crate (which they basically did anyway but that is another story) and decided that there wasn't room in their lives anymore for the dog.

I am glad for this, because we had 8 wonderful years with that little ball of fluff and my friend knew he had gone to a good home.

But seriously, I wouldn't have trusted him with babies. He was okay with children though. He was a bichon malt-poo.
 
Grandma had an old farm dog, he had been found sleeping around the smudge pots in the fields, hence the name Smudge. When my sister was born, that dog would not let anyone but Mom and Grandma near the baby. All her baby pictures had Smudge in them, too. When Dad got home from Korea, Smudge wouldn't let him near the baby for the first couple days, even though Dad was one of Smudge's best friends.
 
(((Hugs GG))). I'm sorry to hear the sad news about Elwing. Was Elwing ill?

TL, I hadn't really thought about this for a while, but Elwing probably did have hyperthyroid disease. We took her to the vet last summer, and he said judging from her age, weight loss and heart rate, she probably had it. We decided not to have her tested and treated because she wasn't suffering and we didn't want to subject her to blood tests and pills at her age. With my own medical problems and costs, we couldn't justify the cost of the iodine treatment you got for Shreddy.

So we gave her the best life we could. We put a heaing pad under a blanket in a big basket on the floor so she had a warm place to sleep. We snuggled a lot and sat on the porch in the sun and she was very talkative :) DH is especially chatty with the pets in the morning and when he gets home from work. It cracks me up to listen to them :LOL:

Thanks again for everyone's good thoughts. We have a lot of good memories.
 
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