The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Pets & Working Animals => Dogs => Topic started by: luckylady on September 20, 2012, 10:08:03 am
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OH and I just can't make a final decision on this one so input would be appreciated. Until May this year we had two golden retrievers when Martha the elder of the two was PTS aged 15. Since then Toby (now 12 and a half) has not coped at all well as we got him as a pup and he has known no other life than being with Martha. Despite all our efforts he remains very down, shows no enthusiasm for his food and cannot bear to be left alone even when we just pop into another room. We take him outside with us when we work, he goes on walks and we play ball etc with him and he gets plenty of cuddles. The only thing we cannot do for him is be another dog which leads us to our dilemma. Do we get him a canine companion? We have discussed rehoming a rescue dog of maturing age for two reasons a) the rescue centres find it difficult to rehome older dogs and b) a puppy would be too boisterous for Toby as he has a degree of spinal arthritis. Knowing that we probably won't have Toby for a great deal longer, do we adopt another and would it be fair to the adoptee?
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Oh yes!! :dog: :dog: :thumbsup: :dog: :dog: :thumbsup:
You would have to let your dog choose his new friend as well as you, but I'm sure you could find a nice rescue dog to fit the bill. [size=78%]http://www.oldies.org.uk/ (http://www.oldies.org.uk/)[/size] specialises in older dogs.
Do you have an idea what breed you would look for?
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Brilliant website Shep. Went straight to the 'overlooked oldies'. I want to adopt them all poor things. Don't mind what breed, just something medium to large and cat/sheep friendly. Thinking it may be a tall order but will look at website in depth this evening. Thank you. :)
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That broke my heart :'(
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Yes, I think another overlooked oldie would be the answer too, but as Shep has suggested you would need your current dog to help choose to make sure he is comfortable with the new companion.
Good luck and let us know how you get on.
Sally
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Definitely agree with getting him a companion, but it must be one he can cope with and get on with. Two boys together or two girls together can sometimes cause problems if they haven't been brought up together, but if one of them is neutered I'd opt for one of each, so I would be suggesting a girlfriend for him.
Good luck finding the right one, and well done for offering your and his love and companionship to a re-home.
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Yes, yes, yes!!!! An old dog will settle into your life as well as a young one. I have a few "old men" who came to me to be found good homes for, nobody wanted them so they stayed. They are as happy(I hope) as any dog.
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I've been in a similar situation and yes, got another, older rescue. In my case, I wanted the newcomer to be a playmate for my younger dog, who was running the old boy ragged with her youthful energy. But I didn't want the old fella's position to be usurped, so it had to be a dog that would accept a doddery deaf old buffer as head dog!
The only word of caution I would give is to make sure you take your own preferences fully into account. I stupidly looked more at how the dog would relate to the old dog and young bitch so that the dynamics of those relationships would work and did not do a thorough enough job on assessing the newcomer in terms of how he would relate to us and our life.
But if you make sure your new dog fits in with you as well as with Toby, I can't see a downside here. Except, of course, that you could well be in the same boat again in a few years when Toby's time is up. If continuing dog ownership is not a problem for you, then why aye, go ahead :thumbsup:
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It's a great idea to get another companion, of a mature nature who gets on well with your old lad ( but not too oldor you could be in the same position again in a couple of years) .
I have tried to keep same species in groups for companionship when the species is known to live in social groups. Since we work some days, it means they have each other for company.
Go for it, it'll help him get over his grief with another companion to get on with :sunshine:
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I'll never have dogs or cats one at a time any more - they seem to enjoy company.
I think adopting an older dog is a great plan - both for the oldie and your current fella. You will need to take into account his thoughts on the matter. He might find it easier to give house room to a castrated dog or a bitch, but that still depends on everyone's personalities.
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Having seen Toby with the building surveyor's goldie when visiting yesterday I don't think we will have a problem with introductions and acceptance (and he was an entire male - the dog not the surveyor :o , although I'm sure he will have been entire too! ;D ;D )
Have been on oldies website and, oh boy, where do I begin. Amber and Hollie?, Patch and Jess? Two girlfriends for Toby? Seriously, perhaps not as I think it would be too much for him. Definitely a girl though and we don't mind how old. We are happy to repeat the process once we no longer have Tobs and giving a forever home to an 'overlooked oldie' is reward enough for us. We have visited 'heartbreak hill' quite alot lately with some old animals we have taken on for retirement (mostly equine) so we know we can cope.
So, our minds are made up. Huge thanks for giving us the nudge in that direction. :thumbsup:
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Will watch this space for piccies of your new family member :excited:
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Will give him a new lease of life, great site.
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Have just spoken to Vanessa at the 'Oldies' website and filled in the adoption form. Hoping to adopt 'Darling Amber Liverspot' a 9 year old 'overlooked oldie' with some medical issues the same as Toby's i.e. thyroid and arthritis. Keep your fingers crossed for us. :fc:
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:fc: :excited:
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You won't regret it, I promise :thumbsup:
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She looks absolutely lovely, hope it all works out :fc:
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I'm so pleased for you all! Hope it works out ok - and well done for choosing a rescue dog :bouquet:
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:fc: :excited:
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Darling Amber Liverspot looks lovely. I hope it works out for all of you
Sally
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I'm finding it hard to contain my :excited: :excited: :excited: :excited: . I so hope they think we are suitable enough for her.
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Hope it all goes well , I help the oldies club transport dogs from time to time :thumbsup:
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Hope it all goes well , I help the oldies club transport dogs from time to time :thumbsup:
:trophy: :trophy:
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I'm sure you will all be happier with another dog. All animals much prefer to have company of their own kind and Toby will have missed that as much as missing the specific dog who died. (sorry can't remember her name). Hope it all works out well. :thumbsup:
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We have our home check and interview this afternoon for the adoption. :fc: :fc: :fc:
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Luckylady, I am sure everything will be ok for you :fc:
Sally
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:fc: Do let us know how you get on.
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:relief: Think the home check went ok. She commented 'what dog wouldn't be happy here?' I'll take that as positive ;) although she has to write up her findings and someone should be in touch by the end of the week :fc: . Wasn't expecting she would need to check upstairs though - it was a tip - hoping that doesn't go in her report! :roflanim:
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Checking upstairs is a bit excessive. She was probably checking that you have a four poster for the dog though :roflanim:
I am sure you will have positive news at the end of the week
Sally
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I'm sure you will pass with flying colours :thumbsup: . Not sure why they went upstairs though! You'll get more brownie points for not being too house proud than if you had a "show house" - much more dog friendly.
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I'm sure you will pass with flying colours :thumbsup: . Not sure why they went upstairs though! You'll get more brownie points for not being too house proud than if you had a "show house" - much more dog friendly.
Plenty brownie points then Shep. Never wanted to live in a show house much to my MIL's disgust. She once made a comment years ago 'I like cleaning your floor, I can see where I've been'. More fool her, although I think it was more a dig than fact as I'm not that much of a slob, I just have better things to do sometimes (most times ;) ). And IMO too much bleach is bad for the environment and children's immune systems.
Checking upstairs is a bit excessive. She was probably checking that you have a four poster for the dog though :roflanim:
I am sure you will have positive news at the end of the week
Sally
No Sally, the four poster is for the cats!!! :roflanim:
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We passed with flying colours. :excited: :excited: Now just need to go meet her in her foster home and if she likes us we bring her home. :excited: :excited: :excited: :excited: :excited: :excited: :excited: :excited: :excited: :excited: :excited:
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Great news!! Are you allowed to take our other dog to meet her too?
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fantastic news !!!!! :thumbsup:
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Fab :excited: :thumbsup: :excited: :thumbsup: :excited:
Lucky ex-puppy! :innocent:
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Excellent :)
Helen
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Just been looking at the Website, I can't believe that they call an 8 year old dog old, it's sad to think that people write them of as old at that age. Our oldest terrier is 9 years and the next one is 7 years old and would never think of them as beiong old. Having said that I noticed 'Senior' dog food the other day for dogs over 7 years.
Strayed of the subject a bit sorry, congratulations on your new dog , she looks gorgeous, hope she comes home soon.
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Exciting times ahead :excited:.
Will await piccies once she is home :eyelashes:
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Well, Amber came home with us today :thumbsup: . She is understandably a little unsure of her surroundings yet but as I write this she is asleep at my feet in the lounge with Toby snoring his head off next to her. So far so good. Fingers crossed :fc: she settles well over the next few days resulting in a happy healthy much deserved retirement with us.
Shep, thank you so much for posting the link to the 'oldies' website. We wouldn't have found Amber without you. :trophy: :bouquet:
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She is gorgeous, how could anyone resist those big brown eyes :eyelashes:
Regards
Sue
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She is lovely :love: and has well and truly landed on her feet now :thumbsup:
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I'm so pleased for you all. Don't thank me - thank you for saving an oldie. :bouquet:
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Look at that gorgeous face :love:
Well done you for giving her a home :thumbsup:
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Welled up here - so lovely to see an older dog rehomed, and so lovely to know your family is now appropriately complete :bouquet:
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Lucky Amber and lucky you :thumbsup:
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Great news. Hope you all have great fun together
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Amber looks lovely. Well done for rehoming her. It sounds as if she and Toby will get on well :thumbsup:
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Many congratulations :excited: :excited: :excited: Look forward to the news of how she settles in :thumbsup:
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She looks lovely and has certainly found a good home with you. :thumbsup:
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What a happy ending - brushed a tear away - hope all goes well in the future
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Just flippin knew the happy ending was too good to be true. Toby and Amber either adore each other or are not that fussed about each other which is good as it means they both get their own space when they need to and we have had no fallings out whatsoever. Now for the frustrating bit - was sat on the floor on Saturday night cuddling Toby when he yawned right in my face and I noticed a 5p sized red area in the centre of his tongue. Didn't seem to be bothering him but I made an appointment for a trip to the vet for today. Vet thinks it is likely to be squamous cell carcinoma but can't confirm unless biopsied and no point doing that as it can't be excised if it is carcinoma due to the position on his tongue. We just have to monitor and keep our fingers crossed. Now to Amber - settled beautifully and enjoying her walks in the countryside with Toby, or at least she was until last night. On returning home she let out a big yelp and couldn't weightbear on one of her front paws. Blood all over the floor. She has fractured one of her claw plates and has to go in on Thursday to have the claw removed under GA. Absolutely no idea how she did it, one minute bounding along and next yelping and limping. Poor little girl - not a very good welcome to her new home. :(
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Oh, luckylady, you are having a time of it aren't you? :hug: :hug:
Here's hoping Amber sails through her op and recovers quickly, and that Toby's tongue doesn't turn into something horrid. At least they have each other, and you too. :-*
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:hug: :hug: hope all goes well
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Oh gosh, what a hard time you are having. Lets hope that things start to go more smoothly once Amber has had her op.
Sally
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Not a good time at the moment :bouquet:
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Well Amber has settled extremely well and Toby is a happy boy despite his sore tongue (check-up on Tues). Amber's claw sorted (as the photo shows) and they only had to sedate her in the end as she was such a good girl for them.
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Se looks such a lovely dog. They both seem to be quite happy. Well done you :thumbsup:
Sally
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Woo hoo! The lesion on Toby's tongue has shrunk to a degree where the vet thinks it 'probably' isn't squamous cell carcinoma :relief: . Just have to monitor whatever it is. A good day today. :excited:
And here is a photo of Toby showing us all his tongue. ;)
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Great news :thumbsup:
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Oh that's such good news :-) Love the photo of Toby :love:
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He is just gorgeous! ;D
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Great picture and very good news :thumbsup:
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Thanks all. Its good to share the positive news as well as the not so positive. Toby is a handsome chap in the photo isn't he? That was in his younger days when he could still stand on his hind legs to look through the gates at our old place. Love my cuddly polar bear :love: .
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You have a lovely canine family luckylady :love: great news about Toby too :excited:
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Glad both are doing well :thumbsup: Toby looks like a sweetie (and so does Amber)
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Just caught up with this, Amber is gorgeous and lucky her to have found such a great home :love: . I'm really pleased to hear that Toby's tongue might not be as bad as feared, fingers crossed it clears up very soon :fc: .
I'm another one who just can't resist the oldies, I recently lost by beloved cattle dog and spotted a lovely old Staffie x lab bitch of 10 yrs old in the local Dogs Trust, and gave her a home. She is a fab dog, her only faults are that she's rather greedy and also sneaks onto the furniture when you're not looking ;D , but couldn't have wished for a better dog. She was used for breeding in the past and now has to put up with the attentions of a cattle dog puppy, but she's so tolerant and wonderful with him. She has loads of life in her yet :) . However my house is rather full with six dogs in it!! ::)
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Hi Remy, its good to know I'm amongst like-minded folk on here. Sorry to hear that you lost your other dog. Was he/she one of your many we met when we collected Bugsy?
Amber is a little sweetie and has really had a positive influence on Toby's depression so I know we did the right thing for him, us and especially her.
Bugsy, by the way, is brilliant. He calls to us and gets excited when he hears the gate latch to the point of being unable to contain himself. So funny. He's a little gent when worming and stands and lifts his feet for trimming, pony style. You bred a little smasher there, thank you. :thumbsup:
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So glad all is working out well with the dogs :thumbsup: . Yes it was Kaska I lost, the blue dog who barked the most! Just loved her and was gutted when she went :'( . I'm really pleased to hear about Bugsy, it's so rewarding that he's got such a good home - what a lucky lamb he is!