Tag: dog sling

Adelaide and Christmas Shopping

by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs
I liked this.
I liked this.

I said that the Thunder Shirt seemed not to be working for Chienne and whilst this does appear to be the case, I am not prepared to give up just yet.  I will try and work with her for a little while longer and see if we  can achieve some results. Who knows, it may very well work when there is a thunderstorm and perhaps she is just one of these dogs who really does not like being in the car. With her sensitive hearing perhaps she hears something when the engine is running that we don’t and whatever that is upsets her. I am also beginning to  worry about The Man. Twice now, I have taken to the groom and he has curled up on the front seat on the way there. The return journey, after I pick him up, has been very different these last two visits. He has been really stressed and agitated, crying and whining and  I have had to clip him down in the car  for safety reasons. He has been all over me as soon as I walk into the groom. We have been taking him to Naomi for years and this is only a recent occurrence and I wonder if this could be associated with separation. The other reason is that we know his back legs are not so good and perhaps the standing and the way he has to be moved when being bathed and clipped may be hurting his back end. He was not too bad when I took them out walking in the early evening, although he did go into the sling for a little while.

He’s not daft, you know, and last night he discovered an unexpected benefit of the sling. Normally he goes in and keeps his head out so he can see the world

This is similar to what I have
This is similar to what I have

about him. Now, as you know I have complained about the continual wind these last few weeks, so last night he went into the sling and after a few minutes he pulled his head in and curled up and had a quick nap free from any wind. Chi went a bit gaga for a few minutes because he had vanished. I lifted him for a bit to let her know he was still with us  :o)  I’m still thinking about wheels if he gets any worse but I very much hope that’s a long way off. Oh, I should have mentioned that there actually is an advantage to the wind – keeps the flies away  :o)

I will be driving down to Adelaide in ten days and already I am doing the  things the Old Fellow in the Red Suit does – Making a list and checking it twice  – and making sure the list goes into my Filofax. Herself was surprised since she thought  we had agreed to change the date of the meetings. We have,  but since the meeting dates and venues are set at the AGM in February, the time, date and venue of this meeting will go ahead – unless, of course, they cancel it. It will then be the task of the AGM to set the times, dates and venues for 2014.  Either way, I will still drive down to Adelaide , do some Christmas Shopping in Rundle Mall  and stay overnight.  One thing you can be sure of is that one of the dates and venues will not be here.

Rundle Mall, Adelaide
Rundle Mall, Adelaide

Traveling to “The Badlands”  (that’s any place outside of the city limits) scares them. As I keep saying, the drawbacks in living in a One City State.

Fires and a Grim Outlook

by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

Herself’s brother telephoned from Scotland to ensure that we were ok and the fires firesnswwere not affecting us and she  explained to him that we  are more than one thousand kilometres from the fire danger.  But it was very kind of him to call and be concerned. My pain still continues but I have put it down to paying off Karma. I think me and the Little Man are a matched pair at the moment. Fires continue to  burn across NSW with the number of homes destroyed now reaching nearly 300. The weather forecast is not helping – hot and strong winds tomorrow and Monday. Many people have responded with incredulity at the comments by the Greens that it’s  all the government’s fault.  They lost a lot of ground – and seats –  at the election and only barely held on to two seats mainly because they were prone to doing silly things and making silly inappropriate statements. Looks like they have not learned anything.

I’m not really sure what constitutes the ” lowest of the Low” but I  believe the looters that have broken into houses in the fire areas of the Blue Mountains come pretty close. Didn’t we used to shoot looters – and can we still do that?? The NSW Government has declared a State of Emergency and things are looking pretty grim with hot conditions and winds of up to 70kph. The biggest concern is to prevent two major fires joining up and creating a 200 klm  mega-fire front.

fushesTook the dogs out for a walk last night and got to use the Dog Sling for a little while. The Man likes walking so when he feels he has enough rest he wants out and back down again. Couple of times he has almost jumped out of my arms once he gets another wind. He’s sleeping a lot, which is good: he is eating a little, cooked chicken and rice; and he’s better off in food than I am  :o) I asked for something that would help put on a bit of weight and was told to feed him cooked chicken and rice, so that’s what I’m doing. Apart from the medication he gets a daily dose of Fish Oil.

Vision, Wheelchairs and Dog Slings

by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

visionMy vision is generally excellent, but I need glasses to read and I have had reading glasses for most of my life. I do not wear or use glasses other than reading or, as now, working on a computer. I recently changed my optician and was tested at the start of the year. Since then hardly a week went by and I was in for repairs to the frame. Sometimes I was holding the lens in place with bits of wire. Finally it was decided to activate my insurance and  provide new frames. I had them for about a week and they broke. No, I do not use them for digging ditches – I  generally take care of my glasses because they are essential to me. After now repairing them twice it was decided that  I should have a completely new frame – different from the one I currently have. I will go back in a week and collect the new glasses and the new frames and see what happens – however, I have already decided that I will go back to my previous optician – never had any problems with frames or lenses.

This is Oscar from New York
This is Oscar from New York

My little man is now getting on for 12 years of age  (we think he may be older) and he is starting to show some weakness in his back legs. He’s not as steady as he was and we have noticed his back legs slipping away from him  at times. I have already ordered a dog sling – like a  baby sling , but for dogs – so that when we go walking and he gets tired, I can lift him up and put him in the sling and  carry on walking and he can still see the world. I will do this for a little while then I  think I will look for a dog wheelchair. I think the wheelchair is a good option because his front legs are still strong. However the wheelchair is the final option. Oscar is different, he cannot use his back legs at all and I would only use the wheelchair for the Little Man when we go out walks, not for all the time use. We have also decided to take the Little Man to the Vet and get an examination and a talk. At the moment he is driving everyone round the twist with his constant barking. At just after 3am this morning he was standing facing a blank wall and just barking. John has suggested that it could well be that his back is causing him problems and this is possible, but, although as I said we have seen that he is not quite as steady as he was, he has no trouble  running around the place in bursts of high activity. I will  see what the vet has to say.