Having lunch in restaurant today and a couple arrived with what looked like a small bulldog in a pushchair. Women spent most of her time talking to the dog in baby language. It really was cringe making and I actually felt sorry for the dog.
Dogs as child substitutes seems to be an increasingly modern phenomenon. Bit sad really. I’m not a dog lover but the things really deserve some dignity. That women needs psychiatric help.
|
Yes but then there may be a backstory we don't know - maybe she lost a child at birth and the dog has been "Prescribed" to pull her out of a deep state of depression.
Or maybe she's just barking :-)
|
Cheaper than kids, easier to look after as well.
People are having fewer and fewer children, I'd expect to see this sort of thing more often.
|
“I 'd expect to see this sort of thing more often.”
Yes I guess mental illness is a growing problem. It’s a sort of cruelty as far as the animals are concerned though.
|
|
I hope it peed on your loafers.
|
>>
>> “I 'd expect to see this sort of thing more often.”
>>
>> Yes I guess mental illness is a growing problem. It’s a sort of cruelty as
>> far as the animals are concerned though.
>>
With all the dog prams, you could add in therapy for the owners, perhaps a boost for the economy for years to come. No11 will be pleased to hear of such ideas.
|
>Having lunch in restaurant today and a couple arrived with what looked like a small bulldog in a pushchair.
Pushchair?
I know someone who carries their dogs around in a BMW 540!
|
|
We often see a woman with a dog in a pushchair, she has 2 other dogs on leads. I presumed the dog was unable to walk so she took it out anyway. I would have chatted to her, but we're in the car when we see her.
|
We got a small buggy type pushchair for Pooch for her last few months - when she was deaf and blind. It meant that we could take her out for a walk then let her rest in the pushchair when she got tired. It meant that she could go out to different places without us having to worry about carrying her half way through a hike.
The one we got cost about £40. They can cost several hundreds.
|
I see dogs being carried, in pushchairs and with coats. I inherited a dog that had never been walked, all it ever wanted to do was run. After a few days, I had to walk it on a lead to harden its pads! One day, taking it out, I stopped to chat to a neighbour. The dog was trembling in anticipation of going for a run, neighbour thought it needed a coat because it was trembling with cold!
I hate hearing dogs being called puppies, they're only pups for a short time!
|
>>Running...
On a walk, off lead, Pooch would get ahead, but always in sight and wait for us humans to catch up, unless it was the local woods where she would head back to the path that took her home on her own.
She was spooked at the country park by larger dogs a few times and could she run. Being the size of a Shih Tzu, it always amazed me how she could outpace dogs that were much larger and should have been faster.
When running on her own accord she was a joy to see - she would bound over obstacles as if they weren't there. If the surface was flat she was like a rocket, fur and floppy ears flowing back adding to the impression of speed.
She was loved but she wasn't always a lady, especially when she needed washing - her chosen growl was akin to swearing and sounded a bit like Muttley from the Wacky Races, but more intense. youtu.be/datMjH31b14?t=20
|
My old girl, now over 13 years, is firmly in the twlight of her years, and I doubt she will make 14. I strongly suspect Lymphoma, a condition that a younger dog could have a few years of life added with chemo and other unpleasant invasive procedures. At 13 do you? no you dont, its all about maintaining some comfort and stability to quality of life. And knowing when to push the dignitas button. *
I draw the line at a pushchair tho
* Here, pet ownership far outweighs and is far more civilised than ownership of an old relative
Last edited by: Zero on Mon 5 Jan 26 at 10:19
|
We have looked after dogs all our lives but the time comes when the dog needs a decision to be made.
Advice from the Vet and went ahead with "the big injection" - not necessarily at that moment but we would come back the next day. The best route to save any more suffering.
I can remember all of the final journeys and appointments right back to the first time when I was 18. He was only 6 and had kidney failure.
Just wish that we had the ability to end our lives when we wanted to in the UK.
Fortunately we have "Dignitas Money" when it is needed.
|
|
There were a couple at CAMC Southport over Christmas in buggies or bike trailers. Assumed a question of canine infirmity but perhaps not....
|
|
Dog in a bike trailer? Different kettle of fish. Plenty of good practical reasons why you might do that, and quite a few do.
|
>> Just wish that we had the ability to end our lives when we wanted to
>> in the UK.
>> Fortunately we have "Dignitas Money" when it is needed.
>>
It's not difficult. Especially with professor google...just search three words..'easiest painless suicide'....and scroll down past samaritans, etc. Much cheaper. However, I didn't see any suggestion of cat-less classic car plus hosepipe and duct tape - a common alternative in the pre-natural gas oven days. Switzerland is far too expensive.
Afterthought, I wonder if the mods will take umbrage from this post?
|
>>I wonder if the mods will take umbrage from this post?
I'm dead against it, even though I was a bit of a mod back in the day.
|
I spent many hours in the autumn prepping the site for the Online Safety Act. One of the no-no's is encouraging self harm etc so I did consider whether to let the post stand.
In the end I thought we're all grown up here, and although no-one here really needs a lesson in how to use Google, I don't believe your intent was to "encourage" - however any similar conversation on the topic will likely be euthanised, just to be on the safe side!!
Last edited by: smokie on Mon 5 Jan 26 at 12:48
|
>Afterthought, I wonder if the mods will take umbrage from this post?
I think it's a subject the mods might not want to see mentioned considering it was probably the main justification for the OSA.
|
Just one of the main justifications - it's all around protection of people on the internet, particularly those more vulnerable. I may as well take this opportunity to say something about it for awareness (rather than discussion!)
We have to be careful to not allow content relating to (from www.gov.uk/government/publications/online-safety-act-explainer/online-safety-act-explainer )
- child sexual abuse
- controlling or coercive behaviour
- extreme sexual violence
- extreme pornography
- fraud
- racially or religiously aggravated public order offences
- inciting violence
- illegal immigration and people smuggling
- promoting or facilitating suicide
- intimate image abuse
- selling illegal drugs or weapons
- sexual exploitation
- terrorism
The criminal offences introduced by the Act came into effect on 31 January 2024. These offences include:
- encouraging or assisting serious self-harm
- cyberflashing
- sending false information intended to cause non-trivial harm
- threatening communications
- intimate image abuse
- epilepsy trolling
It does apply to "hobby" forums such as ours hence the need for the in-depth review and vigilance, by the moderators and by yourselves, in using the Report button of you see something which might fall foul of the law. We all have responsibilities!
Thank you for listening (if you did!!) :-)
Last edited by: smokie on Mon 5 Jan 26 at 13:27
|
>> Thank you for listening (if you did!!) :-)
Is that a threat?
|
Thanks Smokie!!!
I didn't even know epilepsy trolling was a thing - there are some sick, twisted people about!!!!
|
>> >Afterthought, I wonder if the mods will take umbrage from this post?
>>
>> I think it's a subject the mods might not want to see mentioned considering it was probably the main justification for the OSA. >>
I suggest that the overall quantity of 'encouragement' that this site might achieve is negligible in the grand scheme of things. The topic is under plenty of intermittent discussion in other places anyway.
|
That may be so and I tend to agree but like it or not the law applies here so if people really want to discuss illegal stuff they can go to those places to do so, as far as I'm concerned.
It won't be at HJ as they closed down primarily due to not wanting to go through the hoops and have the responsibility and burden of enacting the new laws, AIUI.
We're generally OK with most topics which come up, as we are with some of the dark humour you may have noticed, but as a volunteer mod allowing posts which flout the law is a no-no for me. I value my freedom too much :-)
|
>> We're generally OK with most topics which come up, as we are with some of the dark humour you may have noticed, but as a volunteer mod allowing posts which flout the law is a no-no for me. I value my freedom too much :-) >>
As our government has accepted the role of Thought Police I think it's unfortunate that volunteer mods have to become worried accomplices. In discussing almost any topic there may be a line beyond which things have clearly gone too far - the problem is agreeing where that is. Unfortunately because of that uncertainty it is easy to get too cautious: in motoring terms, if we seriously worried about the risks of driving, we might decide to leave the car in the garage.
|
Yes yes yes.
I did say earlier, and I did mean it, " I may as well take this opportunity to say something about it for awareness (rather than discussion!)"
Open another thread if you want to discuss please.
|
>> I did say earlier, and I did mean it, " I may as well take
>> this opportunity to say something about it for awareness (rather than discussion!)"
>>
Well, I for one found your mod 'something' interesting - thanks. Just to reassure - absolutely no encouragement intended. I had to google 'OSA' - in my line it was 'obstructive sleep apnoea' (rarely fatal).
|
>I suggest that the overall quantity of 'encouragement' that this site might achieve is negligible..
And I would suggest that flirting with the deliberately ambiguous language of the OSA when it serves no purpose is not particularly sensible. Especially when it concerns one of the more emotive subjects used to justify the act. Think of the children.
|
>>"The big injection"
I feel that we were let down by our vet with regards Pooch's last few weeks and especially her last few days.
It's an old country practice that has a good reputation.
Took Pooch several times and she saw different vets all of whom said she's fine, just old age and a bit of arthritis and heart weakness.
Tablets given, but she put on weight (water retention) and whilst not incontinent, couldn't find her way out to the garden - a problem easily solved with lots of puppy pads.
She also found difficulty with stairs (falling down and tripping up).
A child's play pen helped a lot.
She still had a quality of life up until the last 2 days though it meant a lot of work for us cleaning up and looking out for her, but we didn't mind - she still wanted cuddles and time in the garden.
The vet said she was still ok even though she struggled to move and slept most of the time.
Then the final night a Saturday / Sunday - Pooch was clearly distressed. We called the vet's emergency line and were told that they had stopped their 24/7 service and referred us to a vet service where the nearest office was 20 miles away and no appointments until Sunday morning.
Obviously we phoned around numerous vets but they all seemed to have switched to this service.
The saviour was Vets for Pets at Pets at Home - we called them and left a message and they called us back way before opening time on Sunday and made us an appointment for opening time.
Pooch settled down in one of her favourite places with Mrs Z by her side and went to sleep. About half an hour later, she passed away.
We called Vets for Pets to cancel the appointment. They said they could take care of any cremation etc. We took Pooch to them and there service was excellent re arranging the cremation with no waiting required in the waiting room.
|
Dont think your vet let you down. There is very little you can do for a dog in its last weeks of old age, all a vet can do is ensure the dog is pain free, and advise you when its not so you can decide. Of course there are loads of owners who refuse to accept that, and put a dog through lots of distress trying to keep it alive for selfish reasons. (of course it does not apply to you Zipster, you were clearly practical about it).
Most smaller vets now outsource out of hours emergencyt care to the big chains. My vet(s) (a co-operative of 7) does the same, but in a great way. Vets Now have equiped their largest surgery with all the latest kit (Inc a CT scanner - my youngster has needed it twice) and Vets Now take over at night and weekends (at inflated cost)
In short I have faster care to better facilities with my dogs than I do with the NHS.
|
>> * Here, pet ownership far outweighs and is far more civilised than ownership of an old relative > >
We are cat people, and we adopt the same policy. If the vet can keep the animal in good health at reasonable expense we are happy with that. Our last cat, a good-natured creature we had raised from a terrified rescue kitten, departed at 18, clearly not happy and incurable.
Last edited by: Andrew-T on Mon 5 Jan 26 at 12:59
|
|
You have to sympathise with vets. It must be very hard having to euthanise dearly loved pets. It is the kindest thing to do but doing it on a regular basis takes a toll on the vets mental health.
|
Dogs in pushchairs - smokie
