I certainly believe they do. 4 years ago I lost my much loved galgo Polar to lymphoma. Galgo Bracken became very clingy, as did little Podenca Bebe. 3 months after losing Polar we lost Bracken to a tumour in his lungs. Bebe couldn’t cope with the loss of yet another housemate and just gave up on life. She would not eat, drink, get off her bed – she was just wasting away, no matter how much we cuddled her, so we had to make the kindest decision to send her over the bridge to join the others.
Do dogs grieve?
Category: Advice
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Do dogs grieve the loss of another dog?
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Looking after a Senior Dog
It’s a sad fact of life that a lot of senior dogs are dumped in shelters and perreras when their owners either can’t afford the vet fees for medical care, or in the case of hunters because the dogs have served their purpose and they no longer want them!
This article explains how to care for an older dog, although I’m sure my readers are already well experienced in caring for their senior dog.
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Pet Blood Bank – could your dog save a life?
This is a weblink to the Pet Blood Bank website which explains what is needed if you have a confident dog which could be a blood donor and save another dog’s life. -
Canicross – an activity with your active podenco
Unlike galgos, the majority of Podencos are very active and intelligent dogs who require plenty of exercise and stimulation. I liken them to Border Collies. Besides agility, Canicross is a growing activity proving popular with pods adopters – mind you, you have to be fit too!! Here are a couple of videos about Canicross. -
Justice for Podenco Mr Bones – a call for change
From Bev Farmer‘This is a long but important post and it would be greatly appreciated if you can share it. Paws on Hearts/Aguiproan Animal Rescue And Rehoming
As a rescuer, this is one of our greatest fears. Many rescues, including Paws on Hearts Animal Rescue and Rehoming, work tirelessly to ensure their dogs are safe, even after rehoming. A common practice is to dual-register microchips in both the adopter’s name and the rescue’s name. In theory, this system ensures that both parties must be consulted before a rescue dog is euthanised.
But tragically, this safeguard failed Mr. Bones. He is not the first rescue dog to be euthanised without a rescue’s knowledge or consent — and heartbreakingly, he won’t be the last unless change is made.
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Advice for dogs frightened of fireworks
I HATE FIREWORKS!!
In the UK there is an ancient ‘tradition’ of fireworks on 5th November, from when Guy Fawkes planned to blow up the parliament building in London. As the decades have gone by, there are more nights of fireworks in the 5th November falls in the week. So this year, 2024, we have fireworks on 31st October, Halloween. Then fireworks the following Saturday and Sunday, as well at 5.11.
Our dogs are terrified of fireworks. In fact, most of our dogs in over 70 years of dog ownership have been terrified of fireworks. Tablets from the vet, sprays around the home, none of them work effectively, the dogs’ hearing is too sensitive. I’ve seen a calming collar in the local Pets at Home store which I’m going to try this year, but I’m not holding my breath!
Here is some advice from the Dogs Trust if your dog is terrified of fireworks.
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Investigation into the high rise of vet fees in UK and USA
Pet owners in both the UK and US have felt the impact of the high rise in vet charges over the past several years and it’s not the vets who are benefiting from the increase. Having said that, are they benefiting from selling out their practices to speculative companies who have nothing to do with animals and thereby benefiting in that respect? Basically, to me, it all boils down to human greed, and pet owners and animals are suffering as a consequence.
Below are links to 2 articles which are looking at the problem.
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CACWGAS – calling keen campers in the UK – camping with your galgos and podencos
We have caravanned for decades but not been able to take our Spanish hounds with us as we always had too many – usually 4 or 5. Now reluctantly back in the UK from France and down to 2 hounds, last year we took our podencos caravanning with us. Wondering how to contain them on a huge campsite, I found a wonderful facebook group which members gave me lots of suggestions and help.The group has a website which is full of information plus during the year Dave Landey, the admin, organises 4 big meets where all sighthound passionatas can join together and share companionship and fun with their dogs.
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Protectora Scooby – summer newsletter – CMA UK look at extortionate vet costs
From Fermin‘We participated in an on-line meeting of the UK All All-party Parliamentary Dog Advisory Welfare Group about foreign dog
adoptions a few years ago. For us one of the vets hit the nail on the head in the discussion. She rightly said adopters adopt with the best intention. They want a pet dog, not a project. And this makes total sense. It is a challenge in a refuge environment to discern completely accurately how shelter behaviour translates into a home but that is our aim: To present families with adoptable companions, rewarding for them and the dog, with appropriate rescue back-up.Talking to our network, it seems that costs have a role to play. We don’t actually fully cover our costs when asking for an adoption fee to support our work. If we reflected the actual expense, we would home very few dogs and cats. We try to keep the costs to a minimum.