MaamJay
Posts: 2101
Joined: 9/2/2005 Status: offline
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quote hereyesruponyou Can't say i have been in the least disappointed. He is perfect (in personality, not necessarily to breed standard). He is now a 1 yr old Westie with personality plus who has impressed his vet and his trainer with his compassion and smarts. He is being trained as a therapy dog and is just the most relaxed, intelligent and adorable little guy ever! Well of course, you got the best dog breed! OK, to qualify that remark, they got number 1 for the best small dog breed in Australia on a large survey. Interestingly, Maltese terriers - also small, white, fluffy terriers - scored worst! The difference is in the personality ... Westies are medium-sized personalities that happen to have been born into compact bodies. They are not snappy-yappy, they are happy, bouncy, friendly and yes, very compassionate. I'm on My 3rd and 4th Westies and it would be a tough decision to pick another breed now (though Master has a fascination with boxers and both of U/us think that Bichon frises are cute!). Medically, the main risk of the breed is a skin allergy which one of O/our current ones has, means he is on a maintenance dose of prednisolone which may ultimately shorten his life span a bit (but that's preferable to him being driven crazy with itching so he pulls out all his hair and makes himself bleed!). I was the one with the pets ... but Master fortunately loves animals (somehow not sure He'd have gotten to BE Master if He didn't) ... and they are now definitely HIS pets! The dogs adore Him, He has all the girls roll over and spread their legs for Him (Magic the westie girl AND MY CAT!) ... Magic spent last week "sad-sacking" because He was away. At least she deigned to eat the food I served ... He has voluntarily taken over all feeding AND cleaning up duties for the 3 pets. Even though He has severe allergy to fish, He feeds the cat and has even held a paper for her to throw up her fishy breakfast into! (I couldn't do that!). W/we had a terrible moment at the vet's a week ago when O/our nearly 19-y.o. cat had urinary problems ... the vet made a sweeping assumption based on her age and recommended putting her down! W/we said no, she's normally fine ... had a lot of expensive blood tests done and put her on antibiotics to deal with a UTI if that's what she had. This week, back to get the results ... she's been fine in between times ... and he had to eat humble pie! No signs of hyperthyroidism (common in elderly cats), no signs of cancer ... there was evidence of inflammation from infection ... and her kidneys are working at about 90% capacity! He was gobsmacked! So I'd say her 19th bday in 3 months is definitely on the cards and I'm hoping for her 20th too! When I say the westies are compassionate, both of O/our dogs are very respectful of Swipe the cat (even though she doesn't really live up to her name any more). If she's on a chair, she keeps it ... which make for some interesting mid-air U turns! When it's bedtime, O/our boy westie, Teddy Bear, waits to see which bed the cat wants for the night ... his dog bed or her cat cushion. Whichever she chooses ... he gets on the other! W/we have an understanding that any further animals come in by mutual agreement ... that stops either of U/us rashly adopting another (though W/we were both tempted by a pet store border collie pup who was so depressed when all his siblings got sold)! I don't get the impression pet stores here are as bad as those elsewhere and referred to in previous posts ... I've known lots of people buy from the pet stores and not have problems. They charge almost as much as breeders to dissuade the impulse buyer who may then fail to take responsibility. I have rescued dogs in the past from shelters with varying degrees of success ... Charlie Brown was an older mixed breed who was absolutely adorable and just so proud the first time I took him for a walk on his collar and leash, Jessie the Maltese cross had all the bad traits of a Maltese and got returned after 3 weeks as he was vicious to U/us all! The sub I am speaking to has 1 poodle and another pup on the way ... so it's as well W/we've half an acre as the family could potentially grow! My mother was initially rather shocked that I was leaving My marriage and heading off with Master who is 15 years younger than Me (she doesn't know about the D/s but knew that He lived with us and He had been very kind and helpful to her many times over the 2.5 years). However the fact that He loves the animals and they clearly love Him, and her little sheltie Mandy (a notorious man-hater due to a former life) would roll over and spread her legs for Him (yep, another girl!), clinched it for her ... He MUST be a good guy! She also noted that Mandy hated My ex-hubby (and it was mutual!) ... so she figures I've definitely traded up! I reckon so too! Does anyone else believe in animal intuition when it comes to the nature of people? Maam Jay aka violet[A]
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Life is a song ... and I love singing it! (By me!)
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