Page 6 of 128 FirstFirst 12345678910111213141656106 ... LastLast
Results 126 to 150 of 3194

Thread: Anna the dog

  1. #126
    I'm in Jail

    Join Date
    May 2011
    Last Online
    29-04-2023 @ 08:08 AM
    Location
    Not in jail
    Posts
    7,255
    Really enjoy your banter and your take on thai life. Kudos to nampik to

  2. #127
    Thailand Expat
    Mendip's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2019
    Last Online
    Today @ 11:27 PM
    Location
    Korat
    Posts
    10,777
    Dam, the father, came to stay so we had four dogs. Too many for the mother-in-law's house really, but it was only for a few months until our house was ready. It seemed like the right thing to do as he was such a lovely dog, and besides, we had his son and two daughters.



    Unfortunately he couldn't settle. I don't know if it was because he was forced to wear a ridiculous pink shirt, or more likely because he was so used to the street life and being the Alpha male on his block. We had to take him back, but at least the restaurant where we'd picked up is two daughters was happy to give home a home. He was great with people, but a fiend with other dogs. He disappeared after a couple of years... probably the road or maybe usurped by a new Alpha male. The life of a street dog is a hard one.

    When our small pack was around six months old, nature did it's thing and Dan and Din came into season. I was away at work, and it was too difficult for my retarded inlaws to keep the dogs separate for the few days necessary, so Den had at it with his sisters. Two litters of inbred puppies weren't an option so Dan and Din went off to get spayed.

    No problem with Dan, she was and always has been a tough dog (still is).

    Little Din died on the operating table. The wrong dose of unaesthetic. I know that things like this can and do happen anywhere - but they just seem to happen so regularly in Thailand. As I said, this place has a habit of kicking you in the teeth when things appear to be going well.

    Rest in peace little Din, life wasn't very kind to you.


  3. #128
    Thailand Expat
    Mendip's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2019
    Last Online
    Today @ 11:27 PM
    Location
    Korat
    Posts
    10,777
    A few months later we moved into the new house. Den and Dan had fallen on their feet!

    They were even allowed in the house back then... before my darling wife turned so tyrannical...



    They had it good...





    A problem we always had with Den and Dan was the occasional scrap. Dan has always been the pack boss, and when the bitch is leader it invariably causes problems as the male will always contend.

    Anyway, after one such fight, amongst other injuries the corner of Dan's eyelid was torn. This wouldn't heal (as it would never dry) and eventually the vet put her on steroids to see if that would help (back then I trusted Thai vets without question...).

    Dan's health rapidly degenerated and sores developed over her entire body, but particularly on the face. In the pic below, the sore area on her nose eventually almost merged with the sores around her eyes..



    Sores on her feet...



    And her fur started falling out in clumps...



    She was in a really sorry state. Absolutely miserable, off her food (I had been bringing back special additive free food from work in the UK) and there seemed to be no hope. We tried every vet in Korat, but with no success. Medication after medication made no difference, ointments, creams, warm baths, cold baths, etc etc etc. This was around 2008, and if I remember correctly we made contact with November Rain (from this forum) who I believe worked with dogs down Hua Hin way. I can't remember how we made contact, but she offered a lot of advice. This was years before I joined Teakdoor.

    Then we tried one last vet, the Bungtalua Animal Hospital in Korat. We didn't have a lot of hope, but the vet took more blood for testing and gave more meds/supplements/creams for Dan to try in the meantime.

    The vet called a few days later to say Dan had a thyroid problem. There were abnormally low levels of thyroxene (the hormone that the thyroid gland secretes) in her blood due to an under-active thyroid gland. Everything fell into place - she had just about every single one of the listed symptoms of hypothyroidism. Right down to being cold sensitive... we had noticed she would hunt out even the smallest scrap of cloth to sleep on, rather then the ceramic floor tiles. Everything is so easy to see with hindsight of course.

    The thyroid is an extremely important gland and thyroxene effects the metabolism of every single cell in the body. Dan was put on Eltroxin (synthetic thyroxene), and within a few days was happy, back on her food and getting back to her old self. The transformation was remarkable. The sores took longer to heal, but gradually dried out, and her fur grew back and took on a glossy hue again. To think that we had considered having her put down at one point when the general consensus was lupus.

    I've droned on about this for a couple of reasons, the first is to highlight that not all Thai vets are bad - I think that's an important point. Some are bad, some care passionately about the animals. The second reason is a quirk of interest. The vet was charging us a small fortune for the Eltroxin, which at the time we thought was going to be a life long medication. I looked around on the net and discovered a guy selling very cheap Eltroxin in Pattaya. The steroids Dan had been given had knocked out her thyroid gland, a common side effect of taking steroids. It seems that many of the gym monkeys taking steroids also get thyroid problems, and many take Eltroxin along with the roids. So the ease of getting steroids in Pattaya indirectly helped to save Dan. I got her a lifetime's supply of Eltroxin in the post (it seemed that dogs could take the human version) for a few thousand Baht and she took them for a few years. We stopped it eventually as it seemed her thyroid had recovered.

    Dan's 13 now and my daughter's best mate! A wonderful dog, and I do believe a happy story from Thailand!

    A photo from a few moments ago.


  4. #129
    Thailand Expat
    Mendip's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2019
    Last Online
    Today @ 11:27 PM
    Location
    Korat
    Posts
    10,777
    Den and Dan was/has been wonderful dogs and have repaid being given a home in spades.

    I sometimes think it would be nice to have an intelligent dog that you could let off the lead for walks, or sit, stay etc without being bribed with food, but their temperament has been fantastic. I have a friend in the UK with a pair of collies and when we go for a walk I'm in constant wonderment at these dogs who just trot alongside. Our dogs are nothing like that - Dan has always been the easiest and I wonder if her few months on the street has made her more appreciative of having a home. Den never knew anything different.

    Apart from the security they've provided, vermin control has been part of their service. Also, snake control. All I want the dogs to do is bark and alert us to the presence of a snake - which I can then catch and either put over the wall or take to Korat zoo. The dogs have a certain high pitched and persistent 'snake bark', and once I hear it I l know immediately they've surrounded a snake. Apart from Dan... she is absolutely fearless.

    A rat snake dispatched by Dan, and Den trying to take some of the credit. I think the niece took the snake away for soup.



    One day I was walking around the garden, being followed by my daughter who was around 2 or 3 at the time, when the wife who'd been watching from inside started screaming. I thought that maybe she'd just run out of som tam, but it transpired she had just watched the littlun pick up a snake. A very nasty snake, but fortunately very dead and mangled. Dan had found it first.



    This was a white-lipped pit viper, the same species that bit my little girl on the foot earlier this year (https://teakdoor.com/living-in-thail...nake-bite.html (Snake bite)).

    This is beyond the call of duty, but I can't stop Dan doing it. I just hope we don't get a cobra or krait as I think that would be the end of Dan, although I'm sure it would be the end of the snake as well.

  5. #130
    Thailand Expat
    Mendip's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2019
    Last Online
    Today @ 11:27 PM
    Location
    Korat
    Posts
    10,777
    But without doubt the biggest reward in keeping dogs has been to watch my little girl grow up with Den and Dan. She has absolutely adored them.

    Sadly she is an only child, but she's never been stuck for company.

    Checking for the postman.



    Walkies...



    Giving some consolation to Den, the loser after another scrap...



    Playing together...



    And a couple of my favourites...





    I can easy forgive Dan for weeing all over me in bed at 4am this morning! We all need something to moan about, after all!

  6. #131
    Thailand Expat
    Mendip's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2019
    Last Online
    Today @ 11:27 PM
    Location
    Korat
    Posts
    10,777
    Sadly, Den died around a year ago. At the ripe old age of 12 he had developed lymphoma.

    It was this that caused me to join Teakdoor a few months ago, after years of reading as a guest. Someone living in Isaan was asking about getting a dog put down and my experience with Den provoked me to join and respond to the question.

    Once cancer was confirmed in Den, we had no choice. He was off his food and I wasn't prepared to watch him gradually die. After the test results, I took him home from the vets for the family to say goodbye for the night, and then I took him back the next morning and he was put to sleep. It was performed very respectably and peacefully at the Bungtalua Animal Hospital in Korat. It most definitely is possible to have a dog put down in Thailand, if you hunt around a bit. While obviously sad, Den had a great life and lived to 12 years of age. That's the way of things. Den is now under a mango tree down by the pond.

    Den on his last night. RIP matey.



    Dan is still going strong at the age of 13. She's the leader of a new pack now and shows no signs of losing that position.

    That's it for dog stories for now. It's all up to date and we're off to the UK for Christmas in a few days.

    But who knows what next year will bring... more dogs to feed, more puppies to home!

    One plan is to bring in Anna and Vigo to join our pack, before something bad happens to one of them. This will be no easy task - Dan goes for other girl dogs, and Vigo is difficult with other boys. And the wife of course...

    Anyway, a quick look out of my office window...



    Anna and Vigo, looking up and wagging their tails! How can I not try!

  7. #132
    I'm in Jail

    Join Date
    Jan 2010
    Last Online
    25-02-2024 @ 11:45 PM
    Posts
    11,602
    Great update Mendip and those pics of mini mendip through the years with dogs brought a smile as my kids likewise grew up with dogs, i think it really adds something, teaches them to care about something besides themselves. Putting down dogs is always traumatic and i've cried with the kids every single time but you can't let them suffer.

    Is the gardener supplied with hong thong and leo to ensure the dogs evening routine is not interupted whilst you're away.

  8. #133
    Thailand Expat armstrong's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2011
    Last Online
    @
    Posts
    6,882
    Cute pics. I was surprised how good our pug was with our daughter when she came along. Unfortunately he went downhill pretty quickly after having his eyes removed and some terrible vet decisions. She still talks about him, well we all do. It's a bit of a different dynamic with the French Bulldog as the daughter plays the older sister role. She still loves playing with her and they share a room at night.

    I'd like to see what morning looks like
    Don't wanna drink pint after pint
    I wanna wake up without feeling sick
    But I can't cuz I'm a drug-abusing alcoholic

  9. #134
    Thailand Expat
    Mendip's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2019
    Last Online
    Today @ 11:27 PM
    Location
    Korat
    Posts
    10,777
    ^ That must have been awful going through that with your pug.

    My daughter still talks about Den and says she misses him. But she doesn't get upset at all, just talks about him very pragmatically. I think us adults could learn from the kids at times.

    I think it's great for the ids to grow up with animals.

  10. #135
    Thailand Expat
    Mendip's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2019
    Last Online
    Today @ 11:27 PM
    Location
    Korat
    Posts
    10,777
    A happy dog story for Christmas!

    I'm sure many are aware of Headhunter's sad tale regarding his beloved dog, Sam. This update gives me the greatest pleasure to post.

    It took a special dog to melt HH's and Mrs HH's hearts again, and along came Molly. Of course she's not a replacement for Sam, but I'm sure he is looking down and very happy to see a special little dog with a loving home. Molly's an exceptionally lucky dog who has landed firmly on her feet.

    I've tried to put the pics in chronological order...

    The new pup...







    HH... a pink jacket... really?



    Obviously a dog with a big wardrobe! But on the furniture... ?



    Good luck, Molly!



    HH, I'm away for Christmas but I'll come round and visit next year. One of NPT's treats has Molly's name on!

    Oh, and if Molly wants a playmate... you know where to come!

    You can't blame me for trying!

  11. #136
    Thailand Expat

    Join Date
    Jul 2018
    Last Online
    05-02-2022 @ 08:29 AM
    Location
    nakhon ratchasima
    Posts
    2,035
    thanks mendip for posting these photo's,there must be other members that would like to show off their beloved.
    as for a playmate she has her mum [the wife] who play's with her till she's nackered[mum that is.
    there is some things that are already happening as if sam is looking down on her.we have a clock like the one in prague square,2men winding the dials, then every hour it plays a tune,only for molly to stare at sams photo and howl till the music stops.at night she sleeps at the bottom of the bed,then when we fall asleep she creeps up and cuddles up between us,exactly like sam used to do.
    so once again thank you mate for posting the photo's.
    have a good xmas and a happy new yr.
    MR.&MRS HH.

  12. #137
    Thailand Expat
    Mendip's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2019
    Last Online
    Today @ 11:27 PM
    Location
    Korat
    Posts
    10,777
    You too mate!

    A word of warning if you have Molly sleeping on your bed... my Daily Moan this week...

    Last night the wife was staying with her sick mum, so when I went to bed I took Dan, our 13 year-old dog. She looked so cold sleeping in the workshop with the other dogs.

    Dan snuggled up under the duvet, and did a massive wee about 4am.


    The wife goes mental if the dogs come in the house, so after I sneaked Dan out this morning I had to say that I'd wet the bed in the night.

    She's giving me some really strange looks today.

    Anything to save an argument! I'd rather the wife thinks I've got a leaky bladder than realise that I let the dogs in the house every time she goes out!
    Last edited by Mendip; 14-12-2019 at 02:37 PM.

  13. #138
    Banned

    Join Date
    Jul 2012
    Last Online
    09-05-2021 @ 03:25 AM
    Posts
    33,644
    Quote Originally Posted by headhunter View Post
    if sam is looking down on her
    ...he'd be thinking I never got a coat like that... thank dog

  14. #139
    I'm in Jail

    Join Date
    Jan 2010
    Last Online
    25-02-2024 @ 11:45 PM
    Posts
    11,602
    Nice one Mendip, HH Mollie is a cute dog and i think you've got a keeper there.

  15. #140
    Thailand Expat
    Mendip's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2019
    Last Online
    Today @ 11:27 PM
    Location
    Korat
    Posts
    10,777
    Operation Zack

    Zack is back!

    On my dog walk this morning we passed Zack, who featured in back post 35. Zack was Elsa's boyfriend for a long time before she disappeared a few months ago. Elsa was Anna's sister (all dogs have been named by my daughter). When we left for the UK before Christmas, Zack had been missing for a few weeks and I feared the worst. But while we were away he came back, skinny and worn out, but alive!

    Zack is now living on his own back outside some apartments. We feed him every day to supplement the meager offerings of congealed, gone-off rice the inhabitants of the apartments occasionally give him. I've also left a bucket of water there for him... which I have to fill up every day as that's also too much for anyone living there to do. Zack is a lovely dog, but he's getting old and is very lonely. He goes nuts every day when the daughter and I stop off to feed him after school. He needs a home.

    Here he was this morning as we walked by during the morning dog walk.



    When we came back from the UK a few days ago my gardener (who has been feeding all the dogs in our absence) told me his plan. He wants to bring Zack back to live outside the back of our house, with Anna and Vigo. There's plenty of room, he's a lovely placid dog towards people and Anna always likes another boy dog around. The only problem may be Vigo accepting him.

    Here's Anna and Vigo relaxing out the back this morning. They rarely venture far. There's even a vacant home now that Seaur (Tiger) isn't around any more.





    I'm immensely chuffed that our gardener has come to treat these dogs with compassion - I'd always suspected that he just fed them because that's what I wanted... He's now becoming proactive... I've created a monster!

    Anyway, his plan is to drive up to the apartments when no-one is around, put a blindfold on Zack, stick him in the car and speed away home. Sounds like a dramatic kidnap, but the blindfold is to prevent Zack seeing where he's going, and we have to be discrete... even though he's unwanted things can change as soon as someone thinks a farang is involved.

    My daughter wants to be in on the act, so we've set Saturday morning for Operation Zack. Morning is better I think, so that I have the whole day to keep an eye on how they all get along together. I hope Vigo is OK with it!

    Synchronise watches!

  16. #141
    Thailand Expat

    Join Date
    Feb 2010
    Last Online
    @
    Posts
    1,742
    Back in Thailand barely one day and already gone nuts!

  17. #142
    Thailand Expat
    Mendip's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2019
    Last Online
    Today @ 11:27 PM
    Location
    Korat
    Posts
    10,777
    A late Friday night delayed Operation Zack by a day.

    At first light this morning... well, around 09:30 hrs, we set off. I was the driver and the gardener was the snatch squad. My daughter, the lookout, let us down badly and stayed in bed.

    So... a difficult three man job made harder... we were up against it before we started.

    I would have to say the operation was a resounding.... failure...

    We arrived on location and Zack ran up, expecting some food...



    The gardener bungled the snatch and got bitten on the hand for his efforts! Not a nasty bite, just a warning nip that didn't even break the skin. But Zack had made his position clear.

    It's back to the drawing board and I think the next plan will involve using Anna as bait next time she comes into one of her 'pseudo' heats. She's still a good looking dog and I think Zack'll follow us home.

    But for now... a bottle of Hong Thing for the gardener!

  18. #143
    I'm in Jail

    Join Date
    Jan 2010
    Last Online
    25-02-2024 @ 11:45 PM
    Posts
    11,602
    Nice effort, i reckon for all the rescues you do you should invest in some form of dart gun or whittle up blow pipes.

  19. #144
    Thailand Expat
    Mendip's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2019
    Last Online
    Today @ 11:27 PM
    Location
    Korat
    Posts
    10,777
    ^ You're not wrong.

    I know a rescue guy who is good with the bow pipe and darts (earlier pages on this thread) but he's rarely available and it's the sort of thing you can't usually plan for. You need the gear to hand when the occasions arise. I'll have to investigate what drugs they use and see if they are easily available.

    To be honest I wouldn't mind occasionally darting the wife when she's playing up as well.

  20. #145
    Thailand Expat
    Mendip's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2019
    Last Online
    Today @ 11:27 PM
    Location
    Korat
    Posts
    10,777
    I stayed in a small village near Khon Buri this weekend with a mate and our kids... he has a house in his wife's village and we thought it'd make a nice change to get away. It's about an hour southeast of Korat.

    On the first night this guy turned up in the garden to say hello...



    And he came back the following day as well... he was very friendly, especially with my daughter... it was almost as if he knew us...



    This made me really happy! The last time I saw this dog was about a year ago...



    He was part of a litter of eight on my patch, and he stayed at our house for a couple of days last January while I cleaned him up, before being given a home by my mate's wife's sister. I wonder of he can really remember us after only staying for a couple of days a year ago... maybe he recognises the smell?



    I was a bit worried about him at the time as he was too young really to be homed... but you've gotta take your opportunities as they arise.

    He could maybe do with a bath, but Long (Forget...?) is well fed and enjoying village life... a rare success story!

  21. #146
    Thailand Expat

    Join Date
    Feb 2010
    Last Online
    @
    Posts
    1,742
    Mendip
    I doubt he would remember.
    But what I suspect is he recognises kind people who love dogs.

  22. #147
    Thailand Expat jabir's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2016
    Last Online
    @
    Posts
    12,009
    Quote Originally Posted by Mendip View Post
    ...I was a bit worried about him at the time as he was too young really to be homed... but you've gotta take your opportunities as they arise.
    How old iyo should they be before leaving mum? My Dane was 6 weeks, Russell about 6-8 months but she was a divorce rescue, Boxer 4-5 weeks, Alsatian 6 weeks; all bitches, and worked out well once they were potty trained which without exception went quick and smooth.

    Jimmy is about 10 weeks, never knew mum, and appears to be quite stubborn (or distracted).

  23. #148
    Thailand Expat
    Mendip's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2019
    Last Online
    Today @ 11:27 PM
    Location
    Korat
    Posts
    10,777
    ^ I think around 10 to 12 weeks is a good age in an ideal world, with a tame mother and safe environment. The puppy will be weaned and on solid food by then, with the mum just about finished with milk. The puppies benefit from being with the mum until this age to learn discipline and also to get essential antibodies from her milk... at least that's my understanding.

    The problem with the street litters is that if the mother isn't so tame, her pups will learn that timidness from her and become frightened of people and be hard to catch and handle. Also, the longer they remain in the 'wild', the more likely they are to get killed on the road or succumb to any number of accidents and ailments.

    I've been finding homes for a lot of pups at 6 to 8 weeks old, before they become really mobile and just sit there and let you pick them up. A few may have been a bit younger than this, but I think it's better to go too young than risk missing the offer of a home.

  24. #149
    Thailand Expat
    Mendip's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2019
    Last Online
    Today @ 11:27 PM
    Location
    Korat
    Posts
    10,777
    I get back home after a few days away to find it's Anna's time again...

    She's been spayed and can't have pups, but the vets didn't remove all of the ovaries and she still comes into heat and releases the pheromones.

    The main problem is that Vigo starts fighting, trying to protect her... he treats her like a sister. The two black dogs, Pepsi and Long, look on while a third brown dog is waiting up by the blue bin, and you can't see in the pic but there's another four dogs up at the end of the lane. Anna must have good pheromones... the dogs just turn up from nowhere.



    Well, that was a surprise... maybe a sister in Wales anyway! Pepsi and Long turn away in disgust.



    Keep your chin up Anna! She gets a pork chop bone to cheer her up.



    But maybe my plan of using her to entice Zack to come and live with us can come forward. She'll make great bait at the moment.

  25. #150
    Banned

    Join Date
    Jul 2012
    Last Online
    09-05-2021 @ 03:25 AM
    Posts
    33,644
    Quote Originally Posted by Mendip View Post
    But maybe my plan of using her to entice Zack to come and live with us
    Doesn't your Missus mind having all the dogs and dogshit around when you go back offshore for a Month?

    I don't see her involved in any of these rescue efforts

Page 6 of 128 FirstFirst 12345678910111213141656106 ... LastLast

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

There are currently 2 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 2 guests)

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •