Canine commuters

We received this little story via email and thought we should share it with you!

The Canine Commuters of Moscow

Stray dogs are commuting to and from a city centre in Russia on underground trains in search of food scraps.

The clever canines board the Tube each morning. After a hard day scavenging and begging on the streets, they hop back on the train and return to the suburbs where they spend the night. Experts studying the dogs say they even work together to make sure they get off at the right stop after learning to judge the length of time they need to spend on the train.

Because the best scavenging for food is in the city centre, the dogs had to learn how to travel on the subway to get to the centre in the morning, then back home in the evening, just like people.

The dogs have also learned to use traffic lights to cross the road safely. And they use cunning tactics to obtain tasty morsels of shawarma, a kebab-like snack popular in Moscow. They sneak up behind people eating shawarmas then bark loudly to shock them into dropping their food.

The Moscow mutts are not the first animals to use public transport. In 2006 a Jack Russell in Dunnington, North Yorks, began taking the bus to his local pub in search of sausages. And two years ago, passengers in Wolverhampton were stunned when a cat called Macavity started catching the 331 bus to a fish and chip shop.

Sencha

My boyfriend and I had been debating to get a puppy for a while; he wanted a German Sheppard or a Rottweiler. I just wanted a dog that would get on with my two precious darlings - my cats.

We would often visit the Dog's Shelter and the RSPCA to visit with the dogs they had for adoption. On this particular day we saw an adult Shar Pei X Labrador at the Dog's Shelter and thought that it was a pretty interesting mix but at that stage we weren't ready to get a dog and I wanted to get a puppy so it could grow up with the cats.

After leaving the Dog's Shelter we stopped in at the RSPCA and they had six chocolate brown Shar Pei X Labrador Puppies - gorgeous little bundles of fluffy rolls but unfortunately they were all on hold waiting to be vaccinated and de-sexed then going to homes.

On a whim I spoke to the counter and mention that I would be interested if any of the holds fell through. The lady at the counter said that she highly doubted it but gave me a form anyway.

I filled out the form and didn't think too much more of it except to tell everyone of about the cute little puppies that were already going to homes.

Approximately two weeks later I received a call from the RSPCA saying that two of the holds had fallen through and would we be interested. I was at work and would not get out by the time the shelter closed so I called my boyfriend and said to go and have a look at see if he either of the puppies were for him. He said he would go if he had time.
That night when he walked in the front door I asked him if he had gone and what he thought. He made a solemn face and said: "yeah went and had to look, was ok but..." I noticed he had a red collar in his hand.

We picked Sencha, our new puppy up on Valentine's Day that week and she has been in our home and hearts ever since.

Thankfully, the other puppy along with the mother, a pure Shar Pei, were also rehomed that week!

Paddy

When our old dog died (about 35 years ago) my husband and I looked in the pets for sale column in the newspaper. There was a 6 month old Irish Setter for sale. I had never really had anything to do with Irish Setters (mine were always collie or alsatian crosses before) so we decided to at least have a look.

We chatted with the owner to find out a bit about the kind of dog the Setters are. He explained that he is very friendly, but too lively for his children so they ignored him and played with a dog across the road. The setter was never allowed into the house, just the backyard.

My husband and I looked at each other, and both nodded slightly. We asked to see him. He was brought into the house. The dog looked emaciated. My husband immediately offered to buy the dog. The owner conscientiously gave us the list of food for the dog to be fed. It was the list given by the vet when the pup was a few weeks old. All in innocence, I asked if that was what he fed the dog. He replied yes, that was what was suggested by the vet.

We did not even think of arguing the price of the dog. We just wanted to get him away from this owner. Paddy (as we decided to call him) immediately put on weight (mostly muscle and my little daughter began to ride him when he became big and strong) He was obliging, friendly, and loved exercise and the whole family.

When I put up some bricks to stand on by the fence so I could chat to a neighbour, Paddy used to stand next to me, with one paw on the fence, and the other companionably round my shoulder. He lived to past 10 years of age. 

Lucky Luka

My husband and I searched animal shelter sites until we saw a sad neglected German Shepherd x Collie at Wanneroo. Hubby haunted the animal shelter for a week establishing his interest.

He brought her home, spent the first night nursing her kennel cough and took her to the team at Wanneroo Veterinary Hospital.

She has become his shadow and recently rewarded us by foiling an attempt burglary at our house. Luka is so happy with her friends Wallace and Linsay our other dog and cat.

We expect to have many happy years with Luka.

Scrappy and Belle

Our jack russell terrier, Scrappy Dog, once made a close friend in the form of a very large brindle staffy called Belle. Belle was a kind old soul who wandered the neighbourhood daily visiting all her mates and saying hi.

She would come to our front door and throw her heavy body against the security door to make it rattle. Then we would open the door for her and she and Scrappy would race out in to the backyard for fun and frolicking.

Once the old girl had enough, she would walk through the house again and tap the front door with her paw to go home. I never met a dog quite like her but she made every day a joy for both my dog and me.

Little Chita

I first met my darling Chita in February 1996. I owned a pet store and her then parents bought her in to the store with a sore leg. She is a teacup Chihuahua, I advised the very young couple to take her to the vet.

The next week the young man bought Chita back again with his mother, he was in tears. He had broken up with his girlfriend and had to sell his little dog. I took one look at her and told the young fellow we would find her a very good home. She has been with us ever since.

In all those years we have only had one night where she didn’t sleep with me. I had to go away for a Christmas party and during the time I was away I would have called home at least 5 times. We decided to change her name, as she was a little fireball, so we called her Conchita, and she has been Chita ever since.

She is getting on now and is totally deaf and does not see very well. We have our moments with her when she is so deeply asleep that I put my hand on her to see if she is breathing. I take heart from the other story of Bubbles the 19yo Chihuahua.

Chita has certainly put us through hoops and has broken one of her chicken thin legs, and had a pin put in, and only a few days after the plaster was off, she broke it again and needed another 8 weeks in plaster. She was a very brave little girl at that time.

Another time, she was knocked out by one of the other dogs when they were all rushing to greet us on our arrival home. I gave her mouth to mouth and little heart pushes on the way to the vet. Oh, and the night when we came home and she was acting strange and so off to the vet again, and after blood tests, and a lot of worry, she passed wind and was ok after that. The most expensive "fart" in history!

She is my beautiful girl and is getting very grey now, and she can still find her way down the stairs we built for her to get off the bed, but she cant get back up, so she does a little tap dance on the floor to wake me up and I put her back in bed, she might do this 4 times a night, but I would do it 10 times a night for her.

She has certainly ruled our household in the last 14 years and all the other animals take note of her!

Leader's little friend

Leader was a Cumberland liver and white spaniel trained to assist with duck shooting. He would retrieve from the lake as well as the land. For the rest of the year, Leader lived in a family home. These dogs have a gentle mouth and cause no damage to the game and place it at the feet of the shooter.

The lady of the house missed the dog when he stayed away with the men for weekends so the family provided her with a five week old kitten. Leader returned to the family home but would carry the kitten round in his mouth with a tail out one side. The lady of the house was very protective of the kitten and would rescue the kitten frequently with kind treats for the kitten and shoo the dog outside.

One day she was startled to see the dog asleep and the kitten tapping the dog on the mouth to be let in. The dog duely responded and stood before the lady to let her rescue the kitten from his mouth. He never shared the the treat but was rewarded with a cat /dog relationship and the kitten allowed him to finish the cat food provided on a saucer at the end of the meal .

Ella Faye

Our beautiful golden retriever daughter Ella Faye was very sick with a mysterious illness this time last year, and we and all our friends were very concerned about her. My husband sent this little piece on the email to them to let them know about her progress - it made me laugh!      

Fresh from the presses of the New York Daily Bone:

"AAP New York, Thursday - Sources close to Ella Faye have been reported as stating that the mystery illness that has struck the striking super retriever is most likely to be Toxoplasmosis. Vet to the Stars Dr C. Oldthermometer states that this illness can be picked up by dogs eating an infected bird or rat, or from raw meat or unwashed vegetables. "It's a rare matter but treatable" said Dr C. Oldthermometer in an exclusive interview. "It is known to effect a dog's balance, and Ella Faye could reasonably expect not to be chasing balls for some weeks, though she should make a full recovery" he added.

There has been conjecture that Ella Faye may have acquired the illness after a recent dinner in her honour held at the Dog House by US President George W Bark, but Dog House officials have denied this. "Only fresh pigeon is ever served at Dog House functions" said Dog House chief of staff Ms Fluffy. Ms Fluffy stated that President Bark also enjoyed fresh pidgeon on the night in question and had no problems enjoying a walk in the park the next day

A world renowned ball chaser, widely regarded as the greatest exponent of the game of chuck since Bruce the sheep dog from across the road, Ella Faye is said to be resting comfortably in her Blackburn holiday home amidst friends and family. A close confidant, Ms Fifi Poodleschnauser, scoffed at rumours that Ella Faye was recovering from surgery for a tail lift and ear extensions. "Everyone knows that Ella Faye's tail and ears are 'au natural' " said Ms Poodleschnauser. "They are just jealous of her gorgeous natural feathering". Ms Poodleschnauser said Ella Faye wanted to thank all her fans for their concern and well wishes, and says "she will be back at the park as soon as possible"".

Epilogue: Ella-Faye, the white golden retriever, after a serious health scare was to make a full recovery from meningitis thanks to Dr's Shaun and Rod. She is back chasing her balls and holidaying with her friends and no she did not have a tail lift or ear extensions!

Sibling rivalry

We once had two dogs who were bosom buddies and there was rarely even a mild disagreement between them in the eleven years that they were together.

One had a penchant for chewing tissues - used or otherwise - and I would frequently be woken by her nosing around under my pillow to find one. In the interests of fairness I would always give the other dog a jube from a jar kept beside my bed, just so he wouldn't feel that he'd missed out on anything. 

On one such occasion the jar was empty so I got up and walked towards the kitchen to get the non-tissue lover a dry biscuit. Before I had even reached my bedroom door, however, the latter canine - incensed at not receiving his tissue substitute immediately (as per usual) - marched over to the other dog and tore the tissue from her mouth.

Does my head look big in this?

Although our delightful Jack Russell/Chihuahua cross Lucy is small and very nimble, she badly underestimated her abilities one cold, wet and windy night on her final outside visit before bedtime.

We were watching television when we heard faint plaintive cries coming from outside and subsequently discovered the back half of Lucy sticking out from behind our barbeque with her head wedged firmly between the rear bricks and the side fence. It shortly became obvious that pulling her rear half was not going to work and was causing a great deal of distress to both dog and owners. All seemed lost with the next option to call the Fire Brigade, until my son grabbed a piece of sand paper and carefully filed away at the bricks for about 20 minutes while I comforted Lucy, until we were finally able to safely extract her head and plug the hole.

The three of us were thoroughly soaked but very relieved and one little dog slept very soundly that night. Did she learn her lesson though, what do you think? And we never did find out what she was chasing.

My nana's dog Alby

I have always heard these stories, but this time it happened to someone I knew. My nana lived in a little country town about 1.5 hours drive from the New Zealand city of Christchurch.

She was down visiting family in Christchurch and Alby, (a little short haired Jack Russell) went for a walk and didn't come back. My nana waited for days and Alby didn't return - unusual for her. She drove back to Waiau in despair of ever seeing her dog again.

I still remember the excited phone call we received about six weeks later. Alby had turned up in Waiau, pads on her paws basically gone, a former shadow of herself, but alive. She had managed to cover an area that takes a car one and a half hours, and get back to my nana. Alby was abused as a younger dog and one day just moved in with my nana, so she had an extraordinary loyalty to her.

Alby was a fat little friendly dog and I never thought she would be able to do something like that. It still makes me smile today.

Kellie's favourite pastime

We rescued Kel as an eight week old from under a car body and took her home covered in fleas.  She remained with us for fifteen and a half years.

Kel's favourite pastime was to sit on a chair beside you and have you hold her paw. It didn't matter what sort of chair it was, plastic outdoor chair, the spring-loaded camping chair or the dining table chair, if you had a spare chair beside you, she would come and jump up of her own accord and then paw your arm until you held her paw. If you didn't continue to massage her paw or let her go, she would paw your arm again until you resumed holding and massaging her paw. This would only end when she'd had enough!

Lexie

This is Lexie, a beautiful Kelpie cross, who many people think looks like a Dingo. Lexie's owners Ryan and Rochelle, go camping as often as they can and this is one of the interesting stories they have from a recent trip.

"We camped just outside Dargo last Cup Day weekend. We visited a camping spot they call "Dog's Grave". It's named this because there is a dog's grave there where an old bushie had buried his ol' mate, (a Kelpie). The bushie and the Kelpie were inseparable. The town's people had set up a tombstone in memory of the dog. The inscription was describing the bond that man and beast can share and how loved the dog was. When we stood in front of the tombstone Lexie started to whine. We thought nothing of it and went on down to the river for a short walk. On our return, as we passed the tombstone she started whining again. She must have sensed who was buried there."

Harry's habits

Harry, a cross Schnauzer x Maltese, has a habit after meal time - every night when he has finished his dinner he relocates his toys from their storage box to our family room upstairs.

He has a definite map in his head which he follows every day to a tee! (walking in a trot and on a particular path around the kitchen table and up the stairs). He relocates each of his toys (mostly baby rattles) individually, but on the same path every night; sometimes he does it in reverse if he hasn't brought any toys downstairs through the day. It is very funny to watch and very predictable.

There is a photo of Harry in his "suntop" - he has a very fine amount of hair and you can easily see his freckles on his skin, so I bought him a suntop for when he goes to the beach. There is also a photo of him in his winter polo- he is very handsome!

The foxy story

One morning I left my home in a great rush.

I later returned to a puppy break in. As I walked into the pet crime scene, I slammed one of the cupboards doors shut, to vent my frustration. The tiny culprit had left traces of her travels everywhere; the missing tea cake off the coffee table was just one instance. There were still a few morsels on the floor, which she obviously just couldn't jam into her tiny tummy.

After searching the house with no four legged arrest, I began to worry about her...no sign anywhere...then I heard rustling from the bin cupboard. And what did I find? Well firstly a very empty bin, and secondly a tiny little Jack Russell curled up like a snail on a bag of empty plastic bags and still munching!

I opened her mouth to discover she was in fact munching on some old chewing gum from the bin. How could I possibly punish a pooch with such great smelling breath?

Potter the swimaholic

Potter is a nearly 2 year old black labrador. He has personality, looks and usually gets compliments from everyone we meet. People always tell me the negatives about having a Labrador, " He'll need to be on a diet," "He'll be a puppy for 2 years, 4years, forever..." "Oh! You've got your hands full there..."  But I love his energy and playfulness.

He is quick to learn and quite obedient. He loves to cuddle up, is quite vocal and he loves water... Water! He's a swimaholic.  Any chance to get in the pool, he's in. It started as just sitting on the steps and splashing and blowing bubbles but now he's learnt to leap in and swim, and swim, and swim... Thankfully he now comes into rest every so often but not so when he discovered a huge dam on one of our walks. Luckily he finally came to shore before I was about to go in and get him out. Our training now is about discipline and only going in for a swim if he is invited and certainly returning to dry land on command.

Tenzing loves Inspector Rex

Here's a pic of Tenzing (in his best tartan). Every time Inspector Rex is on, Tenzing races to the TV screen and yowls and barks and carries on with huge excitement.

Inspector Rex was once after some crooks and he ran through a door and disappeared off screen where upon Tenzing raced around to the back of the TV to look for him!

Suzie licks her lips

It was Christmas eve, I had spent hours making 30 home made Christmas crackers filled with expensive chocolate. The table was set with the crackers in place and we all went out. When we arrived home the table was empty and there our old Labrador Suzie lay in her bed looking guilty surrounded by empty Christmas crackers and licking her lips!

Thankfully Suzie was ok but remember that chocolate is poisonous to dogs.

The old, wise dog

"An older, tired-looking dog wandered into my yard.

I could tell from his collar and well-fed belly that he had a home and was well taken care of.

He calmly came over to me, I gave him a few pats on his head; he then followed me into my house, slowly walked down the hall, curled up in the corner and fell asleep. An hour later, he went to the door, and I let him out.

The next day he was back, greeted me in my yard, walked inside and resumed his spot in the hall and again slept for about an hour. This continued off and on for several weeks.

Curious I pinned a note to his collar: 'I would like to find out who the owner of this wonderful sweet dog is and ask if you are aware that almost every afternoon your dog comes to my house for a nap.'

The next day he arrived for his nap, with a different note pinned to his collar:

'He lives in a home with six children, two are under the age of three - he's trying to catch up on his sleep....Can I come with him tomorrow?' "

Oscar gets a massage

"As something funny to do, about a year or two ago, my wife started massaging the front paws of our miniature schnauzer, Oscar. He seemed to like it, so she continued. Then she did it a few more times as he started to enjoy it.

Now a year or two later, he demands paw massages at least once a day. He simply presses a paw against us whenever he wants one. Sometimes he wants both front paws massaged at the same time. He curls his paws and sticks his tongue out in delight.

The dog groomer says it is easier to cut Oscar's nails than any other dog, because when she grabs his paws, he relaxes as he expects a massage."

Watch a video of one of Oscar's massages.

Pandora the wonder dog

Pandora was a wonder dog. She looked like a small Alsatian in colouring. We found her in a Fitzroy park with a raw patch under her chin where the chain had rubbed her flesh raw. She was badly affected by worms  and as thin as a rake. She became a beloved pet, firstly mine, then taken over by my mother, who travelled the length and breadth of Australia in her trusty Toyota Hi-Ace van.

Mum was an asthmatic and could not exercise her well in the city, so Pandora was taught to jump out of the passenger window at one corner of the Exhibition Gardens, whereupon she would, with great squeals and yelps (as though being beaten half to death), hare off round the edge of the gardens, with mum following in the car. Back at the starting point she would jump back in the window!

Pandora also taught herself to body surf. Without fear or trepidation she would swim out into the swell and then catch a wave in again. Many a happy hour spent on the beach down the West Coast.

One day in particular stands out. I took Pandora in the van and when it came time to jump back in, there was an identically coloured car, same make and model in front of me. Pandora saw it and leapt up to the passenger window which was shut! The shock on the driver's face was a joy to behold! I whistled and she ran back and jumped in with me - the driver in front could not believe his eyes!

She was my mother's trusty companion, going everywhere with her. Sadly, she died of a heart attack in her sleep over in Western Australia. Mum hardly saw the road for tears across the Nullabor Plain coming back - she was devastated.

Bella the schnauzer

Our dog Bella (aka Hairy Mc Clairy) loves to sit in our daughter's car booster seat. Whenever we go out together there is a race between them as to who gets in the chair first.

Even if our daughter is not in the car, Bella will still sit in the booster chair. When they are both in the car they like to share the seat together.