Kali - Staffie, Bitch (1-2 Years)

We have had a dog that was always sick on winding car journeys if she had eaten up to 2 hours previously. Fine on straight runs, but anything with bends and she would puke. With Tucker, he isn't sick, but he is very, very anxious. You can tell the level of his anxiety by the lip licking and yawning with very loud sound effects. I have actually found that often the lower in the car he is, the better. Would it be possible to put a bed in the footwell and see how she gets on there? It could be the motion sickness brought on by moving scenery. Worth a try just to gauge her reaction.

School holidays are over and so this week we returned to our usual walking pattern and it's been great, have met some friendly familiar faces and a couple of new ones. Continuing to focus on recall training and returning to the lead until we know who is approaching and Kali has been fantastic - the recall is coming on well, unless the scent of rabbits hits her nostrils before the recall signal and then she's away.
In between the showers we have had fun alive as Kali has followed us around the garden digging in the area of soil I have newly turned over and eating the weeds I have just pulled out! She is a little tease too - slinking away into the corner of our garden where she just see through the hedge enough to tease the neighbours King Charles who prefers the quiet life these days.
If you could only see her now she is loving this weather and she moves around the lounge rug finding the warmest spot, right now she is bathing with the sun on her back
Catch up again soon,
Kali sends big sloppy kisses

Hi, our Sheltie used to get travel sick and our vet recommended a little bit of ginger or some Bach's remedy. The best thing we found was to keep the journeys short and go prepared with loads of kitchen roll and carrier bags! For very long holiday journeys the vet used to prescribe a mild sedative tablet which did the trick brilliantly. Tried the front foot well, the boot various laps (front and back) but nothing really worked that well so we just got on and sorted it if it happened without making too much fuss coz that only upset the dog even more. Dettox is also a good standby for the upholestery aswell!

First of all I would like to say hello, and if there was any dog that I would be like to be named after me I am glad it was a gorgeous girl like Kali, even if you changed her name!

All her updates sound great, and I would like to just repeat earlier comments by saying it is nice to hear that even though she has had some naughty moments (tut tut Kali!) you can look past those and see the dog she really is.

As you know my parents and I regularly walk at Burlish Top and I am absolutely disgusted by this persons behaviour... I have always thought of it as the most dog friendly walking place locally, but this has really disturbed me. All I can say is this woman better not cross my path up there!

Hope to see you and Kali some time though

Hi,
It's been a while since I updated, where does the time go?
Great to hear from you Lisa, it was lovely to meet your parents. What happened to Kali and the girls was quite a shock to us all and we changed our ideas about when and where to walk and we worked hard to improve Kali's recall so that we could keep her safe. It has taken us all a little while to get over it but we have all relaxed and are enjoying our walks again.
Since the incident I often wondered what I would do if I saw the woman and tonight it happened. spotting a dog appear from the path to our right and I immediately put Kali on the lead. Then a small brown staffie came into view and my daughter realised even before seeing her that these were the woman's dogs. When she and her partner came into view we continued on our path and they remained on theirs and I am pleased to say that I kept my dignity, looked her in the face and walked on calmly. Kali showed no interest whatsoever and more importantly no fear and she behaved impeccably.
Part of me wishes I had walked Kali alone tonight, (and I wished the woman had been able to see Kali off the lead and see for herself how wonderful she is) I would have liked to have it out with the woman but I wouldn't want to put Kali or my daughter in a stressful situation again, they have come a long way since the incident. I know we did the right thing rising above and being the better people/dog and after-all the police did pay her a visit with a few words of wisdom. Its another milestone, we had to face her to move on and now that we have done it we can move on, relax and enjoy our local woodland again.

On a brighter note, our little darling is absolutely amazing at demolishing toys, ropes etc and within minutes of recieving a new object she leaves her mark. So when my husband's uncle met Kali for the first time he brought her a gift and a game of 'lets see you destroy this one!' commenced. A plastic toy, rope toy and raw hide ring or two later and Kali is definately the winner! We are just grateful that its only the toys and not the furniture so we will continue to play the game.

Kali continues to blossom and is a real pleasure to have around (although the cats may not agree as the battle for supremacy in the garden is starting to take shape since the warmer weather). Couldn't get photos to upload will sort them out asap.

Well done for rising above wanting to smack that woman in the face! It must have been hard to keep your cool, but it shows you are the better person.

Have you tried a Kong for Kali? It's the ONLY toy that Tucker hasn't managed to kill/rip to shreds/chew and make sharp and dangerous. The only problem is that when he gets his Kong, he thinks it's going to be filled with treats, and when he finds it isn't, he isn't interested in playing with it. I did see a new range of Kong toys in Pets at Home in Kiddie, including throw sticks, but they were really expensive. However, when you add up the cost of all the ones he's trashed, I guess it's a false economy and we need to invest in the pricey ones. Tucker's real love is retrieving balls, and I reckon we've gone through about 30 since he came on foster, including 15 Kong air tennis balls (which probably last on average a week each, which compared to some that don't even last two retrievals, isn't too bad).

Looking forward to the photos!

Have you tried a boomer ball? Ben adores his and hasn't been able to chew it. They're big so he pushes it around and chases it round the garden. He's also got the most amazing rubber bone, but I have to confess he found it in the fields. It's really strong , I will try to read the name on it as I haven't seen one locally. Glad you're doing well, not sure where you live, but if you ever walk at Hurcott Woods or Alevely country park would love to meet up.

Hi Annie,thank you for the invitation, meeting up sounds great however Kali has just come into season so its probably best if we leave it a little while. (We thought that she had been in season (albeit mildly) around Easter She showed all the signs - slightly swollen, even more affectionate than normal, continually washing ... but we didn't see any bleeding). Male dogs had been showing even more of an interest than usual and so we believed that was that - until one day last week when my husband phoned the vets to book her in for 'the op' Low and behold that very afternoon ...
I am walking her but I have been going late in the evening when there's hardly anyone around and keeping her on the lead if I feel there is the even the most remote chance of an encounter (prude that I am ). Once this is over I'll be in touch and we can arrange to meet up, Kali would love it and I am looking forward to meeting you too.
Hope to meet up soon, take care, Sue x

Yes, we can hardly believe it's eight months since Kali came to live with us!
This week saw her visit the vet to be spayed. Poor little thing didn't know what was coming as she sat in the waiting room, tail wagging, excited to see everyone.
She felt a little sorry for herself on her return home that night but has made wonderful recovery and was back to her smiling happy self next morning.
Roll on end of next week - I think she will be happy to remove the two legged friends from the end on her lead so that she can go off and enjoy a good romp in the woodland.
Wayne popped in to see everyone at FDR on way back from vets but Kali obviously was not herself, still drowsy and feeling the after effects of surgery, I am sure if she could speak she would say it was good to see you all even so. We will be along for a visit over the half term when I am sure she will be on form
Hope to get to Bewdley next Saturday for pumpkin day so may see you there x

Hi Kali's mum!

Yes, time certainly flies doesn't it? I remember you took Kali three weeks after I started to foster Tucker, and the ten months have just disappeared in a flash.

Tread carefully with Kali for a couple more weeks. I remember when we had Phoebe spayed and we were told no exercise off lead for at least three weeks, and we were walking her in the forest a couple of weeks later, and thought it would do no harm to let her off lead and she went off like a rocket!! Boy, did my stomach turn! I think Kali's a little pocket rocket too !

She'll be enjoying the fuss, for sure!