Cyprus-Forum.com

[Hazza]

Hi Lindy. Do you have photos of the little fella that you can share, how he was and how he is now?

[lindy1706]

Hi All,

I have some photo's taken of him when he first arrived and will take some more this week (just bear in mind that he looks pretty unattractive due to the bald spots!) will put them up after Easter break.

We live in a small village and the looks I get when I walk my two boys (Beagle X & a Collie X)around the village at heal without leads are priceless. Husband sometimes takes them to the Cafe Neon and they both sit calmly outside and don't move a muscle. Even better are the smiles that Husband gets when he sits outside on the Veranda with a Collie sitting on his lap as he does the crossword.

You are right Unique it is all about education a lot of our neighbours really don't get the whole dog pet thing at all.....I have had ladies say to me forget the dogs have a baby instead...We got the Beagle from our neighbours when the novelty had worn off for the children when he was three months old and needed clearing up after and was no longer a toy but started to have ideas of his own. The children still come and play with him (and he sems to remember them fondly) but the parents are somewhat amazed that at 18 months old he is still alive.....the concept that you keep a dog for the duration of its lifespan seems strange and they keep offering us replacement puppies.

So I think that although most of our Cypriot neighbours think we are totally mad they are somewhat amused to see the dogs sitting in the garden with balls and bones. (One of the comments from our neighbour as the Beagle was handed over the fence was "I'ts ok Max will be rich now" so whether they think we are crazy enought to change the will to his favour I have no idea ) all I hope is that the children who come into the garden and play ball and rough and tumble with them and come on the occasional walk (not often as they think a walk is to the top of the hill and back not the 3 K trek we normally do) who enjoy brushing them and who are taught that you don't slap the dog or shout at it or blow a whistle to wind it up, may actually when they grow up realise that a dog is a good pet that will last a child through its childhood years not just the 2 months that it is cute.

Here endeth the first lesson

[andri_cy]

My mom hates it every year she comes to visit because we treat our dogs like babies. But then she keeps talking about one of my dogs when she goes home because the dog will not let her go on walks alone since she doesnt know the place very well.

[aidy]

touching story about the rescue of a dog, similarly, we have recently saved a 7 week old puppy which found its way to us, it was in a poor state when it came to us, starving, thirsty, tics etc.
a trip down to the local vet and she is now a very happy puppy, whats more my daughter likes her.

Surprisingly the price of a vet bill is very cheap in Cyprus as compared with the UK. Just for the vet to see a dog in the UK will cost around £35ukp. not including any medication etc.

We had a vet consultancy, de-tic the dog (and believe me there was a fair few) give it a health check and it;s first injections, for an amazing £25.

Amazing.

[cyprusgrump]

touching story about the rescue of a dog, similarly, we have recently saved a 7 week old puppy which found its way to us, it was in a poor state when it came to us, starving, thirsty, tics etc.
a trip down to the local vet and she is now a very happy puppy, whats more my daughter likes her.

Surprisingly the price of a vet bill is very cheap in Cyprus as compared with the UK. Just for the vet to see a dog in the UK will cost around £35ukp. not including any medication etc.

We had a vet consultancy, de-tic the dog (and believe me there was a fair few) give it a health check and it;s first injections, for an amazing £25.

Amazing.

We’ve been here nearly four years now and our bills for rescue dog care (we never owned dogs before coming here) run into thousands…

Unfortunately, we’ve learnt that we simply cannot rescue every stray dog or those that are dumped in the road outside our house. Not only are the vet’s bills ultimately huge (inoculations, anti-biotics, operations and Stronghold treatments soon add up), but the emotional trauma is sometimes too much to bear. We came here for an easier life, not to be full-time animal carers.

Ultimately, I believe that removing the problem from the Cypriots is in itself damaging. Every time an ex-pat rescues a stray dog or cares for a crate of unwanted puppies dumped outside their home the Cypriot owners go back and let their dogs create more. I really believe that the only solution is to dump these dogs at the village council and let them take responsibility.

[littlemiss]

that would only give them something to practice their hunting skill on! I really dont think anything will change the cypriots need to teach their kids to respect animals and look after them and then only through the generations will the problem dissapear, but even that wont happen cos its the older generation now that are treating these poor things so bad so who can teach the kids? I had a friend whos son got in a fight at school cos he tried to stop the other kids kicking a kitten to death, so this looks like it will be a problem for years and years

[lindy1706]

It is a sad fact of life that you do need to harden up and quickly.......and yes it is damned hard!

Our neighbours have just got Puppy no 5 (this year) it is tiny very cute and wearing a pink doggy t-shirt........I have taken the view that I will have nothing to do with it until it has been here for 3 momths......it won't be. As I sit typing this all I can hear is it crying on the balcony.....heartbreaking.

All I can do is take great satisfaction that thre are two healthy, happy dogs here with us that would'nt have been alive under other circumstances and little Zygi is being spoiled rotten at my mums.

[annecollings]

SORRY !!!

I have been very busy and only just got time to read the threads. Oh dear, I'm sorry that I seem to have upset a lot of people. I'm just an animal lover that must have got out the wrong side of the bed that morning when I made "the comment" !! Obviously I misunderstood the remark and I do understand there are many different cultures out there.

ONCE AGAIN SORRY IF I UPSET ANYONE