Teddy Talk: Creating, Collecting, Connecting

The main thing to remember with allergies is that with each exposure to the allergen, the body wil will respond harder. 

I've used Benedryl on the recommendation of my vet for my coati baby.  1mil  it certainly cleared up the problem 

That's brilliant!!!   :clap:  :clap:   So sorry she's had to back out of the transaction, but really pleased you could get your fees refunded. 

Where do you find the help phonenumber?  I've needed help in the past, but only got stuck with their (mostly useless) general help format 

You don't say how old your fur baby is, but one product you might try at home for the transitioning is DAP.  Its something that was coming into vogue as I was forced into retiring from dog grooming (early retirement due to overworking my wrists    ).  DAP stands for Dog Appeasing Pheramone.  Essentially its the smell the mommy dog secretes as the puppies are nursing.  So all in all it tells a dog 'all is well, Mommy's here, all is well'. 

I've never personally used it, but in the last 6 months of my dog grooming, my customers raved about how excellent the results were.  And they used it for a variety of separation anxiety. 

As for doggy motels, I found next door neighbors worked for my childhood pets the best, or at the least, keeping our pets at home where they were most comfortable.  It must be noted, our pets were not remotely territorial!  (not for your baby, shih tzus rarely are, but for others who may be lurking  ), so it worked well to have a neighbor stop by and feed/water and chat with our pets.  Most of the time they slept nonstop. 

And lastly, I sincerely doubt it, but if your pet is running a temperature or is slightly 'off' or their stool/behavior is otherwise different, get them into the vets.  Its conceivable they may have picked up a flu or bug whilst being boarded.  NOT saying the place they stayed is awful.  Far from it.  Its kinda like a bunch of kids right after school starts.  Everyone's stressed and before you know it they're swapping a flu around. Ditto can happen with pups at a boarding kennel. My own local vets say the pups must have a vaccine for kennel cough before they can come in, so that tells ya something right there.  Nothing deadly, but your pup may be feeling 'off' because he really is feeling off.

:crackup:  :crackup:  :crackup:   This left me laughing so hard I could barely read the replies!!

All I can say is go with your first impulse regarding bear adoption.  I rarely find the first impulses are wrong.      Even if you're overwhelmed, if you feel its the correct one to bring home, buy it!  No matter who you bring home, or if your guard bear says bring no none home (impossible!!!) you will come away with some of the best times of your life!  :bday:   

  I'm another who has teddy bears for sleeping with, and others for hanging out watching tv with.  I've always been a diehard animal lover, so the bridge between stuffed and real was forged long ago.      

When it comes to my bears, the cuddle capacity was a huge focus for my first designs.  I made my larger bears non jointed and roughly the size of a baby, so 18" (lol, okay, I mean a several months old baby  ).  The 'just right' weight and cuddle capacity was what I aimed for.  It wasn't something I measured, I just knew it once I could feel it was the right weight. 

I sold several of those bears and they went to homes with cancer survivors, and a beautiful cerebral palsey girl got a one of a kind bear from me.  It was a new design with longer, more angular arms, and when they placed it on her, it curved perfectly to her, giving her a hug     

As my teddy bears have evolved, I was told I needed to joint my bears if I wanted more money, and they had to be this and that to be more desirable.  I still continued to create what I wanted, but grudgingly let go my larger non jointed designs.  They sit collecting dust     

My smaller bears are still very healing and soothing, as I continued to strive for that in all my bears.  But let's face it, sitting and cuddling a small bear is not exactly the same as being able to give a big ole bear hug 

  Awwwhhh, how wonderful!!!  :clap:   Good on you for such swift action    Will you get to follow its progress?   

Awwwhh, beautiful!!!!       I did similar with a baby kestrel last year.  I corralled our cat and kept watch over it til Miss Kestrel could retrieve her baby. 

Be alert to small birds too.  I know it sounds silly, but our songbirds were taking full advantage, trying to harm the baby kestrel.  Poor thing was so frightened!     

I sincerely hope they can come quickly!!!  Peregrines are so endangered, and babies dehydrate so quickly  :pray:  :pray:  :pray:

How very, very cool to hear these stories!!!!  The world is indeed a small place  :hug:

Spare the rod, spoil the child....and in many, many cases, the rod was spared on the parent.      We are seeing a knock down effect from a lack of respect and discipline amongst the children.  And these children who were allowed to do as they liked are now 'parents'...and boy do I use that term loosely!  The television was allowed to be the babysitter and as the parents had no parameters instilled, they certainly do not pass them onto their children.  I cannot begin to tell you how horrified I was to hear my own niece speaking to my sister in law!     The child was cursing her mother, backtalking like no tomorrow ~ and no consequences.  It was all I could do to keep my hands still and my mouth shut, and yet, maybe I shouldn't have?  Maybe I've just added to the problems that we'll be seeing in society by not correcting her.  Heavens knows my brother was brought up better than that! 

Children need rules and boundaries...and those need to be reinforced at all times.  Yes, its absolutely exhausting, but so is parenting. 

Krista and Tammy, I SOO feel for you both!!!  :hug:  :hug:   And will keep your kids in my thoughts.  Are there any alternatives?  Perhaps a religious school nearby that you could enroll them in?  Or this possible online high school??  Your babies can't learn (no one could) in an environment like that.  I know the teachers get the bad rap too, but honestly, it was up to the parents years ago to instill a respect for elders.  They are teachers, they shouldn't have to be trained in paramilitary tactics in order to teach!

Kristina, hun, you're not going to want to hear this, but yes, they did the right thing by giving the dog back to its owner.  What you saw was a very elderly dog.  Very elderly dogs, just like very elderly humans do not look their best.  I used to dog groom, and believe me, my stomach did flip flops at some of the beyond ancient dogs that would dodder in with their owners.  The sad fact is, the owner was not willing to put the dog down.  Most of the time it was a case of taking extreme care, giving the dog the rest it needed and always remembering this was a very elderly dog I was grooming. 

In the case of large tumors.  If the dog is old enough, you cannot safely sedate them to remove the tumor.  Think of trying to sedate a human that's 95-100 years old.  There's such a slim chance of the person surviving the anesthesia.  Worse, I've had owners that did remove large tumors on their dogs, only to have the tumor regrow in the same spot and aggressively get even larger within two months of the original tumor being removed. 

The gunk in the eyes, I'm betting this was a small breed, possibly a toy breed....so something like a yorkie, toy poodle, shih tzu.  These breeds tend to have gunk that builds up in the corners of the eye.  This does need to be removed daily, but most owners do not do so.  Its just like the sleep you wake up with in the corners of your eyes, it just needs to be washed away, but yes it will build up and will be alarming to see if not cleaned away.  I'm not saying this dog had them, but fleas will make this encrustation even worse.  I never could seem to get owners to clean the eyes frequently.  Never could seem to get them to understand this could lead to eye problems. 

Age and bad teethl will have a huge impact on the overall health and eating abilities.  Age itself will also cause problems with being able to keep weight on, because as the dog ages, it loses its ability to absorb food correctly in the intestines.  I'm glad the owners were at least sat down and talked to in this case.  In a lot of cases, I think the owners are surprised to find out how simple things can help. 

To me, it sounds as though this dog had managed to get out the door and out of her yard.  That you stopped and caught her before she toddled into the road was a grand thing to do!!  Kudos to you!!!     And you did the right thing by getting her to the people who could give her treatment and help to reunite her with her owners.  The fact that the owners even called shows that they do indeed love their dog.

  I know all about those  :pray:   She's turned out beautiful!!  :clap: 

Quick!!  Hide the shoes 

  He looks like mischief caught!!  I just love that suspended 'uh oh' look.  Although, I admit, I'd be the first to start looking to see what havoc he's already wreaked  :crackup: 

What an incredibly awesome idea!!!!  :clap:  :clap:  :clap:   I sure hope it succeeds.   

  Very cute, especially with the     

Did you find that mink to have a stiffer outer guardhairs than regular mink?  Me being nosey 

:clap:   What a fantastic idea!!!  Very eyecatching, and Buzz is adorable 

Can't wait to see the Weiner/dragonfly 

I have a friend up in Scotland who has sheep, and I'll just do a quote from her...

"so she's a bit special. She's cross between a Blue Faced Leicester ram and a Cotswold ewe and has the softest fleece in the world. Just wish I knew some spinners to buy it - anyone know of anybody who spins? I have lovely dark brown good quality spinning wool too.  I have lovely dark brown good quality spinning wool too."

If anyone is interested in this wool, pm me and I'll get you in touch with her 

  Wow!!!  Maybe as far as this lady knows, she is the only one?  She has yet to meet all these other lovely people who can do the same.  I think its wonderful that the movie people included an interview with her to promote the movie, though.   :clap:   It shows the talent and hardwork that goes on behind the scenes to make the magic happen. 

Fenbeary ~ I am in love with your teddy in her cardi!!!      She's perfect!!!! 

I certainly agree with the others.  Not everyone in the world is feeling the financial crunch. Place the postage up there, don't be shy and let your international customers have the chance to get one of your gorgeous bears 

PeterBear, thank you SO MUCH for taking the time to give a collector's point of view!!!!  It means a lot to hear from collectors  :hug:  :clap:  :clap:

....edited to add, I asked our own dear Sophie about one of her bears a year or so back.  She very kindly looked into various shipping options for me (thank you sooo much  :hug: )  It was not the price of shipping that prevented me from adopting one of her beautiful bears.  It was simply lack of funds altogether.  Her bear was more than reasonably priced, the shipping completely fair.  If my family's finances had been better, I would have had her bear in an instant.  And I still hold it a dream to have one of her bears in the future. 

So do not feel it is the shipping cost that will 'kill the sale'.  That is the buyer's responsibility, because that is a separate service to get the bear from your house to theirs.   

:crackup:   He looks like a little boy playing!   

:clap:  :clap:  :dance:  Very well deserved!!!  Congratulations Jane!!!  :clap:  :clap:  :clap:

Whoa that's a lot of badgers!     Verrrry cute as babies.      Look at that big one in the front row 

  Awwwwhhhhh 

:clap:   Great idea!!  :clap:

I'm another sat in the cold and wet and wishing for some sunshine and warmth.  But at least its not snow.  ...sigh...just a matter of seeing where the twisters hit as these two cold/hot masses hit over the next few days 

At least you got to keep your electricity and can sew a few bears, Tammi     Thanks for the pretty snow pics.  :photo: