meganjane

I'm surprised no one else has already said this... FARTING. Roo meat makes a lot of dogs I've met fart and it stinks like you wouldn't believe. My dog can munch away on it happily but my bitch, my oath. She gets a taste of it and clears the room. Surely I'm not the only person whose known of this side effect???

You guys will have to excuse me, I'm not a dog biology expert! Yes, Hock... she called it ankle... I was calling it a knee! After the cancer scare, I wasn't sure I could lose much more respect for my vet but now I know she's calling dogs bits strange names, I'm more worried She indicated to me that the lump was bone, solid. She said they could biopsy if I wanted but that she recommended wait and see what eventuated with time first. Then again I was so worried she might've just been glad to see the back of me and my 'interesting' (her word!) looking dog

Ankle.. umm.. well that's what the vet called it. The lowest joint in the hind leg before the foot. I was calling it his knee, and there was much eye rolling when she informed me it was his ankle. My vet was just a regular vet - I live rurally, in Tassie. I'm not even sure we'd have an osteo vet here, unless there's one in either Launceston or Hobart? I haven't had a biopsy done as the vet seems to think it wont tell us anything much - she sent us home to go back in a few months for new xrays to see if it was sorting itself out, and maybe scrape back the bone? I assume at this point (four months on) that if it was sarcoma we'd be seeing a drastic change in the dogs health? As I said, he's fit as a fiddle, tho I think he's taken years off MY life in the process. Bum. I was hoping you guys would say it could be mild HD... that seemed less scary than some other options!!! I thought if the hip was causing him to walk awkwardly, that maybe that could cause wear and tear on joints further down the leg...

Ok so here's the long sordid story - the vet is a bit so I thought I'd run it past you guys!!! I promise you there is a point, at the end! Olly (5.5 yo, lab x kelpie x smithfield) came home from a lovely long bush bashing walk early August and promptly popped up a large swelling on his ankle - round, seemingly right on the ankle bone, rock solid, ankle was roughly twice the size it ought to be. He's about the same size as an adult male lab, but a little leaner. The vet checked him over, declared him in remarkable health (eyes, teeth, coat, build, the usual) until she got to his ankle and freaked out. She started talking osteo sarcoma and freaked ME out. We xrayed, she declared it inconclusive without a biopsy and sent me home with anti inflammatories, to come back after they'd been used and see where we were at tho she 'wasn't hopeful'. I cried and cried. I should point out here this dog NEVER licked at the lump, NEVER limped, NEVER presented any signs whatsoever that anything was wrong - he was happy to continue life as he always had. He only went to the vet because I wasn't happy about the bump. If you went off his behaviour, nothing had changed whatsoever. No stiffness, nothing. Anti inflammatories (which he loved! Lollies!) took the heat out and a little bit of the swelling but not much. So back we went, second xray, sent home with a double course of anti biotics incase it was a bone infection, and a big apology from the vet for scaring me as she "Didn't mean it was osteo sarcoma but just wanted me to know that was an option" (funny that - she never really mentioned ANYTHING else, but mentioned that repeatedly...) I demanded he was seen by the senior vet whilst we were there, who also declared him in perfectly good health other than the swelling. Turns out with both xrays that the swelling is bone, right up near where the ankle joint is, and a little bit down the side. There are little fractures (not the word she used but I forget?) but they aren't sunburst, which apparently signifies osteo sarcoma? But they're straight, leading into the bone. (I think that was the way it went. Either way she def. said it wasn't the one that cancer usually had) The vet said she wasn't sure what it was, and that without a biopsy we couldn't rule anything out, but at the moment she couldn't rule anything IN, other than the fact he wasn't showing any other signs of the dreaded osteo sarcoma. So I was told to take him home, watch it and try not to worry. Thanks vet! "You're dog might have cancer - go home and try not to worry!" !!! (So that was back in August/September - now it's December and this dog of mine still has the lump - hasn't changed - still is fit as a fiddle, eating everything, playing, pooping, shiny coat, the works. I think this means we can rule out osteo sarcoma? I have him on sasha's blend now, as a preventative for the cartlidge issue I know he's going to get as a result of having a big lump pressing into his cartlidge) MY QUESTION TO YOU GUYS IS... in my research for an answer, I discovered that my dog presents a lot of signs of hip displasia - he has the frog sit (always has), very wiggly in the hips and has a slight 'cowboy' gait (always put that down to lab?), since he was young he's always run slightly crab-like - he's always swung his hindquarters around slightly so his body isn't dead straight, but EVERY SO SLIGHTLY out, as in you can see his hind feet off to the side slightly from his front feet, since the ankle thing I noticed if he's running over a large distance he will bunny hop his hind legs every few steps, or swing one leg through without touching it to the ground, he doesn't jump much - will jump in a car as a once off, or on the furniture if he's super excited (I taught him not to jump on people as a pup so I assumed it was that?) and when he's climbing on furniture he tends to poke his chest onto it and then climb up one hind leg at a time, dragging himself up (I always put this down to his size, he didn't need to jump). He does, however, have no problems stretching. Oh and he isn't hugely fond of me touching around his hips, but he also hates me kissing him so that may mean nothing!!! His dad is a purebred lab who scored no HD. Could my doggie have HD? And if he does, could this have caused the bony growth on his ankle, if it put his whole right leg out of whack? I have no experience with HD and put all his little wiggly ways down to the fact he's a mutt, and nothing quite fits. Sorry for rambling, but I'm never sure what info is relevant and what isn't!!!

Oh yeah, crash test dummy, that sounds familiar Olly isn't quite that bad but he's very licky. He likes to nuzzle behind my knees until he can fit through (lab x, lab size and build!) to dance through...

Oh god my boy has never been a humper - neutered at 5 months old, 20 months now and the worst he does is hump my bitch when she's in season and she has to bully him into it... I'm terrified of getting a humper now, you've put me off boy doggies for life :D

Heh heh yeah my boy loves fruit too, haven't met something he wont eat yet - kiwi, orange, mandarin, strawberries, apples... dont think I tried him on pineapple tho He LOVES bananas but needless to say neither of us are getting many of them atm

Ashli I reckon that's about right, my girl is on the sensitive stomach one and that scored 98, if I did it right which I'm VERY pleased about.

Chuckie, don't feel bad, if that's what works for you and your dog, good on you both My girl would kill for dentastix yet doesn't like dentabones. My boy eats everything that stands still. Kel has no issues with dentastix and nor do I, tho I don't think they last long enough to do anything for her teeth

Can't speak for the colour enhancement of Livamol - I have a black lab x and a blue merle rough collie, neither of which showed any changes in colour but the shine, the softness (the lad is neutered) and the thickness... I'll never take mine off of it! I'm in northern Tassie and the cheapest place I've found to buy it is The Animal Tuckerbox, but it's fairly available in most places that sell stock feed like these guys said, and I think it was initially designed for horses so Horseland etc. I think I paid about $17 for 3kg and mine get a teaspoon each a day, so it goes a long way.

Work from the inside out - teaspoon of livamol a day, it's a coat conditioner, both mine are on it - lab x and rough collie and they look awesome, the collie's coat has never been thicker or softer and the lab x looks like he's been dipped in oil. Highly recommend it.

Whinging dogs do not always need a whizz. My boy is 18 months old and will sit next to me and whinge and whinge and whinge for half an hour, I can stonily faced ignore him and he will do it all day... he's doing it because he wants to go outside - TO PLAY. He wont whizz, he'll just demand I throw a ball around ;)

My boy didn't chew a bloody thing until he got to about 14 months old, now he wont leave stuff alone... he carries my stuffed toys around, sits them in little groups for tea parties and doesn't harm a hair on the head but if it's plastic and gives some resistance... My sisters DVD remote My sisters glasses case My garbage bin - that was great, picked bits up, went to put them in the bin and... no... that wont work Countless pens Two pairs of glasses (!?! Not the lenses!) My hairbrush Varying knickknacks A can of spray deoderant (mum left it down, thank Christ he didn't inhale it when he bit it, ALL aerosol cans are kept WELL out of puppy dogs reaches now) Several jewellery cases Worst part is I do the right thing and put things up where he can't reach them and the BLOODY CATS knock them down for him!!!

I can't add a lot to the convo that's productive flycow, other than I have a lab x and I feel your pain 18 month of lab x and he's still an over grown puppy. He's more puppy NOW than he was at 6 months old. And he's bigger so he can reach more. 1) For my bitch, to me she was matured when she came into her full adult coat, and filled out into her Big Girl's Body. Personality wise, she hasn't changed a lot, she was always a pretty well behaved little muppet. For my pup... I'm still waiting! 2) Bitch is a rough collie, pup is a lab x pony. 3) Kels was probably about... 2 years. Olly will never be an adult. I swear. 4) Don't ever get another lab

Thanks guys Nekhbet - I'm seriously considering rotating his toys, I think he's bored of all of his as he doesn't play with them as much as he used to. Due to varying reasons crate training might be difficult in my household, but it's something I will keep in mind if it comes down to safety. For now, putting things up out of reach is working - to a degree. I put everything up out of reach prior to having to leave the house for 8 hours and came home to find the only thing done was he ate my plastic garbage in He pulled the bag out with the garbage IN it just to chew up the bin... This was pointed out and he was scolded. Today he was left alone for 75 minutes and didn't touch a thing, didn't even relocate stuffed toys into a tea party - success! Baby steps!