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Three puppies in one litter with cleft palate-cleft lip complex sounds like infection (lack of vaccination?) or toxins (poisons or medications) in pregnancy . Or someone accidentally bred two brachycephalic (shortnosed) dogs without health tests that they purchased from a eucalyptus tree site or similar. Inheritance for this complex is simple recessive or irregular dominant. Ref: Veterinary Pediatrics 3rd Edition Johnny D. Hoskins (Ed)

True!

As a female dog is capable of being fertilised more than once over a period of up to 10 days during her estrus cycle, it's entirely possible for a litter of pups to have more than one sire. The biggest issue is if she's impregnated early in that period, and again later in that period, ostensibly the later mating pups will be gestated for less time than the first mating ones, which can result in less developed pups being born. Timing matters so much when the gestation period is only 9weeks... just one week less gestation can result in some pretty serious defects. T.

There was a segment on this on Radio National Breakfast this morning, Monday. The person interviewed, Michelle Robertson, said most of the dogs they had were mixed breeds, mixes of working dogs, Kelpies, mastiffs and staffies.

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As Richard said, considering all that can go wrong in a developing foetus, we should be more amazed how many are born normal

The most common cause of certain issues in dogs is their owners' unrealistic expectations for them to be like furry human children... and anxiety and the like is on the rise with human children too... maybe there's a common thread? Seriously... why can't we just let dogs be dogs? Let them do doggy things instead of expecting them to act like humans to "fit in". T.

Forgive me for being a little cynical, but I wonder how many puppies they've put down due to parvovirus rather than raising them... I'm cynical about the diagnosis being used to kill them - it way or may not be 100% the case, as unfortunately we only have their word for said diagnosis, and I don't trust anything the RSPCA says. Deformities are more likely when 2 dogs are chucked together with little forethought to the timing or suitability of the mating(s) between two dogs, so I'll concede that one. T.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-06-22/act-rspca-desexing-problem-in-canberra/105446390

https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2025-06-22/medication-dogs-behavioural-issues-what-the-duck-what-the-dog/105374914

I’m not sure about that. About 60 years ago, my parents fostered two dingo pups for Eric Worrell, founder of the Australian Reptile Park. One was extremely timid around people and would leap across the furniture to its hidey-hole if anyone came into the house. The other was highly sociable and greeted everyone as a friend. I also have a photo of my mother teaching one of Eric Worrell’s adult dingos to retrieve a ball. She said it was similar to a dog in its play drive and sociability.

15 years old. Had a good run. I suspect he had domestic dog in his genetics given that he was outgoing to all and played with other dogs. ABC News

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-06-19/veterinary-telemedicine-ease-stress-on-pet-owners-and-vets/105421918

Thanks everyone. I bought some Stockman & Paddock and will try him on that

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-06-17/rat-lungworm-disease-spike-dog-infections/105408304

You are a great nurse Poor Rocky ( i remember him from photos you shared ) ....it must have been very painful for him to be so restricted. Here's hoping whatever it was doesn't return!

QCAT may be able to help. Money was owed to me over a different type of dog issue and that’s the road I took. It’s a complicated system but we got there in the end. Good luck

Thankyou for this - the state in question is actually Queensland

I’m just wondering if anyones dog has ever suffered from IVDD. We were, until today looking after my sons French bulldog Rocko. They have been overseas for the past month and we had Rocko with us. He is 4 years old. He can be quite boisterous but we try not to get him overly excited because he then gets too rough for Molly. She likes him when he’s rather calm. So do we. Haha Anyway, on Wednesday I spent most of the day outside gardening while both dogs casually followed me around or just laid about on their beds in the sun. That night Rocko went to bed perfectly fine. He sleeps in a crate with the door shut. We never hear a peep out of him. Thursday morning when I went to let him out he didn’t really seem interested. I encouraged him out but as he got out of the crate I could see he wasn’t really putting much weight on one of his back legs. At first I thought he’d probably been laying on it but as I encouraged him outside I could see he just didn’t want to walk. Both legs weren’t real good. He’d take 2 steps and sit. He eventually peed and I took him back inside. He didn’t want breakfast either. During the day I got him outside a few times to toilet but each time I had to lift him to stand. Once up he’d walk but was very wobbly and I needed to support him. We got a vet appointment that afternoon and after she checked him over she thought he may have IVDD. He’s never had a back issue before and I can honestly say he didn’t do anything stupid while here. She prescribed gaberpentin twice a day with complete bed rest except for on lead toilet breaks. That was easy as he didn’t want to move anyway. Friday he was very much out of it. Very sleepy and quiet. Still not using his legs real good. I had to hand feed him and I was using a syringe to get water into him as he wouldn’t eat or drink by himself. Very upsetting to see him like that but by Friday night I could finally see slight improvement. By Saturday he had improved more and finally started to eat and drink and could walk longer. He was still wobbly but there was improvement. This morning when we opened the crate he walked straight out and was 95% his old self. Eating, drinking, toileting and walking about and walking so much better. My son arrived mid morning and got a very nice happy welcome home from him and he could hardly tell that there was anything wrong with him. Im just rather curious. From what I read IVDD could take weeks to get better. We are guessing the vet was right but I guess she couldn’t be 100% as no tests were done. She could feel a sore spot on his lower back though. My son will take him to his vet and get him checked as a precaution. I’m thinking his miraculous recovery could be due to getting him to the vet and checked out quickly plus I made sure he got the rest and care he needed. He’s been quite spoilt actually. His day bed was in front of the fireplace and his crate was put in the lounge room with the aircon on all night to keep him warm and comfortable as it’s been absolutely freezing here. And of course he obviously responded well to the medication. We do understand that the medication could be masking a problem but as I said he will be checked over by his vet. Just interested to hear other stories or thoughts.

That poor postie! I am thinking if she was shorter the bite may have been on the neck ! It's always been a joke- dogs & posties ...but it's getting nasty now

https://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/home/pets/powerful-jaws-postie-reveals-horrific-trauma-after-vicious-dog-attack-on-the-job/news-story/e50b9af0b7d73811cdf8df9180c7d21a

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No idea if this works...I tend to need to slim down fatties. But if there's a real butcher anywhere near, you might ask about fatty offcuts. I've often had to trim off and dispose of fat from chooks frames and brisket bones, and sometimes when I am at our local butcher I see guys in the background trimming off fat.

Nothing wrong with porridge. Proper rolled oats is, imo, a whole food. Just feed him this over winter. Or get supercoat puppy for him. Or just up his normal foods by 1/3.

I have had this happen with adolescent sighthounds.There is nothing wrong with having a greyhound or sighthound build! If he is very active he may just have a marathon runner's physique, very lean, or his hormones are not doing him any favours. If he is otherwise healthy (and not losing weight) I wouldn't worry and wouldn't add anything except perhaps carefully add some extra oil, or feed another small balanced meal.