JulesP

I used to see them in the butchers shops in Box Hill.

I thought people might like to know how it ended up. Sad situation all round. At least the report got the breed right!

Thanks guys. This ear thing is driving me batty. Luckily a good clean out fixes the issues. Looks like beef might be a problem as we had been going along quite well.

I usually don't have my mobile phone on me when I am out dog walking. It is my 'quiet' time. I like feeling I am getting away from phones etc

Polypipe is pretty good for whacking things :laugh: It makes a good noise but isn't going to do a heap of damage.

This has been through the court system now. The dogs were PTS and the owners fined $2000. Funny it doesn't say in the story that people had reported the dogs prior to the incident. My dogs are still quite anxious walking past that property. http://www.heraldsun.com.au/leader/east/police-need-capsicum-spray-to-subdue-vicious-dogs-attacking-a-man-at-montrose/story-fngnvlxu-1227012562738

Skin & tummy allergies I know a fair bit about. Just trying to work out how quickly the ears can produce yucky gunk.

Anyone have a dog that has problem ears due to allergies? How quickly do you find that the dog reacts after it has eaten a problem substance? Within a day, within a week or does it takes longer to build up? Ta

Yes you can use diuretics. There are a couple of different ones you can try. I use 2 together for one of my dogs. A low sodium diet also helps.

Approx 7.00am, midday and 6.30pm (mine get 3 feeds because of Amber's liver condition)

Big stick! Mine seem to appreciate me telling barking, annoying dogs off. But I tend to do the low growl 'noooo' rather than yelling.

I do this a lot JulesP & it works well. I have a SudsPro so I just put a tiny bit of conditioner in it & it dilutes it. I rinse their coats out after they swim in the ocean. Stops a lot of coat damage. I wash my own hair like this :laugh:

Try washing her with conditioner only. You have to scrub a bit more with your fingers to get good coverage. Rinse really well.

Poppy would have cracked it in the shop too. She isn't super noisy about it (no barking) but does look fairly feral and air snaps. I wouldn't take her into a shop like that unless I wanted to try a coat or something on her. Just isn't worth the hassle. Other people being silly probably causes me more issues than anything. Was out walking today and a guy with a GR & staffy was way in front of us. His GR saw my dogs and sat down and refused to move! I stopped walking but he still didn't walk on. Poppy HATES GR. He was taking up a fair bit of the road too, so I had to squeeze past. Luckily the GR stayed sitting and the guy and I had a laugh as I walked past so my dogs were ok with it all.

Are there health reasons for not allowing those colours?

What 'imaging' are you talking about? The place Superminty suggested say that they do have imaging equipment. Whether it is as good as the stuff at Melb Vet Spec I don't know. Melb Vet Spec didn't have a MRI when I went. They send people off to a human one! Glad I didn't have to get that done as it was super expensive.

I am struggling to think of a long haired breed that isn't going to shed. Really can't . Some shed more than others of course. If you really don't like hair I would suggest a non shedding breed like a poodle. Someone's idea of not much hair may be too much for you. I had 2 birman cats and their hair was horrendous. The breeder told me that they shed less than a moggy and that it wasn't a hassle. They might have thought the hair loss was ok, I hated it. So that taught me a lesson about asking people questions like that. I don't think my border collies are too bad. I do a daily sweep. Don't get much hair on my clothes but they aren't allowed up on furniture or in the bedroom which would cut hair spreading down. When I was a groomer the 2 dogs that surprised me the most with hair shedding was a pug and a jack russell!

I was happy with the service I received at Melbourne Vet Specialists. The consult was expensive but they have happily given out free advice since then so ended up being good value. They used a whiteboard to explain things and gave me a detailed report.

I get lots of 'what healthy, well cared for dogs' comments. I like the 'what well trained dogs' comments :) Amber's colour confuses people so I get asked what she is a lot. A guy called her a lovely 'tri' the other day, close enough :laugh: A friend has 2 Belgians and gets asked constantly what they are.

Pee on Mum

I haven't had a crate collapse but the canvas and mesh is quite easy to rip through.

I would use a wire crate in that situation. I only use my soft crates if there is a second barrier, inside a house or if I am with them.

A friend uses the comfy cones a lot (accident prone dogs!) and reckons that they are great.

It is a bit tricky to tick all your boxes. Closest I can come is Nutro weight management. 19% protein, lamb based. Has rice. And also chicken fat though. A tip for low protein is to look at weight loss products. Grain free tends to bump up the protein levels.

Looks similar to the teeth formula that did cause poo issues for Poppy. BTW a lot of the ingredients that look like carbs are actually there as high digestible protein sources.