UltimatePup

We are a health insurer's dream. We never make claims and we take obsessively good care of our dog, so really we just donate money to our insurer (PetPlan) each year for nothing more than peace of mind! Unfortunately we are now among the thousands who have received notification of a massive insurance fee increase from PetPlan, despite years of no claims. We found them to be grossly incompetent right at the start of the policy which always left a bad taste in our mouths, so this is the last straw. More than likely we will just drop them entirely and save our money in our own bank account instead of theirs. FYI, they are asking $800/yr for a young, sparklingly healthy no-claims dog. Really stupid of them to turn off the tap from their most profitable customer category. This move also makes me think they may be closing down, or are so stupid that they will put themselves into administration, which won't serve us in the long run either. I've never considered going without insurance before. I don't like it. But I won't pay $800, with gawd knows what further increase to greet us next year and thereafter, if they are still in business. So are there any viable pet insurers left in Australia? Any competition at all? Or still just identical Hollard-backed policies everywhere? Are any other firms jumping in to sweep up PetPlan's mess and grab all their departing customers? Any policies around with worthwhile tick bite cover? Thanks :)

Aussielover, that's very informative and encouraging, thank you. Perhaps we will drop by to watch and chat, as you suggest. Thanks Kavik, though Parramatta is a long and miserable drive away (and the Hills is not much better), so we are really hanging out for somewhere within the green and peaceful limits of the 'insular peninsular'! :D

Hi We would love to try taking our dog to beginner's agility as she seems to have the constitution for it. Are there any clubs you'd recommend on Sydney's Northern Beaches or just slightly inland? We had planned to go to a club at Deep Creek Dog Training Reserve in Narrabeen, but their fee structure is very off-putting to newbies; it works out to $43 just try it out once, without knowing whether we, or our dog, we will even like it. We are keen to find another club that's more welcoming to beginners. Any suggestions please? Thank you

About 6 months ago I had no trouble buying nice juicy Kangaroo tails from http://www.justfood4dogs.com.au/, but they have not had any available now for months. My dog loves the stuff and I like her to have some game meat in her diet, so where else is it available in Sydney? I know there's a supermarket packaged product that says "Roo meat" on the front while the smallprint says "Roo and other meat", i.e. God knows what and that just isn't good enough. I'm looking for roo meat off the bone, or 100% roo mince. Thanks for any help.

Jeepers, scary! They'd better not make any mistakes and go killing someone's beloved furkid! Mind you, from the link they give to the definition of what they classify as a PBT, you'd have to have a fairly immaculately bred animal that meets the breed standard in detail to officially qualify. Many people could be OK, theoretically, as this level of detail makes the ruling tough to enforce: http://new.dpi.vic.gov.au/pets/about-pets/legislation-and-regulation/standard-for-restricted-breed-dogs It's still much better to register your dog though, regardless of breed. As a pet owner, microchipping and council registration is quite reasuring and worth the small cost.

There's a summary here - click once on the picture to bring up the information panel: http://dogbreedguide.whosyadoggy.com/?x=34

Thanks guys. I was worried that I might be looking at a different version of the product.

Hi Quick question to anyone who has bought an Easy Walk harness lately: Are they really dual-colour (belly strap is different) as per the description, or all one colour as per the photos on the packets/in online shops? Thanks

Thanks, we will look into that. I was hoping someone might recognise the smell from the description! Strange, though, that her actual butt and girl bits don't seem to smell. It's more from the muscular area over her hips, as though it's in her fur there. It doesn't make sense, though, that it would appear there suddenly, so anal glands might be what it's about. BTW, she's a 9 month old Golden Retriever. We feed a lot of raw including bone, plus Canidae Salmon, a bit of veg and egg.

Our dog generally doesn't smell. She has almost no doggy odour, so when a smell does appear we really notice it. It's happend a couple of times before, and again today, that a strange smell emerges from the skin on her lower back and hips area. It smells kind of metallic, but more unpleasant than that, sort of sour and 'off'. It can waft quite far. Oddly, it seems to get progressively worse over a few hours or days, then goes away. We initially presumed it was due to playing in the mud (she's half Hippo) in a rather icky dog park after a lot of rain, but it's been raining so much this week that we haven't taken her. She's been fresh as a daisy all day, and we were playing with her and brushing her in the lounge room for quite a while this evening with no issue, then suddenly the unpleasant sour metallic smell emerged again, as if from nowhere. What could it be?! Has anyone come across such a thing? It really seems to be coming from the skin on her rump. We have had a good sniff around (I mean, really, we have!) and it's nowhere else on her. She's healthy, etc.

Thanks, that's really helpful.

She's 8 months old, mostly Golden Retriever. The curls come from elsewhere! She has just started shedding a bit, so maybe it's a coat change coming in? She's a very soft cuddly girl. Re $$$, the ingredients for Cowboy Magic are the same as in some slick silicon-based hair conditioners. I found something in my cupboard very similar so am trying that. She smells lovely . I did end up cutting the worst matt out. The vertical cuts were not enough and she was fed up of us fiddling with her ears. I will also try a slicker brush as a preventative.

This has been really useful, thanks. Here are those ears...

My dog has ultra fine, soft, slightly curly fur behind and under her ears that is very prone to tangling, to the point of matting. I do brush and comb her regularly but have just realised I've been missing a bit. There are soft, dense matts under each ear. We have tried gently working in from the edges but no luck; we are going to have to cut the matts out . Do you have any tips for minimising this type of tangling, other than the obvious combing every two days? e.g. Do human de-tanglers work on dog fur?

Has anyone mentioned fish oil yet? Omega-3 fatty acid-enriched diets can be used to control inflammation associated with dermatologic conditions. Twenty-one dogs with atopy were entered into a blinded, placebo-controlled study lasting eight weeks... The dogs in groups A and B were given borage seed oil and fish oil in combination to provide 176 mg/kg or 88 mg/kg respectively. The dogs in group C were given 204 mg/kg olive oil as a placebo. They were all re-examined after four and eight weeks and scored for pruritus, erythema, oedema, alopecia and self-excoriation. After eight weeks ... the total score for the dogs in group A and group B were significantly reduced (P < 0.05). The dogs in group C showed no significant improvement. Fish oil is also great for joint inflammation, so should probably be a standard inclusion in her diet. Does she also get some organ meats? Vitamin A is essential for immune and skin health; there's a stack of it in liver. Another natural food I love is ZiwiPeak 'treats' - the one made from freeze-dried venison and New Zealand green-lipped mussel - fantastic for joint health. I would also increase the number of raw eggs and chicken carcasses for all of the great skin and joint nutrients in those. Does she get any raw grated vegetables? I am undecided whether dogs need these, but er on the side of 'a little won't hurt and may be a good thing', as dogs do seem to naturally eat small amounts of raw fruit and veg. For mites, fleas and worms Advocate may be worth a try, dosed at 1ml per 10kg body weight, being the minimum effective dose. I hate using chemicals too, but I do use Advocate for control of heartworm, intestinal worms, fleas and various mites. No need to make it a regular thing if you don't want to, but it could be a great experiment to use something very effective like that to ensure she is definitely clear of worms, heartworms and mites. As you are a raw feeder/low chemical user, I expect you have wisely avoided unnecessary annual vaccinations, yes? Aggravating the immune system with annuals seems to have a relationship with skin conditions. There is also a possibility of weakness created by her maternal/in utero problems. I have never heard of a newborn pup with hip displasia! Her mother must have had severe malnutrition of some kind. Do you know what went wrong there? Anyway, it seems that you are very dedicated doggy parent and are doing all sorts of good things to help her. I hope to see updated healthy pictures here soo enough.