kendall

"ADVOCATE may be safely applied to heartworm infected dogs therefore there is no absolute requirement for a heartworm test before commencing treatment. However a diagnostic test for heartworm prior to commencement of treatment is recommended to ensure the optimum health of dogs". Straight from the info sheet out of my dog's packet of Advocate BUT I would still want to test my dogs to know that they were free of heartworm

According to the packet that info is correct as far as giving Advocate to dogs without doing the test first. I think for my own peace of mind I would have the test done anyway to be sure.

so sorry to hear this RIP baby

so sorry for your loss Choppa was a gorgeous boy RIP Choppa

Larkhill Vets are great :rolleyes:

KW - so sorry about Rex Big hugs from my family to yours

So sorry for your loss he was a beautiful big boofer

Just a thought ... but if her ears are really smelly she may already have an ear infection?? No tips sorry - I have to do Amber's ears (Cocker spaniel) tonight but I might get OH to hold her for me - see how we go!

Name: Amber Meaning: a type of semi-precious gem, golden colour, 'sky' in Sanskrit! Sex: Female DOB: 18th July 2007 Age: 10.5 weeks Colour: gold Breed: Cocker Spaniel Likes: chasing the kitten and playing with Diesel. FOOD!!!! Dislikes: nothing so far only been home a week so....

I am so sorry for your loss Your tribute brought back so many memories of my beautiful boy Griffin - I still cry when I think of him. I know he is 'with me' as Aspen is with you. RIP beautiful Aspen

Diesel won't touch Purina One - I think that is the only thing he won't eat I feed him Optimum Light at the moment - poos are pretty good - smallish and don't really smell. I found with Supercoat his poos were enormous and very stinky

Agree with GayleK - diet is very important for their general body condition and coat - doesn't Benson's diet sound fantastic! If you are feeding a good quality biscuit (as Zoya is going to be a large breed make sure the biscuits are designed for large breed puppies - the ratios are different), calcium should be provided by that and also by the chicken bones. If you make up your own mix, do a bit of research to get the ratios right - it is very important especially with growing puppies that the 'mix' is correct. I wouldn't add rice (or only a VERY small amount) and concentrate on the bones, mince and vegies with the proper supplements. Do a search on BARF or RAW on here for help.

Get Zoya used to a normal collar and lead around the house and yard first before attempting to take her out. At nearly 10 weeks she is still not fully vaccinated so I wouldn't be walking her in public places. She can still go on trips and visits to safe places to get her socialised - which is very important. Exposure to lots of new things in a good way helps pups to become confident and friendly Like Cosmolo said, get her into a good puppy preschool and then she can play with lots of different puppies and they will teach you how to teach her! Food - I would stop the milk and maybe not use the tinned food (mostly water anyway). Use a good quality dry food. Wings and other bones are great. Try adding an egg to her biscuits once a week or a tin of sardines - that will help her coat to shine. Kong- you can put some of her dry food into the kong and give it to her that way instead of in a bowl - this will give her something to do. You can also put a little bit of cheese or other soft meat in it (only a little bit) and leave that for her. Peanut butter can also be fun for them to lick out. In warmer weather, plug the little end with peanut butter and put the kong in a cup and fill the kong with water or stock. Freeze it and then it is an iceblock for her to lick when she is hot! Hope these help. Edit- posted at same time - sorry Tigerbluez. Brush - a good slicker brush would be good for her coat but there are lots of different types of brushes and combs for dogs. Maybe ask in the GSD or Husky threads

gremlins!

double post

What happens if you in an accident and a friend needs to feed the dog, and they don't know the command? I asked someone about this today, and they said that a) a dog won't starve itself, and b) a dog is normally in 'work' mode when food refusal is enforced etc. She said that a dog would more than likely eat something on the ground if they had no lead on etc. She also said that dogs are natural scavengers and its hard to switch that off, when they are in 'free' mode. This confuses me a little. Do you mean that when they are off lead they can eat anything off the ground because they are 'free' - seems to defeat the purpose of teaching food refusal??? As someone said before, their dog eats anything off the ground, thrown over the fence etc. Food refusal and an 'eat' word would stop this even if they were free - isn't that what you want?? I ave heard of dogs starving to death (colud be urban myth??) because they either wouldn't leave their dead or injured 'master' or the eat command word wasn't used - dogs do starve themselves sometimes. I think you would need to tell trusted people who may have to care for your dog if you are ever incapacitated the special word. Maybe have it written down in your important papers or in a phonebook or similar so that it can be found easliy by the 'right' people. I think it is a good idea to teach 'eat on command' as long as you aren't the only one who knows

I would assume it is a 'lead' or similar that is attached to the trainer's waist?? I have seen them sold on some doggy websites as more obvious leads so that you have hands free while you are walking. (sorry posted at the same time!) I think your idea makes sense (although I am not a trainer and have never used one before ).Good luck with it and let us know how your dog improves. I do agree with the others though - I would use something other than fishing line (forgot to mention that before)

I thought one of the reasons for feeding BARF was so you knew exactly what was in your dog's food???? I know Dr Billinghurst makes BARF patties, but I thought it was supposed to be a mainly bones, offal type additives and raw vegies/fruit. I can understand that the patties are more convenient.

You can buy it from here

I used to use the moist Nature's Gift 'treats' and little bits of Liver Treat or just lots of rubs and cuddles (Diesel has a tendency to pile on the weight with too many treats!). Mushrooms shouldn't be fed to dogs - they are toxic (some varieties more than others).

Could there have been a head injury of some sort??

Molasseslass. Will try to get to Bunnings this week - have 3 Bunnings stores I can go to so hopefully there will be some Have to be prepared for my pup

What about a staffy ball from Aussie Dog Products??? Haven't tried one myself but if they are suitable for a Gorilla then a staffy should be ok Staffy Ball EFS

this has been recommended to me too. Can you provide a photo?

Why would you be happy that your dog lifts his leg to pee and humps things?? These are the two reasons most people give for not wanting male dogs. My boy was desexed at 6 months and has never cocked his leg or humped another dog (or our legs ). It is great!! These behaviours can be seen to be a bit antisocial so would discourage them(at the very least don't encourage the humping). Are you going to have him desexed? If not the likely things that may happen behaviour-wise are: increased likelihood of roaming, more humping, possible aggression around other unsterilised dogs or bitches on heat etc. I am not saying that only unsterilised dogs are like this but it may be more common - particularly the desire to find bitches on heat. I'll let someone else with more experience mention the physical aspect. Hope this helps and I haven't offended you