dancinbcs

;) If you have only fed BARF for 10 years and you haven't had a case of demodex for 20 years...how do you figure it was diet related? Fair comment but over the 10 or so years in between I gradually changed what I was feeding, first eliminating anything with colouring and gradually moving to a more natural diet. Overall the skin of my dogs consistantly improved with each diet change until I eventually ended up feeding all BARF. Those early dogs of mine also had various allergy problems that are supposedly "genetic" as well but these skin problems have disappeared completely in my later generations. The only skin problems I have had in the past 15 years is itching in my current dogs when I used the heartworm vaccine. Since going back to monthly tablets this problem has also disappeared. I used to have a wonderful vet years ago who believed that nearly all skin problems could be cured by taking the dog off commercial dog food. If possible he would get the owner to try a diet change, eliminating any commercial food for a month before starting any treatment. Most of his patients needed no other treatment but if they were tearing themselves apart with an allergy he would give a cortisone shot to calm things down before trying the diet change.

I know several people who feed whole gutted raw rabbit and would love to be able to get them at an affordable price. One other important point about feeding rabbit is that there is nothing like cooked, boned rabbit for dogs that are sick and off their food. If a dog refuses cooked rabbit it is usually at death's door. Even the fussiest of dogs who are really bad eaters will happily eat cooked rabbit. It also makes the ultimate bait when training a dog to do something difficult.

Info on wikipedia here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metacam

I now believe it is probably more likely linked to diet rather than genetics as my foundation dog had demodex at 5 months, my foundation bitch had it when raising her first littter and some of this litter also had it at about 12 weeks. More than twenty years later with several generations all descended from these original dogs I have never had another case. The only thing that has changed is that I have fed a natural BARF diet for over 10 years now so diet may well be the culprit. If it was genetic I would still be getting cases in animals that are line bred to my foundation stock.

Definitely not common in Border Collies. I have been involved with Borders for 26 years including over 20 years on the hereditary diseases sub- committiee of the BCC of NSW and have never heard of a Border with discoid lupis. Having said that it is always possible for rare recessive genetic conditions to crop up at any time but if it is not carried by dogs used extensively for breeding it will never become a breed problem. Remember all dogs of all breeds carry faulty genetic traits but most need to meet up with similar genes in breeding partners in order to create a problem.

Does as far as I am concerned, as I know my vet and trust him, and he knows my dogs. I know they will be well cared for. WoUld you shop around for a cheap surgeon for yourself, or would you go to someone you know and trust? In my experience the better vets are also the reasonably priced ones. The really good vets get lots of clients and as a result are able to keep prices down. Everytime I hear horror stories about incompetant vets it is usually one that charged inflated prices. Some just seem to prey on unsuspecting owners and charge whatever they think they can get away with and often do a lousy job at the same time. There are far more bad vets out there than there are good vets. My vets are used by a large proportion of breeders from all over Sydney and are dog repro specialists as well as bird and wildlife specialists. They are extremely good vets and charge very reasonable prices. The vets I used before these ones were very cheap and also very good vets but did not have the after hours service that breeders need to have available. Their theory on pricing was if the prices were kept down owners would bring their pets in at the first sign of trouble when they were easy to treat. If the prices are high owners tend to wait it out to and only go if the situation is desperate, resulting in much sicker dogs that need a lot more treatment or dogs that don't survive. Obviously the price will vary depending on the rent/mortgage that the vet has to pay on their premises so you would expect vets in areas with higher priced real estate to be more expensive but that does not make them better vets. The difference in vaccination prices is a prime example of how some vets clients off. They all pay the same amount for the vaccine and there should not be a difference of $30-$80 for exactly the same service.

If desexing when pregnant about 10 to 14 days from now would probably be best. Less risky that early into a preganacy than doing while she is in season. I agree with finding another vet. My mature 18kg bitch was just spayed for $170 including pain medication and I think my vet may charge an extra $20-$40 if pregnant or in season. Travelling to another vet may be the the cheaper option and if it is too far to drop her off and then pick up again find a vet who will let you wait and then take her home when she wakes up. I have just done this even though it was my usual vet. I arrived ay 10am she was done between 11-11.30am and I took her home about 1.30pm. $280+ to spay a tiny dog is an absolute rip off. They definitely need to find another vet.

Email the lab in Pennsylvania and ask them if anyone in Australia is approved to do the test. If they developed the test in the US they may not have released the details to anyone else so may be the only ones doing it. If this is the case just send the DNA samples to them. Alternatively if they have released the details and patented the test they may have approved other labs that were interested in doing it. GSS/GTG are the Australian agent for all the tests owned by Optigen plus they do some developed by other labs. The legalities of the patents are quite complex so certain tests can only be done by certain labs. This is the problem with compulsory profiling. Each lab has different patented processes so all the testing would have to be with the one lab and there would be no competition to keep the price down. In other words the results are not transferable from one lab to another so you would not be able to choose where to get the profiling done. Any lab, including the universities can do profiling but if you have your dog done with lab A and then some one who uses him wants their litter profiled by lab B you would need to have the stud dog profiled again by lab B for them to be able to do the litter. Hope this makes sense to you.

Gill's at Austral are not open Sunday but their other surgery at Canley Heights is open 10.30 -1.30 on Sunday. Ph: 9604 9792 first because they are supposed to be by appointment only but they will fit in an emergency.

That's strange. All our local chemists here in SW Sydney seem to have it. Yes - but you're in NSW, not WA. Missymoo is in Vic not WA and most stuff that is available in NSW is also in Vic. Anyway I have posted the link to it online.

That's strange. All our local chemists here in SW Sydney seem to have it. Found it online and there seem to be a few different spellings but this is the stuff. http://www.homepharmacy.com.au/products/pr...?ProductID=7102

That's strange. All our local chemists here in SW Sydney seem to have it.

I have never had much success with the Plush Puppy whitening for removing stains but their Deep Cleansing shampoo is brilliant. Once you get them clean with the Deep Cleansing you can use the Whitening one for follow up baths and just use the Deep Cleansing for every 4th ot 5th bath. The other thing to keep in mind with an Aussie is that some will have naturally "white" markings but others will be more of a "cream" colour. This happens with BCs as well and nothing will make a dog with cream marking truly white. I find that my intensely black dogs have the whitest whites but the dogs that are a faded or reddish black and many of the coloured BCs tend to have the duller more creamy whites. The intensity of the colour seems to affect both the body colour and the whites.

I suddenly had itchy dogs for two years but now believe that it was from the heartworm vaccine. The two dogs I have now never had allergies until the year that I first used the heartworm vaccine but I did not suspect that as the cause until the second year. The next year I changed back to Interceptor monthly for heartworm and intestinal worms and they are magically itch free again. I only treat for fleas as needed in the summer months with Frontline and never have any problems with it but did have one either react to Advantage or to the fleas he got a week after using it. I don't like the idea of the all in one treatments either. With puppies I also worm and vaccinate at least a few days apart as I don't like bombarding them with different chemicals at the same time.

Good luck to those starting out in the world of dog shows. Just remember that you are competing for a satin ribbon not a million dollars and if it all goes wrong on the day there will always be another dog show. Just a few tips to make things easier. Tell the steward you are new and wait near the entrance to the ring and check with the steward when you are finished before leaving the ring area after you are judged. You may be needed in the ring again for a challenge line up or run-offs. Watch the earlier classes to work out where the judge is moving the dogs. In the ring do not ever run your dog into the back of, or on the inside of the dog in front. Always leave a gap of about a metre. If you think that you will be moving slower than other exhibitors run a slightly smaller circle to allow others to overtake on your outside. Lastly, take a big breath and smile as you enter the ring. It will help to relax you. For those in Sydney, DogsNSW hold puppy training classes for newbies as listed below: Classes are held every Second and Fourth Tuesday of every month WEATHER: Please call (02) 9825 9280 by 7.00pm if the weather is questionable. SUBJECTS COVERED: Reading a Schedule Filing out Entry Forms Help with Socialising (puppy/adult) Simple Lead Training Ring Procedure (Information about further help available through established clubs) FEE: $5.00 per session (to cover expenses) ENQUIRIES: Miss A Huggins, 02 9825 9280, Email [email protected] or the Dogs NSW Office Ph: (02) 9834 3022 Email: [email protected] MINIMUM AGE: 3 MTHS PROOF OF VACCINATION MUST BE PROVIDED ALL INTERESTED DOG OWNERS WELCOME

I have recently done mine for kennel cough for the first time in about 15 years. I once had a dog have a really bad reaction to the KC vaccine and then got kennel cough anyway. As I was showing my dogs regularly but not kennelling them the vet though they would probably be building natural immunity anyway and advised not to bother with the vaccine. The normal KC vaccine given by injection needs two doses initially, usually given at 12 and 16 weeks, followed by yearly boosters. I have not shown my dogs over the past year and was heading off on a holiday with them and thought I may need to leave them in a kennel for part of a day while going to places they were not allowed. They must be vaccinated to go into a kennel and I only thought of this the week before we left. After discussion with the vet again she thought using the nasal spray vaccine which takes effect in a few days and only needs one dose, would be a good idea so that I would have the kennel option on the holiday. We used the nasal vaccine with no ill effects but did not end up using any kennels on the trip but I will probably use the nasal vaccine again in future years. Rescue puppies get everything done at once but I would not desex and vaccinate together if I had the choice to separate them.

Most chemists sell it in little jars. Look near the antiseptics like betadine or with the miscellaneous stuff like glycerine or other little bottles of various liquids in the chemists own brand. If you ask for it don't ask a junior or they will probably never have heard of it despite the fact it is on the shelf.

I never bother with vets or doctors for puncture wounds in humans, dogs, horses or cats. They all get the same old fashioned treatment recommended by a greyhound breeder that my family have been using since before I was born. After carefully washing with a mild antiseptic apply Icthamol Ointment (also called black drawing ointment) with a cotton bud and push it into the punctures. If you are able to cover the wound it stops the ointment rubbing off and with animals stops them from licking it but it will work wether it is covered or not. Licking it will not hurt dogs or cats and even if it looks like they have licked it all off they will in fact have pushed it further into the puncture. Icthamol looks like vegemite but it will heal any small wound and stop it becoming infected. It will also clear a wound that is already infected without the use of antibiotics. I have a friend who uses Magnoplasm which is clear/white and works in a similar way but I would never be without my Icthamol. Old fashioned it may be but Icthamol really does heal any small wound on man or beast.

already he is too big to be a lap dog, and he is only 3 months old, I dont think my lap is strong enough to put up with a full grown Boof, vet thinks he will grow to be around the 35-40kg mark OK I didn't notice the x Rotti bit in your signature. My BCs are technically too big at 18-25kgs, to be lap dogs but they don't realise that. They love an invitation to hop up on the lounge next to me and drape their front end over my lap for a cuddle, so there is more than one way to be a lap dog. Anyway glad to hear that you have had some success with the spray bottle, now just follow up with the commands and praise and you will have a well behaved Boof in no time.

You are already working on sit and drop with you standing up. Now you need to work on the same commands when you are sitting so that he knows the same rules apply no matter what postion you are in. When you sit down have treats ready and command him to sit or drop and reward when he does it. It is always much easier to command a dog to do something than it is to train it to not do something. If his bum is on the ground he cannot be jumping at the same time. The only reprimand I would use is to growl at him if he jumps, but if you time your commands and rewards properly he will not have the opportunity to jump and will learn that you sitting is his command to sit or drop near you. Don't forget to keep praising him at regular intervals for remaining calm as many people forget about the dog when it is behaving and then reprimand when it is not. If he is sitting or lying down quietly you may think you are praising him for doing nothing but you are in fact praising the behaviour you are trying to achieve. If you later want to allow him to be a lap dog you can specifically train him to jump on your lap when you say so and to get down when commanded as well.

As Erny mentioned it is all about setting the scene from the time they are really tiny. I suppose I really do start at about 2 weeks when they are on their feet with eyes open. At this stage I use a puppy pen to fence off a small area outside the whelping box and cover it with newspaper so that they can get away from the drybed they sleep on in the whelping box to toilet if they want to. Most start to do this and then when I start to wean from 3-4 weeks I try to run them outside onto the grass first thing in the morning and every time they wake and find that after a few days they start to poo as soon as they get out onto the grass. Then whenever the weather allows I feed them on the grass and don't put them back in their run until they have all toileted. By 4 or 5 weeks I try to move them into an outside run that has a bed/kennel in a shed with drybed in it and an enclosed concrete run covered in wood shavings. Off the concrete run there is a grass run that they are allowed out into first thing in the morning and have access to all day unless we all need to go out and lock them in the concrete run for security. Allowing them access to get away from their bed and onto the grass as soon as they wake and after every meal means that they virtually train themselves. As this starts to happen I add a command that I continue to use to get them to toilet on command for the rest of their lives, and praise them whenever they go on grass. The new owners are instructed to follow this regime and to keep the puppy in a pen or small room (laundry, etc) with newspaper, overnight or at any time they are not closely watching the puppy. The puppy should only ever have the run of the house under supervision immediately after it has toileted on command so that it learns that the only way to be allowed in is to comply. Depending on the individual bladder control of they puppy some can be trained within a week of going to their new home. It is very rare for my puppies to ever poo in the house after 4 weeks provided they are allowed out at regular intervals. They learn to hold on and wait until they are let out. Male puppies generally get bladder control earlier than females and it is up to the owner to watch the puppy to recognise when this occurs. If they start sniffing round before urinating they are mature enough to hold on until let out. If they go with seemingly no warning then they cannot help it and need to be confined until this stops happening. Finally some important points. Never let them make a mistake or they will learn that it is OK to go in the house. If they make a mistake accept that it is the owner's fault not the puppy's. If you do catch them making a mistake growl at them and put them outside immediately to let them know that it is wrong. Clean up all scent where they went. Give the final feed for the day no less than one hour before bed and avoid a large afternoon meal. Puppies take approx 9 hours to digest a meal before they need to poo so feeding in the afternoon means that they will have to go through the night. I feed my puppies a small meal morning and afternoon and a larger meal at lunch time and late at night. This all works perfectly for my smart Border Collies but I suppose some breeds may be a bit slower to catch on.

My puppies are usually well house trained by 16 weeks with some never making a mistake after 8 or 9 weeks as I start training them from 4 weeks. I would get him checked for a UTI. The fact that he has gone in his bed and while walking along doesn't seem right to me and seems like he cannot help going without warning. If he gets the all clear from the vet then do as Erny says and start again.

Definitely see a vet and take her off the things you have been giving her. My bitches have often had phantoms and never go off their food. If anything they are usually ravenous. When really pregnant they go off their food for a few days around 4 weeks into the pregnancy and them again usually on the day of whelping from real physical discomfort. There are no puppies moving around to cause this with a phantom so loss of appetite is not normal. Phantom pregnancies are considered normal in dogs and do not need any treatment other than keeping them distracted if possible. In a wild dog pack only the alpha female mates and whelps but all the other bitches have phantoms at the same time so that they have milk available for the litter if anything happens to the mother. Mine put on weight, get milk and dig enormous dens to have their imaginary babies in. None of this is harmful to them and they eventually just get over it.

I feel for you having to make this decision for the first time. None of my dogs have ever just gone in their sleep so I have had to make this decision for my last six dogs. My criteria is when the dog is not able to enjoy a normal life and is adversly affecting my life, it is time. Personally from what you have written your boy should have been pts before this. You are not keeping him alive for him but for you. In my experience most vets will want to try everything and will not advise to pts so you need to make the decision and just tell them that is what is happening. No discussion - the decision is your's not the vet's. Don't expect your other half to help you make the decision either as men are notoriously wimpy when it comes to having to pts a pet they care about. They won't admit it but most simply cannot cope with making that sort of decision. I do know of men who can but they usually don't have a woman around to make the decision for them. Finally, once you have made the decision, don't put it off for a week. There is no advantage to the dog and you will just torture yourself. The worst part of all this is making the decision to pts and deciding what you will do afterwards ie: bury him, cremation, etc. I always opt for cremation and find this easier to deal with. Once it is all over you will feel much better despite missing your little man. Try to remember all the good times you had with him and while you will never forget him the pain of losing him will lessen with time.

The whole point of DNA testing is to allow for the safe use of carriers in a breeding program. It was never intended for carriers to be removed from the gene pool and depending on the condition it is possible to sometimes breed an affected to a clear resulting in only carrier progeny, not affected. This is certainly the the case for CEA which often has no inpact on the life of an affected dog. So long as you are not producing more affected puppies it doesn't matter what you breed from. As has already been stated it is all about informed decisions.