Katdogs

Where are you? (need to know for photo session soon!!) FIND the dog in Canterbury Council area, take it to Fairford Road if you can't get on to the rangers. Bring it to me otherwise because I have a couple of gates and fences, and we'll make do until next morning then I'll deliver it to Fairford Road. Even if it's found outside the Canterbury Council area (but close) I THINK they'll organise whatever's necessary for Hurstville (SDCH) or Renbury. Don't call RSPCA because they don't care unless the dog is injured or 'dangerous'. The out-of-hours/weekend ranger for near me has a mountain of paperwork to fill in to justify a call-out - he's a contractor to a few councils - he explained that when I rang about a lost dog sitting at the corner of the intersection of Stacey Street & Stacey Street on a busy Saturday morning. But I understand your pain and frustration!!

Puppy is about 6mo, obtained through rescue about a couple of months ago. Is going to be a BIG boy based on his feet, looks like a GSDxHusky but acts a bit Kelpie-ish and actually looks a lot like a Bernese Mountain Dog puppy! Anyway, I met him at training today and his owners are desperate for new ideas. He's a barker. He CAN sit quietly, and doesn't bark all the time, because I saw that today. But if he's feeling a bit bored, or ignored, and apparently especially all night at home, he barks. He keeps the owners and neighbours awake. He barks all day when he's left alone. He's not destructive, he barks instead. It actually sounded a bit like Husky-talk today when we were talking over his head, but it can also get quite shrill and is certainly intrusive. It's not a psycho-thing like some habitual yapper/barkers that I've met, but might become so. Nice owners are trying very hard with exercise and training, but are getting very frustrated. It will be interesting to hear whether the socialising and training today makes a difference to whether he sleeps tonight. Also praise when he's quiet, and more 'thought' training and less 'stimulating exercise' training was suggested. And a water-spray, they haven't tried that. Apart from citronella collar (which apparently he'd love, he likes citronella), what other ideas could they try? He's very smart, it was his first day at training today and aced every command and knows many others. He has lots of toys, and time and effort from his owners, but has anyone had a chronic barking puppy?

I'm coming to the BIG NIGHT, bringing OH but prepared to dump him for Troy if I get to meet the great man!! Been hanging around DOL since early 2006 in different disguises, mainly lurking these days. Without DOL I wouldn't have my Jodie, and Stevie is a happier, healthier dog because of the great advice here. I've also done a bit of fostering and met wonderful people because of DOL. Paige's Star, Leo's Story and the Victorian bushfires are the non-dog bits that have changed my life, amongst many others.

Ad from Sydney classifieds: Could you advertise "Labradors - for nuclear families with two kids"? I understand, and think this is reasonable way to find a suitable Iggy home, but ??? (I mean the gay couples bit, not the Unreg.)

Stevie's had two hot spots this summer, the first time ever. They're horrible She's on mostly raw/BARF patty diet, plus Royal Canin Lab dry sometimes. Very little wheat product. Mostly chicken meat, but sometimes beef and/or lamb. All low-fat. Both of her hot spots are likely to be related to her fur/skin being wet for an extended period on very hot days - a couple of weeks before Christmas, and then last week after we'd been to the beach a few days in a row. Both these times though also coincided with more dry meals than usual. First time through, we spent heaps at the vet - cortisone, antibiotics, Gentocin spray, shaving, scrubbing off the spot a few times a day with dilute Isocol. It cleared up eventually, and her fur is growing back ok. This time we were on holidays so started with Neocourt cream, then Curash, as we had them handy. Since we got home she's mainly had the Gentocin spray. It's not getting better though, so I tried Curash again last night but today it's gone all gunky/lumpy, and the sore is still weeping. Should I rub it with dilute Isocol again before more Curash? We haven't had it shaved this time. I don't think Jodie's helping by licking at it, though at least this latest hot spot doesn't seem to be causing actual pain like the first one. Warley I'm very interested to hear how you go with the diet for your dog. Stevie's ear problems cleared up almost perfectly once we changed to the mainly raw/BARF diet, but I might try taking out the lamb component and see if it makes a difference!

Surgery has gone very well and Eddie has wagged his tail! He's done so well this afternoon he's going home tomorrow morning! My sister is very grateful for all the tips and suggestions. She can handle children from newborn to teenagers in all moods and injuries/conditions, but hasn't had to nurse a dog before. Rappie, I think the physio at Parramatta is the same one I saw with my cat when she was paralysed - Helen Nicholson. She's brilliant! I learnt sooo much about how to handle and massage Rocky to keep her more comfortable. I'd have no hesitation in going back to Helen for advice.

Stevie will always sit very hard at the feet of anyone at the park with food. It's really bad when her drool reaches the ground. I can usually call her away, and always ask the person not to feed her or she'll never leave them alone. Most people respect that, but there are a few who have sneaked food to her - they thought I couldn't see them!

Our local group has met at the same time in the same park for many many years. It's booked through Council and there are some signs up, but because it's a busy leash-free park we often get random dogs walking through. After she'd been disrupting classes for a while, I got one to come to me and used her as my demo dog - she was a Lab so pretty easy to get her attention for sit and drop with food, then she even did a commando crawl for fun at the end! Finally (about 25mins after this dog had started running through the classes) a woman started walking towards me, yes she was her dog, yes she realised there were classes but she and her friends met there every weekday at the same time and lived just up the road and didn't care about coming to training, her dog came back whenever she was called Luckily her dog didn't try to play with some of the less friendly dogs at our club. Stupid woman wouldn't have had a clue where her dog was.

Bisart: NSW, specialist at Parramatta. It's the day-to-day care that's worrying - especially toileting and feeding. I don't know how long he'll be in hospital/vet after the surgery - are you saying it might be a week or two there, before he comes home? GM: I had nightmares last night about this happening with Stevie - it would take two people to hold her up too! Poor little Eddie is only Iggy-sized so a sling from a scarf or big tea-towel might be enough. Thanks.

My sister's little dog Eddie took a leap from a much higher spot than he should have. Everyone in the family is devastated that they couldn't catch him in time, it was just one of those dreadful accidents. The ortho specialist vet says that he's got good bone density, is young and fit and healthy, so he's having pins/plates put in tomorrow in both legs ($$$OMG). He will need to be kept off his feet for at least three weeks. Has anyone else been in this situation? How should my sister do the practical things, like keep him off his feet, do toileting, should they feed him anything different, how do they keep his brain busy? He's a lovely dog for just sitting and cuddling, but he's only a year old so used to zoomies and keeping track of three or four people at a time, so they're worried about boredom as well as the practicalities. Doesn't he need some sort of exercise to keep the bowels working? I'm sure the vet hospital will give lots of advice but I know from my own situation with my Orijen cat that practical nursing advice for home is the hardest to absorb when you're in a stressful situation - so any helpful tips from DOLers will be greatly appreciated!

(( :D Rocky's doing OK, 90%)) My husband sometimes asks if I'm cooking dog food or people food, unfortunately for him it's usually dog food! I don't like pumpkin myself but I'll cook it for the dogs!

Last Spaniel X Poodle I met was sposed to be a Cav X. Promised by the 'breeder', and she knows because she had a photo of the father and mother on the wall. Has Cocker ears, working dog energy, lovely nature, Poodle intelligence (+bored easily+ voice) but if she doesn't get groomed properly every few weeks then the gunk under the dreadlocks builds up quickly. Very mouthy (but soft), friendly-jumpy, and BIGGER than they expected from the nice lady at the 'farm'. Great dog for active dog-savvy people with lots of time and ready for agility/obedience. But then again, she's a cross-breed, so maybe others in her litter are PERFECT!!!

So, Jodie's back with two stitches in her face. She was a bit wobbly but still managed to round up a few old tennis balls we'd missed collecting from around the backyard. The lump was described as 'odd, a one-off, never seen anything quite like it' but 'doesn't look nasty'. There was a little thing inside quite a deep sac of goop which was a bit like a piece of gravel but not quite so hard - they think a foreign body has gone into the base of a follicle, and was 'keratinased', and may have been there for a while, but not sure why it then swelled up so dramatically, especially looking like a skin tag or wart rather than a proper abscess. Maybe it got knocked again. Anyway, they're keeping the lump in formalin so that if anything similar comes along it's available for full pathology. Jodie now has nice white teeth, too! That was a lot more expensive than I expected it to be, considering she was already anaesthetised. They tried to tell us that she'd be ok in an elizabethan collar but then they wussed out on putting it on her (out of our sight, but I know they tried and failed!) and just lent it to us for if we need it. So far so good. Whew, what a relief! I just wish we'd been able to get decent photos of the lump for reference.

Yep. A new little dog has just moved into our street. It hates fireworks and storms, but also seems to be left alone a lot and barks non-stop. The owners don't seem to have a clue that it might disturb the neighbours - they are happy they've moved into a dog-loving street (most of us have one or two). That doesn't mean we like hearing their yapper at 3.30am, especially when it sets off our normally quiet dogs!

Wonderful news! What a relief!

We've just finished the tablets, have been applying the ointment, and had a lovely holiday on the south coast with several trips to the beach and a bit of rabbit and possum poo added to the diet. The holiday is one of the reasons that the vet didn't take off the lump straight away, but I didn't want to advertise on the www that we wouldn't be home for a few days! If the vet had said it was definitely something that needed operation immediately, we would have cancelled the holiday of course. Turns out there was no point getting the lump removed before our holiday because Jodie kept risking her face being smashed in anyway, trying to round up the horses! A Percheron X Clydesdale has an awfully big hoof! Luckily these horses are pretty tolerant of small dogs around them, they're used to it. The lump is slightly bigger, and perhaps a little bumpier looking. So Jodie's booked for lump removal (and a dental) tomorrow, and we'll see what happens then. Fingers crossed they find nothing nasty and we can call it a cosmetic procedure. And just to keep us on our toes, Stevie started another hotspot on the way back from our trip

Oh WOW The Flat Coated Retriever is a photo of Stevie! The description doesn't talk about stealing socks and walking with a wiggly prance, but otherwise that's her! She's supposed to be Goldie X Lab. Photos of modern Flat Coated Retrievers that I've just googled look lighter in chest, neck and head/jowls. ETA just saw that the Kelpie was known as the Barb - and is supposed to be pure black?

Brilliant news Trish - YAY Grover!!

Thank you! I was hoping for the first option. They never ever said 'wart' though! They just sounded confused? I don't know why they're waiting... maybe just to see if it's an infection that clears? Hope so! Can a tumour be so aggressive that a week makes a difference? The vet did say that if she was his dog, he'd be trying the drugs first, then making a decision about what further tests to do. He also said that if she was insured for a million dollars and the insurance company was making the decisions, the lump would be off for full pathology straight away. How much does lump removal and full pathology cost, anyway? He said it would probably only take a few minutes, even though it's a tricky area to cut through (with all the whisker follicles and nerve endings in that spot, it's like "sago pudding" rather than flesh, he said). Maybe I should have just asked him to just do it? Honestly I'd be happier if we saw our normal vets there. There are two who do most of the consults and one of them is great with dogs, the other with cats, but it feels like they know me and I know how they talk. The two vets on today did their best but just left me feeling a bit confused.

My heart stopped for a moment last night when I thought Jodie had an engorged tick on her top lip/muzzle. Then we saw that it was just a lump contained in the skin, though dry and warty-looking on top, and she's not showing any sign of any illness. I had to go to the vet today to buy cat-food so took Jodie with me for confirmation that there were no problems, it just a wart or injury. The young vet on duty said it was probably a 'skin tag' and nothing to worry about, but she'd do a basic needle aspiration and check under the microscope anyway... I sat for almost half an hour, thinking 'geeze this clinic is starting to get pricy, they're always over-servicing and charging for things we don't need'... Then the young vet finally came back, with the senior vet who owns the practice. The cells were not just skin cells, but a mix of 'gland', 'mucous', 'blood', 'protein' and 'fibre'(?). I know I've got those terms slightly wrong. They seemed very concerned. Apparently there's involvement of a whisker follicle/sac(?). They lost me completely with the science, but the phrase 'potentially a secondary' is burnt in my brain. The potential diagnoses range from just an infection, through to secondary cancer and a short time left with us. Jodie's the most stoic dog and refuses to show pain, but having a lump the size of a pea growing inside her whiskers should be causing a lot of discomfort. She didn't even flinch with the needle - and it's a massive great tube of a thing! She was playing handsies with the vet while he was talking to me, and cuddling into him for a belly rub. So we've come away with antibiotics, anti-inflammatories, Panalog ointment, and a week or 10 days to see if it reduces or gets worse, then probably chop it off and send it away for proper pathology anyway. So much for worrying about over-servicing. Now I just hope it's something that can be dealt with, with the minimum of pain to our girl.

Best wishes for Gomez, and his poor mum.

Thank you so much Nik, they're fantastic photos! I love that you've caught the variety in Jodie's flying style. Funny how most of Stevie's photos involve treats...

Me and my girls had a great time this morning - we especially loved the biscuits - both dog and people versions! I hope Stevie didn't give out too many kisses, you can tell she's a loving sort of dog! We went to my sister's place afterwards and Stevie spent a bit of time in their swimming pool so she's totally exhausted now. Jodie's happily sleeping on her dad's lap, she's convinced him that she was ignored all day and she should have gone to tennis with him. It's always great to put names to faces and we met such nice dogs. Mr Reddog's little girls were like a pretty picture all the time, every time they looked up at me with those beautiful eyes I wondered whether he'd notice if I swapped my two for his...

Mine will just need to do some quick zoomies once we arrive, then they can go back on lead. Their recall is 100% (Jodie) and 90% (Stevie, if food is offered by other people). Though I've never had Jodie near sheep... that could be interesting! I think tennis ball will still beat sheep. Noted the comment about clam shells, I'll leave ours at home. Stevie's had a hot spot under her chin so maybe needs portraits taken from above? She's still beautiful, now the red swelling's gone down she doesn't look so much like a turkey any more! Do we need name tags? For the DOLers, not the dogs? I'm hopeless with people names, I can only remember dog names!

Stevie, Jodie and I will be there! Looking forward to it. Can we bring santa props? ETA please everyone, don't give Stevie any treats - you'll never be rid of her!