~JessyBee~

Dear little Phoebe, You were such a sweet little baby, so full of life, a life now cut short. My mummy misses you already an grieves for you although you only shared her life for a short while. Gary will miss your little piggy kisses and sharing his toast with you in the morning. Wait for them at the bridge little one, where you will be safe. Love J and D xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox

Glad to hear she (and you!) had a more posative experience this time! Personnaly I wouldn't cut back her food right away, I would wait until you start seeing changes in her condition (probably once she has stopped growing) and cut it back accordingly. If she is getting adiquite excercise I don't imagine you would have to cut her food back by that much I wouldn't walk her the day after an op but that is just me. We used to tell clients to keep them quiet (no running/jumping/forced excercise) for 4-5 days just to be safe. She needs time to heal

I am sure she will find it much more distressing than you will :cool: Poor baby is scared. How did you go at the vets??

Thanks Freckles!!!!!!! woo hoo :cool:

Who doesn't like freebies????? I work for a wholesaler (vet supplies) and I am going to sign up! LOL My mum always sends the dogs presents in the mail - they love it!

Ernie the scruffy mutt...... and Angus the Devon rex I will owe you forever!!!!!!! please

Gypsie the Cavalier

You guys are so creative! I would love one if someone is happy to do it for me I think my computer would have a fit if I tried to do it! LOL Theses are my babies; Firstly Beau the Golden

should have been a but in there! The bone is good!

I think what DC said is a great idea, I freeze a couple of my boy's chicken necks in a kong iceblock, so it takes him a while to get through them. At woolies/safeway you can often buy trays of lamb off cuts - which are usually lamb flaps, and they are usually pretty good sizes - otherwise ask your butcher nicely for some lamb flaps cut in half. I got two HUUUUGE bags of bones today for $2 - I guess that is why they are all so quiet right now.... ;)

I just bought some really fresh chicken mince today, I couldn't see any bone in it like the Leonards stuff. It was a 10kg bag and I came straight home and split it into small bags - no yucky smell at all. ;) Hubby freaked when he saw the big splash of green die though! LOL I am a bit funny when it comes to chicken and sometimes find even the human stuff can stink by the time you get it home. Makes you wonder how long it has been ther for....... ;)

We are having the same problem with or four month old Golden retriever – he started the day we got him home – now he thinks it is a great game! We have removed all pots from his reach and restricted access to the ‘sensitive’ areas of the garden. (One of which is now known as the Plant Hospital! LOL) If we ever see him touching something he shouldn’t we distract him with something fun (or yummy) he seems to be catching on. I also think that breaking the habit is important – that is why we have stopped our boy going in those areas. He also now has a sandpit where we burry things and he can dig them up – this has solved the problem of little ‘gofer holes’ around the yard! I love making the boys iceblocks the night before, using a kong, make up the worst mixture you can think (mine love yoghurt water with liver or kibble – and a kong stuffed with peanut butter) put the kong in a Tupperware container and fill half way up with the water-ice mix – by the morning it will be frozen and she will think it is yummy! It keeps them amused for a while at least!

Hi Trish, I work at a veterinary wholesaler, Missing Link is still unavailable, and we have no estimated time of availability. GG

He is on Advance puppy growth, which I soak in hot water, it absorbs the water well and when it is cool I add the rest of his meal. The last few days I have been soaking about half of his dry food and leaving the other half 'dry' to ajust him to having it that way. (the breeder always fed them soaked food - so I am changing him slowly..) plus I find the Advance growth is quite large. I would love to eventually wean him off dry food all together, but I want to be more sure that I know what I am doing, nutrition wise, first Thanks for the replies :rolleyes:

Thanks Poodle wrangler, He has definetley decided that he wants meat! LOL I don't blame him either. Ill work on sneaking some dry in there too, but am not too concerned that he doesn't like it! Thanks for the replies guys

Thanks Toohey, I will do just that. I tried again with his usual food tonight and he wouldn't touch it! I ended up just giving him mince with some vegies and a bit of tuna - and he loved it! I have been trying to track down that book for a while, I will try greenpet and I might try ebay or somewhere else online too. Polyvite sounds good Ill look into that. i would rather have something like that in his diet than risk him missing out on something important. He has had natural yoghurt too which he loved - oh and eggs Thanks so much for your suggestions - and for laying my mind at rest! I think you are right and he has made the decision for me!

Hi everyone, I am sure this has been done a million times before, but I can't seem to find information on my specific situation - so I hope you don't mind me asking. I have an 11 week old Golden Retriever pup, so far, I have been sticking with basically what the breeder told me to feed. He came with a diet sheet that to my surprise said - no bones now I was quite concerned by this, he had had beef mince when I picked him up, but not much other "good stuff". I have since been slowly changing his diet, he had a nice big bone yesterday - which he loved! He had also had chicken mince, necks and frames (supervised) But last night and today he simply will not eat his usual food. (advance puppy growth kibble and Advance puppy cans) I don't really mind if he doesn't want to eat this stuff, other than I want to put a bit of weight on him. I am sooooooooooo confused with all the BARF / RAW diets out there, I don't know what he needs. I really want him to have the best nutrition I can provide, I want him to grow up big and strong. I have experienced H/D and other problems in other dogs, that may not have been prevented, but could have been helped with "better" nutrition - basically my question is how do I feed him correctly? (I know there is a lot of opinions on this) But I want to make sure he is getting everything he needs to be healthy and happy. Also he is a show prospect, so I want him to look healthy and shiny on the outside too So how do I know that he is getting all the vitamins/minerals and everything else he needs as a growing pup? currently we feed him (and two small adult dogs) Small ammount of dry (well - quite a lot for him - and he has it soaked) with either chicken or beef mince and raw pulped vegies or RMB, Chicken frames, necks and sometimes some canned food mixed in with the dry. Please help me! Thanks guys

Thanks wylie Ill have a look at that website! GG

Thanks Mistiqview, I might go and have a look at woolies tomorrow. I hadn't thought of that. I was going to invest in some dry-bed, but have no idea where to get it from, the underlay might be an easier option

Thanks Wylie, That is what I was thinking of doing. I don't want him to have to scream his little heart out to wake us up if he needs a wee. So having him close by sounds like a good idea. I guess I can eventually loose the crate (or at least the door) and have him on a bed in the bedroom too. Ane, I was thinking the same thing about the pen. It is quite large, so he would have plenty of room to pee away from his bedding if he wanted to. So he probably wouldn't 'call out'. I really want him to feel comfortable in his crate. So I guess that is the best plan ;) Now I just need to convince OH that he should move the tallboy to make room for the crate! LOL

Hi Everyone, Our new Golden Retriever puppy will be arriving on Saturday. I have a question in relation to sleeping arangements. This pup is a show prospect, therefore he will need to get used to a crate. I am all for crate traning and have been reading up on it. ;) I currently have 2 adult dogs, they sleep where we tell them to sleep. Meaning if we want them with us, in the laundry or in summer - outside, they are happy. Eventually we want Beau (new baby) to be the same. Therefore my questions are; Should I have him in a crate from day 1? Where should the crate be? (bedroom, laundry or elsewhere) Should I have him in the puppy pen (in laundry)? Should I have one of the older dogs with him in crate or laundry? (providing they get along) Lately with the cold weather or current two have been sleeping with us. However in the last week I have been putting them in the laundry in the puppy pen (door open, so they can see what is going on...) just in case I need to put Beau in there with them. I didn't want them getting funny about being kicked out of bed when he arrived. I don't actually want Beau to be on the bed as such (king size and still not big enough for OH and I to sleep in! ) So maybe if I get him used to sleeping in the crate in our room that would be best? I know this has probably been asked before, I have searched but nothing seems to fit our individual situation. Any advice will be appreciated! Sorry for the long post, trying to give as much info as I can! GG

:D molasseslass I think you are right! One bloke wanted to sell me a 'dog enclosure' for $130.00 instead - no thanks! LOL

Hi Everyone, These are such a great idea! I joined two together and it is a great size. And for all those Victorians..... I bought two from Bunnings in Scoresby last night and they still had 8 left! None at Chirnside, Bayswater or Box Hill though. Thanks for the tip. It will be great for our new addition