hilaryo

I thought I would also tell of my experience with a swimmer pup. I know I searched everywhere for information when it was needed and you never know, it might help someone. We also had a swimmer pup "Cindy". She was born perfectly normal and was the biggest, strongest pup. My bitch only had 4 puppies so there was plenty of milk to go around and she was putting on loads of weight. The whelping box ground surface was newspaper, blankets with dry bed on top - so nothing wrong there. She was just a bit of a pig, would take her fill and then of under the pig rails to sleep on her tummy. As we had one small dog puppy that was not doing so well, Cindy slipped under the radar and we didn't notice anything was wrong until she started to slow down on the feeding at around day 6 and didn't put on any weight over a 12 hr period. She started only drinking from one breast and then I noticed her breathing was a bit laboured. I just freaked out when we checked her out and her ribs were totally flat with the outside edges sticking out sharply either side. Her legs were also spread out, mainly the front ones. Here on DOL I got excellent advice. Unfortunately in my circumstances I couldn't use the excellent sling method that Bilbo Baggins used, so we did everything else that is recommended. Changed the bedding to the egg carton foam and also put small soft toys under the blanket so the pups would have to really work to get around the box. We did physio every couple of hours with gentle but firm pressure on her rib cage. We also would wait until she was asleep and put her onto alternate sides, propping her so she wouldn't roll over onto her stomach easily. She was just about normal in about 5 days. Here's a pic of her now at 8.5 months.

I had problems with EP holistic also. My bitch lost condition and just wasn't doing well on it. Very large poop compared to when she was on the Advance I had been feeding previously. I'm now feeding Royal Canin and I find it is fabulous. Also very palatable. She recently had a litter so was on the RC Junior and she loved it. The pups were not completely weaned until around 6 weeks and her condition was so good you couldn't tell she had had a litter.

I had to take my 5 year old beagle Bobbie to the vet as he had a eye infection. While I was there I mentioned that I would bring him back in for a check up and blood test to check all was well. He did a quick urine test and it came back as abnormal Sugar, protein, etc was fine but he said it was abnormally dilute. He said to bring him back after a few days to check the eye and he would start testing for the problem. Of course I googled what dilute urine might mean and it seems to me that it is probably a kidney problem.... I might be jumping the gun but I am terrified. Does anyone know of other things it might mean?

Why is Orijen off the list? I was considering this brand. Sorry, I can only come on DOL for short periods so don't have time to read much. I feed Royal Canin. I did try Eagle Pack but found it not so good for my dogs. They produced very large poos and my bitch when she was in whelp was not doing so well on it, so made the switch and couldn't be happier.

More common than you'd imagine. Most need surgical correction. Make sure it is done by a knowledgeable vet because if it is not done properly with the tear duct left intact, it can result in dry eye.

As was mentioned before - check that the pet mince from Lennards does have some meat in it. My local shop makes it with carcasses only and it really has no meat at all.

:D Thanks for the info. I don't do obedience with the beagles although that's not to say they don't need it Although it is the end of the season I will contact the secretary Margaret about what I need to do to prepare for next year - cause I don't have a clue. One of my dogs is food obsessed and the other is cat and other animals sniffing mad. So I don't know how they would go at tracking human scent if there are other smells about that that are more interesting...but we'll give it a go. I've got one more competition this year - which is the last one anyhow. Competitions run in the winter months - last one is last weekend in September - going for TD5 - so with fingers crossed TDX title - but we'll see!! Wow - good luck!!!!

I track with All Breeds Tracking Club - their main competition venue is at Tamborine. There is also Evergreen Tracking Club - whose main competition groups are at Tansey - to compete you need to go to a large property so it's not in Brisbane as such. There are a few places or people that do training in and around the Brisbane area. Normally you find a judge, and join them in training sessions. I don't know anywhere that has set training sessions like an obedience club. Where abouts are you in Brisbane - north or south? I'm East (Redlands) jinkispirit. Tamborine sounds good. Is there a website for your club or a contact number?

Thanks Reddii I will.

I would love to try tracking with my beagles. Any information about what is involved and where in Brisbane it is held would be great.

Second that!

Maybe he's not very experienced....

Had a ultrasound on my girl at 29 days and they could see the four live pups that she went on to have plus two pups that had implanted but had no heartbeat. So yes he should be able to see. I think they should also be able to palpate at 4 weeks.

As long as your vet knows that she is pregnant they will only prescribe "safe" antibiotics that won't harm her babies.

I have just switched to Eagle Pack from Advance. The only difference I have noted so far is the amount of poop produced has almost doubled since the switch. This has surprised me, as I always thought that less waste is good?

Thanks heaps Ness. I think I will go for C3 with Laffi (because I have heard a lot of complains about C5 and even vaccinated dogs get the Kennel Cough) Yes Laffi, both mine were vaccinated with C5 when younger and both still got Canine Cough from off-leash parks within a few months. Interesting topic, I planned on only vaccinating the adult dogs every 3 years. But a titer test for the levels of immunity would be preferable.

Malisa I catch them with my hand in a double plastic bag and then freeze them - ugh they freak me out a bit, but its less cruel than detol, etc which I think burns them into a slow painfull death. Leeanne You really need some sort of aversion training with a remote E collar - this was recommended by Steve (the trainer) for persistant toad hunters - like mine!

Jodie, glad it sound like good news and Ollie will be OK - must have been very frightening for you. How's he going now? Have the antibiotics helped?

Beautiful puppy!

Thank you all for your replies and advice. I definitely won't get anything to sedate them now. Thanks Rappie, I will speak to my vet and get some motion sickness tablets. It's going to be a long trip to Perth for them

Thanks Jane (GSPNEWBIE). I'm not 100% sure about macdolly taking my spot as yet. I have PM'd her. Steve would have seen you would like a session from your post. I would watch the thread today as may be my spot if macdolly doesn't take it or another (as some haven't replied to Steve yet) may become available.

Thanks Poodlefan - didn't think of travel sickness as never had a dog with it before. I guess it could be this as I have seen pups arrive at shows drooling, although never to that extreme. My girl is due for her first booster vaccination soon so I'll ask the vet then. My male dog's reaction was to curl himself up as small as could be in the back of the crate. Poor babies, it must be pretty scary for them and I would guess the noise and landing of the aircraft must be pretty loud down below. Thanks also to cowanbree and kitkat.

I recently travelled by air to Sydney with my dogs. After reading on DOL that most dogs travel without problem, I didn't expect any from my two as they don't bat a eyelid at most situations that are noisy, etc. On the down leg of the journey they didn't seem to bad, but I noticed (watched from the boarding lounge) that they were loaded very last thing, just before the flight closed and we they were brought out to us almost immediately when we got down to the oversized luggage collection area. But on the return flight I noticed they were loaded on the flight early before alot of the luggage, the landing was pretty rough and the dogs took ages to come out to us. So I don't know if this had any bearing on the state one in particular was in. Macey who never drools normally came through the door standing up in her crate with a wild look in her eyes. Her crate pad was saturated with dribble. She had drool hanging in threads from her mouth down to the pad - she was totally freaked out! We have our National Beagle speciality in Perth next year. This is only held every few years and we would dearly love to attend being our first one. Is there any sedative that is safe and gentle that would calm her on a flight without affecting her for days afterwards? Any suggestions, apart from not flying the dogs ever again?

I think my spot has now been filled. Thanks Macdolly and Steve.

I have advised Steve, that unfortunately I will be unable to keep my booking for next Friday This space is now available to anyone that would like a session with Steve. Macdolly or anyone else, please let me know if you are interested. The time slot is 9.30 - 11.30am. I have told Steve I will honour the payment if the spot remains unfilled.