Tilly

Still no real change. He is on IV and still not passing urine. They are monitoring his bladder and putting in the catheter as needed. They will probably do an ultrasound some time later tonight. I will give them another call later tonight and probably go up and see him again if they will let me. He is just laying there and tolerating everything they put him through ...

I have just got back from the hospital. When the vets opened this morning I took him to see his regular vet ... who took one look at him, drained his bladder and said he needs to get back up to the hospital. At the moment he appears to have some weakness in his back legs but they can't be certain that this isn't caused by the sedation he had earlier this morning. He just doesn't want to play along with the physical tests they want to do. Currently all indications point to an infection in the urinary tract but he just got so very sick in a really short amount of time. They are working on keeping him hydrated and drained. They are also pumping in the antibiotics. If he doesn't start to pick up in a couple of hours or declines any further they will do an ultrasound and other tests.

The poor boy must be feeling really unwell ... he didn't even look at his breakfast I did think it might have been a tick and did suggest that to the vets but he was checked both by my brother and the vets. The vets didn't think a tick matched the symptoms. My mother thinks I need to give him a bit more time for the injection to work on the infection in the bladder - basically I need to wait until about Tuesday to get the results from urine (they are growing a culture or something). The poor boy is just so miserable and I don't know how to help him. I have had about 3 hours sleep since Thursday so I am currently torn between wanting to sit with him and curling up and sleeping. Only 30 minutes until the vet is supposed to open ....

Our GSD went to work last night like normal (about 5pm) - he was bright and happy as normal. At about 7:3pm last night I got a call from my brother. Our GSD was straining to toilet (he thought he was trying to pee). At about 8pm he called again to ask me to come and collect the dog as he has vomitted. I raced the 45 minutes to collect the dog. I then put him in the car and drove the 25 minutes to the emergency vet and during this time the dog was getting more and more distressed. His breathing was becoming laboured and gaspy. I was beginning to think he was going into kidney failure (as my grandmother had shown similar signs when her kidneys started to fail). The vet immediately took him in for treatment, x-rays etc. The blood results came back clear, the xrays showed his prostate etc was all normal. Their was some faeces in the bowel but it is normal (wasn't hard etc). They drained his bladder and took out about a litre of liquid - the urine itself looked normal. They found no signs of stones or blockages in the bladder. They initially thought it was more serious (given his rapid decline) then just a simple infection but they could find nothing else wrong. They have given him a clavulox injection and a methone injection along with 20 Noroclav tablets to take twice a day and sent him home at about 2pm after he woke from the sedation. This morning he is still straining to toilet. While he looks like he is trying to pee he will also looks like he is straining to do number 2s - he seems to be alternating between the two. He has pasted a bowel movement but it isn't the normal amount - much smaller quantity. What he is passing is of normal consistency. He has peed a little bit this morning but not the normal stream ... it is just small drops. He is definately still not right but I don't know what to do next... I am waiting for his regular vet to open so I can ring them.

Definately check your dogs ... twice a day if need be, even if they are on preventatives. Our boy was checked early this morning (when he got home from work) and then about 4 hours later when I was playing with him I noticed something on the side of his mouth. A sneeky little tick was hiding on the edge of his mouth ... it was immediately removed and he seems fine but now has a bit of a lump where the tick was. The area has been cleaned and he was again treated for ticks (wash - incase there were others hiding) and he got a new tick collar (the other one was 6 weeks old but should last for 8 weeks).

Our rottie used to fart after having bones. He was fine with chicken frames and chicken necks but give him a red meat bone and he was deadly (but he did love them). You can buy dog biscuits with activated charcoal - and this really helped our rottie. Apparently activated charcoal (brought in tablet form from a chemist) can help both humans and dogs who have a farty problem....

Is he around other dogs? I found our GSD had constant ear infections and it was caused by our rottie licking his ears... just a thought

Don't buy the stuff they sell as "dog wire" - it just is a waste of money. Any dog will go straight through it if they want to. Something like chainlink or chainmesh is about $80 a roll but definately worth the money. I think fencing will help but definately give the pup a place to dig. Encourage pup to use that area buy digging with them and hiding their toys there.

When our boy had his bucket head on ... he loved it. We would take it off for him to eat but as soon as he eat his breakfast he would be trying to stick his head back into the collar. Rather then the crate - is there a room you can safely leave him in?

My boy gets yoghurt but it is a natural one ... not one of the sloppy fruit type ones. You could try "Inner Health Plus" after antibiotics - I give the human dose (1 capsule) to their food ... it is easier enough to open the capsule and mix it with their food.

We used to get ours from a local health food shop but generally they had to order it in. I used the powder On the days our boys had dry food they got the Ester-C mixed in with an egg and Di-Vetelact (sp?) milk to make a milk shake.

My boy does well on Eukanuba so I don't see the need to change - he is now on the Senior Large Breed because he will be 6 on Sunday. Our previous dogs have also done well on it and in fact they wouldn't eat anything else.

We have always washed out dogs weekly but we don't use shampoo. They get the Fido Fre-Itch Rinse in the hydrobath. We have never had a problem with flakey skin. If anything the regular hydrobath keeps their skin clean and problem free ... just imagine rolling in dirty every day and not taking a bath for weeks on end.

My two used to walk well together (thank goodness) but when I was walking a friends two hypo staffies I used a short length of chain to link the two dogs together (collar to collar) and then clipped them onto their seperate leads (so it sort of formed a triangle). That way both dogs would be seperately corrected but they remained close together ... just look out for street signs

We used an electronic collar on our rottie once during some of his security training as he would sometimes resist the release when going in for a bite - particularly when he was away from the handler. ie chase and catch. Lets just say the collar got to almost the top setting before he even registered it and its highest setting did not make him release ... it just annoyed him more. I very much doubt that a dog in attack mode would release just because of the collar - I would be concerned it would cause the dog to continue or increase the attack. Personally I would never be able to trust that dog again regardless of the amount of training it has received. Like you said KismetKat - the only thing that save you and your dog from injury was the muzzle. What if it attacked again and it didn't have the muzzle. Our GSD has a few issues with certain dogs and because of this we can never trust him around these dogs - even though he will now sit nicely on a lead when they are around. He will even behave himself when they are on either side of a fence but we know that given the chance he will go in for a bite. He got two chances and will never get another chance.

Luke GSP - the website for Redgum is http://www.redgumkennels.com/

I was given a VIP roll and our GSD (who normally eats anything) wouldn't touch it. We used to feed Scott's rolls (at least twice a week) but they seem to have gone off as far as the quality goes. They used to be really firm but they seem a lot softer now. Also the colour and smell doesn't seem the same. He still occassionally gets a Scott's roll but really only if we run out other stuff for him or we forget to defrost something.

We had a similar problem with our GSD when we had a BBQ. Initially we locked him in the garage but this didn't really stop the problem. We ended up putting him on a short leash and put him in a drop beside me at the table. I had my foot firmly on the leash so he could not get up from the drop. When he was calm he was praised and then he was pulling etc he was ignored. Eventually he realised if he was good at the end of the BBQ he was given the left over sausages and meat (no bones) - in his bowl and away from the table. It took time and patience but he got it eventually.

When I was looking for a tracking lead for my GSD - I brought a horse lunge lead and found I got friction burn (my boy was a puller) - I needed to wear gloves with this lead. I ended up buying a tracking lead from Canine Outfitters - the lead is silky smooth and is great to handle wet or dry. I have no trouble handling this lead without gloves and have never got anyfriction burn. Rather expensive but definately worth the money. I have also brought tubular leads from The Real Dog Equipment Company - they are also super strong (I have a number of their Obedience Leads ... in various colours) but don't have the same silky smooth feel. Still a very good lead

I looked into Vet Insurance for my boys when we got them. We instead opted to pay money into an ING Direct account (good interest and no bank fees). We put about $500 in to start and then paid in what it would have cost us if we were paying insurance. Thankfully we have never had to use the money but it is there just in case. We did find the insurance companies (at the time we looked) didn't cover general vet bills and it really limited what they would pay out on. Also the other problem was that we would have had to pay the bills up front and then get some of the money back - if they would actually pay up. By having the money in an account - we had the money on hand to pay the bill.

Or on a cold winters night - vegemite desolved in warm water to make a broth ... my boy loves that ... or he just loves licking it off the spoon.

I found The Working Dogs Book Store has some good books. I have found these books to be good... but I guess it depends on your experience and what you want to get out of tracking. FOLLOWING GHOSTS: DEVELOPING THE TRACKING RELATIONSHIP - Clothier & Rice A common sense approach to tracking/search & rescue based on respect for the dog's natural abilities, positive reinforcement, and keen observation skills. To be successful with this approach, all you need is a good relationship with your dog. Based on John Rice's extensive experiences with his all Golden Retriever Police K-9 unit, this approach to tracking focuses on the relationship between dog & handler, and an understanding of scent from the dog's point of view. Find out why variable surface tracking is not the ultimate goal - but the very best starting point! Learn why food on the track confuses dogs. Discover the perfect tracking field - in your own neighborhood. Track anytime, in almost any weather. Not a how-to recipe book, Following Ghosts offers a revolutionary and challenging look at tracking, canine abilities and ways to help you and your dog reach your tracking goals. Whether you're a tracking novice or an experienced tracker, this booklet will change your thinking. Find out why tracking judges like Ted Hoesel (the first VST judge), Search & Rescue Units, police departments and others are not only recommending this book, but buying it for their students as "required reading!" © 1996, booklet, 54 pages FUN NOSEWORK FOR DOGS, 2ND EDITION - Roy Hunter; $15.95 New Expanded 2nd edition! Exercises and games train scent discrimination, search, and obedience skills. For pets as well as competition trackers and competitive obedience. TRACKING TRAINERS HANDBOOK - Johnson From the classic tracking "bible", Tracking Dog: Theory and Method, by Glen Johnson. You can have Glen's track designs, tracking schedules, and a lesson format to be used by trainers in conducting a tracking program. © 1975, paperback. TRACKING: FROM THE BEGINNING - Gary Patterson; $21.95 Detailed and well illustrated book for teaching your dog to track. Excellent section on conditioning and reinforcement. Tracking Dog: Theory & Methods Glen R. Johnson brought his many years of experience and innovation to write was has become the "bible" of trackers everywhere. His experience ranged from military dog work, to detection of toxic pipeline leaks using dogs. Tracking Dog is the standard for anyone interested in training dogs to track. Included in the book is the Tracking Trainers Handbook, a great reference for working in the field.

We have one for our GSD and he doesn't even notice he has it on. I was taking him for regular 3 hours hikes and got sick of carrying all of his water. With the pack he got to help out a bit. Only problem I had with him was he would often take out the side of the pack when he went to lift his leg on a tree - they were a little bit wide ... not that he seemed to notice or care The other thing to remember is when you are taking water or whatever out of the pack - to try and keep them even otherwise they do get lopsided and a bit uncomfortable. Edited for spelling...

I love the leads from Real Dog Equipment in NZ. The leads are a nylon tube so they are super strong. You can make your own using the tape commonly used for abseiling. You can also use the blue and white cord commonly used by some for waterskiing. I used to buy about 20 metres of the stuff (can be brought by the metre) and just replaced the cord (reusing the clips) when it started to look a little chewed. One of the guys at our local produce place showed me how to make my own leads - because the cord is hollow in the middle so you can just feed the end back into the core of the rope. I was surprised how strong the cable was and I had a big 45kg brat at the time ... he is now a 60kg brat

To give my boys their tablets I have always had them sit and then I stand over them (from the back) and open their mouth. One hand holds the top half of the mouth while with the other hand I drop the tablet at the back of the tongue and then give it a quick push down the back of the throat. I then use that hand to bring up the bottom jaw and rub their throat with the "swallow" command. If my boys don't play the game then I always told them I would get my brother to give their the tablet so they quickly swallow. This was until I had trouble with the rottie one day and the tablet got a bit slimy. He was getting a 1/2 can of chum (he loves the stuff but only gets it once every few months as a clean out) so I took a little from his bowl and coated the tablet - he took it immediately to looked for more. After that I just coated it in something that he particularly loves. It just needs to be in something small enough that he will swallow immediately and not chew.