Andisa

Oh that was a beautiful tribute - RIP. Cassie.

Thanks kja - having some fun - just as well I can delete them as I need to but fun just the same. The different lenses and filters are cool. But don't really know what I am doing. The dogs are looking at me as if to say "enough already". I have been searching for accessories and there is a flash that looks snazzy - might need to go shopping.. It's my fathers 70th on the weekend so I better get some practice in before then so I can get some reasonable photos of the big day. I can not believe my dad is 70...

One of my hubbys mates updated his camera and now it's mine. Only got it on the week end and yet to figure out how to use it. It came with a few accessories - inclucing 2 extra lens and filters. Anyone using one and what do you think of the Canon powershot G9? It is a lot different to the little cheapies that I am used to and looking forward to getting some updated pics.

Yep - the whole lot. The Rotties don't have any problems with anything I give them. Piper is 4 1/2 yo - Pink is 10 months old. Lizzy - Pug, I cut the bigger bones from it and she amazes me with what she can eat.

Mine had marylands for dinner tonight.

I am really sorry that you are losing your girl - it is never easy. 4 1/2 yrs ago we lost our beautiful GSD x Collie rough I found the Australian Pet Cremation & Burial Service fantastic to deal with. 1300 302 575. www.australianpetcremation.com.au I had made arrangements with them a few days before we had Jasmine pts - I found that having everything organised with the vet and APC in advance made it a little easier to deal with. The vet came home so I did not have to put her through any further pain getting her in/out of the car. I wanted her to be home with us when it was time to say good bye. * I have just checked their site and something is not right - give them a call when your ready. eta; looks like you have chosen a company. Hugs to you and your family.

I agree ellz, i would love to use my liberty table at shows... but as i said, liberty is too heavy and awkward for me to carry and lift as i have a bad back and i am alone to set up at shows... so not knowing the OP's situation, if weight and carrying is a concern then beware of a liberty. As it turns out, weight is not an issue for OP and she has a husband who will carry for her. So then liberty is ideal for her. I was just putting forward my suggestion from a single, weakling female's perspective Why not use a trolley to wheel it around to save you back. oops eta: I have a large Liberty table and would not fancy carting that around, I also have an adjustable height table from Woofer Wares - this is a fantastic table, sold as a rock and would recommend them above the Liberty but are much more expensive. Both tables are fantastic and if I was to move them around for showing I would be using a trolley. The tables from Clipper World are nice and sturdy.

you can make it more stable by banging in stakes or tent pegs. That's a great idea, and I'll definitely do that if I use them outdoors, but I've set mine up in the sunroom and had a giggle about banging tent pegs into the carpet oops - maybe heavy duty tape or wedge it in between furniture might be a better option.

The EP holistic does not contain corn but the others do. The EP reduced fat has corn listed as the 1st ingredients which is what I belive caused Pipers problems. Mine don't have any problems with the EP holistic either. I don't wash my dogs very often, so should be right there.

you can make it more stable by banging in stakes or tent pegs. I have several of them along the size of the house for the rabbit run and found a stake made it secure enough for him. Maybe a few stakes for the dogs. It is bigger than this now including his large hutch not shown.

Thought I should take a pic to show what I am talking about - but after looking at Nekhbets boy think we got out of it lightly. It looks worse in the flesh than it looks in this pic and thinning in a few other areas - since she has never had skin issues before this is bad enough. Clyde - glad it works for Geroge, but I won't be trying it again so she better get used to smaller meals to get the last couple of kgs off, just as well she likes kangaroo.

Staffyluv - I guess I was just trying to get her weight down a bit easier than cutting her food back again - I so regret this now. Only 2 more kgs and I would have been happy with her. Makes me appreciate the raw diet even more.. Why didn't I click about the friggen corn.

Nekhbet - Oh - poor boy . How long was he boy on the reduced fat diet? He look heaps worse than Piper does. I hope he gets better soon and he doesn't stay like that. ;)

I have been raw feeding for several yrs, but since my first litter almost 2 yrs ago I began to add some EP dry with their meals most nights, all was fine apart from feeling gulity for using it. Piper does tend to put on weight easily, so thought I would give her some of the EP reduced fat formula as it only has 9% fat against the others that are 12 % +. I only give the dogs about one cup a day, the rest in in raw foods, and they don't get it every day. She is currently at 43.5kgs, her ideal weight is 42kgs so we are slowly getting there. She has only been on it for about 2 weeks or less, was wormed and treated for fleas even though I couldn't find any, she had 2 small bald patches the size of 5c piece. She had a vet appt for something unrelated and while I was there I asked them to do a scraping and check for mites and ringworm - luckily nothing was found. They said she may have a skin infection so said to put her on AB's, I thought it was a bit of over kill so put them on the fridge. 4 days later the 2 small patches are now bigger than my hand, she has been scratching something shocking, her coat has got thinner all over and she looks like crap, dull coat. Once I saw her skin I decided to start her on the AB's and gone over everything and the only changes have been the EP reduced fat dry. I called the shop I got it from and returned it, as I don't feed much it was more than 3/4 full. I swapped it for the Holistic Duck. I felt really bad, I read the pack and the very first ingredients was ground yellow corn...she has never had a reaction to anything before but then again she has never had this type of food either. Glad I didn't feed her much of this stuff, this was the only thing that I have changed with her so am hoping it caused the problems - if no improvement in a week looks like another vet trip. She usually has the most beautiful coat, I have never seen her like this before. Any one else had such a bad reaction to the EP reduced fat formula? Those who are thinking about trying it look out for skin issues if your dog is not used to corn.

Dyz - MDC make a bath for trailers with a very large rinse tank, it is auto fill but I don't remember much about it, once I checked out the Liberty baths I was pretty much sold on theirs. Baby Dragon - my bath has had a pretty hard life, being mobile for the first few years was tough on it but I have not had any problems with it. I should have burnt the heaters out several times by now as I have left them on without water, so perhaps I have just been very lucky. They can be repaired - it is fiddly but repairable. I don't remember how much water it holds, but if I fill it up I can wash/rinse 3 small dogs without having to fill it up again or both my Rotties when I share the wash water but use fresh rinse water. Once you know how much water to use you can be more conservitative with the use of water. It will be warmed up in about 10 - 15 minutes, buy the time you have the dogs ready and make a cup of coffee it should be right to go. I used to wash my 2 Rotties pups together when they were a reasonable size, I still pop Lizzy (Pug) in with Piper (Rottie) so you should manage 2 average size dogs easily. I often pop 2 dogs (same home) in together, no worries at all and I wash 3 Chi's on a regular basis all together, as long as the room is warm enough and you can dry them off they are fine. If I am washing more than one at a time I have the heater on and will do most of the drying while they are standing in the bath as it is warmer, when almost dry I finish them on the bench separately, or set one of the driers up to the cages with one dog while I dry the other. I either use the Hydrobath / kennel cleaner when I am giving it a really good clean out including the hoses or spray and wipe in between use. Mine also has an optional extra raised floor for the small dogs, but I don't use it. I don't think you will need to worry about auto fill, it is handy to make sure you never run out of water, but I really don't think you will need it, just keep an eye on the amount of water that your using and you will be fine. Remember your paying to heat the water up, if your keeping more than you need hot then your just wasting money. Hope that makes some sense, this reply has taken ages as I keep getting getting side tracked. eta: I only wash dogs together if they come from the same home and do not have any skin conditions, if they do they have separate baths.

The older twin tanks had small reserves, the newer models have a huge rinse tank and can easily rinse off 2 Rotties. I am very particular with rinsing the dogs and have never had a problem with rinsing them off. I bought my bath when I was mobile, heating the tanks up isn't a big deal, by the time you have groomed / clipped the dogs off (coated breeds) the bath is already hot. Even now, I only fill the bath up for the job required, no need to heat up the whole tank for rinsing if I am not going to use it. Since I stopped going mobile and set up in a portable building I still prefer the idea of the bath being heated, I like to move things around now and then, I would not have that flexability if I needed to stay near a hot water service. But I do agree if you have access to a hot tap then save your money and don't get a heated bath if that is what your after. Baby Dragon, I have a Liberty Twin Tub Hydrobath from Sommerville in Vic and if I need to replace it one day I will be getting another one from them, it has been fantastic in the 7 + yrs of grooming. Enjoy searching, there are quite a few companies who make them now. Tell them what you want and see what suits your needs.

Are you sure they are not the common white ground grub?

I love this photo - when we got Lizzy she was 9 weeks old and Piper only had 2 weeks to go before she had her 1st litter. At first I was worried about bringing Lizzy in to our home with puppies due so soon, but I had been waiting for over a year for a pug so couldn't knock her back. Piper loved her from the moment she laid eyes on Lizzy and they have been bed buddies ever since - even when she had puppies.

Has she been checked out by a vet - it's possible she is having a phantom - mine all phantom, increased weight, nesting and produce milk. Tell her to get the bitch checked out and discuss it with the vet.

Great to read this - I have not found anything as good as the Leo ear cleaner. Will be looking out for it from now on. Thanks.

Bones here too.

I have been taking my dogs to Tony for a couple of yrs - had an apt today with him. I am very happy with him. Just send me a pm if you want any further info.

Good for you - I have no intentions of going any further on this with you - feed what you like. My mistake in my reply here is that I do not own a GSD. Yes I only scored one dog (well below the average) lots of people who raw feed their dogs have have them scored - if I knew I had to include them in this then I would need to make quite a few calls to get all the information needed however I am not interested - and they have had their dogs scored way below the average too. I have seen many dogs scores who are fed premium dry foods that have shocking scores, no doubt you have too - so diet and environment do play parts in the over all health. I also know breeders who are doing exceptionally well on several generations of raw feeding - I am not going to tell them they got it wrong when their results speak for themselves. Accidents can and do happen. My 8 mth old pup had a beauty at 6 mths old - slipped at the dog pool while standing right beside me - lost her footing on the slippery floor (fully documented with the vets for future reference if needed). She had 6 weeks off - and was slowing brought back in and am only starting to do more with her now - she has another physio apt at 11.15am today. A large breed dog doing the splits is a concern, she was xrayed when she got hurt and although came back ok saying that she should be fine, I am hoping that she will be, however as this has not completely healed I dare say it will show up on when she is scored next yr - injuries do show up and do affect their scores. One of my pups is being fed on RC and I saw him on the weekend - he looks fantastic. As I said earlier feed what ever suits you..

YES - it is a must in Rotties as it is in GSD. I have only scored 1 so far - my girl was raised on this diet as was her father. I have 2 pups that will be scored next year and I will be looking at doing the 20mth old girl soon.

When calcium is fed in it's natural form any excess is excreated from the dog, artificial form of calcium will cause problems, I never use calcium in any other form than natural.. As I said - each to their own. eta: I do worry about the contents of what ever is in the bag of dry foods, to me that is a bigger gamble of getting it right than feeding a raw diet. As I do not own or breed GSD's - I do own Rotties (+ a pug) and I would never feed my dogs anything that I would think that would harm them or their health - including hips/elbows to be scored as low as possible. Don't forget there is more to low scores than diet - environment has a huge part to play in development which may also affect low hip/elbow scores.