Nadia

I am going to ask again Has anyone got any links to studies on the long term effects of feeding Dogs a vegetarian Diet?

Does anyone have any links to studies on the long term effects of feeding dogs vegetarian diets?

I can't see anyone making a living out of hand stripping wire coats. Good try decisiontime, but I can't see it. Show preparation for each breed is so breed specific, I reckon you really have to be in the breed to keep up. Pet people would also be put off by the price and the running back wards and forwards and simply take them for clipping. So much easier and quicker to clip pets than the hours need to properly strip.

Even finding someone to groom a Poodle for show is difficult Greentea, don't feel too bad. Chalk it up to experience. If you find someone to do it, make sure you have detailed intsructions from your Breeder, you don't want your Griff looking like a Schauzer or a Wire Foxie Good Luck! Baby Griffon photos are always appreciated here.

That'd be like searching for fly poo in a sand pit...LOL Sorry They are few and far between here in OZ.

The problem with handstripping is the time it takes and the time frame involved. With most wired haired breeds that require to be hand stripped, the entire coat is not done all at the one time. If the dog is going to be shown, different parts of the body may be stripped at different times, so that when the shows come around the dog has his coat at the right length in the right places. You need to talk to your breeder and you may well have to learn to handstrip yourself. The problem with showing breeds that have special grooming requirements is that it is so very much a BREED thing, there is not one technique etc that fits all. You need a Groomer who knows how to present your breed for show and is willing to take on a show client, very few and far between. With these Breeds that require specialised presentation methods I strongly believe that only way is to learn to do it yourself. I had a lady on the phone last week spitting chips because she had bought a puppy and wanted to show it and no one in her area could groom it for show, she is not interested in learning to do this herself, she just expected to find a groomer who would take it on. Me as a breeder, would not sell a show puppy to someone not prepared to do it themselves, because of this problem. It is the in the best interests of your kennel to have show puppies presented well by their new owners. I just think that forward planning in this situation saves frustration and dissapointment later.

You also need to look at HOW MUCH the dog is being fed. Is he being fed sufficient to actually put on condition. What are his motions like? He could have an absorption issue. Individual dogs have different requirements, what one will do really well on another wont. Some animals are just very lean and hard to have looking the way we would like, yet may be perfectly healthy. If he was mine I would feed him lots of lamb and mutton flaps, chicken with skin on, and see what happens.

It sounds as if the shampoo would have done the same to humans!!! I use human shampoo on smooth coats and long coats, no worries. Obviously some folk disagree, if you are worried then don't use it.

This is always one of those questions, once certainly isn't going to hurt, as long as you do not have a dog with a skin issue. Myself, yes I do use human products on my dogs, no, I have never had a skin reaction or bad skin or coat as a result. Maybe it is to do with the quality of products used, I have no idea. All I can say is that I have used them for many years on the same dogs with no issues. I also use some human products on my horses

I have had cause to use a bark collar here, and would again. Better that than a baited dog, or a dog released from its yard by idiot neighbours. I feel the same way about the containment fences, having a problem dog who will kill livestock if he escapes. I would him recieve a zap/tingle whatever than get himself into big trouble. If my dog escapes I am irresponsible, if I use a containment fence I am cruel. If my dog barks I am irresponsible, if I use a collar I am cruel. If I can't train my dog without using these I am an idiot or am lazy. If I rehome the dog, I am an uncaring breeder. Seems I can't win. To those of you who have no problem dogs, no problem neighbours, great, good on ya! The rest of us do the best we can, and the best for our dogs and our situation.

I am not denying that the pup is probably unwell, simply that we have no idea of the facts really, and if the pup was obviously so unwell, why take it home? These things always turn into a shit fest and only one party gets a chance to comment. Judgements based on too many grey areas can be damaging. No one knows how the pup ended up eating so many wings, I've had glutonny pups go on a gorge fest and eat a huge amount as a one off. The wings are not a huge issue here I don't think. If the Breeder has done a lousy job, then Yes it stinks, but again, look, and research, if it doesn't look right , don't buy it.

Lab puppies are gluttons, it would be easy for a piggy one to scoff more than its own dinner, and in very quick time too! I wouldn't crucify the breeder because of this. It's easy to be critical when we all don't know the facts. I would definately let the Breeder know I was unhappy about the worm burden and it's apparent consequences. Let us not presume the pup would have been PTS though. Always give the breeder the opportunity to put things right, it is easy to paint a black picture on these forums when the other party doesn't have a chance to respond. Hope pup is on the up and up, and it is smooth sailing from here.

Why would you expect any business to not try and make a profit?? $7 a bag for a Premium Food is not at all excessive. Dog Food, in fact any stock feed like horse feed etc is a pain in the ass to stock, it is space consuming, low profit, people swap and change all the time and expect you to keep up, which is bloody impossible. Many foods can only be purchased direct or from distributors who don't stock much else, so you are running accounts here there and every where, and many of the companies have minimum size orders. Tough, if you get in a pallet of something, then every man and his dog suddenly wants to use another brand. The stuff doesn't keep, so you have that problem as well. And you have to cart it out to peoples cars for them, $7 whooopppeeeee!!

Chicken wings/thighs, and lamb/mutton flaps will fatten him.

Of course the petshop is making money on the Eaglepack, they would be making money out of any brand they sell. We sell Eaglepack because we believe in its quality, it is what we feed all our Boarders as well. Maybe its the same with your pet shop.

bstone, Did you buy your puppy from a Show Breeder? Have you asked them for help? Did they know you wanted to show the puppy? Just trying to fill in some blanks here.

Presenting any coated breed for the showring is a specialised task. There are many reasons why Groomers will not take on a show client. * Not experienced in Show Trim for that Breed (some breeds like Poodles, you also really have to keep up with what is the current trend) * Not financially viable * If the Groomer is a Showie themselves it adds another dog to your workload for the weekend. * Owner non compliance with required day to day care or post grooming aftercare. Personally I believe if you want to show one of these breeds you have to learn to present them yourself. Or be prepared to travel distances and spend big money, if you can find someone who will do it for you. Learning yourself is the best option though, it really is the only way to truly understand the hows and whys of a coat like a Poodle has.

Onions cakes, biscuits and other sugary foods crap in a bag or tin (cheap and nasty dog foods)

As far as I am aware the drug is the same in both USA and Australia. It is not an option that is promoted by my Vet for HW prevention.

Weekly Hydrobaths and a good blow dry with an airforce dryer will help speed the process up, but other than that, Yep welcome to the world of the double coated breeds. I find one of those professional untangler combs with the rotating teeth do a great job removing the dead coat. I can fill my grooming room up with GSD hair really quickly, it always amazes folk how much hair comes out. I travelled a GSD bitch for 2 days in the car with me once as a favour for a friend. Our car had a fabric hood lining, what a mess. I'm sure we had hair blowing out the cars vents for months afterwards. Everything we ate or drank during the trip was hairy I am sure.

Bones get the vote here! 100% natural goodness. Nothing like fresh clean teeth and breath.

What I cannot understand is, if the food was at fault, why havent we heard of a mass outbreak of this? I wold imagine batch runs of a product would be pretty big? It doesn't make any sense. Doesn't help those poor animals,and their owners but doesn't make sense. Hope we have a full report soon.

Does anybody know what these dogs actually died from yet?

Some Pet Food Trivia Off Topic but interesting. Walthams and Royal Canin joined forces in January 2004. The Veterinary Diets are now marketed as Royal Canin Walthams. Nestle own Purina, Purina now own Bonnie. Iams is owned by Proctor and Gamble Mars owns ADVANCE DINE GOLDEN COB GOOD-O MY DOG PEDIGREE PEDIGREE SCHMACKOS TRILL WHISKAS Greens own Supercoat. Hills Science Diet is owned by Colgate There are very few independant Pet food companies left in the BIG market. Nutrience is owned by Hagen I think Eagle Pack may still be in its original ownership. If you have to time to read on the subject the world of Pet Food manufacturers is pretty small. But it is worth BIG dollars. Interesting how when a big company buys out a smaller one they fiddle with the formulas and change the products.

If you have a problem barker and you have neighbours you cannot trust or the council threatening to have your dog removed, you have to take action that works. If something sets your dog off, and your neighbours take it into their heads to do something about it and you are not home your dog may be at risk. You have to be able to stop the dog NOW. For me the answer was an electronic collar. Worked first time and still works, and the dog was BAD! It actually worked so well with my fellow, that he doesn't bark once when it is on. I use it when I have to leave the house early in the morning or if I will be away at night. Whe I am am home he responds to commands. But home alone is a different story.