Gallomph

Hi Westiemum - so glad the PJs are keeping him snug. I've been lurking here in this thread, keeping an eye on Mac's progress. I have 4 oldies, so I really sympathize with the emotional roller-coaster they can put you on!

This looks similar to the mini "seizures" that one of my oldies started having - pacing, wobbly, shivering, uncoordinated movement of legs and head - but not unaware or convulsing, and Ok after 5 minutes or so. It seemed to be related to feeding (within 2-3 hours of eating), when something different was fed to him, or twice when I was late feeding him. Vet investigations (blood and urine tests) turned up nothing. After consulting Dr Google (I know, I know... not the best thing to do, but the vet had no answers..), it sounded a bit like some descriptions of things that can happen in early stage kidney disease, so I thought it couldn't hurt to try him on a kidney disease diet. It seems to have helped - he went from 1 episode a week to only 2 in the past 10 months. One of the two happened after I stuffed up and he got some of another dogs food.

All of this is very well if you live in a city. I live in a rural area. The nearest vet is an 80km round trip. The council pound is a 160km round trip. Not easy or cheap to get to, especially when you work and you need to get the dog to them in business hours. The council won't come out to pick up found dogs. So I have hung on to dogs for several days because there is no other option. I call and notify the 3 closest vets and the council as soon as they are open. I put notices on the two community notice boards at the nearest town. I put them up as found on a couple of websites. And I put a sign up at the rest stop across the highway from me, (which is where people seem to stop to dump their dogs.) I have never had one inquiry, for any of the 5 dogs I have found over the years. On saturday morning when I am able to get them to the vets, I take them to be scanned. None has ever had a microchip. The council pound will take the dog if you can get it there in business hours, which does not include any time on weekends. So often I hold the dog for a further few days until I can arrange to get someone who is going into the city to drop them at the pound. The whole thing is a nightmare. So just remember that the rules and facilities differ in different areas of Australia. It's not always as easy as "just take the dog to the pound".

Yes, some dogs aren't interested in chasing the lure. And some take a while to settle and get interested. Others run a few meters then get distracted and go for a romp...You never know until you try. At a fun day I attended, there were about 20 different dog breeds - including my chihuahua! The only ones that didn't run where 2 whippets and a basenji !! As long as you go to a "fun day" or practice day, I'm sure you'll be welcomed and no one will laugh. Give it a try! NB. Maybe just take one dog at a time, so you can fully concentrate on that dog and encouraging it out on the course, and don't have to get someone else to mind your other dog off the course. And if your dogs have prey drive, do be careful of other peoples small dogs - the above mentioned Basenji had a couple of good tries at my chi - lunging and snapping at her - whilst the owner was distracted with managing her 2 other dogs.

Yoga mats would be way too dense I think. I'm racking my brains to think of something comparable to the spongy stuff in my bivvy, but drawing a blank, sorry! It's pretty thin though. I actually use snuggle safe pads too. Fairly hard for dogs to destroy! And I pop them into a "cocoon" bed that I made by putting a rectangular dog bed (with bolster type side), into a cheap kids sleeping bag. Very snug for my old chi boys.

Ok, that wasn't so clear on the shiny side stuff. Shiny side towards the heat source.

Yep, I reckon it would work. shiny side up. My emergency bivvy bag for hiking is made like this. The layers go (from outer surface) : nylon cover, spongy stuff, space blanket, spongy stuff, space blanket, fleecy stuff. With the fleecy stuff on the inside of the bag, nylon on the outside. Hope I've made that understandable not great at describing things!

Been there, done that (when I lived in Canada). It takes a LOT of tomato juice to bath a Lab! Not funny and it doesn't completely remove the smell - just moderates it enough that you are not constantly gagging!!

I inherited an oldish dog who was entire, and thought it wasn't worth desexing him at his age (8). Later, he developed perianal tumors that were inoperable due to location. The vet did some research and discovered that some of these tumors are hormone driven. So we desexed him at 14 years old. The tumours shrank, and he had another 2.5 good years with me before he succumbed to heart failure. So - I would say there could be some health benefits.

Try either baby changing mats, or the disposable mats they use at the hospitals for leaky patients. They may cost a bit, but compared to the work and cost of constant laundry, it may be wothwhile??

If you have to spend money on fencing, perhaps consider spending a bit more and putting snake proof mesh around the bottom part of the fence, rather than regular fencing?

Do you have a small bed that you can move around with you, so that for example, when you're ironing, you put the bed right at your feet. This may encourage him to lie down and rest.

I would expect the same price for day boarding as overnight. Kinda off topic... One thing that the boarding kennel I use does is close on Sundays (ie. no pick-up or drop off on Sundays). Whilst I understand that the owners need to have time off, it would be much better for customers if they had Mondays off. Because when people are going away, they often leave on Friday afternoon or Saturday morning, and return on a Sunday - going back to work on Monday. Because of the Sunday closing, I have to either go to work late or leave early on my first day back at work, in order to go and pick up the dogs. I realise it would be difficult if you had kids, and getting staff in to cover on a Sunday is super expensive... So I don't know what the solution is.... but in a perfect world, picking up on Sunday would be so much better...

Vegemite toast/sandwich! roll a piece into a ball and put pill in the middle. Then ostentatiously eat a mouthful of toast yourself, followed by "sharing" the doctored bit with the dog! If desperate, I will grind up the pill, mix it into some nutrigel / peanut butter / honey, and then wipe the gooey stuff onto the roof of the dogs mouth. Check with vet first - some pills should not be ground up, but with many it's OK.

Keep in mind that in some states / councils, you may only keep two dogs, and must apply for sometimes expensive or difficult-to-get permits for higher numbers. So if you even remotely think that an interstate move may be in your future in the next 10 or so years, it may be wise to just stick with 2 dogs.

Be consistant

It sounds to me as though she still has good quality of life - getting up and down off furniture, going out to investigate things, interacting with you....... What treatment is she getting? Has the vet told you what they think is causing the weakness / slowing down? If it's arthritis, many people have had very good results with catrophen injections monthly, plus feed supplements (eg glucosamine). Have a look in the Health forum for lots of discussion on these.

I think you were right to be concerned. Whatever the breed, any dog at the vets may be stressed / aroused and may behave in ways that it normally wouldn't. Not all owners are awake to this fact. Also, your dog is 12kgs, the other was ~ 30kgs. If the situation tuned to shit, your dog was the most vulnerable and most likely to get injured. Why take the risk?

Yep, or could have picked it up anywhere along the long string of flights, airports, transport vehicles he had been in.

Before I leave for work in the morning (varies from 2.30am to 6am), then 12 hours later. Toilet breaks straight after eating (20-30mins outside) and before bed at night. When I'm not home they're in the house, and generally have no accidents. Occasionally they'll tell me they need another toilet break during the afternoon / evening, but that's usually if I've fed them something out of the ordinary / new.

Yay !!! So pleased they fit! Those PJs have been lurking in a cupboard here for a couple of years, I must have had a brain fart when I ordered them - because they're big enough to fit 3 of my chis all at once! Glad to find a handsome wee guy to make use of them

Proden Plaque Off is much cheaper in UK (where I used to buy it). I am now buying Ascophyllum nodosum off DOLer Steve where it is cheaper still I was buying it from the UK too until I realised that we can get exactly the same thing here at a fraction of the price. The only thing I miss is the tiny plastic measuring spoon that came with the Proden PlaqueOff. I use the little spoon to measure other meds for the dogs. Yesterday I broke it and have no idea where I could get something similar I have a couple of spare plaque off spoons. I can send you one if you like.

I got these ones for my chis. They're toasty warm, wash easily, don't get peed on, and they don't sit high around the throat. And they're on sale! http://www.vetnpetdirect.com.au/VEST_2?sc=9&category=29#.U80CKygzKFI

I just made my own home-made cheapy version. Got a kids sleeping bag (rectangular size, flannel lining), placed the dogs' existing bed inside, sewed across the back then chopped off the excess, put a drop of super glue on the chopped part of the zip - voila! Cosy covered bed for ~ $30. But will only work for medium to small beds.

Given her difficulties eating, could she have inhaled some food and have aspiration pneumonia?? All fingers and paws crossed here for you and Myrtie.