Jumabaar

What little chubba's!!!!!!

Thats about what I currently pay. We need to compare apples with apples, though. Is $70.00 for a titre on all three diseases? IE Parvo, Distemper and Hepatitis? No that is for the Parvo and Distemper.

Thats about what I currently pay.

The health risks of obesity are overwhelming to dogs. How many vets will tell a dog owner that their dog is too fat. I'll tell you it ain't many. You know what I think? I think a lot of vets would be advocating the injection because they weigh the risks of no coverage of heartworm against the risk of the jab and decide in favour of the jab. And if they assess a pet dog owner as being unlikely to ensure that their dogs get heartworm protection by any other means, then I agree with them. But for a dedicated dog owner who's prepared to avoid the injection and use a LOWER RISK option - why wouldn't you?? I completely agree with TW! I also think vets are so used to treating to the lowest common denominator that unless you walk in with "dedicated dog owner" tattooed on your forehead a vet will recommend the 12mth injection.

I am interested in what reasons the vet gives for being so keen? What is the real advantage to this yearly injection besides convenience? Convenience and the lack of compliance by a large percentage of their clients. Something given monthly seems really easy (you would think) but its also easy to forget to buy it then forget again and before you know it the clients back and the dog has been off heart worm prevention for 12mths and they have to do testing before you can re begin treatment which said client might not have the money for. Prevention is better than cure would be what most vets are thinking! You have to remember that you can have a sick dog with heart worm too- so for the less dedicated/compliant clients the 12mth injection is the safer option, in the eyes of a veterinarian.

Oh thats cheap if you send over a few!! Might think about it, although it depends on the vet being nice enough to do a multi dog consult for a decent price. They have shown that if you test positive to one of the other two (can't remember which) then you are covered for Hepatitis so it isn't necessary to test it individually.

I agree with this!! There are plenty of health benefits for desexing after her first season which is what I will be doing. With each season (up to the 6th season where the risk plateaus) the risk of mammary, ovary and uterine cancers increase. I will wait 12 weeks after her heat to make sure she is clear of all hormones (in case she phantoms) and then get her desexed.

Not sure if you could get some additional support from Charles Sturt university Vet Faculty and the RSPCA? Usyd has just become involved in CAWS http://educationrspcansw.blogspot.com.au/2012/02/launch-of-caws-draws-applause.html perhaps you could see if something similar could be run in Wagga? I didn't even realise the program existed till monday so just throwing it out there :)

straight to the vet

Though I do think individual owners should decide the best thing for their pets... I disagree with this statement. Making your dogs sick means return visits and more money. It certainly is in a vet's interest to keep you coming back. Most vets these days opt for doing health checks and preventative treatment which ends up with more profit IMO than actually treating sick dogs..... Much better mark ups on chiropractic treatments than there are on surgeries lol. Also making dogs sick might be good for business in the short term but dead dogs and word of mouth does tend to kill a business pretty quick. Also making dogs sick regularly probably would mess with a vets mental status so even on a personal sense it is in the vets best interests to not make her dogs sick ;) So I think KTB probably has the right of it.

Is this in Australia or is it just in the US (the strains of resistant heart worms)? I also prefer to do monthly doses for my dogs. I buy in bulk and have it marked on my calendar. I do however understand vets, and less enthusiastic dog owners opting for a yearly injection. There are reactions but I guess you have to weigh the number and severity of reactions against what you are trying to prevent.

My dogs STILL wouldn't understand that??? Dogs don't understand sometimes??? Try googling 'dominance myth' as I think you find it enlightening.

I've always found this notion quite silly, dogs as pack animals will all sleep together for comfort and security, not apart. My dogs can come on my bed and furniture when I say so and they get off when I say so. My beagle sleeps with me every night. No leadership problems here, though sometimes I wake up and she is asleep with her head on my pillow, I wonder what that means?? :laugh: I am guessing it means you have a comfy pillow!! My dogs know they are welcome on my bed, but not allowed on my grandparents bed when they have a sleepover there. They also know they have to give their toys right into my grandfathers hand but anyone new gets tested by having the ball put 1m away from them- if they insist on having it handed to them the first time then thats the rules of the game, if they go and pick it up then they are the rules. So long as you set rules and fix the criteria there will be no dominance or status issues with anything. Its as silly as saying if a dog doesn't move out of your way they are being dominant- mine all stay still because if they move while my grandparents are moving it usually means they get trodden on!! Train your dog to do what you want and don't read into things too much.

Done :)

I drove from Mudgee to Sydney just a few hours ago and it was starting to get very interesting!! Was disappointed that I couldn't see the rodeo today though lol.

Breed registers have been opened before for the influx of new blood. I agree with Kavik- nothing is going to change as there are far to many egos at play. I do think its possible to have both- I have seen some absolutely amazing WKC kelpies that also have AMAZING conformation and some of that show ring zazzle!! Not sure if they would win but they do fit the ANKC standard to a T. I am not fussed about colour- I think there are less tan pointed dogs being shown simply because it is a recessive colour so unless there is lots floating around there is a good chance you have to give up other things to get the tan point. NB the WKC dogs that I have seen have been both solid and pointed dogs. I will admit that I am using the show lines and will be focusing on producing flyball/general sports dogs that also fit the standard because good conformation means less injuries. This will probably mean I fall out of both camps and be all on my lonesome :laugh:. I introduced a 'performance sweepstakes' to the Kelpie Club show- so far my boy has been the only one entered the past two shows because no other dog showing actually has a title (ok his mum has more than him but I forgot to enter her and she will be doing flyball at the next show) so unless there are some extra faces being shown he will go in alone again. Kinda disappointing since these breeders also tell puppy owners they can do dog sports when some DONT produce the right levels of drive. I personally have tried all my dogs on sheep and they have all had instinct but don't have the time to train them. I personally don't want any more herding instinct in my dogs than they already have because I am focusing on sports and so am more interested in their food/prey drive in forms that I can effectively utilise. I personally would love to get my hands on some of the WKC lines but for the time being I am producing what I want from the ANKC lines. The only thing I can see the ANKC offering the WKC would be genetic diversity- which may be necessary at some point in the future.

My girl also got carded- her second yellow card ever. Her first one was in her second comp FIVE YEARS AGO!!! She decided she wanted to go and visit an old team mate in the other lane and managed to dodge two people twice . Appart from that perfect running as usual lol. Really pleased as she managed some post whelping PB's. Its great your girl went so well- lots of dogs were spooking so you must have proofed her well!!

Hi Telida Whippets, Yes he does do obedience often, as well as a little flyball & agility plus Rally-O and tricks. He will now be off to have some bowen therapy done Most dogs have a 'strong' and 'weak' side. They will naturally turn more in one direction than another so there may be no injury but I agree get him looked at just to be on the safe side. What way does he turn at flyball? Many dogs get used to turning in that direction. I try and get my girl to turn as many times in the other direction as she does number of flyball runs. I am lucky that she actually does flyball turning in her weak direction which has meant she is relatively even. Begin with heeling in large circles in the weaker direction then slowly close them up. I like doing lots of tight figures of 8 to begin stretching and strengthening. Once he is comfortably doing that then begin doing even tighter circle work, only a few reps in both directions each time then increasing the number each day. I do figure of 8s between my legs and over jumps. Perhaps also look at doing more hind end awearness moving in the weaker direction- I have seen a dog that knew its back end was there going to the left but not the right!! Good luck

Would you have your GP do an ultrasound, perform a hysterectomy on you, think of themselves as a physiologist, diagnose and treat agressive forms of cancer, perform heart surgery??? Yes vets do get basic training in behaviour but we also get basic training in surgery and medicine for large ad small animals, behaviour for large and small animals etc. So at some point your general vet IS going to be out of their depth in ALL fields!! So the smart/ethical vets then give you the option to see a specialist because the specialist has a far greater pool of knowledge to treat your animal. If people dont want to see a specialist then the vet does the best they can in the time they have. Its not the vet who is responsible for the dog being dumped its the OWNER who made that decision. Its the 'blame someone else' attitude that people like you have that allows people to dump their dog and feel that they can blame the vet because the vet didnt treat their dog. I have seen these drugs allow dogs to achieve amazing results. It has allowed owners to work through problems they have been having and eventually wean dogs off the drugs and be able to compete in agility and other sports, where before even seeing another dog put their dog over threshold. Excuse me? My dog is a rescue dog that someone else dumped and I am trying to help overcome his problems. It was not me who dumped the dog and I have spent many hundreds of dollars trying to resolve the issues he has. GPs don't automatically refer people straight to "specialists" for mental health issues either - many will try to assist at a certain level before referral. Vets should be able to do the same. But you have justified what that person has done!! You have placed blame on vets for being to expensive as a reason why dogs end up in pounds which I find quite offensive- it is the owner who decided to dump the dog. Most vets do an assessment of the dog- there are some that they will/should refer immediately, others that they should try and work with owners. I actually get really annoyed at vets who try and treat things beyond their knowledge because they can do more harm than good. Its the same as the vet who sees a dog 20 times about a skin condition- had they referred at the second appointment the owner probably would have saved money seeing a specialist. A dog that has anxiety or sever fear aggression is a dog that in my opinion is suffering and so should be helped as quickly as possible. Offering the services of someone more experienced who is up to date with behaviour therapy and current drugs is the fastest safest way to do this. I do think that once dogs start needing medication for day to day living it has moved beyond a general vets knowledge- but I understand that is my perspective. I needed an ankle reconstruction 7 years after an injury because my GP wouldn't refer me to a specialist when the problem could have been fixed, despite me asking for it. Same with dogs- why not at least offer the chance to see a specialist in the first few weeks of the problem when the dog has not reinforced the behaviour making it easier to work through and potentially solve??? I didnt treat my dog that has fear aggression immediately, I kept going to trainers who made the situation worse, my vet just advised desexing. I went to a behaviourist and actually set up a training plan and we are slowly breaking all the bad habits. Thankfully no medication was necessary but if it would make the progress faster I would consider it. He is a much happier dog since treating the problems- I know see how much it was impacting on his life. I really wish someone had talked to me earlier about seeing a behaviourist instead of offering me crappy 'help'.

Would you have your GP do an ultrasound, perform a hysterectomy on you, think of themselves as a physiologist, diagnose and treat agressive forms of cancer, perform heart surgery??? Yes vets do get basic training in behaviour but we also get basic training in surgery and medicine for large ad small animals, behaviour for large and small animals etc. So at some point your general vet IS going to be out of their depth in ALL fields!! So the smart/ethical vets then give you the option to see a specialist because the specialist has a far greater pool of knowledge to treat your animal. If people dont want to see a specialist then the vet does the best they can in the time they have. Its not the vet who is responsible for the dog being dumped its the OWNER who made that decision. Its the 'blame someone else' attitude that people like you have that allows people to dump their dog and feel that they can blame the vet because the vet didnt treat their dog. I have seen these drugs allow dogs to achieve amazing results. It has allowed owners to work through problems they have been having and eventually wean dogs off the drugs and be able to compete in agility and other sports, where before even seeing another dog put their dog over threshold.

Congrats!

I have chosen some music for HTM but I still need to shorten it. I still havent decided on anything for freestyle yet BUT I have been working on training her for it! I used the hype at flyball at canberra this weekend for proofing- if she can do it outside the ring doing it in a quite room should be easy. Abby can now heel on right and left spin both directions infront and beside wave from a sit and stand beside, infront and at a distance weave through my legs (new) duck behind and pup up though my legs (new) circle around me clockwise circle around my individual legs we are working on reversing through my legs heeling backwards on my right side I still need to fix up a third position for HTM- she can go infront of me with her nose towards my right side but doesnt maintain postion very well, she can face me on the right side but not the left. When I try and work on her with them she is getting frustrated and just throwing tricks at me so I think I am going to have to change how I am teaching them- just not sure how just yet

Sooooo happy right now- My Finnish Lapphund Theldaroy Great Expectations "Demi" took BCC and RuBOB today AND My Kelpie Lyndoor Sleepy Sam "Abby" came 3rd in first division of flyball Congrats to all the winners and grinners of the past few days! (ETA- my goodness that hill was steep up to the show rings on my 5th lap from the flyball area today!!)

From a previous thread I believe in this- I dont give my dogs attention when they are reacting in a way I dont want but I do tell them ist normal and that if they want to come up for a cuddle its fine, just like its fine to come up and have a cuddle at any other time. I dont make scary incidents a 'special' time for them but I dont with hold attention. ETA- just checking that the vet did a full exam and tried to rule out any physical reasons for the sudden reactivity?

At the risk of bringing the wrath of another bunch of breed fanciers down on me.. me. IN THIS CONTEXT I'd not recommend ANY terrier. The family are looking for a quiet, friendly dog. I've seen way too many noisy, reactive terriers to recommend one IN THIS SITUATION. That goes double for Fox Terriers (Smooth or Wire). Yes, I know there will be a bunch of folk who'll tell me THEIR FT was quiet as a lamb and loved every dog but the odds of getting one that more closely fits the breed standard are good. One of the words used to describe the WHFT breed in the standard is "fearless" and in my experience that's what you're going to get more often than not. That doesn't mean I hate terriers (although its likely that's how it will be interpreted) but if I wanted the best fit for the requirements specified, a terrier would not be on the list. You beat me too it. I don't think it sounds like you hate terriers and obviously from my sig, I adore them, but I also wouldn't reccommend one in this family's situation. Especially not a Fox Terrier. OT Its interesting- I have Kelpies and I think Terriers look like more work!! I keep looking at them wistfully but I know that the breed lines I would be attracted too would be more intense than the dogs I have now. I think there have been some great suggestions in here!! Love corgi's