fifi

your beautiful post made me cry, treasure your boy's memories - he knew you were with him at the end, and you both gifted each other love. let your new boy into your heart, love without fear and enjoy him for the different dog he will be. lots of us here have held a hearthound while their last breath was taken, the pain eases, let yourself have a cry when memories overwhelm you. I also plant trees, as a living memorial to my loved ones. hugs from here, fifi

thoughts are with you both, she is in wonderful hands with Karen and your family love. fifi

He sounds like a wonderful ambasador for GSD's, and your kids will always treasure their childhood memories of him, we ALWAYS remember our childhood heart hounds. may the longtime sun shine upon you Zac. fifi, danny & hounds

I'm in the same boat as you Melree, I completely missed this thread, Lablover I hope your little guy bounces through the recovery. I've seen lots of great recovery from young'uns who have had blockages & intersusseptions. good vibes coming his way fifi, danny & hounds

thanks for the updates Jacq, I just feel gutted for this poor woman & her dogs. fifi

Coolibahcoolies, I dont know the recommendations for canned food storage, it might be a good idea to phone a customer help line on the can. I dont imagine that its good for any processed food to be in high temps. fifi

:rolleyes: I cant imagine enduring this kind of loss. talking about the canned product, it may not have been factory contamination; It could also have been a storage/transport issue with the food, ie; cans left in the sun or old stock. now this is disgusting; Farmers used to leave a can of sardines in the sun, then open it and leave where foxes & feral cats would eat it. The botulism would kill them horribly. I have watched our local supermarket leave canned stock in the sun, while the loading bays are busy. whatever has caused this unthinkable tradgety, I hope its brought to light ASAP fifi

As pewithers has said in this thread in the general section; there needs to be a nationwide recall of this product, taken off shelves immediatley if the canned food is the culprit. fifi

:D I've seen some of thier ideas on temp testing, in fact none of my beautiful companions would pass, actually nearly none of the rescues I've had would pass iether. maybe they should stock their shelters with stuffed toy dogs in the cages? As Rozzie said - run, jump, and be a puppy at the bridge. poor little mite, fifi

I can only offer my heartfelt tears at your loss, not only robbed of a precious life, but also dreams. Most of the breeders on DOL have shared the tradgedy of a young life & future cut short, and feel your loss. hugs to you all fifi, danny & hounds

what a sad, horrible shock for you Megz, I hope your other little chickie is okay too & doesnt fret. hugs from here. fifi

I always defrost mine & give them a soak in warm water, to bring them to room tempereture, only warm water though so as not to change the bone structure to cooked. mine seem to digest warm to room temp food so much better & I always serve it immediatley. fifi

so sorry Rozzie, another one waiting at the bridge for you. she went in your loving arms, knowing she was adored. fifi

I'm glad Sooki is doing well. I have never been an advocate of leaving a pup crying and barking hysterically for an indefinite period of time, I think pups need a 'controlled crying' time, so that they know we won't jump to their every sound, but are careful to respond within a fair period of time, if its obvious they are really distressed. I find if the settling in barking/crying time is reducing each day, then its working, some pups do have real fear and leaving them to scream themselves hoarse isnt providing them with a safe environment. I think its a judgement call, not all methods will work with all pups. You do get to know that naughty demanding attention bark, from the ' I'm genuinley unhappy cry. our pups have a huge pen & crate in the lounge, we let them out for last wees at 10pm and try and wake them for first pit stop at 6am. they are then put back in the pen without much interaction, and soon learn that quiet must prevail until at least 7am. fifi

Pewithers, I think you may be setting your pup up for acute separation anxiety. They should learn that sometimes thier human wont be available at all times. Dogs do need boundries & discipline all delivered with consistency, and not from anger. Yes, they also need company, unconditional love and training. And whilst not all modern methods agree, I still believe in the pack structure with me as top bitch! Gibbo, I have a multiple (lots) dog household, each one was raised with similar methods recommencded by Sidoney & Greymate, the only one who is a problem barker and quite anxious - is the one who had me on tap at all times, she was sick for several weeks at four months, and I was in attendance for her every whim! she's a spoilt bugger now, and is slowly learning safe separation and non reward for barking. We have proven the methods suggested by those who've been around for yonks, especially with rescues, who have been able to settle into a happy routine. good luck with your new baby, he may also need some canine company too, fifi

we have always had a great selection of vets, until we moved here, thankfully after five years of an incompetent, we now have new vets at the new local clinic, who understand giant breeds, and breeders, and who just managed to save our old girl, Molly who suffered Gastric torsion a fortnight ago. (havnt posted about it, as I wanted to make sure of Molly's recovery) the previous vet here - was the most arrogant man I've ever met, his asumption was that unless you could state the animal was worth lots of dollars, then why where you bothering?! his other mistake was to assume that animal owners are complete f**kwits, he would try and humiliate owners and very experienced dog & horse breeders with his crap! our other nearest vet at the time was nearly 100km's away, and believe me, for anything other than ultra life threatening stuff, we drove the long way! this vet managed to kill or misdiagnose so many animals that he closed his clinic on the pretext that he was moving to a specialty clinic in QLD, last I heard - he is doing fencing out the back of QLD somewhere! and all our animals vet history went with him, he was supposed to sell the entire database with the clinic, but its all gone! luckily I keep good records at home. When we lived on the central coast of NSW, I did change vets once, but only because the vet had become quickly upmarket, and nearly doubled thier prices! a good vet relationship is priceless!! I'm so relieved to finally have our new and CARING vets!! fifi

I phoned the bonnie/purina/nestl'e advice line, the person I spoke to admitted that it is partly a cost cutting measure. we bought one of the new bags ($5.00 dearer) and the first ingredient now listed is cereal & bran! very bad for breeds like mine, who are prone to bload/GDV the bonnie person I spoke to, said she hadnt had much feedback from people who objected to the change, and if we were unhappy - they would need substantial customer feedback to go to management. The only way I could approximate the bonnie complete, would be to buy a bag of the working dog & the new one & mix!!! wont be doing that though - will have to research some other brands. fifi

I read your post right through LP, and had to choke back the tears. I have always had a menagerie of pets, and no matter what species they are, sometimes you are honoured with one who's soul already knows you, and so special they are. all our love and hugs, fifi & crew

when we could'nt get Bonnie last week, I tried my guys on a small snack of the food we used to use years ago, another one that has recently become popular and upmarket... well, by the next morning - yellowy runny poo everywhere! mmmmm, and I used to raise my wolfies on this stuff up to five years ago (now has a tv vet advertising it) I try to stick as close to a raw meat & vegie diet as possible, but need a good kibble on hand to supplement. fifi

thanks for that, I feed mainly a raw food BARF style diet, but like to have a little kibble on hand as a supplement. I was wondering why our supplier was out of Bonnie complete, and he mentioned a huge price rise with the next shipment - of about four-five dollars extra per bag!! fifi

You made the unselfish decision, its so hard to let them go, we want them here with us - and for you to lose two in one go, must be heartbreaking. "WHAT THE CATERPILLAR CALLS THE END OF THE WORLD - THE MASTER CALLS A BUTTERFLY" speed your way across the bridge handsome Junior and Tiny, where you are young and healthy again. hugs from all of us fifi

DONT TOUCH THE CALCIUM YET! Please contact the breeder, as many vets are not aware of some growth issues, is this a giant breed? please, talk to your breeder, and get a 2nd opinion before you pump the calcium in. most of us giant breed folk have seen the disasters that exess calcium supplements can cause. fifi

I used to love watching him in the ring, a beautiful dog that could make your hair stand on end - just watching him move.... run free with the wind in your handsome face... fifi

as mentioned the sight hounds are hypersensitive to anaesthesia, and not all vets are aware of the body fat/density as opposed to the usual per KG dosage. we always remind our vets that the wolfies do not metabolise ACP or other pre-meds for some time, so we do not allow them to use premeds on ours. We insist on the Diprovan family for intravenus induction, rather than the Pentothal type. Wolfies can also suffer prolonged recovery, so our vet is very light with the gaseous anaesthesia ie; Halothane & NO2. We sound like a vet's nightmare dont we?!! but I'm a vet nurse, and we finally have a vet that is sympathetic to our needs, after having one that thought we were fussy idiots, but kept losing dogs to 'unknown' deaths on the table & post op 'complications', we soon took our dogs from his practice! Most good vets are aware, but you could always take a print out of your breed specific contra-indications or issues. fifi

Oh Rozzie, what a crappy birthday for you, our thoughts are with you over Sasha and Josey, be proud that you are able to nurture these beautiful oldies to such a great age. You must have a wonderful home... all our love fifi, danny & hounds