RiverStar-Aura

It's such a game of trial and error with weight loss in animals. I don't have experience with dogs, but trying to get some weight of my cat was murder. If you've got 2 kilos off her so far, you've done a fantastic job -- there's a guy at my local dog park who thinks that by clipping his overweight cocker spaniel makes him "look slimmer". *rolls eyes* Like BC Crazy suggested, try getting your girl to go swimming; it's amazing exercise for dogs and humans. Ribs should be easily felt, but not seen (poke out) in any breed and jut remember the being a SBT, your girl will still be more strongly built in the chest area than other breeds of dog. Maybe even have a chat to your breeder about the recommended weight range for her line of SBT.

Completely OT but welcome back Panzer. How are your woofas doing?

Glad to hear poor Oscar is home after his ordeal. Give him some extra love and pats from Zeus, Kirah and myself. We wish him all the best!!

Our local dog walker is often at the off leash park with a few dogs, whose owners everyone knows as well. She never brings her own dogs with her when she's got her clients' animals with her and they are the soul focus of her attention. She's a lovely woman who I'd not hesitate to leave my dogs with if the need ever arose. All the dogs love her and bound up to her when they see her in the park!!

Biogroom Wiry Coat on my Aussie Terrier and usually Fuzzyard anything on my Beagle cross because I like the smell. Also I like Aloveen too for the Beagle x.

Riddick is such a cutie and is so happy doing tricks!! Kirah's my rigor mortis playing dead dog -- she 'dies' with all four legs stuck up in the air all stiff like a cockroach :laugh: Zeus is a true actor -- he takes so long to die, it's like watching a death scene from a Shakespearean tragedy!

Kirah perked right up once the cat got home -- I'm thinking she could've eaten a lizard. Aussies aren't toy breeds and I've never had a problem with Advantix before with any of the Aussies. Luckily we're coming into winter so I've got at least 6 months to research into using Frontline again. In the mean time, I'm going to try Repel X on Zeus to stop the nasties from biting him

When I found 'Peanut' wandering around it was late at night so I kept him with me. In the morning I took him to the vet who scanned him and found a chip. Turns out the owners are clients at the clinic, so they kept him until his owners showed up. Definitely take him to be scanned for a chip and if he is, you could do a search on CAR to see if he's listed on that.

If they're only around 12 years, could you suggest things like them getting involved with showing as a step towards becoming a breeder? This might be helpful especially considering they're willing to learn.

I could only tell if Zeus got too hot on those chilly nights. I've bought him so many different coats and he always chews the strap off and has them lying on the ground each morning. I prefer to give him lots of fluffy blankets instead because that way he can make the bed to how he likes it and it's much more cost effective for me not having to replace coats every day. He has a nice home made box with high walls and mattress to sleep in piled with fleece and faux mink blankets -- plus he has Kirah to help keep him warm too!!

Question for you white dog owners: do your dogs get grass stains on them too or is that just my boofhead?

I'm really surprised your vet said they could only test for electrolytes. I've just had my cat Calypso at the vets because she's stopped eating but they'd did full blood work on her to test kidney, liver and thyroid problems. I feel your pain because Zeus is a food scrounger too, however, he's still nothing like your poor Gus. Zeus will be on the constant lookout for food, but he's at a healthy weight and does not eat anything that isn't food. He helps himself to the apples from our trees, but only ever eats food. I'd definitely try having him tested for hypothyroidism, because I think this condition causes the dog to be always hungry. I also noticed you mentioning he can't eat beef or liver. Have you tried him on kangaroo meat as well? If not, it might be a way to go as it's good for protein but lower in fat. Best of luck with poor Gus. I hope you get some answers very soon!

My two love curling up in their custom made dog beds. I had my dad help me make them. Just make a box out of wood from bunnings. For the mattress, I purchased a Snooza D1000 small size and made the box to fit it -- most websites have the Snooza's dimensions so it was easy to build the box to have it fit. The Snooza fits perfectly and Zeus loves it!!

Zeus is exactly the same -- only he's predominately black. I'm always getting comments like "oh his coat is so shiny and soft" whilst I'm thinking "he hasn't been washed in a good 6 months and is usually going swimming in the manky creek at the dog park". :laugh: It is funny though, some dogs just appear naturally cleaner than others. Kirah has a wire haired coat and it usually always looks dirty -- but that could be the flecks of white and tan coming though the blue.

Anxiety? Never would've thought of that. How does the chiro help with that? Maybe Kirah will benefit from it then.

I'm glad this topic has come up. I've always wanting to know about chiro and massage for dogs. How do you know if you should take your dog to a chiro for treatment? Is chiro usually just for very active, agility dogs who are always jumping around?

I have sympathy for the little poodle boy and his owner. I just try not to take everything the media says at face value. Even reading between the lines doesn't get you to the truth.

But that's not a really fair judgement though is it. Most people don't understand how breeds differ, let alone the difference between the breed groups or even that there are breed groups. To many people, a dog is just a dog, so they're the same kettle of fish. I don't have a problem with people not researching their breed first, provided they're willing to learn WITH the dog. My boy Zeus is the perfect example of this. Impulse pet shop purchase, beagle x JRT bought by myself, a first time dog owner and only ever had Aussie Terriers as pets before. I sure wasn't ready for the challenge he presented -- an über high energy dog with a nose that can smell things a kilometre away. He's been a huge learning curve, but I've taken the time to learn about both breeds and worked and trained with him. It has been hard work but oh so rewarding. He's a gorgeous boy, who has an enthusiastic willingness to learn new things. The bond we have now is beyond what I ever thought possible and that's because I made the choice to hop on his development journey with him. I hate to think of where he would've ended up had I not bought him that day. I can see my gorgeous boy being bounced around by owners and the pound because no one would take the time to learn with him. Sure, he's not perfect and has his issues, but we're both working hard to resolve this. Where I am at this moment is that I don't regret buying him like I did -- but in that first year, I was tested like nothing else and yes I did wonder what I'd gotten myself into.

This report says the little poodle did not put his nose through the fence but that there was a hole. That's interesting. This is why I just think fences should have no holes, whether someone sticks something through in stupidity (which we know they do) or whether your dog sticks its head out and bites someone on the footpath, why risk it? The owner claimed her dog was just sniffing the grass. I imagine there would be considerable difference legally between a dog (or a part of a dog) leaving its property to attack another dog and a dog that is defending its own property against a dog (or a part of a dog) that is intruding. The cynic in me can't help but think the woman let her dog stick its head through the gap in the fence and when the dog was attacked, claimed it was unprovoked* and that her dog was outside out the offending dog's yard. *In my opinion, allowing your dog to wander onto the property of another dog is provoking an attack. And therein lies the problem. There's always two sides to every story and it's always easier to blame someone else for your own mistakes. That's human nature. If (and I stress *if*) the poodle's owner was at fault, I seriously doubt she'd own up to letting her dog poke its head through the hole. On the other hand, I'm wondering how the council can claim it happened on private property. If she's walking on the COUNCIL STRIP doesn't that imply it's not privately own land?

I've only ever had two, very serious offers to buy Zeus off me. Both instances we were training off lead and the people walked up, opened with a line like "he's a nice looking dog" then somehow it turns into "would you consider selling him if the price is right?" I was tempted by the first guy because he'd offered $1000 and Zeus and I hadn't been working as a team yet (read: he was being a typical teenage s***) so I did contemplate it. Zeus was just lucky I loved him to bits back then!!

I'm wondering how, if the poodle didn't put his nose through the fence, the Amstaff managed to fit his boof head through the fence in order to do that sort of damage. Must be a bloody big gap in the fence. It's such a horrible thing to have happened.

So I've not been having a good animal week: Zeus has a horrible rash under his armpit that flares up, goes away completely, flares up again etc and is being treated with neocort and my cat Calypso has been hospitalised for severe dehydration, loss of appetite and constipation. Now it's Kirah's turn -- I guess she's been feeling left out. While the cat's been away, I decided to Advantix them again because Zeus's rash seems to flare up when he hasn't been treated for a while (he must get attacked by insects; I know ants bother him). Anyhoo, last night, Kirah's seemed much quieter and took her time eating a small treat so I figured it was because she was sleepy (it was 1 in the morning I let them out to per). This morning though, I've noticed she still took time eating breakfast (she's a Hoover normally) and has been sitting quietly at my feet. I saw that she'd passed a loose stool too -- not sloppy diarrhoea but more like cow-pat consistency. Both her and Zeus wrestle a lot in the backyard so I'm wondering if she's grabbed the back of his neck in play and this has caused a stomach upset. It seems too coincidental for her to lose her appetite after being treated but this is the first time it's happened. I'm at work today but I've got my family to keep an eye on her for any changes. I've seen her like this before but have always assumed she'd eaten a lizard or something as she's always foraging the yard. If it is the Advantix I don't know what I'll do. I live in a high tick area and poor Zeus is always being tormented by insects.

It's called a Pro-Heart injection which covers the dog all year for heartworm. I can't use Advocate on my dogs because it covers heartworm and because mine have had the injection, I'd be like triple dosing. Since becoming a more active member her on DOL, I've decided against giving my two the heartworm injection any more. I'd rather not inject a yearly supply of heartworm medication into their bodies in one hit -- even more so since they have it done at the same time as their yearly vaccinations. You could look into HeartGard tablets for treating heartworm, however, it also treats for hookworm and roundworm too.

I don't know if you have a local Woolworths (Safeway in Vic I think) but they should stock human grade roo mince and roo steaks. I buy my guys the human grade stuff because I can't be bothered tracking down any local pet suppliers, especially since I don't give it all that often anyway.

What a beautiful girl!! I'm so sorry to hear that she lost her battle. RIP sweet angel