nynka

I was told by a vet that it is okay to give Paracetomol to a dog. Asprin dosage rate is easy to remember 10mg per kg. I like to give Asprin with some food so they don't get an upset tummy. I'm not sure about the dosage rate for Paracetomol.

Agree with all the replies, please read them and consider them they are all true. Please buy a pure bred (sounds like your daughter has some lovely breeds she has narrowed it down to) and with her not being set in her mind which breed, I'm SURE you would be able to find a pure bred puppy in one of those breeds, from a registered breeder, who will do the right thing by you and your new puppy. In the long run it will be worth it, not just financially but emotionally too.

Having been a professional groomer myself, I would recommend that you don't do this job. It's really not worth it for so many reasons. If you get bitten you will be put out of action and suffering from it for a few weeks. If you don't have the tools/skills already to do this dog - you will be spending money on them just so you can groom it. Unless of course you are starting out in a grooming business and will use them in the future, I don't see the point. If you haven't done a matted dog before I would dare say you will underquote your fee by a mile and that is probably why they are asking you to do it. If you aren't experienced it will take you forever and if the dog is that unco-operative it will be a nightmare because you will be worried about hurting it as it spins around. So many things can go wrong. When I had dogs that were so bad they needed sedation, I made the customer set it up with the vet, and bring it to me sedated by themselves or the vet. I felt it was too much of a responsibility otherwise. There were only 2 dogs in 3.5 years that required this. Once of them it was just fear (a rescue) and after the first time, she was okay from then on. The other one woke up during the groom and was terrible. I did groom it in the future, under sedation by the owner.

Hi Rysintira, I'm going a bit off topic here, but I've found with my dogs and from friends with coated breeds too, that the time frame before bitches start to look "showable" again is generally 6 months after the litter. Sorry if that wrecks any plans you have, but you may just have to grin and bear it (have fun with the puppies) and wait to show her again when she has a competitive coat, otherwise you are wasting your time and money. Another thing that can happen if you show her out of coat is she may get beaten by dogs of a lesser quality because she is so out of coat. It's really hard with a coated breed, but once my girls have a litter, they don't go back till 6 months later and even then it's sometimes another 4-6 weeks from then for them to be competitive. Now your breed doesn't carry quite as big a coat as mine, so the time frame may be shorter, but looking at the pic, I would say you have at least 12 weeks of growing to go from there, as there is no undercoat. In the meantime give her good nutrition and coat care and when her coat comes back it will be in beautiful condition. To give you some hope, I have found that bitches come back with a lovelier coat, after having a litter. Back on topic, I love so many of the Plush Puppy products and they are top quality - obviously one of the reasons they are becoming so popular all over the world.

I had typical analysis and guaranteed analysis explained to me by a person involved in a large pet food company. G'teed Analysis - they promise that every cup of food will be made with the exact proportions of ingredients listed on the pack (therefore higher quality and more consistent) Typical Analysis - they use those ingredients in those proportions most of the time, but sometimes the recipe may be varied - for instance if one ingredient is not available they may put more of another ingredient in -so the balance is not always the same. Chicken byproducts for example - can include a large proportion of feet, beaks which doesn't have any if much nutritional value. If you have a food that is g'teed analysis then you know that "chicken and chicken byproducts" has real meat in it not just ground up bones, feet and beaks. It's interesting reading food labels and if you get a chance to speak to a dog food rep, they know a lot about the way the foods are made. I've been feeding premium dry foods and buy them in bulk for many years and it is surprisingly inexpensive to feed your dog top quality food.

Kojo Eye Conditioner is excellent. It is available from Pet Network for $13.95 for a 250ml bottle - that will last for a long time. Many of the showdogs use it to prevent tear staining, rather than just covering it up. Another benefit is it doesn't matter if you get it in the eye. I even use it as an eye wash sometimes, when my dogs have dust in their eyes (the only time they get weepy). If you use it every day, as the new hair grows back it won't have the stain anymore. It's really great on white or light coloured faces. Here is the link: http://www.petnetwork.com.au/cgi-bin/shopp...&cart_id=328125 cheers, Janette

R.I.P. Cindy Thank you for sharing your story, I know it is a very hard time. Remember what a wonderful life she had, because of the love you had for her and how lucky you both were to have each other. There are lots of lovely tribute sites on the net, when I lost a special dog of mine recently, I found comfort (and shed lots of tears) reading poems and tributes from others, that summed up so well how I felt. After a suggestion from a friend, I found comfort too in preparing my own tribute site. She sounds like a lovely and loyal pet. Chins are just adorable. I'm sure you will always miss her. A dogs only fault, their lives are too short. Janette

Thank you for your kind comments and visiting my site. Chookette, thankyou for sharing - I certainly hope your Keesie gets better soon. Janette

I have created a Tribute Website in memory of my beautiful Keeshond Levi who was tragically killed 18/9/03. If you are interested, you are welcome to visit.... www.nynka.com