Dame Aussie

I have done so, decided to go with someone else. We start training tomorrow afternoon. I need to email Midniara so I will ask her while I'm at it Hi June, Can I be nosy and ask where you are going for training? You sure can! We went to training/kindy at Murdoch Tafe (Perth) and I wasn't happy and we won't be going back. The trainers weren't helpful at all, quite up themselves and they had off leash playtime and the four smaller pups all went for Ivy and she got scared. They also demanded that I don't feed the treats that I had taken to class and made me feed her some shit ham that gave her a belly ache. Belgians don't like dogs that are in your face and this is what these pups did to her. I spoke to the breeder after this incident and we decided off leash play like that wasn't good for Ivy. She's all good now, she gets over things very quickly!! I'm now going to training in Cloverdale Monday evenings. We start in two weeks. Until then I'm inviting as many friendly and calm dogs over as possible. We have a play date this afternoon with a pup from DOL. She also spends time with my parents english pointer and they are great friends! I've checked Ivy's mouth this morning and her two lower front teeth are missing, awww. Isn't it cute when they have teeth missing?? Lili first lost those same teeth, two lower front ones, she looked so precious

Yeah I'm the same, our girl got a lump like that for her C3 so for her final vaccination we just went for a C4. It stayed around for a while and was quite noticeable...bit scary

Ok I will, thanks for the advice

For the past few days I've noticed Lili coughing just every now and then. I mean maybe once a day she will cough, say twice. I work in a shelter so I know what kennel cough sounds like and it doesn't really sound like this. It sounds a bit more like there is phlegm in there, not so dry sounding as KC usually is. Were taking her to the vet to check anyway but just thought I'd ask if anyone here has any ideas?! Can kennel cough sound "Juicy" ( I know, gross ) And could it just be a very mild case seeing as she's only coughing every now and then? Thanks guys

Lili has just turned 21 weeks and has gone from barely barking at all to woofing her little heart out at anything unusual. She saw some curtains in our bedroom move and completely freaked out, then heard some builders using a nail gun and it was the same. The barking is not aggressive, it is out of fear, I can tell she's scared just by her body language. I know that there will be things she hasn't been exposed to yet that might scare her but before this she just took things as they came..... Could this be a fear period? She hasn't seemed to have one yet.... And if so what is the best way to handle it? When she gets scared I try and distract her by playing with a toy, scratching her belly or going into the room walking round to show her it's all fine...Is this right? Thanks

Our puppy was absolutely HECTIC with mouthing/biting. A lot of the ideas such as yelping did not work with her, they would just excite her more but we kept trying.... She got a lot better but then started teething so went downhill again, She's 5 months now and we're still trying our best to be consistent and she IS improving. She will still mouth every now and then but not bite down hard and each day she gets a little better. We're almost at the point where she has stopped now and it has taken longer than I would have wanted but that was our fault not hers, we weren't consistent enough when we first got her. I really think you are giving up too easily here, all puppies mouth and will continue to do so unless they are trained not too. It could take you a month or even two but thats the whole point, you are responsible for training this puppy. Don't expect it to be perfect....if you really don't think you can do this then i agree that you should probably re home it now while its still young enough to go to a family that can train it properly. Good luck with whatever you decide

Thanks Sam Your comment on ovario-hysterectomy being seen as selfish by the owner is something that I have heard also. Then I was discussing this with my mother and she said exactly the same thing. As a dog owner I accept any extra responsibility for my dog whenever it is required, this being one area. The research is difficult to interpret due to cause and effect issues as Charles said and thats another I have to take into account, but I'm glad I'm not the only one exploring my options I'll definitely be speaking to a specialist, I'll PM you for their details.

Lili is 5 months and she still gets them once a week or so, when we got her at 11 weeks she got them ALL THE TIME. I asked the vet and he said it's very normal for puppies, dont worry and enjoy the cuteness!!

Ok I've taken a deep breath Sorry, I just hate the idea that someone would think I don't want what's best for my dog. Nekhbet: My point exactly, pretty much any part of the body can develop cancer, I don't think that is reason enough to remove it, we'd be removing everything. Previous dogs I've had have died of brain tumors and bone cancer, we're not going to remove them are we. And as you said with showing etc, do all these dogs die of ovarian cancer? And do their owners care less about them because they decided to keep them entire? I don't think so Thanks for all the advice everyone, it's always good to look at all options and make an informed decision and that's what I'll be doing :rolleyes:

OMG! She's a freakin dog - she doesn't know what's natural & what's not! Do you care if she gets ovarian cancer? Who in their right mind would want a dog still coming into heat even though it's desexed. Talk about crazy! -WithEverythingIAm No I don't care if she gets ovarian cancer! Of course I care about my dog that's why I was asking for CONSTRUCTIVE advice/opinions. And I never said that Lili would miss her hormones I just don't like the idea of interfering too much with the way an animal is born. Same way my ovaries weren't taken out when I was younger. Edited after I took a deep breath :rolleyes:

Exactly. I understand why vets want people to desex their pets but they seem to be so biased that they wont even entertain the idea of a responsible owner who is aware of not having an unwanted littler not wanting to alter the way their animal was born, for good reasons. Very frustrating, I hate the idea of taking away natural hormones which are there FOR A REASON. I just wish all owners were responsible, then we wouldn't have this bias.

As others have said luxating patella. Our chi x showed the same symptoms, holding one leg up etc, but never looked like he was in pain.... He had both legs operated on and is fine, good luck

try being a vet nurse with two entire dogs I agree why not leave one ovary in, why remove everything. I dont understand when vets will wave off the whole ovariohysterectomy as no big deal but leave your dog entire and OMG ITS GOING TO DIE A HORRIBLE DEATH RIDDLED WITH INFECTIONS AND CANCER!!! ultimately its your dog and your decision. personally I see nothing wrong with leaving one ovary in but remember if your dog still attracts males then dont go taking her to obedience comps etc where she could tease males when she's 'in season' Exactly! I'm going to look into it and yeah I know we'll still have to be careful with her . Thanks everyone

Yes that's what I meant

Thank you for that. I expected it would be more expensive, i hadn't thought about leaving one ovary, that might be something to look into.

Sorry my error. I wasn't looking at tubal ligation. I am confident I can keep her safe during her season. I guess I just worry that we won't notice in time and she could be exposed accidentally.

I’ve been reading up on getting a hysterectomy for my puppy rather than a normal spay and just saw this on a web site– “Tumors of the reproductive tract: Tumors can occur in the uterus and ovaries. An OHE would, of course, eliminate any possibility of these occurring.” So if this is correct I should probably remove her lungs, bones, brain and pretty much anything else that could develop a tumor??!!! Argh! Why is it all so one sided?! I definitely do not want to breed and don’t want Lili to get pregnant but I want her to grow properly and don’t really like the idea of depriving her of natural hormones. I am fully prepared to keep her secure and from wandering while she is in heat and the mess really doesn’t worry me, I can deal with that. I just hate the fact vets neglect to mention ANY disadvantages to a normal spay, when there seem to be many. I’m just wondering if anyone here has had a hysterectomy done and if they have any personal advice/experience on it, where to go, advantages/disadvantages, cost etc Any advice is appreciated! Thanks

Why do you want to add tinned food? just out of curiosity I'm not really muchhelp, we've never really used tinned food, but there are wet foods that aren't necessarily tinned like 4 legs, we've used that and the dogs seem to like it...there's also one called Chunkers, you can get both of these at the supermarket. I would just stay with the raw though if I were you, less preservatives etc

I was confused when I got my puppy too so don’t worry I know exactly how you feel! There are so many differing opinions on this subject and all dogs are different. I have tried a number of different dry foods including Eagle Pack, Purina One, Supercoat and Optimum Lili had soft sloppy stools on the Purina and not the best on Supercoat. Eagle pack was great but is on the expensive but I’ve found she does just as well on Optimum, depends on budget I guess! We have been giving Lili some dry food as one meal (either mixed with sardines, tuna, salmon, yoghurt or a raw egg), raw meaty bones and raw meat for the other meal. Her teeth are beautiful (she’s also teething right now and we haven’t had any problems) and so is her coat and she looks very lean and healthy. Don’t worry too much about it, stick with one dry food that she does best on and add in some bones and the odd sardine/egg etc and she should be fine! Some good bones I have found are lamb shanks, chicken drumsticks, lamb flaps/necks and beef/lamb offcuts you can get at your butcher! We also buy a dinosaur bone every now and then and she goes mad for the marrow inside ETA: I would get rid of the weetbix too, no real nutrition there

I agree with Nekhbet, I would get down to the vet fast. Our pup got a lump on her neck after one of her shots and i was onto the vet straight away for just that. If the throat seems swollen I woud get to the vet asap. Let us know how u go

Aussie, i'd contact your breeder and ask how old lilli's mother and aunts etc all were when they first when into heat. off the top of my head.. Millie's lady relatives were all like 18months before their first heat. Yeah good idea, I didn't think of that. I'd be stoked if it wasn't till 18 months that's for sure

What breed is your puppy? As others have said I would stop giving him the puppy milk. It has no real nutritional value and he’s old enough to leave it behind now. Our girl is about the same age and she eats like every meal is her last so I haven’t had the same experience, but as Miranda said try cutting his meal size down a bit, and I agree with the bones idea, if your pup likes to eat slowly then a bone with some raw meat on it will be great as pup will have to suck and chew on it for a while! With the walking, have you taken pup outside or just tried with the lead on your property? If so you may find once he’s off your property all the new smells will motivate him to walk! If not, try and make it fun. OH and I play the hide and seek game with Lili, each of us goes to opposite ends of the house/yard and calls her, gives her a treat, then the other calls her and so on. You could try doing this with the leash on, have someone call him and run along with him on the leash… Not sure about the trees but if you’re really worried just go over and ask them what they’re using, I’m sure they wont mind, then Google it or call the company to see if it is toxic. Good luck! ;)

This is what I'm worried about right now. My Aussie is almost 5 months and I'd really like to wait until she's a year old before desexing her. I'm confident we can keep her away from other dogs while she's in season but it will be extra work. :rolleyes: I'm thinking that I should put in the extra effort in order for my girl to grow as she is supposed to though....

Same with ours. Happened after 2nd and 3rd shot. Lump went down after a week or so. Nothing to worry about. Reactions of any kind to vaccination are a cause for concern. Reactions should see the alarm bells go off. There are lots of threads on here about vaccination protocol True. Even though we were pretty sure it was just a minor reaction I still took Lili in to the vet first thing the next morning. Lili didn't experience any itching etc so if your girl has more than just the lump I'd take her to the vet just to be safe .

This happened to our puppy with her second shot. It showed up a couple of days after and it was the size of half a golf ball! I rang the after hours vet and he advised it sounded like a reaction to the vaccine but as long as she seemed ok otherwise not to worry and come in tomorrow. I took her in the next day and they confirmed it was a reaction and is quite common. It did take a week or two to go down though. If you're worried see your vet, they shouldn't charge you just to have a quick look, but don't worry too much. As long as it isn't painful and she's acting normal otherwise. Makes you wonder about these vaccinations though