twodoggies2001

I know, but she wouldn't want to go to the bother and expense. She thinks I'm crazy for attending a homeopathic vet, not to mention an eye specialist for my 12.5 yr. old mini schnauzer. She claims he's too old to be bothered about. The difference between her and me is that I do care about both my young boy, and my old boy, who through the years has given me that unconditional love and devotion many humans wouldn't even dream about.

No sorry, I have no idea, and my friend wouldn't know either. She really doesn't know too much about dogs, but I know she loves this little guy but is just now savvy on care.

I don't know the dog's breeding. She got it from a work mate that had to rehome the dog, because they were expecting a baby. I forgot to add he also has ear infections often. h I have told her about the feeding on numerous occasions and even offered to make up a week's supply for her to try him out. The problem here, I think is that she can't be bothered, and it's much easier to open a bag of whatever. I have even offered to have him here to transition him over to raw, but short of kidnapping him I don't know what else I can offer. Gosh, my boys have been on raw since I got them and they enjoy their mealtimes, just as much as I enjoy feeding it to them. They have a freezer just for themselves.

No, you are not a snob. If you are, then I must be too. I like to know the temperament of both parents mainly because of my small grandchildren as I can't afford to have an unknown around them. Having a pure breed is entirely my choice, and I do go to known breeders and will again when another member of the fur variety is to join our household.

At the moment we are living in a house with two mini schnauzers and polished floor boards. We will be moving into a newly built home where we have tiled the entire bottom floor just because of the dogs. There will be scatter rugs around for them to sit and lie on. Even though the polished boards look great. at first, I would never have them again. They scratch, and the maintenance to have them repolished is extensive. We need to have them done after just 2 years upon moving out, so they look presentable for the sale of the house.

How often is too often? I have a friend who has a westie cross is very itchy and smelly, according to her. She feeds the dog kibble and I'm not sure of the brand. Here's the thing. She baths the dog once a week. Personally, I think that's far too often and have told her so. The itching could be because of food allergy, not to mention over bathing and drying out of the skin. She refuses to try different feeding methods, and leaves a bowl full of kibble out for the dog and won't change the bath frequency either. The poor boy is miserable. Any thoughts on this.

I make up a very large amount of veggies in a single time and do freeze them in take away food containers. I do not add the egg. They get that separately. My veggies are put through the food processor as they need to be broken up for the dogs to get any value from them.

Thank you for your replies. You have given me some hope. It will be difficult, I know, but that little boy means the world to our family, and we want to do as much as we can to have him comfortable. It will be a problem to confine him to confine to an area because of the open plan design, but usually he is content to sleep on his bean bag or the couch and hopefully, he will continue to do so.

I am agonising over what to do. Our family has two mini schnauzers, one 2.5 yr. old and one 12.5 yr. old. My older boy lost an eye due to chronic dry eye, which was not responding to specialist treatment and it was decided that because of the pain the eye was causing, it was best to remove it. His other eye is still being treated for the same problem, which we are controlling. The cause of my heartache is that he is losing sight in the remaining eye, and it seems that he can't see close up. We are moving back to an old address in a couple of weeks, after rebuilding our dream home, but of course it will not be familiar to my boy. He manages negotiating his way around where we are at present, but I don't know how he is going to manage at the new place. I don't want him to be miserable, because besides having a slight heart murmer, he is not ill, has a good appetite and is still happy to go to the park, albeit on lead. I am so concerned about him losing his way around the house. Anyone out there been in the same predicament?

Who says they're not allowed to react? They shouldn't have to tolerate aggression from any dog. However, when was the last time you saw a large breed dog confronted by another dog that weighed more than 10 times what it did? No dog should be forced to defend itself but the frequency that larger breeds feel the need to may be less than for small dogs. I personally believe that if every dog owner took responsibity for the control and safety of their dogs, we'd have a lot fewer of the "small dog vs big dog" threads we see here. They're all dogs and sometimes people need to remember that. I think PF has hit the nail on the head. Sometimes a simple thing like a playful wayward paw from a big dog can really hurt a small dog. Big dog owners (and small dog owners too) quite often can't understand this, and the fact that 'he's just playing' doesn't really make any difference. However, it is up tot he small dog owner to protect their dog from situations like this too, which is why my dog only plays with dogs I know, because he already has fear issues mainly resulting from being hurt by big dogs playing with him (thank you puppy school). That said I do think small dogs get away with a lot more and I don't necessarily think they should. All dogs should have manners. Exactly. I was at the park with my two mini schnauzers when a fellow with a very large boxer cross came walking up behind me. I allow my dogs to socialize with others in the park, and definately do not pamper them in any way. This large boxer started to paw at my boy who weighs around 8kg. The boxer cross at a guess was around 40kg. He was a big boy. The owner stated he was a friendly dog and wouldn't hurt my boy. I explained that I understood it would not be deliberate, but just the sheer size of the other dog could harm my boy. He took offence and said I was babying my dogs. I've been on both sides of the scale in dog ownership. I have had Great Danes before the schnauzers, and the big boy was attacked by a staffy cross. My dane had the staffy's head in his mouth and if he wanted, could have killed him, but guess who had the vet bills? The staffy came away without a scratch and we had a ripped ear and ripped open leg.

Well at least the particular dog in question will never attack again.

What is the point? It was a dog. It could have been a crossbred dog or a purebred dog., I no longer care. Like most of the rest of the world I am totally fed up with people allowing their dogs to be out of control. Breed? What frigging breed? They all have teeth and the more powerful the dog, the more damage it can do. Some of my greatest loves in dogs are large powerful breeds, that are gentle giants to me, but I know that without the proper supervision and training these dogs too can be killers. You are right when you state that dog owners are under attack like never before, and while ever little kids and other dogs are getting chewed up by other peoples dogs, the situation will remain the same. I am expecting a new law anytime soon: "All dogs must be muzzled". And you can thank the stupid owners who don't give a rats about anyone but themselves and their dogs for such a law, if and when it happens. Souff Simply blaming the owner when dogs may be unwell or tormented by kids will not solve the problem. All serious attacks need to be investigated to find common pathways based on fact not supposition to decrease future attacks. You may think you know it all, You Don't. This thread just won't go away, and has brought out the best and the worst in some of us. Again, to reiterate some our thoughts it makes no difference whatsoever what breed the attacking dog was. The fact is, that this dog 'broke' into the next door neighbour's yard and attacked. If the dog was unwell, then that is the responsibility of the 'caring' owner just as it is his/her responsibility to keep that dog on his/her property. If he/she is a parent, then the parent is also responsible for any children they may have. Let's not make excuses for the owner. The only good move he made was having the dog put down. It takes just a handful or idiots to ruin it for everyone. Because there are some irresponsible owners, somewhere down the track all of us may have to abide by some ridiculous laws. I have met some well trained and gorgeous pit bulls and I have also seen some others that are just an extension of the macho image.

I have a 12.5 yr. old mini schnauzer and also a 2.5 yr. old. My older boy hasn't been vaccinate for several years, because he had bad reactions to them as a young dog, and at one point we almost lost him. Mt younger boy had all his puppy shots and was due for his annual last February. I enquired with my usual vet who hadn't heard of titres. I also take my older boy to a homeopathetic vet. My usual vet got a price and it came to $250 plus consultation. The homeo vet said the only test we need here in Australia is the parvo, and not to bother with the hepatitus. This came to $90 plus consultation. He still had immunity so no vaccination this year.

When Benson, mini schnauzer was diagnosed with a porto systemic shunt at 6 months old, (he is now 12.5yrs) he was fed a very similar diet to your dally. The need for low protein in this situation is essential, but the protein should be a good quality protein. I had the choice of feeding a commercially produced low protein diet or a natural low protein one. I chose the latter.

hmmm... Dogs who attack with intent to kill are often deadly serious and act with planning and intent They are totally focussed on their victim. I would not class them as crazed...as ,in my mind, crazed would be a dog just running down a street ,maybe..biting people/dogs haphazardly.. I wasn't there, so didn't see the dog attack, so cannot state what frame of mind the attacker was in. I do know though, that if a dog is so intent on killing, then that is the only thing running thru its brain. I guess, if it was a human, we could say they may be 'crazed'..because people have so many rules and social behaviours which usually do not include attacks causing death.When it does happen- then, yes, often a person is unbalanced/crazed. dogs live by entirely different rules, and some dogs will and do fight to the death .While thankfully not common, I do not see it as so unusual. As for doing the same thing to children... I would not jump to that conclusion lightly, as dog/dog aggression is VERY different to dog/human aggression. Perhaps my choice of word (crazed) was not the correct one to use, but that dog is better off gone. I'm only sorry that the young boy and his siblings had to go through this ordeal

So, you find it so amusing. That dog did get what it deserved, don't you think? I do. If it was crazed enough to attack unprovoked, and finished with it's canine victim, how do you know it wouldn't have turned on the kids, huh? I don't care if it was pit bull or as an example, a poodle, or any other breed. It attacked and therefore was a dangerous dog. Ivan Milat has nothing to do with this and I am amused with the comparison. I am talking about a crazed dog. Maybe, I should consider journalism in the future.

Why not? It wouldn't matter what breed the dog was. The fact is, unprovoked, it killed a dog, and given the chance, most likely would have done the same to the kids living next door, if not someone in the neighborhood. The killer dog got what he deserved, and now the owner should also get his punishment. Wow, I wasn't there, you obviously were! Was the dog tormented in the past? Where were the parents? Why wasn't there adequate fencing? What breed was the dog? Was it suffering from a brain tumour? Why was the poor dog allowed to suffer for an hour and a half? Dogs are voiceless. If these cases are not properly investigated they are bound to be repeated. But what the heck, no one really seems to care except wear their heart on their sleeve for all to see how caring they are. We don't have dog problems, we have people problems. Who are you referring to? Nobody was there except the kids and two dogs. In my opinion this young lad did a fantastic job to try and save his dog and the other kids. From what was reported on the news, the dog broke through the fence from next door. Fencing is the responsibility of BOTH land owners. The killer dog burst through into the back yard of the neighbour. The killer dog's owner also shirked his responsibilities yet again.

Why not? It wouldn't matter what breed the dog was. The fact is, unprovoked, it killed a dog, and given the chance, most likely would have done the same to the kids living next door, if not someone in the neighborhood. The killer dog got what he deserved, and now the owner should also get his punishment. Wow, I wasn't there, you obviously were! Was the dog tormented in the past? Where were the parents? Why wasn't there adequate fencing? What breed was the dog? Was it suffering from a brain tumour? Why was the poor dog allowed to suffer for an hour and a half? Dogs are voiceless. If these cases are not properly investigated they are bound to be repeated. But what the heck, no one really seems to care except wear their heart on their sleeve for all to see how caring they are. We don't have dog problems, we have people problems. Who are you referring to? Nobody was there except the kids and two dogs. In my opinion this young lad did a fantastic job to try and save his dog and the other kids.

Why not? It wouldn't matter what breed the dog was. The fact is, unprovoked, it killed a dog, and given the chance, most likely would have done the same to the kids living next door, if not someone in the neighborhood. The killer dog got what he deserved, and now the owner should also get his punishment.

Well said. Another thing that should not be overlooked is the fact that the boy in question is a child, who took on an enormous responsibility who showed his maturity even during this horrific incident. This is something he will have to live with for a long time.

Clever boy. I think he's trying to tell you something. You can feed him a balanced raw diet, without having to feed him dry. By the way, you should not be feeding him raw and dry food together in one meal because the rate of digestion is not the same. If you must feed the dry, feed it by itself. DOL has a section about raw feeding, so why don't you read through some of these threads and judge for yourself.

I agree, I used to feed just kibble but feed mostly raw now. Now I look back and think about feeding kibble ONLY and think a lot of lazier people would choose that path... mans best friend is MEANT to eat meaty bones and raw foods! Although I know theres dogs with allergic issues and this and that that do better on certain kibbles Well put. I feed my two a raw and natural diet. Both came to me with bags of dry food, which slowly went out the door as they were transitioned to the raw diet. Most of the processed foods do not have a large percentage of meat in them, and I just wonder if owners of these commercial diet fed dogs would like to eat processed food day in and day out. I don't have a dog food tin or kibble bag anywhere here. I was dog sitting my cousin's dog a few weeks ago and his kibble was sent over with. When he saw what my boys were fed, he flatly refused to eat his own. After all, raw chunks of meat or fish is much nicer than dry pellets. What a clever boy!!!!!

What is wrong with sitting in the gutter of a cul-de-sac with some other children!! You are seriously not going to say this is wrong and the parents or kids are at fault for sitting in front of their house!!! Why cant a dog just be a 'bad' dog, why is there always an excuse? I dont believe in BSL, but I DO believe if a child is bitten by a dog then it should be PTS. ESPECIALLY in this case where it appears to have been unprovoked. OH ETA... in my 40+ years I HAVE seen dogs of all and any breed be aggressive.. I comes back to the individual dog. You cant claim that ALL huskies are not aggressive the same as you cant claim that ALL pitbulls are. You cant have it both ways. Grey Dobe, I'm glad you answered in this way. These were my thoughts too. It seems that that there are some on the list that put dogs before kids. The child was out in the cul de sac with his friends. So what? It's not a traffic through area anyway, and the neighbours are more than likely on great terms with each other. Isn't he entitled to do so in front of his home? Gosh, when my kids were youngsters they played with the neighbouring kids in the street too. A dog should be under total control at all times. That goes for large breeds as well as small breeds, and unless the eleven year old is very dog savvy, he should not have had charge of the husky, especially around young children, because of the children's sudden movements when they play.

A bit off topic, but I am sick and tired of seeing vets blamed for things like this. A relative of mine was a vet with his own practice for over 30 years. I still have nightmares about some of the stories I wish he hadn't told me. Of the pensioners who would come in in the latest fashion with a brand new car sitting in the driveway demanding a pensionr's discount; of the people who would come in last thing on a Sunday night with an animal who had been obviously ill for some time saying the dog just suddenly became ill, of the people who would bring in their dog who had obviously been ill for some time and no matter how hard the vet tried, the animal died and then the people would reefuse to pay their account because the vet didn't save their dog's life; stories of how the vet's wife had to call the police because the vet was being threatened; of the dangerously ill Dalmatian who was on a very strict diet, but after a visit from the owner was violently ill bringing up about a kilo of peanuts fed to it by the stupid stupid stupid owner, of the people who would swear on their children's lives that they never used poisons when it was obvious the animal had been poisoned by something in the house or garden ..... and that is just the tip of the iceberg. One of these days, I may tell on DOL a story that I think of too often which even now I can't put into words. Just consider how many animals that vet had seen that day (that week, that month, that year), twodoggies, and how many time he had heard people making excuses as to why they couldn't pay their account. Get real, twodoggies, and look at both side before you start blaming someone. Souff has the utmost respect for vets and their patience and diplomacy. Most busy vets would scarcely have a day where they didn't have some of the incidents you mention. Souff would have throttled half the fibbers. Saw enough of it with dogs that didn't get groomed ..... and heard enough of the excuses of how it was always somebody elses fault that the dog now needed medical treatment because of neglect! Heard enough of "those tablets didnt work!" stories too. No, they don't work very well if they are still sitting in the container! Would I take an owner's word that a dog was dangerous if I were a vet? You bet I would. If they didnt want the dog and sent them back home with the unwanted dog, then the dog is going to develop issues, if he hasn't already, and a large breed with "issues" is not the sort of animal that can safely live with little children in society. And I am pleased to say that most of the vets I know would have put that dog down the first time the owner asked for it to be done. Payment can be chased up later, if there is a problem. It wouldn't be the first time and it wont be the last. LITTLE KIDS COME FIRST. Dangerous dogs like this one in the hands of idiot owners is simply a lethal incident waiting to happen. The cost of the green dream and disposal of the dog would be a small investment in the protection of little children and I would sleep well at night. Allowing this dangerous dog to go back home with the owner brought consequences that cannot be as easily fixed. Also, it is not the vet's role to doubt the claims of the owner. Sometimes a handler gets the job of taking a dog to the vet for euthanasia after a nasty incident. The vet has to take the word of the handler that the dog is deemed to be dangerous and does what has to be done - professionally. Ethics before emotion. Every time. Souff Thank you. I've been trying to say this from very early on in this thread. Souff, you've put into words my feelings to a tee. This two doggies IS real.

I agree that if you choose to own a giant breed, or a miniature one for that matter, you should be able to financially look after it. Your example of the service to your car and the toilet is not a fair comparison. In fact, it's world's apart. These people apparently approached said vet and he denied them. I still believe that he is morally incorrect, and as I said before, he could and should have worked out a payment plan. Say for example, if an owner presents with a very sick animal to the vet, and at the time is short of funds, does the vet turn him/her away, or does he/she do whatever possible to save that animal? Again, a payment plan could be arranged. It's not that difficult. Why should the vet, who would be a complete stranger to the owners, pay for treatment for THEIR dog, out of his/her own pocket? I don't see how its any different to a mechanic or plumber - both are a profession which offer a service. If I had faulty brakes on my car, my mechanic wouldn't fix them for cheap or with a payment plan. As the owner of the vehicle, it is my responsibility to ensure I can pay for my car. How do you know that these clients were previous bat debtors with the vet? Perhaps they already had bills racked up? And if an animal presents sick on a clinics doorstep, they are only required to give first aid and prevent suffering. If a dog presents with a broken leg and the owners have no money, the vet is not under any obligation to fix that leg free of charge. Also, if a person presents with an otherwise healthy dog requested euthanasia, the vet is well within their rights to deny. Simple - the clients can find someone else to put to sleep their dog. No one likes putting to sleep animals whom are otherwise healthy - vets are often presented with unwanted christmas puppies etc to be put to sleep because owners no longer want them and a vet is well within their rights to decline the euthanasia. I still can't believe, that given the information from the article about the dogs previous actions, that you are pointing the finger at the vet. There would have been other options for the father - gees, even if he tied the dog up for the authorities to deal with. First of all. we DON'T know that the owner is not known to the vet. You state that the vet would be a complete stranger to the owner and then you say that how do I know that the clients were previous bad debtors with the vet I think you intended to say 'were not' bad debtors. I am only pointing the finger at the vet, because in my opinion a little heart and compassion could have been shown. Anyway, it seems that we will not agree on this subject, and that is our right to freedom of speech. You have your firm views and I have mine, so let's just agree to disagree