mita

I love the GSD. It's like he's finger-painting with spaghetti on the floor! Very creative.

You make good points. My tibbie never goes near water for swimming & I'm careful when bathing her. The vet recently pointed out that her problem was associated with a 'whole of skin' condition that was evident when the ear infections (mainly right ear) flared up. And indeed there was a yeasty-waxy layer all over....even on her soft collar. There were also some mildly raw patches under her neck & on her sides. That's why her treatment has included general skin care.... as I posted before.

I thought that Thornit was for canker caused by ear mites. I didn't think it was for yeast build-ups which can breed bacteria & infection. But I'm not a vet. So far I've not been too successful googling.

I agree with all this! My tibetan spaniel, Angel, was a small dog tester in the GAP program here. I was so impressed with every aspect I saw. The greys were awesome, showing all the positives that their trainers in the racing world had already put into them. Beautiful, healthy dogs with gorgeous temperaments, and socially confident around strange people & my small dog. My little Angel adored them, loved meeting them & doing the required, trots & runs beside them, in front & behind them. Only part she hated was, at the completion of the test, when the grey was put into another car to go home. 'My new best friend is going!'

My nearly 15 yr old tibbie, Nina Zena, has always been vulnerable to ear infections arising out of yeast build-up.... mainly in the right ear. Late last November, it flared again. Bad infection in right ear. The treating vet prescribed a course of Prednisone & PMP suspension ear drops. She also pointed out how the 'yeast' was a whole of NZ's skin issue. Sure enough a kind of waxiness could be felt all over...there was even a build-up on her soft collar. She advised managing that, too, as part of the treatment. NZ was to be bathed in Mediderm Shampoo, followed by Nutriderm Conditioner. She was to get an ear clean out with Octoflush once a week. I was also advised to get NZ clipped. NZ did well & it was a relief not to hear her crying when she scratched her ear. Just this week, after weeks of horrendously humid weather, NZ started crying when she scratched near her right ear. There were also a couple of mildly raw scratched patches at the front of her neck & on one side. I started giving her 1mg of Polaramine antihistamine twice a day. Her usually healthy fur was dry & brittle, too. Off to our usual vet, taking all the previous treatment of show him. Testing again showed bad ear infection in the right ear. This time a course of antibiotics was prescribed, Noroclav. And the PMP Suspension ear drops were to be continued. Same with the Polaramine. The vet said best could be hoped for, would be to manage & try to tone down her ear infections. He reckoned best cure would be to move to a cool climate! He also advised upping fish oil in her diet, given the dryness of her skin...by supplements. Tho' I suggested I'd rather do it via diet as I'd be certain of the potency. He agreed.... so NZ's been having sardines (salt-free) & tuna with her meals. I was also to continue the bathing & conditioning routine.... as well as the weekly use of Octoflush. By the third day, I could see a huge difference in NZ, no more crying.

Aww, so sweet. What are friends for! I always like the bloke in the Bud commercials, too.

Sorry to hijack the thread! I am also wanting to try Turmeric with my 10 yr old boy. So it has to have at least 5% curcumin? What does this do? Also it is better to be organic? And it comes in a powder that I should be able to get at a health food store? Thanks very much everyone :) I take curcumin for a human condition (not arthritis). The capsules were available from a nearby pharmacy, but they were not kept on the shelves, but behind the counter. The label said, 'For practitioners'....I assumed this meant naturopaths. I looked up the results from scientific studies (humans) ... which said that curcumin/tumeric on its own tended not to be bio-accessible, but that when combined with black pepper & oil, it was more so. So I've switched to tumeric, which I put on food like potatoes along with pepper & olive oil. But, because of the pepper, just speaking for myself, I wouldn't give that to dogs, without talking to a vet. Just out of interest, Ohio State University developed a nanoemulsion curcumin supplement to get around the problem of absorption with curcumin on its own. It's being trialled for women with high risk of breast cancer. Curcumin's showing up of interest in the conditions which are associated with inflammation ...includes breast cancer & other things as well as arthritis http://www.cleveland.com/healthfit/index.ssf/2013/09/researchers_use_supplement_des.html

One of our in-laws was a New Zealander & when she came to Australia to get married, her Newfie, named Kiser, came with her. He was a lovely dog. When they had children & lived near beaches, Kiser would circle them as they swam in order to 'save' them. :) I'm sure you'll also love having a Newfie as part of the family.

More quotes from Dr Andrew Tribe, Chair of the LDH Board. From The Age Jan 22. Sounds promising, but the question has to be asked, why such aims that'd be basic to a modern welfare shelter, have not been pursued before? Wouldn't this have been a responsibility for the Management & Board? And aren't they still the same? It seems to me that the concerns to 'change' have been spurred on by loss of revenue ... & only then discovering the need for a 'more compassionate approach' My own view would be to change the Management & Board: Melbourne City Council severed its 14-year relationship with the shelter in 2013, letting its $450,000 contract lapse, despite having an option for a three-year extension. Chair of the Lost Dogs' Home, Dr Andrew Tribe, said the shelter would review its policies and practices and aim to create a "more transparent, co-operative and compassionate approach". "We want to continue to reduce the numbers of animals put to sleep, through increasing adoption and continuing education and outreach programs to reduce abandoned and lost animals," Dr Tribe said in a statement. He said the shelter would also appoint a dedicated rescue co-ordinator. "We want to throw our doors open to those rescue groups who are best placed to help us. We are increasing our behavioural resources to further develop our animal assessment and rehabilitation."

Quote is from The Age reporting on the rally, January 24. More than 10,000 people have signed a Change.org petition calling for an inquiry into why the shelter is killing so many dogs when owners are searching for them and/or rescue groups are pleading to be able to rehome them. Earlier this week, Chair of the Lost Dogs' Home, Dr Andrew Tribe, said the shelter would review its policies and practices with the aim of reducing the numbers of animals "put to sleep". The Chair of the Board of the Lost Dogs' Home is given as Dr Andrew Tribe. I looked him up. To my surprise, he's a staff member of the University of Qld. On the Uni's vet school page, he's described as Senior Lecturer in Wildlife Health, Management & Behaviour So he doesn't seem to be a resident of Victoria (?).... & does the LDH take in koalas & wombats? Over the years, we've donated to UQ. When donations can be earmarked for certain sections, I've nominated its vet school services/research. Finding out this information.... & looking at the outcomes of the promised 'review'... will influence my decisions about any donations to UQ in the future.

sars, my senior sheltie had carthophen injections & they helped her enormously. The tip to ask the vet for them, came from an experienced tibbie breeder I respect hugely.

I remember that, with admiration, both for Kae's efforts & for the welcoming Canberra rescuers. Many sweet lives were saved. She paid a price. I also remember harsh criticism (& banning?)

That's good to hear.

Mel & sars, on the issue of people genuinely not being able to afford pound release fees. There was a tragic case in Qld years ago. A family's dog had got out & been impounded and there was no way they could afford the release fee. One night , a young boy (about 12) in the family sneaked out of the house armed with wire cutters, determined to break in and save his dog. He didn't get far... cut into an electric wire & was killed. It was a terrible tragedy. As soon as the news broke, some anonymous person paid the release fee so the boy wouldn't have died in vain. His dog was returned to the family. BTW The Lost Dogs' Home won the contract for the two Brisbane pounds a year or so ago. They lasted just one year when the contract was not renewed by the Brisbane City Council. Who then awarded it to the highly respected AWL Qld.

OSS, the service you're offering sounds like it would meet a real need. I would use it for the border collie we owned way back. I'd know with your experiece , he'd be safe. But it wouldn't fit our tibbies who are close, in-home companion dogs. They go to kennels where there's a special small dogs section & play area, with a great deal of attention from staff. You're right about costs...that kennels charges high fees for such an intensive service. So when it's just a matter of a day or two, our neighbours who own the same breed looks after them, in home...& we look after theirs, when they need it.

Oh, Kirty, I just realized that my abbreviating 'bull terrier' to only 'bull', does look like I was talking about an actual bull! :) I was actually thinking of a staffordshire bull terrier that doesn't exactly have a long muzzle. The staffy next door used to be quite a snorter & snorer with her muzzle.

Mini bull? Just a thought ... does that mean your doggie has a short squashed muzzle? If so, dogs with that kind of anatomy can have more trouble panting out body heat generated by activity. It's not just the temperature that raises body heat....it's activity, too. So walkies can be uncomfortable for some dogs. I had a Tibbie who point-blank refused 'walkies' on a lead. The lead was not the trouble, she'd been a champion show dog. Going out, was not the trouble, she loved meeting people & other dogs. But prolonged walking, as in 'walkies'....no way. Her breed has the shorter, slightly pugged muzzle. Not saying this IS the case with your dog. But, just a thought ...

You're right that universities have strict guidelines about any level of research. They're necessary for both ethical and governance reasons. There's usually two levels of overview.... for lower risk research there's an ethics panel at the particular school level, for the higher risk items, there's the institution's ethics committee. To give an example, here's UQ guidelines: http://www.itee.uq.edu.au/itee-school-based-ethics-review

By coincidence, I know someone who was recently having their older female dog investigated for urinary incontinence. I don't know the outcome, nor if they'd tracked a cause (which as others said, would be necessary). But she did mention that she was intrigued that one developing therapy was collagen injections (but again that'd depend on cause). http://pets.webmd.com/dogs/urinary-incontinence-dogs

Even when looking a bit sad, she's a lovely girl! Shiny healthy coat.

Students should be taught how to approach people to ask for information re their assignment research. We used to include that right back at the level of primary school, where children might be set a homework task of asking someone about their experiences. It used to be called Talking Homework. And there were steps they had to follow in first explaining who had set the task & why...& asking if the person had some time to spare. If not immediately, then could they suggest a time. If they declined, it was OK & the person was thanked for considering it.

Our Tibbie, Annie, does a demonstration of her Love Test. When there are visitors, she'll lie in a typical Tibbie pose, chin flat on the floor and big brown eyes watching me. I can look at her & talk to her. But as soon as I say, 'I love you.' in the same tone of voice, her face lights up & she rushes over into my arms as if saying 'I love you back!;. . She's got so good now, she can do it as lip reading! I have no idea if that's 'love' ... the science probably is a web of reward lnked to specific stimuli stuff. But we choose to call it love... it looks like love & sure feels like love!

She sounds lovely! Mellow and socialized. Just on the storm phobia. Friends' usually very calm Amstaff was severely storm phobic. Vet recommended the thunder coat thingy. To their amazement, it's made a huge difference.

It's all just different points of view. Better to think of it that way, than as a 'judgement'. It is good to adopt a rescue dog but it's also good to adopt a pedigree dog from a registered breeder who does all the right things that mean their puppies are unlikely to be later dumped & require rescue. Which means, if someone wanted to, they could get one of each. They are not in opposition. Both are proactive in terms of dogs' welfare, with one being preventative as well.

Our elderly little dog used to do this...most times she'd walked into a wall (or garden bush) & didn't know where to go next. She was getting on to 22 years of age. It also meant we didn't know where she was. I used to tell our bossy sheltie, Shelley, 'Find Grandma!' And Shelley would locate her & bark to tell me.