Bindo

Great minds think alike Caffiend!! When I saw the title of this thread I thought, don't know any in the western suburbs but the best 'meat market' I ever went to was the Oaks at Neutral Bay or the Golden Sheaf at Double Bay - but that was quite a few years ago now!!

So sorry to hear that Amy has gone, but it sounds as though she did not suffer. I'm sure she's up there playing with all our other beautiful dogs who have gone over the bridge.

Not to mention the soon to be knitted dogasauras numbers!

So sorry to hear that - hugs from us.

I'm knitting one for Lucy at the moment - see thread in general discussion (your patterns are on the way BB and Rozzie!). She probably won't need it much in Sydney, but definitely at our place in the Central Tablelands. Only heating is an open fire which goes out during the night and it can get down to minus 10. Mind you, there are different 'sleeping rules' up there - on the bed next to a nice warm body!

Darcy (schnauzer, so would eat anything) once ate a whole bowl full of chocolate bullets and freckles that some kids left on the floor during a sleepover - of course he was sleeping with them on someone's bed! No ill effects. Also, when the kids were little, he always seemed to know when there was a lolly bag in the house and once managed to extract the chocolate gold money without disturbing the wrappers! From then on they were hidden in a cupboard. My breeder also told me that one of her dogs once got up on the table and polished off most of a chocolate mudcake, without any side effects. I realise the dangers though and would never willingly feed a dog chocolate.

So glad he's doing much better! He'll be home before you know it. I do know how it feels though, when they're seriously ill. My boy died last year (in 2 days) from acute cholangiohepatitis, despite intensive treatment, and we never found the exact underlying cause. So frustrating and heartbreaking.

Lucy has been on Supercoat puppy (in addition to many raw foods) since a baby,but we're about to try Royal Canin. Just thought I would try different brands and luckily she will eat anything, so we'll see how it goes. Little bugger even snuck out and ate her big cousins left over breakfast this morning (Optimum) so she's not getting much for dinner tonight!

The vet nurse at our puppy preschool suggested blowing up a balloon and burying that where they normally dig and sit back and watch the fun! Of course, you couldn't do this all over the back yard or when you're not there (in case they ate the balloon). Never tried it but thought it was an interesting suggestion.

Hi, I have a 14 week old pup and have just started leaving her outside for short periods when we're out (and when we're home as well). Snuck back in so she couldn't hear me at first and all was quiet - I think she slept as she was very active afterwards! She then had two longer days (6hrs each time) outside and so far so good - wtih plenty of toys and treat ball etc. Mind you, I didn't stop worrying the first day back at work, but I think we're both getting better at it!

Hi Pewithers, Lucy started at puppy pre-school when she was 10 weeks old. As others have said, the benefits of socialisation usually far outweigh the risks of infection. Unfortunately the classes stopped over Christmas/New Year but start again next week. The vet nurse also advised us to take our puppies out and about over the holidays (within reason) to get them used to new experiences. She just warned against popular dog parks and similar places, ie where there are a large number of unknown dogs). In our area, she said the vaccination rate was very high and they had only had 4 cases of parvo in ten years. Lucy (now 13 weeks) has been going for little walks, meeting other dogs and lots of people, and is handling it all very well!

Thanks for all the help guys. Think I may have located the source of the problem. After Darcy died, the cat took over his bed and used to sit in it day and night. I don't always treat her during winter and she may have had some fleas at this time. This is the same bed I have been using for Lucy and the fleas always appear in the morning - probably eggs in the bedding (although it has been washed many times!). Guess what madam is getting from Santa Claus? :D On the Fido's rinse product it says it may be used every 3 days for tick control, so I guess it can't be too toxic.

Thanks for that advice. I have done a search on this topic and looked at all the other information as well. Some questions - can I give her another rinse in Fido's today? While waiting for the next spot application of Frontline or Advocate, could I use the frontline general spray ( I have some here) or is this too much as well? Currently cleaning all spots around the house, but hard to imagine where they are. Cat has no fleas, haven't had a dog for 5 months (and last dog was non-shedding too so few dog hairs anywhere), house is regularly vacumed and cleaned and we have found no fleas on us from carpet etc. :D Just what I need on Christmas Eve, with 14 for lunch tomorrow!!!

I'm desperate! Lucy (12 weeks) came home with a few fleas (no big deal), so vet advised advantage as from his reports, frontline wasn't working as well this season. Applied advantage 10 days ago - no change, still finding fleas. Spoke to vet nurse yesterday who said can't reapply any topical spot stuff for another few weeks, so try shampoo and rinse. Did that with Fido's, could see the dead ones coming off. Treated all bedding and other areas, cat has no fleas (she's on frontline), but this morning have seen at least another 8 fleas on Lucy!! Have always used frontline in the past and neither animal ever had a flea problem. What can I do without poisoning poor Lucy??

So sorry to hear about your Lucy, Dogdayz. Maybe it will offer some comfort to know that we named our new baby schnauzer, just picked up yesterday, Lucy, after many other name suggestions. I hope that my Lucy turns out to be as sweet and loving as yours was. I hope she and my Darcy are having a lovely play together upstairs.

I hope that he (and you) are feeling better by now. Very worrying being a new mother isn't it?

Such a sad story - I am so sorry for you. At least they're together in sleep.

So sorry to hear about Sasha and Josey - hope all our babies are now running together, free of pain.

That's such a sad story - my thoughts are with you at this time. At least you know that you did everything possible to save her and it was not to be. Doesn't make it any easier, I know from recent experience. RIP Tulip.

Ditto here - smells wonderful, very soothing and the conditioner is great for detangling any matts.

I know that this lab's case is beyond the early stages, but I used to find that dermacool (available from the vet) sprayed on regularly as soon as you notice a little spot usually stopped it from increasing. I think it soothes the area and makes the dog less likely to scratch in the first place, thus spreading infection.

So sorry to hear about your girl. Hope all our babies are running together now, happy and pain free.

That's so sad, especially such a young dog and when she wasn't in your care - what breed was she Cyndii?

Can't really help with the training aspect either as we had one of those dogs who seemd to have a 50 metre radar to us, even in the bush. He was a mini schnauzer, raised in Sydney but we have a similar size property to yours in the central tablelands. No decent fences, but Darcy just seemed to know to stay within the limits of the property. Even when I let him our early in the morning for his first sniff of the day, he would just do the boundary run and then come back in (usually with frosty whiskers!) and 'ask' me to take him for a proper walk. While out walking in the bush, he was even great with wildlife - would stop still, quiver with excitement and occasionally chase (pretend) a kangaroo, but never bark, so I could still enjoy a walk with him and see the animals. The only time I put him back on a lead was if we saw a wombat, as they can kill a dog by crushing them in their burrow. Now we are in the process of choosing another dog and even though they are definitely not a 'bush' dog, it is hard to go past another schnauzer for us. He used to have his 'backward' bark with the cows - bark and jump backwards just in case. Such a wuzz. Sorry for the ramble but your post brought back such wonderful memories of my baby. :rolleyes:

Know exactly how you feel Isaviv. 6 weeks tomorrow since our boy died and I am still so emotional about it. Trying to have sensible conversation with the family last night about planning for the next dog and I just lost it completely and was inconsolable for 2 hours!