shelby-001

I've been following this thread and have just had a thought.......... This may sound really strange but is it possible it is a protein intollerance? There are stranger things around but was just a thought after reading how much trouble you've had. It just seems everything you have tried still contains protein??? Just a thought.......... Yakult is a more 'concentrated' probiotic if you want more bang for you mouthful so to speak!

At the moment, I have a holden combo as a work vehicle and it is AWESOME for the dogs. Obviously it only has two seats and is a 'small' car. They are basically a holden barina with a different back end. The is MASS room in the back length width and height wise. It runs on the smell of an oily rag, is extremely reliable and surprisingly nice to drive given what it is. Now it's no head turner but the practicality is the best there is.

it's happened with other threads lately, perhaps the moderator is tightening to keep the undesirable at bay?

Boof had one on the elbow of his front left leg, he had a 'callous' of sorts there and then this 'blood blister' looking lump that was very squishy developed. Tonight it busted all by itself and there is now a small hole where it was, I shall see what it is in the morning. They have tick collars on and it didn't look like a tick at all, it was a 'lump' or 'blister' of some description. I would have posted a photo but didn't get one before it busted, damn it!!! Will have a really good look over him in the morning (he's in bed now) and see what I can find, hoping there is no more but just in case!! Sorry I know that doesn't help with what it is or is it normal. I only said tonight I was going to take him to vet tomorrow as it looked very strange then it popped by the next time i saw it. Depending what it looks like tomorrow we may well still go for a trip. If I find anything interesting out I will let you know.

We have insurance for our two but like others for us it would be about outcome, not cost. A few months before we got Boof n Lilly my first dog got PTS after being runover by a boat trailer. She was in my parents care for the last few years and both of us were financial to say yes to surgery however the vet said due to the break in her spine she would never get use of her hind legs requiring a trolley and given how active she was she would never have been happy again. We couldn't do that to her. We were all in 100% agreeance with the decision, as gut wrenching as it was.

So separate as I thought

Anyone got any tips on how you do it with 2 dogs around? Is it simply a case of having to separate them to do it or does someone have some really clever way of doing it?

Ours love boney stuff. They get Roo tail, chicken carcass, chicken necks, whole assorted chicken pieces when on special, pork hocks, lamb flaps. No beef bones in our place as he's sensitive.

I really believe now it's chicken that sets him off. The kibble I used to fed that he would sometimes throw up was chicken based. And since I changed him over to a Lamb based kibble before giving the Raw another go, he didn't throw up once, and his itching subsided big time. The barf he is being fed, I was told didn't contain chicken, but the box does say it does contain chicken carcuss, so I will check with again tomorrow, as if it does, then I'm certain it's the chicken that upsets him. You may well be on to something. Avoid kibble and anything Pre made just feed pure protein for a few days, see how you go. You'll soon know.

Lilly is a gulper and a guts so our two get red 2 or 3 smaller meals a day. The first is always something they work for, like Roo tail or chicken carcass or lamb flap or pork hock. The next is less work, Roo mince or sardines or chicken necks or offal etc. If they get the easy feed first Lilly takes guts to a whole new level. I could never feed them their whole days food in one sitting. I really like the idea of 'hiding' the meal in small portions to be found. Also I know several dogs that can't tolerate beef. Might be something to look at.

My dogs are on natural raw diet, so they get super protein and fair bit of vegies as well, I dont know how I could adjust that. ACV - I tried giving it to the dogs and they dont want to drink the water. I used to put tiny amounts so they would get used to and even small amounts they would turn their noses. They dont drink a lot as they are on natural diet. What do you feed? Someone might be able to identify something that could be the culprit. I don't feed our two Veges as I follow the "prey" model not a barf diet and as said earlier only use the holistic mingle as a training treat or a very rare snack. They get: Chicken carcasses Whole chicken pieces Chicken necks Roo tail Roo mince Lamb flaps Pork hocks Lamb liver Chicken liver Chicken kidney Lamb heart Whole raw eggs - shell and all A bit of natural yoghurt Sardines Treats are rawhide or dehydrated liver, mussels, fish, cHicken necks etc. I'm not implying what I feed is necessarily perfect or to everyones liking bug it works for us and they're pee is like liquid gold as far as lawn fertilizer goes.

I would have to agree with PB that the food is probably an issue. I don't have any knowledge on what is or isn't in the food causing it, but my two Amstaffs are fed raw with maybe 1-2 cups of EP Holistic Select Anchovy a week, normally as training treats or a little snack and the patches in our yard where they pee are THRIVING. OH just mowed or I would have taken a photo to show you, it's crazy how thick and green the patches are. So I can only assume if a dogs urine is 'burning' grass then what is going in their mouth isn't good, as urine output is normally an indication of what is being digested. It's similar to humans really, urine output is a great indicator of hydration and the balance in your diet.

Here's the link to one of the sites I really like, I can't give you the price they have as I don't know the weight of your dog but the below link takes you straight to their page with sentinal spectrum on it: http://www.vetnpetdirect.com.au/Products/Sentinel-Spectrum_2

I think the law is fantastic and yes small dogs do bother me. One poked it's head through a FRONT fence that ran along the foot path and bit my dogs nose, he had stopped to sniff a post. If the fecning was adequate or the dog was behind a 'backyard' fence (ie: one that returns from the side fence to inline with the house frontage) it wouldn't have happened. We walk past a multitude of dogs twice a day and these are the only two that behave this way and the owners should be made to do something about it. Next time it might be a kids hand and I bet the parents won't be as understanding as I was. I was VERY cranky though and did make a complaint to the council. The lady I spoke to was so uninformed she wasn't even aware of the new laws. I rang to follow up today but the laws officers were out. I was asked to ring back tomorrow. I firmly believe it's an avenue for councils to work with owners to rectify animal behaviour before the animals get to the point of being declared dangerous and then all the issues that go along with that have to be dealt with, or worse still the animal escalates to causing damage before intervention occurs

We have two that like to dig.... actually they LOVE the sensation of the dirt flicking out from under them.... so we built them somewhere to dig and they LOVE IT

Hi Shelby, Try pork hocks, we give Tonka a hock every Saturday and that's the majority of his meals for the day. The ones we get here are about 1.25kg each from the butcher but remember that the bone in that is pretty hefty, thus the weight. They're quite cheap here, about $2.50kg or cheaper when we buy a dozen a time. I used to "ribbon" through the hide & meat, just cut horizontally & vertically through it so it's easier for Tonka to get his teeth through. I only did that a couple of times and now he just goes for it and absolutely loves it. Pork is great and we always buy human grade, not only is it easier to source it's actually CHEAPER than pet stuff! Unbelievable :rolleyes: THANKS!!! I went to the butcher this morning and got one hock and had him slice it in half down the bone, it was nearly 1.5kg so I thought half each for breakky and a bit of mince that night would be perfect. Providing they like it. I will let it freeze for a couple of days and then pull it out, I'll get back to you with how we went.

They weren't home I don't think but there's no way with the two dogs in tow I was getting into the yard. I'm not sure who they are so can't look them up in the phone book. In all the times we've walked past only once have we heard the owners making an effort to stop their behaviour. Unfortunately I doubt they even care.

I've ordered some 'locking' everlast treats, will see how they go when I get them.

We are feeding 'prey model' with our two Amstaff's as well, it goes something like this: Over a week they get: One serve of 2 of these per day Chicken carcass (they are 250g each) Chicken necks (they are portioned out into 250g serves) Roo Tail (they are between 300-500g each) Lamb Flap (they get half a flap each, I cut it in half myself, which is about 350g each) Roo mince (they get a quarter of the block each per serve, the block is 1kg so 250g) Chicken Mince (as per roo mince - I only five them 1 bag of this per fortnight) I can't decide if pork is good or not... so thoughts please? Research says it's ok but not common. Mixed chicken pieces with meat on (only once a week to fortnight for a treat, legs/thighs/wings etc) Twice a week Half a tin of Sardines in Spring water each (so for the week they get 1 x 100g tin each) Offal (chicken kidney/lamb liver/lamb kidney/chicken liver/heart - 100g each time) Whole egg (mixed through food shell and all) Natural yoghurt (a good tablespoon) They only get Eagle Pack Holistic Select Anchovy as a dry food and they would get about a cup a week each, a bad week maybe 2. I use it sometimes for training and other times they just get a little by itself. Occassionally I'll mix a bit with their sardines if they have been a bit short on their other foods for the day. Treats are rawhide knot bones, pig snouts and dehydrated lamb straps but I have just ordered some dehydrated green lip mussels and dehydrated whole fish. For training treats other than the EP Holistic Select I use dehydrated chicken necks (THEY LOVE THESE). The only time they get treats is when training, with the exception of the rawhide bones, they keep them wonderfully occupied if home alone! Daily they get the appropriate amount of Vets All Natural Skin Supplement ( Skin & Coat Formula ) This is a new edition just to prop their systems as they wreen't in the greatest of shape when we got them. Each day I take out of the freezer the combination of 'foods' from above that give us a total of approx 3% of Boof's weight. Everything I have read about 'feeding raw' says you should give adults 2-4% of their body weight, and pups about 3% of their expected adult weight. Boof was a lil porky when we got him so he wasn't getting as much but he's quite nice now and maintaining a lovely 'shape' with ribs I can now feel, maybe not as much as some would like but I can feel them without 'seeing' all of them only the last one or two and he has a lovely waisteline so I'M HAPPY. I am now 'monitoring' their intake and will work on the pinch, feel and look tests to maintain a nice healthy weight. So far so good with the combination I am giving them. Boof has sensitive skin and gets dandruff very easily, he's a slightly fussier eater although will still eat almost anything, sometimes I just have to stick some in his gob and then he's right, Lilly on the other hand is appearing to be our 'easy' dog. We'll see how that pans out.

Yes I phoned the vet as the walk was immediately before I was heading to work, they advised I wash it in salt water and in the morning take him in for a check up. I agree that he was bitten 'outside' the SWF's yard, there is NO WAY Boof's head was going to fit through the small gap in the fence, so clearly it's head had to have come out. Also I believed that the menacing laws provided for protection from the rushing of fences, especially in such an agro fashion. The lady on the other end of the phone didn't even know anything about the menacing laws (she wasn't the brightest spark) so I took down the reference number and I will ring back tomorrow and ask to speak to the laws officer it has been assigned to and follow up. I don't mind SWFs either and we walk past heaps that are fine, but these two are terrible.

Oh they are divine, very nice photography, of wonderful subjects

Ok so I was out for a walk with the dogs before coming to work this arve, we walked down the same side of the same street that we do every day, if not twice a day. Get to house X and the two small white things behind the fence go FERAL as per normal, they launch at the fence, teeth showing growling barking and carrying on like crazy, well we are almost past their yard entirely when a smell on the fence immediately beside theirs (it would be the corner post only the fences don't share a corner post) catches Boof's attention, we stopped for 5 seconds, well that was long enough for the small white things to make it to that side of the yard and one of them stuck it's nose through the gap in the fences and bit boofs nose. It drew blood and poor Boof, belly planted on the ground with an almighty yelp. All four legs spread sideways and he flopped straight down on his belly, if it wasn't for the fact he got bitten it would have actually been funny to see. After the yelp and drop, he promptly jumped up and wanted out of their ASAP. I pondered over it for about an hour and then thought no stuff it, I'm ringing the council. So on the phone I get and the lady took all my details and the story, then proceeded to tell me she had an Amstaff and had to have it put down because it didn't like anything smaller than it and it damaged a rotwheiler (sp sorry) which confused me coz it would hardly be smaller than an Amstaff. After I got her back on task and realising that my dogs did nothing to provoke and were happily ignoring the crazy little white things, she proceeded to tell me she'd pass the request for investigation on to local laws but because the dog didn't leave it's property than they couldn't do anything! Thanks for listening!

If that's the case, an AWD would be sufficient. Generally the running gear in a 4wd is a lot stronger than an AWD, clearance is certainly higher normally in a 4wd. The 4wd will have the option to be rear wheel drive when the 4wd is not necessary as opposed to an AWD being permanently driven on all 4. Also a 4wd has low 4 and high 4 which basically changes the gearing ratio to give you more torque etc and driving capabilities at lower revs, an AWD has none of those features, if you aren't looking at getting bogged, driving in loose sand or pulling boats etc out of tough spots, AWD will supply the safetly you are looking for!

Me too.... I always wanted a cross8 when the time came but now that can't happen..... they were the 'perfect' vehicle for us.

Territories are AWD not 4WD as are the outlanders and ravs, I'm not sure on the xtrails, I think they are 4wd. Put it this way if you need a 4wd then I probably wouldn't buy any of them, I'd be looking at navaras, bt-50s, pathfinders, ranger, izuza dmax etc, they actually have 4wd capabilities. Although getting one in a dual cab for $35k brand new may be near impossible. Edit: why do you require 4wd?