Scales of Justice

She needs more discipline and some obedience training. GSDs can be headstrong if they are allowed to get away with it. The chewing is natural for her age and will go on for a while yet. She should not chew coppers logs as there is arsenic compounds and other nasties in the logs. Give her something to do. Tie a small tyre in a tree and let it dangle to amuse her. Give her robust toys such as kongs with treats in to keep her attention.

germanshepherd, You don't make any mention of what his droppings are like? Are they normal?

I wouldn't worry about fly chasing, but depending upon where you live the snails could be a worry. In some areas snails carry Rat Lungworm and this can be passed on to canines causing paralysis of the spine and may cause death. Rat Lungworm is a parasite primarily infecting rats but snails eat infected rat poo and if those snails are eaten or licked or their slimy trails licked by canines, the canine can get the disease. If your vet is on the ball, find out from your vet whether any dogs in your area have ever presented with this condition. I know it can definitely happen as I know of a case first hand.

3 cups of food a day still sounds like a fairly decent portion for a Golden. My GSD get 3 cups a day and she is quite well covered. My neighbours have a golden on a diet and she gets 1 cup of dry food and about 1 cup of meat with grated carrot to bulk it up and she is still fat. I would have thought perhaps a little less than 3 cups if you are trying to shed kgs. and also think 38kgs is still very heavy for a Golden. I would have thought 35 kg or less.

It is natural that he will want to sleep to sleep off the anaesthetic but he should be starting to be able to walk by late tonight. If he is not walking in the morning I would get veterinary advice.

If you are worried about the drug Ivomec why don't you use Revolution? Revolution is an ivermectin based drug which is used to kill mites and lice (and heartworm) and is approved for dogs although I still think Collie breeds need to be cautious on this drug.

Petal79, If your dog is not wormy (now) then 6 months is not that unreasonable, but personally I would do it every 3 months routinely.

Three monthly for a wormy dog is too long. You should worm again in 3 weeks and then again 3 weeks later. Three weeks will cover the life cycle of most of the worst type of worms and the second worming (6 weeks later) will cover tapeworm varieties. A series of regular wormings is recommended for a wormy dog. Rozzie, I would also worm any dogs he has had contact with in three weeks time also.

Why on earth are they taking a puppy on at all? If you are not home to be there for a young puppy or to train it, then why have it? Put youself in the puppy's shoes - one minute it has the security of a mother and siblings and the next its put out in a big new unknown area and left completely alone. We don't do that to human babies.

I would also be considering the possibility of sarcoptic mange. Especially because it is itchy and bleeding.

I totally agree with Totally Bullies - a crate is the way to go in your room

Little Pixie, Have you used a credit card with Priceless Pets?. Their prices look too good to be true. I kinda believe that if something looks too good to be true then it isn't true. If you or anyone else has used a credit card and purchased without any problems I will purchase some.

If you read up about Sarcoptes mites (which I presume is what your dog has) most literature says that you need to dose ivermectin at least fortnightly and it takes about two to three doses before you will see any change. As far as I know mites take a long time to eradicate so the Advocate may actually be working but you need to treat fortnightly and wait for about 6 weeks to see the results.

You haven't mentioned his worming status - have you wormed him lately. Worm activity can make them picky. You also need to be careful about the psychological aspect of trying to get him to eat too. If you try to coax your puppy to eat by hand feeding etc, or giving in to his demands such as feeding foods you would not normally feed him - he has you psychologically. You need to put the plate down with the food you require the pup to eat and if he does not eat it in 10 mins. remove the plate and do not offer him another thing until the next meal time. Put the plate down and give him 10 minutes again - if he does not eat it take it away. Continue this (even if he starves) until such time as he makes an attempt to eat it. Do not make any fuss over him when he does eat. I guarantee (providing the puppy does not have any other health issues) that he will be eating perfectly within 2 to 3 days. He will need to know that he is going to go hungry if he does not make an attempt to eat what you give him. I have had a couple of pups over a number of years who responded well to this and the longest one went before becoming a good eater was 3 days. Edited to add: The other thing you need to be careful of is not to give him too much food in each meal as too much per meal will dull his appetite for the next meal.

Mumof2LabBoys, Here is your problem!!! You should not swim the dog while he has hot spots. He must be kept absolutely dry and the hot spot should be dried out with something like Friar's Balsam from the chemist. The catch word here is DRY!!!

I would go with what the vet is proposing. If your dog truly has a reaction to foods he may be allergic to meat and keeping on a BARF diet may not alleviate this. I have no direct experience with the food he proposes but I would imagine the low allergenic foods would eliminate any possible chemical/food causes and then you can start introducing other things to eliminate causes. A hot spot may be being sourced by bacterial/fungal means and may not be relative to the food. I presume you have tried treating these things.

My thoughts - BOREDOM!!! Colder weather promotes more activity in dogs and he is bored and looking for something to do to amuse him. Try spending more time with him in some activities which will use up his energy.

You want to watch he doesn't blow up from the friction when you brush him!!!

Inspector Rex, From what you are describing, can you tell for certain that your vet has tested for Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency as a couple of other posters suggested? What you are describing sounds like classic symptoms of EPI to me and if Maggie has EPI she will not improve until such time as she gets the correct medication. Please check with your vet to see whether they have tested for EPI - this is a special test (a TLI test) and if they haven't please get her tested ASAP. If she has it she can lead a normal life on the correct supplements.

We give our dogs and puppies plastic drink bottles - the tough plastic ones that have 2 or 3 litre juices in (once they are empty of course) (minus the top and plastic handle piece which comes on some of them). We pull the label off and give only the plastic bottle and these provide quite a long time of amusement - far better than any purchased doggy toys. The plastic is very stiff and it is hard for dogs to get their mouths around them - when they finally do manage to flatten the bottles they still play with them anyway. Marrow bones are also a good time waster for lonely dogs. I have stuffed Kongs in the past but clever dogs work them out in a short time and extract the contents.

Having been in your situation a number of times I sympathesise with you in the choices you may have to make in the near future, but believe me, you will KNOW when it's time to make decisions if it doesn't happen naturally in the meanwhile.

shepin, You haven't mentioned her weight relevant to her not eating. Is she thin or just not eating her food but her weight is OK. The reason why I am asking is because you may be expecting her to eat more than she actually requires, and if this is the case pickiness does become a problem with this scenario. If the weather has been unseasonably hot or for some reason she is doing less exercise than normal these facts may cause a downturn in appetite as she may be actually getting more calorific value from the amount you are feeding than she needs. Edited to add: If she is 14 months she would have been using more food as a youngster for fast growth than she would at 14 months where a slower phase of growth is taking place. She may need less food. If her weight is otherwise OK I would actually reduce the amount of food you are giving her by a slight amount to bring back a healthy attitude towards eating and follow what others on this thread have suggested by removing the bowl after 10 minutes. If she is thin, then you may have to persevere the way you are going and try to find an appetite stimulant.

Eukanuba and Proplan fan here!!!

birni, On two posts now regarding lymphoma I have posted my experience in actually saving my dog from lymphoma with radon seed treatment. If chemo isn't an option and you want to save your dog why don't you make some enquiries regarding radon seed treatment? It involves finding a vet who handles radioactive materials (specialist vet), I don't know whether they still do this but when I had it done the vet shoots radioactive seeds into the affected area and you have to stay away from the dog for 24-48 hours only giving food and water - no other contact - until the radon seeds are dispersed (until seeds reach their radioactive half life). This radiation saved my dog who lived another 9 years after treatment. This apparently is a good way to arrest the malignancy. (no side effects whatsoever). If you are interested I will make some enquiries where I had mine done to see whether they still do it or if they know of someone in your area.

Make sure you get a distinction between Lymphoma and Lymphosarcoma. Prognosis may be different for both. My dog was diagnosed initially with Lymphosarcoma but on further investigation it was Lymphoma. Lymphoma can have a good recovery rate. My dog got Lymphoma at 2 years of age, she was not given a good prognosis. I got radon seed treatment done and she went into remission and lived till she was 11 years of age and died of something unrelated to the lymphoma. Have another talk to the vet and make sure which it is (you posted Lymphoma on the title). If it is Lymphoma you may be able to do something.