blacklabrador

Check what is in your pet mince. Some butchers put sausage meat and stuff in with it that you don't want your dog having. Check that it's purely minced chicken frames and you should be right. It's a very sound basis to a good raw diet. It's only suitable to be fed raw as it has boney bits in it that could cause problems if eaten cooked.

Pix, you said she was on loan from God but I thought she'd be with you for longer. ;) RIP Kaeliegh. *HUGS* to you little Pix.

If surgery is required there is a vet at the Sunshine Coast Vetinary Specialist Centre who will investigate and treat joints with an arthroscope. He is the only vet in Qld currently using this method on small domestic animals. This means that the surgery is done with small incisions and a camera etc rather than opening up the whole joint which is much more painful and takes longer to recover from. He is excellent and in my experience not keen to operate until all other avenues have been exhausted. So nice to find an ethical vet who is more interested in the dog's welfare than making money!! My first visit with him took almost an hour. My dog was fasted and ready for surgery but he sent us away to make sure we'd tried every treatment possible before he operated. He was happy to discuss the options at length during the consult and during subsequent phone calls. He fielded my questions willingingly and patiently. We ended up operating 2 months later knowing that we'd done everything else and surgery was the only option. His name is Dr Richard Mitchell. 5453 7555. If it is arthritis and doesn't require surgery there is a Vetchiro at Ormeau who does great work in this field. He uses homeopathic anti inflammatories and accupuncture to relieve symptoms with great success. His name is Dr Rowan Kilmartin. 5546 6756

It's not about trying it's about being dedicated to toilet training (set your alarm and do it) or expect to clean up dog wee every morning for the rest of the dog's life.... and poop if she feels so inclined and makes a habit of it

Ask Ashanali. She took this picture of my girl.

Do yourself a favour and feed them something that makes them poo less

Did he take a dump in it?? :cool:

If she had pustular dermatitis on her tummy she may have had it on her legs as well. It may not have been obvious as the hair is very short and dense on their lower legs and it's difficult to part it to see the skin. White hairs can appear where the skin has been damaged - it makes sense that this may be the case considering that the hairs are single and dotted around her legs (similar to a pattern of dermatitis).

The length of time it would take you to eat dinner is FAR too long to expect a ten week old pup to stay on it's bed. Use a crate or put the dog outside or in a room or somewhere else until she is old enough to have the concentration and self control to stay for that long. By all means bring her in and sit her on the bed while you are eating dinner, make her stay on the bed for 2 minutes before praising her and taking her back outside or wherever. She will learn what is expected of her during mealtimes without being expected to sit for a length of time which is far beyond her capability at this age.

She's crying because she wants company - I doubt the kitchen will make any difference. I'd advise you to keep on as you have been and she will improve quickly. It's only a short time and soon you will have her sleeping all night. She WILL need to be toileted half way through the night at this age though. Don't expect her to hang on because she won't. She will just learn to pee inside and it will take a long time for you to train her out of it. You need to set your alarm for 2 or 3 am until she is 12 weeks By then she will be old enough to hang on for 8 hours overnight.

Excellent - sounds like things are improving. Puppy school is just about socialising your pup and learning about puppy care. Often you will be taught how to teach your puppy basic commands such as "sit" and "come". Usually puppy school goes for 4 weeks and is generally aimed at pups from 8 - 15 weeks. It's is usually held in a vet surgery and run by a vet nurse rather than someone who has trained dogs in obedience. Puppy obedience usually runs for 8 weeks after that. Its held outside and you can take your pup after the 12 week vaccinations. You will be taught ongoing puppy manners and learning to walk on lead and a a few more commands. Your pup really does require this ongoing weekly training and socialisation. You don't have to stop after 8 weeks of course - the longer you keep going the better behaved your puppy will be. You will be taught by someone who has experience in dog behaviour and obedience training. Without training you will have all the boisterousness and cheekiness you have now but in a 25kg dog by the time he is 6 months old. With training you will still have a cheeky pup but you will have some control. Put in the work now and it will pay off. You should be able to find a great obedience club which is affiliated with your state's canine control council. These are not-for-profit organisations which have obedience courses that are very reasonably priced. Usually between $3 - $5 per weekly lesson - the financial cost is small but the benefits are immeasureable. If you give us an indication of which state you live in and possibly which area the members here will no doubt come up with obedience clubs in your area JeffnCel - if you mean Wagtails in Qld - yes they are great but being a private school they are a bit more expensive. My parents used them both for obedience and as a private behaviouralist service - altogether a fantastic service.

Have the pup on leash and teach your child not to run away. A running, squealing child is just too much of a temptation and the situation gets out of hand very quickly. Book into puppy school and then obedience training from 12 weeks onwards (after the 12 week vaccinations). Labradors get big very quickly and need a lot of training.

Spike's Puppy I am so sorry to hear this. Also sorry that you thought you'd get flamed here Sounds like you made the right decision given the circumstances.

RIP Labby dog. Was that a picture of Arish as a pup? What a cutie. So sorry for you to be dealing with this and a young baby at the same time.

RIP Bing

Excellent news. You must be very relieved!

NOOOO I need him right here!! He will be seeing the Hamster for the first time tomorrow. That will be a challenge!!

This is an image of a keloid scar on a human being. It shows how they might look like a blister at first glance. However on examination they are different because they are solid and not filled with fluid. The belly button is a scar where the cord was joined, it's a possible place for keloid scar formation.

Could even be a lump of Keloid scar tissue on the bottom end of his belly button. Can't tell without seeing it and poking at it.

Ok I am an RN. That is NOT an umbilical hernia. It is a teeny pimple or blister or something right on the bottom edge of his belly button (that's the oval shaped area above it on the hair line). It could be anything at all including an ingrown hair or a skin infection. Doesn't look like anything serious to me but if it doesn't go away in a couple of days I'd get it checked out by a vet.

It could be I suppose, but would that be white and look like it has fluid in it? There is a black thing above it which... oh I'm not sure! I'd say the black thing above it is his belly button and the white fluid looking thing is a blister. Hernias do not look like they are full of fluid - the cause of a hernia comes from a long way beneath the skin so it only causes a lump. It looks nothing like a blister.

A hernia will just be a lump. Firm to the touch but no different in colour or texture. A blister will be a bubble of fluid under the skin. Looks quite different and very tense to touch. Does it look like it would leak if you pricked it with a pin? If you are unsure get a torch and shine it and look at it on the other side. The fluid in a blister will "illuminate". A hernia is dense and might shine a bit of pinkness but it won't light up like a pocket of fluid would. Umbilicus on a black labrador will be a little pink and black pigmented flat area. Not raised at all. If it's a blister I would get him checked out considering he's just been vaccinated. Don't know how it might be connected but it's weird enough to need looking at in the morning.

May be part of the detox.

Erin why don't you go and see Rowan Kilmartin? He is a Vetinary chiropractor (fully qualified as both). He will assess your dog physically and then he will go right on and do x rays on the spot if he thinks they are necessary. He looks after all my show dogs and has done for over 4 years. When I had my boy x-rayed there it cost about $180 and that was including the consult. The only time he has recommended x rays with any of my dogs (he diagnoses mostly by watching gait and by feel and manipulation of limbs) it was genuinely required and turned out to be a very good idea. He is at Ormeau, less than ten minutes south of Beenleigh.

It may already be in the early stages of infection - hence the swelling. You don't really know when it actually happened and it may have been this morning. I don't think it's an emergency - see what she looks like in the morning.