trinabean

Love the photos of Earl KelpieHoundMum. Especially the action shot, love his droopy face. And Hankdog, I can just picture Jake waking your sister with his flappy muzzle in her eye. My Boxer has scared the bejeebus out of me with a similar wake up tactic. Lucky their faces are velvety and flat, no sharp edges!

Thanks all, he's a delightful boy. I don't normally post a birthday thread but he's been through a lot recently, and I'm just grateful to have him. :)

My dog is a dope because he is so curious that he sticks his boofy head into everything. :laugh: At the beach he digs a hole in the wet sand, sticks his head in, and lets the sand cave in on his head. Like so:

Oh thanks Persephone and Kirislin, I will mention that next time. :)

Oh wow, great information. Thank you Did they say sweet potato also caused the same issues as normal potato? I didn't ask about that sorry, so no idea (we decided in that consult to substitute with pumpkin). Mind you, she was talking about dogs the clinic specializes in, with multiple allergy issues. A healthy dog can tolerate a wider range of foods no doubt.

Not an answer to your question, but it might be of interest. When my dog was at the dermatologist vet recently we were discussing what we could add to Bruno's diet. She has noted an increasing number of dogs have allergy issues with the potato family (I was asking about adding sweet potato).

Oh thanks for that information Staff'n'Toller. Ok so Cortavance is a bit of a stand-alone product then. I will just keep getting it from the dermatologist vet in that case. We don't need Baytril at the moment (when we last used it i recall it being about $800 for 8 weeks supply). If Bruno needs to go on it again though I will ask the vet about the generic Apex laboratories version. Thanks so much! :)

The sweetest Boxer on the planet turned 3 last night. We sang Happy Birthday when the fireworks went off. And today Bruno had a goat cake. :D

No problem there, the dog does not appear to be alone all day. You have made provisions to cater for his needs It is ok if you can make arrangements for the pup to have alternatives but not if you can't. Obviously, some of you don't get it, or can't read. If one person reads this and re-considers getting a pup, it is worth it. If you are a breeder, and are happy to sell pups to people who will leave the pup alone for 12 or so hours per day, it's none of my business. The person I rejected can go to you to get one. You will be happy, you will have a sale, they will be happy, they will have a pup. Will the pup be happy? No one cares, really. It doesn't matter if you are offended because you have raised one dog from a pup - what matters is making people think before they do it. There are far too many teenage dogs dumped. All of them were wanted pups, some of them wanted by people who worked full time and thought they could cope, and found they had a dog with problems, that they didn't want any more. There are far too many poorly trained and behaved dogs. There are far too many unsocialised dogs, too many fear biters. Working full time is not the cause of all these problems, but it can be one cause. Yep, puppies from me are for people who either don't work, or have something in place so that the pup does not spend 10 - 12 hours a day alone. I've bolded a couple of bits of Jed's post. It seems that plenty of DOLers have something in place to occupy their dog (eg. a dog walker, taking their dog to work, someone to check on the pup during the day etc). Many DOLers have more than one dog too, whereas Jed is talking about a single pup, left alone for long hours. I didn't read Jed's post as a sweeping generalisation that all full-time workers are bad owners. More that working full-time can be a factor sometimes. And the less dog-savvy general public often means there are puppy buyers who have not fully thought through their decisions on choice of breed, let alone how they will go about responsibly raising a puppy. Or occupying it while they are absent.

A good post Wundahoo. At the end of the day, as a responsible breeder, you would take back a puppy if 'things didn't work out' and I think you are wise to mitigate that risk by selecting the most suitable home for your breed. So often on DOL people lament about the breeders who won't take one of their own dogs back. We can't have it both ways. Many good breeders are very selective about the homes their pups go to. They know what works/ doesn't work for single puppies of their breed. Obviously circumstances differ from household to household. And the average DOLer is not necessarily the same as the average member-of-the-public puppy buyer. Many DOLers put things in place to occupy their dog (dog walkers etc) while they are at work.

I'm interested as I buy quite a few prescription medications for my dog, including Cortavance. I had no luck in finding 'Baytril' (enrofloxacin) online through Australian websites, that was pretty expensive too.

I'm going to second what Noishe said, in particular the bolded bits. We are not on acreage though, we live on a suburban block. I have to say first and foremost, our Boxer is a family dog. He adores our kids and is very gentle with them. Likewise their friends when they visit (I always supervise carefully, of course). Anyone we welcome into our home, he welcomes. Strangers though, he is quietly watchful of (eg. door-to-door salepeople). He is not generally a vocal dog but when he is, I have learned to take notice. Last time I tried to sleep through him barking and carrying on at what I assumed was a cat, our neighbours were being burgled. Others have mentioned quite correctly that brachy breeds such as Boxers don't always cope well with high heat. We get high temperatures in Perth through summer but I find my Boxer copes ok, as he has access to the house via a dog door. He will still alert me to anything suspicious, even if he is staying cool inside the house. Frankly, on a 40 degree day, we all seek refuge in the air conditioned house anyway. Bruno just picks a spot to stay cool, where he can watch all three external doorways. I love that my dog is unafraid of most things (fireworks, storms, loud noises etc). He will immediately check out anything unusual (this can mean sticking his nose into whatever is going on, -it's best to keep him away from paint I've found). :laugh: And although I'm sure he wouldn't harm anyone, he puts on a convincing display if he is suspicious of someone on/near our property. I admire Rottweilers and Rhodesian Ridgebacks too I must say. For our family though, Boxers are a perfect fit. :)

Yes, that is the sort of list provided in the Ingleburn Vet/ antihistamine search that 2Boxer suggested. :) Juice my dog is on Hydroxyzine/ 'Atarax' as listed in the Ingleburn vet list. He was put on a prescription for it by the dermatologist vet we see. It does help manage atopic dermatitis and the itching is reduced. We do a morning dose and an evening dose, every day.

Yes, it happens to me walking my boxer all the time. Although i usually cross the road to avoid passing other dogs on the same footpath. Particularly if the oncoming dogs are all over the place on an extender leash, or barking at us. It's just a more peaceful walk if we keep some space. I can't comment on whether it's a cultural thing to be afraid of dogs as I don't know. Many of the people who actively avoid my dog are caucasion anyhow. Meh, I just figure it's a wariness of large dogs. Who knows whether from bad past experiences, misinformation etc. Try not to let it bother you GSDowner. You know your dog is lovely, and that's what matters. :)

That is just beautiful, I'm sure Antoinette will love the photo. :)

Absolutely, Stan's mum. Phoebe's people showed such generosity and kindness, even in their grief. Bruno will borrow (and return) a ball next time we're there.

I've pinched this from the 'Love Freo' Facebook page. South Beach is a very popular dog beach in Fremantle. RIP Phoebe. Phoebe's owners gift to others will be enjoyed:

Oops, haven't been back to the thread and missed your question TruBorders. No, I know for sure that chicken, beef and lamb cause my dog to itch, through doing an elimination diet and dietary re-challenge. Plus he's had dermatologist testing for a lot of environmental allergens (pollens, insects, dust mites etc). Thanks for the thought though, I wish it was just a plant I could get rid of out of our yard. :) And Ranger00, how did you go at the dermatologists?

Sorry MrsD, I couldn't vote as there isn't an option for dogs not being afraid of storms. I have 1 dog, who is not afraid of storms. :) ETA: Snap, Minimax is a faster typer.

How tragic. Hopefully the autopsy will shed some light on the cause of death.

Yes, this is how I wash Bruno too. :)

It's early days here as my dog is still young, but I'll share our experience so far. Bruno had the two puppy jabs, he was quite sick after the 12 week one. I skipped the 12 month booster (I talked to my vet, who had already taken up the 3 year vaccination protocols). When Bruno was titre tested at 2 1/2 years old he still had strong immunity to Parvovirus (1:80) but a much lower result for distemper (1:5). My vet's opinion is that this is because distemper is no longer something that dogs are frequently exposed to in the environment. As opposed to Parvo, which is common in the environment. If we could have just boosted the distemper separately we would have, but it's not available on it's own, so Bruno had a C3. I'm hoping we can get about 3 years between vaccinations now.

Yes, I just don't get people who let their dogs roam. Especially cranky pants one who are likely to bite. Do they not give a toss about what could happen to others, or even just their own dog if caught or reported? Sounds like a good sign Mita. :) Indeed it is DD :laugh: Yes hopefully. I do feel sorry for whoever gets them as neighbours now. For the moment, I'm just enjoying the freedom to walk down the street without that apprehension about no. 71. No more trying to work out whether the gate is open as we round the corner. No more ninja AngryDog launching out the driveway at us. Bliss!

Yikes! At least this was only one dog-aggressive dog. That sounds worse RubyStar. :laugh: yes hope they're not moving East either. Woo hoo that's great news trina I hope not too Stans Mum. Couldn't say which way the wind blew them though. Hopefully somewhere isolated. With self-closing gates. :laugh: I like the way you're thinking Mrs RB. Readers and gardeners are generally good people. :D