trinabean

I hope not too!

Every day for the last couple of years, my early morning walk with Bruno has taken us past a house that has been problematic. Not the terrible/scary sort of neighbours that I've had once before (off their heads on meth, abusive and hurling rubbish and drug paraphernalia over our fence). But this house was one with a grumpy dog and owners who didn't see the need to shut their front gates. Over the years we've been rushed and forced onto the road quite a few times by this dog, he has to be forcibley dragged back by his owner into their yard. Talking to the owners got us nowhere (except an earful of abuse) and in the end I reported them and let the council deal with them. So imagine my joy this morning, when I saw the property vacant and a big fat 'For Lease' sign on the verge. No more 'running the gauntlet' of number 71! :cheer:

I guess I think of my sized dog as normal because that's what I'm used to. He's 29 kg and 63cm at the withers, so what I consider medium-sized. Bigger than 30kg seems large to me.As for looks, well, I just like dogs. In all their weird and wonderful variations. There isn't a template as such for me. But, I do have a weakness for squishy-faced breeds.

Yes, this is what I'd do too. Similar to Raffiki, my dog did an elimination diet at 12 months using Hills ZD ultra (Royal Canin Hypoallergenic wasn't available from my vet at the time). We've since had to move on to single protein/single carbohydrate elimination diets, but the prescription kibbles are better balanced and possibly safer for a growing pup. I found roo and sweet potato was great for settling the itching down, but my dog lost too much weight on it. Goat has been a better novel protein for my dog. The dermatologist will be able to advise you best. Sometimes the referring vet wants to get the dog started on an elimination diet beforehand. I'd wait until Wednesday and see what the dermatologist recommends. I might bump into you there, as Bruno is due for an allergy vaccine that day. I keep running into Raffiki and her gorgeous dogs there. :D

I used to use Aloveen. My itchy dog goes to a dermatologist vet now. She recommends washing him with QV wash and rinsing him afterwards with a solution of QV bath oil and water. I also asked her about the calendula tea that Erny recommends and she agreed that it is very soothing. So I often rinse with that after washing him too. Thanks Erny! :D ETA: QV wash and QV bath oil are human products available from pharmacies. Fairly inexpensive and PH balanced. They're used to soothe exzema etc in humans, so not harsh on the skin at all.

My boxer had pimples that looked like that on his muzzle a while back. As he has allergy issues I regularly take him to a dermatologist vet. They determined it was a staph infection and prescribed Bactroban. It's a cream that you dab on each pimple. It was very effective. We ditched the melamine bowl and I use a ceramic one now.

Just in case anyone in Perth knows someone who's missing her, I found this friendly girl this morning. She was roaming near Bibra Lake primary school. She had no collar and has some abrasions on her muzzle (possibly from escaping?) She was very friendly, albeit a bit stressed. She had a lovely shiny coat and was well-nourished. She has been taken to Cockburn pound. I'm sure someone is missing her:

Yes. In WA at least, I could only source the RC Hypoallergenic or Hills ZD through vet clinics. Petstock etc don't stock it. Redangel if your dog does ok on it (give it 6-8 weeks) you can keep her on hypoallergenic food indefinitely. The proteins are hydrolysed, so in theory the immune system doesn't recognize them as allergens. I would have been happy for Bruno to stay on hypoallergenic food but he actually became really itchy while on Hills ZD. I now know from dermatological testing that he is highly allergic to storage mites, which might explain why he has never tolerated any kibble well. So we moved onto a novel protein/carb elimination diet after trying the prescription diet kibbles first. On the first elimination diet (roo and sweet potato) Bruno lost a lot of condition. He was lean to start with, and within 3 weeks, every rib was visible. I was feeding him 2-3 times a day. Although his itching settled down, we had to abandon that diet due to the weight loss. The diet that has worked best for Bruno is goat and cooked quinoa. Yes, quinoa. How very hipster. Under dermatologist guidance, he also has daily: fish oil, evening primrose oil, anti-histamines (Hyroxyzine) and is sprayed with a solution of QV bath oil and water after his daily walk, to remove pollens. We are getting this current diet adjusted via a US universty that the dermatologist consults for diet advice. They will suggest some supplements to balance this limited diet. I hope to re-challenge Bruno's diet next autumn/winter when his environmental allergies calm down again. It's too hard to work out if a food is causing an issue when seasonal allergies are also flaring. I hope to find some other foods he can tolerate. If your dog's allergies are just diet-related, and not caused by allergens in the environment, her itching should settle down once you find a food that agrees with her. It sounds as though that might be the case if her itching settled right down whilst on the roo/potato diet. Roo is very low fat, and I think some already-lean dogs just don't do well on it. Goat is relatively lean, but i think has more fat than roo. I've found it to be a good novel protein. If your dog continues to itch no matter what hypoallergenic or elimination diet you try, then I think you are likely looking at environmental allergens. I can offer some tips (starting with dermatological testing) if that is the case, but I think this is a long enough essay for now! Good luck, and keep us updated on her progress. :)

Yes, the 'this is normal' video made me wonder too. Do we as dog owners have differing views on what 'normal' looks like? I know what is 'normal' behaviour for my dog, and maybe I subconciously expect similar behaviour from other dogs? I'm struggling to explain what I mean... I will try to use an example: Unlike the dog in that video, my dog never barks at another dog in play. Never. And that is normal for him (and perhaps for the breed, judging by a group I regularly meet up with?). But for many dogs, like the beagle in the video, vocalisation is a normal part of play for them. Is our perception of 'normal' or 'rude' dog behaviour in part, influenced by our experiences/ expectations of our own breed/breeds?

Oh God Grumpette, I'm so sorry. Beautiful photos, RIP Gorgeous Baylee....

Yes, we did puppy school through Paw Prints. And a basic obedience class through Manners 'n' More after that. Both were excellent. You could also pm Zayder Asher. :)

My dog hardly ever barks. But he barks at the neighbourhood cats who invariably roam at dusk (no cat containment laws here). There are a few cats who make a point of climbing on my car in the carport. Bruno can see them through the gate. Not. Happy. Jan!

I did :laugh: we've only lost a bird in this house. I did too. A rat and some birds.

My boxer has never bitten a person or another dog thankfully. He didn't respond even when my in-laws mini poodle bit him hard on the face. He just stood there and waited for her to let go. I have buried a rat, and several birds that were too slow though. All feral species at least....

That is such good news that she is doing so well. I hope her recovery goes smoothly at home too. I bet you can't wait for tomorrow morning!

Yes, same here. About once a month I drive to a dog beach and meet some friends and their dogs for some off-lead time. Bruno gets walked every day, and plenty of time with us though. He seems happy with that.

Diva, that is beautifully written. I feel like I know more about Borzoi now ( I've only ever seen one).

Haha, love your photos Moosepup! On the rare occasions that I weed the garden, I always find vintage missing-in-action Kongs.

My dog snores as loudly as my OH. So Bruno sleeps in the lounge room. My OH gets banished to there too sometimes. Between them, it sounds like they're 'driving the hogs to market.' :laugh:

Yes, RuralPug shared her knowledge of the breed in a good, informative post MF. She didn't accuse you of being unethical. She made a plea to you to look beyond coat colour. As someone heavily involved with rescue, I'm sure RuralPug sees more than her fair share of unethically/ badly bred dogs.

A co-worker is married to a fireman - he once attended a car crash where a loose dog went flying and decapitated the driver. How awful. Fire fighters and emergency service people see some terrible things.

Law or not, there's no way I'd leave my dog loose in the car. It's not an option to fit a large crate in my car, so I've always used a harness and seatbelt attachment. It does worry me that harnesses are not necessarily the safest option, but a 29 kg dog would be a hell of a missile in a serious accident. A harness seems like the lesser of two evils. A friend had her unrestrained mini poodle seriously injured in a minor car accident. My dog sits up awkwardly or lies down on the back seat and sleeps when we drive.

I wonder if the vet has checked a stool sample for coccidia? My pup had similar symptoms when he was 9 weeks old and it turned out to be coccidiosis. Just a thought. I hope he is ok.

Yes, this caution is particularly relevant if you have a pup, or a smaller or more fragile breed (Iggies spring to mind). And I don't care if it's widely considered a 'friendly' breed as individuals vary within a breed. Slightly off-topic, but relevent in a way because it's about breed perception, was an incident this morning. I drive my kids part-way to school and then we walk the rest of the way, to fit a bit more exercise into their day. We parked in a suburban street and I was unloading kids, bags etc. when a chocolate Lab came barrelling towards us from a house diagonally down the street. Barking, hackles up, not looking 'friendly' at all. I called to the kids to get back in the car (they did) and was yelling at the dog as there wasn't time for me to get back into the car. 'Soft mouth' or not, I was preparing to throw a loaded school bag (don't laugh, they're bloody heavy) at him if necessary, when the owner called his dog back. I told the owner his dog scared the hell out of my kids, and he said 'yeah, sorry about that, he's a bit territorial.' How's about keeping him in his 'territory' aka your yard then? I seem to live in an area where dudes need to work on their cars with gates and garage doors open, and their dogs are free to menace people.