maddogdodge

Ooh awesome thanks :D

Thanks I had seen that site but was hoping I might be able to find something a little less expensive. If not then i guess I'll just have to save up!

I'm thinking about trying bikejoring with my Aussie and Std Poodle (separately lol) ... wondering if anyone can recommend a good harness for it? I'm struggling to find many options online.

I live in a country town. The town is growing rapidly (noticed a huge amount of city folk moving here recently) but most people still have decent sized backyards... many people have quite large backyards or they live on property. Despite that, most people here seem to have oodle mixes. Golden Retrievers and Border Collies would probably be the most common purebreds here.

My old Kelpie has CDA (I always called it Colour Dilution Alopecia). She's had it since a pup and I've never found anything to fix it... she's 13 now. For her it's worse in summer, her coat naturally thins out for summer so those areas on her sides impacted by CDA go practically bald... Her winter coat she gets a short plush undercoat on her sides, no guard hair. It's never bothered her in the slightest but I'd be interested to hear if anyone has come up with anything that helps it.

Thanks all I got in contact with Euro Dog Designs and they have the one I want coming in soon... it's good to know there are other options online to source Hurtta though, I just love their products!

Does anyone know places that I can buy Hurtta products in Australia or even places online that actually ship to Australia?? Ive bought from Euro Dog Designs before but they don't appear to have the item I'm after at the moment. In particular I'm after the Hurtta Rain Blocker... I like that it covers the neck, need something like that to keep my Poodle's neck fluff dry, haha! https://www.hurtta.com/global_en/rain-blocker

I've noticed Aussies looking like BC's more. Lighter body structure, different ear sets (more like BC) etc. I have noticed many show line BC's now days have a heavy body structure like Aussies do.

I love seeing videos like the ones in this thread I haven't taken the dogs on any big adventures for a while, got some planned soon though! Finn's first time at the beach, it was on leash only. Spent most of the time teaching him waves aren't scary, he had a blast! And last year I filmed the daily walk I go on with my doggos... just a leisurely walk, but it's nice

Mine eat mostly dry food too but they get a bone at least once a week. I find if my dogs don't get regular bones they start getting tartar build up and yellowing. Sometimes my local woolworths have bags of beef brisket bones, They're actually quite soft... even frozen my dogs can get through them super quick but they still seem to do a reasonable job at teeth cleaning

Meaty bones absolutely do help with teeth as persephone said. My 3 dogs all have pristine teeth and gums (quoting my vet there). My Kelpie is 12.5 years old and this is her teeth now... never brushed her teeth, never had any kind of dental work... This is all from regular meaty bones

Large marrow bones (cow femur) are very hard and can break teeth... I'm actually surprised your vet recommended them! For my dogs I like to give brisket bones, kangaroo tails and lamb necks. All bones are given to my dogs frozen. Takes my boys about 30 to 60 minutes to get through a frozen lamb neck. Keeps those teeth sparkly clean

Haha that's surprisingly practical! However they're still not protecting themselves from breathing in all the dander that comes off the dog :/ I wear masks for every dog I blow dry now days, can't handle breathing in the dander that comes off them!

I haven't lost a dog to this but i did lose one of my beloved ferrets to hemangiosarcoma exactly 2 years ago to the day He showed no symptoms of being unwell other than having a big belly (which honestly isn't that uncommon in ferrets). He passed away under anaesthetic while having his teeth cleaned at the vets (never would have done it if I knew he had cancer). He went into cardiac arrest just as they were finishing up the dental work, they did CPR for 20 minutes but he couldn't be revived... Autopsy showed these awful tumours on his spleen which had spread to his heart. Vet said he would have only had 6-8 weeks left anyway. In a way I'm glad he went the way he did, pain free and peaceful.

Absolutely! My cat has eaten kibble his whole life (Yes I realise that's bad now... didn't know that until his bladder blocked up 18 months ago). He'll eat raw beef muscle meat but won't have a bar of any offal (he literally gags at the smell of offal) so I've found Feline Natural an awesome substitute, I add plenty of water to it and he loves it and seems to be doing very well on it

I use the freeze dried Feline Natural for my cat. Great stuff! If it was cheaper I'd include some in my dog's meals too!

Yeah I wouldn't use it on a dog who has skin like your Sarah does. I've been very lucky with my dogs when it comes to skin health.

I've used Equinade Glo White horse shampoo on my dogs for years, I love it! I use it straight on Koda's coat, brings his whtie bits up sparkling :D With Finn I use it diluted and I do him one side at a time otherwise it stays on him too long and stains him purple. That's poodle hair though, poodle hair holds colour like crazy. I can leave this stuff on Koda for ages and it won't stain him. Just be aware of that if you haven't used it before though It's the only shampoo I've found that actually brings Finn up white. I also wouldn't say it's harsh personally but none of my dogs have sensitive skin.

Nope, huge trend for Cavalier X Poodles at the moment where I live. I swear everyone is getting one and they're paying $2-3000 for them. Except for the occasional few purebreds I see around, this area is mostly Kelpies, Golden Retrievers and an insane amount of oodles.

My Aussie and Std Poodle must be exceptions to the list then... This list puts Poodles at #2 and Aussies #42... swap those positions around and you have my dogs. My Aussie is exceptionally smart and extremely quick to learn... My Poodle although smart, takes a lot longer to piece things together.

Thanks for the responses One thing that doesn't seem clear from the VAN website is whether to just feed muscle meat or whether it's recommended to feed organs/bone as well. Also what ratios to mix in... I did send them a message about it, but haven't heard anything.

Wow, new forum layout has thrown me off a bit here Hopefully people find this, haha! Just tossing up my options with feeding my dogs. Their daily food ration is 1.5 cups of MFM kibble + 200g of balanced raw mix that I make up myself. I've been looking into Vets All Natural... would love to give it a try but the website says my dogs will need 1 cup of VAN + 400g of meat... Was just wondering whether anyone on here feeds VAN and how you go about it? I'd love to be able to just keep doing what I do regarding meat and just swap out the kibble for VAN... Also wondering what kinds of meats people are using with VAN.

The Iams quiz is the best dog breed selector I've seen! I got: Lagotto Romagnolo (84%) Australian Shepherd (83%) Portuguese Water Dog (83%) Bearded Collie (79%) Standard Poodle (73%) Pumi (72%) So my two chosen breeds (Aussies and Std Poodles) are on that list!

I believe genetics play a huge part in a dogs temperament. My Aussie Shepherd is a good example of this, despite doing all the right things and having no bad experiences as a youngster, it is in his nature to be reactive to other dogs. This is why when I got my next pup, temperament was the most important thing. I spoke to a breeder last year who was offering me a pup, I expressed concerns about putting a large deposit on a newborn pup who's temperament I don't know at all... I was told that pups are born a clean slate and genetics don't matter as long as I raise the pup right... Absolute rubbish!! After they said that I quickly wrapped up the phone call and moved on to find a better breeder.

My all time favourite clippers are Heiniger cordless, but I'm grooming all day every day so I need something comfortable that I love :D They a bit pricy but I'll never go back to anything else! http://clipperworld.com.au/clippers/heiniger-clippers/heiniger-saphir-style-cordless-purple-p2687.html The Wahl KM2 clippers are probably a more realistic option for just home grooming. They're cheaper at least and are definitely a great clipper. I don't find them comfortable to hold so I tend to steer clear of them, but that's just me. They are still great, especially for home grooming! http://clipperworld.com.au/clippers/wahl-clippers/wahl-km2-two-speed-c/w-ultimate-10-blade-p1.html