blakkjackal

From where though? The original lump or the new one, which is pretty much not there anymore? I'm definitely ringing the vet today.

That will be done next if it is still there in a week or two or starts to change in any way. The vet said normally with these kind of lumps by the time the results are back confirming it as scar tissue the lump is already gone. Trust me I'm keeping a very close eye on it. If this had happened next month I would've probably gone for the biopsy straight away but sadly I'm on a very strict budget this month.

Update! I just had another look and the swelling has gone down considerably. It's still there, but nowhere near as bad. Not too sure what originally triggered it but I'm hoping there won't be much left by tomorrow morning. The time frame for all this has been strangely fast and it went from top picture to the ones below in a few hours.

Not a grass seed, I'm overseas and it's winter. I'll be calling the vet again tomorrow (10 pm over here), but currently it's not bothering him at all, not itchy or painful to the touch. He was palpated thoroughly yesterday though, lymph nodes included so this is very strange and sudden.

Just after some guesses and/or ideas of what this could be before I take him back to the vet. As a background I took him to the vet yesterday because of a related (or I'd think so?) reasonably solid lump on his neck. The vet was fairly certain it was scar tissue and we're monitoring it for a couple of weeks before taking a biopsy, or if it is scar tissue as suspected, it should be gone by then. Anyway, the same night I noticed his neck skin on the same side feeling thicker and like there was fluid underneath. I didn't see any obvious fluid buildups at the time but this morning it was very obvious and he's got a rather large, soft lump on his chest now too. Thing is though, it really feels like there's even more now and half his neck skin is very droopy and odd. It goes from his chest to his throat and the asymmetry between the two sides is obvious. To me it really does feel like fluid underneath the skin and it is definitely separate from muscles or anything else beneath, just under the skin. I didn't find any bite or other marks on him either that would explain it. The initial, more solid lump is somewhat visible in the third picture near the top, just to give you an idea where it is and whether it could be related.

Mauri is also an old Finnish male name.

^I made the same assumption, hence my comment. Didn't meant to upset anyone but also did I not know anything beyond what was written in JulesP's comment and I made a generalised statement. I don't feel like it's necessary to repeat everything Yonjuro has said so I'll just leave this here.

I honestly don't think the dog's preference is a very good indicator as quite like us humans, they'll go for good flavours first and have no knowledge of what is "best" for them. Mine would happily eat all the chocolate and lollies if given the chance, he'd probably even choose them over raw meat. Sugars and fats are rich in energy and an opportunistic carnivore will jump the chance to eat anything containing high levels of them. Plus smell is a huge factor too.

This.

His dogs are a sad example of Aussie bullies. They've come very, very far from Amstaffs.

I'm with Yonjuro. I guess I could be considered as passionate about feeding my dog, some say I take it too far as it is, after all, just a dog and they do just fine on table scraps and supermarket kibble. Whilst this might be true to an extent I don't want to feed "good enough", I want to do the best I possibly can for the animal I have chosen to be responsible for. Prey model raw is my chosen way of feeding and I admit to having calculated my dog's vitamin and mineral needs to make sure whatever I'm feeding him is meeting them. IMO if you feed raw you gotta do it right, can't just chug a chicken frame or two in the bowl and think that's a good, balanced meal. Supplements are part of my dog's feed and if I wanted to, I could probably cut down on what I supplement but currently it isn't really achievable for me as I have poor access to e.g. fish. People tell me all the time if I calculate my own vitamin needs and if I eat healthy, I admit I don't always, but then again we are also being taught about human nutrition from 1st grade onwards and it is pretty much inbuilt in people; eat your veggies etc. Not at all the same with dogs, I bet your Average Joe doesn't know dogs can't make vitamin D out of sunlight like people can. Or that their calcium needs are actually a lot smaller than what BARFers think. Once you invest some time and effort in learning the basics about canine nutrition it does become very easy and effortless to properly feed raw. Deficiencies are not easily detected and most of the time are already pretty severe by the time there are symptoms. All this said though, I can definitely understand why people feed kibble and tbh it would be a nightmare if there wasn't premade and balanced dog food available. I don't expect everyone, not even every second one, to be as interested in the details of feeding their furry friend as I am but at the same time I don't see how it is a bad thing if I believe I'm doing the best I can by reading up on things. Some people have other priorities in their dog ownership and that's just fine.

Just thought of something that I don't think has been mentioned. IRAP injections, I've heard some dogs have been helped by these. Similar course given as with Carthrophen injections. http://www.ssequineclinic.com/pages/services_irap.html

BC crazy; mine is 3,5 years old now and so far hasn't shown any signs of pain or lameness yet -- fingers crossed it stays that way for years still. However he does have severe HD so I don't expect him to be healthy until his teens. I do think his level of fitness that I've tried to keep up has played a major part in keeping him symptom free. Swimming would be great to build supporting muscle without burdening the affected joints but I'm sure you already know that. :)

I too have a young dog with arthritis and I'm sorry to hear yours isn't doing that great. If I was in your situation I'd probably try everything I could in terms of supplements. IMO glucosamine/chondroitine are the two most important ones, as for extra bonuses you could think of trying MSM or hyaluronic acid (somewhat controversial whether or not it actually works taken orally but I guess worth a go). Rosehip is supposed to be good and I see he's already on it, haven't gotten my dog onto it yet sadly. Good to hear he's already getting acupuncture, was going to suggest that. Consider getting him a Back on Track coat, I've heard great things about them and it is on my shopping list for sure. Wishing you strength, it's hard. ETA maybe also consider getting a professional masseuse have a look at him? Sometimes unless you're a trained pro it's hard to get all the potential benefit from a home massage although the dogs certainly seem to enjoy it!

I didn't expect it to be fast but I had to point out all the bits they needed and practically tell them what to do half the time, tragicomic.. Worst was when the clerk said that she's never really done this before so please excuse her while she learns. Never again!

I don't really think it was the agent's fault (albeit there was some sloppiness in schedules etc. that got a bit annoying because we wanted to work our schedule around the dog's but that didn't happen as we didn't find out about most of the stuff until pretty much the last minute). Not sure if using a different company would've made much of a difference in the actual travel experience. I guess moving a dog over such a long distance without you being able to accompany them is hard to get right for anyone. /Oh, and the Finnish Customs people were an absolute joke and it took me 1,5 hours to clear the dog with all the paperwork correct and readily presented. But that has nothing to do with the travel company, just another frustrating thing.

Karen the senior trainer at Holdfast is Megan's mother, she used to (or still does?) work a bit with Canine Interaction too. Both lovely ladies.

This is true as feeding oils increases their vitamin E needs. I give a vit. E supplement.

I used to take my dog down to the Canine Interaction classes, we did them all up to "masters". Sure it's probably not aimed for people wanting to get into competitive obedience or anything but for everyday manners I found it great, positive reinforcement and clicker training plus the trainers are wonderful people. We really enjoyed it all and I miss them a bit as we can't attend anymore after my move overseas. Megan offers home consults and private training sessions too.

I feed MSM powder, glucosamine and a reasonably large dose of fish oil daily. You can't really overdose on fish oil, the only issue would be possible weight gain but you'd really have to feed a fair bit for that to happen. Wanting to add pure chondroitin sulfate and rosehip too. In general I like to steer away from expensive brand names and look for the ingredients in a more pure form to keep costs down as my dog, whilst not being giant, isn't small either and it can get expensive. He's around 28 kg's and is currently getting 1000mg of glucosamine, 3 g of MSM and 6-9 caps of fish oil per day. Sadly he has reasonably bad HD with signs of arthritis at only 3 years old but you could never tell; in fact it was an absolute shock for me to find out as he has never shown a single sign. I have been feeding this combo for a long time too, as a preventative measure before finding out. I have been thinking about trying hyaluronic acid too but some suggest it really only works as an injection, not orally. However I've heard some have had success with feeding HA too. We maintain a very active lifestyle as I strongly believe that his excellent fitness and muscle tone is one of the major reasons he isn't showing any symptoms. Core strength and regular physio/doggy massage visits are great too and I'm definitely going to book him an acupuncture appointment some time in the near future.

I sometimes say my dog has kennel cough/fleas/something else contagious if someone is letting their dog too close. Happens much too often, very frustrating.

Didn't want to edit my old post as I forgot something pretty important; make sure your dogs get their vitamin D from somewhere! Whether that be fish (not always so cost effective when feeding bigger dogs as the amount of fish needed is pretty high) or supplement, the main thing is that they get it somehow from their diet. I give 25mcg a day. Dogs are unable to synthesise vitamin D out of sunlight.

I feed a prey model raw diet consisting of around 80% muscle meat, 10% bone and 10% offal + eggs almost daily. In addition to this I give zinc, vitamin E (since I rarely get the chance to feed fresh) and fish oil supplements (plus a few others that aren't mandatory like magnesium, glucosamin, MSM & calcium supplement on boneless days). Dogs are carnivores and I feel like feeding veggies provides little other than just fiber and my preferred fiber source is flaxseed meal, if needed at all. I've found my dog does best on actual whole prey, like whole chickens and rabbits with feathers/fur still on but sadly that's not an option for everyday feeding, at least not yet. Prey model raw is a great second best option. Edit silly typo

No one should have to settle for a "practice dog" just because the breed they've got their heart set on is supposedly not suitable for a first time owner. Not necessarily fair on the dog either if it's not just what the new owner wanted. But like has been said plenty of times already, some people shouldn't get a dog at all regardless of breed.

"What if I never find out who's a good boy" ..and someone not loving the modelling job for a new collar.