Her Majesty Dogmad

If it is a clear/opaque flap, that is likely to be the issue. I've had over 50 foster dogs and the Dr Harry tip given above of sticking bright wrapping paper either side, creating a target for the dog, is what has always worked for my foster dogs! Cut the paper out to match the flap size, 1 piece for each side.

What a beautiful boy, so hard after 14 years but it is lovely to hear a story of such love and devotion on both sides. Plant a tree/bush for Bomber that's in flower now and every year when you see the blooms, you can remember him. Take care of yourself.

How far is Fairfield from Blacktown? I spoke to a wonderful groomer there the other day and have the no. if you want.

So sorry to hear about poor sweet Odin, take care Veanna.

I think they brush first. My mobile groomer did my neighbour's dog before shaving my two. His dog is an Aussie Shepherd - she looked beautiful and her coat had definitely been brushed. My friend is also a groomer and she told me that if you wash a knotted coat, it makes the knots far worse so I'm sure they'd brush first.

I work for Doggie Rescue and many of our dogs arrive in poor condition. At our shelter, we therefore feed them on a quality mix of Basmati Rice (its the most nutritious), minced meat, vegetables and eggs. The only thing about that is the poops can get a bit sloppy and if your dog is large, that won't be so good. Perhaps you could scramble the eggs in the morning with the sardines and see how you go. For my fosters (who are all fairly small), I feed them on sardines every morning and only good quality biscuits like Hills with their main meal. I also have a Flaxseed supplement that I got from a health shop, made specially for dogs. I find it takes about 2 months to see a total result. Good luck!

I have a sunloving Italian Greyhound. I bought sunscreen for dogs from Petbarn and have been fine with that for the last few years. I also ordered a special coat for sun protection from a company in Qld, had to measure him up. It was pretty expensive at the time, it's made from the same material you buy in the Cancer shops for kiddy wear. Unfortunately due to the meds he's been on, he put on weight he can't lose and it no longer fits but I had a couple of years wear from it.

I had a foster westie/malt cross (for 2.5 yrs until she passed away), her ears were chronic and she had 3 surgeries in the 2.5 years. However, when I first got her my vet thought if she couldn't have ablation (removal of eardrums) which I wouldn't do to an old dog, she would end up having to be pts because of her ears. I tried several diets and nothing worked against the yeasty ear infections (she was also on antibiotics) and then I read about the Natural Balance diet from www.pricelesspets.com.au and it may be sold elsewhere but I haven't seen it. Anyhow, after a few weeks on that, my vet was amazed at how well her ears looked. It is a biscuit but specially formulated for ear/skin problems, she had both and both got better. The ears needed constant medication for the 2.5 years, due to so many years of neglect previously but she was kept comfortable and I didn't see her rubbing them again once it got better. It's not expensive and I'd tried Hills and other diets before going to that. She didn't have too many teeth so some things just weren't an option.

Great news!!

Hats of to you PPS, I may try some of your tips myself as the flies here are terrible. Last year I bought 2 fly traps but I have to confess, I began dry retching when I had to empty them out and ended up not continuing after a few weeks .... Luckily my dogs are inside/outside as they wish but you cannot sit outside at my place, due to the amount of flies around. It was always like this here though, even before I got dogs, noone knows why.

Clyde, I don't want to worry you but I had this with an old rescue girl I got from Renbury. My vet had found a tumour when desexing her and hoped she'd gotten most of it out. The bleeding went on for 2 weeks after desexing, it wasn't an infection and she opened her up again and took out more tissue. Bleeding stopped 6 months later, bleeding started again and when they opened her up, the tumour had grown back and could not be removed, so I lost my beloved Gloria to ovarian cancer. If someone had desexed her when she was young instead of allowing her to have numerous litters, she'd probably be here today.

Poor dog, completely unecessary.

Mine would get more red salmon!

She sounds like a sweetheart. So sorry, it would leave a big hold in your life after so long ...

I adopted a great little dog 7 years ago, she was already housetrained. Her only vice was that I ended up not being able to take her to friends' houses because she would piddle every time, even if they didn't have another dog. It was like a territory marking and she could be toiletted just before we went in and would still go. Also, as already said, some dogs can have accidents when they go into another house or will mark where another dog has been. Maybe try taking her to someone else's house where they don't have a dog and see what happens.

I can't believe you've had to endure this, the 3 of them were gorgeous and obviously had a strong bond. Hard to understand life when things like this happen. Take care of yourself, hugs to you and your family.

How awful, thoughts are with you, I'm not sure how it happened but what a terrible shock.

Although it may not seem urgent to you to get the teeth done because they are still eating, as mirajam says, the infection from bad teeth can leech into the bloodstream and damage internal organs. Best to get them checked and fixed if necessary, asap.

Often the cause of loss of hair around the bottom and tail area is due to fleas. So many people tell me that their dogs don't have fleas but they do and that is one sign of it. Keep their bedding washed weekly and don't bath them within 48 hours either side of a flea treatment. I feed my dogs sardines (Woolworths homebrand in spring water are cheap but great quality) each morning. THey've all come to me in poor condition and end up looking glossy. (I rehome dogs for a rescue group). I treat my dogs for fleas/heartworm/intestinal worms (Advocate on the neck treatment) on the 1st of every month and for tapeworms on the 1st of every quarter (tablet is inexpensive from the vet). Save some money by buying from www.pricelesspets.com.au. Re the teeth, if they are very bad they need to get dentals asap, then you give them things to keep them clean.

Seems to be good quality and I've never had a dog that didn't enjoy it!

Sorry to hear about poor Scooby but I'm sure he was so happy to be with you for 4 years. I plant a flowering bush/tree for my lost babies, one that is flowering at the time of their passing so that I will remember the happy times in the coming years.

I feed mine in separate rooms and I never even leave so much as a biscuit lying around. I can feed mine treats and there are no problems but I wouldn't leave a bone or anything else around if I was going out.

Give her a special toy or bone to play/chew when you are watering, hopefully that might distract her. I had a hose crazy foxy, he went mental and could have bitten me if I wasn't careful as he was so over the top. You could put her away so she doesn't get so frenzied. I trained my foxy at about 5 yrs of age - he was top of the class, they are super intelligent so you'll do well if you keep going.

I just had this with my littlie, pumpkin does work well and she also had rice and tuna as she seemed to prefer it to chicken.

Not sure where you are? If you are in Sydney, contact the All Natural Vet at Russell Lea, they can prescribe some natural remedies that help with anxiety. I have one of my dogs on Chinese Herbs for his anxiety, he was keeping me up all night and now sleeps like a baby.