Yonjuro

Oh geez DDD, it really is a roller coaster ride you and Danny are on. Keep up the good work and my fingers and Ronin's paws are crossed for you both.

How frustrating - maybe do a letter drop stating that you work from home and the noisy dogs in the neighbourhood don't belong to you :)

Great, please let us know how they go Have you noticed if they are brittle ?

That is a very big difference in costs Adding such a huge mark-up to what you have already spent on the procedures seems very unfair (that is my polite way of saying what I really think)

I have to agree with the others, it sounds like you have dodged a bullet - I can't stress enough how wonderful it is to have an ongoing relationship with the breeder of your puppy. Even though our breeder is on the other side of the country we are always in touch, sharing pics and swapping stories. She kept a girl from the litter and it is funny how cheeky, mischievous and similar the brother and sister are :D So while the heartbreak of missing out is short lived, the opportunity to find someone you can trust is very much alive :)

Oh dear, that is heartbreaking

Thanks Huski :) Thanks VM :)

Thanks Denali - he really is a goofball sometimes :laugh: I'm not gonna lie. All these photos make me want to fly to WA and steal him. He seems a lovely boy. is he much of a barker? Aww thanks Denali, he actually came from NSW :) As far as barking goes, very very rarely. Sometimes he will make a sort of bark when a cat sits on the fence but it is low volume and very very deep. If he growls at the cat he sounds like a Tibetan throat singer :laugh: He's travelled a fair way! Perfect. He's coming to live with me then :D :laugh: at the tibetan throat singing

Yeah I am loving greyhounds these days. I always thought of them as the last breed I would ever consider, now that I have met many and got over my own ignorance I truly believe they are a wonderful breed that can suit so many different people. Again, I am no expert in the breed but I think they are wonderful :)

Thanks Denali - he really is a goofball sometimes :laugh: I'm not gonna lie. All these photos make me want to fly to WA and steal him. He seems a lovely boy. is he much of a barker? Aww thanks Denali, he actually came from NSW :) As far as barking goes, very very rarely. Sometimes he will make a sort of bark when a cat sits on the fence but it is low volume and very very deep. If he growls at the cat he sounds like a Tibetan throat singer :laugh:

Other people with more experience will be able to say whether this is appropriate but a greyhound would suit many of your requirements I think :)

Thanks very much Denali :)

Thanks Denali - he really is a goofball sometimes :laugh:

Thanks Justrace :) and yes the park is lovely and fenced in, it has lemon trees and a mulberry tree for anyone to take fruit. It is definitely a family park as opposed to a dog park, but dogs are allowed.

:laugh: Love it that great!

:laugh: Yep he really is a clown sometimes. He was in a pretty cheeky mood today, but pushed it too far when he pranced past the kitchen looking very pleased with himself that he had pinched my wife's bra from the laundry, she was less than impressed and I couldn't stop laughing at how happy and proud he looked. Thankfully he doesn't destroy his underwear prey

Thanks very much for your help Erny :)

Thanks everyone, Caitlin is so happy that people are watching it and commenting :D This is really only the third or fourth time she has tried loose lead walking. The first time Ronin was prancing and looking at her and my jaw dropped at how good it looked, it really put me to shame :laugh: Oh I wish DDD :D it is a lovely little park around the corner, often it is packed with kids so we just pick our times carefully so Ronin can have a run off lead and some training on lead on occasions.

To be honest I started the thread to offer some advice when I thought the condition was IBS and or colitis and looking for an alternative to Slippery Elm. I didn't know the extent of the battle and her involvement with vets previously and sought to give her a way off the steroids. I think she is quite shy about this and I don't want to pressure her, I might suggest DOL but just want to play it by ear for a bit :)

...oh yes they can :D Here is a little vid of my daughter Caitlin who is 6 years and 10 months old practising loose lead walking with Ronin. They have done some really nice laps but unfortunately I didn't have the camera. I am so proud of her efforts and of course Ronin for generally being a good boy :D The harness is my Julius K9 which clips from the back, it is not designed as an easy walk harness and if anything will give the dog more power to pull. Note; This is only done in a controlled environment where the area is fenced in and free from other dogs and people. I would never risk such an exercise on a street or a park where there are other dogs, children and other distraction. I hope to update with some more of her efforts in the future :)

Regarding the steroids I don't think she has done anything without her vet being consulted :) Good idea with the other proteins. I agree and so does she now that this last episode occurred :)

thanks to every one for contributing, this posted from my friend Thanks Jase, that makes for some interesting reading and really don't worry about upsetting me, I'm tougher than I look, lol. I will admit though that when she first got sick I was beside myself most of the time and my coping strategy was simply to not talk about it here. Which is why it's only been the last few months that I've opened up more about it on the forum, because i'm in a place where I know that I can handle it. So no need to worry. I have spoken to the vet about noveaux protein sources (sorry I can't spell it!) but only in it's commercial form thus far...they do actually use roo as one of the protein sources but becuase it's isn't real roo only the processed dog kibble version that's why i said you can't get it here. We don't get horse here although they do in most european countries such as France (there was a massive scandal a year or so ago where some well known food chains had been found to be using horse in their lasagne! Made headline news and sparked a few jokes, lol). There will of course be other protein sources that are not normally used, pheasant and venison spring to mind but as you can probably guess they are incredibly expensive and the amount you will get is very small. I did try one of these hypollergenic brands and then gradually weaning off of the steroids but the problem is that once the levels dropped too much she got sick again. In the back of my mind i was tempted to persevere anyway but the reality is that once she gets sick she gets worse until her body gives up the fight and starts shutting down. That's the big problem with all the things i've tried thus far: we don't have the luxury of time to wait it out and see if she improves without the steroids. We wait it out and she dies. We're caught up in a vicious cycle. I had been hoping that over the months if we could maintain a permanent remission that we could start decreasing the dosage of steroids until they cease to be a part of her routine but so far the lowest doseage we can achieve is one 25mg tablet every other day....she was on half a tablet daily but her fur was thinning and dropping out. The every other day thing seems to be helping with this. She is particularly sensitive to steroids and reacts stonger than anticipated so a lower than normal dose seems to work well for her 42kg frame where as it wouldn't work for most other dogs of her size. It's not an ideal situation, it will certainly decrease her life in the end but in the meantime it's keeping her alive too so a double edged sword methinks. That's why i started this thread as the bones seem to have tipped her over the balance.......the day she has had her steroid within an hour she feels completely fine and starts pooping healthily but the night before she's due her next one and they're worn off she's getting runny and feeling sick again. I just can't work out why it's tipping her over the edge? But reading one of your replies it seems that bones are to be avoided in the raw diet so I'm presuming this is most likely because of her condition and will therefore rule them out entirely. It's not a great hardship, they're more of a luxury item than a necessity.

... after this bit of naughtyness this morning I should have called him Grey Undies :laugh:

No I haven't read that - sounds very interesting :) I was originally going to go with Kwaiden which in Japanese means Ghost Stories but decided to go with the normal two name pedigree name. Ronin is grey so Grey Ghost seemed a nice fit.

LOL, yeah I picked the pedigree name, but wasn't thinking of GOT then, but I suppose it fits :D It was meant to match all the littermates who were born on Halloween :laugh: