Yonjuro

aww, Didi looks quite the character and vey lovely!

Yes that was a lovely rescue Greyhound called Cooper, 2 weeks out of the kennel. I've met 4 rescue Greyhounds at this park, some muzzled and some with their green(?) collar/licence. Lovely dogs and so silky to touch.

Aww, that is so lovely!!!! and here is one of my two monsters...

I went to the local fenced-in off-lead park today with Ronin, we often go there and it is great... So today there was a massive bunch of Italian Greyhound owners having a meet up. When Ronin came in it was hilarious to see a swarm of around 20 little dogs chasing him. Sorry no photos from me of that but I think some of the iggy people took some shots. Anyway it was a fun experience for me as I have never met an Iggy before and they were sweet little guys. Happily no one was knocked over by my big furry boof-head. Was wondering if there were any DoL members there today?

Raw liver is very good for loosening stools. Pumpkin is normally used to firm up stools, I am not sure if it has a dual effect.

Oh, just had a thought, loose stools can sometimes be associated with too much food. Maybe try cutting back a bit to see if it improves. If this is the case you should see improvement in less than a day. TOTW is a great food and pretty rich, but like most foods they overstate the amount that should be fed.

:laugh: :laugh:

Steamed, mashed or canned pumpkin is widely used to help with the runs. I don't know exactly how it works but many husky owners swear by it. I have used it once and it did work, but I prefer slippery elm.

Maybe if ring the supermarket to find out if it is being discontinued first. If so then there will be plenty of advice and options available. Let us know how you get on or if you just want to change? :)

I would second this. I called Kathy to discuss having her help me with some issues that concerned me when Ronin was around 12 weeks, she was very very friendly and basically said that I didn't really need her kind of help and it was all pretty normal puppy stuff and recommended a good trainer. She also sent me a pdf of one of her books on dominance myths. Pretty great service when you consider I am not even a client. I can also recommend Kerry Clapton, she is our trainer and is really great. http://kerrysdogtraining.com she does home consults at reasonable prices and will be able to give you heaps of advice and tips.

With the goat - neck, flaps/ribs, spine, shoulder etc should all be good. I feed roo tails I am not sure if they fit into the weight bearing category though, I wouldn't have thoughts so as they are flexible but I could be wrong ?? Yes to whole rabbit and duck.

I am not sure where you are situated but there is a pet meat supplier in Bassendean that does goat and plenty of other good stuff.

I hope it is nothing serious, at least a vet visit will relieve some of the stress you are no doubt feeling over this. Maybe a natural anti inflammatories like turmeric and fish oil might help a little? Wishing Zig all the very best.

Most butchers will have rabbit and duck - Rabbit costs around $27 per bunny, Duck around $20 per bird.

I am a big fan of Slippery Elm, I started a thread on it a little while back that should give you a good run down. http://www.dolforums.com.au/topic/256101-slippery-elm/page__p__6443816__fromsearch__1#entry6443816

Alas, being no where near a coast fresh fish is prohibitively priced for me. Fresh water species are the only ones actually available fresh here (rainbow trout and the like) and they are still pricey. (Rabbit is cheap and fresh from nearby paddocks though LOL). The bones in the canned fish are totally soft and splinterproof so those are the only bones I ever feed cooked, but to me the bones in fresh fish seem splinters already and I do worry about them getting caught in the soft palette of the small brachy breeds - even against all logic, sorry. Thanks for the reassurance, though! Lucky you, getting cheap rabbit :) I certainly do understand the worry about fish bones as they kind of freak me out as a human :) I did a fair bit of research before I decided to feed whole fish to my boy, but like most things food wise for our beloved dogs, all things are not suitable to all dogs. I have no experience with small brachy breeds so I cannot say either way if the fish bones would pose a problem and I think you are best placed to decide what is right for your dogs. But yeah, rainbow trout would be a bit pricey for regular feeding :D

Fish bones are the least scary of all bones from a feeding perspective. I read somewhere that fish bones are the only bones that are okay even when cooked - don't quote me on this though as I doubt I would ever feed them cooked, but apparently they remain soft. I recommend you look up raw feeding fish on a few of the raw feeding sites and it should but your mind at ease regarding the bones. Regarding rabbit and duck, they are quite expensive so I am not feeding them until I can find a cheap source. Cheers Jason

I feed whole fresh fish, scales and all, the bones are absolutely fine. Some feed with guts intact but I am yet to do this. I would remove fins from fish like flathead and cobbler due to the toxicity. With fish it is always best to freeze for a week or two to ensure any parasites and worms are killed off - or so I am led to believe. I can buy fresh sardines for $7 a kilo from the local fish monger so I would only use tinned as an emergency food back-up. Fish can be reasonably cheap if you buy what is on special - herring and bream are often < $8kg whole, sea mullet is also cheap. Fish heads are often sold for stock and < $3kg Goat is also an excellent meat if you can get it cheap. Roo is great but very lean which has pros and cons depending on the diet. Ronins dinner tonight is whole sand whiting + lamb tongue + raw green tripe followed by a tasty piece of beef neck bone :D

I am in WA and have ordered many times from them and found it always to be excellent, cheap shipping and super fast.

it probably isn't an issue but just something I thought about when I read the ingredients.

The Van one looks good too, the only thing that might stop some is the wheat germ. I imagine that this may not be great for dogs on grain free or with wheat allergies??

I haven't used this but it looks good, I would be interested to hear from those that have. http://www.naturalanimalsolutions.com.au/DigestaVite-Plus.html

This sounds quite a nice way to do , is this usual? I haven't really been with any of my dogs when they got the injection due to circumstances. Do they usually give a relaxant first? I've been with my dogs when they've passed naturally and I get really panicky I'm worried I'm going to faint or something. I thought it was quite good as I could give her a nice soothing send off while talking to her so she was completely relaxed before the green dream in the vet office. Anyway, this is what this vet always does (apart from coming out to my car) so I just assumed it was normal procedure to have the two injections. I think he said that some dogs can convulse with the green dream and but it is not stressful or painful for the dog but a bit stressful for the owner... I think that is what he said but I was quite upset at the whole thing so I can't recall it exactly. I wanted her last coherent thoughts to be in a relaxed environment with me rather than the nervousness often associated with visiting the vet. Again, my thoughts are with you.

Oh gosh, it is terrible when this time arrives. I personally wouldn't take the other dogs along incase they register that the vet is a place you may not come back from. When my old girls time came, I took her to the vet and the vet came out to meet me in the car and gave her the fist injection where it just relaxes them, I then took her to the park next door and cuddled her under a tree and gave her a few treats while she got real drowsy. I then carried her in and we went to a little room with a couch and she was given the green dream while on my lap. I do know that some vets will come out to you house to administer the injections so you can make the last moments even more comfortable in your home. Only you can decide the right time and what you think will be the best way. My thoughts are with you.

That is what gathered from the radio interview, however he could have been commenting on the reports he was given I dunno, I am really confused.