Leah82

So Sarah's skin has always been a little oily and a little itchy but it's not something I've worried about. However after surgery on her eye lid a couple of weeks ago she went without her normal fortnightly bath and has had a cone on for most of that time. Since the cone has come of she's scratching up a storm and has a hot spot on the side of her face. Vet visit yesterday identified lots of yeast and bacteria so she's now on steroids and antibiotics and she had a nice malasab bath and blow dry last night (the cone also went back on) So the vet suggested we try her on an elimination diet sooner rather than later, I'm inclined to agree with him however Sarah has a pretty varied diet so where do I find a new protein source that is easy to get? She currently gets roo, chicken, beef and tuna (probably in that order of most to least common). I was thinking of putting her on lamb but that's pretty common for allergies as well. OH suggested keeping her on tuna for 6 weeks but that would up her salt intake a lot as I get the cans in brine Any suggestion? I'm after something reasonably inexpensive as the OH can be hard to sway when it comes to spending lots of money on the dogs For carbs I think I'll go with sweet potato and pumpkin, she doesn't get any of that at the moment. At this point we don't know for sure that it's a food allergy but we have to start somewhere.

What about a field spaniel? I know technically they are supposed to be between a cocker and a springer size wise, however I met a woman this weekend and her male fieldie is the same size as her english springer and even bigger boned, less coat than a ESS or WSS as well.

This guy needs a forever home and with an adoption fee of only $500 https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.691080220943867.1073741863.582672611784629&type=3 let me know if you want more info :)

As always it generally comes down to brushing and semi regular trips to the grooming salon or shedding. They need to figure out which one of these is going to be the lesser of two evils

Puppy! yep I agree, what's 3 weeks in the grand scheme of things and as long as it will be staying with dog savy people, it'll be a good opportunity to widen the puppies experiences and reinforce some good behaviours in other environments

Dalmatian?

I'd add some extra water to her dinner too if you aren't already :) why not take the cone off a few times a day and encourage/tell her to have a drink? That seems to me easier than syringing ;) ? Nah syringing is actually easier, she's a bit of a shy drinker unless she's really thirsty, doesn't like having her head in a bowl not being able to see what's going on. Even if I walk past her while she's drinking her head is straight up looking at me going 'move on, nothing to see here' Glad Sid is recovering ok Huga, Sarah is mostly back to herself, just with a cone on.

we're pretty slack at walking our 2, they maybe get trip to the park once a week. Luckily they are not destructive at all and prefer snuggling up with each other most of the day but when it's working/training time they are all for it. But at 7 and 9 they are a bit older than what you are looking for.

Cocker spaniel? http://www.dogzonline.com.au/breeds/mature/cocker-spaniel.asp My boy usually sits around 13kgs, a female from a show home will definitely be smaller. BYB cockers tend to be on the bigger side. Or if that's still too big maybe an American cocker (http://www.dogzonline.com.au/breeds/mature/american-cocker-spaniel.asp) They are pretty smart, have a low prey drive and are usually very sociable

I'd add some extra water to her dinner too if you aren't already :) yep already there :)

Sarah had a tumor removed from her eye lid, she's doing ok and getting used to the cone hitting things, it'll be on until this weekend which is a pain as she won't even attempt drinking with it on so she's getting fluids through syringe But yes like Sid the eye is fun to scratch as soon as you take the cone off

Sarah sends her sympathies

cocker spaniels like holding hands as well and they like to pat people :laugh: it's so goddamn cute

Ads are no longer up. fingers crossed they went to a good home or rescue

I work in rescue and manage all the incoming inquires from Pet rescue. I get the occasional email that goes in depth about their circumstances and they want to know on the outset if the dog is kid/cat friendly etc, to be honest this approach does put me off a little because the impression I get is they want a ready made pet and are not willing to put in any effort (I had one lady that told me she has returned a lab to a rescue because it barked at her cat or as she called it 'was openly aggressive towards her cat' A couple of things to note regarding the kid/cat thing... Most dogs do not have a problem with children, the issue is kids can be unpredictable, they can encroach on the dogs personal space easily and generally become annoying. If left unsupervised there is ALWAYS a risk of something happening. If you are aware of this and are prepared to offer plenty of supervision and allow the dog to have it's own space then you shouldn't have any problems, you will also hopefully have the opportunity to meet the dog prior to committing to purchasing it so you'll be able to see the initial interaction with your 3 year old for yourself and make a judgement from there. The cat thing is very similar, it's hard to know exactly how the dog will react until it meets your cats, it might have lived with cats before but these are not your cats. If it hasn't lived with cats before there is no reason why they can't learn to get along with training and slow introductions, you may want to focus your breed search around dogs with a lower preydrive but generally it all comes down to how much effort you want to put in. And as other people have mentioned all other questions around healthchecks and desexing are completely valid although may be worth waiting to see if they think their dog would suit your circumstances first as it can take a lot of time to answer these types of questions over and over again. My advice would be to ask if the dogs have lived with cats/kids but don't expect them to predict how the dog will behave in a totally new environment.

Breeding Fields is a challenge and requires a deep pocket lol Any particular reason for this? apart from the obvious needing to import semen due to the small gene pool in Australia

I told the OH about this list last night and he may have suggested we get into breeding field spaniels one day :D

I won't put the links up here but have just come across a couple of free to good home ads in gumtree. 6 year old golden retriever female, not desexed 1 year old rotty female, not desexed both located in Townsville, from what looks like the same family. Does any know a suitable rescue in the area that might be able to help out and make sure these dogs don't end up in the wrong hands.

Check out field spaniels as well :)

I wouldn't have a problem with it as long as I was comfortable with the labs temperament to not persist in playing if the small dog was uncomfortable. As long as they both speak dog there shouldn't be any problems. I know a couple of cockers that have German Shepherds as siblings and I work in with a rescue that specialised in Cockers and Shar Pei and the breeds interact quite well

Yep cockers hold their own pretty well, they are solid dogs for their size. Plus having another dog with a gun dog temperament will be a good match. My cocker is the bigger of our two by only a few kgs but he still adjusts his play to take into account her size, weight and penchant for bouncing around

A few rescues are getting together next Saturday for an Adoption Day at 4Paws and More Pet Supplies in Sunbury. If you're in the area please stop by for a sausage, chat and cuddle of some of our adoptables. https://www.facebook.com/events/381362535389152/

Squeeeee! :D

When grooming a Japanese spitz you will want to learn how to line brush, this will make sure you brush out all the dead under coat. Brushing a spitz normally will often leave an impacted layer of undercoat close to the skin. There are YouTube videos on line brushing if you search but this will give you a quick overview. http://dogcare.dailypuppy.com/line-brush-dog-1541.html