brightstar123

Still waiting to hear back from the breeder and breed clubs. Yes he is a lovely happy boy, he just wants to cuddle. Very sad to see him rehomed so young but I think it was for the best in this case, for a number of reasons. I'm surprised that I haven't had any interest so far, he really would make a great family dog as he's good with older/taller kids and very gentle and affectionate.

Archie

Archie

Archie

Here's a few pics of him...

Yep left a message for the breeder today, haven't heard back yet.

Hi everyone, I have a private rescue looking for a loving and suitable home. He's a 10mth old desexed male English Setter, blue belton, full pedigree papers. Fully vaccinated, current heart worm/tick/flea/intestinal worming. Well socialised with adults and children but still learning not to jump up (only an occasional behaviour now) so he might be best not with very young children. Sweet and affectionate, happy temperament :) Ok on the lead, not trained but doesn't pull too much. Very basic obedience training - recall not reliable yet. Previous owners didn't have any time for him Would suit a family on some land or even an average to large suburban backyard. Ok with other dogs but probably happiest with another bouncy large young dog around his age. We have a young female lab who is not very impressed with him. He needs to learn some doggy manners, his main bad habit is barking in the other dogs face and biting/nipping their neck/ears if they won't play with him. I've seen fairly dominant behaviour so far. He's going really well on a mainly raw diet at the moment, has been fully vet checked and has great skin and ears. No digestive problems I've seen. Well grown and lean body condition, very nice movement and good coat. Hasn't been digging or barking, apart from crying the first night he was with us and barking during play. Has seen cats and was curious and not showing signs of aggression, but most likely would have liked to chase and bounce on them, so no cats recommended. Ok in the car - possibly mild car sickness leading to drooling, but no vomiting. To summarise, a fairly straightforward energetic young dog, pretty well socialised, a few bad habits, no serious behavioural problems, needs love and training. Please ask any questions and share with friends - he is available at a low price just to cover my costs. I'll post some pics later when he gets back from the groomer! Thanks :)

You can use the Capstar sequentially to keep killing emerging fleas, it's safe to give everyday if needed. It also provides very fast relief (in about 30min) from itching. Comfortis/Panoramis are both good products; Advantage/Advocate seem to have less resistance than Frontline at the moment. However, I believe that Fipronil (Frontline) is a safe product to use in dogs with liver disease, as it is never absorbed systemically, it just accumulates in the sebaceous glands, so there is no metabolism by the liver. Obviously check with your vet though! Then treat the environment as others have said and you should be fine!

I would like to know what exactly the vet saw on the xrays to make a diagnosis of hip and elbow dysplasia. That's where the answer will be. As others have said, hip dysplasia is a developmental disorder, it is not present at birth. Time must elapse for radiographic changes to be evident. PennHIP rads (distracted view) generally allow accurate prediction of dysplasia in dogs as young as 6 months but the standard extended view doesn't, it's recommended that the dog is 24-36mths old for that one. In regards to the diagnosis of elbow dysplasia, it is possible to diagnose some of the structural abnormalities of the bones in the elbow joint from around 150 days of age (approx 5mths). Both ununited anconeal process and fragmented medial coronoid process cause elbow dysplasia and may be seen from around 5mths on, osteochondrosis can be more variable. So the diagnosis of hip dysplasia seems a little questionable, elbow dysplasia is maybe more feasible. An orthopaedic specialist would be able to ensure that the correct imaging has been done and that they have been accurately interpreted, given the dog's age and breed.

I'm a big fan of Ruffwear products, I've been using their Headwater collar on my water-crazed grubby lab and it has lasted and lasted. Even their Hoopie collar seems to handle daily sand/water/swampiness and comes in some nice colours. All their outdoor gear works well for me, I have harnesses, leads and boots too and no problems so far. http://www.ruffwear.com

Our smaller-sized lab is happy with chicken marylands or drumsticks, chicken frames, lamb shanks, brisket bones, lamb ribs, lamb neck (the Coles near us does a good deal on 'lamb offcuts' which usually has meaty big bits of spine and ribs), lamb forequarter chops, oxtail, pig trotters, pork ribs, roo tails, turkey wings and necks, quarter/half of whole rabbits (too expensive now sadly!) and any discounted game birds (usually whole). Strangely the only raw meat she really isn't keen on is hearts, which is a shame since they are cheap and nutritious!

Of course it's difficult to tell without examining your dog, but I would stick to the original plan. It doesn't sound like he's wasting away (obviously 6 cups/day is a lot though!) and if his energy is good, there's no vomiting, normal thirst/appetite then it sounds like it would be safe to do the trials. Your vet may not have checked albumin and it's really sequential tests that reveal the most (ie decreasing albumin levels over time). It would be nice to know though. It's a complex problem and different vets have different (entirely reasonable) approaches, it sounds like you are in capable hands, let us know how it goes!

Now that you mention he is underweight (is his weight stable? Is he continuing to lose weight?) I would bump small intestinal disease up to the top of the list. Was serum albumin tested? That would help tell us if your dog has a protein-losing enteropathy (most common causes of this are IBD, lymphangiectasia, lymphoma). If I saw a dog that was continuing to lose weight with chronic diarrhoea and decreasing albumin, I would probably take a more aggressive response - especially if you feel as though his condition is declining quickly. An ultrasound and biopsy would then be appropriate, instead of a 6wk food trial. Any vomiting? How's his appetite and energy levels? English Setters are beautiful dogs, I'd love one! I'm sure an answer will be found :)

This can be a really frustrating problem to deal with, I've had a similar situation with my own Lab, GSD and Bengal cat. As others have mentioned, if your vet is at the point of considering an abdominal ultrasound and a biopsy, I would hope that the following has been performed: Complete blood count and biochemistry panel to rule out systemic causes, full faecal exam/culture (parasites/clostridia etc), TLI testing for exocrine pancreatic insufficiency and some therapeutic trials (dietary, antibiotic, anti-parasitic). Your vet is correct in that fenbendazole is the best drug to use to rule out giardia (which can be tricky to diagnose) and roundworm/hookworm/whipworm. It may be worth repeating the treatment a few times several weeks apart, given the life cycle of helminth parasites. At least three sequential faecal exams should be performed to ensure treatment success. TLI testing can be done, although in this case it doesn't sound like your dog has the common signs of pancreatic insufficiency, such as ravenous appetite, poor growth, weight loss, poor hair coat and profuse foul-smelling pale stools. What your vet would have been trying to determine is whether the diarrhoea is due to small bowel or large bowel disease (small bowel often associated with weight loss, no mucous in the stool, no blood in the stool or black digested blood, no straining, normal frequency; large bowel with increased frequency or urgency, fresh red blood and/or mucous in the stool, normal weight/body condition and sometimes straining) and then the possible causes. If your dog is otherwise in good health (normal appetite and energy levels, no weight loss etc), I would be performing more thorough therapeutic trials: 1) Treatment with fenbendazole as discussed. 2) 4-6wk course of antibiotics (metronidazole, oxytetracycline or tylosin) with a change in the antibiotic after 2wks if there is not a significant improvement. Idiopathic (unknown cause) antibiotic responsive diarrhoea (ARD) is increasingly diagnosed (although particularly in GSDs) and it does sound possible here if there was some response to the metronidazole. ARD can also be due to small intestinal bacterial overgrowth. Some dogs and cats with chronic ARD will eventually just grow out of the diarrhoea, due to increased maturity of the immune system, although some may need to be on antibiotics long-term. Testing folate and cobalamin and performing a duodenal juice culture can help confirm a diagnosis of ARD, although a drug trial is cheaper and easier! 3) Then: strict dietary trial for 6wks (either homemade diet with a novel protein ie a protein your dog would never have eaten eg rabbit, venison, duck etc plus rice or mashed potato (gluten-free carb) or perhaps a commercial hydrolyzed diet eg Royal Canin Hypoallergenic) then reintroduce the original diet to see problems return, thus confirming the diagnosis. I personally prefer a homemade diet as you have complete control over the diet. Obviously this is not a properly balanced diet but given the short time period of the trial it's not a problem. If these steps have been performed I would then proceed to an ultrasound and endoscopic biopsy. Biopsy is the only way to fully confirm a diagnosis of IBD and to determine the type of inflammation occurring. This is the way I proceeded with my Bengal with protozoal parasites and idiopathic ARD, who had horrible bloody diarrhoea for at least a year. He eventually just grew out of it and we were able to discontinue the antibiotics. The GSD also responded to long term antibiotics and a low fat highly digestible diet. The lab actually responded to a complete sudden change to a raw diet (with a fairly high bone component initially) but this is not something I would necessarily recommend for your dog without knowing more information! Changing to a raw diet is basically a half-way attempt at an strict elimination dietary trial (in that you are removing grains, additives etc from the diet but you are still including common proteins, which surprisingly can be the cause of the allergy in many dogs - beef is a common one). So I would recommend being thorough and just going with the novel protein diet if there's no response to the fenbendazole and antibiotic trial. Hope this helps, good luck!

Congratulations to Friendly Dog Collars - a great idea and well-made products that have really been helpful with our fear aggressive dog. I'll be recommending them!

Thanks again for the suggestions - I've tried a few things already with some good results! Beef stock as an additional fluid source is going well, she is having about 500ml low salt stock at the moment. Obviously not a permanent solution but will help to increase her drinking while we are dealing with the fear/anxiety. I had some organic tea tree shampoo already at home, so I decided to try that after a trip to the beach on the weekend. Can't believe how much better the result is compared to Malaseb. No greasy feel to coat, pleasant smell which has lasted so far (early days though), coat is soft and shiny. So I'll look into a rinse/spray to leave on the coat as needed as well. Can't wait to try the ear formula, I just need to buy the ingredients. I've been think about her GIT issues and my thought is that perhaps the diarrhoea is related a lot more to the anxiety. We all know fearful dogs bloat more than confident dogs and that fear increases GIT motility, so perhaps it's not as diet related as I thought. Although the dry food does seem to cause the least problems. I'm going to try feeding more raw meaty bones again as I definitely think they improve her breath a lot. I'm expecting problems at the other end but might see if I can last through it this time! A bonus is that she seems to love natural yoghurt blended up with parsley, mint etc - probiotic, vitamins and fresh breath all in one!

Wow, thank you, so many great suggestions and ideas. Rural Pug, thanks for taking the time to write your opus :) I'm definitely going to add a probiotic as I do think her digestive system is out of balance. Any recommendations for brand/type etc? I could also add natural yoghurt to her food but I'm a bit worried about the lactose making things worse. I'm also going to try the ear cleaning recipe, the ingredients make sense to me and a few people seem to recommend formulas containing some vinegar. I'll also try the Calendula rinse, I was thinking of making a tea tree rinse but not sure if that's ok to leave on the coat. I agree about the malaseb shampoo only being a temporary quick fix, obviously there are multiple underlying problems contributing to this. I'll also look into the immune supplements and herbal additives. I do think she smells worse when she's stressed so that's interesting about the corn-chip smelling pheromone, I haven't heard that before. I have noticed the smell to generally be stronger in dogs that lick their feet a lot, causing that whole cycle of wet skin, yeast infection, smell and itching, more licking etc. She's not an itchy dog at all, which is interesting too. Food allergy is possible, but her gut does settle down if she eats one brand of dry food consistently with no changes or additives (other than teaspoon of tuna, sardine etc with EVERY meal). I'm not sure if I should just keep feeding the raw food/bones and try and get through the diarrhoea, even if it lasts a long time? I've never had this problem before with other dogs, I've always been able to vary their diets slightly and gradually eg bones 3x week, some dry food, some home made. Anyway thanks again, great ideas so far. Oh and I'll definitely try the parsley water and stock!

Hi everyone, just wanted to see if anyone has recommendations for a pretty stinky labrador. She's 1.5yrs old, fear aggressive (a whole other story...) and desexed/wormed/fully vaccinated. Fully vet checked - recent bloods all normal, dental and oral exam normal with very minimal plaque removed. 1-2hr walk/day, mainly indoors. Recently adopted so only had her for approx 1-2 months. Problems are: 1) Yeasty smelling skin, especially paws. Typical corn chip smell. Not swimming at the moment so I was hoping it would have improved. Have tried Malaseb but was looking for any other recommendations, especially natural remedies. Has anyone tried tea tree products or other herbal rinses for this? Always dry her off carefully/thoroughly. 2) Yeasty waxy ears. Have to use epiotic and surolan fairly constantly to control this - they work well with clean ears and no odour. Really foul odour when not using these products - no head-shaking or pain but moderate dark brown wax and odour. Would love to hear about any other solutions that have worked for people. Don't really want to use surolan for ever! 3) Unpleasant breath at least 50-80% of the time. Not rank but not nice! I'm trying to encourage her to drink more - if she's anxious she won't drink (obviously we are addressing the anxiety/fear as a separate issue!). Any tips to encourage dogs to drink more? I was thinking of trying a drinkwell fountain as she enjoys water from the tap. Also could flavour the water. Dental exam normal, no oral masses, lesions or other abnormalities. No regurgitation or vomiting. She was previously fed Optimum dry food, I've changed her to Black Hawk Chicken and Rice, no improvement yet but it's still early days. Purchased toothbrush and toothpaste and started brushing too! Anyone fed any treats/chews that actually help? Any food recommendations that have helped with stinky breath? I was keen to introduce bones and transition to a least a partially raw diet but even when really gradually introduced any bones (dinosaur bones, chicken wings etc) cause profuse foul diarrhoea. Likewise for any tinned wet food, raw meat etc. Lots of flatulence too! She can handle very small amounts of tinned fish eg tablespoon of sardine mixed with kibble. Not sure where to head with the diet, would love her to have occasional bones but don't like the results much! Has anyone tried any plaque removing products and can comment on those? Probably left things out but that's most of it. We love our new dog but would love her to smell a bit better :) Any tips/ideas/recommendations welcome! Thanks.

Wow a lot of contention about the desexing, I'm just happy that it sounds like he could have a suitable home. The dog was released to NSW, not the ACT, but after discussing the exceptional circumstances surrounding this dog they released him to me entire, with the understanding and desire that he would be desexed if kept in a pet home. I am a vet and I'm ready and able to castrate him myself anytime I feel like its the best course of action for the dog. If he had remained in the trial home where he is now or gone to a different private/family home he would have been desexed, no questions asked. Both the pound and I were well aware of the legalities surrounding the stat dec and interstate adoption and we both wanted to get the dog out of the pound as quickly as possible. The original owners wishes for the dog were also considered. After spending some time with him it was clear to me that he would require a very special home. I became aware of the possibility of a working home actually being the best option for this dogs welfare, so I decided to wait to see where he would go first before castrating him. I would never rehome this dog as an entire unless I was 110% confident about the new owner. Please remember that this is a large demanding working-breed dog with some behavioural and training problems that do limit the kind of home he could go to. Also please remember that there is much more to the story of this dog than I have posted on a public forum. I am not above the rules and do a lot of rescue work - I would never support backyard breeding or encourage people to unnecessarily keep their dogs entire. There are many health reasons alone not to do this! But this is an exceptional case where desexing the dog could have actually reduced his chances of ending up in a great home with a capable person who is able to work with him. Please be considered with your criticism as this is a sad and uncommon situation and everyone involved (including the pound staff, myself, the original owner, trial owner and other trainers, vets and breeders) have been genuinely trying their best to protect the dog and see him end up in a home where he will be appreciated, well-cared for and able to live up to his potential.

No not recognised in Australia yet sadly.

Yes that is another reason why he is still entire. He could be very valuable to the right person. However obviously his potential as a stud is a secondary concern to just finding him a suitable loving home with someone who is prepared to work with him.

Thanks for the Facebook link - I've just posted something on there. I'd prefer not to export him as I think it should be possible to find a suitable home in Australia, plus he has already been through so much upheaval. Mumof4girls, he is a beautiful kind dog - once you see him you realise he's pretty unique. He's taller than a big male doberman with a bit of a rottie/shepherd thing happening too :) He really deserves a fantastic home, he's one of the nicest big dogs I've been around in a while.

Thanks for the suggestions so far, I will try contacting the breeder but I think it's a smaller kennel so I'm not sure if that will help. There is much more to the story of this dog which I can share with anyone who is genuinely interested in taking him on. It's a pretty sad story. I have met with the original owner and spoken to him a lot about the dog so I have quite a lot of information about him. It was the owner's wish to leave him entire at least until he has matured physically - most likely he will need to be desexed by his new owner though. Unfortunately I'm worried that, for many reasons, he is going to be very difficult to find a suitable home for. Keep the ideas coming :)

Hmm I realized my description sounds quite negative - I just want to be honest about his positives and negatives so I can find him the right home. He is a wonderful dog and I do believe his future owner could have a great bond with him, as he is very adaptable and was quick to respond well to me. No signs of anxiety that I can see, basically he just has some bad manners! Please share if you know someone who would be right for him :)

Hi everyone, I have a 2yo entire male Beauceron looking for a special home. Yes he is the one from DAS Canberra, he has been on trial in a loving home that was familiar with the breed but unfortunately it didn't work out. He is a beautiful affectionate BIG dog that has unfortunately learnt to use his size and strength to his advantage. His exercise needs are very high and he would probably do best with another dog for company and on a farm or large block as he loves to run. He does try to chase small dogs, cats, chooks and horses, although he will usually respond and stop if asked. Doesnt realise he's entire yet! He is very strong on the lead (I weigh 60kg and I have problems holding onto him) but does sit and drop. Loves treats. Recall is not great (although obviously it could be better!) and he needs to run in a secure area. Great in the car, ok to wash/groom/handle, quite settled inside the house. No sign of any aggression but he will try and push and shove to get his way. Doesnt jump up and ok with thunder/loud noises, he seems to have been quite well socialised. Too strong for kids, he will bowl them over. Lean body condition, vet checked and up to date with worming/fleas/vacc. French papers included. He is a special boy - for those who dont know he was imported from France and he is possibly the only Beauceron in Australia. I'm happy to discuss him more with anyone who is interested - he is urgently needing the right home!