Erny

Thanks Rappie. I certainly do that. IE Any meat I purchase is human grade and whether it is fed cooked or raw, is certainly delivered fresh. Oh .... except his bones. He returns to those a day or two later and if they've dried out enough in the sun he might be inclined to have a gnaw. Or if he's buried them he might pull them back up and have a go at them then. Unfortunately his bone eating habit isn't frequent enough and it is affecting his teeth (I have been giving them a brush for the want of nothing else). If I've fed chicken (be that wings; carcass; whole chicken; etc) and he doesn't eat it, I tend to pick it up and throw it. In the warmer weather I can't leave bones out anyway as this year has seen a lot of European Wasps who are, of course, attracted to the meat. ETA: I know bones shouldn't be cooked, for the danger of bone splintering. Can they be gently warmed and still ok? I've harboured thoughts about whether this would encourage Mandela to get back into the habit of chewing on them more readily.

Yes - it depends on what the training focus is. Before it became illegal (yet another 'ban' ;)) to train dogs for protection, there were many more men involved with their dogs. It's not that they didn't put the work and patience into detailed training such as sits, drops, recalls and the like, because they did - they had to as part of the pre-requisite for being allowed to train for protection was that they had dogs who were very highly reliable in these aspects. They enjoyed all of that, too, but for them, knowing that it was a part of protection training was their inspiration. You will also find more guys involved in Schutzhund work (not to suggest girls aren't into that either - they would be quite well represented). In the horse field, not many guys involved in what I refer to as the "roundy roundy" showing. In my day, the guys could be found more easily in the "eventing" and/or "jumping" field of the sport. ETA: I'm a girl and I enjoy having a day I can spend mowing the lawns .

In the absence of anyone else who knows, perhaps ringing the numbers and actually getting to speak to a person would be of some assistance? Did you ring the pound from whence you adopted her? ;) I see others have posted with better info than I could give.

This might help you : Updating Registry Records - CAR ETA: Stupid me .... I see you've already been there. Why not give them a call tomorrow? And/or perhaps ring Blacktown Pound and ask them if they have to send paperwork in to transfer the dog to your name. I wouldn't think people could just transfer into their name without evidence of purchase (and from whom). Sorry that I'm unable to assist you further, but ;) for adopting a dog who needed a home .

I'm not sure, although from what I've heard from a few people, quite possibly. However I haven't spoken to what I would consider 'many' people with RR's on this. My previous (avatar) girl (bless her cotton socks) was somewhat fussy, but not too bad. But I adopted her when she was 7yo - foods such as offal she didn't like; nor raw vegies; etc. But that could simply have been that she had never had those foods introduced to her when she was younger and consequently never had the chance to develop a taste for it. She was never as "off and on" her food like my boy is. Provided she liked it to begin with, then she liked it .... full stop. And she used to love gnawing on bones.

As far as my boy being enthusiastic about eating cooked, as opposed to his refusal to eat raw, you mean? Yes, I do think that could be making a difference. I also have my own theory on the potential for him feeling nauseous and/or pain when eating and to him pairing that occurrence (time and time over) with the food he was eating. (Smell would come into this.) This might answer for how come he'll eat something for quite a while, then go 'off' it; then when I change food type all is good for a while, until he goes 'off' that too. Eventually it gets to the point where I have tried every (well, at least most) different food formula's/meat varieties (raw) that he just won't touch any more. He's loving the cooked food (especially the chicken) but who knows ...... could be that he'll eat that happily for whatever period of time (months, even), then turn 'off' that. This is something that time will tell.

Ahhhhh ..... maybe THAT's what I remember (assuming I didn't dream it) reading/hearing of it. Thank you Sandgrubber ;) My boy doesn't put weight on easily and has a tendancy to remain lean (loses weight very fast if he decides not to eat). Sandgrubber - do you know if the metabolic rate changes depending on whether the food is cold or hot? What I mean by that is, if the food is warmer (than body temperature) does that slow the metabolic rate down and make it more inclined to increase weight? And conversley (for example) if the food were cold, would it speed metabolic rate and make it more inclined to lose weight? (Or vise versa, if my question makes any sense?) I also wonder, for a dog who has or has had digestive issues, if slowing the metabolic rate down could be worse than speeding it up? Sorry, but this side of things I really don't have that much knowledge of, as far as nitty gritties go.

I 'heard' that some Delta members were to attend the NDTF National Conference (ie Stephen Lindsay Seminar) just gone but they were 'discouraged' to do so by their own organisation. I don't know the truth of this so my disclaimer is the fact that this is 3rd hand knowledge and that I cannot assert how much fact is in it (perhaps Delta could confirm/deny?), but if it is true then I think that's a real concern and sad, as IMO learning/education should not be limited and those people missed out on gaining really good additional insight to dog behaviour from a Master.

I am really sorry to hear this and when I read your OP I was hoping this was not River you were talking about, not that I'd wish the condition on any other dog. I have nothing to contribute as your mention of it is the first I'd heard of it, so absolutely no knowledge nor experience of it to be able to assist you with. I do hope that River is one of those dogs where the treatment was early enough that it will not re-occur .

I agree with this. Whilst I respect that some breeders do have the "send puppy back for a full refund" policy sometimes I don't know if they empathise with the sentimentality that often by then has already been invested by the owner/s. That "investment" is often 'priceless' although can come with the burden of the heartache (and expense) of having a dog that requires medical intervention.

Are you kidding? Is that the latest "ban" ??? So ..... "Baa Baa visual-impression-experienced-when-no-visible-light-reaches-the-eye sheep, have you any wool? ...... ".

Please put it up here, Stormie. I'm a bit hesitent - it's not that I like yucky photo's that might make my stomach turn over, but it does well to show and tell sometimes, so that others reading (self included) might recognise earlier signs.

Oh gosh .... our 'problematic' dogs do seem to have the knack of getting themselves into one health issue after another (related or not), don't they? Fingers crossed that the ball of hair in his ear manages to work its way out over the next few days!! Good luck too, Stormie, with the Essential 6 spot-on. I really hope it works for you. That his coat is looking and smelling better is a good sign .... just hope the itching reduces as well

Hhhhmmm .... then it is leaning more towards it being something I dreamt up. The reason I ask is because Mandela went off eating any raw meat I offered him. In desperation (he had become too thin) I cooked him up some chicken and he ate it like no tomorrow. I've been cooking his meat (mostly chicken, but sometimes beef) and he is eating really, really well. It might not be something that lasts - he's done similar before when I've simply changed meat type or food formulas .... might eat it and go well on it for a period of months, then suddenly turn off it. I don't want him to only eat cooked meat for the rest of his life and I do aim to wean him back to raw and see how he goes (although I admit I'm enjoying watching his enthusiasm for his meals over these past few weeks, and to seeing him looking better and better as the days roll on), but if "cooked" is what does it, then that's what he'll get. He receives nutritional additives as well though. It's just that it struck me (as I was cooking one of his meals) that I had this thing in the back of my mind that someone had mentioned about temperature of the food being something to pay mind to. Have you ever dreamt something that actually felt real to the point it was difficult to tell it apart from reality? I've done that once before, but I ain't gonna tell you THAT story because it is REALLY bizarre, not to mention embarrassing :).

Masons Mom - I know of a number of people who have informed me their dogs are allergic to pollen/plants. I cautioned them about using the Calendula Tea wash carefully (eg. test patch). Yet they've come back to me to advise it helped immensely. Yes, I do have a lot of faith in the Calendula, but I am very aware that whilst something might work successfully for many, "many" doesn't mean "all". If there is no change for the better in terms of rash/red skin (if that's what your dog shows as a symptom) once you've applied one more time and certainly, if the itching is also not reduced inside 24 hours of the next application of it, then I would question its effectiveness on your dog. Foremostly, if there is any worsening of either skin or itching, cease use completely. Remember too that the Calendula only serves to reduce/ease the symptoms and that it is not a cure. ETA: My boy was prescribed antibiotics because he had mucous with his stools. Maybe it was only coincidental, but prior to the AB's his stools at least were formed and otherwise ok looking. During the course of the AB's (a few days in) his stools became blackish and runny. I was encouraged to continue with the course but it did nothing to improve his stools.

OK - here's a potential 'stupid' one (thread question). I have in the recesses of my mind/memory that I read somewhere that feeding meals to dogs that were above body temperature wasn't good for them. (ETA: I mean the meals being above body temperature, not the dogs ). I can't remember what the reason/s were - perhaps creating an environment in their stomach that might encourage bacteria??? (I don't mean stating the obvious, like meals too hot that they would burn their tongues/mouth/throat etc). But honestly, the memory is so vague and I'm so unsure of this that I'm beginning to think I dreamt the idea (literally). Has anyone else heard or know of this? Once I get the answer (which I'm expecting is going to be "you , you dreamt it and it is a silly notion") I'll probably ask Troy to delete the thread because I'm already prepared to be 'd.

IMO, any 'extremist' view of anything isn't good. Hopefully though, this thread, with the balance of views it does contain, will help people become aware, rather than ward them off one thing or the other. Except for washing dogs (especially for no reason other than 'we' like them to smell nice ..... IMO we do that too often).

What's the name of the actual Vet/s there? Just curious .

Oh .... poor Orbit. Please don't misunderstand (and I'm not sure if the "arm-chair expert" comment was directed at me. Perhaps it was. .... I'm not too worried, because as it has turned out, the things I've mentioned (clearly pointing out I am not a Vet), it seems that my experience has helped other people with their dogs and has provided relief even when other things such as antibiotics/cortisone, has not, so much. However, the concerns I have which made me raise this thread in the first place is how many people accept the prescriptions of anti-biotics and/or cortisone without question and at the drop of a hat, and how many Vets are seen or heard of prescribing these drugs at the drop of a hat ..... when it may well be possible for something as mild as Calendula to be used to ease symptoms and something as simple as a change of diet or avoidance of an allergy trigger may fix/manage the cause that triggers the symptom in the first place. Even avoiding washing our dogs as often as some do, I think, can't be doing much to help our dog's systems work things out to normality for itself. I am in no way opposed to antibiotic drugs. Nor cortisone. Nor medicated dog washes (if they be absolutely necessary and the goal be to use them sparingly and as infrequently as possible). But I do think we jump to the use of these drugs many times unnecessarily. Stormie and Sas - you see and are talking extremeties. My boy's own skin issue was certainly uncomfortable for him - he 'shivered' one night, for the itching (I could only imagine it was something like a constant 'crawling' feeling through his skin that he was experiencing). But the Calendula (in his instance) eased that within 24 hours. I was soooo ready to give him something in the way of drugs - hated seeing him even for a moment uncomfortable. But I was talked into (by a Vet) to holding back and letting his own body/system work things through and settle down. This thread is not just about me and my boy. This thread is because I am curious about how many of us do medicate with drugs; how many of us don't; and what the results of doing so and not doing so are. It won't throw up any accurate results - the way the poll works doesn't quite allow that. But it would be interesting (for me, at least) to see how the results read.

.... Hi Star - that goes to something I raised in another (can't remember which, but it related to how much chemical we apply and how much processed food we feed to our dogs over their lifetime, and the affects) thread where I expressed my opinion/belief that it isn't just about what we feed our dogs when they come to us as pups, but that their health can be (regardless of our great feeding) affected by evolution throughout the generations and therefore it is really important that the parents and grandparents of our dogs are fed a wholesome, balanced diet suited to as closely as possible to their natural digestive needs, and that we need to very seriously consider the affects of chemicals frequented upon our dogs and what it might be doing to future generations.

I'm not sure what you're saying/asking here, Jeanne. Are you asking "what makes a dog dominant"? IMO there is the genetic propensity for the 'trait'. Then there are dogs who aren't truly "dominant" but do exhibit behaviours (decision making; controlling; etc) that would suggest "dominance" but are present only for the absence of guidance/calm-assertive leadership/boundaries and which behaviours are easily extinguished when those attributes are taught/introduced to the dog's owners.

I'm with you on your preference to avoid cortisone if at all possible, Loraine. I know that some can't and that it is in their best welfare interests for life quality to be on it, but I agree that I do wonder and worry sometimes at how quickly and easily it is prescribed. Just on the subject of Hypothyroidism (which is another topic I am interested in - and have been for a good number of years), were the tests run in AUS or USA, how old was your dog when he was diagnosed, and what breed of dog (if you don't mind me asking). Just curious.

Let the Calendula do its job and see how it goes, without bathing him.

I don't and didn't say I did. But I have been at a seminar or two where the same person/s "debunking the dominance myth" (title is pretty clear in its description to tell you what the seminar was about) mentioned she was now hesitant to use the term "leadership" inference being for the same reason these people don't like to use the "dominance" word. So obviously there are people who are in the public who have interpretations of what they perceive these words are meaning to others. And instead of shouting from the roof-tops of what those words should and do mean, they run away from the word/s. The same people who want to decry the word "dominance" set up their information booths to suggest dominance doesn't exist (refer use of the word "myth" in the seminar title referred to above). They are the ones IMO who are reinforcing the perception of dominance that some people already have. I expect that the wrong things do happen. And I expect that some of those wrongs are quite hurtful to some dogs. But I can't also help thinking that those things would happen anyway, even if that person had never heard of "dominance" in his or her lifetime. Just my thoughts on it, because there aren't conclusive stats to go by. But I honestly do not see that many (if any) people who are brutal to their dogs in the name of "dominance".

I've been out all day - sorry. They are dried Marigold flowers. But if you got to the health store/s they should have known them as "Calendula" anyway. For the sake of your dog's skin health, would it not be worth having him not sleep in the bed with you so that you didn't feel so inclined to bath him as often? Detergent is oil stripping. Not good.