White Shepherd mom

Bless you and your family for all you are doing for your girl. I wish her speedy healing and years of good health. I look forward to hearing of her progress.

I'm so sorry for your loss. Thank you Tarope. I still miss her every day. I am sorry for your loss too.

Good on you for doing everything possible for your girl. I hope this is the last time you see this cancer in her. With the love and care she'll get, I'm sure she will bounce back in no time. I lost my Bella to haemangiosarcoma in December so I really wish you the best outcome.

You're a good mummy to have kept an eye on Harry at that time of night and realise the seriousness of his condition. I am glad he is on the mend. I'm always worried about bloat. I hope it's the last time he does that to you :D

I am sorry for your loss, he was a lucky boy to have found you and to have experienced so much love and care in his short life. Rest in peace little Koda.

Casper used to hate running with me because I was too slow for him whereas he and OH had the perfect pace for each other. When he turned 8, he struggled to keep up, even with me. I put it down to his age but started to get worried when walking became too much for him too. I took him to the vet for some unrelated matter, I had felt a lump in his abdomen that I wanted checked out. The vet said it was a fatty lump but kept feeling around and found another lump that he was concerned about. He operated on Casper and found a sizeable tumour on his spleen which he removed. Once he recovered from the surgery, OH and he were back to their normal running speed. They continued to run for another year until OH's knee gave up so I ended up with both dogs as running companions! I lost one, Bella, to cancer in December and at age 12, Casper's age and degenerative myelopathy have put an end to his running days. I've tried running on my own but I don't have the heart for it. I hope you find out what Honey's problem is and you are able to get your running partner back.

I am so very sorry for your loss pers. The more we love them, the harder it is to lose them. Sleep easy Mr. Wilson.

I am speechless, I don't know what to say. I am so sorry for your loss CaseyKay. I have tears in my eyes and a lump in my throat just thinking about this tragedy. I wish you immense strength as you try to cope with this heartbreak.

It's just not fair that all your hard work, patience and absolute love for Roo should end this way. Not much makes me tear up but this has. You are an angel JellyBlush, Roo has been so lucky to have had you fight for her. I am sorry for this really hard decision you had to make. I hope you form some awesome memories together until her time comes. Big hugs.

If God forbid anything like that happened to my OH and me, I pray there is someone like you and your hubby around. People like your hubby, the other policeman and you give me faith in humanity. I hope those two little darlings find their way back to family to be loved and taken care of.

This floored me when I first researched into DM. I'm thrilled to say Casper's been going almost 3 years since he was diagnosed.

I am so sorry wuffles. It hurts like crazy when you lose them. Sending hugs your way.

Considering the size of the dog, I would assume the wife could hold on to it while the husband rescued them both. It would be a different story if Rosie was a Mastiff or Dane! good question!!

Link Shipwrecked man Graham Anley saves dog Rosie before wife Sheryl off coast of South Africa A South African man saved his dog Rosie before helping his wife when their yacht was shipwrecked. Graham and Sheryl Anley and their Jack Russell terrier Rosie ran aground off one of South Africa’s most dangerous stretches of ocean, at Cebe on the Transkei coast. They battled waves of up to seven metres and were swept onto a reef. National Sea Rescue Institute North London station commander Georff McGregor said all three were wearing life jackets. The dog Rosie was wearing a specially tailored dog life-jacket with an emergency strobe light. "As the incident happened Graham sent a Mayday radio distress call and activated the EPIRB (Global Positioning Distress beacon) but they were immediately forced to abandon ship," said Mr McGregor. "He first swam Rosie ashore safely before returning for his wife, whose safety line had snagged on the steering gear," said Mr McGregor. Once all three were safely on shore, Mr Anley - who is also a sea rescue volunteer - used his mobile phone to raise the alarm. Rosie and Sheryl Anley were airlifted to the East London sea rescue base, IOL News reports. At least he went back for the wife :)

Hi Lisa, no, we're not ready for a harness. I now bind his feet when he goes through his scuffing stages and I find that helps a lot. Also, we've just moved to a neighbourhood where most of the verges are neatly lawned so he doesn't spend as much time walking on hard ground as he did in our previous neighbourhood. I will get him a harness when he can't use his back legs, for now he has to do it under his own steam and he's doing a brilliant job. sas, I don't know what else to suggest. As you say she's an old girl and things just start falling apart despite our best efforts. I was thinking perhaps you could put some obstacles in your back yard and spend 2-3 mins a day getting her past them, eg a couple of broomsticks on the ground that she has to step over, a couple of chairs that she has to walk around, etc. She has to think about where to place her paws.

It feels like a life time ago and it feels like just yesterday, all at the same time. I hope your memories of Atlas have overtaken your sadness. Sending you big hugs.

Casper scuffs his feet quite badly in hot weather. He's had bleeding pads, bleeding nails, bleeding tops of toes. I started wrapping his feet in vet wrap and sticky bandage stuff you get at the vet. It doesn't always last throughout the walk but it does greatly reduce the amount of damage to his feet. Now that the weather is cooler, I don't wrap them as he doesn't have the same issues. We have set up a little obstacle course for him in the back yard which forces him to lift his feet in order to clear it. I'm really bad at explaining so I'll have to take a photo and post it. I also get him to stretch (upwards and both sides) to get his treat and we walk in tight circles to force him to place his feet without tripping over them. Walking uphill is good, I take him to a park with steep sides, we walk straight up and walk down at an angle (so it's not so steep). We also go for underwater treadmill sessions which have been a big help. He's had his ups and downs since his diagnosis, he's had days where his legs couldn't support him at all, days where his legs get all tangled and he falls over and days (mostly in winter) where he drags me down the street at full gallop. I think it helps that I started specific exercises as soon as he was diagnosed. It would be a lot harder now that his condition has progressed.

Ours fits into the frame of the glass sliding door, the screen security door can be completely closed and locked behind it if need be (which obviously blocks the dog flap). If you use the patio bolt you can lock that into place behind the glass door so that it cannot be opened without a key, you can then leave the security door open to access the flap but still keep the glass door locked if you get whet I mean. I see they also have a temporary bar lock now too. http://www.temporarypetdoor.com.au/locks.html You may need to remove the latch from the inner part of the glass door frame to get the panel to sit flush but that's relatively simple to do (two screws) and easy to put back on if need be. There's no "installation" process either, it just pops in and out of the frame. So if you are leaving the house and want to take the door out for security you can easily lift it out and lock both doors normally. Hope that helps. Hi RidgieMal, just wanted to let you know OH installed our temporarypetdoor on the weekend...it's now not very temporary at all as it's been riveted into the door frame. We also bought the adapter which allows you to lock your screen door without blocking access to the dog door. Now we sit huddled under the blanket watching TV and Casper walks in and out and in and out at his leisure! I have to say, it's a very solidly made panel and cheaper than some others out there. So, thanks a stack for the recommendation , much appreciated!

I am sorry about your Dane's condition. Casper has had Degenerative Myelopathy for almost 3 years now. We still walk around 2km every day. He climbs stairs and can mostly get into my car on his own too. Some days he looks weaker than others but he's doing a lot better than I ever expected. Is your dog's condition similar to DM? If so I can tell you the exercises I do with Casper. BTW, 13 year old Great Dane? How on earth did you manage that?

I feel sorry for whoever has to pick him up to put him in there. He doesn't look like a feather-weight.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY RENAE Looks like she was really spoilt by her mum! Each birthday is extra special when they have exceeded your expectations and are still around. I hope to be posting on her 12th :D Well done Jules!

How did he know the unrestrained dog was a Jack Russell? Just curious

So very sad, Schoep's owner must be devastated, they were so close. The world could use more people like John Unger. Rest in Peace Schoep, you had a good life. Look after your dad.

Thank you all for this passionate discussion ;) I appreciate all your feedback! I will ask my vet whether he thinks the Hills k/d food is adviseable considering Casper doesn't actually have kidney disease. Yesterday I went through the "lite" and "senior" foods on Pookinuk and put the protein and fat levels into a spreadsheet. Next I'll pick the ones with the lowest percentages and look at the ingredients list before making my shortlist. I will give priority to the foods mentioned here as I believe in using what has been recommended by people who do their best by their dogs. I will also look at reducing the amount of dry he gets and mixing it with some home cooked low protein food. I believe this should give him the most balanced diet that is beneficial for his ageing body. lils mum, I have been giving Casper Milk thistle tablets since the age of 3 when he started on anti-seizure meds which apparently damage the liver over time. His liver showed some strain earlier this year for the first time so I doubled his Milk thistle dosage and 6 months later his liver has shown improvement. yellow girl, I think Nutro Lite was one of the foods with the lowest protein/fat levels so will definitely look into that too. Yonjuro, thank you for the home cooked recipes. The fat content is a little high, I try and keep it much lower than that due to his past bout of pancreatitis. It is because you are all so passionate about your dogs that I ask your opinions, even though they vary you give me different avenues to explore. I thank you for that. eta: someone asked why I'm looking for dry food. Reason is that dry food forms a big part of his diet and I'm looking to replace it with a more suitable dry food.

Awesome! Yonjuro, I started looking through Pookinuk but considering the long list of foods there I thought it would be quicker to ask the knowledgable people on here instead! kayla1, no, the vet did not say to follow a kidney diet, only to reduce the protein in his food. Also, being an older dog who has had pancreatitis in the past, I need to keep it low fat too (plus trying to keep him lean). Thank you all for narrowing it down for me. I will look at Eukanuba Renal Plus and Hills K/D and L/D. This has been a huge help. While we are on the subject, are there any yummy treats that follow my requirements?