kelpiecuddles

Yes but I'm still brand limited, they don't stock any of the really super dooper foods, just the standard ones, RC, advance, hills, pro plan and euk plus the cheapies.

Well I've pretty much decided that it's time to switch my kelpie to a senior food so I have a little bit more flexibility to choose something that will just suit my basset in that regard. I'm a bit brand limited here but I'll go and read some labels for one with a decent amount of fat and protien and see what i like the look of.

The 'semilean' that the pet shop sells looks fattier to me than budget human grade mince(and it has no bones). I don't suppose there is any real way to tell fat content though...

I haven't been able to find fatty mince anywhere, I can get semilean or roo(which is very lean) from the pet store or chicken pet mince from the butcher but that's pretty revolting and has lots of little boney bits in it(bit too sharp and spikey for my liking).

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That's why i was thinking semi-lean might be good for breaky?

Because she's already getting quite a large meal and I'm concious that bassets are more prone than some breeds to twisted bellies so I don't want to overdo things for her in terms of volume.

Do you give a whole tin or just a portion? I'm kind of waiting until the weekend to try them as i know they don't always agree with them so I want to know how she goes with them before I risk her being in the house after eating them LOL

7kms wouldn't worry me, that's a very reasonable distance for a staffy :)

Thanks Huski, that's what I bought, so i'll keep getting those then :)

My oldest son LOVES it when I let him make porridge in the morning so I might task him with cooking both him and the dog porridge, he'll be thrilled! How much would you normally feed?

If I could have a basset hound without the slight houndy smell I'd be happy LOL I've just sat down with my husband and discussed our ten year plan for bassets, bassets and more bassets. Have one arriving later this year and got offered another one from a top breeder today! (Would love to take it but had to try to keep myself in reality and declined LOL) ETA: Maybe with just slightly less of the 'sure mum, I'll do it when I'm ready' attitude ;)

So I just googled, are lamb flaps the same thing as brisket bones? If so she is already getting those in the evening. I need a fast food that she can eat quick in the morning as she'll have to get an extra meal that the kelpie will miss out on(kelpie is slightly larger than i would like at the moment). Maybe some semi-lean plus an egg or some sardines if she'll eat them(wouldn't eat whole fish but sardines might be more appealing). When buying sardines which ones do people buy? Is there a brand that has less salt?

What are brisket bones? I'm a bit limited here, it's about a 40 minute drive to the closest butcher and otherwise I only have a small Coles about 15 minutes away and they only have 'mixed soup bones'. I buy things in bulk from the butcher when i can but that's reliant on having the freezer space. They both have done really well on the dry, she looks great usually but i had to get a different brand in a 'I forgot to buy food' emergency about a month ago and the weight just fell off her in the space of a week while they were eating it . She looks much better and her weight seems fairly stable since being back on her regular food(she was really dull too) but I just need something to try to boost her weight back up to where it should be.

So if I fed her the same current evening meal(dry plus some lamb flaps) and then gave her a morning meal of mince maybe?

My basset has always been difficult to keep weight on. She's healthy, shiny and happy but just a tad too lean for my liking(she's not anywhere near skinny, just has more waist than i would like on a basset). I'm very picky about my dogs weight so I want to get the balance right for her. Currently they are fed a diet formulated for working dogs but even this doesn't seem to be helping unless i give her a ridiculou amount of food so I am wondering what people would recommend to help get some weight on her without having to give her gigantic meals? Would a puppy food do a better job of it? She's very active, has been wormed, etc. Nothing sinister going on, just a very busy dog!

I'd probably have saved the basset hound first, my husband is a proficient swimmer, as is the kelpie but the basset would sink(she has her own life jacket for that reason).

None of that explains though why the person my basset is most attached to is a 3 year old who doesn't feed her, doesn't walk her and doesn't train her. All she recieves from my 3 year old is cuddles, most of which the dog instigates...

I assisted in a c-section once. Sadly it didn't have a happy ending but it was a very interesting operation. Sadly a lot of the kids I went through school with just wanted to be a vet because 'they had the marks', not because it was their dream in life. I would have made a great vet but I was a lazy student in highschool and didn't get a high enough TER to get in, despite the fact that I could have if I'd tried .

Maybe you could type up a little note and put it in the letterboxes of your immediate and next one down neighbours to the affect of: That way whoever wrote the note is less likely to take the next step and start complaining to council, it gives you time to assess whether it is in fact your dogs and one of your other neighbours may approach you and give you more info on whether they are in fact barking and if so when and who.

Personally I wonder whether it's a symptom of well off families with high achieving kids living in inner city areas and not getting those sort of experiences in their home lives. Most of the people i knew through my ag course didn't even bat an eyelid seeing an animal give birth but they were from a different demographic to a lot of the school mates I had that went on to vet.

Thanks Sandra, I don't believe it has been used in Australia, it will be whether it has been used overseas that will be the issue.

That's what i was thinking RP, thanks for your thoughts. I did think of another phrase that menas the same thing but is a phrase rather than a word so maybe less likely. Is there somewhere where I can search prefixes from further afield easily? I found one for Australia but haven't been able to find ones for other areas yet. I've also googled the names I'm thinking in combination with the word breeder and kennel and so far so good.

Also does anyone know how they define 'common words' in this guideline: I wouldn't say the word I am keen on is common but it seems a bit subjective to me? My only concern is that I have noticed it used a few times as a component of show names for dogs, would that likely stuff me up?

I've searched a databas e i found for Australian prefixes and would appreciate any links to other spots I can check incase it's already in use, but I just had one of those moments when you realise that something is perfect. I came up with what I would LOVE to be my prefix in years to come when I am ready to take the next step in to breeding. I feel like I'd almost be devestated if I put in other options and this one wasn't picked so I'm wondering whether anyone has just put in one and taken the rsik that it might be knocked back? Is there an extra cost if this happens?(As in to you have to pay a second application fee?)