cowanbree

For the last few weeks I have been having scratching issues with the majority of my dogs and I can't seem to resolve it so am looking for some ideas. It has affected almost all of my dogs except the 4 which I would consider to have compromised immune systems due to old age or illness. They are scratching their stomach and head almost exclusively and I am not getting bitten. I have not seen any fleas and while some of their coats are a bit dandruffy I have taken them to the vet and had it checked under the scope and there do not appear to be any bugs. I have advantaged everyone 2-3 weeks ago and also frontlined the puppies again just yesterday who are by far the worst. I have bug bombed the house and washed all the bedding in hot water. None of this appear to have made any difference. The only thing that has helped is the frontline spray applied to the puppies stomach area. It doesn't totally stop it but does cut the scratching dramatically. I don't think it is allergies as just about everyone is scratching and that includes different breeds. I don't think it is fleas as I have yet to see any and I always get bitten if there is even 1 in the house. There are no sores and I can't keep putting chemicals all over them. Anyone have any ideas?

Thanks everyone. He is here for a mth so I have decided to feed him up for a couple of weeks and see how he goes. He is fed Nutro twice daily at home which is what I also feed and supplemented with raw meat. The food he is vomiting isn't digested at all. It happens about 6hrs after and the biscuits are still fully formed. He is also prone to an upset tummy and gets diarrhoea at least once a week and can't handle any food changes at all. Not really normal. My vet is back from holiday on the 10th so I will most likely pop him in then for a check up.

It is easy to become complacent and think it would never happen to you but you just never know how you would react. I will be honest and say I am one of those people. A few years back we had a terrible storm, I was surrounded by a huge forest with trees 2-3 times the height of my house crashing down all night and power lines crossing and sparking. It was terrifying and made worse by the fact that I didn't know what to do. As silly as it seems now I didn't want to disturb anyone in the middle of the night and while there were plenty of people who would have taken me in I couldn't even begin to think how I would accommodate all my pets. Several times I had them all crammed in the van and then the wind would die down and I would think it is going to stop. The next day it did stop and over 100 trees were down and by some miracle none hit my house which was a great result but I made the wrong choice and should have gotten out. Since then I have made some plans, crates are now in the van permanently and I know exactly what I would do. They would still be 3 high to fit in the one vehicle but they would be fine.

I assess each dogs quality of life when I have to make the decision. I have never known it was the right time, every time I have agonised it. Are they in pain, are they eating, are they mobile enough to potter round and take themselves out to the toilet? I don't expect my oldies to play or keep up with the young dogs, that is part of aging and we have to adjust our expectations. My 15yr old sleeps 90% of the day but still likes to follow me around when she is awake. She enjoys a stroll out to get the mail and a cuddle on the couch. As long as they seem to be enjoying their life that is enough for me. Perhaps get the vet to access your dog, she may beneift from some arthritis meds.

You need to bomb the house, only about 1% is on the dogs at any one time. I just did mine today. Not hard or overly expensive - under $60. I just brought the canisters, removed all pets and went out for a few hours. Come back and aired the house for an hour before the dogs were allowed back in.

Quest has had to be taken to the vet for eating things so many times that in the end the vet told me what to use to do it at home. She has a pill fetish and no matter how careful I am she used to always be getting into something. Has matured a little nowadays that goodness, took until she was 6yrs!

Last time I had one of my shelties I bred staying with me a couple of mths ago I noticed he had lost a huge amount of weight. I asked them to take him the vet and apparently he got the all clear. He is back staying again and he has lost even more weight. He seems to be eating fine but about 6hrs after I have fed him he is vomiting his food back. I rang his owners and they tell me he does this a lot. It doesn't happen every time, seems to be more the breakfast he is vomiting but it is concerning me. Anyone struck this before? I am considering taking him to my own vet but it is a little awkward as he isn't my dog. at the moment I would say he weighs about 7 1/2kg and he should be 10ish at least so he is very light

I quite often get told that my tri shelties are BC crosses. One gentleman got quite angry with me when I was trying to tell him that Cowan was a Champion Shetland Sheepdog as he knows his dogs and shelties are brown. Also get, look at the poor old dog when I am walking my blue shelties although interestingly enough never had it with my merle aussies. They seldom believe me when I say they are born this colour.

To be honest I know people who have done a lot of things that are illegal, from fixing tails and lance canines to inserting a fake testicle. Showing desexed bitch seems quite minor in comparison. Heck if we want to be real sticklers, all those grooming products from chalk to hair spray are also illegal. Personally I say do what you can live with and don't worry about what other people are doing, makes life a lot easier.

As a breeder who has puppies available just before Xmas I can tell you everyone thinks they offer a super home even if they just want a toy for the kids. My favourite word at the moment is no and boy have there been some tantrums which I have never experienced before. In the end I am always going to do what is best for the puppy and sometimes that means staying here until the right home comes along even if it disappoints someone.

Too late for me. I prefer 2ish but would consider up until 4 with final litters by 6 at the latest

While I have a number of dogs I used to have a mother/daughter that were the totally inside dogs. They were together 24/7 and were devoted to each other. When the mother Kell died i was concerned for Kayla but after a couple of days she seemed to accept that life had changed and moved on. I did however move one of the other old dogs inside. Perhaps you could consider fostering an older dog? I don't think it would be fair on her to even consider a puppy but an older foster might just be the answer.

I had another attempt. I call this evil Santa or Cowan's death stare. He was not impressed and made it quite clear that he does not do dress up

Thanks, all done

When my girls first whelp they tend to be quite fussy and I normally cater to them. Most will eat chicken cooked in a little garlic butter or raw mince . Once I have them eating I mix a little dry in. I normally have dry available all the time in the whelping box and feed 2-3 extra special meals as well. About day 3 the milk will be coming in and she may be a little uncomfortable

I am wanting to use the attached picture as my Christmas card but I am somewhat challenged when it comes to photoshop. Would anyone be willing to have a bit of a play round with it? All I want is something with a xmas theme in red with Merry Xmas and a Happy New Year on it. Or alternatively if you have any links to some good templates that would be great as well.

I rang my vet back and discussed it. He still stands by the need for 3 vacs but I have told him I will only be doing 2. The one that had at 8 weeks and the final at around 14 weeks. Given they have been completely weaned since 6 weeks and were vacinated with Nobivac DHP I suspect even that is over the top

I have something from the vet that you put under their tongue, great stuff that isn't apparently made anymore. Otherwise I usually just rub them and have been known to do a little mouth to nose. My vet uses the warm and cold water with great success.

I have just taken my 8 week old puppies into the vet for their first vaccinations and the vet tells me that the protocols have changed. For a number of years now I have always done 8 weeks and then 12 weeks with the next vac 12mths later. He now wants me to do 8, 11 and 14 weeks. It is the same vaccine as before and the same vet so I don't really understand what has changed. I did question him and he told me 5% will still carry some immunity from their dams until at least 13 weeks which would leave them unvaccinated if they were done at 12 weeks What is everyone else doing and if possible what vaccine are you using?

Also time of day is really important. I have got some of my best pictures in full sun, once shadows start to happen I lose a lot of detail in my black dogs

I think this topic is more about priorities than anything else. For me their ability to accept and love my dogs is almost the very first thing I consider. They are extremely important to me and I would no more consider an outside dog than I would fly to the moon. That said, someone who has an issue with dogs is never going to work for me, there is no compromise on this topic. Life is too short to live with someone constantly bitching about an extremely important part of my life. I don't consider them just pets, they are my family. That said I am open to some compromises. Perhaps he might not like them sleeping on the bed for instance

Depends on the breed and breeder. Outside dog to me is an automatic no. My breed is a house dog and I would never consider anything else

Only from the point of view that a barking complaint is a serious issue as they can force you to down size very quickly

I have 10 shelties and 2 aussies. It is a lot of dogs but most of the time it is fine. I think the thing is I have added them one at a time over many years, it is easy to fit one more in. This also helps as they all have different needs. 2 are very elderly and really just sleep and stroll round the garden occasionally. Another 3 are also senior and I tend to take them out and about visiting more than for big walks. They would rather wander the 1km to get the mail than go for a long walk. The middle group are the most work, they are my show/breeding team and most days we go out to the nearby bush area and go for a decent run with at least 4 of them. I also have a couple of acres they spend a lot of time romping on. The final group is the puppies. They don't require exercise other than free running but it is vital to get them out and about. Puppy classes, show training and as many outings as possible are important. Cost wise I get some great discounts on food and pet accessories. I normally buy direct from the importer and save a lot of money. Where it can tend to be an issue is vet bills. Because I have quite a variety of ages there does always tend to be something wrong with someone and it can be a strain sometimes. I would like to reduce my numbers back to around 7 but I have never really been that good at rehoming them.

I think it depends on intent. I am happy to talking honestly about all my dogs pros and cons as I know they are not perfect but some people are very good at recognising the cons and not so good at the pros. Those same people funnily enough have perfect dogs. Normally it is like water off a ducks back but sometimes it does make you think. I got a critique a few years that mentioned the small eye my dog had. I spent months reading the standard and looking at other dogs eyes only to come to the conclusion that the standard left a lot of room for interpretation. It is good to challenge your thinking as sometimes we get used to something but that doesn't make it correct.