ellz

These are great but shouldn't be left on for too long at any one time, especially on a youngster as changing coat could cause them to matt up and friction could damage the hair as well.

There was a thread about this in General. As I posted there, it was recently the subject of a number of emails on one of my American Cocker lists and almost without exception, everybody who had tried it was more than happy with it.

Agree 100% Rubbish! Laucke Mills are sending out well over 1000 pallets of the stuff every week. They are making their money on the demand of a good product. I have been breeding and exhibiting dogs for 23 years now and I can honestly say that Great Barko/Uncle Albers are amongst the best of the "budget" priced complete foods available for dogs today.

I feed Great Barko and Uncle Albers and I am very pleased with both of them. My dogs do process it well, minimal waste of reasonable quality. Shiny coats. No bad bathread. No real "doggy" smell coming from them whether wet or dry. Coated dogs maintain coat, smooth coated dogs are coated and shiny. Even the fussiest eat it. And best of all it is great for putting on weight. Too good in fact, at least one of mine only gets a "sniff" of it or she looks like a whale. Chocolate. I have spoken to the manufacturer personally and am more than satisfied with the replies I received. The manufacturer is a highly trusted Australian human and stock food producer, Laucke Mills in South Australia. They saw a need for an Australian made budget-priced dog food and decided to fill that niche. And in my opinion anyway, have done it successfully. Oh and FWIW, Great Barko and Uncle Albers are almost identical except that Uncle Albers is Chicken based and one of them has a slightly higher protein content.

In answer to your question.....the reply is "how long is a piece of string". There are websites which give an amount in figures of various kinds of chocolate, the toxic levels and the approximate weight of dogs. But the reality is that what might give a chihuahua a stomach ache could still kill a Great Dane if the Dane has an intolerance to it. There really is no hard and fast rule or amount which is why the blanket rule of "no chocolate" is a far safer one. It is over 12 hours now since you posted but I daresay you would have noticed signs of a problem by now if there were going to be any. In future things to watch for are increased respiration and anxiety, thirst, salivation etc or the opposite, extreme drowsiness and lethargy.

Except, of course, that I don't lick my privates ... Believe me, they get one teensy lick of Prep-H, Anusol or anything like it and they won't do it again in a hurry!

Yep.....can't recommend the haemorrhoid treatments highly enough! And of course, the added benefit is that knowing you can put them safely on your own backside should reassure many people that they can be used on your precious furkids as well. :p

Yes, I do confess that early on, mine seem to understand what the words "oi, it's not your turn yet!" mean!

From very early on, my dogs/puppies are encouraged to eat separately. On occasions if I have a fussy eater, I'll let them eat within sight of each other (sometimes a bit of competition at the food bowl can encourage a slow eater) but always with at least a fence, crate or pen between them.

I've also resorted to concrete water bowls in the past as well as stainless steel pails trojan-clipped to fences, star pickets etc. For dogs who like to dig at the water in bowls, automatic waterers can be a good investment if you are on mains water.

A very fine check chain will be quite ok, but I wouldn't necessarily go to one just yet. Don't worry about him being a little bit naughty, whether he's in the "big league" or not. My 11 month old American Cocker is still only just getting his act together. Sometimes he'll move beautifully and be a dickhead on the stack, other times he'll move like a camel and stand until the cows come home, but he NEVER fails to greet the judge with a kiss and sometimes it really doesn't matter that he isn't docked, because you can't see his tail anyway because it is wagging so fast! Let him be a baby, until he's in full coat and "truly" competitive, he's really only going to be competing against other puppies anyway.

Oopsie American Cocker litter possibly due 25th October...unlikely but you never know.

I always put it in the detergent drawer if the machine has one, otherwise wherever it is normally put on the particular type of washing machine (ie in the body of the machine or in the centre spindle etc).

Many years ago now, I had a puppy with an intussusception. It presented not unlike what you're describing. Basically, the bowel telescopes back on itself, kind of like a half-unrolled pair of socks. The puppy underwent surgery, lost 6 inches of large bowel, about the same of small bowel and made a full recovery. Although he had to be watched later to ensure that he was never overweight, he lived until he was about 12. When he had the surgery done, it was "meant" to be touch and go. About 12 hours after the procedure and visiting him at the hospital, I got a phone call asking me to go back again. Naturally, I was freaked and beside myself. But it turned out that having seen me, my puppy decided he wanted OUT of hospital and hadn't shut up or settled since and they didn't want to sedate him too heavily so he came home early. Good luck with your dog. I hope your outcome is as good.

They are both golden retrievers. Btw should she wash the bedding in something specific? Very unlikely, but with Golden Retrievers, we think extra eyelashes, punctal atresia. (Neither of which fit with what you are describing...) I think it sounds environmental, though. I dunno if washing the bedding in something different will make any difference, but I use Earth Choice cos it is cheap and has no harsh chemicals. I'd also suggest before changing brands of washing powder that a couple of "blank cycles" be done with some white vinegar in the washing machine to neutralise any soap already there. It's pointless changing powders if the residue remains in the machine. Sensitivities often don't take very much to cause them to flare.

I'd normally agree but not if canned/wet food was recommended! Absolutely agree with you Aziah. I briefly "mention" canned/wet/roll food in my puppy guide, but only to point out that it is the "Maccas" of dog food. OK for the occasional meal but has very little nutritional value for a balanced diet.

I'd seriously be forgetting the wet food for a start. It simply isn't economical to be paying so much for something which is essentially water with some thickeners, colours and flavours added to it. You're better off spending that money on a good quality mince plus chicken frames, necks and wings. Of the dry foods, Supercoat is the only dry food that I DON'T recommend. If you wish to purchase food at the supermarket, you can feed Optimum or either the You'll Love Coles brand dry food or Woolworths Select depending upon which supermarket chain you use. I feed these myself on occasion and my dogs do just fine. I have also fed Woofbix from Big W with good results, but my dogs do best on Great Barko or Uncle Albers which are manufactured by Laucke Mills in South Australia and are very economical.

The ID bands for puppies are actually a very strong paperlike material...not the almost indestructible plastic that the hospital ID bands use. They are actually a lot safer than using ribbon, wool or anything else because they DO in fact break if necessary, but stay put under "normal" circumstances.

Sway's website http://www.whelpingsupplies.com.au

The bad news is that until his tummy is sorted, crate training will have to take a back seat. If he's holding his wee, the message about the crate is obviously in his head, but sometimes the urge to do a yucky bowel movement is just so overwhelming that it cannot be pre-empted. The best you can do for now is to keep cleaning his crate properly and answer him as SOON as he cries, you may be able to get to him before he soils his bed.

Some dogs just do it. In them, it's like a fingernail biting habit in humans. There are many schools of thought. You could try sprinkling Paprika or Black Pepper on a few nice fresh ones to see what will happen if she tries to eat them. You could try the pineapple (canned chopped pineapple is better apparently) in the food. Or you could just get to the droppings first and pick them up before she has a chance to. Above all else......AVOID KISSES!!!!!!

SOME moisture can be normal, but not all moisture IS normal so it is far better to have it checked from the outset.

Come on, ellz, move to Melbourne... I'd love to! We'd make an AWESOME (if somewhat frightening) team I think!

Vet advice FIRST, cosmetic repair second!!! Can't stress this enough. You don't mess with eyes! There can be many reasons why the eyes are tearing. Blocked tear ducts, ingrown eyelashes, rolling eyelids etc etc.

Put a snood on his head to keep his ears out of the way, tie your own hair back (if you have long hair) and poke each toe through a hole in the toe of a thick sock so the grinder doesn't catch the foot hair.