sandgrubber

Goofy is an oversized, extremely friendly 3 yr old ESS who has learned not to jump up. In general, he's a good boy who wants to please. He's also sensitive. Unfortunately, he has replaced jumping up with pawing. This hurts, especially if you're wearing short pants, and tends to add dirt streaks to clothes. Lots of feedback in various forms (kids yelling, screaming and avoiding; adults giving calm reprimands or holding at neck) hasn't gotten the message through. It's as though he doesn't connect what his paw is doing to the feedback he's getting. I can't imagine he's getting any reinforcement. No one appreciates it and he constantly gets mild negative responses to the behavior. How do you stop friendly pawing? Note. Training the kids may be harder than training Goofy.

Sounds great, especially if the vet is a good one.

It's about time councils get sued for such like!

Most rescues don't have an ultrasound. Many vets tack on a charge for doing an ultrasound. The practice of inserting some dye into the surgery wound works well where it's used. If not visible initially, it will be after shaving for surgery prep.

One more reason to choose NZ over Oz. Laws are national here. But I wish cats were required to be microchipped, so farels could be humanely killed without worrying about killing someone's beloved pet. Would also be good if a tattoo or some other permanent mark were used to identify neutered girls (in the US, it's simply dye inserted in the spey incision at trivial cost), so rescues wouldn't find they were doing an unnecessary spey. Btw. I don't trust microchips. When I lived in WA, I had a chipped pup go missing and nearly lost him because the chip had migrated and Animal Control didn't find it

I've been looking for charities to name in my will. I think I found a winner in the dog charity category. In my value system, prevention and treatment of cancer ranks above rescues. https://www.ccralliance.org/ What's your favorite?

Waiting room. No problem. I just tell the woman at the desk that we're waiting outside in the car. My dogs are a little too friendly but usually do fine. They love being in the car with me, away from the scents of fear and pain that linger in vet praci.

Wish this was widespread

https://www.aol.com/emotional-tribute-north-carolinas-rainbow-190017726.html Hurricane Helene damaged and killed. Here's a tear jerker for dog lovers.

Old dogs tend to run big vet bills. To reduce these, be very cautious about authorizing tests, and before authorising any expensive procedures, get clear about how long they may prolong life, and what quality of life the dog can expect after undergoing the procedure. Sadly, many vet practices have been bought by corporate entities and operate for profit. Practice managers encourage futile and expensive tests and treatments, and owners are made to feel guilty if they opt out. Many vets will be frank with you if you ask what they would do if they were in your shoes. I've heard many awful stories about people spending several thousand only to prolong the dog's life by a few months, and those months were painful for both dog and owner. One reason insurance costs for old dogs are so high is because they pay for a lot of such exercises.

$25k isn't harsh from for an attack causing serious injury or death!

The usual claptrap, could have been written by ChatGPT. In addition to previous comments, seeing "both parents" isn't high on my list. The best breeders often use outside stud dogs, sometimes imported semen, because they are breeding toward an objective. Breeders who have a dog and a couple bitches, and crank out litter after litter often aren't very good. If a breeder can give you a good answer (not involving colour, preferably covering both health and temperament) as to why they bred that dog to that bitch, they're probably a good breeder, although they may not be breeding for the traits YOU want.

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20240827-the-many-reasons-why-your-dog-loves-to-roll-in-poo The article is inconclusive, but includes a good comparison to other canids.

From PetMD Dogs with MDR1 mutation are significantly more sensitive to ivermectin and can be affected at doses as low as 0.1 milligrams per kilogram as compared to normal dogs at 2.5 milligrams per kilogram. However, all FDA-approved heartworm prevention products use doses lower than those known to affect dogs with the MDR1 mutation and have been tested for safety in dogs with the MDR1 mutation. Therefore, these products are considered safe for most dogs if used at the manufacturer’s recommended dose. This includes pregnant and breeding dogs; however, ivermectin is not recommended for use in puppies under 6 weeks old. https://www.petmd.com/dog/poisoning/ivermectin-toxicity-in-dogs

Yoli suddenly developed a very swollen pad on her foot and is acting like she's in great pain. The vet said it looks like a whitetail bite, put a poultice on it, and gave pain meds (Carpreve). Instructions to keep her calm. The poultice comes off tomorrow, to be followed by antibiotics if needed. Has anyone else been through this? What can I expect?

Never saw the value of the 12 mo jab. Oral every couple months, stop when it's too cold for mozzies. Cheap, safe and easy.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/350353716/morbidly-obese-dog-dies-owner-charge An Auckland woman has been prosecuted by the SPCA after failing to meet her dog Nuggi’s physical, health and behavioural needs which led to his death. Nuggi, who weighed in at 53.7kg, was found when police carried out a search warrant at his owner’s Manurewa home in 2021 and was taken in by the SPCA. A number of other dogs removed from the property were taken to an Auckland City Council animal shelter. She got a 2 month sentence.

Good podcast on the subject. US based, but the trend is happening in all wealthy nations [The Daily] Loving Their Pets to Debt #theDaily https://podcastaddict.com/the-daily/episode/179198857 via @PodcastAddict P.s. just find The Daily on your podcast app if you don't have Podcast Addict. It's this Friday's edition (arrives on Saturday).

https://www.ccralliance.org/research-projects Trials in progress for various k9 cancer treatments (and funding appeal to support them). Unfortunately all trials in US

Silly article More dogs = more attacks Should be normalized by population.

The ultimate prevention is engaged citizens who make problems know to elected officials and vote out officials who don't listen. Online winges don't fix problems.

As an oldie, I think of littermate syndrome as a recently invented worry fad, seldom mentioned before the internet became popular. Personally I wouldn't worry about it. Sure, with any two intact males, especially in a feisty breed, you have to be alert to conflict, and prepared to head it off at earliest sign. I'm not convinced that separating them before adolescence is helpful.

I've dealt with epilepsy a few times, both as a dog owner and caring for dogs in a boarding kennel. All I can say is it's highly variable. I've seen dogs get better or lead a normal, but medicated, life, and I've seen dogs get worse and go down. I presume the vet did various tests and nothing conclusive showed up, so it became idiopathic epilepsy. Mood change doesn't sound good. You can try specialists and go for further testing, eg, to rule out brain tumors... expensive and not highly likely, but possible. Stabbing with miracle cures from the internet probably won't work. Different meds with careful monitoring may be your best hope.

The research justification comes from wanting to understand obesity in humans. Labs seem a good potential model. I don't think they have the full story yet. They found 2/3 of flatcoats have the gene, and I don't associate flatties with obesity...but I've only know a couple of them.

In my experience well over 25% of Labbies are gutsers. I've seen other studies finding the same gene in flatties. My hunch is the ancestral working dogs for Labs, who swam for fish that slipped the hook in the Bay of Fundy (brrr!) needed blubber much as marine mammals do.