dasha

Splenic torsion adds a new element to the gastric torsion. Given it is only weeks after his MAJOR ABDOMINAL surgery, I would be following the vets directions very closely. Calorie dense food would be too rich for his guts right now. And my be for some months. Yes he may loose weight and his diet may be forever changed and his management for life might be a big deal. Thats dogs. In a few months, a new management plan may be able to arranged. But until then, he may very well need 12 times as much food as the dogs half his size. So be it. Have you tried adding the mince yet? How is he handling it? Sorry to hear that he had such a terrible emergency over a busy time. I hope he improves quickly for you. You need to consult with your vets regarding his future feeding habits. They are the ones that saw what he was like on the inside. THey are the ones that understand how the spleen affects things as well as the gastric torsion etc. They are the ones to ask but it may be a while till he is ready for anything other than Euk Low residue. I know some other dogs that have to be on it for life........... shame, yes but if it means they can be as healthy as possible, its worth it

Yes thanks. She is getting huge already and still has 12 days to go!!!! She looks as big now as she did at her due date last time. Not sure how to post pics though.

The wound will heal fine. It may just take a bit longer and have a bit more of a scar but lets face it, at his age a scar is the least of his worries. Just keep it clean.

Customs Act only affects animals entering or leaving the country. Those breeds above a not extracted exclusively from the Customs Act. They are from the Qantas rules. Every organisation has their own rules. Qantas also won't fly Pugs, Bulldogs, Frenchies, Boston terriers etc due to aircraft/animal safety. Its called risk assessment. Dogs that die/come ill on flights are historically Brachy breeds. No prejudice about it. Its about saving their own arse from people suing them cause it died. Dogs that historically escape from crates are bull breeds - -they have very strong jaws and can and do chew their way out of crates. This is then aircraft safety. Movements in bulk hold cause problems. AS do loose dogs when they don't know its loose and they open the plane to be greeted by a dog that has usually injured itself chewing/clawing its way out!!!! Or the loose dog makes a run for it across the tarmac...... major problem for planes, personnel and the dog!!!! So stop trying to make it a BSL issue. Its simply the rules that they have decided reduces some risks to an acceptable level.....

Put a muzzle on your own dog...... People soon keep their dogs and children away....... Works even better if it is a large breed dog

Any developments yet???

One of my Kelpies is PETRIFIED during fireworks and storms. SHe was fine as a young dog but ever since she got shot a few years back, the loud cracks make her pupils dilate and she trembles and shakes. She is a 100% outside dog. If I am not home and a storm or fireworks happen, she will be pressed up against the front door hoping it will cave in and she could fall inside. If I am home, if the door is opened slightly, she will get in come hell or highwater, there is no way you can keep her outside. She will be trembling and all but just wants to sit with me touching me. If its a storm, we watch TV and I put a light blanket over her as she sees the lightening and tenses up ready for the thunder so I have tried the blanket over her head and she seems to relax as long as she is resting on my foot or against me. The fireworks tonight were somewhat traumatic for her as some people about 800m away had fireworks. The first one was a massive one that shook the house. The horse took off, the Kelpie took off upstairs and the other one ran around outside barking at them. The border collies didn't care at all and they were outside in it. So Petrified Kelpie then jumped on lounge with me on a blanket and watched the fireworks on TV. She wasn't too keen on it but she didn't want to leave me.

It is quiet in here. My bitch has approx 3 weeks to go and she is already big. I think she is bigger than she was at this stage last time she had pups. She still wants to run hard, swim, play etc. She still get to do some sheep work but only a few little easy chores to keep her fit and trained up. Otherwise its up to her previous litter pups to do the job. After another week I won't even let her do any sheep work much to her disgust. She is still digging massive holes in the creek embankment and getting so dirty but she loves it. I am hoping to get her whelping area set up soon for her. Apart from her big belly, she isn't really changing her temperament yet. Still the same playful idiot.

I got told the other day that a spoonful of tinned food mixed in their meal also has the same result

Thanks Lablover. What that puppy was asked to do was no different to what I would do with sheep dog pups at 8-10 weeks of age. Put them in a pen yard with 5 or so quiet dog broke sheep and see what their natural instincts are.They only need a few mins to see if the instinct is there yet. So you see the lightbulb switch on, pup goes into automatic pilot, collecting, balancing sheep to you, watching their heads and responding to the sheep movements THEN once you have seen that, you spend the next 10 mins trying to catch them cause they keep balancing opposite you!! Then without correcting them or interfering with their drive and instinct, you finally catch them, take them away and then you don't need to put them back on sheep for a few months later. In that time, you work on 100% recalls, (under any circumstance) and general manners and obedience. Once you know you have the right instincts, you know they are worth putting in all the other work. If they don't show it at an early age, you wait a month and try again. But you don't want them to get a bad experience at the tender fear ages or you ruin it for life. So once the instinct is there, you keep them safe until they are big enough and fast enough to work them properly or get of the way if they need to! I also just love watching working bred dogs do what they were designed for whether it is a sheep dog, retrieving dog, or any dog that has to perform a job. As long as they do it with enthusiasm its all good.

Gosh- All blacks. Thats so cute Well done on safe arrivals

The real solution is that you need to get control over all of his desires and dreams. If he is never going to be a herding dog, thats fine, you need to be able to speak to him and he listens NO MATTER WHAT. If a dog has strong instincts which he sounds like he does, if there is no intention of him being trained as a working dog, then it is best no to let him have the opportunity to express those chasing/working traits. Good obedience is more important. Once you switch that instinct on, you need PERFECT recall and control of him or it may very well manifest into car chasing, cat chasing pushbikes going past, jogging people etc. So think very carefully before allowing him to experience something you will never be able to satisfy in him. That being said, he still needs an exercise and mental training regime that will keep his mind and body exercised. Depending on what you want to do, there is other sports you can do. If you decide to try some sheep or cattle work, you need to get a 100% reliable recall first. If you have an average recall in general, it will prob drop to 10%recall when he is on stock. That is not good enough, both for his safety as well as the stock. You need to be able to call him off of things get too hectic or dangerous for the sheep or him.

You need to use a credit card or something similar and SLIDE it across to pull it out. If you try and squeeze it or anything, it will squeeze the poison out. While ever the sting is still there, it will inject more poison

I took my bitch to the vet for an ultrasound today........... PREGNANT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yay. There is a lot of happy "waiting for a puppy" people that were happy with the news.

Dogmate, I had one that was 1/2 the size of the others. I helped her feed for a few days then she seemed to burrow her way down to feed ok. Up until she was 4 weeks old she was still half the size. RUNT for sure. She looked like a runt. Turns out she had a heart murmur as it hadn't closed over at birth like the rest do. At 4 weeks I thought of putting her down as she was so small but she was also so determined. The litter mates used her as a tug toy, they were horrible to her but she fought them off. By 5 weeks there was significant growth and she began to catch the others. By 6 weeks heart sounded norma and she wasn't much smaller than the rest. By 6 months she was the biggest of them all and is such a tough little thing. She has spunk like none others. If you can persevere, you may find it will pull through fine.

Who's Vino?

I think the puppy seemed pretty focussed on the job. It brought the bumper back, didn't obsess over it once returned and then refocussed back to the next retrieve. I think I would be happy with that kind of drive and focus in a young dog. And also impressed that it takes its job seriously. Thats a bonus. Pup will obviously get very well developed muscles from exercising and I PERSONALLY think that for a dog that will have a job, it is important to start getting it fit for the job as it grows. Nothing worse than nursing one for a year only to finally let is do something to find its not going to be suitable. I don't think it was too much for that pup, it still headed out very keen, of course it got a bit puffed coming back but it was uphill and it ran. It chose to run, a less drivey dog prob would have trotted back or came back without object. So well done puppy. I think pups need to be given the opportunity to express the instinct at an early age. And have a level a pup should be able to do something. Once you know you have the instinct, then you can pull back and focus on control, obedience life, before adding the stress of controlling the instinct and the dog. The correct delivery etc is training later on. No point having an awesome dummy delivery/handover, if it doesn't want to go get it. I don't do retrieving at all btw

Thanks Miss Danni, Was going to call them and ask. THey are only 5 mins away. Otherwise I hear Quakers Hill is ok. I won't worry about numbers just yay or nay.

Thanks. The numbers don't worry me at all. I just want to know yes or no, as do a lot of other people! I might ring a bigger vet place down the road that are breeeers too and they may be better at it than my usual vet

I did ask a couple but they all had different answers LOL

I am a little bit excited and have a few anxious new puppy buyers keen to know if my bitch is pregnant. So I am wondering what is the earliest time into pregnancy would I be able to get her palpated or scanned to see if she is or not. Obviously numbers aren't important, I just want to know Yes or No.LOL TO get the whelping area ready or not! So would palpation be best or ultrasound? She is a working Border Collie so not fat. Is quite slender and would be easy to feel inside. She would be 3 weeks tomorrow from date of first mating.

I don't put water in the whelping box. I have it a few meters away. This encourages the bitch to get up and walk around too. It also means she isn't dribbling on them and making them wet. Thats just me though

Couldn't you just put them on the grass in a puppy pen or something?

I took her there on day 11 and left her there til day 12. She was still a few days off. So I took her back on day 15. She was ready but gets scared do wouldn't stand on day 15. She finally stood for him the following day but the owner of the dog had to hold her as she screams too much. They then mated the following day but after that she was too aggressive towards him so he lost interest So hopefully after all her mucking around and teasing, he managed to get get

I took her there on day 11 and left her there til day 12. She was still a few days off. So I took her back on day 15. She was ready but gets scared do wouldn't stand on day 15. She finally stood for him the following day but the owner of the dog had to hold her as she screams too much. They then mated the following day but after that she was too aggressive towards him so he lost interest So hopefully after all her mucking around and teasing, he managed to get get