Lab_Rat

I tried the Spirulina - it didn't do a great deal, if anything, for my boy. My boy's health is still a work in progress. Moved from symptomatic hives to interdigital cysts. Controlling those at the moment. I could write pages on what I've done and how things have faired - nothing is conclusive ...... yet. I'm happy to talk to you by telephone if you want to chat about what I've done and what results (which are not always clear) I've achieved for each. If you want to do this, PM me and I'll give you my contact numbers. ;) I will when you empty your inbox.................

You're right - I forgot about that concept. But it is in line with the "too clean" concept I raised in my post above. Immune system has nothing to do, so turns on to things that it ordinarily doesn't or shouldn't be turning against. Sure. But at the end of the day, IMO, I think the dog still has to be genetically predisposed to react that way to those things, whatever they are. Yes - but that's part of my point. IE How come more and more dogs are becoming genetically predisposed to allergies? This is where I think that what we feed our breeding stock; what we apply (chemicals); constant barrage of vaccinations; etc. etc. has an affect on generation after generation after generation, weakening (read : causing dysfunction) the immune system as each evolves. Not proven of course - just my thoughts. I would have to agree with this 100%! I dont have any scientific evidence just observations of my dogs, their histories and lives.... Rat

I was wondering how your boy was going Erny! My girl has similar problems to Mandela, and Im always searching for something to help her digestive system or immune system. I am trying Digestive enzymes at the moment - too early to tell yet. But yesterday I found an ad for Spirulina, and more interestingly Chlorella which Im itching to try not only for Zola but for myself too. Google it and see what you think. Rather than jump in and add it to her increasing number of things to try though, Im going to finish the bottle of enzymes and see what affect they have, may even get her blood tested afterwards to see if things have changed. What was your plan of attack Nekhbet?? I would be interested to know! I tend to agree with the over-preventative-medication being part of why our dogs are in the situation they are allergy wise. A good example I think are my two dogs! Our Kelpie is farm bred, unknown history really when it comes to genetics. Guaranteed to not have been wormed regularly or vaccinated. She doesnt have any allergies whatsoever, environmental or food wise. The ridgy is "well bred", from a long time registered breeder. She has issues - both pollens and foods. Her ancestors would have been wormed and vaccinated regularly and fair enough too I suppose. This pair now are not routinely wormed, have never had a flea treatment - luckily we dont have fleas here, and will be titer tested and vaccinated when deemed necessary. They had their initial vacs, the Kelpie has had a couple of extra as shes a few years older than the Ridgy, but I cant see the point in continuing. Im even going to research whether heartworm vacs are necessary in our area! I meant to ad also that late last year my ridgy was suffering from "allergic rhinitis" or hayfever. My vet put her on a course of Chinese Herbs. They worked a treat I am glad to say. She also had a curse of different herbs earlier in the year for her tummy upsets, vomiting and diarrhoea. These worked well too. Although she still gets itchy if she eats the wrong things, she hasnt had the runs for quite sometime now, and I cant remember the last time she threw up! Rat

Definitely take it back to where you bought it from SarasMum - they will refund or replace! When mine were on RC I had exactly the same thing happen. I opened the bag and thought it smelled a bit weird, but ignored it to begin with - until the dogs decided enough was enough . Only took a couple of feeds thank doG. It was a PITA for me as Im an hour away from the big smoke, but I had no questions, in fact the people I took it back to were so apologetic it was amazing. Even they had a smell of it and agreed it was off! Rat

It certainly is great to see, a man and his dog! Such a wonderful program, makes me want to head to the UK even more! Damn you Gryff!! Geez, even makes me want to consider a chocolate Lab! ;) Love his name! Rat

What a great story! Thanks for sharing with us Keyarna. Hes a beautiful boy, love the photos - especially the one of his flying ears . He certainly looks happy! Rat

I am not, nor will ever be a breeder, but I think you need a bit more to go on than a dog "being good natured & appearing healthy"...............or have I got it completely wrong? Some history ie. parentage would be handy!! Theoretically I would not breed this dog. And yeh, I totally agree with BP - why did the pound not desex it?? Rat

I also use Natural Balance - good to see its available in other states!!! One of my girls has food issues but does extremely well on this (Its lamb based). I tried Eagle Pack Holistic - the chicken and the fish types, but couldnt see any improvement. I put them back on NB as its West Australian made and a little cheaper. Rat

Jasper sure is looking good!!! Im so looking forward to getting my next Kelpie............ Rat

;) Have a great day CBR! Rat

Wow - I just had a look at the schedule for the trial next friday & saturday - looks busy!!! Should prove to be a fun couple of days! Oh how I wish I could get involved in dog sports a bit more . Living hours from anywhere useful AND having an inconvenient job sucks! Ive been thinking I might contact my club, and see what the minimum number of training sessions has to be attended to qualify being tested at the end of each term. Its probably the only way I can move forward with my two! Rat

I dont like bitey spideys either!!! We dont have funnel webs, but we do get mouse spiders - the next best thing .......specially the red-headed mouse spider. They just look venomous! They seem to like being alone though and Ive never seen one anywhere near the house, just in the bush. They can stay there! Rat

Good on you! I would love to take ours camping - just need to find a place that is dog friendly, with not too many people! I dont understand why people feel the urge to camp on top of others! Years ago we camped along the beach between Ningaloo Station and Yardi Creek (North WA). We were in the middle of nowhere, but just around dusk a car load of people and dogs rocked up and wanted to set up camp right near us . Good old OH politely told them the rack off - we hadnt travelled a bazillion kilometres just to have people camp on top of us ..........Funnily enough they werent very impressed!! Rat

If this is Charlies first camping trip, then I reckon he did ok!! So much new stuff to digest!! When we used to go camping with our dogs, and there were times when there were up to six dogs, they were always either tethered, on a lead or swimming! Theres far too much interesting stuff to make them not want to be reliable on recall, so its better not even to tempt fate! The only dramas we had were with d!kheds who were too arrogant to keep their dogs in there space. Please take Charlie camping again - the only way we and animals learn is from our experiences. The more often we are exposed to things, the more comfortable we get with them! Generally speaking that is :D ... Whilst on the subject of camping - anyone got any good dog camping pics?? I will have to dig some of ours out! Rat

Welcome to the Forum RottPerth! What a gorgeous pair! Rat

Rat

Thanks again guys................nice to be somewhere where people feel the same way about their furred families! MasonsMum - is the old guy the one in your sig?? He looks pretty good in the photo - reminds me of my old guy Nicky, Sals mate for many years. Kristensfaction, I know what you mean! Sallys "foal", who is now about 15 is the only one in my "family" who is still alive, although he now lives with someone else! I have had quite a number of horses throughout my life, but I think Sally was number One! Mirawee - Oh, no, who else has lost their horses?? Its so traumatic with such a big animal! Heres another couple of pics. Tiggy Im not sure what breeding Sally had in her, but my guess is a little bit of lots of breeds. Possibly QH, Appy, some breed of pony and who knows what else! I guess QH & Appy cos of her cow sense and pathetic forelock :D . She had the most glorious mane, but her forelock always looked like it had been chewed off!! Rat

I meant to put this up before, but given the week Ive had!!!!!!! Wazzat sent me this pic of the amazing Naca - hes certainly looking gorgeous! All the formalities have gone through and the dogs can be shown after July 1 this year!! Rat

That is sweet Valley!!! Yes I am still quite shellshocked, but at the same time I had a feeling she would be leaving us before winter arrived, so I am relieved also. I didnt want her to be struggling & just surviving through winter, the last couple have been hard for her. Shes with her favourite boy now - our first "real" horse we got as kids! CnR, its strange how animals behave when things change! I think cats are even more intuitive than dogs!! Rat

Thanks guys for your thoughts and hugs.......She certainly was a gorgeous girl in looks & spirit! CnR - I know it gets better - but Ive lost 3 dear animals in the last 12 months, in fact it was ones 1 year RIP anniversary just yesterday! Ahh, if only we didnt get so attached to the beautiful things . Its funny, one reason my mum wont have a dog is that she cant bare the thought of the loss - I did explain to her that although when they leave us it leaves a huge hole in our hearts, the joy they give us when they are with is far outweighs this!! Still, I think she will satisfy her needs through my pair of ratbags! I think Ive been overcompensating with the poor sheepies though Everytime I go near them they get some food, like they need it!!! But their pitiful baa-ing just makes me want them too feel better too ...Silly humans giving animals human qualities!!! Im sure they miss her, but not sure its the same way I do Rat

Hello All ............Ive only been lurking for the past few days. The last four days have been absolutely crap I went to work Thursday night feeling great, then when I got home Friday morning after NS my whole world turned to shit My darling old mare, who my sister & I have had since 1986, was down, unable to get up and had colic..................After the last few weeks of her being sick then seeming to recover, I was gutted. It took about an hour to find a vet that could actually commit to getting to our place at a reasonable time The poor girl had colic, and I didnt want her suffering for hours until a vet could manage to get out here! The vet that finally came was an angel, such a wonderful young woman - born the same year we got Sally! We all had a smile about that! She did an amazing job of letting our girl go. Such a peaceful farewell to a beautiful horse that was just so much part of our lives. A neighbouring farmer came up that afternoon and buried her for us at the end of our property. My dearest bestest friend spent the afternoon with us, my mum and her twin had brought us out lunch - as an excuse to come and be with us. The three of us, sister, friend and me then spent the afternoon reminiscing and toasting past horses (theres been a few between us) with ciders. I still cant believe my Sally has gone. At the end of the day I think about feeding time and rugging before my brain suddenly realises shes not there. At least my sheepies still need a feed and a hug! They are a little like BoPeeps sheep at the moment - very lost without their horse!! I found a tree that Sally has rubbed on for ages - it will smell of horse for ages, so I can get my "fix" when I need it My darling dogs and OH have extra specially wonderful - so understanding and "there" for me. Especially that darn Kelpie. jeez, do they have ESP??? Such a little shadow, just when I need her Sally, about 15 years ago with her new baby! Sally a year or so ago. Enough of my sadness, sorry guys! Plans of trips to Geraldton and Bunbury sound exciting!! I reckon a road trip with dogs to a show or trial would be so much fun!! I have wanted to head to Albany for a couple of years, havent made it yet though! Rat

Hey Sandgrubber, I can only speak from personal experience and memory. I grew up on a farm just outside a small country town. We inherited our first bitch from a relly, she got in pup to a dog we already had. All bar two dog pups were "culled", not sure how ....Both these pups grew up entire. They never sired any pups however as they were always under supervision (working) or tethered. Our next dog was a bitch - funnily enough she was spayed as soon as she was old enough!!! So we only had one litter that had to be dealt with. This is going back 30 or so years too.... I dont remember there ever being an over abundance of pups or dogs in town either. The odd litter, mainly cross breds too! I think the majority of litters would have been working dogs. I think the mentality was different back then, certainly where I grew up I think. People didnt just breed because "their dog was soooo cute they had to have babies" I think they were bred for a purpose - this is a country view btw, and my own opinion, so of course others will be different! Perhaps alot were culled, and Im sure alot died from birthing complications or were "put to sleep". As I kid, I dont remember being told what happened to the other pups, or kittens for that matter! I am glad though that by the early 80s animal sterilisation was becoming commonplace in my neck of the woods I suppose there were alot less people 'back then', so there wouldve been alot less dogs too! I would be interested to hear others experiences and opinions! Rat

:laugh: I would love to see a Pug with its hackles up, that would be so cute!! My ridgy girl gets a "fluffy" rump as well when her hackles go up, and the hair over her shoulders and neck also stands up. Wandy kelpie gets a keel up her back.... :) She has quite long hair over her shoulders and when her hackles are up its huge! We used to call her "pig-hair-back" when she was a youngster! Rat

Thanks Mirawee - yes I did read about one of your youngsters on FB yesterday ... They certainly get into some mischief dont they! Choc chip bikkies sound yum! Ive got a whole month off work towards the end of April, so lots of time to do stuff! I will certainly try and get up to visit! Good luck with your dogs over the weekend, specially that ratbaggy kelpie! Rat

No worries! Davina is so approachable - loves talking Senjis!! Her dogs are pretty cute too If they werent such hunting oriented beasties Id have a whole herd! Bit difficult living in the midst of a National Park full of roos! Rat