benny123

I give 1 heaped teaspoon of Jalna fat free yoghurt every day. I like them to have the good bacteria but don't want them to lose their hour-glass figures.

I use Interceptor Spectrum tabs x one a month (heartworm and intestinal worms), ProBan tablets every 2nd day for ticks and fleas (we live in an area that is heavily infested with paralysis ticks), annual vaccinations and feed super premium dog food. ETA: typo - still can't use this ergonomic keyboard.

My two pups (litter mates) did this to each other when they were teething. It's very sweet.

Our two used to bark at the neighbours (from when we got them at 8 weeks old) and it was driving us and them crazy. So we rang and asked them to come to the fence for the pups to meet them while we were chatting to them over the fence. We did this about three times with two sets of adjoining neighbours. Now the dogs just wag their tails in a very happy way whenever they see the neighbours. No more barking becaue they're not strangers. One set of neighbours now love our girlie because she barked outrageously at the boundry one night - there was someone prowling around their yard. So, maybe try to introduce the dogs to the neighbours at the boundry fences and separately, maybe in you place so that they know who they are and where it's OK for them to be, it worked for ours. Good luck.

Thanks, cranberry capsules sound like a great idea Do you get them from health food stores?

Thanks Kristie. She had it once before at about 5 months (she's almost 9 months now). The Vet phoned today and wants her to have 21 days of antibiotics (she was prescribed 14 days yesterday by one of the vets who works Thursdays - our Vet, the practice owner takes Thursdays off), then a week after she finishes she has to go in and have a general anesthetic and have urine taken directly from her bladder (poor baby ) to ensure that the infection has gone. He'd rather do that than look at surgery at this point. Poor little girl, I really hope we can fix it this time. I know rescues need to be desexed before rehoming and I would do the same if I were a rescuer. It's probably a 1 in a whatever chance that problems may occur with early desexing and it's not helped by the fact that she pees with excitement. PS. Love Hunta - have done since she was born on HH's thread. This is my baby girl with the dicky wee machine

Yep, managed to get a sample at the vets (as she was peeing about 10ml every 5 minutes). Did manage to catch a small sample at home first thing this morning, but her brother bowled me over while I was on my haunches catching it, so I wore that lot . It's a urinarty tract infection - they have a few theories why. Her vulva is quite recessed and they think it's because of early desexing (8 weeks as she was adopted through rescue) and they think it didn't develop properly because of lack of hormones. As a consequence she's always quite wet in that area as it doesnt get a chance to dry after weeing and this may have caused the infection. If it is a reoccuring problem she may need surgery.

Thanks everyone. She has been to the Vet and is now on antibiotics. On the upside, its approximately a 60km round trip to the Vet and this is the first time that she HASN'T been car sick (and I gave her breakfast this morning)

Agree. It's two and a half round trip for me to buy Nutro - but it's worth it.

Thanks Emilee. She was adopted through rescue so she was desexed at 8 weeks.

My 8 month old pup is squatting every 5 minutes to urinate but only a few drops come out. I've phoned the Vet and they suspect a urinary tract infection and we have an appointment tomorrow morning (couldn't fit us in this evening). The Vet who owns the practice is not there at the moment, nor will he be there tomorrow. I'm sure he would have asked us to come in tonight. I told then about the blood but they didn't seem concerned :D It's freaking me out. She was fine during the day - peeing normally, it was just when we took the dogs for a walk this evening we noticed it. Has anyone else experienced this - I'm very worried. She's eating normally and running around playing with her brother. She doesn't appear ill or in pain.

I use Nutro large breed puppy for my two rescue mutts. They love it and they look great. I also include fresh mince, chicken frames, sardines, turkey necks, lamb necks, tuna in oil and raw eggs into their diet. Their coats are really shiny and healthy and they are full of energy. If you enlarge this pic you'll see how shiny Spud is.

I've used clean tupperware or takeaway food containers. I've taken them on our walks (with the specimen jar in my pocket). A passerby looked at me quite strangely when I was collecting it - I just said I was being a good citizen and cleaning up after my dog

Don't know where you are in Sydney but I get my necks from Woolworths in Engadine. I've then tried Woolworths & Coles in other areas (like Sylvania, Menai, Miranda & Caringbah) however they don't seem to stock them. Perhaps if you ask your local supermarket they can get them for you. They come in a vacuum pack of about 4 necks I separate them and freeze.

I've heard this as well. Apparently the outside surface is abrasive, like a scouring pad and will wear away the tooth enamel if a dog chews them constantly.

If it's under $5K just do it. My sister spent $12,000 on a (human) spa pool (in Armidale where it's quite chilly) for her dog that needed hydrotherapy after spinal surgery. Wow, if you can please do it and I'm sure people will pay to use it for any number of reasons. I didn't realise how important hydrotherapy was before my fur-nephew's problem.

I feed my two lab x pups on Nutro Large Beeed Puppy kibble (about $98 for a 15 kilo bag) and also supplement their diet with sardines, raw eggs, tuna in oil, turkey necks, lamb necks, pets chicken mince, chicken frames and brisket bones, reducing the recommended amount of kibble depending on what else I feed on any given day. They're 8 months old and look fantastic, have heaps of puppy energy and their coats are so shiny I could use them as mirrors to apply my lipstick. While some Nutro wet food (which is unavailable in Australia) was affected by the recall in the US, Nutro dry food (kibble) is unaffected.

My two adore sardines and tuna. I mix each with their Nutro Kibble once a week- they get soooooo excited on sardine and tuna nights. Their coats are really shiny and I'm not sure if it's the sardines, tuna , raw eggs or Nutro. Great stuff - they love it and I love that they love it.

That's a good move, when we had our fussy GSD we used to play aeroplanes with the food :D

When ours were the same age we went through the same thing and I, like you was a bit worried. Also, we had two litter mates so there was competition, but still they were fussy. Would eat anything but kibble....bad puppies. I ended up reducing the amount of kibble by a small amount and mixing in raw mince (chicken, lamb or turkey)....that solved the problem. They're also on Nutro and will now eat it alone...but they do love their additives of mince, tuna, sardines, raw egg etc....BUT, mine are now 8 months old, so don't try too many different things at 9 weeks as their little stomachs are very sensitive. I know it's worrying, but Holly will come around. Good luck. PS. Holly is beautiful :D

I fed three meals a day until about six months then slowly decreased the amount at lunch and increased the morning and evening meal and then cut lunch out completely. My two are 8 months now and on a similar diet and quantity to yours. I also now include 1 raw egg, sardines and tuna in oil into the mix about once a week. The three meals a day is because the pup's stomach capacity is not big enough to hold the required amount of food, but as they grow so does their stomach. My two are large Lab crosses so I'll continue with two meals a day forever as they're quite deep chested and my girl just inhales her food, so I worry about bloat.

Haven't used them, but I have used (in the past) the Nature's Gift Glad Wags. Are they also bad?

Spud and Beanie were terrible with grooming when they were younger, always trying to catch and kill the brush. Now at 7 months they lurrrvvveee it. The brush comes out and they sit and wait their turn. I don't think they appreciated how good it feels when they were little (even with treats) now they can't get enough (without treats). PS. Benson is beautiful.

Found an issue of Dogs Life Mar/Apr 2006 with recipies for healthy treats.

Not my recipe, but a trainer at our obedience club does this for training treats completely free of preservatives etc (haven't tried it myself, yet). 1 lambs fry cut into small dice or thin strips then chopped into small pieces. Place the pieces in a single layer on a microwave plate - not plastic (she suggests using the tempered glass plate that comes with the microwave as others can't take the heat and length of cooking). Microwave on high for about 35 minutes - until completely dehydrated ** (if there is any moisture left they will spoil quickly). When completely dehydrated and cool, sore in a container - she says they will last forever. ** Time may vary with different mocrowaves. The meat must be completely dry, so suggest checking and adjustung cooking time to suit the microwave.