Pheebs

Absolutely horrified to hear this. Sending thoughts to Jed. Just so devastating

Everybody's photos here are just magnificent - I do love the little one with bucket on head I've not ever contributed before, but oh well! Because i'm a total unco, I don't know how to upload the high-res version without it being mor than 200K

Hi all, After having recently moved house - we are now having serious issues with our crew (11yo Weim, 18mth Boxer X Bullmastiff and 1yr Great Dane). We adopted the Boxer in January and introduced her to the pack in our previous home, and apart from a few food-related scuffles (which we have addressed in now feeding all separately), they all got on relatively well. They were all together at the previous address for 3 months. The weim and the boxer X pretty much 'co-existed' - weren't too chummy but was no apparent issues there, and the Boxer and Dane got on like an absolute house on fire. We were so impressed with how tolerant our new addition was of a bouncy goofy Dane and were thrilled at just how well the pack seemed to be operating. Fast-forward three months and we've since moved and this has brought about a whole new level of aggression from the Boxer - pinning the Weim (who had been previously the dominant of the pack) down to the ground by her throat and mauling the dane's nose. There have been three of these incidents in the last week. I've been in Sydney dealing with family issues over the last month, so will be on the first flight back to Melbourne this weekend. I will be taking her to the vet to eliminate any underlying health issues, but is it a fair assumption that moving house has brought about a new pack re-structure? She was such a sweet, tolerant and snuggly girl I just don't know what has happened. If anyone knows of anyone who may be able to shed some light on the situation it would be great. Sadly, money is somewhat of an issue for us at present as i'm not currently working due to illness (as much as I love her, had I known that my job situation would happen we would not have adopted her), and my partner being an adult apprentice on $12/hour. We love her dearly and would hate to see things escalate further simply because we're struggling on the financial front at the moment. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Is there any data on percentages of dogs stolen that are entire vs. spayed/neutered?

Brooke, wishing you and Ben all the best for a very positive outcome. Sadly, there will always be the renegade DOL member that will seek to make you feel like utter crap when faced with a heart-wrenching decision.

Thanks guys, any excuse to show off our loony crew!!! They do drive me oh so batty but I love them so

Hello all I was wondering if anyone could please shed some light on a situation we have with our three girls. Background info. We have Tess, an 11yo Weimaraner, Lucy a 9 month Great Dane pup and Maggie a 2 year old Boxer X Bullmastiff (we think ). We acquired Maggie from the LDH in January of this year as a more active companion for Lucy and all is working out really well thus far. Tess, being a little bit older will join in on a bit of play with Lucy but will certainly not tolerate her more excitable puppy antics. Tess is also a bit ho-hum towards Maggie and they tend to get along OK, but generally have little to do with each other. The same cannot be said for Lucy and Maggie who fortunately have proven that our gamble in acquiring Maggie has paid off. They get on like an absolute house on fire and love nothing more than to tear around the yard with the zoomies - LOTS of rough and tumble play. Problem is, Tess just distances herself from this play and just barks, and barks, and barks, and barks at them. This can be monitored somewhat when we're at home but I do have concerns that she'll just drive the neighbours batty in our absence. Ordinarily it wouldn't be problematic for me as its not nuisance barking as such (well, I guess it is otherwise I wouldn't be posting this, what I really mean to say is that it is not constant in nature), however OH and I will be living with his parents in a few weeks ( ), and they are less than pleased with the idea of having dogs around in the first place so i'm really trying where possible to soften the blow. Any suggestions would be fabulous as to how I may be able to curb this would be really appreciated!!

Hi all, Firstly, Erny thank you so much for your kind offer - sorry I hadn't been on earlier to say this but i've had a terrible flu!! Fortunately I think Lucy is in the clear! She's back to her devilish self and we've continued to feed her on the chicken and rice with no problems whatsoever and have stopped both the antibiotics and the antihistamine tablets and all hives have gone so deductive reasoning would argue that either of those two are the culprits. We've set up European Wasp traps around and have caught a few little blighters so far! The house behind ours is an absolute junkyard with hard rubbish all over the yard so it wouldn't surprise me if there were more than a few nests set up across the fenceline :p We'll also be looking into a new vet, that's for sure! Is there a vet that anyone can recommend in Inner West Melbourne? Thanks for all your help and suggestions everyone

Hi Guys, Thanks for all your suggestions. Her eyes are practically back to normal and her hives had virtually disappeared but have now popped up again after a meal. We're feeding her boiled chicken and rice to soothe her tummy after the gastro but she is taking her antibiotic and antihistamines at meal times as well. Given that she didn't have any hives until 7 hours after her first antihistamine injection, I know it's a stretch but what are the chances that she has a sensitivity to antihistamine? (Dumb question I know) Is it likely that she's allergic to the antibiotic? Surely it's not chicken and rice? We've given her an Aloveen bath to help take some of the itch out with no success. Still, she's got a great appetite as per usual and is harrassing Maggie as is to be expected

mmm what did the Vet say about this? Her eyes were too puffy this morning to even differentiate between the two this morning. I'm really scared now - has the vet perhaps avoided the steroids because of her gastro antibiotics by any chance? I don't know im just clutching any reasoning out of thin air I don't know what to do - she seems a lot more comfortable now and is having a sleep on the rug but the difference between her eyeballs is really concerning - the drops she has been given apparently have a local anaesthetic in them which I would understand would make them appear strange but theyre not equally weird

Please tell me my dog isn't always going to look like Marilyn Manson

Just back from vet, not much to add other than we have to give her Iramine antihistamine 4mg tablets 6-8 hourly for 2 days. Poor little Goosey

I took Lucy outside at 3am to wee, her eye/muzzle was still notably puffy but seemed to be a tiny bit better. At 5am she was writhing and wriggling around in absolute agony and her body was covered in lumps and swelling - under her chin, across her chest and underneath her belly, and her original eye had flared up again. At 8 o'clock this morning she seems to be a little bit better underneath the chin but the lumps around her body remain. She's booked in to see the vet at 9.30 who hopefully can shed some light on what the hell is happening to her!!! Original vet tells us the anti-inflammatory injection she was given was Meloxicam so im not sure whether they can give her any more today to give her some relief ETA: Spottychick the OH says the wasps he saw last week appeared to be European wasps

Back with not much of an answer Vet was hesitant to give her further anti-inflammatory injections as the injection she had previously this afternoon should have covered her for further swelling so we're all pretty confused as to why this has happened. He's given her a shot of Niramine antihistamine but apparently there's not much else I can do

Okay, twice as bad as it was 15 minutes ago. Hopefully have some good news to report once I get back

Edited to add pictures of original swelling this afternoon of right eye

Hi there, At 4pm this afternoon I noticed that our Dane, Lucy's right eye was massively swollen - particularly at the lower lid. I took her to the vet around 4:30 where she put some kind of drops in to see whether there was any scratch on the eye - there wasn't. OH had noted a few stray wasps around the yard (no nests to be found) last week but I haven't noticed anything in my travels. Last weekend we gave the girls an outdoor bungalow (spoilt little buggers!) each with their own couch. After much shredding of the cushions, we decided to reinforce these with hessian bags to stop those pesky nails from shredding through them. I was unsure as to whether it was a wasp sting or hessian fibres that had caused the irritation in her eye but the vet said there appeared to be no foreign matter in there, that the lower lid was very swollen and the upper eyelashes were swelling and rolling inwards and at risk of ulcerating the eye. Lucy was given an anti-inflammatory injection and some 'Gentasone Ophthalm Solution' to use 3-4 times a day for 5 days. At 7pm this evening she appeared to be doing so much better already. THe vet said that the anti=inflammatory injection would see her benefit for about 12 hours. We took Tess and Maggie for a walk around the local area, and came back and noticed that her other (left) eye is now incredibly swollen as well with a more inner eyelid (?) than her original irritation. I've given her some of the drops that were recommended for her original eye. Our local vet is now closed, should I be taking her to emergency or just treating her with the same drops as recommended for her other eye? Will the anti-inflammatory injection she was given earlier serve to help this new irritation? Thanks in advance (As a side-note, Lucy has gastro for the second time this month which she is being trated with Metrogyl 200 as well - unsure as to this relevance or any correlation - poor little devil seems to find herself in all sorts of trouble). Photos below are of her new inflammation Update 15 minutes later after this post, her nose has now come out in bumps.

My Tess does it frequently - often in conjunction with jumping in circles

Hi guys, Thanks for your thoughts. Silly dog appeared to be fine as a front for the vet (though he acknowledge he could tell she was 'keeping it to herself') as she is nervous around new people at the best of times. She saw the lead and got all excited at the prospect of leaving the house Thankfully not bloat Heart appeared to be normal, has reason to believe that there is something wrong with her back left hip, although she shows no (audible) signs of distress when extended. He does have suspicions that she may have a "luxation of the lumbar sacroillac joint" which i'm led to believe is where the base of the spine joins the pelvis? Poor little chicken is feeling so sorry for herself, but at the same time is lapping up all the attention she can get. I've been given some Rimadyl for her to take over the course of the next 10 days, alongside some osteocare biscuits. Failing any improvement, we have to go back for x-rays to check out her spine/pelvis. ETA: Thanks so much Vickie for that info, will be following that up :D

Today has escalated to an all-time low, so we're off to the vets at 4:15. I'm flat broke, and called the vet in advance to ask for some form of payment plan. Just as she was about to shut me down over the phone, she heard Tess wailing in the background so said come in for a chat. I'd ask for lots of positive thoughts our way, please :D God knows how i'm going to get her in the car. Let this be a lesson to all people who do not have a drivers license, GET IT. I feel absolutely useless. She's screaming in pain and wailing and looks stiff all over, but I'm really concerned because her stomach is making some hideous kind of gurgling noise, and IF she can manage to stand up, she's all hunched over and won't let me touch her stomach. The sire of her litter died of bloat, so i'm just praying. Either way, be it Gastric or Joint-related, it doesn't sound like I should be expecting a positive outcome this afternoon. Sorry that this post is disjointed (pardon the pun), but my brain is in a million places at once. Edited to add: The dear little bugger is still wagging her tail when I enter the room, and is trying to roll on her back (whilst screaming) to get me to rub her chest??? Not the smartest little cookie

Hi there, I have an 8 year old Weimaraner who, over the last 3 or so days is starting to cry/yelp terribly for a good 15 seconds or so when getting up - mainly after a sleep, but she's clearly very distressed, and its starting to affect her overall demeanour. Once i'm able to FINALLY get her off the cushion and moving around - she seems to be limping a fair bit on her back legs. I'm unsure as to whether its indicative of arthritis, a potential hip problem or both About 18 months ago she appeared to be quite stiff in the joints but mainly in winter which we assumed was somewhat normal (particularly also considering she preferred to lie on the hardwood floor in the living room which I can't imagine would be comfortable?). Anyway, we mentioned it to our vet who didn't seem overly concerned, but gave us some Metacam to try out if it got worse - fortunately up until now it hadn't. I know it sounds terrible, but i'm imagining arthritis is somewhat manageable - but would something like this really change her behaviour/disposition to the extent that it has? Her tail no longer goes at 100km/h when I walk into the room, she shows no interest in cuddles from anyone, and just looks downright miserable??? I'm in Sydney's Northern Districts if anyone is able to please recommend someone who can help us out.

Is this what we're talking about? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8TzXrCro8A (Sorry it's sideways - i'm an unco )

Tess:Prey = 55 Pack = 55 Defense - Fight = 45 Defense - Flight = 65

Fingers crossed that these aren't early signs of immunodeficiency, Heidi In regards to the vaginitis, I have a feeling that DOLer 'Benson's Weim, 'Bronte' had a few complications re: vaginitis and de-sexing - she may be able to throw some info your way Tess has the same white spots on her tummy too - they vary from whitish to reddish, but they don't seem to concern her

Once every 2-3 weeks? I know of people who bath their Weims once a year? Maybe it's Tess' diet - but she tends to get kinda sweaty/oily