tashnchief

Has anyone had any experience or recommendations on Low Protien Diets for dogs with Kidney issues?

Can't help with a cause but... Lucas Paw Paw ointment works really well, much better than vaseline. It's in a little red tub or tube, available from Woolworths or chemists.

Hopenfox- Between all three dietary types, have you noticed a change in costs?

I will second that. Even my vet recommends it ! The alcohol in it dries it up and works like a disinfectant against the bacteria.

The smallest adult here is 54kg the biggest 68kg Even my babies ( 4.5months = 25kg) eat heaps!!! I have done a fair bit of research on the net about it but still feel far safer using a mix of good kibble and mince etc. At least that way I can be sure they get the right mix of vitamins and minerals. As people have stated above it hasn't cleared up skin issues or it has created skin issues, not that I am saying it will but in a young pups delicate immune systems I would be erring on the side of caution. That's for my breed anyway, they are prone to demodex as youngsters as their bodies are going through so much allowing them to grow. Not to mention the horrors I have seen in Dogues with east-west fronts, knuckling over all from poor diet. I think the key is a good balance. Afterall, who wants to eat plain kibble day in and day out, it would be like eating only weetbix for the rest of your life! LOL

I only have two dogs to feed on BARF so I don't have to buy a lot. Yesterday for eg I bought four chicken frames and 1kg of chicken wings, it was less than $5 for the lot. I make up several kgs of BARF mix and the meat costs me no more than $6/kg, vegies and fruit is cheap and I get a tin of sardines for 55 cents to add in too. The offal is cheaper than the mince. That lasts for three weeks as I feed it with lots of other RMBs. If I had more dogs to feed I would probably buy a standing freezer and buy everything in bulk. You can buy in bulk through Canine Country. Yep, I do. I buy from Big Dog in bulk!!! I go through a 2kg log of mince per day sometimes more!!!! I don't have time to make my own ...between working full time, caring for 5+ dogs and showing ...who has time to cook for themselves let alone the dogs! LOL It is all the other stuff that is the 'new trend' eg: Prey model raw etc. As I have mentioned above I think you would break the bank trying to feed some of this stuff to more than 1-2 dogs. Either that or your catching it, killing it and growing it yourself In all seriousness, I don't use or recommend to my puppy buyers to do solely barf or raw feeding until there dog has finished growing. Too many probs growing large breed dogs carefully as it is. I would be terrified that the pups are not getting the right nutritional balance for growth. I would be interested to hear if anyone has raised their pup on pure raw/barf diet?

Thanks MiniMum, My guys get all the usual stuff like Chicken Frames, Turkey necks ( but aren't real fussed unless they are smoked, which a friend of ours does) They get fairly equal portions of mince meat ( Big Dog variety so, meats, bone, offal, veges, fruits etc) and kibble. Bones once to twice a week. However, from what I have read and been told on true prey model is there is a large variety of whole meats/ animal given, inc organs. Eg. whole rabbit, lamb and lamb organs, goat, fish etc, etc. I had never thought of buying a whole side of lamb and I honestly would have always considered it too expensive. I have 3 adult DDB's and 2 young pups + litters and possibily another adult dog planned farriving in the next 18months = large feed bill ...! LOL Definately something to look into and consider...must go track down a good butcher! I am blessed that my dogs do well on the diet they currently have although there has certainly been some trial and error over the last few years finding kibble that suits them. I have not had any troubles with skin issues either ( in a breed that can be quite prone to them). Like I said earlier, I have seen some kennels swear by Raw, Barf etc and I honestly cannot see why. Others it has worked for....I guess dogs are just like us not everything will suit each individual.

My dogs get both, Kibble and Raw. The babies get Purina Pro Plan and the big guys get Advance or Cobber ( yes, cheapie brand Cobber... it is good stuff) Mince is from Big Dog pet foods, who I cannot recommend highly enough. I was buying mince and off cuts from my local butcher, at first it was great but the dogs weren't holding condition as well and their coats hard become very dull. When I discovered BIG DOG Pet mince what a dramatic turn around and nearly 2 yrs later they still love it and they look excellent for it. Their diet also consists of chicken frames and bones ( brisket and marrow). Pups included. Pups are started on 1/2 chicken frame each by the time they are 6 wks old. A lot of breeders of my breed in Europe and the UK are doing the whole 'Prey model' thing. I am yet to be completely convinced. Some are raving about the health and muscle tone of their dogs that has improved, honestly I just can't see it. There is one kennel in Europe that I have been to visit and yes they are in awesome condition and she had a lot of health problems in her kennel previously and the change in diet has certainly improved 100% the quality in her dogs health. I just don't find it a feasible option here as sourcing a variety of meats at reasonable prices is really quite difficult. How do others in the Brisbane/ SEQ area do it? Nothing wrong with the muscle tone on this girl for a kibble and meat diet!!!

Is her call name 'Xena'? Xena is my favourite bitch, my OH really wanted a pup from Xena but we already have too many Dogue De Bordeaux without adding Boerboels to the backyard! LOL I own and run on a lot of Craig & Deborah's Dogue De Bordeaux:) I was blown away the first time I met Craig's boerboel's, Waldor is a sight to see. What a handsome dog with the most gorgeous temperament....very jealous of your little Axle. Maybe, one day we will add a Boerboel to the pack we will just have to build bigger kennels first! best of luck with your little guy.

Axle is gorgeous, is he a Waldor baby?

I use Eulactyl Heel Balm from the chemist to heal my dogs callouses. Cheap and heals them up quickly. However, I don't know any preventions yet as my dogs would rather sleep on the concrete or in the dirt than on a bed

Another plug for Dr Chris Girling. He did a surgical AI in August on my Dogue De Bordeaux bitch, ( used his and his wife's stud dog). We used frozen semen from his stud dog and another dog. Result - A genetically split litter to a maiden bitch! 6 pups to one dog and 4 to the other, that's pretty impressive if you ask me and without Chris' knowledge it would never been made a reality. Probably the finest repo specialist in the country ... and nice people too

It's in the list waiting to get fixed, Allerzeit is working on it. Added No Probs, thanks Sway

Mine can be found in the Alphabetical search but not by breed???? I have Dogue De Bordeaux my prefix is Bronzantiq. Oh and there is a spelling mistake in one of the Dogue De Bordeaux listings - it should be an X not a Z in ATARAXIA.

That's awesome, I wish this was around when choosing my prefix. Although, I got my first choice I spent hours googling and searching to check out all my preferences. You already have my prefix 'Bronzantiq' but I guess I should add I have Dogue De Bordeaux

You can add mine - BRONZANTIQ

May I suggest an online site. www.thevetshed.com.au is a Brisbane based company with very competitve prices on all of your needs from Heart worm, flea treatment to toys and coats. Otherwise Pet Barn stores on the North side are generally very good, if you can put aside the fact that they do sell pups and kittens.

Ok all you photoshop experts, I have just installed CS3 on my computer. Can someone please give me some pointers on where to start with making a sig?? Please pretty pleasssssse!!! Or at least point me in teh direction of a thread that might explain it, I can't be stuffed going through 260 pages on this topic it will take me all week!!! Tashnchief

The bump sounds like it is probably a fusion, very common in my chosen breed ( dogue de bordeaux) Kinks in my breed are usually reference to actual deviations of the tail like a break would create. Where as a fusion can actually exist anywhere along the spine but most commonly in the tail and similar to DDB's this is something they are born with and not casued by accident or injury as a pup. Many breeders are good at picking up fusions even from birth but many are not and often genuinely don't even realise they have sold a show pup with a tail fault. Sometimes fusions only become more noticable as teh pup grows and calcification begins. I have never heard of a dog out growing a tail fusions or break. As for a fault in regards to showing, in my breed standard it is listed as a 'serious fault' but not a disqualifing one. Does the PBGV standard make any reference to this? When you consider a fusion it is not changing the dogs conformation in any way as opposed to an a break/kink or deviation of the tail.. The way I see it is you will get the odd judge that might pick it up and it may or may not go against you but I personally don't think it weights anymore seriously than faults like 'cow hocks, missing teeth or incorrect colours. If it is very high up on the root of the tail most judges will never pick it up, I am yet to see a judge grab a dogs tail that high up unless they are very familiar with that specific problem in the breed and are making a point of looking for it.

Sammy's can be notoriously fussy. Try him on some Chicken necks or chicken frames chopped in thirds, this will keep him occupied and it's nutritious. A puppy does need some weight on their bones with out being fat as they use all that food to help them grow. Are his poos runny or normal have you ruled out any other reason why he might be off his food. Advance kibble is fine, we brought up our Sammy and other large breed dogs on this product with no problems. ( go for the large breed variety) Sardines was a great suggestion made early and would also be good for his coat, other things to try would be eggs and a little cheese just don't go overboard with either. Introducing these new flavours into his diet may encourage him to eat a little more. He is a puppy so he will get hungry. There is nothing wrong with a bit of weetbix and puppy milk ( even even try some goats milk) as a treat. Being at 11 weeks now he will soon no longer require that 3rd meal anyway. You could continue with the weetbix and puppy milk only as the extra meal not a main meal. Does he seem to prefer the weetbix and milk as opposed to the kibble and mince? If he is, it might be leaving him feel very full, I know myself when I eat that for breakfast it certainly leaves me feeling quite full, so come luch time he really probably doesn't feel like eating anything else. Just make sure you are giving him a good kibble and mince meal for breakfast so he fills up on the right stuff rather than the other stuff that he is receiving no valuable nutrition from.

I'll second that and I have short coated and double coated breeds products for both are great

Like Poodlefan and Jigsaw have suggested teach him give or drop in exchange for a treat. Act like that treat is the most awesome thing in the world and ignore the fact that he has something else, Samoyed's are very curious by nature and the curiousity will kill him, I can guarantee he will have to come and investigate what you have. We have a Samoyed and he is trouble with a capital T!!!!! You have your work cut out for you! Our Sammy is the worlds biggest sticky beak he has to know what you have, what you are doing or where you are at all times! It's very cute but sometimes it drives me nuts. We have other dogs too and if I bent down to say check a foot on one of the other dogs our Sammy would have to stick his nose in a get a good look too or if you are holding something in your hand and he thinks it might be something he is interested in then he won't leave you alone until you show him! Please teach him 'Give' or 'Drop' so he does not eat what he should not have. Although he was never actually seen to be eating them our sammy ate 2 fifty cents pieces which resulted in $1500 dollars of surgery to have them removed from his small intestine. Who knows why he ate them probably because he found them and he can do whatever he likes with his treasure! Although this behaviour can be frustrating and its generally a characteristic of the breed, they are terrific companions and will form very close strong bonds with their owners, enjoy him as they are a fabulous breed even if they do have a bit of a naughty streak!!!!LOL

Hey everyone, I am begging for some help. I would love a signature banner that can double as my website links banner. I have not got a clue where to start. i want something that will sort of follow the theme and feel of my web design, so if anyone is willing to help me put something together or teach me the basics if you could send me a PM and I will point you in the direction of my webpage so you can get an idea of what I am after. I have friends who want to recipricate kennel web links and I don't have a banner to send, so if someone has any free time any help would be greatly appreciated. Tash

We have a Sammy and we do not use any products or powders in his coat unless he is being groomed to be shown that day. Like Settrlvr we use potato flour as well if we were going to use a powder or chalk to touch up around the face. You shouldn't need to use powders if the dog is not being shown, it is lovely to have your dogs looking nice, bright and white though. Try a good whitening shampoo. I use plush puppy products but there are heaps of other great brands on the market as well. I will use a normal shampoo first to get all the dirt out of the coat then wash again using a whitening shampoo. If you are going to use powder/potato flour or the like for the show ring don't use to much and comb it through properly, there is nothing more hilarious then a cloud of white dust billowing from the dog as it runs around the ring!

I would have to agree as you mentioned she had already wet herself on the way there, this is probably where her fear is associated not nessecarily at the vets. Some fantastic advice has been given by others so I won't repeat. My guys love going to the vets but they got rewarded with lots of treats from the moment they hopped out of the car until they got back in the car. We also go for lots of regular weigh in's, about once a fortnight with my young ones. They know the drill now and even my older boy hasn't forgotten as soon as he walks through the door he plonks himself on the scales and waits for his treat!!!! Make it a happy social occassion, from memory I think you said she is a large breed mix so she is going to get a lot bigger and you won't be able to drag a 35kg+ dog accross a main road. Good Luck with her desexing visit next week. Obviously you won't be able to feed her treats before her surgery so use a favourite toy or ball instead. Remember don't you start stressing in anticipation to how she will go next time as she will pick up on your vibes.