Sandra777

I have had all three versions of singletons. I had a bitch who had two litters, both times singletons delivered naturally. I had bitch with a singleton conceived by AI, never went in to labour, caesar at 67 days (progestrone tested), never mothered the pup (we didn't ultrasound, didn't know she only had one pup) She later had another litter (not my choice) of 4, conceived naturally, delivered naturally, great mum. I had a maiden bitch conceive a singleton by frozen semen, elective caesar. The pup died at 3 days but she was a great mum. Later conceived 5 pups by natural mating, had an emergency caesar and an even better mum! If the semen is irreplacable personally I'd go with the elective caesar in this particular case

Hypothetically probably not a lot, will the hypothetical drunken man even remember what happened?

I have fed dry roo tails to puppies - but if the adults get hold of them it's crunch crunch gulp and gone. I thought smoking was a form of cooking?

Scratch that, read it's a Lab. For a pup between 5% and 10% of their adult body weight per day in raw food is a good guide so break out the calculator If you're not solely raw feeding, giving a bit too much or not quite enough just in one meal isn't that important. I wouldn't give chicken wings to a Lab puppy though - try thighs or bodies + some boneless meat (doesn't need to be chicken)

Bruce and Kevin You are finding this helpful aren't you

Beryl

Some dogs don't do well on pork. A pig tail isn't very big so for a 15kg+ dog I would give it a go first up and see how the dog goes with it. Pork can be hard to digest and can be fatty which can cause pancreatitis. Mine have always loved pigs trotters and pigs heads, never had a problem. Same as introducing anything new - give them a small amount and see what happens.

Yes I did wonder right at the start if this was following Juliette de Bairacli Levy. Personally I think she was light years ahead of her peers at her time, as others have said she was living in a time where worms and disease were not "easily" prevented/treated as they are now, and probably weren't all that well understood. I would think the ingredients were based 75% on experience and 25% on old time folk medicine (which I have a fair amount of faith in as well, so not knocking it) so to follow her diet now IMO is not necessarily hocum, but it's not something I would follow blindly as science has gone forward and there is a lot more knowledge easily accessible. That said I don't believe she would have had access to Supercoats and Weetbix so I think a fair bit has been lost in translation If I was the breeder raising my pups in this way I would supply the new buyers with 7-10 days worth of ALL the food and additives they need. If these breeders don't do this then I would be inclined to ditch all the additives immediately. I really doubt this would upset the pup's tummy. You may decide you're happy to stay with Supercoat and a lot of people are happy with it so it's not automatically "bad" in which case you could buy a big bag of it straight off - otherwise buy a small bag as this is what the pup is used to and a variety of meat and bones as already suggested. Once the pup is settled into it's new home (7-10 days) I would start to change over to a new dry food if you want to do so.

Vaccination - to me this would be puppy shots then once at 14 months then never again, but for this one you will almost certainly get a reminder from the vet when it's due depending on the protocol you have discussed with them and the breeder and decided on for your animal. Heartworm. Depends on what you choose to do. Daily, monthly or annually. The daily should be simple, monthly, stick it on a calendar (the packets come with actual stickers ) or put it in the computer/phone diary as a recurring event. If it's annual it's a vet job and they will let you know. Fleas - not something I do with any regularity (ticks, yes!) but the packets come with reminder stickers so do the same as monthly heartworm except if you don't have a problem and aren't treating for ticks, you really do not need to pour that stuff on the dog as a regular thing anyway. Worming - apart from pups I don't worm as a routine thing only when there is an actual problem (fecal count) so can't really suggest anything except discuss the whole thing with the breeder and the vet and decide what is appropriate for you and your animal.

Hmm - I wouldn't be automatically worming my dog monthly so not sure it helps to pair it up in this way. And annual vaccinations are not necessarily the right protocol - but I agree that generally you will get a vet reminder for this. I do it the old fashion way too - I have an actual paper wall calendar and everything gets put on it - shows, meetings, health stuff, heats for the bitches etc etc etc You could probably do the same thing with a computer or phone appointment diary type thing - go through and set it all up and put in the appropriate reminder intervals and it should work fine.

I hear ya! Good to see you can joke about it, sandra, and great news about China girl - you breed tough Staffords. How long did it take your last dog to fully recover? You asked earlier about the road to full recovery - my two who were envenomated took atleast 9 months. It's a long road but you get there in the end. The last snake bite was the same bitch - she cam out of that with a hatred of snakes and goes looking for them She really wasn't right for 8 weeks after the last one, but it was a brown which I understand is a different proposition to a black. Nine months - ouch!

This - but if the dog has heavy dewlap (saggy throat skin) it may not work very well. Hitting the dog which has a hold will do nothing except make the problem worse - unless you happen to knock it unconcious which is pretty unlikely. If you can, stand behind the holding dogs' shoulder line (with a smaller dog you can straddle it and grip with your calves and knees.

Update Tuesday night - China's home. Walking, trotting, eating, peeing and pooping. Then collapsing in a heap and having a rest. She needs to be kept very quiet and closely confined for the next 4-6 weeks but all the tests came back normal. 2kg lighter but that's OK our bank balance is even lighter Thanks for all the vibes, there is hope sometimes!

A vaccination at 14 weeks to me would be the last puppy one but this really is something you need to discuss with the breeder and the vet. Not too keen on a vet that puts advantage on a puppy the same day it's vaccinated, especially not in a climate where you may not even need flea protection at the moment. If it was my pup I'd be researching why you are putting so many chemicals into and onto him - do you have a flea plague at your house?

Yes well - a lot of the stuff people get told relates to classes where the handler is being judged, but in the real conformation show world it's the dog being judged (we hope ) and you have less than 2 minutes to make the best of the dog, so if that means getting between the judge and the dog in an attempt to stop the judge seeing something you don't want them to see - then go for it!

Very interesting dancinbcs and I had heard there was a vitamin that was implicated in the problem but could remember which one it was - but I have reservations about this sort of treatment in the long term. Same argument can be used for supplementing pregnant bitches with folic acid IMO If the dog's diet is correct and adequate (and no I'm not saying your dogs' diet isn't) then if additional supplementation is required to prevent something occuring then perhaps all we are doing by continuing the supplementation is encouraging some other tiny issue in the dogs we are breeding. If they can't uptake the required amount of vitamin E or folic acid from a good well balanced diet but need additional quantities to maintain levels which will prevent problems then perhaps all we are doing is masking a problem where they can't absorb this particular nutrient properly so perhaps we are not merely preventing the appearance of monorchidism and cleft palates which perhaps is a "byproduct" of a greater issue - the dogs have some basic (if small!) metabolic defect? Just something I've always wondered about really..

Go slower rather than faster - pacing is faster than trotting if the dog is used to it. When you turn back to the judge instead of turning the dog inside you (so keeping him between you and the judge, turn him outside you and give him a gentle nudge with your calf as you just about complete the turn to put him off balance. Stopping him at this turn might also help.

An unfit dog will pace more readily than a fit dog. A dog being moved at the wrong speed will pace very easily. A dog which is built wrong will pace too. Practice at home and on the daily walk. Working the dog on a treadmill could help - not only getting it fit but also getting it into the habit of trotting while you can watch and monitor what it's doing. Tug on the leash, pushing the dog either into a circle or just bumping it off line and starting the dog with it's head pulled up can all help in some cases too...

Update Monday morning China walked out of the vet's laundry room this morning (she was still at their house obviously ) Not a steady walk, but she walked. She may come home tonight, she needs to squat and pee unassisted first Must be all the healing vibes from here - thanks so much everyone! WHOO HOO!

Another update She's much better than yesterday. Can prop herself up on her front legs and use her front feet to bash me in the face when I stopped patting her so she is definitely improved. The twitching has all gone, which was horrible even last night, and her vision seems to be back to normal. Eating by herself but still not drinking enough to keep her personal physician happy so she gets put on a drip every few hours. Crawled across the tile floor and pushed herself up onto her dad's lap when he was sitting on the floor so definitely getting some strength there. Still all a matter of time and we have to be cautious as her kidneys or liver especially could just shut down without warning, but so far so good, urine output good, bloods good.

Another update This morning she was still physically the same but was talking to the vet (who had taken her home for the night) and generally complaining about conditions. She is not much of a chatter-er usually, so must be VERY annoyed about something. Off to see her again shortly

Have there been any other symptoms apart from vomiting when hungry - because vomiting bile when a dog is hungry is actually not unusual and not something I would link exclusively or immediately to a sensitive stomach problem. How old is the pup? What is she being fed now? What was she raised on (ie what was the breeder's recommendations on the diet sheet)? If the last two questions have different answers :D how long ago did you change and did she have this problem before you changed?

x2 Demodex mites which are the most common cause baldness which usually starts around they eyes or lips or feet (usually eyes) Bumps and pimples certainly sound more like an allergy to me.

So sorry for your loss, it's especially hard to lose a young dog I would tend to agree with Scales of Justice - snake bite? I have a bitch at the vet right now who was bitten by a black snake on Thursday and the vet had a dog die on their table in the early hours of Thursday morning from snake bite so they're certainly around.

Update from last night China is baaaaaaaaack. She can't stand but her brain is definitely all there, it's all China's mannerisms and traits down to her determined grunt when she's frustrated about something (and her refusal to drink if anyone is watching) She can lift her head, roll from her side to her chest and propel herself around on her stomach. She can stand up if supported to pee but isn't completely continent yet. Still time is the only thing that will heal her, but things are looking up. She's one tough old bird this one!