laffi

What are you doing to entertain her? Do you give her kongs or other food toys that take a while to get through? How about some clicker training... nothing that requires her to do anything strenuous of course. But teach her behaviors like lying down with the front paws crossed, or turning her head... some targeting maybe? You need to tire her mentally for her to settle down.

Definitely not. If I could I would feed whole chickens to my dogs (well I sometimes do but I wish it was more affordable)

Rappie!!! Very impressive you too PRS I love threads like this

total meats: 2.1kg + +2.25kg + 0.4kg =4.75kg 2.1 kg of RMBs, these are around 40% bone so 0.84kg of bone (to calculate % of bone you divide 0.84/4.55 (x100) = ~18 so ~18% bone (which is actually great and I don't think you want much lower than this really) 0.4 kg of offal so 9% (=0.4/4.75 (x100)) which is also great! Well done FTPO your plan sounds PERFECT to me ;) ;)

It's true that there are bones in sardines (and sometimes in canned salmon) but for the amount she is feeding compared to everything else it's a very small amount (like less than 1%)....

Hi FTPO, I analyzed (roughly) your feeding plan. Let me know if I missed something on my list: RMBs 400 grams of Chicken Pet Mince ? Large lamb or beef brisket bones ~300g Half a chicken frame ~300gTurkey wing 400 grams of chicken pet mince ? one brisket bone 200 grams of chicken pet mince ? a large brisket bone 200 grams of chicken pet mince = 1.8kg bones + 3x brisket bones MEAT 150 grams of lamb heart minced 1 tin of saradines (~150g) 100 grams of salmon from tin 150 grams of roo mince 2 Salmon heads (? 1-1.5kg) 200 grams of roo mince 200 grams of lamb tongue minced = 0.9 kg + ?1-1.5kg? =1.9kg ORGANS 50 grams of lamb liver minced 50 of lamb kidney =0.1kg I am ignoring the brisket bones in this analysis (as I don't know how big they are). I am not sure you want to feed 2 salmon heads/day as they are usually huge ~0.5-0.7kg (I put 1kg for the analysis). Total weight is 3.8kg % offal is ~ 0.4% (I would double that) % of bones is ~ 20% (would be much much more if I included the brisket bones) I think you need to feed more meat or RMBs with less bone content (like chicken maryland, or chicken/turkey wings) In this analysis I estimated that the bone content of your RMBs was 40% as it was based on minced frames/necks mostly. It's a rough estimation but it's still showing too much bone without even adding the brisket bones. Hope that helps

FTPO that sounds like a FANTASTIC selection!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am jealous

I agree. Way too many grains in Vetalife for my liking.

Absolutely!!!!! Hearts are excelent quality muscle meat ;)

Artemis is not made in Australia. It's American. I would consider Great Barko or Uncle Alber's for the Aussie made stuff

Sorry stormie :D ! I guess I was super frustrated because clearly they didn't know what I was asking about when I was asking about the titer test (as I had to explain to them what it is) but they still felt it was adequate to give me their opinion on the subject. I wouldn't have minded at all if they respectfully accepted they don't know and went to ask the vet. It really bothered me as they just refused to help me.

Just got to ask yellowgirl - when you "ring around" do you speak to the vet or to the underpaid kid on the front desk? I think you might find that if you actually spoke to the vets in the practice you would get a whole different story than you get from the girl on the phone (I know I do!) ETA: Gotta wonder about the internet hoax thing though! When I was ringing I had exactly the same experience as you yellowgirl I did try to talk to the vets but underpaid kid on the front desk (or know-it-all assistants) didn't think it was necessary and felt educated enough to answer my questions about titer tests ('whaz that? ohhh why would you want it if you can just vaccinate every year') and 3 year vaccination ('nope never heard of this, but we do recommend yearly vaccinations') inquiry. I rung about 15 local and local-ish vets At the end of it I just felt terribly frustrated and sad. Only one vet rung me back and he said he doesn't believe in 3 year vaccine. ETA The only place that was willing to do a titer test for me was The Natural Vet and the closest vet that offered 3 year vaccination was the Sydney Uni Clinic. I know that there are more vets north of Sydney that also offer 3 year vaccinations but I wanted to limit the drive to 1h each way

Staranais what is your teaching hospital? *I am SO hoping it's in Sydney*

It it's an old wound and already healed split like that I think it will cause problems for her. If it's still healing, I would be bandaging it and keeping her off it, not letting her run at all but really, I think you need to take her to the vet, the only thing I might be reluctant to do is get it stitched, only based on past experience though. I would definitely take her to the vet. To be honest I don't know what to do now as it's an old wound and it's too late for the stitches as it's not an open wound anymore :D

It looks like an old wound. More than 3-4 weeks old I would say. Unfortunately it doesn't look like it healed properly as the paw didn't seal. My guess is that there was something inside the wound making it impossible to seal, and that's why you now have a cracked/split paw My golden retriever cut her paw at the beach (the size of the cut was very similar to the one you showed). ETA, some people say that rough pads is a sign of zinc deficiency.

To be honest I doubt that's the problem. My two have very solid poops on Artemis. Beet pulp is a cheep filler in dry food advertised as a good source of fiber but mostly it's just a filler. A great source of fiber are psyllium husks :D My two adults are on Artemis Maximal Grain Free with solid poops and no issues. Shes getting psyllium husks twice a day - no improvement. ETA - I just know that some dogs react differently to no beet pulp in their food. how unlucky! apart from minced frames and psyllium husks I have no recommendations :D

To be honest I doubt that's the problem. My two have very solid poops on Artemis. Beet pulp is a cheep filler in dry food advertised as a good source of fiber but mostly it's just a filler. A great source of fiber are psyllium husks

I think you are talking about Kivi (the mostly black dog), whereas corvus is talking about her other dog (the one in the water) being fearful.

I'm am so sorry for your loss

Awesome! thanks corvus :D

I try to feed whole raw fish once a week Btw where did you find the Red Spot Whiting for 85c? sounds like a fantastic price

Hmmm maybe you can't lure them.. maybe we need to shape them to come to SA... via NSW

Lucky you ness !!!!! I would LOVE to train with her !!!!

I know this was posted already in the brag thread.... but what Ptolomy achieved today deserves it's own thread !!!!!!!! :D Now come on over here Ptolomy ! Don't be shy! Brag about your amazing achievment and share your secrets !!!!!! Oh and I SOOOO hope someone taped it