Danois

Over 6 weeks for a claim I have never waited more than 2 weeks with my insurer.

I am sorry you are offended Beth86 and perhaps you will be an exception to what I have experienced but there has been a world of difference between the way in which my vet operates compared to the other 6 or 7 vets I have had consultations with. It goes with any education/ profession - just because someone has studied something does not mean they can put it into practice. I have seen it numerous times in my field.

Never a truer word . . . . . In fact I find it quite scary to see the difference between the older vets and the younger ones. I know they have to gain experience, but some of the younger ones seem to have very few skills. They may be brilliant on paper, but it is in the clinic/hospital where we need the expertise. And this is why I do not understand complaints about vet charges to an extent - we would not expect our GP to do all of those things.

The 'old school' vets have so many skills - they are the GP, the radiologist, orthopaedic specialist, surgeon, anaesthetist, dermatologist, endocrinologist, cardiologist and pharmacist etc! I recently experienced the difference between the old school and the new generation of vets as my usual vet (who I drive over 40mins to when I have 3 vets within 5 mins of me) was in the process of opening his own clinic and was not open. Instead I went to the Uni Vet. Had one sick cat - young grad did an exam and history and then went and went and consulted with a not as fresh grad but still young. Their diagnosis was - could be a number of things. We did urine tests, blood tests and faecal samples and still nothing meanwhile scaring me with suggestions of what it could be. Was given antibiotics and told he'll need imaging etc. Cat was still being sick. Saw another grad who was a bit more practical and gave him an anti-emetic. Worked perfectly. Diagnosis was upset stomach. Total vet bill around $500. My usual vet would have approached it the reverse order - treat the obvious symptoms and if not resolve then investigate. Approximate cost $100.

http://www.dolforums.com.au/index.php?showuser=4031 Is it Loraine that Colleen is looking for?

Great Danes are in Non Sporting in Australia but in Working in US and UK - their original 'purpose' was boar hunting. They do not belong in non-sporting - they look out of place especially in the BP and Puppy classes and are certainly under-represented in Class in Group winners.

I have not seen Boo play with another dog the way in which he plays with another dane - body blocking and wrestling - with the body slams on hind legs. He will play with other larger dogs - especially an airedale and some standard poodles but only chase - never wrestling. Other than that it is the more solid dogs like staffords. Small dogs intrigue him but he does not try and engage in play.

A previous experience with a big kennels here in Sydney - I asked on collection how my dog had been. The person 'checking' him out was admin and said, there are no notes on his form/ in the system from the kennel hands so no issues to report. I was told that if I wanted specific feedback then I note this when I dropped him off and they'd make a note on his sheet about it and the kennel hand would jot things down during the stay and give you the feedback at the end. I can understand how bigger kennels with multiple staff cannot give individual feedback. Can't fault my current kennel for letting me know how things are going

McDonalds' quarter pounder meat patties! I inadvertently ended up with a dog who will recall on a whistle. The cat comes when whistled and I do this often and I am assuming the dog observed this as I whistled one day in the park not really thinking and back Boo came...

Orbit is a special one.... Boo gets the same and I have little yellow marks on furniture covers or on his inside leg! We had it checked out and treated and the advice was, if it recurs then it is likely he is just one of those dogs who get a little more lubricant. He's getting desexed soon so will be interested to see the difference.

Breed: Great Dane Age: 18 months Weight: 55-60kg Food: Eagle Pack Fish, Tuckertime rolls, raw mix (homemade) sardines, tuna, eggs, cottage cheese, bones, lamb flaps, frames etc Amount: 8 cups of dry max - less when combined with raw or tuckertime. Other stuff added to raw. Cost: $130 for bag of EP which lasts around a month, tucker time is $15/3kg roll, raw mix - 4kg of raw costs me about $20 to make. Daily cost probably around $10 a day.

The history of danes is that they were hunting dogs - for boar.

The fact great danes are in non-sporting in Australia is a bit of an oddity - in the UK and US, I understand they are actually part of the Working Group.

White Eagle - I know too well what the consequences of long term pred use can be. I lost my last dane about 16 months ago. He was on large doses due to immune mediated issues as well as another drug. He developed pancreatitis. From what I can remember, that would have been treatable but having to come off the pred threw up new issues and he was given his wings. I knew that pred was the most sensible choice for Boo's skin last week and I trust my vet implicitly but it actually took a lot for me to agree with that treatment and then to give the first tablet.

I'm still intrigued to know what happened to Bell - whether she got moved on once the pug arrived or whether she is still being bred from...

Which beach is that flyingduster? St Clair beach (at some point along it, it changes to St Kilda, and Lawyers Head is in the distance), Dunedin NZ. Had a feeling (especially with skies like that) it was around Dunedin. Gorgeous part of the world to start you day in.

Mr Darcy was a special one.

Choice magazine did a very good article on the different policies etc not that long ago. http://www.choice.com.au/Reviews-and-Tests...nd-compare.aspx You'll need to pay for the full article or join Choice.

I can't comment a lot re kids as I don't have any but with my last dane, despite not being around kids much, when he was approached by them he was so gentle and careful. With Boo - I had my 6 year old niece and 8 year old nephew here for a few days recently. He was really good with them - a couple of times he bumped into them but that was usually because they had got into the space he was needing (them not used to being around dogs). My niece bonded with him especially.

Do you have council permission to hold the classes and hold public liability insurance?

My policy is the RSPCA one (although I would rather it wasn't!) although that is just the retail front as it is PetSure who administers it and underwritten by Hollard. I pay around $40 a month for a giant breed and there are no breed specific inclusions or loadings. Their policies have no excess but you only get 80% back. For me I find this a better option than having an excess - most policies have a $100 excess and most of my claims are around $120 so would not bother claiming the extra $20. It is accident and illness cover.

I think you will find that they actually contact the vet to get the history. You don't have to attach a full history with PetPlan, but it does make it easier because they don't have to contact the vet at all. They only need the history for the first claim. This is pretty stock standard with insurance? Nope - my vet has never once been called (I have asked) and I have never provided a history. I did get the policy at 10 weeks. I have probably claimed about $8k plus for 3 pets in 4 years - over a dozen claims due to Angs' illness.

Loraine - I got told the tip of making a pot of calendula tea, letting it steep for 15 mins and then chilling before spraying on the dog and it worked well here last week on a very itchy dog.

Danes can be quite active - mainly in short bursts called zoomies! For the first 18 months you need to be careful about the amount of exercise due to the dane still going through critical growth. In this time, it should be free/ unforced exercise such as running around the park and not forced exercise like long walks on pavement/ road and certainly no jogging/ running with them. I don't walk my dane every day and he is not concerned by it. A good hour of play in the park or at the beach with a playmate does him for a couple of days. It is more critical that you have a nice comfy bed or couch for them! The dane thread in the Breed Subforums is great for information and there is also a dane thread in Breeds 101 which most of us contributed to. Have a read of the first post in the dane thread as there is really good information there.

I was told that Alpha Keri is good for new hair growth and to apply it directly to the coat a couple of days before a bath.