Danois

I feed my 17 month old male up to 8 cups of Eagle Pack Fish per day - I spread it over 2 meals also. At night he also gets a mix of beef mince, sweet potato, cottage cheese and flaxseed (3kg of mince, 3 sweet potato and a big pottle of cottage cheese does 7 nights). Almost every dane owner I know feeds twice a day to minimise the risk of bloat. Exercise - at 17 months I still do not walk my dog - ie walk around the streets other than maybe a quick one up and down the street if I run out of time in the morning. It is all free exercise - ie in the park. I ensure that this includes running up hills and running on sand to help build the hind leg muscles. I can easily not walk Boo for 3-4 days and he is not worried about it. He had an hour in the park this morning with another dog and then a couple of hours in the house together and that will keep him happy for 2-3 days now! Most danes will eat 6-8 cups a day for their lifetime.

Its the cream and molasses which I'd think twice about. Also curious about turkey mince - turkey is a lean meat.

I am a bit stuck at the moment as to what is going on with Boo's coat. He is supposed to be a black dog and was until about 7 months and since then he has been more chocolate brown on his sides but stays black on the topline, tail and head etc. Sunbaking can be ruled out generally as he is like this even in winter and he does not spend a lot of time outside. He's now 17 months. I have tried using special black coat shampoos which would deal with it if sunbleaching but without any change. He does shed a lot and he gets frequent brushing with a curry comb and occasionally a stripping brush. Diet is currently Eagle Pack Fish. We have tried several other super premiums and even Bonnie without any change. His coat seems quite thin. Might also be relevant that he does get anxiety. The photos show what his skin has just done - the day I dropped him off at the kennels for several days he came up all lumpy - like hives but they went down with phenergen but he has been left with his skin looking like that shown. Seems confined to his hind quarters. he still has a few lumps there - they are only raised - not red, infected etc - nothing squeezable! In addition - for a while now he has had these leopard spots around his topline. The other thing at the moment is his topline - the hair here is thicker and longer and black but when you brush it backwards, there seems to be bald areas. He has been a dog which has been hard to keep weight on from the start and I am sure that there is some diet component to the coat so am waiting to see if the eagle pack changes this. He is now getting a larger dose of fish oils. Last month he went through an itchy phase - cannot determine whether it is seasonal allergy as it is short lived and coincides with trees in my street in flower (he gets the red eyes too) or whether he reacts more than usual to fleas - he had a few despite treatment. He's been home 2 days now and no itching. So - anyone experienced anything like this and what treatments etc helped? I'd love him to have the nice glossy black coat he is supposed to have.

I have seen Kristine and would recommend her generally. I would love to hear of a chiro in the inner west too.

My vet or vet nurse once commented that the recipe for satin balls was pancreatitis waiting to happen! I'd stick to lamb flaps, fatty human grade beef mince and chicken frames too - you can also add things like cottage cheese. I use a mix of beef mince, sweet potato, cottage cheese and flaxseed for my boy who I struggle to keep weight on.

Has the vet ruled out kidney issues resulting from walking the dog in hot/humid conditions? I have to ask - how on earth does he walk the crate around at night :D Is he able to stand up in it and turn around with lots of room - just wondering as Boo (being a dane) can stand in his crate without touching the top? If it is a smaller crate, perhaps he is not happy being confined to it hence seeming to be flatter?

Regardless of the outfit - ensure you have a damn good sports bra!

Send Pax (that's her username) from here message via PM (top right hand corner). She has kennels and the care offered is fabulous - she may be able to help. The care there far exceeds the cursory glance your dog gets at Hanrob! She does not take a lot of dogs at one time so they all get individual attention and outside time (not just the recommended 10 mins twice a day). She has had my dog (notoriously difficult breed to board) there since before Xmas and I have to say I have not really about him.

I would have no issues in participating in this study for the behavioural side. However, the added inclusion of a DNA sample for some other project by some other person for some unknown purpose turns me right off the idea. If I am being asked to participate in something then it is done with full disclosure (which Tammy has done for her project) and not with some other vague suggestion in the background. Makes me think there is an ulterior motive in trying to get the DNA via a back door method - why is that not a separate study with its own approval?

You have me well trained - I think I rung last time and organised an appointment time!

From my own previous threads, I believe I am the only person on DOL who has dealt with a dog with IMPA recently. I encourage your friend to join a Yahoo Group called CIMDA - it is an overseas group but there is a lot of knowledge there. I am afraid that my story does not end well and is the boy stormie alluded to. My story basically goes: Angs was born in Nov 06 and received the 3 vax protocol. I do not know the exact dates but I had ongoing issues with him being lame or having a limp from a young age. My usual vets were sure it was HD/ED etc and wanted to xray. I knew it was not that and declined. He continued to experience a swollen hock which he had several courses of rimadyl for. Around July 07 I woke one morning to him having a fever - shaking etc. Rushed to vet and he had a temp and massively elevated WBC. Treated for the day with anti-inflamms and ABs and temp came down. They never retested the WBC. Continued to experience issues with the hock but otherwise fine except he was a skinny dog. In Dec 2007 I changed vets after refusing to believe he only had a swollen hock. Within a couple of days he was diagnosed with AIHA (which primarily manifested in the hock) and we started on cortisone. We then trialled this in conjunction with Imuran. He seemed to respond and the hock would go down (swelling) but it would then flare up again. We were unable to force it into remission. He was on high doses of cortisone as he was 75kg (a dane). We managed like this for 9 months. Sorry - its still hurts to go into the details but basically he had a rapid decline and developed pancreatitis. We had to back off the drugs to treat that and doing that unmasked another issue - IMHA. I had to give him his wings as there was too much there for him to fight and he was already tired from it all. He was 22 months old.

I too would be very interested to hear about this Mutta.

I used to give it after food in something yummy to Angs to make sure it was taken. Remember to make sure there is always a decent supply of water as cortisone makes them drink more (and pee more) - polydipsia and polyuria (from memory).

You give them a tablet a day that you see live fleas on them. No use using capstar in isolation - you need to use the spot on treatment and treat the environment too.

There are none in the CBD. The only one I know of (unless one is held at Erskine Park) is Luci Ellem at Austral. Start time for evening class coincides with the M5 carpark...

Bokezu - Angs' collar was a bit large for me to carry around - but I have his tag from his collar (it was a Superman one engraved with his name to reflect his battles) on my key chain so it is always with me and as silly as it sounds, have found myself rubbing my thumb over it on a number of occasions and find it comforting.

I have just looked at WA/SA/VIC/NSW and QLD legislation (Acts and Regs). A couple of states have hairdressing specific legislation and there is no mention of animals in that. Have briefly scanned applicable Health Acts and cannot find mention. Have located publications from several local councils which state that animals shall not be kept or allowed in hairdressing premises - not sure the legislative basis for it as they do not support the statement. Suspect that there is something in legislation that allows local authorities to make laws with regards to the cleanliness and hygiene of hairdressing premises and it is under this power that the above statement arises.

Teething??

Google Golden Eagle. They have the original EP recipe (left it by the founder when he passed away) and they will be making as it used to be. I also understand they own some of the trademarks which is why EP are changing packaging, names etc. Not sure yet if the new food will come into Aus. EP was being pulled from Aus but apparently there was a large number of emails sent to them when word got out that they are supposedly continuing supply.

It's not pink - call yourself a reputable breeder??? I would have expected you could give me what I asked for - I want a refund of $3,284 - only paying 50% is fair right? *grin*

Oh Bokezu - I am so sorry that there was too much for Jordy to battle. Immune mediated diseases are real pieces of work. Run free Jordy. Massive hugs for you and your family.

I am not one for coated or small breeds. Can I order a dane in pink? It would even better if it came with an inbuilt saddle cos then I would not have to always answer the same question! Oooh - I like purple spots too!

My opinion is that there is fault on the part of the salon and the parent. In saying that I would rather get my hair done at a salon where there is a dog than where children are allowed to seemingly roam around unsupervised and unchecked. Gone through that experience once and even my hairdresser was getting pissed off but could not say anything as it was not her client. There are 3 hairdressers in my suburb that have dogs in them - a poodle, a SWF and a standard schnauzer. Not only that, the party supply place had 2 beagle x, newsagent has a rescue dog, the recycled clothing store has a border collie with 3 legs, clothing store has a toy poodle, magazine office has a couple of dallies and a lawyer's office had a DD.

Pretty extreme comment! Your dog is in a brand new environment and with new sounds and smells but keep socialising. Don't you react or act any differently when a dog barks and pup reacts - carry on per normal and be careful about your body language. If the puppy is picking up you are anxious (probably worrying about his reaction) then he will think he needs to worry about something and it must be related to the barking. When my dog was a pup he was quick to startle but would recovery straight away - I'd be more concerned if he reacted and then did not recover quickly.

I never worried about gloves with Imuran! We were considering Cyclosporin etc but we were beaten by time. I was iffy about using it because of risk of exposure for me and the cat too.