*Avanti*

She is! Great photo too as well as the ones of Dusk. Thanks for posting.

I'm sorry for your loss KKDD. Run free Rachel

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Those things are still on the cards, I'm intersted to try the immunotherapy. Antihistamines don't seem to help at all in her case. At the moment I am trying to build her strength up a little. She is underweight now and seems generally a bit frail and has been since the pancreatitis. She also is due to have a broken molar extracted and I am dreading having to have her put under an anesthetic atm. Grass change is not feasible, we might move in the longer term instead. Anyway enough about us, love the other pics too, and the smiles! .

Whoops, double post!

Both of my dogs (Labradors) have what seems to be a contact allergy to the Kikuyu grass in our back yard (still being investigated). One gets it worse than the other and she ended up on long-term prednisolone, only .25mg a day, and with that she still had slight signs of the allergy but nothing nearly as bad as it had been. I had a constantly crying and scratching dog before this so I resorted to it for the 'quality of life' issue. Many other things had been tried but nothing worked as well as the pred. It felt to me a bit like being caught between the devil and the deep blue sea as on the pred. she was becoming overweight and had become like a junkie to food, even raiding the house when and if she could. She had other symptoms from it too, it seemed to effect her breathing. I do not want to scare people but this is what happened to her; After two years on this low dose she came down with pancreatitis and nearly died. I no longer give her the pred., she is on a special diet for the rest of her life, still not 100% in her health. As for the grass I have been forced to fence them off from it. It is far from ideal but now their territory is an area of concrete and an area of pebbled garden. We have a huge lawn and they cannot run on it . She is seeing a dermatoligist but it is a slow process for us as we are still getting over the hospital bills from the pancreatitis. One can only do the best they can with what they have. ETA PS Zayda, what a handsome boy!

One of my dogs had pancreatitis (suspected cause was a long-term low dose of cortisone for skin allergy). She is now on a diet of cooked kangaroo meat with mashed pumpkin and potatoes. I feel she is a bit thin though and that has me worried.

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One of my dogs is on a diet that includes pumpkin. I have been cooking pumpkins whole in the oven in a tray of water and then removing the seeds from them later. This makes it a lot easier to process. I was doing that today and wondered as the seeds are not so big (usually Kent and Butternut pumpkins) whether I really need to remove them or could they eat them as well. As it is I mash the skin up with the pulp. Any thoughts/info whether the seeds would be ok to include?

Thanks Troy. On this topic I have a bit of a dilemma about the eating of grass with one of my dogs. She is allergic to the Kikuyu lawn and I have had to fence this off from her for now. She can reach some of it in a few spots through the fence and likes to eat it. If she has a contact allergy to the grass I am not comfortable with her eating it. I suppose my question is partly “is there a (dietary) substitute to grass?" and “Would a contact allergy be the same if something is ingested?” She still has some redness on her paws but is nowhere nearly as badly affected now she is off the lawn.

I had a landlord like that, he removed every tree and plant I put in after I moved out . I don't know what to suggest but I sympathise with your situation. A few thoughts: - Maybe a back burn of the grass when the weather is cooler. - Spray with a safe insecticide that will break down? - Could the landlord be asked to deal with the problem?

That's interesting newfsie. My old Labrador used to rub himself on the wormwood bush (I know that repels some insects like moths) and never had flea problems. White/grey leaved plants like wormwood and lavender cope fairly well with dry conditions too once established.

That's a very kind offer dyzney . Also I think the pup would be better treated locally so he doesn't have to travel far and for ongoing treatment. The Lort Smith require more payment upfront these days and are a lot more stringent in asking for commitments requiring direct bank debit plans or even direct billing from Centrelink from welfare recipients. I believe this is because in the past they ran into strife with too many people not paying their bills. I heard that in general they are in big need of more funds in recent times. An organisation that does a marvelous job!

I found the trailer for the American version. I know an elderly lady who adores Richard Gere and absolutely loves dogs so thanks it has offered a great tip for a Christmas present for her. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FaS37E3gKOU

:D

I've always steered clear of concentrated washing powders for my dogs' blankets. I use shampoo and eucalyptus oil, or sometime Lux flakes.

Sorry she didn't make it ellz, you gave her your best. RIP little Purple.

Too sad, RIP beautiful boy .

RIP Bo, run free now girl

My condolences, RIP beautiful BG

Welcome to DOL Elle. Unless you have previous experience I'd advise you against a lab puppy with a toddler. Labrador puppies can be a handful and very boisterous as well as big chewers and diggers. They grow out of it but it takes a lot of patience and often years. If you are set on a Labrador maybe consider adopting an adult dog that is already known to be good with kids. This is only a suggestion but is there a rescue/re-homing organisation in NT you could approach? I also think it is best if you let your dog live inside for some of the time as part of the family. You can restrict them to certain areas of the house to reduce the dog hair and muddy paw issues that might occur. All the best with it, whatever you do. (ETA minor changes.)

I'm so sorry to hear this Labsrule, what a beautiful boy and tribute. God speed Fitzy ;) and big hugs to you. .

Could it be a secondary infection to an allergy of some kind ie to food/grass/plants? Just a thought. My Labrador is seeing a canine dermatologist for an allergy and he explained she had infections and fungus etc under the skin as secondary symptoms ie caused by/a consequence of the allergy.

I've got to treat my dogs with Revolution. I have some for large dogs that treats 20.1-40kg. One dog is 25kg, the other 30kg; my question is (as I am not happy to overdose on chemicals) do I use all of each tube on each dog or try and proportion it some way? PS One of my dogs is seeing a dermatologist for a skin allergy. Previously I had been using Sentinel Spectrum for fleas but he says that is not enough to eliminate flea allergy as the problem (along with all the other things we have been testing). For fleas he wants me to use the Revolution.

Sorry for your loss, such a terrible way to lose a dog. Be kind to yourself. RIP Bindi.