malsam

I have a fully growth dog that have pad pads still red and smooth unlike the rest which is black and rough already. There is only this small section of the paw pad that is still like a new born pup paw pads which makes me wonder is it genetics or was it because I let them wear shoes during runs? Any 1 washes the paw pads or take any special care or stuff to maintain them? I hate it when they go around bare feet and come home with a paw full of colours and stains that cannot be washed away easily and tends to stick on.

wow...that is a very difficult question to answer. Usually what I do is to do estimation and trial. For eg. you start with a reasonable amount. What is a reasonable amount can be just what seems to be ok to you and then you just want to get a starting point. Feeding whatever is in the bag is a good starting point. You don't have to worry too much about too much fats if you are on raw and exercising. Chances for you to get a fat dog on raw is only possible unless your dog sleeps everyday and not moving while you load them with animal fats. Even so, the dog's body will adjust its metabolic rate and burn off that excess fats and be a little more active around the house if you keep them indoor all days. If they have free access to the outdoors, they just continue to chase that squirrel or other dogs longer. Anyway, what you want to do is to estimate how much fats you have included in everyday meal. If after a week you find your dog getting fatter both visually and scientifically. i.e weight them and use the rubbing your fingers at the layer of fat at the ribs, then you can conclude its too much or not. Scientifically speaking, if your diet is too much and the dog are storing a lot of them, then you should be able to see it within a week or so. Because by theory, dog uses energy from food in the order of carbo, protein, fatty acids (i.e fats when unused and being stored in the body) respectively. So any adjustment of the other 2 will also make the fatty acids stored up as fats or being used up as energy.

Sorry to be a devil's advocate, not all dogs are ok with EPO, some dogs will have allergic reaction to that. Read someone posted in other forum about this reaction. Do test out first before feeding them.

oh we eat from the same source...so no complains from any1...unless they dun mind a more expensive 1 which of course my dogs also will get it

I think that make sense also. A book I read recently also suggest to blend a mixture of oil for the best source for absorption. Since I'm providing variety of meat and vegi for my dogs, how come never think of using a variety of oil as well? I think Udo brand also have 1 of these...but they are for humans right? I dunno about the right ratio for dogs though.

hmm...then why every books says fish oil is the 1? I faintly remember Dr B's book mention there are other vitamins that can help in coat and skin also. Anyone can recall the details?

hmm...so that means for coat and skin care, GLA is the 1? Not EPA and DHA as what vets suggested?

so that means only omega 6 and Flax can help in coat?

u most probably like to both shears and scissors...which means the longer and shorter version. For toys, u most likely wanted the scissors while the bigger dogs you will prefer the 7" or longer. The longer the shears, the more cutting power you will have and of course the more careful you should be. A shorter scissor can be useful on the shorter body parts of the larger dogs also. Since I dun groom professionally, I keep a scissor good enough for my toy as well as my bigger dogs. U may also want to consider a curved shear...which of course comes in different lengths as well.

oil wise it will be best to give them cold pressed type. All other oils are not so gd to be consume for both humans and dogs also. My place don't have sardines but when I buy, I always get them in spring water.

I noe UDO brand has a blend of omega rich oil than contains 3. 6 and 9. I didn't recall that dogs need Omega 6 as supplements also though.

I use both, and only 1 type on my dogs. My flax only dog have very good results..but after many years. The rest of those that are on fish oil dun seems to get improvement...but it didn't worsen also. I do noe that fish oil is more easily available which is why Vit E needs to be given. For flax, I usually dun give extra Vit E anymore.

I used bee pollen because that time I saw an article on bee pollen and know that its gd generally....be it anti-bacterial, protein, vits & mineral etc. But I also saw somewhere that it will add some sheen to the coat which I wanted my dogs to have also after seeing some collies coats. In any case they are all natural and health promoting, I dun add a lot just small amt for supplementation.

i'm trying the bee pollen now. Its in capsule form and I just sprinkle over their food. So far a week plus already, dun see any difference yet. Royal jelly are the honey from the queen bee right?

this is exactly the problem I heard from other kees owner in my area which is why there are groomers suggesting to me they have 3 layers of coat as I posed in this thread also : http://www.dolforums.com.au/index.php?show...p;#entry2183711 have you try furminator or similar kind of stuff? I tried 1 on my sammy before it really remove a lot of undercoat with minimal effort but u dun want to force in to have the outer coat remove as well.

sounds like indigestion to me. Have you try probiotics, yogurt etc?

I recently met a very respectable groomer and she told me that I should be using slicker on my double coat dog. Neverthless, I have been told by thousands of people that pin brush is the only thing u should use. I can see the convenience of using a slicker at the same time get issues from using pins as well. Can I have an idea how many users here are advocates of each and why would u prefer yours over the others?

if your dog shake for no apparent reason, then it could be some crawlers is attached to the body...not necessarily ticks or fleas, just some irritation. The road you are taking for daily walks could have irritable insects that sticks inside the dense coat. The path I take is very humid and dense and some irritating insects tends to come near them which they will shake off also. Try line brushing to find out. Otherwise it could be a muscular issue which u want to take to your vet for a look out.

pups are not suitable, see label.

do let us know what causes them...I have a list of explanation for that behaviour from my dogs as well.

for me, its simple, I bought all the leads type in the market and try it on myself, yes, a human neck. I actually find the prong is most humane (at least for me) because most of the others is suffocating while prong is not. There is only an associated fear because of the blunt pins that is constantly on the neck but for thicker coated dogs, this is even less effective for pain also. My philosophy for choosing doggie stuffs is, if I dun even like it, I won't use it on my dogs as well. Try it, and see whether u agrees with me or not. PS : try it as in using the correct way of testing it.

Dove is one of the more mention human brands that dog owners use though, pantene is another.

Dog shampoo manufacturer will give u this as an expanded explanation : Because dogs dun sweat through their body, so their skin and hair PH value is never acidic, which u dun need alkaline shampoo. Humans does, so generally speaking, our shamp and cond are usually alkaline, to neutralise the acidity created from our sweat. Dogs shamp and cond are usually acidic however, so it balances off with the alkaline ph in the dog's body. Hence u cannot swap both and use. I've used both human sham and con on dogs and dogs shamp and cond on humans. The former no problem but the latter big time! I have pimples popping out from my head which seems to suggest that the shamp and cond ingredients or chemical content is not correct for humans. Now if u ask me is it ok then? I don't know also. I only know my $30+ human cond works so much better even compared to a $40+ dog cond. Shampoo wise, all about the same though. The explanation for the dog not able to detect any forms of skin or coat issues can be explained with the following reasonings : 1. The shampoo is of natural ingredients. i.e if the shamp is of good, natural, not too much chemical formulation, then I guess almost all animals can use it without artificial after effects. 2. The dog is still young and have a strong body. Which explains the dog can detox or have a skin and coat condition that is able to negate the ill effects of human shamp which may or may not do them harm. 3. The sham is of neutral ph. Most well researched, organic or medicated shamp for sensitive skin consumers are ph neutral or are mild enough for almost any skin. I'm sure human's shamp and cond industry is much more well researched than the canine equivalent and won't be surprise they are back with more safety ingredients than our dogs. But I do agree that human sham and cond has better ingredients than dog's.

ya, my relative has a pom that does that also.

there is, use flea comb or those finer space comb that women use it on the eyebrows. When it get stuck around those areas, u will want to comb it off before applying eye solution which contain some aloe juices. It moisturises the eye area and keep it dry for further staining.