Tilly

My boys have eaten lots of stuff ... my older boy stole half a roll still in the plastic with the little metal thing on the end. It usually took about 3 days to come out the other end. Thankfully everything has eventually passed through without issue. I no longer stress (as much) when they eat plastic stuff but if they are generally off, go off their food or seem to be straining when toileting then I would be definately be taking them off to the vet.

perth_girl - I hear what you are saying and completely agree. I had the same dramas looking for my last 2 dogs and can completely understand why people go to pet shops or through the paper to get their pups. I had called breeders and the biggest majority never answered their phones or returned calls ... so I tried emailing breeders and again most never responded - and the ones who did respond were extremely un-helpful and some were down right rude. I was upfront about what qualities I wanted in my pup and about the life the pup would have (I wanted a working dog) but it seems because I asked the price that was a bad thing. I had a budget of $1,500 for my pup and didn't want to waste someones time if their pups price range stated at $2,000. But because I couldn't find any mention either through a breeders website or advertisement about price - of course I had to ask. I can see both sides of the issue ...

Sorry ... but the breeder already sounds like a BYB ... why would a registered breeder be selling pups without papers.

When our beloved rottie passed in 2007 ... I had planned to scatter his ashes but when the time came I just couldn't let him go. We ended up with a Solid Timber Memorial Cabinet like the one pictured below - we got to pick the poem, photo and the enscription on the plaque. They also provided a lock of his hair as well.

RL1 - just give him time and keep the routine the same. As hard as it is don't cling to him and just try to enjoy him. It was weeks before my boy (GSD) started to return to normal after the loss of our rottie - he had stopped eating and just layed on his bed most of the time. When he started to return to "normal" he even seemed to take on some of the personality of our rottie.

Just curious - but what weight is she? My GSD pup at 8 weeks was 6kg (dehydrated) ... so at about 10 weeks he was about 10 to 11kg. I would expect somewhere between 7 to 9 kg but realistically I would be looking at her body condition

We use the Fido Fre-Itch rinse on our dogs (hydrobath) which has a 3 day tick protection and then spread the water out over the areas the dogs lay in ... maybe giving dogs a bath on entry or exit with something similar might help ... If the ticks are in the area then there isn't really too much you can do to stop them ... but if you let owners know and make tick protection part of entry conditions (like vaccinations)

My brother sprayed around the outside of our house with a outdoor surface spray to spiders, wasps etc and basically all the geckos disappeared.

I used Pets in Peace for my very beautiful Rottie in June 2007 ... and they were fantastic. I had rang them before the trip to the vet and organised a time for them to come - giving myself some time to bring him home so our other dog could also get to say his goodbyes. They arrived at the requested time and the woman was absolutely fantastic. We were both crying as he was loaded into the car. I will be using them again for all my dogs.

Given the information in the report - then yes I believe having the dogs declared DD is enough. It doesn't appear that the dogs have any history of being agressive. I don't see how destroying the dog is going to bring Gemma back and the restrictions on the dogs now they are declared DD will prevent them from bring off-leash in public again so if the owner is a responsible owner then it won't happen again.

OT - I remember many years ago I was at a Christmas party of one of my mum's work colleagues. There was a number of kids running around and they were in and out of the above ground pool (which was fenced but the gate was propped open by one of the parents so they didn't need to keep opening the gate). I was half watching the kids laughing and having a good time when I decided to go over to the pool - to this day I really don't know what made me go over ... but imagine my horror to find the youngest little girl was floating face down in the pool. Thankfully I had recently done a CPR course and grabbed her out out of the pool and started calling for help. Those couple of minutes of CPR seemed to go on for ever and the whole time the parents were still sitting at the table drinking and laughing not registering their childs like was almost cut short. The parents finally came over as the ambulance was arriving - they objected to the ambulance being called and they were arguing between themselves as to who should go with the little girl - because neither wanted to leave the party (and the drinking).

I was at my parents place when my then young dog went to take off after my mum's cat ... only problem was he was on a leash at the time. According to my mum I actually went flying through the air. I ended up face down on the ground ... dislocated shoulder, cracked bone in my elbow, sprained wrist, dislocated finger ... and a few grazes.

A child can drown in as little as an inch of water (enough to cover mouth and nose if they have fallen over and become unconscious) - so any water bowl can result in a child drowning. Buckets are more common for little ones as they can end up-side down in the bucket and unable to get out - so things like nappy buckets and water buckets for animals.

I don't normally refer to the dogs being my kids ... but I do often say the youngest is a "mumma boy" ....

I love Vet Basix antiseptic fly repellent cream .... my guys had really bad fly strike and this was absolutely fantastic. I was bathing the crusty bits (dried blood) off the ear and smearing a little bit over the area and it cleared them up really quickly. I had to also pick the sticky little buggers off while trying to bath the ears - the flys were in plague proportions that year ... I got in early this year with fly tapes, automatic sprays around the veranda and fly traps (the smelly ones) around the fence line.

We put a tarp over the clothes line to create some extra shade ...

My guys absolutely love them ... I buy a couple of kilo's and freeze them individually and just keep them in the freezer (zip lock bag) for a bed time snack.

I love the dogs who forget which leg they are supposed to be limping on ...

My older boy was like that after he was sick ... I spent a lot of time with him and helped him out so he didn't over do it. He milked it for all it was worth even refusing to hop up on his bed without assistance. Every now and again he won't jump straight into my car but will put his front legs up and then looks over his should with a "well!!" look on his face. Silly me would oblige and lift his back half up ... only to later find out from the neighbours he had jumped the temporary 1.2 metre fence (to fence off the hedge to give it a change to grow) from a sitting position.

When I am driving to Lure Coursing and as we enter the car park there is someone taking their time to park ... so the dog leans over from the back seat and puts his paw on the horn and stares intently at the other car

I make up little meatballs using a mix of minces (pork, beef, chicken, turkey etc), sardines (without all the liquid) and a raw egg or two (depending on the quantity) - some times I add grated/pulped veges. I then roll the mixture into little balls and freeze them until completely solid. Because of the small size they defrost quickly so I pop them straight into the treatbag from the freezer. The other is thin strips/pieces of chicken slowly roasted in the oven with a light spray of olive oil ... roast slowly and then freeze until required (I find my boys prefer it cooked rather then raw)

I am a non smoker but my father was a heavy smoker during my childhood ... I have since developed an allergy to cigarettes/smoke and react with anything from a mild shortness of breath to a full blown rash and respiratory distress. It isn't just the smoke itself but what if left after someone has had a cigarette eg I will get a reaction if I get in a lift after a smoker has been in it - even if they have left the lift. I get a reaction from walking down the street were the smoker may have moved on but the scent still lingers. I get extremely pissed off when I see parents smoking around children (particularly small babies) but that is nothing compared to my reaction when someone smokes around my dogs …

Rowan is wonderful - so hopefully he will get to the bottom of the issue.