Tilly

When we had our rottie pts I had rang my local vet in the morning explaining his time had come ... and they couldn't possible fit us in until about 6pm that night. I told them he couldn't wait that long and that I would find another vet. I then made another call to another vet and their response was to bring him in when ever I wanted. I made a tentative time. Just before heading to the vet I rang the funeral home and organised for them to collect him from home a good 2 hrs later so our other dog could have some time with him. The staff were absolutely loves and made it as painless as possible even helping me carry him in and out of the car. That night at about 6pm I get 2 phone calls - the first was from the other vet we went too just checking to see if I was doing ok ... the second was from our local vet asking me if I was turning up for my appointment!!!! A couple of days later I received a lovely hand written card from the other vet ... and a vaccination reminder from my local vet!!!!

I would of asked her when was the training for "customer service" ...

Poor baby looks absolutely miserable ... maybe he is just milking it for some serious sympathy (which I hope you are giving him) ...

Pro: Double the love Cons: Double the food bill Double trouble - not sure who is leading who astray but they get up to so much mischief when they are together.

If Tango is anything like my older GSD dog ... be prepared for lots of bruises at their head height - and a knee capping or two. You soon learnt to get out of the way when he was doing zoomies as it would end in tears - mine usually. My boy didn't seem to realise their head was now bigger and often tried to squeeze between me and wall ... naturally I gave way first. He had no trouble eating with his E collar on ... in fact he used to push all the food along the flood until it was in a pile and then put his cone over it to protect it from the other dog while he was eating. Our rottie on the other hand ... didn't move a muscle when we put it on him (he had 2 lots of eye surgery). He was still sitting in the same place he was when it was put on him - and he refused to walk while it was on. We ended up having to leave it off him and thankfully he never bothered with the stitches.

What comes out the other end is very tiny ... if he wasn't absorbing his food properly wouldn't I expect it to be coming out the other end? He does get the squits if given dry or processed food but generally he has small firm little nuggets ... the dachy next door has much bigger ones. Edited: I will get him checked out by a vet to be sure ...

He is almost 15 months old ... and rake thin. He has always been on the thin side ... he has a greyhound body.

It is a lot of food but he is just skin and bone ... I have finally managed to get a little weight on him so his hip bones are not sticking out (as badly as they were). He just burns so much energy running around and with the cold nights ... he will just drop it again overnight. The food bill is dreadful at the moment. If only I could drop weight as easierly as he does. Our old boy only needs to smell food and he puts on weights ... more like me I have started feeding them a second meal at night during winter and they get a few lamb flaps at bed time ....

My youngest GSD has vomitted a couple of times over the last 2 weeks (4 times so far). Normally they get fed between 5am and 8am (when I sleep in on the weekends). On the couple of mornings that he hasn't been fed by 9am ... I noticed he has vomitted up a watery frothy puddle. One day there was some grass in it but otherwise it is just watery and frothy. Do dogs throw up if they are really hungry? He always acts like he is starving even though he is going through about 3 to 4kg of raw food a day (over 2 meals) He appears to be absolutely perfectly healthy, has loads of energy, eats well and perfectly "normal" ... well as normal as the brat can be.

Friends went to the cape with a couple of kids and a 4X4 camper-trailer. No real issues. Probably could get to more out of the way places with the trailer. They also took a couple of tents for the kids for when they got sick of each other - bit more space. Personally I would prefer a camper-trailer over a caravan...

One of the ideas they gave us was for hanging up Kongs. Basically you freeze the kong with a bit of string in it (like a candle) and then tie the other end of the string to the clothesline (or something) - then as the ice melts in the kong ... it will suddenly drop down some time later in the day (string still attached to the clothesline). Edited: Because my spelling is almost as good as my typing...

I have given my boys dried lamb necks - they were rather crumbly but the boys loved them. They didn't splinter and seemed rather soft. Dried roo tails are harder. One of my boys will eat most of it while the other seems to just pull the meat off the bone.

They are both soo cute The first photo looked like a dead rat

I went to the education talk on enriching your dogs life ... it has really got me thinking about how boring it can be for the dogs left in the backyard home alone for the day while I am at work. My boys have some aussie dog toys such (Home Alone and Bundge Chook). There is also coke bottles with treats inside as well as frozen treats such as an ice-cream contain with treats (or even fish) frozen into a block of ice that they either chew or wait until the ice melts. There is also scatter feeding and hiding food in various places around the yard. I use the kongs with treats and a diluted salt reduced chicken stock frozen inside. I notice the boys don't tend to play with their toys until they squeak or I am there to play with them ... So, what ways to you enrich your dogs life - either with them or when you are away for the day? I am looking for some more ideas

My boys absolutely love a run in the rain and the mud ... even better when they come running back to me so they can shake the mud off (all over me of course) before going to find some more!!!! I am not sure who is wetter at the end of the walk ... but usually I have the hydrobath warming while we are away so we all get a nice warm bath when we get back.

If you have lots of stuff to carry then maybe something like this

We have washed a leather lead for the same issue. I soaked it in clean water - did this a few times with fresh water and then hung in our carport to dry (out of direct sun but with a nice breeze) ... when it dried it was very stiff. We then used the leather oil ... but I found rubbing it didn't seem to be getting the oil inside. So I had a brainwave .... I put some of the oil stuff in an ice-cream container and submerged the lead until all the bubbles stopped coming up (a couple of hours). We then hung the lead up by the clip and put a container under the other end and left it a couple of days. After that we then left it outside on a warm day (hung from the clothes line) and just kepts wiping it down ... it is still going strong nearly 10 years later.

I think it was just him and his personality. I have always loved the big boxy rotties and he was definately that but he also had this unconditional love just for me. He was my brothers work dog but I was the one he chose to love - he wouldn't have a bar of my brother once he stopped working. He used to get to excited to see me once I got home that nothing else mattered to him. My two now seem more interest in knowing if I have food for them. He would have protected me with his life without a second thought - he always stepped forward when he felt I was at risk. He had the most sweet loving nature which he seems to save just for me. I even get a little teary every time I think of him and know he won't be waiting for me at home.

I have two GSD boys and while I really love them (despite their best efforts to drive me insane) ... I don't think I really love them as much as I did our rottie that died just over 2 years ago. He was definately my heart dog.

Some links to recipes ... http://www.all-natural-dog-treat.com/homem...at-recipes.html http://www.bullwrinkle.com/Assets/Recipes/Recipes.htm

I currently have 2 GSD and they are both feed on BARF. Previously I was feeding Eukanuba but I didn't like it (long story). I was planning on switching my older boy to another brand and then we got a pup (now 14 months old). The pup was fed on raw by the breeder but I was planning on feeding Royal Canin or Artimus. When I tried to switch the pup to a dry food he constantly had the runs. I initially gave the pup the BARF patties but have now switched to Canine Country ... both dogs are thriving.

to you and your injured pup. Hope he makes a quick recovery. I can understand what you are going through ... my boys have had an almight fight a couple of times. Our older boy went for the younger one not so long ago and I had to physically drag him off the pup. Normally a verbal correction was enough to pull him into line but this morning he just went full on. Thankfully the younger one only had a few holes in his face and some bruising to his leg and shoulder - he was a little sore and sorry for himself but made a full recovery. Normally I keep my boys seperated unless under supervision but for the last 2 days I have come home to both dogs being in the same yard and curled up asleep together!!! Just can't figure them out sometimes. I probably spent an hour this morning making repairs to the yard so they can't get in together but I guess I will see how that went when I get home this afternoon.

You are probably wasting your time but at least by writing the letter you are doing something to help with the dog - and if the worst happens you know you have done something. Sometimes we need to make a little effort even if it isn't appreciated. I have a house next door to me which is a rental. It has recently gone on the market and was talking to the agent selling the place. I wanted a tree in the neighbour’s yard gone because not only is there a risk of the roots damaging the sewage pipes but it is dropping its leaves and seeds in my yard and I have had enough. I ended up getting the owners permission to send my gardener to the rental property to remove the tree and clean the gutters along that side of the house - at my expense. Everyone thinks I am nuts paying for it but I want the tree gone, it isn't going to happen unless I make it happen and by cleaning the gutters it might stops their gutters from overflowing and flooding my yard.

I use 4Legs ... they are not a kibble but they are not particularly messy. I buy a packet and then spead them on a tray and freeze them. They then go into a sealed container in the freezer until I need them.

When my boy was a little pup he had the runs for a while (I had tried to switch him to a dry food) he ended up getting chicken and pumpkin for a while. At night while I was trying to cook his dinner he would usually be "absolutely starving" ... so I often gave him a carrot to chew on while I was waiting for chicken/pumpkin to cool down enough for him to eat. My mother used to think he was strange the way he loved his carrots. He usually eats anything I give him as long as isn't a dry food or processed doggy treat - he definately prefers vegetables (raw or cooked), mince and raw bones.