Tilly

My beautiful protector is now at peace. His health had declined over the weekend to the point that Sunday night I realised I had to let him go. I sat by his bedside overnight but with no improvements I made the final decision to end his suffering this morning. I feel like my heart had been ripped out of my body and I can't breath but I know he isn't suffering any more. Miss Me - But Let Me Go When I come to the end of the road, and the sun has set for me. I want no rites in a gloom filled room, why cry for a soul set free? Miss me a little but not too long, and not with your head bowed low. Remember the love that once we shared, miss me, but let me go. For this is a journey we all must take, and each must go alone. It's all part of the Master Plan, a step on the road to home. When you are lonely and sick of heart, go to the friends we know. Laugh at all the things we used to do, miss me, but let me go.

Keep the vinegar out of the reach of the puppies of they will be drinking that as well I thought it was bad enough when my doys got into a fresh bag of horse poo (friend dropped off a bag and my brother left it in the garage instead of putting it in the carport away from the dogs) ... at least they did it in the garage where I was able to hose it out. But it still has the horse poo smell!!!!

Very sorry to hear of your loss. I only ever met Suki once but she was very gorgeous. Run free little one ....

My boys get sent to their bed. A very ticked off look from mum and a stern point is enough to send them running for their beds. If they are consistently naughty then they are sent into the garage and the door is shut ... and they are completely ignored if I need to enter the garage while they are in detention.

We went to the vet again on Saturday for a follow-up. Thanksfully the infection has cleared up but the bad news is the size of the lump has not reduced in size (it might actually be a little bigger). This basically suggests it isn't an enlarged prostate but more then likely the tumour the vet suggested. His kidneys are failing but at this stage he is still battling on. He has a really good appetite and seems happy enough in himself. I will admit I am totally spoiling him with all his favourite foods. He is getting lots of cuddles and quality time. We will continue with the 4 weekly chemical castration (Tardak) and do what we can to make him comfortable.

My boys get brisket bones but maybe chicken necks, chicken frames, chicken wings or turkey necks ... If the dog tends to inhale their food then a few chicken necks frozen together and given frozen encourages them to actual chew them.

My baby is currently sleeping - he has had a quiet day but seems to be doing ok. He is sleeping a lot but seem bright enough. This morning he was bouncing around and took his meds before gobbling down his breakfast. He didn't eat it all but he had a good go. He has now had some cuddles and is now tucked up in his bed. I have to take him back to the vet on Thursday night for the chemical castration. I am half hoping for some improvement after that but deep down I know it will probably not make any real difference. I have finally been able to attach some photos... here are some of my favourites.

Unfortunately my boy would require a heavy sedation to have an ultrasound because of his security dog background. He wouldn't tolerate anyone touching him without sedation - the poor vet had a hard time with him tonight and he cleared the waiting room when we were leaving ... the poor dog was totally ticked off. The last time he was sedated he didn't do well and it took him about a week to recover from the effects. We made the decision then not to put him through that again unless absolutely necessary but the vet could not give us anything positive to warrant putting him through that. Four years ago I didn't think we would have him for another 12 months so I think we have done well. He has taken his meds and got his cuddles and has gone to bed. All that effort of barking and snarling at the vet has tired him out.

I am back from the vet ... and it isn't good news. My boy has a large hard fist size lump in the prostate area and an infection. The vet isn't really sure if the lump it is an enlarged prostate or a tumor. He is leaning towards a tumor. The only way to know for sure would be an ultrasound but I really don't want to put him through all that when either way the outcome isn't going to be good. The vet has put him on a course of antibiotics (Dicural) for the infection and he will get a injection on Thursday night as a chemical castration - which might help a bit if it is an enlarged prostate. The vet has no way of telling how long he has but did say he will go down hill quickly. At the moment he isn't in pain and is still eating well and happy so we will look at doing little things to help but at his age I can't justify putting him through anything invasive. I thought I would add some pictures of him .... but I can't get the stupid thing to work. I will try again later.

He has an appointment with the vet tonight. Before I left for work today he too a really big drink and then had a little pee before going back to bed. He is peeing but not in the usual amounts and he isn't squirting like he normally does (he is normally like a flood gate opening). I just didn't want to take him to the vet and have to make the decision about having him put to sleep. He still seems happy in himself and doesn't appear to be in any pain and he is still eating well. I am really hoping he might just have a little infection or something.

This morning when I went to feed the dogs I noticed he didn't squirt like he normally does. Normally there are puddles were he stands (particularly if I am slow putting the food dish down), where he eats and sleeps and he leaves a trail where he walks. This morning there would have been 5 or 6 drops rather then the large puddles. Does this mean his kidneys are failing? He is still the happy bouncy old man he normally is, he still gobbled down his breakfast. I am totally devastated, he had been doing so well and I thought I would have him a few months longer. I don't want to take him to the vet just yet ... can I wait a few days?

I usually wash our boys weekly in the hyrdobath ... not because they smell but they get so dirty. The water is black after bathing them and if I leave it to long between baths then they start scratching. I don't use conditioner because I don't shampoo - I use the fido's itch-free rinse (or what ever it is called).

My GSD went through the fussy eater stage ... I would put his bowl down for 15 to 20 minutes and if he didn't eat it then it was taken away and he didn't get anything else until the next meal. When he went a few days without eating but he soon realised he had to eat what he was given or go without. Now ... he is the first dog to lick the bowl clean. :D

I love the smell of Fido's puppy shampoo. I don't usually use shampoo and prefer to use Fido's Itch-Free rinse instead. Squirt also smells nice but I haven't used that for ages.

I find liver gives my boys the runs ... but they love cheerios/hot dogs. I usually boil them first (gets rid of some of the fat) then cool them off and chop them up. My boys usually go nuts for them.

My boys love their chicken frames ... in summer we give them straight from the freezer. We tend not to feed marrow bones because they splinter. Instead we give brisket bones (much softer for our old boy), turkey necks, chicken necks, chicken frames and chicken wings.

When we got our GSD as a pup - his breeder recommended Pedigree Breeder Formula - Growth. They also recommended feeding raw chicken wings, necks, whole carcasses, mince, brisket bones, vegetables, rice and pasta. Because our other dogs were being fed Eukanuba and doing well on it - we put the GSD on the puppy variety. He did really well on it and is now a very healthy 60kg boy ... he has always been a big boy We have recently changed both dogs to Nutro and they are also doing well on it. The reason I changed from Eukanuba to Nutro was our elderly rottie started dropping weight and condition - this was to do with his age. The Nutro seems to be keeping his weight/condition stable and has improved his coat etc.

I wish my boys would eat plain milk arrowroot biscuits. Our GSD was working one night when a taxi driver gave him one of those biscuits from Le Snak packs ... he spat it out and waited until the next one had the cheese spread on it Another of his favourites are the jam tartlets... Our rottie has a thing for Ice Vo-Vo biscuits and curried egg sandwhiches

Tonymc ... you must not be doing it right. My boy can apprehend a purse snatcher and stop any bad people Unfortunately I haven't been able to get them to bath themselves and be nice to cats ....

They are like feeding lollies to the kids. My boys get them ... but it isn't a every day thing nor is it an every week thing. They love them but it is usually only 1 or 2 for a special reason. I usually give them a nice big bone as a "treat" ....

I brought a 6 pack of Advantix from my local pet shop (they don't sell animals) a few weeks ago - I paid $78 ... only to go online and find the same item for $20 less. Now I like to support my local vet and pet shop but the price difference is far too much. I now only buy from them when I really need the item and can't wait for delivery. I brought my last lot of Advantix from the Petecular at the RNA and got it for just under $50. I am sure they don't sell it at a loss.

We feed our boys lots of chicken frames, chicken necks and brisket bones. We don't feed marrow bones because they tend to splinter and our elderly rottie can't chew on them - the brisket bones are softer. I have never seen constipation caused by the bones but occassionally our rottie will get smelly gas if he eats too many bones. I would suggest you just watch the dog - if you find the bones are causing constipation then just cut back.

I would take him to obedience as normal and keep things normal. If you start become afraid around other dogs he will also pick this up. Just act as though nothing happened but at the same time exercise the same caution you would in introducing him to an unknown dog. If he has some good gentle doggy friends then get them together and go from there.

I don't usually use shampoo on my boys but when I do it is Fido's puppy and kitten shampoo (I love the smell). Normally we just use the Fido's Free-Itch rinse in the hydrobath. Once they are dry we then spray them with Fido's coat conditioner and give them a good brush. My favourite was a coat conditioner that smelt like bubblegum but we can't seem to find it anymore (not sure what it was called).

We normally don't have fleas but of late I take my GSD for a walk at a forrest and I believe he managed to pick up a few fleas. A few weeks ago we noticed our rottie was starting to scratch and I noticed a small red "scrap" on his lower back. Because he had a fall a few days before we initially put the redness down to his accident. A few days later we found fleas Both dogs were washed in a the hydrobath using a flea/tick rinse (Fido's Itch Free Rinse or something like that). We then treated the yard with the wash water and malawash. We have basically drenched the yard every week - particularly the "holes" and the favourite sleeping places. About a week later we bathed them again. Last weekend I treated them both with Advantix and they will both get another bath this weekend. Normally we don't get fleas but because one dogs leaves the yard more then the other we will continue to treat him with Advantix - that way he won't bring anything home. We used to alway use Frontline but have found that for some reason it doesn't seem to work as well as it used to. Some vets even recommend the use of a flea collar over some of the other methods. Malawash and Fidos rinse are usually our preferred method.