Miss Monster

Thanks guys. We need to teach the feral some manners - as soon as we put a collar and lead on him and he pulls like a Trojan!

I'm going tonight as a new intake to sign on Bakari our 9 month old Ridgeback. Just wondering if there would be any DOLer's there?

I have a 9 month old wussy! He will toilet under the patio if it's raining

Do you have any preferences on short or long coat?

So Sorry WLOR! Run free Jabali!

No it's raw. I thought it might be too salty. think i might just pass on it... Thanks guys

Mum just gave me a vacuum packed salt reduced silverside that is past it's used by date (got shoved up the back of the fridge and forgotten) Can I give this to the dogs????

4 paws - Ridgebacks are generally around 35-40kg but my two are about an inch taller than standard so tend to weigh a bit more. Meisha is Bakari's mum so he must've got his height from her. :D Thanks Laffi, I knew DC had posted some good info but there is sooo many threads I couldn't find anything! Canine Country is where I get my eaglepack from - have you tried his mince mixes? I was thinking of getting some of them to vary the meat part a bit. I read somewhere else that you shouldn't just use mince for the meat part? And the chicken frame mince - would that be considered a bone or meat meal I know once I grasp the concept it'll be easier but so much info to digest! Thanks Miranda I might start by cutting to one dry meal and feed pray for the other until they get used to the foods and I'm organised enough to have what I need there

Ok so I have 2 ridgebacks, Bakari 8 month old and Meisha 5.5 years old. At the moment Bakari is on Eagle Pack Holistic Large Breed Puppy (6-7 cups/day) and Meisha is on Hills Large Breed Adult (4 cups/day). At the moment we are going through a 15kg bag of each of these every 3-4 weeks so it's costing at least $200 a month to feed them! I do occasionally give them a chicken carcess/lamb shank for one meal (feed twice a day), or add a few sardines to their dry and I want to start giving them more of the variety to cut down the food bill. I can get: Human Beef mince 5kg $25 (this is the mince we eat as well) Chicken frame mince $1/kg Chicken frames 5 for $1 Lamb Shanks 400g for about $2-3 each Tins Tuna 400g for $2-3 Sardines 125g for $0.60 Bakari doesn't like Kangaroo and he isn't a fan of liver either. Meisha will pretty much eat anything. I'm going to try to add a few slivers of Liver to Bakari's dinner to get him used to it. Question is they are both around 42kg and I've seen the 2.5%-4% of their bodyweight as a guide to feeding them. So that would be about 1kg - 1.75kg of food per day each. I feed them twice a day so that's roughly 600g each per meal so can someone suggest a good menu plan/balance for them. I'm happy to give them a bit of dry with the other stuff. I just don't know whether the weight guide is ok when you are comparing bones/minced meat/tin tuna/offal (which I've read not to give them too much). Any suggestions would be appreciated! Thanks, Ren

Are the collars poisonous/dangerous if the dogs get them in their mouths though? When they are playing and biting the others neck?

I just had a look as someone else mentioned in on a thread and my boy gets really lethargic and goes off his food for a day or so with the advantix. A bottle of 100 tablets were about $70 and you have to give 1 per 10kg of body weight on alternate days.... So for my 2 x 40kg dogs I would need 8 on each alternate day = 56/fortnight! ouch! Someone else mentioned Permoxin which you can spray or use it as a rinse when you bath them? I might have to look into that instead?

I had Bakari on Advantix but he gets really funny after I put it on him - goes glazy eyed, really lethargic so I'm a bit loathe to use it on him now...

Thanks Cavandra. I ended up ringing the vet and he said 2 tablets for a dog her size and just to watch her breathing - if it starts getting laboured to take her in to get a steriod shot.

My girl came in this morning with little lumps all over her side. Looks like an allergic reaction - may have rubbed up against weeds when she went for a pee this morning - she's only just got them this morning. I have claryntyne here - can I give this to dogs or is there a better anti histimine that can be given? She's 41kg so how much would I give her just 1 tablet?

Sounds great - It would make it easier. After working out I spend about $50/week on dry food for my 2 ridgy's I'm looking for something cheaper! Looked into the Barf patties but it would be even more expensive and I'm totally confused about supplements etc to do it myself. I've been interested in prey/raw but don't quite know where to start.

Oh No Choppa - I'm soooo sorry for your loss. RIP gorgeous boy!

Breed and age: Rhodesian Ridgeback, 7 months old Product name, size and cost: Eagle Pack Holistic Large Breed Puppy, 7.5kg, $67 Daily amount fed: 7 cups How long does the bag last: not quite 2 weeks Average cost of feeding/week: at least $35.00 Anything to add: Occasionally add some sardines, raw minced chicken carcasses, beef mince (same stuff we eat), raw egg,

Hey BP, I have an adjustable one 1m to about 2.5m I think - He doesn't just walk next to me - his feet do but his nose is to the ground the minute we are out the gate - then he puts the shoulders in to lean to the tree, post etc I don't mind him sniffing it's just the pulling to get there - if it was sniffing on loose lead it'd be cool, but if I give him more lead it's just further out he can sniff. I'm going to try the waiting till he's calm before leaving then again outside the gate - I might just have to do a couple of stop sits to start with until he calms down...

Our vet has told us to stop giving our 7 month old Ridgeback bones because some pups tend not to break them down enough and their developing insides can be torn apart by sharp edges etc. Bakari was pooing out 1cm triangles of bone! She told us to give him the rawhide things to chew until he's a bit older

I know how you feel about the pulling. But mine doesn't pull forward he pulls to the side to sniff everything (beauty of owning a hound) it's so frustrating because I can't do the turning into him thing or stop because that just means he gets time to sniff what he's pulling at - 40kg dog when I'm only 55kg is a struggle too...

We had Bakari on hills as that's what the breeder feeds. I've switched him to Eagle Pack Holistic large breed puppy (roughly the same price just have a bit of a drive to get it). He has gone from doing 2-3 poos a day (one day's worth would fill the pooper scooper) to 1 a day! He's only been on the Eagle Pack for about 2 weeks so haven't noticed shiny coat or anything yet but I'm much happier in the poo department!

Hey Kathy, Where did you get the holistic large breed? I thought that was what I bought but after reading this thread I checked and it's just the normal stuff. However even then I've noticed that Bakari has gone from 2 poos a day down to one after changing from Hills and we are on the 75%ep/25% hills stage now. Once he's used to all ep I'm going to start adding things like sardines/eggs/mince etc to give him a bit of variety... Ren

She said they were a bit swollen so she expressed them and said to just keep an eye on him - but we has proper poos again yesterday so it all seems ok! Didn't say anything about them being infected or anything though.

I broke my elbow late last year lifting him out of the back of the car (because I was told it's not good for his growing bones to jump out) and had to have surgery etc so I can't drive and my OH was at work yesterday and all friends that I could ask to take a dog in their cars were on a camping trip for the weekend. Took him in today - vet said it had something to do with his Anal glands and poos were probably sloppy because of the mucus and to keep him on the bland diet for a few more days - OH didn't listen too much after she said that he was ok! Thanks everyone for your comments!

I get itchy when Bakari kisses me (knew I was allergic to cat saliva but didn't know about dogs) - I just keep baby wipes near and wipe down after I get kisses, it's getting better as your body gets used to it. Try claryntyne - they are great!