Diva

A bit mixed here. I'd rather poke my eye with a stick than use the term 'furbaby' or say they are my 'kids'. But my mother sometimes says 'give them a pat from Grannie' and that doesn't bother me.

Don't you have to have some kind of legal mandate to impose a fine? I'd suspect it's not legally possible in those circumstances. All I'd think could be done is for a caretake to take up the gear/ropes.

I hope this hasn't been posted before, if it was I missed it. It's a 2009 study revealing shortened longevity as a possible complication associated with ovary removal in dogs. In summary, it found female Rottweilers who kept their ovaries for at least 6 years were 4.6 times more likely to reach exceptional longevity (i.e. live >30 % longer than average) than females with the shortest ovary exposure. The authors claim the results support the notion that how long females keep their ovaries determines how long they live. A discussion by one of the authors is here: http://www.gpmcf.org/respectovaries.html And the study was originally published here: Aging Cell (2009) 8, pp752–755 Exploring mechanisms of sex differences in longevity: lifetime ovary exposure and exceptional longevity in dogs David J. Waters,1,2 Seema S. Kengeri,1 Beth Clever,1 Julie A. Booth,1 Aimee H. Maras,1 Deborah L. Schlittler1 and Michael G. Hayek3 1Center for Exceptional Longevity Studies, Gerald P. Murphy Cancer Foundation, West Lafayette, IN, USA 2The Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences and The Center on Aging and the Life Course, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA 3P&G Pet Care, Lewisburg, OH, USA http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1474-9726.2009.00513.x/pdf

Thanks Pav, I appreciate all the advice in this thread. Sadly I lost her just before Christmas. It feels odd not to have any oldies.

I like the suggestion of heritage status for the native breeds. The cultural heritage significance of pure breeds doesn't get much recognition.

Yeah, mud don't stick to Cavaliers either. :D It's just the inital shock before they dry off. ;) Yep, a bit similar coat texture I would have thought. The hardest thing is to resist the urge to towel it off. Leave the mud be and the coat drys and sheds all the mud. Rub it with a towel and it's a mess! Often whem i am walking her people comment that she's just been bathed - nope, she just looks bright white all the time.

I have a white Borzoi. Four weeks after a bath she looks as clean as the day after, even when she's been in mud in the meantime. Got to love those silky dirt-dropping coats!

Thnx, sounds like the hounds did very well.

'MBIS Ch Argowan Dumas (Curk) Great win, congratulations to the Curks and to the breeder, Anita Bugges. Who's Dachie won puppy of the year?

I find ox cheek great for putting weight on, I wouldn't feed it to a dog that is overweight.

I've only ever had one that would willingly eat fruit, she likes blueberries and avocado (before anyone mentions it, yes I know avo is on a lot of lists of foods dogs shouldn't eat). She has also been known to eat strawberries. But none of my others will eat fruit or veg unless it's so mashed into their food they can't avoid it. I have fruit trees and berry plants in the yard so they could browse most fo the year if they wanted to, but they don't seem to want to. The only exception to the 'blah vegies' response has been cold carrots to chew on during teething, they grow out of it but for a while they all like those.

Maybe not. But when we have a strong belief it is hard not to fall prey to confirmation bias. ;) ;) As for the aggression towards your family, I would address that directly. Not through expressing liking or disliking, but by making clear that I would not visit if the dog was not managed so as to keep myself and my children safe. Edited to say -I am not having a go at you, but I think you are less influential once you declare a bias about something. Once you've told someone you dislike their partner/child/dog, any advice you give about them is likely to be discounted quite a bit as you 'just don't like them'. You obviously care about the friend in the thread which led to this one, so the more you can put your emotional reaction to the dog aside, the more you are likely to be able to be helpful. Just mho. And yes - there are lots of breeds that leave me cold, and lots of dogs that I wouldn't give yard room to if I was paid for it. But no-one needs to know :D

Sure. But I'd recognise it as a personal reaction, and I wouldn't let that dislike influence my views on whether a particular dog should be rehomed or pts. Nor would I let the owner of the dog/breed know of my dislike, particularly if they were a friend.

Canine herpes virus can cause sores on the vagina. I have no idea if it is likely in your case, but as it causes reproductive difficulties and puppy deaths you might want to look into it.

It sounds like they tolerate the mince just fine, it just provides more calories than their lifestyle can use up. If Shelley doesn't run around on the oval and there is no medical reason why she can't take exercise, you need to walk her. If you think her hips are a problem you need to get that checked out and find exercise regimes that suit her. If her hips are bad, not letting her be fat is absolutley crucial. Extra weight will cripple a dog with hip problems. More exercise, lower fat meats, a lower calorie premium kibble, and bulk up the meal with veggies like mashed pumpkin if you need to use a filler until they reach their target weight. As Danois said, it's all completely and exclusively within your control.

That's funny. I 've used Van from time to time, and never found it complicated. I was thinking of trying Black Hawk, but the attitude of the BH advocates and suppliers in this thread has been so puerile it's quite put me off the idea. I figure if they need to make snide comments about another food they must be a wee bit insecure about the quality of their own stuff. Such an old cynic I am. :laugh: :laugh:

PMSL. You're a brave man.

Great news. Although the comment about rangers patrolling areas of Canberra caused a wry smile - I really wish they'd patrol my suburb, and not for greyhounds.

It breached forum rules and no doubt the mods intervened. Best left alone now.

I doubt you'll have any problem at all. I have had undesexed female dogs in suburbia for many years, with desexed dogs next door. Never made any difference whether they were in season or not. That must be the catch phrase for the New Year, I've seen it several times this morning and can't recall seeing it before. LOL.

ok, just pm me an address and I'll send them off tomorrow.

If the caps aren't too high a dose I'm happy to post to Sydney, but you might want to ask her the dosage she uses. The chewables can be easily broken up to give a smaller dose but the capsules probably not - I have more capsules than chewables but as the chewies are over $4 a tablet I'd be happy to at least see them used by someone.

...one last bump before they go in the rubbish. Seems a shame to toss such expensive meds.

1 Borzoi 2 Belgian Tervueren 3 Azawakh 4 Belgian Groenendael 5 Afghan and Saluki (equal fifth, LOL)

I have a small quantity of Flusapex 40mg tablets, Vetmedin Chews 5mg and Vetmedin Capsules 5mg free to a good home if a DoLer has a dog using them. Someone in the Canberra region prefered. Dispensed in Nov but no longer required.