Diva

I’ve had about 15 dogs from show breeders over the years. In my fav breed all breeders are pretty much show breeders. All lived long healthy lives. Only one had a clearly genetically acquired health issue, although the mode of inheritance is not proven and there is no test. Even she lived a long healthy live with treatment. I wouldn’t go anywhere else.

Maybe see if you can find a rescue organisation that uses foster carers that will take her, with full disclosure and a donation if you can, instead of returning her to a shelter situation. I would find returning a dog to a shelter hard too.

It may not be repairable because it isn’t broken, if that makes sense, just part of her make up. She sounds like a high prey drive dog, which is normal behaviour. But if she didn’t learn young that cats are family not prey that can be hard to learn at nine. Of course no one can say her attitude can’t be changed just from reading your description so take guidance from your trainer. I have a high prey drive breed and they are great with my elderly cat, very safe, but I wouldn’t bring in a nine year old and expect that if it wasn’t used to them.

I am afraid I would return the dog before something goes wrong. That fixated behaviour is stressful for all concerned and will probably be very difficult to change. My dogs can sail over a baby gate from a standing start and they are not as agile as Kelpies, so be careful. It sounds like you need to find a dog that that is known cat safe, either a direct rehome, out of a foster situation with cats, or a puppy that can grow up that way.

Try lying on the ground to initiate the game. Mine find it irresistible

https://www.k9physio.com/ https://www.balanced-canine.com/

Yes the brewers’ yeast is the same as the health store one. I can’t recommend a vit c brand but the form of it does make some difference, citrate vs ascorbate vs carbonate. I am not up on which is better for dogs, might take some googling.

From a regulatory point of view governments would rather deal with a few big commercial breeders than many small hobby breeders. Compliance is easier and cheaper to police and companies speak the same language as regulators, no pesky emotional responses to deal with. I don’t think they’d have any problem with the scenario if the necessary development approvals have been obtained. As long as the standards they impose are met - and that is easier for big companies than individuals - what do you think regulators would object to? They don’t consider volume or cross breeding as issues, if the boxes have been ticked.

I think the question was about the dead bird about to be eaten for lunch

Probably parentage verification for Dogs Qld. They have required it for a while now. Was supposed to come in nationally in 2020 but the ANKC changed their mind yet again.

I love foxhounds but even where I live rurally a baying hound would soon get me in bad trouble with the neighbours. Good luck old fellow.

Yes it was very difficult. And expensive. I was lucky to be able to manage it. I am sure your vet will have other pain management options

So sorry you are going through this. it is an extremely aggressive cancer in my breed and has usually metastasised before symptoms are noticed, even if the xrays show no spread. I have have experienced it three times over thirty years and never opted for amputation. I have for a non-disease based leg problem, but all evidence and anecdote I have found shows you are lucky to get 8 months survival after amputation in my breed with osteosarcoma even with chemo. I will not put a dog through it all just for a few months. Last time, last year, I used a range of prescribed meds and herbs to try and slow progression. But the most important were fentanyl patches which gave excellent pain relief. Because of the problems with human abuse of fentanyl only the vet could administer and they had to be replaced on exact three day rotations. My vet let me come to her house if that fell on a Sunday, to avoid pain breakthrough we had to be precise. if you are taking the palliative care route I recommend the fentanyl patches. Best wishes

So do I. The dog freezer is in the garage. One summer a couple of years ago someone came over the back fence and stole half the contents. Then unplugged the freezer and let the rest spoil. I was greatly annoyed at the waste, but had a quiet laugh at what they would have found when they tried to eat the dog food.

There is only one DNA health test in my breed. A simple autosomal recessive. Some breeders still deny it is meaningful, and a few want to eliminate all carriers from breeding. But the majority within those two extremes follow the ‘one parent clear’ rule. Carriers are still bred from, and I don’t think we have done much damage to the gene pool because of the test. When someone tried to start an international campaign not to breed from carriers she got reasonably polite explanations of the risks of that, and no real traction. Understanding of genetic diversity is also increasing, and we have a breed diversity study underway with UC Davis. I think that is harder for people to get their head around, but a good evidence base is a good start. At this stage we don’t really know how much of a problem we might have. I guess I am just a lot more optimistic that the breed community can respond. As long as enough breeding continues. The pressures on breeders are probably the biggest risk to the health of the breed.

The links don’t work for me but from the description it could be pannus. In which case it definitely needs to be checked by a vet. If it were that the dog would require eye drops for life.

Putting animals down, a lot. Dealing with their pain and stress daily. Dealing with human grief. Dealing with owners who don’t do the right thing by their animals. Dealing with owners who blame the vet for the animal’s illness or death. And the many who think vet care is too expensive and it is the vet’s fault. Who forget vet care isn’t government subsidised like human care. Being pressured to treat animals for free or cheap or else you ‘don’t love animals and are in it just for money’. Dealing with the cost pressures of a modern practice or the relatively low wages and high student debt. Life and death responsibility without much in the way of support systems or thanks. People put a lot of pressure on vets.

That is so young for Annie that I would wonder about cause too in her case. But for Jessie I think getting to 10 years probably means it was just one of those things. Cancer is so common in them and us in older age. I don’t know if that breed is especially prone to it.

The only bad part of loving a dog is that goodbye. I guess you have to ask yourself if the years of joy with your dogs is worth the pain when you lose them. For me it is, I accept that the chances are I will outlive them. If it is not cancer it will be something else. I will be grateful for ten good years and hopefully many more, but the day will come. I have had to say goodbye over a dozen times and they all hurt. It hasn’t stopped me having dogs though.

Very sorry for your loss.

I kind of assumed it was partly genetic and partly cultural heritage. I come from good farming stock who loved their animals

There was the canine influenza outbreak in the US a couple of years ago traced to Korean rescues as well as the current distemper case, and according to this Cornell article the only requirement for entry is a rabies certificate that is fairly easily forged in some countries. Dogs with rabies have been imported into the US. Bringing in dogs from different populations with vastly different disease incidence, possibly different viral strains, and vaccination status is a quite different level of biosecurity risk to moving them within the one country where populations mix all the time. The regulators in the US are as culpable as the rescues, I am so glad for this country’s strict requirements. https://www.vet.cornell.edu/news/20190318/new-strain-canine-distemper-virus-arrives-north-america

The problem for me is that proper quarantine and health procedures don’t seem to be in place for some of these mass international movements of dogs. Regulation and compliance, let alone ethics, don’t seem to be up to the risk. I don’t see the point of saving some if in doing that it causes massive risk for the resident dog population. As much as my heart bleeds for the dogs in need the biosecurity risks are not diminished by their need. I have vet friends in the US who are very disturbed by the risks that are arising out of some of the shipments. Of course doing it safely is more expensive, which is why I prefer to support in-country rescue efforts where I can. My breed has an international rescue arm and I contribute to them. But they are very careful around the contagious diseases issues. Apart from their own high ethics I am sure they know that their support from the breed community world wide would evaporate in a second if they were found to have been careless and put other dogs at risk.

Slightly off topic, sorry, but that reminds me of the AR man who demanded to know if I had cut my dogs ears off. Or had they already been cut off when I got them. It took me a while to believe his ignorance was genuine and he wasn’t just pulling my leg. I have sighthounds with naturally rose ears, like greyhounds do.

.....and why are you telling me? I said that if people don’t respond it is just because they don’t want to. I was responding to the ridiculous suggestion of debate being shut down down by a ‘mafia’. I DIDN’T say that no-one wants to, or that people who engage in food debates are wrong to do so. Just passionate. Which I think you prove perfectly.