EmmaKate

An x-ray at the vet today revealed Humphrey has a second prolapsed disc at the base of his spine- hence the sciatica pain. Unfortunately we couldn't see his regular vet for long, as he was crazy busy after holidays, so he was able to assess him only long enough to determine he was showing signs of another problem area and that he needed the x-ray. For now, different anti-inflammatory and pain relief and next week a follow up appointment where we can discuss everything. Dogs in Motion looks good, even if just for the swimming pool- all regular forms of 'Humphrey loving' exercise are now off the cards so maybe some swimming alternatives would be good. I will also mention Barry Haywood, he's in the same area as Humphrey's vet. I have a lot of faith in the vet and his opinions, so feel very comfortable talking to him about all options and I'm sure there wouldn't be any problems with referrals. The challenge this week is keeping Humphrey quiet, the little bugger jumped of the vets table in the brief second he was free of his lead.... not exercising him is one thing, but it's all those independent things he does when he's not in your control!

I'm going to discuss all the options with Humphrey's vet in the coming weeks (he is away next week) and as part of this I'll discuss if there is a need for further diagnostic tests, such as myelogram. We were very lucky there was no paralysis, from the prolapsed disc, as the initial examinations showed it to be more severe than first realised. At the moment Humphrey is just been kept quiet. I hate so much when he is not himself, he's normally such a happy little thing, but when something is wrong (I guess thankfully) he makes it plainly obvious. I think a longer term plan is definitely needed, I'm not considering anything invasive right now, just something to make him comfortable and best manage the problem and prevent further issues arising. I think this will definitely involve a change in how we exercise him and he would likely benefit from some skillful massage also. Thank you for all your replies- it is very helpful to hear others experiences. I will give updates as things progress.

Hi, My, almost, 7 yr old miniature schnauzer had a slipped disc some months back. In the initial phases, after veterinary treatment, he recovered quite well and is continuing with monthly cartrophen injections, glucosamine and oil supplements and veterinary check ups. However he has now had a flair up of sorts and is suffering from some sciatica pain, more than likely the flair up was caused from a holiday at the beach, so I am reducing his exercise and he is back on anti-inflammatory and a different cartrophen injection. I am very happy with his veterinary treatment, but I am wondering if he would also benefit from some complimentary treatments- such as physio, hydrotherapy etc? Does anyone have any experience with this or any recommendations as to where? (I was looking at Aquapaws, but only because they have an advertising link at the top of this forum :)) I would nervous to take him somewhere unknown for fear of exacerbating the problem or causing him any undue stress. I am in Melbourne region, and happy to travel anywhere within Victoria within reason. Thank you, Emma

My little one loves the vet. His tail wags and he's very happy, even while he gets needles and a thermometer up his bum! (not sure I'd be so obliging). But my previous dog, was a mess at the vets, the first one we took her too was around the corner from our house and when we walked past she would practically cross the street to get around it. And when inside she was just a shaking slobbering mess. But we eventually changed vets and at the second one she was much calmer and not nearly as anxious....might have been the treats and the extra pats she received!

Thanks Lillysmum, I have looked in to Robert McDowell's herbs before, and it is definately something to consider. But I also have to be practical and realistic about my Nan's situation, which is that she is a single pensioner with very limited funds, as it is I've bought her last two lots of Genies food (Firstly to improve her diet and secondly because it is considerably more expensive then what my Nan is use to), but I'm a student and have my own pooch to pamper. Although I long term solution would certainly be favourable and probably more cost effective then continued vet treatments and appointments, it is probably best to start simple rather then overload both Nan and Genie. And you're right, a raw diet would not be appropriate, as it's outside my Nan's capabilities right now. Am hoping to spend some more time with Genie and getting her sorted once this crazy uni semester ends.............whooooooo can't wait!

Thank you everyone for your replies. Well I think my Nan is been quite good at sticking to her diet, we proportioned out her food in to individual daily quota bags, so that my Nan didn't feed more then required, mind you we went slightly under- knowing that she would probably sneek extras in given the chance. My Nan really stresses though if she doesn't finish one of the bags each day.....despite us telling her that Genie will eat when she is hungry and if it's not everything, then that is perfectly fine. She does feel terrible and thinks she is depriving her not giving her treats every time she looks at her, but we have been very stern in telling her that it is much kinder not to do so. We did discover a bag of missed treats that were hidden away =(, but they are all gone now fortunately. And my Nan still insists on giving her something every time she leaves the house, but considering what was taking place before, we have made some headway. Anyway it seems she is losing a little bit of weight, though she has a long way to go. Her leg injury has recovered now, though she still limps occasionally (she seems to have always had trouble with her back legs). I was wondering if swimming in one of those dog pool places (sorry can't remember the name of it), would be beneficial? Although I am not sure about the chlorine on her skin? My Nan had Genie at another vets yesterday and she diagnosed Genie with having atopic dermatitis, and has put her on another round of cortisone tablets (2 every day for 4 days, then 1 every day for 4 days, then one every second day to finished.....although my Nan was a little vague on this when I spoke to her) and she is also on a round of anitbiotics. The vet also mentioned atopica tablets (again Nan was vague), but said they were pricey and could cause diarrhoa, vomiting and loss of appetite. I will definately endeavour to speak to westielover about maybe finding a vert specialising in Westies. But for now however I do feel like, especially as we are retraining my Nan more than anything, one thing at a time and the weight is definately the place to start and I think some progress is been made, albeit slow. In regards to flea treatment, I'm not sure what ,if any, my Nan currently is using, but what would someone recommend? Dogmad you mentioned that the spot treatments could aggrevate her allergies, what are some other viable treatments. I have never seen any evidence of fleas on her, but it can't be ruled out as she does often play outside, under the house and in the bushes. Thanks again everyone, will keep you posted as things progress, hopefully onwards and upwards! :D

My Nan has a beautiful westie who has just turned 11yrs old. She however weighs approx 13.5kgs and looks like a massiive barrel, not a rib to be felt or a waistline and she struggles to sit let alone move, it's really awful. On top of this she has incredibly bad allergies and is constantly rubbing her belly which is red and black and has sores all over her back, she smells despite been bathed about once a week by my nan. If things don't change, she is going to run in to all sorts of problems, if she isn't already. I can see her back starting to sway and she hurt her leg the other day, rolling down some stairs which she was too big to get up. I feel so sorry for her, she's such a gorgeous thing. My Nan is ridiculous with her when it comes to her weight, she feeds no end of crap throughout the day and any time she wakes up at night, plus she has an endless supply of goodos on hand ( ) and recieves two meals a night (one at 5o'clock and one when my nan sits down to eat ). When I go over with my pup I have to spend the first 10mins picking up all of Genies treats. We have been telling my nan for a long time this has to stop but it falls on deaf ears- it started back when my Grandad was alive but with dementia and use to feed her everything he ate- I'm sure my Nan is doing it on part for him and because she's never really formed a bond with Genie. So here is what we're doing with the weight issue, I bought a bag of the Nutro choice adult light.....which sat at my nans house unused. Fortunately my Nan has gone away for a few days and my Mum is staying to watch Genie, so has started intergrating the food into her ONE meal a day. We have also cleaned out the cupboards and are taking away the endless supplies of schmakos and goodos and biscuits and canned foods- leaving only the nutro and ziwipeak treats we purchased also. Mum and I are both prepared to buy the food for her as she needs it, so this change wont cost my nan any extra. If things don't change however I am prepared to take Genie on myself if my Nan will part with her. With the allergies I don't remember exactly but I think she may be on cortisone tablets, or was for a short period just recently, she is bathed in Aloveen on the vets recommendation, but not much improvement so far. I am hoping a change in diet and some weight loss will help the allergies, but we don't know what she is allergic too. I was wondering if some Omega oils added to her food may help also, I give me pup Melrose Omega 3 liquid and he seems to be doing really well on it (mind you he's got no allergies to speak of). I don't think she would benefit from a medicated shampoo such as Melasab, especially since she has sores, I would prefer to go in the other direction and take the natural path, as I think that gives longer and better results. Any help and ideas would be greatly appreciated. Sorry this post is so long and probably confusing, but I'm trying to cover everything I can think of.

Has anyone used the alt(PETS) range? If so what did you think? Or if anyone knows of anything else alone the same lines that they can recommend, particularly for dogs with bad allergies? Here is a link http://www.alt.com.au/natural-pet-products/

I was wanting to teach my pup quiet (ie. to stop barking). What is the best way of doing this? Do I also need to teach the bark command for this to be effective? He isn't a huge barker....but is certainly discovering his voice. He only barks when he hears people through the fence at home (or out the front talking)...and we have the occasional person who likes to bark back at him (very annoying), and when we are out walking he will sometimes bark at people he sees (never dogs, only people, especially when he can't smell them.) This isn't all the time though, some days more then others. And then there's the even rarer occasion when he barks at new people entering the house. I am quite happy for him to give the initial warning barks, but would like to be able to give the quiet command and have him stop.

I hadn't heard anything bad about greenies....I give them to my pup occasionally. He has no problem breaking them down, and his poo- though slightly green (only from the chlorophyll, so no probs there), is unchanged. They don't seem to be super hard, I can cut them up and bend them and they go quite soft when he chews them. He loves nawing on them and getting little bits stuck in his fur!

How is everyone going with their training????? Little Humph is going well, it'll be his last puppy class next Sunday, then on to bigger serious stuff! We had a problem last week with Humphrey suddenly deciding he was going to cause lots of trouble and not stay in sit and stand and throw a tantrum of sorts! But we worked hard on it during the week and were very firm with him and he seems to have really improved now, in all aspects and yesterday at school he was much much better and is more obedient at home too in daily life. Can't wait till we start getting him walking on one side of the lead though, he's such a tripping hazard at the moment! =)

I'm thinking about doing some agility with my Miniature Schnauzer as well (just for fun though, not competition) and am also interested in any clubs in Melbourne that anyone can recommend. Humphrey is only 4 and a half months but from day one I've said he was made for agility! He's favourite activity (too easy now though) was to jump through the dining table chair legs (they are square chairs) and the challenge was to jump the 3 lined up in a row, he'd work at it for ages until he succeded, then he'd do it with toys in his mouth for that extra challenge! And yesterday at puppy school, we had a go on some of the agility equiptment set up to get them use to different surfaces etc and Humphrey was loving it all, then he was very calm and focused through the rest of the basic obedience stuff we had to do (much more so then normal). We went around the track a couple of times after class (without the other puppies slowing us down!) and he was flying through! I like the idea of him doing something we can do together that gets him thinking and working and keeps us bonding.

Wow little Charlie's got quite a repotoir! Have an awesome time Deltron! I went along with Gold in mind too......but as per usual we wanted it all! I think it's pretty reasonably priced, I was epecting to pay more. We go to ADT in Hawthorn, I can't wait for training again this Sunday. I think little Humphrey had a good time too, he especially loved meeting all the other dogs before class, even the ones 5 times his size (which he looked up to with awe in his eyes!)

With my pup I've started yelping every time he bites too hard, I also take away my hands and fold them under my armpits. The yelping certainly takes him by surprise and stops him on the spot- I've been doing this for a few days now and have noticed his biting is getting slightly more gentle...but when he gets completely excited (feral as I say), he does seem to get carried away and forget, so then it's game over and all hands and feet are kept away. Don't know what the neighbour thinks of it all, will probably have the RSPCA knocking on my door for signs of abuse! I just tried the growling thing you sugested Deltron, as he was in feral mode, and it seemed to have stopped him in his tracks, I then got some licks and now his curled up on my lap.....might see how that goes too.

My little one likes to lick my hand when he's settling down or coming over for a cuddle, he also likes to give me eskimo kisses and then lick my nose occasionally, and when I get out of the shower he gets very busy licking my feet, ankles and what he can reach of my calves. I was just wondering why they do it?......It doesn't bother me, I find it quite sweet, was just interested.

Hi Ausmoz, is that Emma in your Avatar? (Great name by the way! With that name she'll be flying through the training, top of her class! hehe ) Glad it went well for you!

Sunday went well, we had our intro and Humphrey's assessment....he got 9 1/2 (10 only for dogs with previous training)! He did this weird thing though, when the woman tried to pick him up he went in to this yelping frenzy which he has never done before. Don't know if he got a fright or if he was a bit sore somewhere, but he was fine after that and otherwise very well behaved. So off to class next Sunday morning all being well. I think we are going to sign him up right up to Platinum, I was happy with gold but the OH wants the whole works....very odd because we haven't seen eye to eye on any training (that's why I thought this would be particularly good for us, so we could learn and be on the same page), I really thought he would dig in his heels and not want to go beyond puppy class, but I think he was quite impressed with the club....as was I. Now things at home are much better on the training front, we are both really wanting to be consistent and there is far less stress (with me no longer in neurotic psycho mode!) Everyone was very friendly and helpful at ADT, I think we are going to have lots of fun there. Where's my rock, you choose your level of training, call the office and find out your options, they are very friendly. It was Humphrey's first time on the lead too, and he was really good on it. We walked him back to the car in a round about kind of way, and he was great no pulling in either direction.....I'm sure he'll soon learn he can!! I took him out the back allyway of my house today too on the lead, and he walked beside me the whole time.

My almost 10week pup,only goes once during the night, first it was at 4am, then it was at 5am, then it was at 6am and last night he slept right through. The first couple of nights though I was taking him out much more, ...just in case...and he would wee...but now he wakes and sits waiting for me to take him out (doesn't cry, but Mum always has one ear open!), any other wakings is just to change sleeping positions and I've learnt to sleep right through these. He doesn't sleep in a crate but in a doggy bed next to mine and is confined to that room only for the night, during the day he is kept out of the bedroom. I'm needing to go to the toilet more than him at the moment, I'm hopeless, I can never hold all night! I think each dog is different, regardless of size, and you may have yourself a couple of sleepless nights at first while things adjust.

And good for you ............... love your enthusiasm guys. Keep it up! ;) Your dogs will love you for it. Thanks Erny and everyone, shall keep you informed on our progress. Badboyz good luck tonight, rug up will be very chilly. Don't forget to fill us all in! Spunky little dog by the way!

Yes I know it's only intro and assessment, but I'm even looking forward to that! And just happy and excited we are making a start!

My little pup and I are booked in for our first introductory session and assessment at Australian Dog Training on Sunday morning. I am very excited, can't wait to get the little tacker on the straight and narrow.......so to speak! (Not that he's incredibly bad, but habits may be forming). But am actually just really looking forward to getting him out and about and socialising and having some fun. I have never done dog training in my life (other than home stuff of course), so have no idea what to expect??

Sooo shiny I have to wear shades :D (hehe really wanted to use that emoticon, glad I now had a chance!!) She's beautiful, I love greyhounds. You should be very proud of your efforts!

Human kiddies.....what about human adults?! It's been touch and go with me a couple of times, those toilet dreams are so realistic! Anyway Portia I hope everything's clear with little Lola- I'm sure it will be.

My little Maltese X Shitzu had a seizure last year, she was 16yrs, pushing 17 and we had to put her down very shorly after (not just because of the seizure she had rapidly declined in health in the a few days before). She was very confused after the seizure and would not settle at all and had an even crazier look in her eye than normal (she had old age demeanture)! Seizures can come on for many reasons, in Heidi's case she had many possible attributing factors. She was put on a hydrating drip for a day afterwards which did help restore some vigour to her. Seizures are extremely scary to witness, not long before Heidi's seizure I watched my partner have his first seizure which was incredibly frightening, and he too had lots of confusion and disorentation afterwards and even the next couple of days after was still slow and not his normal self. He's had a couple more since and is now on medication for epilepsy. Epilepsy in dogs is also very managable. Or it is very possible your dog will never have another seizure again in it's life. Good luck with your dog, I'm sure everything will be fine. Let us know how everything goes.