lionqueen

I took her to the vet and it turns out it's a hot spot, and a bit of a skin irritation...She is on antibiotics, medicated wash, and Comfortis, plus the vet suggested some extra omega oil and probiotics for her skin and her gut. She said most likely a combination of all the aforementioned factors, plus the extreme heat here (we have had up to 48 degree days for 3 weeks plus) and the fact that she loves to swim to keep cool...Probably not helping her skin though...

Why would you distress her by tying her up near the puppy run when you know it stresses her out. She probably injured herself struggling to break free of the tie out. Sorry but I don't see anything to LOL about. CavNrott, She was tied near her puppies to minimise stress on her and her babies, through the weaning period. When I said "due to her not liking being tethered" means she probably had a few scratches at the collar as she normally goes uncollared...Certainly I don't feel that she was anxious or agitated enough to break the skin....

Thanks for the replies...once again. She was only tethered near her pups for 1 week tops (AND only at night, she is free to roam through the day) to help the transition from weaning, and the subsequent separation anxiety ...I didn't want to put her in the big dog runs farther away...She had a soft webbing collar, out of interest, the ones with plastic buckles...She is now free of restraint, and away from her husband... hopefully she shows improvement...

Thank you all, I am probably jumping to conclusions, I had her tied near the puppy run after weaning for a week, and that is when the irritation started, prob due to her not liking being tethered as she is normallyfree rangs LOL! Plus the fact that I integrated her back with our male who is very "caring" ...as in cleans her, and when I put anything on it, he licks incessantly. I have been seperating them when I have put cream on her now...Freaks me out as she looks awful, and I have puppy buyers coming next week... :-)

Hi everyone, my girl was bitten by a red-bellied black snake at 1-2 weeks pregnancy...We didn't know the cause of her illness until we rang the vet the next day as she was unusually lethargic. After telling the vet her symptoms ,we eventually found the dead snake after a search (we have acreage, and not usually a snake problem as we are in very dry country). So the anti-venom was useless according to our vet...She was on a fluid drip for two days, after which her red blood count etc came back up to satisfactory levels. She since whelped 7 wonderful, healthy and vet cleared puppies, which is a miracle...My question is, the pups are 9 weeks on thursday, they have been weaned (gradually) since 6 weeks, but she has developed an irritation under her neck since then, near the site of the snake bite...I have had her with our male since then, they get along fabulously, except he likes to lick her "sore" (Which I am sure isn't helping)... I am wondering what it could be, as she has NEVER has a skin drama (she is 7, this is her 3rd and last litter), we haven't moved, my male dog has no skin/health problems, nor any of the pups....Could she be immune compromised due to the snake toxins, or could she just be scratching due to separation anxiety from her pups? It is worrying me, as she is my special girl...Any help would be appreciated...

Thanks for the replies... Unfortunately we made the decision to PHTS, and poor Ruger left us today...It was awful to say goodbye to such a vibrant beautiful big boy, but we had to do what was best for him, I cried like a baby...The breeder has been fantastic through this whole ordeal, he is as devastated as we are...We have the pick of a pup from 2 upcoming litters, I can't fault him for that at least. Sorry it's taken me so long to reply...

Hi all, Justa question regarding congenital heart defects. We have a 16 week old Rottweiler puppy that has just been diagnosed with SAS. His breeder assures me that both parents are cardiac tested and are clear of any problems, but somehow this happened. He is recommending that we PHTS as his quality of life will be compromised by the condition, and is offering to replace the puppy. We are just wanting to make the best decision, as we are attached to him and obviously it is a head vs heart decision. Has anyone had any experience with this kind of thing happening?

We have a 16 week old Rottweiler puppy that has just been diagnosed with SAS. His breeder is recommending that we PHTS as his quality of life will be compromised bu the condition, and is offering to replace the puppy. We are just wanting to make the best decision, as we are attached to him and obviously it is a head vs heart decision. Has anyone had a dog with the condition, and what is the expected life span in a breed like the rotty who already has a shorter life expectancy? Thanks in advance

Thanks Christina, and Leema...

Thanks Jed, I apprecaiate your reply!

Hi guys, As the title would suggest I had a puppy from our recent litter that was born with quite bad breathing difficulties. He was born gulping for air approx. every 8-10 seconds and I suspected that he had a buildup of amniotic fluid in his lungs, and I was quite fearful that he was in the last throes of life...I tried clearing his airway with my finger and holding him up by the back legs in an effort to clear his lungs, some fluid did come out. I then commenced alternate chest compression and mouth to mouth in an effort to get him to breathe properly on his own. This seemed to be working, so I kept doing it for around 6-10 minutes (not sure about exact timespan as I had been up with mum for hours)but he seemed to be responding and getting stronger by the minute. He was quite weak at first and not really able to breastfeed by himself so I syringed some expressed milk into him, and also encouraged him to nurse by opening his mouth and putting him onto his mums smaller nipples. It was touch and go for the first week or so, as he was quite a bit smaller than his siblings, but I perservered making sure he was getting plenty of milk. As the weeks passed by he began to blossom, and now 13 weeks in he is almost the same size as most of his siblings. He has an amazing spirit, he is so confident and cheeky, a real little fighter, he is almost the strongest eater now! He seems totally fine to me, and my vet has given him a clean bill of health. I was just wondering if his lifespan will be the same as his siblings, and if there is any reason why he shouldn't lead a totally healthy life... I would love to hear from anyone who has experienced similar, and what the outcome was etc. Thanks in advance!

Thanks everyone! I am just looking to the future really... My girl has had two healthy litters, she had her first litter at 5 years, and the second one in March at 7 years. I am just debating whether it would be viable for one last litter next year or not. She is a very fit and active girl, so I guess it would be worth getting my veterinarians opinion.

Hi all, Just wondering what the general consensus is regarding an acceptable age for a bitch to have a litter. What is considered "too old". Does it depend on her health, previous amount of litters etc? Thanks in advance

I have heard that massaging the ear with glycerine a few times a day can help...Softens the cartilage or something...Might be worth a try, you can get it from pharmacies or sometimes at Coles or Woolies in the medicinal section :-)

Thanks Whippet and Jerojath, I have heard a lot of differing opinion too... I think I will do one mating a day from day 11 to day 14 and see if she is still receptive aafter that. I don't want to risk some pups being a lot smaller due to being concieved later...

Thanks Alyosha, No these matings are 100% supervised, and when they tie we hold them parrallel to avoid injury, then they are seperated again...

Good news, we got another successful tie today... We have pretty much narrowed it down to him being a bit too tall/heavy for her, making the angle too hard for him to penetrate easily, even putting her up on something wasn't overly successful as he was either pulling her off the platform or slipping backwards due to saliva, or water from hosing them to keep them cool etc (the heat is fairly bad here even though we only attempt a breeding early morn or late arvo)...The best success we had was to let him mount and then get behind him and hold her around the flank/upper thighs to keep her up level with him and also keep him close to her...a lot of hard work but worked a treat!

Thanks Christina, I am aiming on attempting each day from day 11 to day 14, and let the dogs decide, I most probably will know from his behaviour and also hers. So far we had a 30 min tie yesterday (day 11)and a 20 min tie today (day 12)...

Thanks Alyosha...Will see what happens this arvo. Watch this space!

Hi Persephone, Yes I have mentors in the breeders of my male, and also the breeders of his grandparents. From what thay have told me the lines on that side are fairly fertile. As far as the female side goes I'm not so sure as her breeders are no longer in the game, just that she was one of a litter of 11. My female has had the one litter 2 years ago, which was accidental at that time (Our male wrecked a crate and escaped then wrecked the gate on her run to breed her. THE same runs that had kept our entire male rottweiler and the female amstaff apart for many years.) He was out for 10 mins max, and I didn't even see them tied, but it resulted in 9 puppies. This time I have looked back at when he got her that time (day 16) and his behaviour then (trying to jump out, wreck the mesh with his teeth, howling, constant whining, etc) and his behaviour is starting to resemble that now, from my count she is on day 14 from first spotting. We bred them yesterday which went really well and resulted in a 30 minute tie.

Hi everyone. I am in the process of carrying out a planned mating between my 6yo female and 3yo male, and was wondering what the general consensus is as far as: How many times should a pair be "tied"? Should they be let do it "at will" or does this pose too many risks of injury to the male? Is it better to mate and then wait one day/two days until mating them again? Any advice is appreciated, thanks!

Thanks Christina, will keep you all updated!

Thanks everyone for your input...We had success today with my hubbys help (and some surgical gloves, talk about messy!) We got a very long tie (around the 30 mins. Luckily for us our pair are both very tolerant and soon got used to us helping "guide" it in so to speak! I think it was a combination of this male being taller and lots heavier than the female and also his inexperience, plus her being not quite ready, and his overeagerness... Once we got him in the right vicinity it all happened as it should. :)

Thanks guys. I will get my hubby to help and see how we go. Might give the paver trick a try too! Never in all my days seen a male dog that needed help LOL!

Thanks Christina, They both don't seem to mind a little intervention luckily, so fingers crossed... Another problem is that he is very bulky and she is finer so gets tired easily trying to hold him up. Plus there is a bit of a height difference, he is too high with his aim mostly, but I guess that could be his inexperience too... I appreciate your reply.