Aphra

I've tried Rescue Remedy on one of my dogs and for all the effect it had on him I'd have been better off having a big glass of brandy for myself. What did seem to take the edge off him was a couple of vitamin B tablets ... I just used what I take for myself which is some multi B complex. It did seem to settle him a bit.

Might he just have been very deeply asleep and got a fright when you moved and woke him up? I woke one of my big dogs up by accident once, and he had obviously been very sound asleep, he sprang up snarling and obviously really startled. I wasn't close enough for a bite, but might have got one if he'd been closer to me rather than on his bed. But at two, Atlas might also be starting to feel a bit more "adult" and seeing if he can shift the goal posts a bit. It has occurred to me lately with one of my dogs, that because he's always been really obedient and easy-going, that I've let him get away with things the other dogs haven't got away with. What has happened is that I've had some very subtle signs of him attempting to change to rules for his benefit, since from his point of view I've dropped the ball. So now he's back to toeing the line along with everyone else and no special privileges for being good, which was my mistake. Dogs are dogs, they don't think, "hey, I don't have to do it because I'm a good dog", they think, "hey, I don't have to do it because she's a weak leader, maybe it's time to make my bid for world dominance! Bwahahahaha." I don't know that I believe in "sudden onset aggression" without a physical cause, I think that if a dog thinks it can run things, or has to run things, because it's human isn't taking the leadership role, the signs will be there, but subtle, and the bite might have been the most obvious in a line of small things. With my big dog, the signs were really small, like sitting for being fed, but only for a few seconds, and then standing straight up, minor stuff like that. Certainly get a vet check, but reassess your own position. Have a look for some information about the "nothing in life is free" program on the web, that can be really helpful. And ice your hand ... dogs bites exert a lot of pressure and the bruising can be very painful.

Does cat kill count? My cats often catch rabbits, often quite large ones, and the dogs eat them. Doesn't seem to have done the dogs (or the cats) any harm. The person worst affected is me, when I find whatever that organ is that is never eaten behind the kitchen door, with just a sad pair of ears to let me know another bunny has gone to that great warren in the sky. I'll rescue any baby bunnies (or rats or mice or lizards) that come in alive, but once they're dead I figure the dogs might as well eat them. My biggest, rabbit-hunting cat did end up with an infestation of rabbit fleas on his ears, but a bit of a rub over with Frontline fixed that.

If they're only little dogs, chicken necks or wings might be big enough to chew on. I give my cats chicken necks. I also buy pork bones and the butcher cuts them up for me into smaller pieces ... you could ask for them to be cut into little dog sizes. I also get lamb, what I think are probably bits of backbone? Dunno, but long thing bits of bone and meat, my old dog can chew through those quite happily and his teeth are pretty worn. Last time I offered my big dogs kangaroo tails they both turned up their noses, so I haven't bought them since ... I suspect there was something wrong with them.

When I got my first cat of my own after leaving my parent's house, I took her to the vet and he advised me to feed her raw meat to keep her teeth clean. That was over twenty years ago, and my animals have always been fed at least some portion of their diet raw ever since. I've always lived knee-deep in cats, and never lost a single one to food poisoning of any sort, although they've pretty much always had at least one raw meal a day. Even before I started feeding mostly BARF (I'm more like fifi and feed a bit of everything), my dogs always got some portion of raw, including whole rabbits when I could get them. My oldest dog is now 17, so I don't think it's done him any harm. My German Shepherd bitch died at 13, not a bad age for a big dog. I suspect a fair proportion of the bacteria count in JAVMA article is due to the ways in which animals for slaughter are raised and the wau the meat is handled afterwards, in America. Feedlots are not common in Australia, but certainly contribute significantly to the bacteria load carried by beef cattle.

This is the reference for the original article with the bibliography. Steven E Crane - BARF Mythology http://www.woodhavenlabs.com/barf-myth.html The article itself has been published all over the internet, so I'm not sure where it originated who who Steven Crane is.

I've used Manuka honey on one of my horses who did some very nasty damage to his leg, used the honey, then one of those stick on dressings ... it made a huge difference in how fast it started to heal from that point, compared with the previous, conventional dressings. I've used Medihoney on dogs, and on myself when I had a second-degree burn on my arm. As far as I know, Medihoney is simply honey which has been tested for a standard amount of the active constituent in medicinal honey, there's nothing added to it.

It might be partly stress-related. I rescued a Neapolitan Mastiff last year (another short-nosed breed) and when he came to me he drooled A LOT and huffed constantly. Some of that was stress, once he settled in the drooling got much less and his breathing settled down. Some of it was also fitness related, he'd lived a very circumscribed life and was really unfit ... as he got fitter his breathing settled down as well. But I'm glad you're going to see your vet, it's always better to be sure.

It depends a lot on individual dogs and circumstances, but I took on a two-year old Neapolitan Mastiff who would chase any of my cats quite aggressively the minute he saw them. As a result he was an outside dog and not allowed in or around the house for a while. Eventually it occurred to me that maybe he didn't know what cats were, anf that if I could convince him they were members of the household he might accept them. So I bought a big crate and crate-trained him in the house. When he was in the house he was in the crate, and he was walked in and out of the house on a lead. Took a couple of months, but once he worked out that the cats lived here and weren't that exciting he lost interest. He'll occasionally chase a cat if he gets over-excited, but for the most part now pays them little attention. He'll even curl up with one in front of the fire on a cold night. He spends hardly any time in his crate anymore. A lot will depend on the dog, I had a Shepherd bitch one who loathed cats, and could never be trusted around them, although the Shepherd I had before that adored cats and once helped me hand rear an orphan kitten. I'd keep the mive up high, I don't think it's fair to either the mice or your dog to put that much temptation in his way.

I like Nature's Gift, I also like the Ecopet rolls, which are human grade meat. The Ecopet dried food is good as well, but harder to find.

I took on a two year old Neapolitan Mastiff as a rescue project. He wasn't house-trained, went beserk at the sight of my cats so that I was terrified he was going to kill one, and didn't see inside the house as being different from outside, so he caused all sorts of havoc by being rough. I'm not sure he'd even been inside a house. Finally bought him a crate to enable him to be in the house without being able to damage anyone or anything. He's now house-trained, gets on well with the cats, behaves sensibly in the house and is rarely crated anymore. He's not that fond of his crate, but it was a terrific training tool or him, and I'd not hesitate to crate train another dog. This is him a week or so ago.

My boys get little swellings on either side of their penis when they need to urinate. I use it as a method to decide if someone curled up near the fire can stay there or will be turfed outside to pee.