Nadia

OMG! Cresties do actually have some hair even the hairless ones.

If you simply clip this dog off all over and he is sparsley coated he may well end up simply looking like he has a skin problem, and he will look no better. Have you contacted any Chinese Crested people in your area about this dog, one of them may be able to help you. I am too far away.

If he is sparsely coated all over, he could well be a hairy hairless, that is he is genetically hairless but is very hairy. What is his dentition like? Doe he have a "normal looking mouth" or does he have strange looking teeth and forward pointing canines? Powderpuffs have normal dog dentition, hairless have "odd" teeth.

I don't think the bald patch on his head has anything to do with him being a Chinese Crested, It is not normal for one. I think clipping him all over probably won't enhance his chances, but a good bath and some work to remove the staining on his legs would. By all means clip his face. Where is this poor little mite?

Parvac does only cover Parvo and is often used to cover young pups, or animals at risk from parvo during an outbreak etc. Sometimes used just as a precaution during an outbreak if the dogs vaccination status is unknown. Some people only vaccinate against Parvo, nothing else, parvac would be used then. Some people like to give an extra parvo booster during the vaccination schedule for young dogs like rotties etc who seem to be more prone to parvo. So they may give a Parvac at 4 or 5 months after a course of C4 or whatever. If you want to cove the pup for everything else then yes it needs to be vaccinated with a combination vaccine.

Tens of thousands of dollars on their tail docking campaign and then turn around ask for donations for kitty litter for the cats in their shelters. Horses that die in paddocks because they will not respond to calls to investigate. We could go on and on. All creatures great and small.........what a joke!!

"Don't make it look like a Poodle" seems to be a standard request, drives me totally nuts, like how could you turn a Shih Tzu or a Cocker into a poodle anyway, do we have magic wands huh!! Sometimes the requests just simply cannot happen, unless you perm the hair, or use a magic wand. I don't know why some people buy the breeds they do, it is just plain weird at times. I clip 2 dogs for a family who always ask if I can make them look like brothers, bit hard since one is a Cav and the other is schnauzer x.

Handle the food that you feed your dogs with the same care that you take with your food, buy it fresh, feed it or freeze it, keep it stored correctly and you wont have any issues with the safety of raw foods. My dogs have always eaten raw meat and bones,including chicken bones of all sorts no problems, they are weaned on to raw meaty bones and meat products. You have to make up your own mind, it is not something anyone can answer for you.

Friends bully was continually being opened up to remove obstructions, you name it he ate it. He is now eating a raw meaty bones diet, and seems happy chomping his bones, for him it solved a BIG problem. He looks really good too!

There is a groomer a few hours drive from me who routinely clips Labs, pugs, even smooth Foxies etc, to make them cooler. I do quite a few of her clients that have relocated, and the Labs have coats that a slasher would struggle with. They are like very dense medium length carpet. Absolute crap to deal with, one client owns 3 Labs and she slaps herrself around over it every year, they have shocking coats now. I know people will disagree with this but I see no need at all to ever clip off a Labrador, unless for surgery etc. And Yes I have lived with them, and yes they do shed buckets, but hey that is all part of owning a dog. Thats what Dysons are for.. I have a new golden ret client who wants to keep her puppy shaved from now on, it is only 11 weeks old, doesn't want long hairs in her car. Wrong breed choice, actually I don't think a dog suits at all. With allergy sufferers, regular thorough grooming is essential, and if it is saliva and dander that is the issue then bathing once a week at least is important. Clipping the dog will not help the allergy issue.

The ONLY thing anyone can say with any accuracy here is go to the Vet. Guesswork is all you will get on here, a Vet needs to see your dog and diagnose him ASAP.

My family has never lived on crap in a bag why should my animals. Just makes sense to me. I can't understand how some people can be so fanatical about their own health, eat no crap , work out etc etc but are quite happy to dish up processed food every day for their pets. Fresh, wholesome foods are the go for the basis of everyones diets. Like us junk food is ok as a treat but not the basis of a diet.

I'm sorry but I have to ask, WHY would you agree to clip these?? It simply makes no sense. As to the border collies, I hate clipping them, I have yet to see a coat come back as good as it was before, usually they come back much thicker and softer, bigger job each time, though every year the ones that we see are in a state, obviously unbrushed, and it seems that the "we will just clip it off when it gets bad mentality" seems to kick in, maybe this is why the coats come back so bad. The owners that do the at home grooming usually just bring them in for a bath and dry, etc.

Still sounds like play to me. I have been known to get up at 2am and dole out chicken wings to a litter of pups that have been rough housing so loud it is incredible. Pups will stand back and bark madly at each other before launching at each other and scruffing each other around it is normal puppy behaviour.

I have it to be excellent. But like a previous poster said, it is what your dog does best on that is the important thing.

It is always hard to make desicions like this, more so when you are dealing with such a young dog. On friday I helped a friend say goodbye to a 2 yo dog, it is an awful thing, but when you consider how vibrant and active a dog should be at that age it seems the right thing to do. Personally I believe that if you are unable to give the dog relief from the pain, the the kindest thing is to say goodbye. You know your own dog, if he is suffering now, then you in your heart will know that, and you will make the right desicion. It doesn't make the loss any easier, and it doesn't take away your pain, sometimes loving something and being the one who has to make desicions for them just sucks.

A lot of grooming problems come down to technique as much as the implements used. If you do not go through a long or double coat section by section and groom from the skin you will end up with mats no matter what you use. So many people simply work away on top of the coat, dog looks all pretty and smick untill you get your hands in and feel it. Lay the dog down on its side, and start with small sections, working through slowly and methodically. You need to work on sections at a time and from the skin, out to the ends of the hair. For many breeds a dryer set on cool is a wonderful aid here, it will seperate and part the hair, you can see the skin and you work through the coat section by section. Matting behind ears in the usually finer, softer hair is easily prevented with a comb. The finer and softer the hair there, the finer the comb you need to use. Always thoroughly groom the dog out before you bath.

Hills make a wide range of Veterinary diets, they are excellent for the specific problems they are designed for ie kidney, liver etc. Much easier for owners than trying to formulate a diet for animals that require these diets because of serious health issues, for many animals they are life savers. HOWEVER, I am not a fan of the regular Science Diet products for normal healthy animals. I have used these products over the years, because I need to know about the products that I often need to sell, but I would not use them by choice. We do not promote these products at work (Vets) for the regular pet owner.

Has the cat been diagnosed?? No these products will not treat "mange" they contain no insecticidal ingredients.

Most Groomers do LISTEN. I try very hard to do what the customer wants, within reason. It is very possible however to glitches in the communications, can happen in multi staff places or with unusual breeds or with the new trendy mutts, I refuse to call them by their ridiculous DD names, I was told yesterday by a client that the dog was to have a Moodle cut. WTF is that??? every one is different to the next, it is getting plain stupid. Not that it would have made much difference what they actually wanted the dog to look like, it ended up coming all off with a #7 because of the matting. We had to have a big talk about the at home grooming required so we can try and grow the coat and possibly style it the way they picture it being. I actually groomed 2 dogs from the same litter yesterday and they were both totally different with totally different coats.

Are they clipping out mats??

The dogs didn't get even a whiff of the prawns etc here, but my big old cat had his xmas feed of prawns. He who sleeps all day, never even looks like venturing off the bed till sundown magically appears if he gets a whiff of prawns.

Epsom Salts or Magnesium Chloride is a totally different substance to Sea Salt which is Sodium Chloride.

I doubt we will hear from you again kayden, but on the off chance that we do........... I will tell you exactly where my heart is...... it is with the thousands of unfortunate puppies who are brought into this world by ignorance and by greed, it is with the puppies who are produced by people who have little or no knowledge of how a litter should be raised, who allow young defenceless pups to go out into the world before they are ready mentally and physically. You did not get this pup from a Breeder, you got this pup from uninformed, ignorant person who happens to have allowed a litter of pups to be produced. I seriously hope for the sake of this puppy that you have sought Veterinary help. I hope that your puppy lives a full, happy, healthy life. I also hope that you understand that the life of this puppy is now in your hands, that you are no responsible for its lifetime health and well being, and I hope you show it more respect and consideration than did the person that produced it. Merry Xmas

This puppy needs to go to the VET NOW!! Why have you brought home a puppy that is too young to leave it's dam and litter mates? First vaccinations are given at 6 - 8 weeks, I doubt this puppy has had one. You cannot delay with illness in a pup this young, get to the Vet now.