Nadia

At that age they should still be with their Breeder. I cannot understand any Breeder sending puppies of at that age let alone tiny Toys. If you are not in a postion to come home and feed them during the day, then you are endangering these pups. You cannot ensure that they will eat food that you leave down for them, at 6 weeks they may not have the dentition to deal with dry food sufficiently. Anything fresh you put down will spoil in the hot weather. Not a situation I would permit a toy baby to be in.

Frontline(plus) is proving to be next to useless in our area and has been for a good 12 months or more. The spray works better. Advantix is, to date keeping the ticks at bay, and is working well for fleas. I too have heard the Frontline sales pitch for years, but in our experience it is not working as it used to in this area. We have a Vet Clinic with resident animals/boarding facility/grooming facility so have heaps of feed back from clients as well as our own experiences, combined with staff who breed/rescue there is no shortage of test cases.

I buy my mince from Lenards and it is a nice pinky red colour, it is ground frames and offcuts etc. The colour comes from the frames etc. Lenards do not add preservatives etc.

Most Vets Suppliers carry Advance, your Vet could possibly order for you.

I have used it very successfully on 2 dogs. No ill effects in either. My little nutcase, has a short course when he gets wound up, he has had many homes and suffers from OCD. He responds well.

The black dog will continue to hang around untill your girl is off season. He will continue to try and mate her until she is finished. I would suggest you have her desexed ASAP, if she is indeed pregnant and you do her very early there will be minimal risk and added expense. You can never presume that fences will deter dogs in the mood. She needs to be locked inside in crate or boarded at a reputable boarding kennel until she is finished her season.

Lenards is a human chicken products outlet, like a butchers but specialising in chicken. Their chicken pet mince, is simply offcuts from the making of specialty chicken dishes, and frames etc minced. So it is from human consumption quality chicken.

If the dog needs to put on weight the skin and fat in the Lenards pet mince will be just the thing. Chicken fat is also great for their skin and coat. Of course you would be careful how much you fed if you had a tubby one, but for a normal active dog it is fine. Fresh mince should not stink, ours certainly doesn't when we buy it. But as it has no preservatives added you have to use it or freeze it. Fed raw and fresh the Lenards mince is great, it has bone, bits of offal etc, good stuff.

The Lenards mince has no added preservatives, I buy it as soon as it is minced and what I don't intend to use that day I freeze straight away.

Being an elderly dog is it possible that the dog stresses and carries on when being groomed, this may be a reason the Groomer is not happy to force the issue and persevere with the dog. Also if an elderly dog does act up like this muzzling it could be a problem. Last thing you want is a distressed old dog. just a thought.

Actually Dettol or Pine Oil kills them pretty quickly. Not as much fun as the golf club though :D Hunting and destroying every single one that appears is the best method. We have nocturnal toad hunts. They are a bloody menace. Some dogs are simply addicted to the venom and are impossible to stop from hunting them, we had a little soul who hunted them for all of her 13 1/2 years. She could never be left unattended outside after dusk ever. I lost count of how many times she nearly died. Little witch was obsessed with them, she even dug them out of their hidey holes during the day.

It may just be a big nasty pimple, creties can suffer from these.

Eagle Pack Distributors

It is exactly the same drug. And again I wouldn't touch it.

It was taken off the market in the USA. If you do a search here you will find threads about his before. I wouldn't use it. My vet won't recomend it either.

I am lucky enough to work for a Vet/Chiro, it is very interesting to see first hand the progress of interesting cases, both dogs and horses. The difference made to the horses is incredible in many cases, horses that can actually be unsafe to ride and could well end up being dogged because of their "behaviour" when actually they are in pain and chiro treatment helps them. I have my dogs and horses checked over when ever I feel anything is not quite right. I find the horse side of things very interesting because so many horses are labelled as nasty or dangerous, when in fact they are trying to tell us they are in pain. Greyhound people have made use of chiros and physios for many years.

We have lots of feral bunnies in QLD, or have I misunderstand your post? Nothing the whippets like better than a freshly caught bunny.

They can survive a hot heavy wash cycle in the washing machine! Personally, we pull them off and drop them in a jar of meths or kero kept especially for that purpose.

Interesting thread. I have had pups that refuse to eat anything but one food for a while. Then they simply work out that they are hungry and away they go. If he was mine, I would only feed him twice a day. I have rarely had a pup that will eat 4 hearty meals. 3 at the most here, but 2 at that age is most usual. If he wants to eat the wings feed him a couple then walk away, offer him a couple more at the next feed. But offer nothing else. Nutrigel is an excellent supplement, and it does help with appetite. A wing only diet for a short time will not kill him if you are feeding nice meaty wings. The bone, meat balance should not constipate him if they are meaty. JMO

The problem is that all dogs metabolise chemicals, drugs etc a little differently. I have seen a very ill dog after eating a couple of easter eggs. Critically ill in fact. Dogs don't need to eat chocolate, give em a nice juicy bone instead.

Chicken wings, chicken necks, lamb breast, lamb mince, sardines or mackeral in oil, all great for skin and coat. Raw eggs, goats milk & yoghurt for brekky is a favourite here. There are no real shortcuts but good wholesome food will soon have her sparking again. Aloveen shampoo & conditioner will help her as well. The conditioner is lovely on their skin too.

Generally an Umbilical Hernia will not cause the puppy any discomfort, unless you are talking one like Holly mentioned. If it was a serious issue I imagine the Vet would have done something about it having seen it at vaccination time. New puppies often get a bit picky about their food and if he is at tiny puppy wont have a huge appetitie at best. If you are concerned speak to your vet about it again. Best bet normally is to have it repaired at time of desexing.

CCs can eat raw meaty bones quite easily,chicken thighs, wings and necks, also lamb necks, lamb breast, beef soup bones et, they all go down a treat. Why are chicken necks supposed to be bad for them?

At least one drug company in Australia has already ammended the registration of their vaccine, and now reccomend 3 yearly boosters instead of annual. There has been much research into the vaccination issue and it is now believed that it is not necessary to do them annually. As has already been posted here we have had many discussions on DOL abou this and a search will bring up lots of info and links.

I am in interested here in why, from your post, it appears that Cresties should be fed differently than other breeds. I was told once that they should only eat soft foods. Some people were horrified when I told them mine ate bones, they have teeth why shouldn't they use them? All my dogs enjoy fruit and vegies, just as they all enjoy chowing down on their bones and bits an pieces. I have a 35kg dog who begs for peices of carrot or for banana right alongside the small folk. I don't feed the little people any differently apart from the size of their meals and the size of the bones etc that they get. My choice is to feed a wide variety of foods and that includes raw and bones. I have never had a problem in the 30 years I have fed this way, and I have seen first hand the change in animals that have gone from a strictly tinned and dry food diet to a diet including raw meat and bones. The improvement in overall health and the fresh clean breath after a few weeks, says heaps to me. Working with Vets and Grooming you see lots of disgusting mouths in small dogs, and the difference in them if the owners start to include raw meaty bones is very noticable. Many little dogs are never given the opportunity to chew and tear at foods like their mouths are designed to do, and as a result their teeth suffer. I know many advocate cleaning of dogs teeth with toothbrushes and doggy toothpaste etc, but for me raw meaty bones works at treat. I have studied small animal nutrition, been to nutrition workshops, and find nothing that convinces me to change the way I feed. I do not agree that feeding bones is any riskier than any other forms of food. I have seen a dog that choked on a lump of sausage and died. I have seen a dog that choked on its dry food. There are risks with anything in life, people choke whilst eating, unfortunately sometimes it happens. I can honestly say that apart from a case of constipation caused by a little piggy, I have had no problems at all with feeding the way I do. So I guess we have to simply say each to his own and if it aint broke, don't fix it.