Jumabaar

I believe that Lupphunds can live in apartments. Assuming their owners do the training required and are happy to put in the time for toilet stops etc. My girl lives inside during the day so not much different to a dog in an apartment. The problem is you cant have a lazy or off day- rain hail or shine, sick or broken you would need to go out for toilet breaks. I know I couldn't do it so will never personally live in an apartment ( because the dog bit of the equation isnt negotiable!!) Re barking- my Lupphund only barks when I come home and she learnt that off the Kelpies. Like any breed its about training them acceptable and unacceptable behaviour. Talking to breeders about their lines is a great way work out more specifically if they are likely to be barkers etc. I think the first step is to have a really good look at your lifestyle and work out what your willing to compromise on. I think you could find suitable dogs from all of breeds but I think it will be a matter of finding a breeder who is breeding the right litter for you and has the experience to pick the right pup. As an aside Lappunds I have found are quite 'independent' so perhaps look at how much you want your dog to hang out with you. Do you want a velcro breed or one that is happy for a cuddle then does their own thing. I have Kelpies the ultimate velcro dog, but having a lappie is a great balancer as she dances to her own tune if that makes sense.

perhaps , as ibuprofen is toxic? As a professional , 'prescribing' a drug which can be lethal and trusting a distraught owner to administer it was not a responsible decision? perhaps the more responsible action would have been to advise the owner to find transport and get to a clinic.. ? I don't know ... it's horrible,whichever way. But don't vets do that regularly? Yes generally with drugs that are on label for use in animals but there is a lot of fair placed in owner compliance and the owners ability to correctly medicate an animal. Did the article indicate that the vet didn't give the owner the option to see a veterinarian? Either at their clinic on an emergency clinic? I assume I missed it.

I know he had the best life a puppy could want.

I've got a few Finnish companies I can recommend if anyone is interested -- they all make lovely, unique things and the quality is impeccable. Oooooh yes please!

I bought some harnesses from finland- used paypal. $15 postage and they arrived in less than a week!!!! That was faster than most places I order from here in sydney!! I agree with Clover- a few more details and I may have some recommendations.

I think your on the right track. I would be thinking more than just the DA surgery as well considering your lifestyle and the risk of failure- and additional cost if it did fail. Perhaps look into seeing of there are any qualified animal physiotherapists in Perth who you talk so you can start strengthening the other leg as well? It's common for the other leg to suffer the same injury but doing work now may assist stabilising it.

There was a study that showed a positive titre to distemper (pretty sure it was distemper not parvo) indicated that there was a positive response to hepatitis . For the life of me I can't find the paper right now!! So I only tested for parvo and distemper and didn't send blood to Scotland. The WA testing was $80.

Make sure when you compare price you are looking at what you get for that price- monitoring equipment, pain relief, fluids. I would want to check that the vet doing it for $200 isnt compromising on service to be able to charge that price.

I agree what I think temperament is I cant imagine why anyone would think that could be impacted by environment or owners. For me its not behaviour or able to be trained in or out. Can you give me an example of something that purely cant be modified at all? I look at a horse which is a prey animal, and yet I see police horses resisting instincts. I have seen dogs that have been treated so harshly that they don't respond to anything anymore- so they have had their desire to survive taken out of them. I genuinely cant imagine any action by a dog that can not be modified in any way shape or form. Even an aggressive dog can be made 'more' aggressive by their environment. Environment is the trigger of genetic response IMHO whether the response is a good one or bad one, the genetics of the dog is the determining factor. Training will mask or alter the response, but the genetics has to be in the dog in the first place to get the desired response you are looking for? I agree that there are behaviours that are not genetically possible. But I do believe ANY dog can bite, growl, cower with the right environmental stimulation. I guess what I am saying is when do you say this is 'temperament' and this is 'training'. The first time a behaviour is exhibited? or once it becomes a habit. A dog that bites at 6 weeks may have been teased by a child continuously for 5 weeks, does it have a really crap temperament (I mean think about it a 6 WEEK old puppy acting aggressively) or did it originally have a pretty moderate temperament and it has been pushed well and truly over the limit by its environment and in any other circumstance it would have been a happy little individual that would have comped with that treatment at a later age, it was just poor timing during development combined with genetics? Yes the dog is genetically capable of biting but can we eliminate the environmental impact? Is there an age at which you decide environment has played a bigger factor than genetics on behaviour and is no longer temperament? "Training" or environment starts in utero so how can we say any behaviour we see is 'temperament' and not training?

Well I think as breeders where dogs are concerned we should be asking how much is genetic - in fact I think its pretty stupid not to if you breed purebred dogs. But I don't think anyone is trying to say that there is NO genetics involved. Clearly Kelpies have a genetic predisposition in them to herd sheep that a Fox terrier is less likely to have. But with enough training could you get a Fox terrier to mimmic the herding behaviours of a Kelpie? Perhaps. If you then showed that Fox terrier to a group of aliens from another planet could they then assume that a Fox terriers temperament is to herd? When I look at that quote I think that if I want to play a piece of music I can pick the type of instrument (violin for example) and I can pick the piece of music but I will never be able to replicate another person's rendition because of what I personally bring the piece. I could pick a guitar instead and KNOW the range of sound that will come with it and how it will be different to the violin- much like picking a breed of dog. If I play it in my bedroom there is a different sound compared to playing somewhere with great acoustics. And if I hand it to someone else and they sit where I was sitting it will sound a little different again. Its still the same guitar but there is so much more going on that cant be eliminated from the 'sound' we here. A guitar wont sound like a violin no matter how hard we try. So yes there are genetics in play but I dont believe that we can ever see that 'blueprint' without environment overlaying it.

I agree what I think temperament is I cant imagine why anyone would think that could be impacted by environment or owners. For me its not behaviour or able to be trained in or out. Can you give me an example of something that purely cant be modified at all? I look at a horse which is a prey animal, and yet I see police horses resisting instincts. I have seen dogs that have been treated so harshly that they don't respond to anything anymore- so they have had their desire to survive taken out of them. I genuinely cant imagine any action by a dog that can not be modified in any way shape or form. Even an aggressive dog can be made 'more' aggressive by their environment.

We know that external factors can trigger a behaviour, I totally agree, but what the dog does, how the dog processess the trigger is genetic. Some dogs do become aggressive with pain, some slink off and hide in the corner......the genetics of the dog determines the default behaviour associated with pain IMHO But how do you know its the genetics that triggers if they become aggressive or slink off. Perhaps its the perception of the pain? Or their experience with previous painful episodes where people didnt handle them gently? I think that there is much more going on than simple genetics with every action a dog does. I guess what am saying that even if the default is to bite at X level of pain, if the dog has experienced lesser pain previously and miss handled it may bite at a much lower threshold then it is genetically predisposition too. Alternately good handling and trust in its owner may see it exceed its pain threshold without biting although once again genetically it is programmed to react at level X. My dog wont bite me if I clip his nails, he would bite you. Which is the true representation of the dogs temperament? Which is his default behaviour and where do you draw the line in the sand saying this is temperament and this is behaviour? His mother squirmed around when I tried to cut her nails as a pup so are we saying that the action they are taking is the 'temperament' or the fact that they express any resentment toward getting their nails cut at all 'temperament'. And if I said I now get out the nail clippers and I have both of them jumping on me to have their nails clipped because their 'temperament' is such that a few treats and a desire for praise outweighed their initial genetic displeasure at the action and their genetic reaction towards the aversive. If you met my dogs today, jumping around to get their nails clipped would you say they have a good solid temperament, even though they both had quite big tantrums initially? Would you say my other dog (related to them) who still has tantrums screaming and throwing herself around has a poor temperament and genetics because I have been too lazy to train her as well as the other two? I think Corvus is onto something when she says we havent defined 'temperament' so how can we say its genetic or not? Is it the decision about what behaviour to perform in reaction to a stimuli which we have proven can be modified? or is it the decision that there even needs to be a reaction to a stimuli? Or is it something else entirely?

Or maybe it's just under exercised and bored rigid. A dog bred to work needs an outlet. Fail to give it one and problem behavior can be a result. I'd look at the home before writing the problem off as genetic. I agree that under exercise/stimulation is more than likely the cause of the behaviour........the genetics of the dog is the reason it spins and doesn't just yap, dig up the garden or any other behaviour of bordom. Is it though? Perhaps the owners rewarded it as a pup for playing with its tail because it was cute and so it decided that was more rewarding than barking to gain attention and it grew from there...... Also how DO you know that its under exercise and stimulation that causes it? Its highly likely thats the cause but I have seen tail chasing after traumatic brain injury too. Actually I have seen plenty of dogs become quite aggressive due to pain such as arthritis. I dont think that its genetics that is causing them to react, its pain. Thus if I have seen animals temperament/disposition change due to pain and brain damage which I believe are non genetic 'external' factors how can I look at a pup and decide that there is absolutely nothing external that could have happened during utero or early development to modify how it behaves? I do believe genetics plays a role because we can select for it. I certainly wouldnt bet on it being the ONLY contributor for temperament.

Yes you need to get it looked at to see if there is pulp exposure. If there is there will be a direct line for infection deep into the bone- the gum will remain looking healthy until the infection eats its way out. EVERY fractured tooth with pulp exposure IS infected- It just takes a long time for us to be able to see it. If there is no pulp exposure then it may well be fine for the tooth to stay. But its certainly not possible to diagnose this from the picture you have taken but at that level I am guessing that there is a good chance that there is pulp exposure. I am happy to pass on some info re dental disease if you PM me your email address. Dogs will continue to eat and not show dental pain until they are ready to give up and die. Unfortunately that makes them their own worst enemy when it comes to getting people to believe that teeth need to be checked by vets once they have been damaged.

I did an elimination diet with my dog when he started having seizures, and I kept a log to see if anything was 'causing' them. Not sure if this is the reason he has put him on this diet though.

Pain meds aid healing so def should be given to alleviate pain. That doesn't mean that all pain is abolished so shouldn't affect diagnosis, just get them to a tolerable level to allow the little one to feel well enough to eat etc. Best of luck with the pup. Sounds like your doing all you can for the moment. Sup feeding sounds good as it will also be less taxing on the pup.

as has been stated many, many times in the past. How can it be balanced by the yolk if it inhibits the absorption of the Vit B in the yolk. Surely without the white, the dog will get more Vit. B absorbed from the yolk than if the raw white was fed as well. Do your dogs need additional Vitamin B? Intestinal bacteria also synthesis Biotin (Vit b7), usually enough for adequate nutritional requirements. Advin in egg white binds to Biotin, which is a Vitamin B. If you ONLY feed egg whites over a long period of time the biotin all becomes bound up by the advin and you get a deficiency. Egg yolk is a rich source of Biotin, meaning that the Advin can still bind to the Biotin but you still have a net gain (or at least no net loss). Thus so long as you dont just feed raw egg whites your never going to end up with a deficiency.

How about nose work? At least as something that you would be able to 'train' her in. No strangers, no sitting and something new with no high excitement attached? Probably no one in SA doing it yet but you have paved the way in other sports before.

Unfortunately one of my dogs has some mild atopy (diagnosis by exclusion) so gets an ear infection every summer. Thankfully I can just manage the ear infection and haven't had to use further drugs to keep him comfortable.

Definitely general, but some use a local nerve block as well! This!! Sorry for the confusion I think the local nerve block during extractions is quite beneficial as they require less anaesthetic and I have found they wake up much happier but not all vets use them.

Have you talked to the vet about allergies being a possible factor in your boys ear problems KelpieHoundMum?

the vet should suture the gum back together- so its more a case of food not getting caught in the sutures than in the socket

Thanks. Just looked up the ingredients list online and it didn't have any xylitol that I could see. Something called sorbitol though.... Vet has said to keep an eye on him but being such a small amount it should be fine. It always stresses me out when they come over. They've never had dogs and just don't have a clue. I try and make the dogs behave and they encourage them to be hyper and lick, play rough, etc. Yes there are some people that visit who dont get to see my dogs at all. They are crated in my bedroom!

Also check the xylitol level!!! I hope all is well

Do you prefer your house decorated in feathers or foam? :laugh: Best of luck with the puppy I hope we get some photos!!