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Being that the lump is soft it could just be a fatty lump,however she may have ran into something and its just swelling from a truma.I would reccommend that you measure the lump over the next couple of days and see the vet on wednesday and tell him if its grown. It may even be a grass seed in which case it would need to be removed by the vet so maybe take her in tomorrow instead of wednesday. Either way get the vet to do a fine needle aspirate to make sure.

can I ask what the food is called?

I am a vet nurse and it is common in dogs who chew alot ,it can be caused from toys,sticks and bones. It should not hurt him as the nerve in the tooth should recede but if not and the root becomes exposed you should have them removed,I have been told you can get "caps" but we do not do them routinely (will do if asked to) so not sure of costs.

Not long ago I was at a vet seminer and in the flea section it was broght up that frontline plus no longer states that you should wait 48hrs on the box,however when we asked what we should do(I am a vet nurse and we hydrobath regulary) we were told its best to wait at least until the day following the bath to apply frontline that way the oils will be back in the pores. Also it is reccomended to only apply to the back of the neck in 1 spot. This is the same if you are using frontline spray. If you want to use a product in conjuction with frontline,to repel the fleas and ticks you can use permoxin it is great if your dog has flea allergy. ETA- If you bath your dog after using frontline you should use a soap free PH balanced shampoo and conditioner otherwise the frontline will be less effective.(Aloveen shampoo and leave in conditioner or Natural shampoo by dermcare are great)

I have 2 cats and both are fed Hill's.Jinx is fed C/D as he had FLUTD and Link is fed R/D which is a weight reducing diet he has gone from 10Kg to 6.35kg in 10mths and is so much happier.They both get 1/4 Cup morning and night as hill tend to over estimate the feeding guide aswell.the difference in feeding R/D compared to light is that R/D has less calories and therefore weightloss is greater,Light is a maintainence food once weight is where you want it. first pic is before R/D after R/D

If your dog does have flea allergy,you don't need to see fleas on the dog to get a reaction all it can take is one bite to start them scratching.As you say you treat the dog with a few different treatments I would say it may be an environment issue rather than a treatment issue. You could also use permoxin,it is a spray on treatment which will repel fleas and ticks and is very good for dog with flea allergy.Permoxin can also be used to treat any areas of your house and outside areas the dog frequents. You should flea bomb the house this means every room carpeted or not and also treat every pet in the household at once this includes cats and treatment must be religiously done.(I personally treat all my pets fortnightly).You could use Aloveen shampoo and leave in conditioner as it sooths the skin and the leave in conditioner replaces oils removed when bathing. If your dog has access to under your house this should be blocked off if possible.Any outside area should be treated aswell a good product for this is KO tablets you get 2 in a pack and dissolve in water spray all areas and lasts for 6 weeks.It has a flea growth inhibiter in it. Also you say that the advantix was not working!-It would have been it's just you have a re-infestation problem flea eggs can lie dorment for months burried deep in the carpet so new fleas will always be hatching.

Yay!! It is always great to hear happy endings or should that be beginings Always happy to share my training tips , just glad they work for others too.

Provided she is in good health other than her age she should be fine,but in saying that there is a risk of a GA in a dog of any age provided that you trust the vet and the nurses she should be fine. Ask the vet what sort of GA is given if it is ISO it is very safe and the dog will wake a quickly generally within 3 mins of being taken off the gas.she wll still be dopey for a few hours after though especially as she is older. My old girl Marley(pic) had a dental at 18 but then had to be PTS approx 8mths later-not as a result of the GA.She seemed alot happier after getting 3 teeth removed and was on pain killers for a week I must say if the dog was mine I would get the dental especially after seeing the change in Marley she was so much happier more like when she was younger-I guess the fact her teeth wern't hurting anymore helped. RIP Marley PTS 7/9/06 you will always be in our hearts

SAS,GOOD POST I really find that people are too soft on their dogs,They need to remember that if these dogs were in the wild and doing it to another "pack" member who was higher than themselves they would be harshly repremanded. Remember dogs are dogs and it does not matter if you treat them like a human they will always treat you as another dog!!

Sorry you are right I missed out an "AS" effective,it's much quicker straight into the heart. SORRY OP,but thought i should clarify

When we have needed to use adrenaline it goes straight in the heart-if the heart has stopped and you put it in a IV its not going to be effective.

Are you saying that dogs are undergo surgery without IV access? I don't mean fluids, just access. With humans ALL patients must have an IV cannula in for any procedure. It depends on the vet and what sedation/anesethic is used -generally we sedate with ACP/ATRO sub cut and "knock out" with ISO using a gas mask so there is no need for IV access(for desexing)which is why we routinely use Fluids for all speys and this is included in the desexing price.(obviously a pain killer is given also )Once surgery is over usually 20mins later provided all has gone well IV is removed. If it was a larger OP then generally speaking they would be on a IV from the start of the surgery BUT for other OPs it is done case by case and usually a pre anesetic blood test is done to make sure there are no other problems,so as not to increase other risk factors.

The best way is to get some flea bombs and do EVERY room in the house,however this only kills the fleas not the eggs which are deep in the carpet. You should block off any access under the house if possible. Treat any areas the dogs lie or frequent. The most important thing is to make sure you apply frontline or some other flea control relgiously even if it seems like it is not working it will be,only there are lots of eggs etc so reinfestation is possible but remember if the dogs/cats are treated any flea that jumps on them will die. Capstar tablets only last for approx 3 days. Hope this helps

Frontline spray starts working immediatly- It effects the nervious system of the fleas-you should see fleas dropping off within 5 mins of application,they should be dead within 15-20mins. Have you treated the house?if not your pup will be reinfested almost straight away-the fleas will die but you will continue to see live fleas as new ones attach.Also you should treat any other pets you have at the same time otherwise the pup will get fleas off them-this includes cats. frontline top spot takes 2 days to spread around the entire coat.

I am a vet nurse and I would highly reccomend getting the IV for a bitch as if during the surgery her blood pressure drops it can be brought up quickly by running the fluid through,the blood tests are optional and the $92 would be for a full major blood test you should be able to get a minor blood test done for around $45. As you have a large breed dog the risk of any problems occuring is lower than if you had a small dog. If it was my dog I would want piece of mind knowing that the dog was on an IV. If you decide against having the IV in from the start just know in the time it takes to put an IV in if a problem occurs-it may be too late The blood test is optional. If you had a boy I would not bother with IV fluids. But only you can decide and do what you believe is best for your dog.

everyone for your help,I managed to find a supplier approx 1hr away today so going to pick up some Eagle pack tomorrow,I have also spoken to my local produce store and they are going to see if they can get it in for me

Thanx kristie and Anna-I will try and get Eagle pack tomorrow-just tried to order from the website but it was un-available hopefully I can get it if not i'll get Nutro ...........I live in a small town so I may have to order it.

I was wondering if anyone could tell me what Natural Balance dog food is like............would you prefer to use natural balance over hills? If so why? I usually feed my dogs Hills Science diet-Kirah and Matilda get original adult and Junior gets Senior I have only just heard about Natural Balance and was thinking of trying it. THANX in advance for any advice!

I think it would be great for her and you-had she been 9 I would have said get a vet to check her joints etc first Hope you have fun - I have just purchased a 20mth old Koolie to use for agility.My boy who is 9 is getting a bit sore now.

I do agility (NSW) and at our club dogs have to be a minimum of 9 mths old-basic obedience first makes it alot eaiser.As far as I know cockers are good.I would advise you get your dog vet checked prior to starting just to make sure he/she has no problems with his/her joint etc. I feed my dogs Hills science diet and they are fine but what you feed is really a personal choice,feed what your dog does best on. sorry, i don't know any clubs in Melbourne but i'm sure other DOLers would!

No Worries - let us know how she progresses

I am a carer and I find hand feeding puppies makes them realise that a hand near food is a good thing. WEEK 1.only fed from hand no bowl.(pat with other hand while feeding) WEEK 2. hand feed but with hand in bowl with pup taking food out of hand.(pat with other hand while feeding) WEEK 3. food in bowl but hand is in the bowl while eating.pat aswell By week 4 90% are happy to be patted while being fed. those who arnt happy week 2 lasts longer. Also I have a 23mth old daughter so my dogs (9yrs,5yrs and 22mths) have been taught that if a hand goes near or in the bowl they are to sit. to teach this put some boring food in bowl,then have some really nice smelly food (cabanossi is great)let your pup start eating the boring stuff then walk up while she is eating and let her sniff the "yummy"food and ask her to sit reward when she is not touching the food then release (ok) to go back to eating whats in bowl repeat this over and over for a week then just put your hand on the bowl (food in pocket) and say sit when she does give her the nice food and then use the release again.eventually when you put your hand near her bowl she will automatically sit expecting a yummy reward.(I taught my dogs this in approx 2 mths to do it without fail while i was still pregnant.) hope this helps

I am a vet nurse and we desex AWL puppies from 8wks so long as the testicles are present-your boy may have a retained testicle which would make it a bigger surgery,having to also cut as you would a spey-so 2 incisions-one in scrotum and 1 in stomach it is a bigger op as you need to "find" the testicle.Being that you have a chi some vets are worried about the gas in such small dogs.We however have had no problems You can get desexing done from 8 weeks-but if the testicle is retained the surgery will take longer and usually more expensive. By waiting till 6mths the testicle should be down by then but this does not always happen. hope this helps Usually stiches are taken out at 10 days but some vets will use dissolvable stiches-he should be kept quite for a couple of days-males tend to get over desexing quickly usually by the next day!

Hi here is the link for the "black dog halters" http://blackdog.net.au/halters.php the first halter on the page is the infin 8 halter ,I would reccomend the training halter to start with you have a lot more control,once your dog walks nicely then try the infin 8.Personally I have tried both types and found with my dogs and others in my classes I instruct the training halter is 100% better control than the infin 8 but you have both options .