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We have a large mixed breed pup, who is around 10-11 months old. He is an ex RSPCA dog and is growing at a rapid rate. Sold to us as a bull arab, but I am sure there must be some great dane in there somewhere - he is already larger than our full-grown german shepherd. He is going to be a huge dog when he is fully grown, he still has big knots at his ankles and his paws are like dinner plates. We have noticed over the last day or two that he looks a bit stiff when he is walking. Having our GS diagnosed with hip dysplasia at two years old (he is now eight), I am terrified that Spud might be going the same way. I have been incredibly careful not to over-excercise or overfeed this fellow, in fact he only gets puppy play and no formal exercise at all, but we have a large acreage property and puppy play can be pretty rough and tumble and a lot of racing around (we have four pups all around the same age, so there's lots of play) I was wondering if dogs got growing pains like kids do and perhaps that was the problem? None of our other pups have a problem, but although they are reasonably large breed dogs themselves, none of them are going to be anywhere near the size of Spud and are not growing at the same rate. He doesn't appear to be stiff all the time, but last night he was very slow to get to his feet and come inside.

Can you attach the base of that toy (haven't seen it before, looks great!) to a big square piece of heavy wood? I think it you glued/screwed/nailed it to a large base he might not be able to tip it over.

A dear friend of mine once told me about a dinner guest her OH had brought to their home. She had two dogs, and after dinner she always let the dogs lick the plates before she put them in the dishwasher. This dinner guest was not a dog person, and when he saw the dogs licking the plates he was shocked. My friend noticed his attitude, waited until the dogs had licked the plates clean, held the plates up to the light and said, 'hmm, yep, that's sparkling clean now, good job boys.' Then she put the plate back in the cupboard! The dinner guest nearly fainted, until the OH gave it away by laughing. :laugh: Seriously, we have come a long way here and it seems that in NSW dogs will soon be permitted on lead at all outside eateries. I'd hate to see it go backwards because non doggy people get offended by seeing people feeding their dogs from cutlery that is meant for human use. OMG, I am SO going to do this next time my Mum comes to visit! She thinks I have gone feral since we moved to large acreage and have eight dogs and two minipigs all living in the house with us. Don't get me wrong, I love her, but we have vastly different ideas on how clean a house needs to be.

Apart from the unheathly caffeine aspect (which we're not 100% certain it was, anyway), it wouldn't bother me one tiny bit. I often leave a little morsel from my plate to treat our dogs (not while I'm eating, but after I'm finished) and they eat it off my spoon/fork which then goes in the dishwasher. Had my mother been at the cafe, though, she may well have fallen down dead from the shock and horror of it all..... there's a dog EATING FROM A HUMAN'S PLATE/SPOON HOW DREADFULLY UNHEALTHY AND UNHYGENIC..... THUD!

Exactly what I was thinking. If she thinks it's fine for her little precious to throw sand in the face of a stranger's dog, what does the poor dog at home cop?

I can remember ages ago someone recounting a story to me about her (half-witted) brother throwing their dog off the end of their canal pier to "teach it to swim". Can't remember what breed she said the dog was, I know it was a smallish breed, but glub, glub, glub, sunk to the bottom like a piece of lead. Stoopid brother had to jump in, fully clothed, brand new leather shoes, to save it. I do love instant Karma :D

I am also very interested in this, as we recently adopted a merle cattle dog pup. Had no idea her colour could present a health risk?

We have four senior dogs who all sleep in our bedroom (mostly on the bed with us) and four pups (unrelated, all between 6-10 months old). The four pups sleep together in a room off our room (weird house layout), but there have been no problems with bonding, they're all happy to see each other in the morning. Actually I think the seniors enjoy their "puppy time out", the puppies are so full on during the day, the seniors seem to enjoy the peace and quiet once they've been put to bed. Give it a go for a week or so, you can always put them back to sleeping together if you think the older dogs aren't bonding well with the pup.

The dog's clearly enjoying himself and hours of training must have gone into these vids, but the negative nellie in me wonders what kind of damage all those heavy landings are doing to his joints?

I'll attest to that. I used ours for years (no longer need it as we have no carpets). It was brilliant and MUCH cheaper than hiring one from the supermarket or getting a professional in to clean the carpets. A tip if anyone has one or is getting one; instead of the expensive anti-foam solution sold at the supermarkets, use homebrand fabric softener. A professional carpet cleaner gave me this tip and it worked like a charm.

Get both! :D

Not so much to do with your current situation, but just thought I'd mention that you can give your doggie cartrophen more frequently than twice a year. Our GS has monthly cartrophen injections (he is eight and has hip dysplasia). The cartrophen helps enormously, we can certainly see the difference from the start of the month to the end. Best of luck that your wee fellow gets better soon.

Two of our dogs just adore frozen broccoli. No matter how quietly I open the bag to blanch some for our own dinner, they both come running for their share.

Sorry, know I shouldn't but.... The best product I've used to removing stains from carpets was Simple Solution Oxy Carpet Stain Remover (it's a pet-specific product). We reno'd our house just before selling, cream carpet, bright orange puke (what HAD that dog been eating??!! And why couldn't he have moved 2 feet to the left and puked on the tiles ). This stuff was brilliant, had to treat it a couple of times but after that you couldn't even see where the stain had been.

If you haven't already, try your dogs on watermelon (when it's cheap per kg!). All our dogs absolutely adore it.... chomp, chomp, slobber, slobber, burp...

:laugh: Me too. Just read through this thread now and when I read LMSW's response to the tests being clear, I admit I teared up. Her joy and relief were palpable. I know I would feel exactly the same way.

I will also be very interested in finding this information out - we spend a bomb on vet meds for our GS who has hip dysplasia. He is on human meds (mobic and tramadol) which would be much cheaper on prescription.

We currently have: Pixie LuluBelle Smudge Molly Cookie and in the past had Jingles

I can remember many years ago (when I was a very young child), my grandfather doing an emergency bloat job on his pet goat (or might have been a sheep - I was VERY young!) From my very vague memory I think he used a knife to make the incision, but I do recall that the goat/sheep survived.

Our dogs all think poo is just the yummiest delicay - they especially love our pet pigs' poo and cat poo. I joke that if only I could find an animal to eat the dogs' poo, then I'd never have to do pooper scooper duties again! :laugh:

I would sincerely hope it was a joke. Hubby and I have eight dogs (the majority all ex-pound pups) and we often joke about "trading them all in for one good dog". We love them all to death and wouldn't swap them for a billion dollars, but we do joke about it.

Our German Shepherd has always recognised other animals on TV, doesn't matter what they are, if they have four legs, he has a grumble and a whine. He even recognises CARTOON dogs! We have a constant smudge mark on our tele at German Shepherd nose height.

Good on you for rescuing this old fellow who deserves to live out the rest of his days in a loving home. re the arthritis, our 8 year old German Shepherd has hip dysplasia and associated arthritis. We use human grade glucosamine, fish oil capsules, cartophen injections (six weekly) and pain killers (mobic - a human drug). He still runs around like a pup during the day, just a little stiff in the colder winter evenings. He wears jammies and a blankie on top (and sleeps on our bed). He does really well on this combination.

We got our winter jammies from Posh Pets at Marina Mirage (Gold Coast). They are made out of polar fleece (I think) and there are no zips/velcro/buttons, you just pull them over the dog's head and put their two front legs through the holes. To take them off we just pull them over the dogs' head and they step out of the leg holes. They weren't cheap at the time, but have lasted for eight years so far and still going strong. I just chuck them in the washing machine once a week. We have three new dogs this year (as well as the original four), so will be getting more of these, they have been great. They now have an online store: http://www.poshpets.com.au/Fashion-Sleepwear/c22_45/index.html

I would add my vote to yes, dogs have nightmares. All our dogs regularly dream (can be quite startling to have a german shepherd start "running" in his sleep when he's sleeping on the bed beside you), however one of our rescue pups woke up the first two nights literally screaming. After the first time it happened I raced into the pup's room because I thought he'd hurt himself, but couldn't find any problems. Ended up sleeping in his bed with him to calm him down and he woke up again screaming. Nothing hurt, so can only assume it was a nightmare. He doesn't do it anymore.