RuralPug

Yes, the quantities per day may be small but remember that you will want to freeze different types of meat/organs etc. and will not be able to purchase the minimum quantities for a week but will need to purchase a couple of months supply in some cases (e.g. you may want two or three minimum different types of organs, which you would be very lucky to find in less than 250gm packages!) Really, even for one small dog or one cat, you are best to have a freezer in addition to the usual freezer space in a family fridge. You will probably find it helpful to repackage fresh raw into 2-3 days worth quantity-wise before freezing. Better still, having a dedicated freezer just for pet meat means also that you don't need to forego the occasional irresistible bulk bargain!

Officially school holidays don't start in Vic until the 23rd of December but of course some high school students may have already completed their attendance for the year. VCE exams are finished in Victoria as far as i know,

It' s been 24 hours and I haven't heard from the OP.

Well done! So nice to hear that they hadn't swallowed wholesale the "hybrid vigour" or "non-shedding" theories. Perhaps next time you can ask them to talk to some groomers first - oodles often need MORE at home grooming PLUS MORE FREQUENT salon visits than purebred poodles, bichons etc. to prevent the coat from matting at the skin. Here is a photo of a typical oodle sent to a groomer, where the owners had only brushed the top coat and had not combed through to the skin every few days. This is the only way to remove the resulting matts, and the poor dog goes home looking like a plucked chicken. Although the picture is of a dog in the US, I assure you that the same happens every day in Australia. For those who want to look at the text written by a groomer to explain the photo, you can find it on FB here (and probably in several other places). I'm not making this point against the dogs themselves, but against those cross breeders who avoid explaining their puppy buyers the actions needed to care for the coat.

What opinion has has your vet mentioned about the lump? Has his head been x-rayed to check for skull fractures?

Thanks for the info - something I didn't know! Learning something new is always appreciated! The the US it is usually a reaction to raccoon saliva (as stated in your link) but this is the very first time I have heard of it in Australia and yet that link quotes it as reasonably common. Looking at the comments in that article, it seems all over Australia and also to be experienced in the UK.

It would seem that the breeder is too bereft with grief to think straight. Separating a mother and her 3 week old pups is not a good idea. PM me with the breeder's details and I will contact her and arrange for the mum and pups to be fostered and raised until pups are old enough to be rehomed, at no cost to herself and she can still deal long distance with puppy purchasers etc. and the dam can join the breeder in NZ once the pups have gone to their new homes.

He is still a young child at this stage in his life. It is up to you to puppy proof the house until he gets his maturity on! Make sure that he has plenty of toys of his own to play with, and keep swapping them around so that he doesn't lose interest in them (put away 3/4 of them and every couple of days swap the 1/4 available to him with others from your cupboard.)

That is so misleading it is almost fraudulent!

Some dogs are incredibly stoic and just don't show pain. This doesn't mean that they are not in pain - the loss of appetite would make me suspect chronic pain. But spinal injury can sometimes preclude messages travelling from the brain to the limbs - so no pain messages in and no muscle control out, if you see what I mean. The sudden and severe onset, with no improvement from anti- inflammatories and crate rest, but mostly the visible spinal curve and no sign of breathing paralysis as with a paralysis tick really sounds like an injury or some sort of degeneration of the spine or of the spinal nerves. Without Xraying to check for bone spurs pressing on the nerves in the spinal column and myelograph (spelling? not sure) to check the state of the spinal cord itself it does seems a big leap to me to assume there is no underlying degeneration or injury. I would ask to follow it up with xrays or soft tissue scans in case there is spondylosis or some other sort of degeneration or there has been been an injury. Coonhound paralysis is not found in Australia as it is a reaction to raccoon saliva. "actute iditopathic polyradiculoneruitis" is not actually a diagnosis but basically a description of the main symptom. Not to blame the vet, some times wiyh illness or disease that is a little out of the ordinary symptoms is all you can be sure of, the cause remains unknown. And if they don't find anything on the xrays or scans then I would probably then consult a greyhound chiropractor or Bowen therapist. That's what I would do, it is not necessarily what most people would do LOL. I do hope you find out what the problem is or at least how to relieve it - now that you are back don't be a stranger and keep us updated please!

Something we all feared. I am so very very sorry for your impending loss. I hope the steriods help to make her more comfortable so that she is able to enjoy the time she has left.

Why don't they choke the rice? Lord knows that grain needs strangling thoroughly! Sorry! I couldn't resist. Darn you autocorrect! Its okay, I'll show myself out...

Very odd thing for the vet to say. There certainly could be parasites in roo ORGANS, same as in organs of most livestock, but freezing before feeding will kill them just as thoroughly as cooking. As far as I am aware, there are no parasites in roo muscle meat. Roo mince might contain the odd small percentage of organs, but not usually. When feeding any raw meat, simply freezing it for at least a few days before feeding will destroy any parasites and most bacteria without destroying many of the vitamins/ enzymes etc. that cooking destroys.

That does seem odd. Perhaps her digestive tract just wasn't used to it? My small dogs get several chicken necks, or a turkey neck or a chicken wing daily or almost daily for one meal and raw meat/fish and the odd bit of loaf or kibble or veg plus various additives for the other meal and I very rarely get white poos (which usually does indicate too much bone). My medium and larger dogs get chicken frames but also lamb or beef meaty bones, and more kibble than the littlies, and they will occasionally show too much bone in their stools - usually my fault - but it doesn't usually change the time of their bowel habits, though.

It's simply the difference between spending money on a 'shit happens' situation with someone else's dog and spending it on your own dog. Would you expect a car manufacturer, for instance, to contribute towards your mechanical bills if their design or workmanship was not at fault? Would you expect your obstetrician to contribute to every childhood ailment that needed treatment if they had done their very best and had not injured the child at the birth in any way? A breeder is willing to provide a new puppy, take back the old and spend whatever is necessary, so it is not about the money for the breeder. Simply, it is the principle at stake. Western society seems to be heading towards the sue someone, blame someone else, don't accept responsibility for your own family when life sometimes sucks attitude, which is very sad.

Hugs to you. Keep us updated.

Didn't see the vestibular head tilt on any of them, although the chi wasn't in camera range very long. The maltese-type did have a bit of head shaking, both the chi and the malt looked to have had patella issues, I didn't really see any cruciate issues - so I imagine that the surgery was a success! Because the chi wasn't in camera range very long, I would guess the maltese-type , but the chi doesn't look like a spring chicken either!

This can happen in absolutely any breed of dog, and is just basically bad luck. The cases I have been aware of (one in your breed, all of the others in different breeds) have all led problem free lives after surgery. The surgery will vary from case to case, but that is the highest surgery quote I have heard of - you might want to get a few more quotes from different vets. There is, as far as I know, absolutely zero way to predict when a hermaphrodite is going to pop up, it is especially hard when the extra genital bits don't appear until the dog is five or six months old. It actually isn't the breeder's fault, from what I've seen. If the breeder has kept the puppy for themselves (and I know of at least one case where that has happened) they would just have to suck it up. Not all congenital conditions are due to hereditary problems - and the breeder has offered you a replacement pup, which I would consider very generous of them, personally. If you accept the replacement pup, you can't keep the first one. That is your decision to make. And what basis do you have to assume that the breeder would put the pup down?

Have to agree @shel the fine print is the killer isn't it? It seems in league with PETA style touting for donations under false pretences. And they are not talking mere pennies either ...

So apparently Pet Rescue have heard the screams about their donation buttons etc. They claim to be developing a way for a "Donate to Desex" button to be available on active pet listings (who defines "active"? ) which will allow donations to go directly to groups. They are hoping it will be active in about 12 months. I have soooo many questions. On the surface, it looks great - but the technology is readily available for a button to link directly to a group's website (providing they have money handling facilities in place) so why allow almost a year for development - unless (oops my cynicism button has been pressed) they want to design a way for any money to be temporarily held in PR accounts before being sent on to the group? Nice little earner that would be!

SWF are super popular and if impounded, are often adopted straight from the pound without rescue being needed. Little Legs do small dogs, I just checked and they currently have Pippy who might suit? Putting their name down with Little Legs is probably the way to go even if they don't like Pippy in particular. Pippy maltese mix in QLD Chihuahua Rescue QLD often have other small breeds including maltese. They have a senior maltese x silky atm. Karma's Place have a male maltese x westie atm.| Fraser Coast Dog Rescue have a maltese x lhasa apso young male looking for a quiet home preferably with a quiet older couple. The also have a pair they want rehomed together a female maltese and her maltese cross female flatmate. SEQ Canine Rescue have a senior male maltese cross. There are a couple of other "bonded" pairs including maltese crosses at the moment in QLD on PetRescue.

These are called puppy bars. You frequently see them second hand when people have upgraded their cars!

Have you tried dremel? Bunnings brand Ozito has a rotary tool the same as Dremel with the added plus of being 1/3 price and the kit includes an extension flex which means the motor is almost a meter away from the filing end, easier for dogs to get used to.

Sorry I've been off line. I'm sure you've sorted it by now. I would have done the styptic powder again. In a pinch you can plug bleeding quicks by pressing them into a bar of soap, although it sounds like your boy doesn't much like his feet handled, you might need to work on that to avoid future broken nails being such an issue.

@JLJustice has your dog always done this or did this behaviour start recently? Some dogs will do this to clean dust from their face and usually do it from very young. In all other dogs it is a good idea for a vet check, as is it due to something irritating or painful.