Ahona

Thanks! I know I probably am over reacting a little, I just have no idea what male 6 month old golden retriever pups are meant to look like and how much muscle they are supposed to have, so thought I would ask! I'm not going to do any Xrays for now, or desex, they can both wait till he is 18 months old, unless he starts exhibiting any signs meanwhile, which he is definitely not at the moment! Will get him swimming to build up muscle and see the chiro vet in a while at Clayton, thanks for the tip!

It does seem to sometimes, is that an indicator of problems? He is growing though and sometimes his back half is taller than his front and vice versa so he often stands on a slope!

I know Persephone, but we've chosen to wait till between 12-15 months to castrate for health reasons. More pictures of him, he is outside in his clam shell pool digging and has turned to look at me, so odd angle in some. Also pardon our dirty windows

Thank you Will try and get a better picture tonight! Do they put dogs under for Xrays? In that case, I may wait till around 1 year of age, when Spud has grown a bit more and is going to be desexed, don't want to have to put him under anesthesia twice! Like I said, I'd never even considered the possibility of HD for him yet, because he moves so well and freely and painlessly, so what the vet said took me by surprise. He is going through rather a lanky phase atm too, hopefully he fills out soon! a.

Thanks GL! I'm not exactly sure if there is a problem, because he looks like other 6 month old goldens to me and I have googled Plus he has been to the vets thrice before and to obedience school and no one else has mentioned anything, except to say he is in great shape? I will look into getting him to a chiro if I can find one here, just for peace of mind, here is a new picture of him standing. I was standing up though pointing down, so he looks a bit skinnier than he is!

Thanks, swimming is a good idea! Any idea whereabouts we can go? I'm in melbourne!

Hi all We went to the vet today and I am a bit worried now, so feedback from all goldie/large breed owners and breeders appreciated. We took spuddie to the vet to be chipped and he got checked and said he was fine, lean but that's the way the vet likes them. And as we were leaving the vet said the only thing that concerns him is that spuds hindquarter muscles look a little shrunken and wasted and apparently that can indicate HD??! He said of course it cant be diagnosed by looking, but that before we breed spud (at that point we said no we arent, so he said, okay when he comes in to be desexed at 1.5 years) to get an xray to see how his hips are going!! His parents are HD free of course and our breeders had all the tests, he's on a great food (EP Holistic for large and giant breed pups) and has had not much exercise as a puppy at all except short walks, we've tried to do it all right!!! Now I'm worried that he has HD and don't know whether to believe the vet or not? He did say that about the x ray right after he heard we had insurance for spud? I hate being so cyncial Also, spuds not growing well He's about 2 inches above my knee and weighs 23 kilos and is filling out, but he's still nowhere near adult shape or size. is that normal? If you have a golden retriever, could you post pictures of your dogs aged about 6 months so I can compare please? And people in the know, does the shrunken muscle thing sound right to you? For what it's worth, spud is very active and runs and jumps and plays in the backyard with no stiffness or any sign of discomfort at all! Thanks! a.

$950.00 seems to be average, in Melb at least. That's about how much we paid for our pup, though 3 months down the line we've shelled out at least another 2K on food, toys, insurance, bedding, shots etc

My golden retriever has one and that will be fixed when he is desexed. Your pups hernia does look rather large, I'd just keep an eye on it As long as pup is not in pain and eating/going to toilet, all is okay.

Thank you so much both!!!! Spud sends smooches your way :D

Hi all I want to take my goldie pup to the beach tomorrow afternoon, are there any good beaches (relatively close to the Northern suburbs) that allow dogs? Thanks!! a.

Cool Coco :D If you want any help with good real estate agency recs or help with cover letters for applications, let me know, I've just been through the process of applying for a rental with a dog!

Thanks for that Odette, I certainly don't think that all natural remedies are to be trusted and there are a large number of quacks out there!! The good homeopaths I have been to, have all been in India, so I have no idea what homeopathy is like in Aus and probably shouldn't be commenting about it

Sorry Coco, very off topic, but if you do move house, please tell your new landlords that you have a dog. By not telling your landlord that you have a pet, you make it very difficult for people like me, who own dogs and want to do things above board and the right way, to have pets in rented houses, because all dog owners immediately equal untrustworthy people.

That naturopathy believes an overburdened immune system can lead to a more rapid progression of cancer yes and even cause it in some instances.