Edslaine

I agree with all the 'likes' and 'dislikes' already mentioned but I just wanted to add something I read in our local paper the other day. There was a letter from a family who nearly lost their house recently in the Gerogery bushfire the week before Christmas. The letter was thanking all the people who had helped them afterwards and one part was thanking my vet who had treated their dogs after the fire and not charged them a cent.

I got Vets Own insurance for Edward. Like others have said - do a check online to see what suits you. Vets Own are for life and I pay $30 a month.

Edward also loves his soft toys. He's nearly six now and has about 20 of them. He plays with all of them and never destroys any. They just get very soggy and dirty. I love the look on his face when they've all been in the washing machine - it's like - wow new toys

Abrham Ali Andrew Andy Angus Anzac Apollo(different spelling!) Appollo Archie Arkhan Armand Arq Ashke Attila Atlas Bailey x 5 Balou Bandit Banjo Bardigrub Bart X 2 Barton Baxter Bear x2 Bender Ben Benji Benny Benson Billy Bing Bluey Bomber Bosch Bosco Boxer Brady Brian Custard O'Doggle Brock Brockie Brody Bronson x2 Brownie Bruce Bud Buddy Bumble Bundyx2 Buster Cannon Caramel Carl Cash Casper Champ Charlie x 5 Chevy Chief Chip x 2 Chok Clifford Coco Cooper x3 Cory Cowan x 2 Cowboy Crikey Cuba Danny Darcy x 2 Dashx2 Deakin Dean Declan Delgado Dennys Dog Diablo Diesel x2 Digby Digger x2 Dillon Dinky Douglas Dumas Duncan Dylan Ebon Echo Eddie Edward Elijah Elliott Elvis Edge Ernie Esky Fergus x 2 Fox x 2 FlashBazil Fleming Fletcher Flynn Focus Forester Frank Fudge Gandor Geo George Greedy Grover Guiness mcGuinness Hail Harley Harri Harrison Harry Henry Hogan Hudson Hugo Ivan Jack x 3 Jake x 2 Jasper x 2 James Jay JayDee Jed Jethro Jet Jett Jordan Joshua Judd Juggie Kahn Kai Kaiser x 2 Kane Kasper Kaos Kiba Kei Kingston Kippy Kisho Kynan Kyzer Leo Lincoln Lenny Leroy Lestat x2 Logan Luca Lucius Ludwig Lughie Lukas Lukon Mac X 2 MacKenzie Mark (the cat) Mason Max x 7 Maxie Maxwell THE DOG Maze Mel Merlot Merry Milky Milosh Milton Minook Mistral Mojo Mokha Morris Mr Darcy Nammu Napoleon Nelsson (yes two s's) Nicky Nigel Noah Nova Nudge Nugget Occy Onslow Oscar x 3 Oz Pal x 2 Payton Pete Phoenix Phantom Piikki Porsha Punch Quick Quincy Raffy Ralph Randy Reeve Reagan Rex Ricky Riku Riley Ripley River Rocks Rolly Rory Rove Rover Roy Jones Jnr Rupert Rusty Sam x2 Satchmo Scout Scrap Scratch Shadow Seth Silas Snitch Sonny Soul Spartan Speed Spencer Spike Sport Spud Sterling Stig (The) Storm Stryker Sumo Swanky Tazz x 2 Teddy Terry Tey Dog Thunder Tiger Tirra Toby x2 Tolkien Tommy Tub Tusca Tye x2 Tyson Udo Ulf Valdez Wags Walker Watson Weave Whisky Willow Willy Wilson Woody Wycomb Yoshi Zac Zedley Zeppelin Zephyr x 2 Zeus Zuma

Hi Westiemum A family dog, back when I was a teenager had epilepsy. She was a westie called Jodie. A show dog til the fits started when she was about 4. She lived a fairly normal life til she was about 14. My dad was amazing with her. He seemed to be able to tell when a fit was coming on and he would take her to her bed and sit on the floor with her til it was over. The vet said that she would be more calm and not so disorientated at the end of the fit if she was in surroundings where she felt safe. She was on medication - phenobarbitol (sp?) I think it was. I hope your baby is okay. E

Fantastic thread - thanks I'm going to get all this together. Edward's first aid kit will be better than mine

For dry food I use the Family Dog Coprice with some Advance. GayleK's great mix of minces, veggies, cheese, oil, chicken livers. Chicken necks, beef necks and lamb flaps. Edward does very well on this. I mix it up over the week.

Yes peanut butter is a favourite here too and mince.

Hi Black Dog2 welcome You have just described Edward exactly when I first got him at 12 months old. It got to the stage where I was so anxious when walking him, constantly on the lookout for other dogs so we could run the other way that I stopped walking. Which of course made me a big part of the problem Edward is also good natured and perfectly behaved at the off leash park with great recall. Anyway we worked with a behavourist/trainer and it took a while but he is lovely to take out now. Our trainer was fabulous. Ask people near you to recommend a good trainer - you need to comfortable with them. Good luck. I'm sure you and your lab will be fine.

I totally agree with poodlefan too My Edward was exactly the same and he hadn't been abused (well I think not) but he had never been in a house; ran under the bed when he saw his reflection or another person for that matter; I couldn't have the tv on for the first week without hysterics (his not mine ); he wouldn't walk through the door if someone was standing near it; wasn't toilet trained; I also had to make up his age from his first vet visit (I was told he was 5 months - closer to 1yr the vet said); he couldn't play and for a big dog had been fed on only a cup of dry food a day, thrown into the electrified paddock he was in on his own. I was at my wits end after a week but knew that I had to make it work as even with his problems I already loved him and anyway he would never be able to be rehomed if I felt I couldn't cope. I went to training and that helped a lot, got help from my doggy friends and joined a group of dog owners that meet together at an off leash park - not that Edward was off lead for the first six months. I also saw Cosmolo when they came here for their seminars - actually we'd be regular clients if we lived closer to them as we really liked their training techniques. I also went to ridiculous lengths like lying on the grass with a bone and cutting off bits of meat to tempt him - goodness knows what the neighbours thought Sorry - to cut a long story short, four years later I have a beautiful dog I can take aywhere. We still have one or two issues - like barking at the front window but we're getting there.