RiverStar-Aura

I've been following yours and Roo's story from the very beginning and I know that your gorgeous girl cannot thank you enough for being so loving and caring. The sheer dedication you've shown her is to be applauded and I commend you as an owner. My heart goes out to the two of you and you'll be in my thoughts on October 14th. Roo will be in the best company over the bridge and I really hope that at last shell find the peace and comfort the beautiful girl deserves.

If it was me, I'd personally do whatever I feel most comfortable with. I also don't understand why, as informed dog owners, we need to argue the point of titre testing. If it's something we want done as owners, who are the vets to question our decision (unless the test isn't in the best interest of the dog of course). I can understand the receptionist trying to save you time and effort by having all these tests performed at the same time, however, the end decision lies with you and what you feel most comfortable with. Look at it too from the dog's POV; you might feel he'd be better off with a break between the tests and ultrasound -- the tests mentioned do sound like a lot of poking and prodding all in one go. In the end, you need to do what's most comfortable for you and your dog.

When I read stories such as these, I am always astonished over the speculation by people. The assumption that the dog was dumped by the owner knowing it had cancer and all these other issues ... It is quite possible to not know a dog is sick with cancer as some dogs show no outward symptoms -- I know this because my beloved Poochie was one such dog. Yes I do understand The author's anger towards the previous owner, as I too firmly believe a dog is for life and couldn't ever imagine being in a situation requiring my to give up my elderly dog. I just couldn't do it. Having said that, I also understand that sadly, situations do arise in which eldery dogs are required to be surrendered or 'dumped'. Rather than feeling such vehement anger towards Cocoa's previous owner, the author should be thankful she was able to provide a peaceful and pain-free ending for her. There's no point playing the blame game because it gets us nowhere and it's always easier to judge people and situations we don't know or understand, but again, it too is pointless.

I just use a mineral based kids sunscreen -- the current one might be Banana Boat brand. Zeus has very little fur covering his muzzle so sunscreen is a must! Oh and have you noticed that there's 50+ SPF available now?!

My dogs only ever bark at people walking by with their dogs or if there is something disturbing them. When there are people walking by, I'll go out to stop it because Zeus runs from one sided gate to the other and follows them and their 'there's something here that shouldn't be' bark is different so I always go check. I do always make sure I shut them up though.

I really don't mind if my dogs catch birds, provided it's the pests they are killing. Kirah has so far only got a hold of Indian Mynas.

My boy Zeus is highly allergic to bees; the last time he was stung his face swelled, he became unresponsive and eventually passed out. I rushed him to the vet for treatment and now, every summer he is given Polaramine tablets daily.

I'm luckily that I seem to live in a community of rescue dogs/pound dogs. They'd make up maybe 30 to 40 percent of dogs. The rest are mixes of mastiff crosses, SWFs, oodles galore and staffies and their crosses. I don't think there are many purebreds around. We do have some lovely pedigree dogs though: GSP, Weimaraner, Soft Coated Wheaten Terrier, a few Standard Poodles, Norwich Terriers, Belgian Malinios, Akita and Kirah my Aussie Terrier.

Me too, except I run it in a line from the shoulder blades to the bum. So she's a yellow-striped dally for a few days. Sometimes it seems like too much liquid for one little spot! I just worry that by spreading it over the body like that, my dogs will lick it off causing them to get sick. I also have a cat and use Advantix; my dogs and cat never come into contact with each other, however, I do let the family know when I treat them to make sure they wash their hands thoroughly after playing with the dogs before touching the cat.

With checking your dogs RiverStar have you ever found ticks on your dogs using Advantix? I don't live in a tick area & have never seen a tick on a dog & always worry about taking them to a tick area. I have never found a tick on any of my dogs in the entire 30 years I've been living in this area. *touch wood* and I've also been told that Frontline is ineffective in my area, however, I can't comment on this because I've personally never used Frontline.

I've had to crate Kirah in the car as she loves to travel on the parcel shelf. She's scared if the rear windscreen wiper and growls and barks at motorcycles and combi vans who pull up behind at lights. She's a nutter!

Both Frontline and Advantix spot ons require reapplication every two weeks to treat for ticks. I use Advantix as I live in a very high tick area however I still check over the body for ticks too.

I'm hoping you get some good news later this afternoon k9a. In the meantime I'm thinking of you and Cody!

Awwww. She looks like a real sweetie pie!! Best of luck and I hope she fits in well with her new family!! Great work helping them out Pers!!

He kinda looks more like a sloth in that last photo.

That's what I thought too Espinay -- that importing dogs is an expensive exercise so many couldn't afford that plus the trip OS. And as it is so exxy, is there really a huge OS puppy mill issue? Surely if you're paying so much to import, you'd definitely want to be sure you're not supporting a puppy farm.

I don't know if you're able to get to Russell Vale but the vet there does in clinic titre testing now. Russell Vale Clinic titre info It's up near Bellambi -- still quite a trip but might be worth it.

Daily brushing can also help. I posted quite recently in the Health section about my girl Kirah having a dull coat and I've found that daily brushing (I use a pin brush, flea comb and finish with boar bristle brush) has improved her coat condition drastically. Being outside, she does run and roll through the dirt and dust, but she is also fed mackerel or sardines in oil mixed into her dry. I couldn't be happier with how her coat's turned out!

My old girl Poochie was given a combination of Cartrophen injections and a daily dose of Rimadyl for her arthritis. Definitely agree with the hammock beds too -- they seem to make lying down and standing again much easier. Your boy is just lovely; what's his name? I think it's harder on an oldie when they're young at heart but their bodies are failing. I don't blame the poor boy getting frustrated. Best of luck with your vet appointment and keep us updated. Oh and more photos please!! :D

I had my dad custom build a wooden box to the measurements of the small size Snooza D1000. The Snooza fits perfectly and no damage to either it or the box. I'm living with two El Destructoes who used to dig through hammock beds within a matter of a half hour.

My boy Zeus had a hot spot not long ago that he continued to lick so I tried the Kong Cloud Collar out on him but had to return it. Due to his odd size, long nose and long skinny neck, the size he needed to stop him reaching the hot spot was too wide on his neck. The cone the vet supplied me turned out to be much better because it was long enough to stop his mouth reaching the wound, but could be adjusted small enough around his neck -- and it didn't take him long to have the cone figured out when it came to eating, drinking or sleeping!

How horrible to have to attend something like this. I'm so glad that the little dogs have someone like you and your hubby to look out for them. Do you know their names at all? I hope their owner didn't suffer and my thoughts go out to the family.

Oh bless her sweet, angelic face!! She's absolutely stunning Kirislin!! Iggies are so sweet and the few I've managed to meet have just melted my heart! May she bring you loads of love and snuggles and happiness!! :D

It took real guts to post like you did Lasareina; these treads can get quite nasty sometimes! As unfortunate as the accidental mating was, you need to be glad that you were able to witness the tie -- this gives you time to hunt for answers. It would've been far worse to have discovered Juno preggers in the later stages with fewer options. I do agree with the others that having her spayed is the way to go. STBs are getting such a bad rap in the media lately and can suffer a huge amount of health issues (bad skin allergies, patella probs etc) so I feel breeding should be left to those dogs proven to be good specimens. They are probably one of the most abundant dogs in Australia and as a breed, they need help in regaining their true personalities -- not as feral, uncontrollable killing machines. They are a such a lovely dog and I dislike seeing so many in pounds or being labelled 'put bulls'.

How do you know if you have a double coated dog? My cross breed I've been wondering for years. He has quite long fur that lies flat on his body -- like a smooth coat JRT but the underneath is a different colour and fluffy. The top layer is harsh and waterproof and he sheds like crazy. He's a beagle JRT cross supposedly if that helps. Mostly I'd like to know if what I've said above are characteristics of a double coat. Sorry for going OT