KitKat

Hehe...yeah, my boys are the bigger type of dog...lol. Harm is a Rotti X and 37kg's and the pup is 5 odd months and about 30kg's. My older dog is a tough old boot so i know he'll be fine. As to the pup, well i'm more just hoping he is clear of it by the end of the month as he is booked in to be desexed. I am thinking of popping into the vet again tomorrow if he's still hacking just to see if they say anything or recommend anything else. Or i might visit a different one...lol And it's always good to hear of other peoples experiances thanks.

Thanks for that BlackLabrador , i'll keep that in mind for when i can finally take the poor darlins out again ;) Well the whole Kennel/Canine Cough thing has had me fairly interested and so instead of doing the work i am paid to do :D i have been wandering the net looking for tips and bits and pieces to do with KC, so far i have found a few interesting things such as home remedies and tips...as follows... It's interesting with this one as some places say it all goes on for several weeks while others say it should be all over in say 2 weeks at the most. Olive Leaf is also supposed to be very helpful... It's also interesting that some sites recommend that at the first cough you take the dog to the vet, others say if dog is still coughing after say three days to get them ot the vet and others say wait till up to two weeks and if nothing is resolved then see the vet. The intranasal vaccination seesm to be better then the normal injectible type, now i had heard of this stuff but it's never been offered to me by my vets, is it something that should be asked for specifically?

Oh..., I'm sooo sorry, my thoughts are with you Run free Kumo

gotta love Super Molly!!! I was sooooo worried about Molly and am sooo happy she escaped it.

My introduction to kennel cough was a bit upsetting...for me, the dogs don't seem particularly concerned and neither did the vet when it was all said and done. I understand that the thing is a self limiting virus, highly contagious but basically just like the human common cold or flu. And having the dogs vaccinated against it doesn't necessarily make much difference except for severety, and some dogs will get it and some dogs won't...depending on the strain of KC as well i guess. A friend has put me onto a homeopathic mixture and i am also giving the dogs a dose of human cough mixture (Duro-Tuss & Nyal dry cough) with the odd touch of honey every so often as well, and the dogs are taking the chewable vitamin c tablets nicely, almost like a treat. I've wandered through a bundle of the threads on DOL, some dating back to 2002 which were interesting and thought i'd ask the question (again, lol) but as much for people who have dealt with it or are dealing with it in their dogs as anything else. Hints and tips for those new to it basically, I wish i'd known more about it as i probably wouldn't have freaked quite as much. The vet had mentioned that there had been quite a few cases lately, so perhaps more people will come across it unfortunately. So, everyone...what are your experiances, tips and hints? Thanks all Kit

Theres' nothing to freeze off any more! They were respectfully taken at the vets, as will soon happen with Bronx. Poor little begger should get over his kennel cough just in time to get the snip I had thought of those attachments but my house just isn't made for something that handy, i'd end up having to set it up as a shower in my driveway! I was able to wash my pup once in the bath...at 8 weeks...after that he was just too big and wriggly!

Hehehe...my boy's cop the cold water all year round...but in winter i do try to pick the wamer days to wash them.

I voted the one closest to what i do... I do wash them in the back yard but they get taken to with the hose rather then buckets.

Roo meat tends to be very rich (very gamey) which is why some dogs get sick on the stuff, if a dog is weaned onto it there isn't usually any problems. edited to add...hehehe Molasseslass...i was taking too long typing

Perhaps raw meaty bones and a good quality puppy kibble? bit of a mix and match until he fills out a bit? How old do you think he is?

I buy bulk meats and make it up as i go along basically. At the moment the boys are getting a lot of turkey, chicken and lamb as I go to a butcher that supplies such nice and cheaply...in the freezer at the moment are...chicken frames and pieces, turkey necks and bums and i think there are a couple of bags of lamb offcuts underneath all the rest :rolleyes:. I do up there vegies with whatever is available at the time and mulch then and freeze them. The pup still gets milk every other night or so, and my older boy gets a bit of watered down milk the same nights as a treat. Yogurt get thrown in every couple of nights and other nights sardines get tossed in as well. The boys still get kibble occasionally but it's not a whole meal, and usually only if i have forgotten to defrost something.

It is always a plastic bag lure but the dogs that prove interested don't seem to care. I think if you look up the website it will have the distance there...The link to the website is somewhere on this thread i think... Edited to add...are there any more cocker owners who might be interested in this? i think a cocker fun run would be cool and they could give the beagles a run for their money!

Another problem is that most dog obedience schools require an up to date vaccination certificate before you can start training your dog. I was able to arrange with my vet that my cat only get his needle once every 3 years, mostly because he freaks out something shocking when handled by people he doesn't know. I'm hoping to arrange something of the sort with my older dog but the dog club thing has me stumped at the moment as to how to get around it. Kit

I would but i only live around the corner from the lure coursing field... Perhaps we need to get more people into it , hopefully someone might be able to give Tybrax a lift??

Another choice is the prepackaged cheapy baloney. Or i have found VIP Chunkers are great...they are preformed small mince balls, they freeze well and my dogs...and those i come across generally love them. Natures gift kibbles are great as well. Kit

http://www.users.bigpond.com/janatd/lureweb/ I think this is the one...

lol, i know the feeling i often have to explain that i have a large dog which eats them. Mind you they can be used to make soup stock...so i believe...lol

My pup is mostly getting chicken necks, wings, mince and quarters and turkey necks, wings and vegies. He also gets the odd bowl of milk with an egg whisked in and he generally gets a dollop of yogurt with dinner. Beef and lamb flaps get thrown in a fair bit as well, same with small amounts of roo meat and mince. He gets basically the same as my adult but usually the pieces with softer bone, i was giving him kibble once a day with other stuff but have been informed that is kinda bad for him. I'll be glad to see more ideas as well Kit

So anyone going? I will be and my friends cocker that is all ears and feet will be flying again as well Kit

thanks for that. Ok...I think i'd have to ask the same question as Molasseslass, what out of the raw foods needs to be limited? Bronx plays all day with Harm...well annoys Harm till he gives in and plays, with naps through out, so he isn't an inactive pup. But what shouldn't he be getting in his barf diet? I'll try and get a wet/bath shot of him this weekend, it's hard to 'see' thru his thick coat. Thanks Kit

Bronx has just started to lose the softer puppy features and get a more mature look about his face, and his adult teeth are just starting to peep through. He see's his brother roughly every Friday night at training and Bronx is just a tad smaller, as always, and each time he has seen his sister he is a bit more then a touch bigger then her, once again as always. As to Harm...well he weighed in at 37kg's which is a nice weight for him, he is 8yrs old and crossed with a lab (best guess). Harm isn't a particularly big boy, more like a lab in rotty fur. Bronx is just shy of being the same size as the rescue border collie that is living with us at the moment. The kibble he is getting is supercoat puppy and the bag says he should be getting around 600grams a day from memory, which i though was too much when i saw a days ration in a bowl, lol, but it's neither here nor there since he is fed mostly barf. Akitaowner - thanks for the PM, i'm just about to reply

Well Bronx was 11kgs at around 7 weeks, 16kg's at around 11 weeks and now 21kg's at 14 weeks. His lines kinda progam him to be a big boofy GSD and he has never looked (by pass all the fur) pudgy, he still has a skinny butt and if you run your hands down his sides you can feel his ribs nicely. He has only in the last week or two started getting puppy kibble with his barf, and it's certainly not as much as the packet says...lol. His paws are about the same size or slightly bigger then the palm of my hand I've been told he has Malamute paws...lol . Also since i took the furball home he has visited his breeder each fortnight and she has said that he was growing nicely and is looking good. Bronx isn't a guts and doesn't eat everything put in front of him (thank goodness) as my other dog would, once he has had enough that's it and it's not often he gets that round belly look after a meal either. And thanks everyone...keep it coming Kit

Bronx is a GSD, and he will be on the bigger end of the scale for the breed. He is fed mostly on BARF with kibble thrown in for some meals. he has started his formal training but he's not doing any real 'forced' excercise, just playing silly buggers with me and the other dogs. My vet knows me and has been looking after my older dog for a few years now...it just thru me when he started treating me as if i had never owned a dog before, let alone a large breed one (my other boy is a rotti x). So i just thought i'd pose the question. Kit

I took my furball in to the vets to get his last needle and he weighed in at 21kg's, hefty at 14 weeks. Now the vet was going on about how huge he was going to be, how good he was looking, how happy he was that heavy but lean with it (can find the ribs under the fur) etc etc. Then he started on me about not letting him grow too quick as it will cause all sorts of problems for the dog (i did know this) and if there is even a slight limp or such to get him to the vets quick smart. Now...i've been working/feeding to the idea of growing him lean and slow, but i'm now curious to find out what that means to different people? and how does one tell with a growing pup, that's likely to be on the big side of things anyway? He is growing in proportion to his siblings after all...is that what i work by? So how does everyone else sort this thing out? Kit

LMAO! I'm impressed :D, gotta love them and the fridge feasts. Harm hasn't worked out how to get into my fridge but both he and my new pup have worked uot hot to keep it open...lol, they will sit near it when i am getting stuff out then shuffle forward and leave a leg/paw/muzzle in the way as the door tries to close. Cheeky buggers