sausy.dog

They are very contagious and as others have said Frontline won't kill them. From what I understand though they are very short lived off the host but there is a wide range of carriers, ie basically all pets, rabbits, cats, mice, guinea pigs. So if one pet has them all pets in house should be treated.

How soon after the vet flea treated her did you bath her? You are supposed to wait at least 24 (maybe even 48 I can't remember) hours before you get the dog wet. If not you may need to do the treatment again. ETA: Just looked at my Frontline instructions and you must wait 48 hours after treatement before you shampoo the dog and I would think what the vet used would be the same so if you bathed her before that time was up you would need to do it again but check with vet first if that is ok.

Has he had a swab taken by a vet to ascertain which bug is causing his infections? It may be resistant to the antibiotics he is on.

With most animals internal parasites are basically always there in some form or another. Treat every 3 months and don't get too stressed about it. If you have very small children be especially vigilant with worming - adult people usually have good resistance to worms but there is a roundworm in dogs (Toxocara canis) that can be particularly nasty to toddlers.

In our state the current average price for a miniture is around the $1000 mark and a registered standard is around $800 but I am not sure if all states are the same. $400 would be from a BYB. I would think you will pay at least $700 from a registered breeder. We have a standard who is around 10 months old and she is a lovely dog. She is a smooth and they are known for being quite headstrong so you need to be reasonably firm with rules etc. I think the long-haired are generally a bit more laid back in temperament but I don't know for sure. I love them anyway, they are fantastic little dogs (who think they are very big dogs) with personality plus. Read heaps about them, there are risks with their backs and they should be kept trim without excess weight so require regular exercise.

Who do these vets think they're kidding? In all the bitches I have kept in over 30 years, not one has died of cancer, and the 2 that developed mammary cancer were desexed and had lumpectomies and lived cancer free for the rest of their natural lives. I agree. My family has had many sheep working dogs over my lifetime, all bitches, and two have had cancer. One developed mammary cancer at around 6 years of age and the vet removed the lump and said she should have left it and the dog had months to live. She went on to live until she was over 14 and the tumour never came back and she wasn't desexed when it happened either - I don't know why but it was over 20 yrs ago. The other got cancer on her hip.

I have just treated my BCx with Advocate for sarcoptic mange - what would have been a good alternative? When I was growing up our kelpie sheep dogs often got this and we used to use a product called 'Flints Oil' which they loathed but used to to work but it wasn't anywhere near as easy. I thinkit was a horse product and don't even know if you can get it anymore. Also is this sensitivity an accumulative thing or have they either got it or not, ie should she have had a reaction by now if she is sensitive or can it build up over time and doses? Edited to add: When I say just treated I mean probably close to a fortnight ago.

Oh ok, thanks for that Poodlefan.

I know nothing about agility, does it make a difference and how? My family are farmers and almost all farmers I know won't desex their working dogs - they say it changes them and they are not as driven, is it the same in dog sports? I find this topic very interesting.

I was going to get our dachie Elly desexed before her first season but she pipped me at the post at 51/2 months so I decided to wait until she was a bit older. She is now just over 10 months old and had it done yesterday - bit of a sore sorry sausage at the moment. I think that its another one of those questions that there is no right or wrong answer except for the possibility that it may reduce their chances of mammary cancer. The far biggest risk in my opinion is an unwanted litter of pups and you need to be 100% sure that you can prevent that if you decide to wait out until the dog is older and an inside dog that is in season is a pain if there is no reason to keep them entire.

I would probably be trying to get a bit tougher with them in regards to getting them onto some good quality kibble. I would also be giving them chicken necks rather than mince - really bad for their teeth just to be eating chicken mince. How old are they?

Hi there, chicken mince is probably fine but necks, wings etc have the added benefit of helping with their teeth. I also would not feed any cooked bones especially to a strong little pup like a staffy who will most likely be able to crunch into the bones a bit. Cooked bones can do all sorts of damage to digestive systems and not worth the risk imo.

If she has skin allegies I would be dropping the mince in favour of chicken necks, wings, frames. Also weetbix and milk is not a good puppy food - nothing of benefit in weetbix and milk can also irritate stomach. Remember if changing diet to change over slowly. Could also introduce some sardine occassionally.

Hi there, good luck with your new additions.. I personally wouldn't sleep them in your children's rooms at night. They will need to be taken out in the night and I don't think even the most responsible nine and eleven year olds are going to manage that night after night. Also have you checked with your local obedience club about your children training their dogs - ours here won't allow kids under 12 due to insurance reasons which is a bit of a pain as I would also have liked my children to have the opportunity to do some of the classes. Anyway it will certainly be a busy time in your house. Best of luck with it.

Wow, that doesn't look good - did it smell really bad?? My dachies canines took a long time to fall out but they didn't change colour like that. As well as bones etc I wiggled them whenever I thought of it and they came out themselves.

Be careful with potato, they can be quite toxic when green and I have a feeling there are other reasons dogs shouldn't have them but cannot remember why...

They say this because they are talking about a dog suddenly becoming ill or dying suddenly after having it done.....that is rarely the case..........What it does is causes things like seizures months later.........Ask your Vet how many dogs they have on their books that have "epilepsy"....then ask how many have the heart worm shot! Wonder how many clients they have lost because the customers dog did die, or did have a reaction at the time & they blamed that Vet rather than the drug itself & so changed Vets & never told them why they changed Vets....get my drift............Australians in general believe everything the Vet tells them, Many Americans dont, and that is why all our reactions (whether Vaccine, heartworm, anaesthetic, drug related ) never get reported here !!! Many dogs never show any signs of distress, death, seizures etc. ....what about the ones that do though, and just because a dog has had it 5 years in a row doesnt mean it wont die from it the next year..........the death will be presumed to be from something else of course........ I understand everything you are saying and I agree. I think a lot of vets are just not informed about this drug - either because they don't actively seek info or they aren't given it - and its a real worry. I suspect that in our area there would have been little or no alarm bells ringing by linking seizures etc with proheart because few people actually treat for heartworm here - it is not in our area at the moment. I know it is only a matter of time but until large numbers of people start treating for it with proheart then there will be very little to link adverse reactions to proheart that the vets will pick up on which is possibly why they are still ignorant about it.

Both vet practices in our country town say they have never heard anything about proheart side effects. I asked the vet at a consult where I usually take my dogs and she said she would do some reading but had never heard of it causing any problems. When I took Elly to puppy preschool - run by the other clinic - the vet nurse was telling us we should get it done and when I queried it she also said that their clinic gives it routinely without any adverse reactions. I am not sure, I haven't done enough reading on it, but I am not happy to give it to my dogs on what I have read.

Beautiful - I love it. Thank you so much again, Harminee

Thanks Harminee - absolutely love it. Here is another pic of Elly if you think it would be better quality - I am happy with what you have done though.

And a couple more... Elly Lizzie

Could someone please, please do me one... :p Would be very grateful if you have time. :p Elly Lizzie

I wouldn't offer any treats while you eat. To me that would just reinforce the behaviour you are trying to solve. I know that staffys can be very stubborn and if he has been doing it for 6 months it may be a very hard habit to break.

;) Well if thats the case my dogs will be very disloyal. Honestly, that is just plain revolting.

I like to do it how persephone suggested. My worry is that if you break it up and/or hide it in the food you have some uncertainty that they have taken it properly. I like to know for sure that they have had the correct dose and its gone where it should, not slipped out and gone under the fridge or something.