Stitch

Flat fee are usually associated with a lack of calcium in the diet or a lack of the body taking up the calcium and the vitamin C is given to assist in the body taking up the calcium. I have never tried this kind of supplementation myself but prefer to give a good nutritionally balanced food and wait for the body to gradually rectify the situation. If it were me I would be feeding the pup a premium dry food suitable for the size, age and breed of dog. Once the problem has rectified you can then change your feeding over to BARF or whatever but in the meantime a premium dogfood should cover all the bases. Undoubtedly others will have their own preferences but I have found time and a diet that you know is balanced and complete gives the best results.

I've not faced this kind of terrible disease before but I do sympathise and would like to say your dedication to finding the cause of the problem is absolutely amazing. I would think that as long as you had a letter from your vet explaining things that it would then be up to the various clubs/kennels etc. to either accept him or not. Perhaps your vet might be able to give an indication as to how likely it would be your dog would catch or carry distemper etc. I hope this terrible disease proves to be manageable in the future for you.

I think there must be a BIG difference between breeds which is not understood unless you happen to have that breed when it comes to weaning. It is either that or a combination of that and the size of the pup/dog. My lot are totally disinterested in a meaty bone, scored or not. They will smell it but not lick it and raw mince doesn't interest them either. They are however showing some interest in Natures Gift puppy food in the tray. They would probably consume 1/4 of one of the little trays. Not what you would call big eaters but I am settling for interest at the moment. Of course this is NOT the kind of food that I will be feeding as they get older but it will do to get them started. I have also found that it is better to stick to ONE variety of food. They seem to get confused if I change it. They seem to recognise that it is food better that way.

Yes, there is that. I am keen to wean....because I am supplementing. The pups are not keen to wean....because they prefer mum...but mum alone is not enough...hence my keen ness!

I think it must be easier to wean larger breeds than it is to wean small to medium breeds.

Yes, I have to agree, I have got best response from Advance Canned but if Pedigree will do the job then I will try that. I tried to get the little trays that Advance used to sell but can't seem to buy them now. Have they stopped making them?

Hmmm, I have!!! What age do you start weaning?

I go through this every litter. It rarely is straight forward. Mine are nearly 4 weeks old now and we have just started the weaning process. Some have taken to pretty much anything I put down eg. Puppy milk with raw mince, Advance canned puppy, Rehydratable puppy dry, yoghurt.....then there are the other pups that will barely touch it. Has anyone found a food to use for weaning that all puppies love???

The very best way is to train your pup to sleep in the crate overnight....even my extremely experienced repro.vet agrees with this. He laments it is sometimes difficult to get people to accept the idea as they think it may be cruel. It is NOT cruel to crate a puppy overnight .... crating teaches the pup self control on many levels plus you always know where the pup is overnight and what it is doing if you have the crate beside your bed. There are many posts here on how to crate train a puppy and if you look I think there would probably be videos on the internet too. Once you have a reliable dog overnight then you can progress to a dog bed. Crating your pup should always be a positive experience, not a punishment.

Regardless of the ingredients listed on the packet, I have found Royal Canin dogfood across the range to be very well tolerated by every dog that I have given it to. I have one on RC Hypoallergenic but that is because she has IBD. Other than that every dog that I have given their normal dry dogfood to has always done well on it which is more than I can say about some of the other premium dogfoods. I think you have to judge a food by the results you get....and don't let your dog read the ingredients on the side of the packet!!!

Try feeding another brand and see what happens....then you will know if it is the Black Hawk or not. Anything else we can say is just speculation. One kind of dogfood does not suit all dogs!

That's good to know Jed ..... don't know about 1/2 the price though as they were both round about the same price when I was out searching....that is except for the fact that I only found one place that had Calcium (Sandoz) Syrup. I did find Ossol though which I hadn't come across for ages so I bought one bottle. I am thinking that after the intial dosing with Calcium Sandoz during and just after whelping, I might use it then as it says it has added vitamins. When you think of it, the bitch doesn't need the glucose (which is in the Calcium Sandoz)in the ensuing weeks after whelping as it is during and just after whelping that she needs the sugar boost.

I agree Andisa...I know from passed experience that my breed NEEDS calcium during and after whelping even though they have adequate calcium in their diet. I have also found they do not tolerate goats milk very well. They do better on a good quality dry food during pregnancy than on a BARF diet regardless of whether it contains yoghurt, etc. It took me a while to work out exactly how to feed them to get the best results.... battling my way through hypocalcaemia, which I never want to have to do again!!

Yay!!! Got some at the closest Greencross vet, so thank you ESCS for that hint! Cheers

Thank you Boronia....at the moment I don't like to be away from a maiden bitch.... who is almost ready to whelp.... for too long a period, that's why I need it to be closer. I can get Troy Calcium Syrup and I think I can also get Ossol but I have used Calcium Sandoz for years and I know it does the job. It has glucose in it which gives the bitch some energy during whelping and the calcium is readily taken up. Apparently chelated calcium in tablet form is also readily taken up so I will look for that too. Who would think it would be so difficult to find. I will just have to keep ringing around. Thanks everyone for trying.

Is that suitable for a bitch post whelping Oatway? If it is do you know what kind of calcium it is? I believe if I buy tablet form then Chelated Calcium is what I want for a bitch post whelping.

No, they are out of stock at the moment. ETA: I have tried 4 vets so far .... unsuccessfully. It is going to be difficult if I have to work my way through the phone book!! :laugh:

I need some Calcium Syrup which used to be known as Calcium Sandoz Syrup. I know they advertise it on line but I need it before the weekend. I started off by visiting the local vets & pet shops however now I am beginning to panic as I know the distributor here in Brisbane doesn't have any stock of it either. Does anyone know somewhere that may have it on their shelves?? I have been ringing around but still can't find it. Any help would be appreciated as I didn't realise how difficult it had become to obtain.

Yep, I have had dogs that eat like that. It is like they have an alarm system in their stomach that stops them eating when they get to a certain level!!! :laugh: How old is she? I have found it can sometimes be an age related thing and as the dog gets older it resolves itself. Sometimes it can just be that what you are feeding isn't appealing enough to want her to eat more of it. You could try feeding her a prepared BARF mix like Big Dog brand. Most dogs absolutely gobble that down. You don't mention any raw veges in your mix???? Another alternative is to add Vets All Natural to your minced meat/bone. That makes it a complete diet by doing that.

No....but I suppose you could use the same logic that they use on hyperactive children ie. take away the processed foods, the artificial colourings, flavourings and preservatives and the behaviour usually improves. Don't know how it would apply to fearful behaviours though ....but just changing over to BARF definitely has its benefits.

Thank you Smurf1....it will take me a while to sift through all that...Cheers

Yes I guess they would but I really didn't want to be a trail blazer with this...I wouldn't know what the right dosages would be. I thought there was one already out there!

Interesting exercise Itsadogslife however it seems to be a dominance exercise rather than a self control. I will try it and see what happens.

Nope, I thought there was a liquid calcium plus magnesium for dogs on the market. Doesn't look like there is though.

I thought there was a liquid supplement out there that combined calcium and magnesium??? Must have imagined it????