Stitch

I have tried all the DAP products and the spray is definitely the best. I wouldn't buy a collar again, just didn't get any results from it but the spray works a treat!

I apologise up front about this rant but ........ I was absolutely stunned when a person I occasionally meet proudly told me that he had just bought two little Cavoodles. He originally wanted Cavs but was told by a vet that the Cavoodles were the breed to buy because Cav's have heart problems but if you cross them with a poodle then they won't have heart problems and would be very healthy!!! At this point my blood pressure became elivated!! I wasn't able to ask which vet he went to (so that I could avoid going there) but hey, don't these people stop a moment and just think of what they are saying or in the vets case, recommending??? One of the things I told him was that it depends on what the health of the dogs that were used to breed with was actually like ie. whether they or any of their parents had problems and that not all problems are immediately identifiable as some problems can take a while to appear. etc.etc. Some Cav's do have heart problems but they are not the only breed. The thing is not to breed with affected dogs. Breeding a poodle into the mix to fix a heart problem is not the answer. Poodles can have their own problems which they can pass on. He looked stunned and just said that the woman that owned them only bred them once a year.... like that made a difference???? I normally just keep my mouth shut in these instances but this time I just couldn't, so the guy probably won't want to discuss dogs with me any time soon!!!

From my experience, the smaller the dog the longer it takes to toilet train. Our Dobe which we got at 10 weeks old never had an accident in the house. Our main breed which is small/medium size will have accidents if we don't think for them when they are in the house. This is because we keep the screen doors shut all the time to keep out insects. Some pups are easier to train than others even though they have free access to outside when they are young puppies and kept in the puppy area. This is so they can toilet naturally outside and learn good habits. Some pups will urinate in their bedding and others are very clean. This is an individual thing. I think new puppy owners often have unrealistic expectations about their puppys toileting. They also make the mistake of giving the pup free range of the house and are then very surprised to find little messages around the place. Puppies need constant supervision so they don't learn that it is OK to soil inside the house.

Yes LTiger I read your post and was very sorry about losing her. I find it strange that the vet couldn't find a cause. It is at times like that you realise that their knowledge of dogs isn't as great as we tend to think it is. I think you could be forgiven for thinking that because of her history of poor appetite that the cause of death may be connected but it is not necessarily the case. You mentioned that some internal organs were black?? I wonder about intercecessions which can occur if a puppy vomits too much for whatever cause. So many different possibilities and without an autopsy you will never know. Good news though about my pups. I spent some time thinking about what they were eating and although it was 'good & nutritious' food it was also based on 'raw' food with premium dry added. I gave them Scottys Natural dog roll last night, which is cooked, and they ate it with great enthusiasm. This morning a defrosted some raw mince, added water and cooked it completely in the microwave for 60 secs. Then I added the Advance Puppy dry to it and mixed it in. They attacked it with great enthusiasm again. My thinking on this - at the moment - is that some dogs can't tolerate raw food at a young age. If you want to extrapolate that theory, 'in the wild' the mother regurgitates food for her pups which means it is warm and somewhat 'cooked' which may suit their young digestive systems better. Anyway, taking one day at a time, they have eaten well last night and this morning so I hope it continues. Thanks everyone for your help!

Thanks for the reminder. Yes I will try the eggs. Tonight I cut up the Scotty Nature Roll which is supposed to contain vitamins and minerals and be a balanced diet. They ate a HUGE amount of it, so tonight I am happy - tomorrow might be a different story!!! I am resigned to taking one day at a time with this lot but I am not down to the BBQ chook yet!! LOL Funnily enough they eat the Advance Puppy Chicken dry as treats when I am training them to walk on a lead but will leave most of it if I put it in a dog bowl. I am only going to feed twice a day from now on but will give some Eukanuba puppy biscuits when I put them to bed. LTiger how does your GSD eat now??

I would do that for an older puppy but for little ones of that age I am reluctant to be too harsh but I will if things don't improve. I am going to cut it back to twice daily and see if that helps. Maybe I am underestimating the nutrition available in the dry food?? I will allow one more change before I bring out the big guns ie. the tough love scenario. ETA: Yes I feed in one bowl only but there is no competition happening except for the chicken necks. There are fights over them!!!

I was wondering about ProPeak. I have pups in the past that have really loved that.

Is that enough??? What concerns me is if they don't eat enough of the Advance - chicken necks doesn't seem balanced to me?? At this age for a small/breed do you think 2 or 3 meals daily? I am starting to doubt my abilities with this lot!!

I have raised quite a few litters of pups however I am having feeding issues with the 2 pups I am running on at the moment and could really do with the combined wisdom of DOLers. These pups are now 9 weeks old. I started to wean them on raw mince, yoghurt & Advance Puppy at 4-5 weeks of age which they were eating reasonably well until they reached 7 weeks. It that time they made it clear they were not impressed with the yoghurt, wouldn't eat much of the mix at all, so I just left out the yoghurt and used the mince and the Advance Puppy. That worked for a while and the same thing started to happen again. They wouldn't eat the mixture. The following week I swapped the mince for BARF (as BARF is what I prefer to feed my dogs) mixing it with the Advance Puppy plus they got a chicken neck afterwards. They got into that like there was no tomorrow but...now they are refusing to eat much of the BARF, they will eat a little of the Advance. I am starting to see a pattern here and it isn't good!! I am feeding them 3 small meals a day because of their lack of appetite. I tried just feeding them twice daily and it didn't make any difference. They have been vet checked and apart from the lack of appetite they are bouncy, active, healthy pups. I have now stopped the chicken necks because it is beginning to look like I am being conned however they are a small to medium size breed and what they are eating is obviously not sufficient and IMO they are too young to fool around with. I can go to feeding Advance canned food - not my preferred option I can tell you as I do not like feeding canned food - or I can come up with another food combination but ........... Anyone had any experience with this kind of thing before??? I don't feel like I am in control of this situation at all. The last puppy I raised about 6 months ago ate the same mix BARF & Advance mix no problems at all and he still has a fantastic appetite unlike these ones from different lines. HELP!!!

When he starts to behave in a way that says 'testosterone' you will know and that will be the trigger to get him 'snipped'. IMO it is better to wait until he is fully grown ie. 18mths of age as long as you can wait that long. Desexing does have an effect on the genitals ie. they shrink back or at least stop growing. Some dogs have difficulty in peeing because of the small size of the 'doodle'.

Fruit bats/flying foxes have been allowed to multiply throughout Qld. out of all proportion, & to the detriment of many people/communities. Perhaps this development may be the catalyst to get some action in this matter. People in some areas have such a problem with these bats that they have to have an umbrella over their heads every time they step outside their door to prevent the bats from urinating/pooing on them. No joke!! I lived in Hendra when the virus claimed its first victim - a few streets over from where we were living at the time. I think the time has come for some serious culling!

When you are feeding wings, necks - turkey or chicken there is always the risk, however mild, of the dog choking on them. I feed mine necks as they prefer them to wings and I have had a few incidents which were a bit scarey but the dogs love them and the risk is small. Also the general rule when feeding bones to dogs is that they are OK as long as they aren't weight supporting bones eg. leg bones. I don't know if that applies to chickens and turkeys as well.

I have used many different shampoos over the years but I settled on tea tree oil shampoo as the main shampoo as it suits most dogs - however I will use different shampoos for different occasions or problems. I buy 5 Litres of Vetex Shampoo and decant it into a smaller container. I use this for dogs that don't have problems because it has tea tree oil in it and that works well in our climate. Triocil is another tea tree oil shampoon that is good for itchy dogs. For special occasions I use Royal Jelly Shampoo or a protein shampoo. I also rinse the dog with Fidos Free Itch Concentrate after the shampoo which smells nice and instantly disposes of any odd flea that may have been picked up at the park or at a dog show. I did find that since my dogs started eating BARF they have very few problems with itchiness or dandruff but I still use a tea tree oil shampoo just in case.

Looking at it, the tooth has a lot of gum still attached on one side (the outer side). I would pull it myself however the amount of gum still attached puts me off doing it. I think it will bleed and hurt! I have been giving him all sorts of bones and biscuits but the *!*#! thing doesn't budge!!! If it isn't gone by Tuesday I will take him to the vet (Monday is a public holiday).

Also pup shakes his head continually when I put a lead on him. Can't be ears as I had the vet check them too and they were a 'bit pink' but OK???

I have a 5 month old pup that has been teething forever. It seems we are down to the last molar which is clinging on by the gum on one side of the tooth. He had very bad breath so I took him to the vet last week and he gave him Clavulox as there was a mild infection caused by food getting under the loose tooth. I can't remember any other pup having the trouble this little guy has had teething. I always thought that the gum would recede by itself but the gum doesn't seem to want to let go of the tooth and the tooth hinges on the gum on one side. It has been like this for about 2 weeks now. Anyone had any experience with this problem??? I would rather not have to go back to the vet if it is something that time will fix but it is taking so long to come out.

That sounds good. I have found a website - Orthopedic Foundation for Dogs in USA - is that the one you used?

With kennel cough there are different varieties - one that you can vaccinate against and one you can't! Unfortunately when you are talking about the immune system, it gets a bit complicated. Perhaps consider supplementing with vitamins & minerals if you think your dogs diet is inadequate. Blackmores have just put out a new multi vitamin for dogs. It is a very pallatable chew which dogs find quite tasty. I put one of mine on it because she is a very picky eater and I have definitely noticed some improvement.

So is this something that can be bought overseas, imported into Australia & be easily read here?

Hmmm, I suspect this little one will have you well and truly trained in a few weeks!!! LOL Best treats I have found is BBQ chicken or similar in your situation as this pup doesn't seem to be a big eater and is only new. However if the pup isn't hungry then treats are not useful. Once you settle into a routine with him, you will both develop a better understanding of each other and also develop a feeding regime. I suppose the main thing to aim for is for the pup to realise that calm, quiet behaviour is what is required and that food comes at preset times in preset amounts and is to be eaten within 15 minutes. This will enable you to gauge his appetite and know when and what type of treats to give. You are still going through the settling in period in which the pup will make its own rules depending on whether you let him or not and this goes for what it will eat and what it won't and how far you are prepared to cater for his preferences. He will only have a very small stomach - some pups are big eaters and some eat like birds. Treats should be seen as part of the daily food allowance otherwise you can end up with a picky dog.

The title says it all! Can anyone tell me what kind of test is it and where is it done??

Yep, I think there are so many aspects to this non-eating thing it is difficult to determine exactly what it is that is the root of the problem. Every now and then I get a dog that doesn't like to take a treat from my hand. I put this down to submissive behaviour even though they were not particularly submissive dogs they were polite with me when it came to food. This didn't mean that they were picky eaters however. I bought in a pup and he had to learn that Luv Em Liver cookies were really good to eat. He had never had them or hard dog biscuits either and he needed time to get used to them. Whilst puppies that are born here seem to naturally know that these kinds of food are great right from an early age. But I digress - no I haven't tried icecream with Miss Anorexia but I did try Jalna Vanilla Yoghurt and she wouldn't eat it on the several times I introduced it to her. Good news though, by restricting her activity during the day by putting her in a kennel run as opposed to a large exercise yard I am getting her (or the birds) to eat 1/4 cup of Royal Canin dry food which I leave with her. Lets hope it continues because I have celebrated prematurely before only to find that after a while she won't eat.

I also get the impression from all my trial and errors that texture is very important to this dog - but then what she leaves is readily eaten by all my others!

I don't have enough time on my hands to really fuss about one particular dogs eating habits, so anxiety isn't an issue with me but it is difficult to see a dog that should be so solid looking so skinny. I have been letting her lack of appetite hopefully resolve itself since the last vet visit about 3 months ago but she became prominent in my mind recently when I picked her up and all I could feel was ribs. Not what I like to feel. I agree that mixing food is not the way to go - she just rejects foods that have been mixed. I also have to be careful of feeding too much, even if it is in small portions as she won't be hungry tomorrow if I feed her too much today. Luckily I have a long food chain here, with the 45kg Dobe boy being the last dish licker - he always has room for more so nothing is wasted!!! LOL Miss Anorexia gets quite a bit of exercise but has been running around more recently than is normal for her as we have more kangaroos in the area at the moment, so I presume that is why I have noticed her lack of weight. I have just moved her into a kennel run so that she will have less distractions and can hopefully settle a bit more and I will put her on the exercise machine for a while each afternoon - that way I can control the exercise she does get more satisfactorily. Tried the porridge & mince this morning - it was licked & not eaten so I removed it after 15 minutes. My other dogs thought porridge was just great and have put their orders in for it tomorrow!!! LOL I was hoping that the EVO would be more calorie dense than the ProPlan. I think she needs some tasty little calorie bombs to fatten her up!!!

That is very interesting Dancinbcs. What I want to know is why so many dogs have this 'thing' about eating?? Is it an immature digestive system, and/or maybe we are challenging their digestives systems too early so eating doesn't feel good to them and they get turned off eating?? Maybe some of the food we feed doesn't really agree with them and this pickyness is the result??? The only thing I know for sure is that round about the time of going to their new homes (10-16weeks) a pups appetite changes and this change also affects the one/s that aren't rehomed at that time. Maybe that is a clue??