Michelleva

Thanks for your input Rottifan, very interesting. But I'm happy to report Georgia has lost 200 grams, and I've lost 500 grams.... that was a nice bonus. I'm thinking of changing her over to Barf patties, for a small dog it doesn't seem that expensive per day.

I don't know where around here I can get roo tails, but I have heard that they are good. What about chicken/turkey necks? The vet said they too have too much fat, but I can't see how. I will also look into changing the dry food that she has. I thought the brand I bought was pretty good, I'll have to do some more research on that.

Thanks, I'll keep you posted. Its funny I don't eat chicken wings myself because I know they just have too much fat in the skin, yet I've been giving them to Georgia her whole life. Taking those out of her diet and increasing her excercise could well do the trick. Hoepfully then there will be no need for doggy weight watchers..

Thanks I can try the pumpkin and see what she does with it. 1kg doesn't sound like a lot of weight, but its 11% of her bodyweight. I think for this week I'm going to stick to the low cal dry food, and a few vegies and see what happens. I do worry about keeping her teeth in good shape too, thats why I like her to have bones to much on. She's currently got some of those dried kangaroo bones, which are supposed to be low fat. She'll happily much on those for a while.

She runs around the backyard like a loon everyday plus I walk her generally about 30 mins, currently every 3rd day or so, but thats now going to be a daily routine. We need to get this in check, for own health and well being. Is it ok to bulk up her food with a bit of grated carrot? Its about the only veggie she will eat willingly.

My sheltie is 8.5kg and the vet wants her at 7.5kg because she's got joint issues and she wants her kept really lean. That makes a lot of sense to me and she was weighed 5 weeks ago and weighed exactly the same.. I thought she was doing ok, but obviously not. She has been having Pro Plan weight management, plus a chicken wing or a neck here and there. Plus she'll eat a chunk of carrot whenever too. She always acts like she's starving, but thats the dog way I think. So what I'm doing is not working. The vet wants me to put her on a Hills prescription diet food, with nothing else. I don't agree with a 100% processed food diet, so I'm trying to get her diet right so she starts losing some weight. I do walk her, but if I'm honest, nowhere near regularly enough. But from today, we're going everyday, rain hail or shine. I'm also going to get her back into swimming, its good for her joints and great excercise too. Because of her dodgy knee, she can't do big lots of excercise, her joints just aren't good enough for that. But thats the main reason I need to get her on track. So any tips, or things that have worked for you. Its time for tough love, the kids are on notice that I'm the only one allowed to feed her now, no more little treats here and there.

The advertisment has now been removed. Hopefully, thats a good thing.

Thats so heart-breaking, I really hope these two can be saved from that sort of life.

That looks great, I'm sure my sheltie would love that, she loves using that long snout to move things around. I can amuse her for ages with an upside down plastic container with food underneath. How much did it cost? I may have to go check these out.

I like your attitude Budgie and I couldn't agree more.

Well how much do Bernese puppies sell for these days? At a guess $1000-$2000 each. Don't you think someone can put two and two together with the idea to make lots of $$$. Surely its not that hard for you to figure out.

Thats great, I hope they can help. I'd hate to see them end up in the wrong hands.

I just came across an ad on one of the classified sites for two bernese mountain dogs, male and female for sale UNDESEXED! They specifically say on the ad no puppy farmers or dealers.. Do they really think a BYBer is going to tell them what they really plan for these dogs. If they really have to rehome, why can't they just desex first. I'm going to ring and say just that.

I'll get the ball rolling... My 5yo thought that Woody's hat was a perfect fit for Georgia. So a few dog treats and a bit of patience later, we have a cowboy dog... Yeee-haaaaaaw

Does anyone know if these beds use much power?

It seems a few of us have a weird TV watching woofa... The Dog Whisperer is Georgia's all time favourite. She was watching it with me last night, and absolutely fixated.

Georgia is always interested in any dogs she sees on TV. She will bark at them and tell them to go away. But just now she was barking at an animated dog which was on Stuart Little. I think she's weird, does anyone else have one like mine or is she one of a kind... LOL My 5yo was explaining to her that its not real...

Imagine feeding them a big juicy bone in there. I think its a crazy idea, dog's aren't babies, so why treat them like they are.

I've had a bowen therapist work on my dog, she's in Frankston if you want her details.

So you're theory is to not treat a problem thats not already there. I thought these products claimed to prevent or lessen the effects. I think with all Georgia's joint issues that she will get arthritis at some point, I guess its just a matter of when. I suspect the vet will the push the product that he sells, thats why I thought I'd get some other views.

I'm sooo confused.. Our sheltie is one and has had patella surgery. She's also had a secondary surgery to have the pins removed. After the initial surgery she had a course of injections to prevent arthritis, called Zydax. At this stage she doesn't have arthritis, but I think it would be a good supplement for her, since her joint issues. I picked up a brochure at the vet for a product called Glyde Powder, which is made by the same people who make the injections. Its over $100 a jar though, but says it should last my little dog about 8 months, which is pretty reasonable. I've been looking on the net this morning and there are soo many products all claiming to do the same thing, at varying prices. The other two I've looked into are shasha's blend and joint guard. Has anyone else used these products in their dogs, and whats your verdict. I will also speak to the vet next time we're there and see if he agrees it will be helpful to her and what his recommendation is. The Glyde contains Glucosamine, Chondroitin (not shark cartilage) and Green Lipped Mussel containing ETA.

It looks like you hit the jackpot on a cat-friendly greyhound Kirsten. They are beautiful pics, I'm a bit partial to your ginger ninja...

thanks Nedsur.

Do you have a small dog Megan? That was my only concern, I think a whole one is too much for an 8kg dog. I'm sure the butcher wouldn't mind cutting them up for me.

Great, next time I'm down there I'll pick up a couple for her to try. ETA - they were $1.50 each, but quite a big size, so they looked pretty good value to me. I don't know what others pay.