spanky

For those that don't know, UQ has moved their vet school to Gatton as of this year, so that was probably part of the reason to stop using dogs, as it is possibly not ethically viable to transport them so far. Easier to source livestock.

I can only comment on UQ and how they handle dead animals (mainly sourced from the abbatoir, we're not up to doing lots with live animals yet) and I promise that ethics is a big big thing and all students are made aware of it. I've just finished a subject where we had to dissect goats and reproductive tracts of cows etc and some students were taking photos of themselves with the bits and posting them on facebook. They were told to remove them due to ethical requirements and if they did not they would fail the course. So, as far as I'm concerned UQ takes the ethics side very seriously.

Exactly! My cousin did so much observation, followed by supervised surgery and he had to sit a whole seperate block of exams to even get the chance to train to be a surgeon. He's in his mid-30's and only in the last couple of years started operating on his own. People whinge about vet fees now, imagine the cost increases if vets had to do internships etc before being allowed to operate.

I tried to quote you Anne, but stupid iPad doesn't scroll so hopefully this makes sense.... The dog colony is potentially a name the journalist has given to the area the dogs are kept to make it sound terrible. If it is like UQ the vet students are expected to volunteer their time to walk the dogs and care for them. Pregnant bitches turn up in pounds and get pts, same with puppies, so to think the dogs are being bred by the uni is a bit hard for me to believe. Maybe the surgery was to learn to desex a pregnant bitch? If the dog was scheduled to be pts why is it wrong for students to learn the procedure on her? Some breeders desex their pups before sending home, so I guess they could have been practising early desexing or maybe there are congenital deformities that need to be corrected early on, I mean they operate on human babies, why not puppies? Again I'd question how much the petrified dog statement has been amped up for the purpose of the article. Why should they revesl their sources? I would think there are privacy reasons why they don't release that info. Find me an advert and then I'll believe they advertise for dogs. Anything done by uni's in regards to animals needs to be approved by the ethics board, that is why I don't have a problem with it. I trust the ethics board is making sure things are done properly.

I don't understand why it upsets people. The dogs are scheduled to be put to sleep at the pound and instead of getting a needle and thrown in a bin, these dogs get attention from the students and something positive comes from their death. If you want to get angry / upset direct it at the byb, the puppy farms, the owners that ditch their dogs because they can't be bothered anymore and don't have the guts to take the dog to the vet for pts. Lobby your councils to enforce existing laws, encourage family and friends to desex and rescue or buy from ethical registered breeders.

Dasha, charlie has a rare condition that CW EW sees specialists for. I'd be super surprised if a recent grad could offer anything specialists, both here and internationally, haven't already done. I agree with everyone else, speak to the manager / owner / head vet and address the concerns. It sounds like she saw your consult as an opportunity to see an interesting condition, rather than do a routine check up and vac. Hopefully Charlie wasn't sore from all the poking she did.

We paid $350 for our first frenchie, he was from a rescue. Our second frenchie cost a bit more... about $500, but she has health issues (fully disclosed before we bought her). Both have cost a bit in terms of health care, our boy has developed CRF, but they are wonderful dogs.

You also didn't get any breed specific health testing.. As I said - before I came onto this forum I didn't know any of this stuff. The reason I joined this forum was so I could learn more about my dogs and to learn more about dogs in general and it has helped me a lot. I try very hard to take care of my dogs and would do anything for them if it was good for them. I am nbot denying I went into buying these dogs with my eyes practically closed because I did but I have turned around, changed my lifestyle for them, gotten them proper training, gotten them regularly checked by the vet etc. I think I have done good. And I will do whatever is necessary to make sure they have long, happy and healthy lives. I don't think SecretKei was having a go, just pointing out that there are reasons other than no papers that your dogs were cheaper than a registered purebred.

There's a booking form but no payment form on the link on the website.

I was the same as you MrsD. If I hadn't of checked this threa din a last ditch effort to find some info I was resigning myself to not attending. My emails started bouncing back and it's been days since I replied to an email with the info requested and I've had no response. Guess I'll see if the form works.

My vet charges $90 plus a consult fee. She does an full health checkup of the dogs as well as take the blood. She sends her bloods through QML (I think).

The AVA policy also states: Individual animals will require assessment by a veterinarian to select the most appropriate vaccine and vaccination protocol. The veterinarian–client–patient relationship is important to fully understand the individual’s needs. http://www.ava.com.au/sites/default/files/...INAL-June09.pdf Unfortunately I'm yet to find a vet (in my area) who hasn't used this to their advantage - "Yes we are aware of the new protocols but due to the high incidence of Parvo in our area we have chosen to continue with yearly vaccinations". Yet they don't inform their clients that the new protocols even exist. How is an owner supposed to make an informed decision? Add to that the fact that the vast majority of the dog owning public are unaware that titer testing is even available and the high cost in certain areas (my vet charges $250+)... I also wish that clubs would catch on to this. The AVA supports triennial vaccination, yet I will need to titer or revaccinate yearly if I wish to train or compete with my dog. $250!!!! Far out, I don't pay that much for a full blood panel at my vet. We don't do the kennel cough spray, but then again we don't kennel the dogs or attend a training club.

That confuses me a little, so let's say the titre test comes back as "negative" - how then would I know whether my dog really does not have the required antibodies hence requiring re-vaccination - or if its just that the antibodies have simply retreated to a cellular level hence no need to re-vaccinate?? :p If it comes back under the minimum level you will be advised to vaccinate to keep a basic level of antibodies active in the body. There will probably always be antibodies in the body (even if at detectable levels).

That is cheap! I thought it would be a ridiculous amount of money (normally blood tests are i think) but that's actually really good. Do you know whether all vets do the tests or would I need to go to a specific animal hospital or something? I think I will definitely got my dogs tested when they come up for their yearlies... which, convenitently is around the same time as each other. I don't think, however, that I wouldnt be able to not vaccinate them at all - I think I would just go insane with worry! :p My vet charges $90. The blood needs to be sent to a lab in Perth, but this may have changed. Not all vets titre, there are quite a few that don't know what it is and some just choose not to do it. Try a holistic vet in your area as they tend to do them. If your still going to vac the dogs there is no point spending the money to titre.

As others have said, assess your lifestyle and what you want / can manage in a dog and go from there. We wanted a small dog, not too hyper, but OH didn't want a handbag dog and I didn't want heaps of grooming needs. We ended up with 4 dogs on our list - pugs, british bulldogs, french bulldogs and boston terriers. We narrowed it down from there and have ended up slaves to two french bulldogs.

Yes there will be antibodies in her system. The titre test will check the levels of antibodies. So yes it is worth titre testing. If she's covered there probably won't be much change in the year. There is a minimum level of antibodies that need to be present for the dog to be considered covered. If she is under you will need to revaccinate, if she is borderline it will be your decision. I have titre tested the last two years and neither dog has required the revac... one dog has only had her puppy shots and 12mnth booster. As for taking her away with you, just do the nasal kennel cough vaccination. Her antibodies will mean she is just as protected as a dog with an injected vaccination.

I think it could have been $250-$350 for 3hrs, which we used over 2 sessions.

Cindy will Metro be giving preference to members over non-members?

What trainer/behaviourist did you end up having success with? Any info would be appreciated. I went with Jane Harper. Her business name is Dogd on Track. Quite a few Dolers had used her with success and I was very happy with her. One of my dogs resource guards and is dog aggressive, so she really helped solve the issues when we bought our second dog home.

Freaking expensive is all I can say. I ended up gping to a behaviourist / trainer and got the results I needed. All he could have done differently was give me drugs for the dog.

I've sent my email, though only realised this morning I'd added a .au to the email address... so resent to the right one. Really happy that There is a chance to see Steve this year as I missed the earlier one.

If the dog isn't into food when training does she have a prey drive? Maybe your using the wrong motivation for training. Duck into the training section of the forum and investigate Training in Drive. My frenchie has a high prey drive and works for her tug, food does nothing for her.

Master Responsible Pet Owner????

Here's the story... Wednesday last week my male French Bulldog threw up lots of grass. Thursday he seemed a bit off, so I didn't feed him that night. Friday he was back to his normal self (yay!) and he got to have dinner Saturday he was throwing up again (just food and water), so we went to the vet. The vet pulled lots (and I mean lots) of grass from Griffin's bum. Vet took a blood sample and gave Griff an antibiotic injection. We didn't feed Griff Saturday and on Sunday he only got small amounts of food. Monday the blood results came back clear and Griff seemed to have returned to normal. This morning I walked out of the bedroom to be greeted with 3 vomits inside (one with grass, two just water) and I've found 3 grass vomits outside. He wasn't fed last night and he seems pretty lethargic and sad. Griffin is 11yrs old and has early stages of renal failure. Creatine levels are not much above the high end of the normal range. He gets Science Diet KD wet and dry food, but we presoak the dry as he doesn't have many teeth to chew. We'll be off to the vet today, but just curious to see if anyone has a suggestion on what might be causing this.

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