Bonbongirl

Hi, I am thinking of getting pet insurance for my dog but all the companies I have tried to ring to get information are closed for the weekend. My dog has had various problems in the past including several ear infections, an eye infection, a skin rash and swallowing various things which caused tummy troube (she is a Lab!). Does this mean that I won't be covered for any of these things ever as they would be considered "pre-existing"? She has had that many visits to the vet I'm wondering if it will be worth insuring her now (she is only 3.5yrs). Has anyone had experience with the "pre-existing conditions" clause that they could tell me about?

The coats are all looking great I'm still busily sewing away for a few groups. My mother in law has given me all of her leftover material from years of sewing so there are some interesting colour combinations but they still work Glad to see some pics of the dogs in the coats Makes me feel good to know they are getting good use out if them. Well done everyone ;)

Glad to see you are progressing well! They look fantastic! I have 3 small and 1 large done so far. Considering my skill level I haven't even attempted to do ones with sleeves but have just done the coat part with elastic around the belly and the neck to hold them on. I think I will switch to velcro for that though so that they can fit various sized doggies! Hopefully I will get better with more practice and then I can move on to adding arms etc!

Ok, have been to Spotlight and got some cheap fleecy material and have had Mum make up a basic pattern (I had a look at the proper ones but they looked a little complicated for my skill level). Wish me luck! I haven't touched a sewing machine since high school so this should be interesting hehe Hopefully the dogs wont mind as long as they are warm.

1 for me please!

We crate trained our Lab at approx 1 yr old. We did it a little at a time taking several weeks before we closed the door and when we did we would give her a kong with frozen treats inside (it takes her about 20mins to eat) and just close it up for 5 mins, then 10mins etc. Now she will happily sleep in there all night. She is very food orientated so as long as she was distracted by food we could close the door so try giving something really yummy

Thanks so much everyone

Thanks for the suggestions so far. I am happy to travel a bit for someone good but anywhere around Charlestown, Adamstown, Lambton etc would be preferable.

Hi everyone, We have recently moved to the Newcastle area and are looking for recommendations of a good vet? We have tried one this week however the vet had a pretty big issue with us using a prong collar on our dog so just looking for someone a bit more understanding. Any advice would be greatly appreciated

She weighs 26kg so she is only a small girl. I use the kongs for entertainment when we are at work so would like to keep them at the moment. When you say muscle and offal meat what sort of things should I buy and how much of it? I have given her a few pieces of liver with her dinner before but she wasnt too keen on it (and she will eat just about anything! )

I have an almost 2yr old Labrador. At the moment I am feeding a mixture of raw and dry. Just looking for some advise on how I can improve her diet. I would like to feed as little dry as possible as I have noticed it tends to give her flakey skin if we feed her dry only (at the moment we are using Proplan). At the moment she has: Breakfast - 3 frozen kongs with a mixture of dry food (approx 1/2 cup in total), mashed banana, water and a spoon of yogurt Dinner - 1 brisket bone (or a chicken frame) + a small bit of dry for supper Weekends - weekend breakfast is a small tin of sardines, 1 raw egg with shell and a little dry + brisket bone for dinner She also gets leftover veges, mainly carrot tops & bottoms as she is normally hanging around when I cook! What should I be adding/removing??

We would like to gradually get our 1 yr old Labrador onto a raw diet. At the moment she gets: Mornings weekdays - 3-4 Kongs filled with ProPlan/water and frozen (keeps her occupied while we are at work!) Evening - Brisket Bone or Chicken Frame or Chicken Leg/Wings On weekends - Small tin sardines with a raw egg + small brisket bone 1-2 times a month - a beef marrow bone to chew +bits and pieces of the veges I am chopping up whilst I make dinner! Occasionally also a roo tail or some raw mince We would like to get her completely onto raw but the reason I give her the dry is that I worry I am not giving her everything she needs in the raw. I have read a few books and a lot of websites but am a bit confused by it all! What am I missing/what could I do better???