Danielle

You are in north Brisbane, you are in paralysis tick country. I'd be checking him over for a tick, do you have any tick wash? Give him a bath too. Let us know what the vet says. Good luck!

First off I'd just like to say that you are a breath of fresh air dogperson! We hardly ever have young people like yourself come on here and ask for advice. You are on the right path to responsible dog ownership and are very mature. Good on you. Now for your first dog. So you want a bigger dog hey? Well first off I would warn you off the sighthound group. They are absolutely lovely dogs but not for a beginner. I agree with past posts in regard to amstaffs too, they are a whole lotta dog! I think a Labrador retriever or a golden retriever would suit you nicely. They are full of energy, very smart, and usually even tempered. Big enough that you probably won't get harassed by 'the wrong type' of person. They are great with kids which is something you have to consider. You are 18 and dogs can live quite a lot of years. No doubt children will be in your life within the next 10 yrs and so will this dog so you must consider something that will be appropriate for kids. Things change, ppl grow up and have families so pls consider this. Also consider how much time you will have to offer this pooch. I assume you will get a full time job and no doubt want a social life, take this into account when choosing a breed. Some dogs don't mind being left at home alone, some will stress out, so think about that too. For instance, toy poodles are not too pleased with being left alone for long periods of time, so go for a breed that won't be too upset if you have to go to work. Asides from that, think about training. A formally trained dog will be so much easier to live with. Consider further training, not just puppy preschool. There is so much to choose from with training, it's very fun. I can't think of anything else, but good luck and pls stick around on the forum, you will learn so much from the other members on here. There is a vast amount of information here on DOL and a wealth of knowledge. Best of luck and let us know what you choose!

The difference in vets is amazing, some can be so caring yet others are very hard and callous. When my daughters 2 month old guinea pig was injured by our toy poodle the vet was very kind, she consoled my daughter who was four at the time and explained there was nothing she could do for little 'jelly', he had a broken leg. She gently put him to sleep and wrapped him in some cloth and pinned plastic flowers to the material. My little girl carried this parcel back to the car with tears streaming down her face, we buried jelly in our back yard. The following day we received a sympathy card in the mail with a print out of the rainbow bridge story, it was all adressed to our little girl. I thought it was a lovely gesture and one we will never forget. Yet when our beloved Border Collie took a massive seizure and ended up in the emergency clinic it was different. We were all very emotional and upset yet were treated coldly and unsympathetically. It was like a business transaction. Our boy was put to sleep the following day due to massive internal organ failure. He cooked himself. At least they were kind enough to cover his back end with a towel as he had pushed his bowels out during the seizure. We were allowed to spend a few minutes with him and were quickly ushered out to "finalize the bill". I never heard back from them afterwards, not that I was expecting it but it just goes to show the wide differences between vet surgeries.

Wow! Just divine! He is so talented.

If the puppy hair is just sitting in the coat loosely id be inclined to take her to a groomer and get a thorough bath and blow dry. Force dryers remove most of the loose undercoat by blowing it out. Best of luck!

Best of luck and pls let us know what the outcome is.

Sadly I agree with this post. I've yet to meet a tafe trained groomer who could do anything but very basic work. Fair enough they may end up quite skilled after years of working and experience, but the tafe courses are usually very basic and incomplete. If I were you I would try to get a job as a hydrobathist in a salon and try to work your way up. It gives you time to understand every aspect of grooming. Don't dismiss learning how to bathe either, bathing a dog properly is the foundation of a good groom, without a proper cleanse a dog will never look good. Best of luck.

Is this council serious? You can't take someone to court if their dog kills a possum! Ridiculous! My ACD has eradicated whole families if possums in her life, all in our backyard. She's also been successful in culling quite a few native birds and a couple of fruit bats. There is nothing I can do about it, it all happens at night in our backyard. Had no idea I could get in trouble over something like this. Geezus!

That's awesome! What a smart young fella. Wonder if the boys from megadeth know their music saved that kid, lol.

I wrote a post a few days ago about Elliott my standard poodle who had hit his face rather hard and had swelling on his eye. The swelling went down yesterday but flared back up today with a vengeance, his whole eye was swollen shut. So off to the vet we went, vet immediately anesthetized him and biopsied his eyelid. The eye itself is still healthy thank goodness but his eyelid is up like a golfball. It was full of blood. So now he's home with me with an icepack on his face. He will b on antibiotics and pain meds for a while. I feel so sorry for him the silly boy. Has anyone else had to deal with something like this? Is there anything else I can do for him to keep him comfortable? Any advice would b appreciated.

So the only difference between your dog and the bull mastiff is the fact that you're sensible enough to not tie your dog up? yet you state that it will bite. So your dog is safer only because of you. I'm sure the owner thought his dog was safe as it hadn't done it before. It goes without saying all dogs have the ability to do this and it is all down to the owner, so why not ban the owner from owning dogs? why PTS a dog who's only as likely to do this again as any other dog.. I'm sure this dog isn't likely do it again if it were owned by someone sensible enough. But too late i guess. Stupid owner, and the parents of the child need to take some of the blame. Yes, the only difference between my dog and this one is responsible ownership. Also my dog has never bitten anyone in public, if she did rip a childs face up I would put her down myself, no questions asked. This does not mean I love my dogs any less than anyone else on here, it just means that I accept the consequences for MY actions. My ACD has bitten in the past but on our property, and only when someone has entered without us being there. I don't blame her not do I punish her for it, she is doing her job. But a dog tethered in public that rips a childs cheek apart is different, people are far more important than dogs Geo, no matter how much we love them, our kids come first. I do understand that the dog cannot be blamed for this, as the footage showed the dog got spooked. But why spend already limited resources on rehabbing and rehoming a dog like this when there are so many unwanted dogs in the pound that are well adjusted and balanced animals? Sadly we don't have the funds or manpower to save them all so we have to make hard decisions sometimes.

Quick update! Just returned home from shopping and Mr Goofy's eye has gone down dramatically, you can barely even see any swelling now. I'll still take him to the vet tmrw anyways just to be sure everything is ok. I did that little test where you move your hand towards the eye and he reacted to it so I'm pretty sure he is ok. Not looking forward to explaining this to my vet tmrw, lol. My god he is dumb but I love him sooo much! He's a real Fabio, very pretty to look at but not much going on upstairs! Lol!

I never leave my dogs unattended in my car. On the wkend we took them out for a big walk and decided to get maccas, I parked in a shady spot, left the engine and air con going, sent hubby in to get our burgers, and we all ate our meal standing outside the car with the doggies cool and comfy inside it. I just won't risk it, ever. My bro smashed someones car window to get a dog out once, owner came out of shop and started screaming abuse at him until she looked down at her dog who was already dead. My bro had poured cold water on it and done everything he could, dog was too far gone by the time he got it out. Stupid woman.

Well the big doofus is off to the vet tmrw for the fist time (asides from vaccs). On saturday he was running thru the house and as he went thru the backdoor he clipped the doorframe with his head in all his excitement. I saw it happen and head a loud thunk when he did it. He stopped and shook his head, I went over and checked him, he seemed fine and I told him not to be so silly. Well yesterday I was grooming him and noticed his left eye was hugely swollen, half closed swollen. I checked the eye itself and it's fine, its just really swollen on his eyelid. I've checked him again this morning and he is still a bit swollen, a little better but not as good as I had hoped. If he is still swollen tmrw I'll take him off for a visit to the vet and get it seen to. I figure it's from whacking the doorframe on Saturday. Kinda like a black eye if u know what I mean. But ill get it looked at anyways, just to be sure he's ok. He does not seem to be in any pain or discomfort from it, he's still hooning thru the house and yard like his normal self and does not complain when I look at it or touch it. I just wish he would be more careful and stop barging thru everything, he gets too excited this dog. You would think that at 18 months old a standard poodle would have at least half a brain....but I think we may be lacking somewhat in that dept, bloody silly bugger. Who ever thought a dog could get a black eye!? I'll be sure to update on what the vet says if we do end up going.

Abbi or "little miss lickalot" as she is known is a hardcore licker. She goes for any part of you, feet (if u have no shoes on), legs (a favourite), arms, hands, neck and face, she just loves to lick people. If I tell her no, she gets depressed and will go over to Sophie our toy poodle and lick her face until her topknot is drowned in spit and hanging, it's gross. I always thought she would grow out of this behaviour but no luck, she's still a licker extraordinaire! Lol!

Even though macrolide antibiotics originally were developed from fungal byproducts this does not mean they are "natural". They are now produced in big steel vats in labs. Tylosin was widely used as a growth promoter in chickens (at low doses) and was banned due to widespread concern about development of bacterial resistance. Why encourage antibiotic use for cosmetic purposes? Safety research will investigate whether it is safe for the user, not whether the user has developed resistant bacteria in its gut. I've called a few vets regarding this and have been told by all three that it's perfectly safe to use. I'm assuming you are a vet yourself, I'm finding it strange that vets can have such diverse opinions on angels eyes. I've used it for years as has my white dogs breeder, neither if us have ever had any issues. What is it exactly that you are concerned about? What are the side affects? I've contacted the angels eyes company and been assured my dog is safe. So please, as a vet, inform me of what will happen to my dog from ingesting this product? I'm now quite concerned.

Another one for filtabac. It's a great product, non sticky and water soluble so not greasy. I use it on my horses noses and it works wonders. Also has antibacterial properties so u can use it on wounds too.

It bit the kid and done damage, it needs to be pts. Feel sorry for the dog as the owner is really to blame, but u can't give dogs who bite someone in public a second chance. Different story if it were on it's own property tho. Edited to add, I for one would never leave my ACD tied up at a shop as I know for sure she most definately bite anyone who tried to touch her. It's just common sense.

Plus two! I'd be an RSPCA case if u saw my old afghan. Skinny bitch she was, fed her copious amounts of food to fatten her up for shows but she never put on much weight. Just a real extreme dog, not much anyone could do about it. I prefer my dogs lean tho, I see too much obesity in dogs in my daily job, it's sickening. Just yesterday I had to groom a dog that could not stand on it's hind legs it was so fat. Heck of a job. Too much weight increases chances of arthritis and diabetes in dogs too. I hate seeing fat couch potato dogs, it's so unhealthy.

You have it wrong there. The macrolide antibiotics found in angels eyes (very low levels) are a natural polyketide. There has been research into angels eyes usefulness and safety. It has been found to be 100% safe to use even over long periods. I'm sure it's even safer to feed than tinned dog food. Please do your research before scaring ppl off using a totally harmless product.

Here's a second thumbs up for dog essentials. Ask for Virginia or her mum Grace. They are always happy to help and the price is reasonable. Great service without costing the earth, it's a great place to shop. She usually has stuff in stock aswell or can order things fairly quickly.

I use angels eyes for my white boy who gets a lot of staining. It works wonders for him. I just sprinkle a little in his food every night and his face comes up nicely. It also seems to work on his paws too. The brown stains are essentially red yeast. It builds up in moist areas of the dogs coat where it can survive. There isn't much you can do to keep his eyes or mouth dry so try angels eyes, it's a great product. There are also tear stain removers you can buy to wipe his face with. If all else fails, you can always use a bit of bio groom whitening cream.

What a tough little bugger! Good on her owner, the pilot and the vet for doing all they could for her. What exactly is footrot in cattle? Is it the same as thrush or seedy toe in horses?

On NYE we were driving home from the city and saw a dog running around on the main rd. Hubby pulled up and I jumped out, there was a man already stopped who was trying his darndest to catch the dog but it kept running from him. I told him to just stop and approach it slower, it was freaked out. We tried to get the cars to slow down, some did, some didn't. After about 15 mins if trying to coax pooch off the road and trying to corral him a taxi came flying over the hill, ignored my signals to slow down and cleaned up this poor dog. After it was hit it got up and bolted into the bush. We couldn't find him. Don't know what ended up happening to him but there was nothing else we could do. I wish ppl would secure their dogs so these things didn't happen. I wouldve gladly taken this fella home or to a vet but never got the chance to.

Here here, I'd see a chiro. Also keep some condies crystals on hand. If the quick bleeds, pinch some of the crystals in your fingers and hold on the end of the nail....will seal the nail and stop bleeding instantly, feels a bit warm but works better than soap and cornflower etc and my dog doesnt complain and he's a big sook! I believe the quick can shoot back and then the problem reduces so fingers crossed it wont be reoccuring for you, best of luck! I'd probably go some styptic powder over condees or potassium permanganate. Styptic won't stain the paws purple or brown. It doesn't hurt as much either, condees stings like hell, lol. I tried it out one day and yikes it hurt! But yes a chiro might be a good option too if you are concerned his gait isn't normal. Good luck!