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Pete.the.dog, you may have heard of a private dog trainer called Mark Singer. Myself and several other DOlers in Adelaide have used him and he is deemed as one of the best of the best. I know you do not have the money for now but he has recently started up a forum where he will discuss/answer/advise people who need this. If you do not get satisfaction through his forum (which I'll post bellow), google his name and click onto his web site. He is happy to talk over the phone. Just be upfront with him re finances at the start and ask him if you can get some quick advice. I am sure he will be more than happy to chat as he is a very nice person. His forum is www.caninetraining.com.au/forum and on his official web site his phone number is listed. Hope this helps. Oh, and when my little boy was around 7 months he tried it on me. I immediately pinned him on the sofa firmly (he was already sitting there, I did not roll him) and we had a quiet discussion on the do's and don'ts in my house. That was the time I contacted Mark Singer. The problem was we were so inlove with our little wheaten but he was getting away with murder! We thought he was well trained with all the commands he could do, just stubborn and cheeky. I'll finish by saying our dog, who is now 19 months old is the sweetest, funloving pup. Has never tried to bite anyone since.

Hi Sheridan, how your two going? Yeah, Murphy has had very high liver enzimes which was diagnosed about 6 months ago when he was to be castrated. We, (being me), feel there were a couple of incidences which were the cause of this and it is just a matter of time for things to improve. (A collision with another dog and then eating a toxic piece of turkey) Our vet and specialist are some what perplexed and their thoughts are "oh, let's do an open chest operation to get a decent chunk of his liver for a biopsy". Hmm, sure guys....NOT! We've had good help from our breeder and have consulted a USA vet who is wheaten. All in all, we expect him back to normal by christmas but he is getting a very bland, clean diet these days. Having said all this, he is presenting as a perfectly healthy wheaten and cannot understand why people are taking his blood....but....he totally understands why we talk about him and that people come from all over the place to just meet him and have a cuddle. He's also happy that his dackers are still in place :D PS: Bambi ears....who can eat Bambi????

I can't help either but wanted to say how terrible for you and your pup. RIP little one

BigDaz, my dog is the same, he loves these willy things. Might try to track down a producer and see what they say. I'd hate it if they are full of preservatives. Huskyheaven - I'm sure people have said but that photo you have of your dogs is just one of the best I have ever seen

Aussiedog & Luffy - have tried the fish treats and also the dehydrated tuna but he just spat them out. I think the products are great but I have a dog who doesn't like fish of any sort :D FionaC - Have looked around for the venison ears, will try and grab some over the net. My vet has the buffalo ears that are dried. He's not so keen but out of desperation will have a play with one. Warning...they stink once he gets his slobber over them! Huskyheaven, he's never had the shmackos or any treat from the supermarket as most are made in China and there have been problems. Am afraid liver treats are out for him for now but he sure does love them. Thanks for the web links. CP* - on the mission for venison ears! Leo01 - thanks for the heads-up. Hope Tracey has a decent break. Ok guys, I guess the venison ears are what I'll look for and perhaps I'll invest in a dehydrater to do some of my own stuff. Hmmm, I wonder where I could get my hands on a bulls penis to dehydrate....can you imagine what it would look like!!!!!!

I'm just trying to find out what, if any, chemicals are used in making those long, hard, dog treats....you know the ones......bulls penis I believe they're called :D ? I'm a bit slow on the take, just found out the pigs ears are deep fried (doh! ). He likes the vegetarian pigs ears but I wonder how much filler junk is used in making them. I always make sure the treats are locally made (apart from the vegie ears) but as my dog is prone to skin allergies and has had liver issues I've pretty much stopped giving him any of these. He's a little unhappy about this he tells me....

What a lovely little girl. :D You're going to have so much fun! My Wheatie boy is one and a half and is such a happy little dog. The only bit of advice I can pass on is keep on top of the grooming.....daily.

It seems there's a lot of 'grump' left in Mr Grumpy. Nice stuff

The Hills sample I've got is made in the USA PS: Once or twice a day...depends on his mood

That's fantastic

How's Grumpy been today Sheridan? Hope he's getting back to his normal self That nasty drug should be clearing by now

Didn't realize how severe his reaction to Tramal was. My god, the poor dog, no wonder he is taking this time to recover. 14 hour in the car....I would have been totally freaked out. It sounds like they over dosed him....?....accidently? Will make sure mine never gets it.

This is very good news (re bloods). It sounds like Mini has been especially considerate of him. Perhaps it was viral and he needs this rest time. Let's hope so. You can't torture him yet with bath!!! Nice to hear he's perking up...... to you three.

How's Grumpy today?

Hi Sheridan, it must be so distressing waiting for his bloods. Have wine....I'll join you Hope he has a peaceful evening. I guess he isn't showing any signs of distress or pain which is good. As you know, when we are feeling like shit a warm bed and lots of sleep is pretty much what we need. Hope he feels better soon.

Will check in tomorrow. I've always held the thought that our two boys will meet some day!

So sorry to read this Sheridan. Hope Grumpy is starting to feel better. I know when vets sedated my boy he also couldn't get out of the car, it seemed he was hallucinating and could not judge/see clearly the jump down from the car, he was scared. He just kept crying and dozing until the meds wore off. Hope this is just one of those things and tomorrow he feels much better.

Depending on activity levels, my 20kg boy will on some days eat up to 900gms. Other times much less, he's a bit of a fuss pot and generally regulates his own volume of food intake.

When my boy was about the same age I put him in day care for one day whilst we had our floors done. It took him 48 hours to recover! I felt very sorry for him. He still got up to eat and toilet then back to bed.

ChocosMum, don't know if you are closer to Glenelg. The local pet shop has just started selling them and my boy loved his. They're shaped just like pigs ears and as I have stopped giving him the real ones, when he saw these he went There on Jetty Road, Glenelg, near the Brighton road end. HTH

Hi ashletina, you dog sure looks cute! I have a wheaten terrier so I totally understand the matting business. It seems endless. You definately need a slicker brush and a metal comb. I brush mine every day but don't always get all the spots, it's a battle. Full brush before bath and then again when he's almost dry. Well, I try anyway! I take my dog to The Spoilt Dog groomer on Fullarton road who know all about matting and grooming our type of dog. If you can take your boy there she will be able to sort out your problems and advise you on grooming. Good luck

Just to add to this discussion....our GP (mate) told us that on some occasions he gets patients who are looking for meds for their animals. Generally he susses them out but the bottom line is that they cannot afford the vet costs and to see him is free to them (bulk billing) and PBS for the meds.

Thanks everyone for your imput We recently had a health scare with our little boy and although our vet was ok, I felt a little, umm, lacking of advice over his situation. To be fair though, we had to follow up with several blood tests over 3 weeks to come to anything conclusive and fortunately all seems to be getting back to normal. Thank goodness for this site and google, as I was able to obtain an enormous amount of information. I will make a list of all the vets you guys have listed and work out who are closer to us and take it from there. Once again, thanks

We live in Glenelg and use the local vet clinic and to be honest, it's quite ok. The thing is, we use to have the most fabulous vet until she left for Perth and I just would like to find someone who is highly regarded when things get a little serious but also to have a heart connection with our little animals. There is an old thread floating and several people have mentioned Dr Chris Girling at Noahs Crossing but this is just too far away for us. Thanks :cool:

I'm another person who recommends Mark Singer. He is excellent