temperamentfirst

We've been minding my parents Cocker a lot. Here she was toilet trained within a few weeks. At their place she sleeps inside and never asks to go out - just toileted anywhere she felt like it in their house! It didn't help that they totally spoil her:-) So I got fed up with her always being here, and told them that like it or not I was going to crate train her. It took a week. Now she sleeps in the dog house when she's here, and in the crate at my parents. No more messes to clean up, and they are so happy! It took a long time to convince them that a crate was the best thing, now my dad loves it.

I have a lovely scar on my ankle from a retractable lead. THe moronic woman has a Jack Russell on it. The dog took off, she let go of the lead, the dog raced around me, and it was like a garrotte around my ankle! It hurt like hell, and I thought I was a wimp, until I looked at it and the lead had cut deeply into the front of my ankle. I also fell over as it yanked my leg out from under me. THe lady apologised, but did not seem to realise how much damage the lead had done. If it had been an elderly person it would have been much worse!

Terry Hills caravan park is dog friendly.

I love my booster bath - because I can stand with my feet right under it, it is far better for my back than the hydrobath was. For Xmas a couple of years ago my husband had hot and cold water put in at the side of the house with a high pressure hose and adjustable hand shower. If building, I would be very tempted to have a special dog room with elevated bath and easy clean and draining floor:-)

I have found that the generic meds don't work as well, except for the chemists brand of panadeine. Discussed it with a friend who used to be in charge of a major drug company lab. She told me I wasn't imagining it, as the drug is often only a small aprt of the pill or liquid and the 'inert' substances can have quite an impact on how the drug is absorbed. She said she never uses generic drugs for this reason. Our regular chemist has all our files marked as non generic.

FOr specialists, the Animal Referral Hospital at Strathfield/Homebush is excellent. Also, I've had a few friends rave about the Sydney Uni clinic at Camden.

What a wonderful tribute - says it all.

If the mass is still contained, then I would go for surgery. If it has spread, then I would have to talk to the vets and think hard re quality of life. Good luck!

What a wonderful woman - the poor little fella would have been so lost and confused without a family.

Thank you for sharing Charlie's last days with us - although it makes me cry, I am so glad that he virtually made the decision, and that you all helped him.

Trust your gut - the fact that her stepfather doesn't know is more than enough. THe only time I ignored my gut I regretted it bitterly.

I think it is all about their quality of life - when our girl is in too much pain or cant get up, we will give her the final gift and send her peacefully to the bridge. I just hope we have more time.

Right now she is doing really well! Her regime is Ester C, Chinese arthritis capsule (twice daily), Musseltone, Fish oil, glucosamine. Acupuncture weekly. When the pain gets too bad we will have to let her go -I've lost one dog to organ failure due to rimadyl and metacam, and won't risk it again.

I have an utterly amazing house sitter but as you're in Vic I don't think she'd be available. A good house sitter means the animals are in their own home and routine. THere is an amazing kennel in Vic - one of my puppy buyers used them for her two dogs, and if ever i can't get my sitter I would consider driving the dogs down there from Sydney! PM me if you want the details.

I wouldn't do it unless you have no alternative dog available. Apart from concerns re the pups themselves, if you knowingly mate two lines where the condition is known to exist, and a pup subsequently is affected ... a nasty puppy owner could make your life hell. Sad reflection on our times.

I think it's appalling. me too me too - do they have to go right now? it will be so confusing for her as oldies like their routine, plus often have hearing and sight problems.

We didn't find that it became less effective. Re magnesium, it can give bad diarrhoea so I haven't risked it. Our girl had hemorrhagic diarrhoea on CHristmas Day so now she cannot have any NSAIDs! Interestingly they said it doesn't seem to be related to the Trocoxil, as many dogs seem to get it for no reason, but the damage means no more Trocoxil. They suggested Rimadyl, but we found that it hit the gut, as did metacam. Now we rely on weekly acupuncture and laser and Chinese herbal arthritis relief pills. Plus she has Ester C, musseltone, fish oil and glucosamine chondroitin. She limps on her right front, but is pretty good on the whole.

My baking is special - it includes dog and cat hair :laugh:

We have an amazing sitter - she looked after all the animals so well. It was her first time for us, and while we left her instructions and were in touch via the internet, I would now feel totally relaxed leaving her in charge even if I was unable to be contacted for a few days. I simply cannot praise her enough for her care and dedication to the animals. We do pay our sitters as we feel there is a lot of responsibility, and the cost is minor compared to any kennel. Having a good trustworthy sitter who really cares about our animals is wonderful, and she even kept all the plants alive during the heatwave:-) She is so good that I would actually recommend her to other doggy homes, which is a first for me!

Links to testing are here Border Collie Club of NSW Sydney Uni will be doing CL as well as TNS but are not set up for it yet so at the moment you have to get TNS done at Sydney Uni and CEA and CL done at GSS/GTG, who also do MDR1. Optigen in the US do all the tests but due to licencing laws they will not do CEA or MDR1 when they have allocated GSS/GTG to do those two tests for all Australian dogs. Optigen have a direct licence from Alan Wilton to do CL and TNS so can do dogs from anywhere for those two tests. Sydney Uni are doing both CL and TNS now. Cost is $110 to do both tests. I think they are the only lab in Australia licensed to do CL by the patent holders.

I do not vaccinate our dogs once they are over 3, except when our girl was going to be mated. Re boarding, we have a wonderful dog and house sitter, so we don't have to worry about the yearly vaccination requirements. Having Kaitlyn move in is way better than any kennel, so it's a win win for us:-) All our animals are much happier staying at home and being pampered.

ANKC breed health checks have to be initialised by the relevant breed councils and ratified by clubs and then a survey sent to all owners, and the survey has to receive, I think, approval by a 2/3rds majority. That is why there are so few that are actually required. I do think it would be a good idea to have, e.g. 'suggested' health checks listed on an ANKC webpage. Right now, it is a case of going to the relevant breed council's health advice page.

ACV helps, also a naturopath told me to reduce or eliminate red meats, particularly lamb, from their diet. That is one of the best dietary tips i have been given. My old girl in particular is so goo d since we totally removed lamb and mutton, and reduced the amount of beef. Also, none of our dogs are fed wheat in any form, and it has had a very positive impact on them.

Try giving her a toy to carry when she is excited. One of our dogs came up with that solution all by himself. He did it til the day he went to the bridge.

We used balloons full of water, but it didn't deter our dog at all. So we set her up - put the washing on the line, then I went out and my husband stayed hidden in the shed. When the pup grabbed the first item, my husband leapt out yelling NO. She never touched the washing again. Now I train each pup by hanging tempting sheets out, waiting until the pup shows interest and then sternly saying no.