Crisovar

I have had a read of some of the bloggers writings today....sometimes people passionate about a subject get a bit crazy...that whole blog site oozes it.

Maybe Lamb simply doesn't agree with him. It is not a bad thing, there is no single one size fits all dog food.

I have read Billinghursts books and they are a great resource. There is no single correct way to feed, I think most people eventually settle into what suits them and their dogs. There are a lot of feeding zealots both in the raw camp and in the commercial diet camp. :laugh: I have fed ready made raw at times but find it too costly. Due to necessity my dogs sometimes have to eat the so called crap in a bag and found what suits my purpose for those times.

It could be fungal or demodex but the only way to know what it is and how to treat it is a Vet visit.

We have always used salt.

All I can say is

Heart is classed as muscle meat and I feed that more frequently than liver, and it is quite cheap. Personally I think the OP has more of a problem with portion size and feeding lean meats, given that the dogs are overweight and have been for quite some time. My dogs are fed predominately Raw and have been for many years, all very healthy, great coats, and making old bones. Raw feeding does not need to be difficult or expensive and I think the OP tends to be over thinking the whole diet thing.

There is a first time for any reaction to be observed, if a dog acts out of character or is startled by encountering something it never has before how is the average dog owner going to know what to expect. There is no such thing as bombproof. It would be nice to be able to guarantee without any shadow of doubt how an animal will react but since they are living creatures we cannot do that. The first sign that my old horse was losing his vision was a totally unexpected reaction to something. Further investigation discovered the issue and we were able to then be aware. We expect a lot out of animals and little out of people.

Hot spots don't just happen....there is a reason...and just having skin folds is not it. As I said in the right hands it is not a problem.

It is something that Breeders routinely check for and deal with when pups are a few days old. I don't know any Breeder that would intentionally leave them on a breed where they are not standard. Maybe it was an over sight, but it is something that is normally automatically checked and dealt with.

Heaven forbid that some individuals or groups may not use DOL. :laugh: Is there some rule that states if you want to be accepted as legitimate you must frequent this forum and pass muster here? Read a thread like this and it is easy to see why some would choose to keep away. DOL is good resource but it is not where all things dog start and finish. We need more caring and enthusiastic people helping the dogs no matter where their shopfront is.

When I was a child it was understood that strange dogs might bite, somewhere along the years it has been lost.

Breeders get beaten up over that all the time ;)

As I said in the right home ;)

Does being on DOL make things legitimate??? There is a whole world out there away from DOL.

All we will have left eventually is the rights of Idiots to be just that. Common sense and courtesy are going to be long gone. There is no such thing as a bomb proof dog.

Just because you send in your choices doesn't mean they will be accepted. Sometimes it may take several attempts before they agree to a name. It can delay things quite a bit at times.

In the right home they won't have too much trouble at all. :)

You can tell that from a short video?

Because no one wants to hear that they simply may not be a suitable home for an entire animal.

Personally I'd like to see us return to a world where if you did something stupid then you accepted the consequences. Can't ever see it happening of course. All we have now is "it wasn't my fault" society and there is always someone or something to blame.

The age that the growth plates close varies from breed to breed. I would never desex a large breed before 12 months and would prefer to wait till around 15months, my Vets agree. Most issues people try to fix with the snip are training issues not rampant hormones. I have left most of my male dogs entire, and have never had any problems with their health or behavior as a result. For the average pet owner who may be unable to ensure they put in the work to train their dog and provide secure housing desexing is however a good thing.

Parvo is the most vile disease. The hardest hit victims are young unvaccinatd animals. My dogs all receive their initial course and then are titre tested. I do not vaccinate after that. However I would not be prepared to sell a pup to some one who was not prepared to at least do that, IMO it is irresponsible and puts the pups life at unnecessary risk.

What a naughty girl...maybe she needs a scat mat in the door way...or a zappy collar My Lab can open the walk through baby gates, but after we set him up a couple of times and I slammed the riding crop down on the table behind him he stopped, and just sat and grunted at the gate.

Easy to do :laugh: You wont even have to think about it before too long, even my OH can do it now. We simply worked out a scoop/cup that held the amount of dry CM we needed and then used the same for the water and away we went. I have a friend who when she started using VAN made up every little meal for each animal separately, she ended up with different colour dishes for each dog etc...what a mess. She was visiting one day and watched me mix a batch for a week for everyone moment..she still laughs about it.