OSoSwift

Bloody hell, Glad she euthed them with having to be made to do so. Those people will never recover from that

Much better :)

I do know of cruciate repairs that have had to have the suture material removed as it was causing issues

Wow 4 already. Charlie is certainly made of tough stuff. You go little man, one of your biggest fans here, and also a huge fan of your mum and dad. I hope you continue to amaze for many years to come. Happy Birthday

This is not saying don't desex it is saying it is best left until they are mature ie after 12 months of age...............

That is very unfair, so sorry to hear that Hugs

Tubal ligations and vasectomies are not designed to take the place of desexing, they are designed to ensure that those puppies cannot be bred from and so they also have to ability to grow to their full potential without the possibilities of pregnancy before being desexed at a more appropriate age, for example 12 to 18 months. Yes the puppy would still need to be desexed and yes the owner would need to foot the bill. Which really if they can't afford it shouldn't be getting the pup in the first place.

Pickles didn't like the decorating and wanted to give it her own spin.................... I ahve never had a dog react like that to crating - thank goodness!!! Mine sleep in them by choice, door open mostly depending on which crate and where it is located and what we are doing.

Cruelty plain and simple................

Nobody said stop did they???? :) Jelly you and Nek are doing great things, I have a huge amount of respect for you as you have done so much for this girl. Tralee, stop smoking joints or whatever it is you are doing

Means you can kick it and it does go splat on your shoe :)

1. Do you have to feed tons of food or hardly anything in order to keep your dog at a decent weight? If you have to shovel food into the dog or its constantly hungry (yeah I know that's nearly all dogs all the time) I'd say the fat content of the diet needs tweaking up or down. NO I don't have to feed a huge amount of food. One Whippet gets around 1 to 1 & 1/4cups of food on average and the other 1 1/4 to 1 1/2. The BC puppy gets around 2 & 1/2 to 3 cups daily. 2. Is your dog at the vets a fair bit for minor skin irritations, ear or other infections or hot spots? If so, I'd say that avoiding some types of food in the diet is worth trying. A lot of dogs are gluten intolerant and changing the diet can help with these issues. No, they mainly go due to accidental damage. Once Lewis ended up at the vets very unwell after eating Turkey, I have since discovered he doesn't tolerate Turkey or Chicken very well and can end up with a a very upset tummy and a very squirty back end. He also doesn't tolerate much fat. 3. What's going on at the back end? Does your dog produce firm stools? Or are they large mounds of mousse like poo (see this quite a bit) and are they foul smelling? I'd say a diet that sees your dog produce masses of soft smelly stools on a regular basis isn't ideal. They poo on average twice daily it is firm but not hard, they don't have to strain to much to produce it and the smell is rather minimal. It is a kickable poo 4. Does your dog smell? Teeth, anal glands, general odour? Diet can be frequent cause of these issues and making sure that your dog gets a decent amount of tooth cleaning via its diet and a decent amount of fibre can help with some of these issues. They don't smell and never pass gas. Lewis only did when he had his tummy issue because of the turkey. They get a little tarter from time to time but a bone or two fixes that up pretty quickly. 5. Does your dog LIKE its food? Some dogs are just picky but what you feed should be enjoyed by the dog. If you're constantly having to spice up the main part of your dog's diet with additives, I'd say its time to try something else. Yep they do. Lewis will only eat up to a certain amount regardless of what you give him but he eats well and finishes all his food/bones/treats For them to be "doing well" on a food they need to have a nice shiney healthy coat and skin, well formed kickable poo's, no bad breath, gas etc. They need to have good muscle and definition, not look all soft and flabby and have enough energy to do what I ask of them in regard to training/exercise.

Yep agree with Haredown. Recall can be taught and Whippets can do it well. Start from day dot and training it all the time, every day just because you can. It can literally be a life saver. I also teach elave it, but we have lots of snakes so I don't want them poking their nose into grass etc so they are also taught leave it from day dot. Saved my baby Guimnea pig :)

I have visions of a certain naughty Sphynx doing bog laps around the house on a Roomba if I got one :)

Okay so I want to do MRD1, CL CEA and TNS, who is the best company to get those done through?

I had just ordered the whole box n dice for one of mine from ASAP. $135 for a complete breed profile (DNA Profile, CEA, CL, TNS, MDR1, Long coat, Colour). You will need to supply at least two (maybe three) sets of swabs (2 swabs/packet) as ASAP need to send out for the some of the tests. The return email stated a return of 14-21 days. Ok for me as there is no rush and it is then all done. If you were needing the tests done more urgently, then you would maybe better off sending swaps to the individual labs offering the TNS (Uni NSW) and GTG for CEA, CL. That sounds great can you let us know how you go Mystiqview Yes I am interested also. Coat colours, length, DNA profile doesn't worry me but MRD1, and the others do :)

Ah okay.

I have Whippets and now a new shorthaired Border Collie. He was bit wiffy when he first arrived but is fine since he had a bath those few weeks ago. The Whippets just don't smell, I have not washed them for months and they still don't smell. I also have a DSH cat and 2 Sphynx cats. The Sphynx do get washed often as left for more than 2 weeks and they get a smell that is not really offensive but up close and personal you notice. We have tiles with some carpet mats and a leather lounge. Puppy pen has towels and polar fleece blankets which are washed often. I have an air purifier thingo you put water in and it pulls it through the water and send send out again ( i have it in an attempt to reduce the dust in my house), you can put a drop or two or essential oils in that and it helps with distributing a fresh smell through the house. I have noticed certain breeds tend to have more doggy smell than others, most noticably Golder Retrievers, GSD's and Cockers among a few breeds. I think the single coated breeds tend to smell less in general, then of course diet etc comes into it as well. I have also decided if I had no kids in my house it would stay far tidier and have less smells :D I am saving for a Roomba :)

I have a dog boarding with a naturally short tail, around the length of a Dobe Dock. What happens if someone decides that dog was illegaly docked? It isn't it is natural - a multi cross breed that was born with a very neat short tail, this however has not been documented as it was not seen as necessary before now so where would her owner stand? Also I know of a Whippet who lost the last 4 odd cm's of the end of her tail after it was shut in a door. Thie legislation would mean she could no lonegr be shown, trialed do agility or anything??? Just because she tried to slip through a door in the dark and her tail got caught. That doesn't seem right?????

I have had one person bring their dog in for a trial of three days, he took 24 hours to settle in, then was fine then went home. It was more for them than him. He is an older dog who previously hadn't left their property apart from a trip or two to the vets and they were worried he may be overwhelmed. I do agree with Showdogs the dogs settle quite quickly and learn the routine and cruise along. The owners tend to get more worried than the dogs. I have only had one dog I have suggested doesn't get boarded again in a hurry - without drugs at least. She is fine great little dog until there is thunder. She will injure herself unless she is bombed. Very stressful for her and me mainly because I would have no idea any thunder was coming but she would start going off well before the event. I then could not leave her at all until it had gone - very hard when one thunderstorm came and went ( not over us but near enough for her to hear the thunder obviously) while I was asleep and had no idea we had had one. Dogs behave quite differently to what most expect once their owners go and they are settled. To me a serious issue would be a dog that refuses to eat,drink, toilet is at risk of hurting it's self with its behaviour, or stresses that much they lose weight rapidly or cannot settle at all. I don't see excessive barking as a major issue but it can cause laryngitis.

Zoomies are only outside at our place, but as we have 5 acres around the house they kind happen when the wild dog look hits and there is no set course so nope, no worn paths, holes

Hmmmmm Lewis steals the cat food if he can, not so long ago I walked out the door then forgot something and walked straight back in, he got a fright, growled at and hasn't done it for a while. He likes any sort of poo, bird to roll in, cat or sheep to eat and when younegr did try to eat Rommi's poop. Now he sticks his nose just about in it to have a good long sniff if he isn't growled at but the consuming of it has ceased thank god. Lewis is also a proficient counter surfer, I have had him down the kennels and come back through the door to find all the yummies stolen out of the food bowls but the dry food left - he never makes a sound. Rommi is a shocking scabber, any morel or crumb on the floor she will lick up, if not told to get out of the kitchen she would lick the floor clean. I hate licking drives me insane, the noise or thought of it - strange I know - so any licking is stopped very quickly. Now they get "in your own time" and they stop. The both act like they are never fed. So much so that when I am trying to dish up their food they get sent to their bed. Otherwise I have tap dancing whippets weaving their way around my legs. Only problem with sending them to their beds, is well...... they have to be released, then they bolt that fast they hit the tiles and slip around and run into the table and chairs. Drives me nuts. Why can't they walk in a semi organised fashion or sit or stand bloody still when their food is getting dished up?

I also check in often to see how you are going. I do have to add apart from some very awesome DOLers, Jelly I think you are fantastic. I read your posts when you say you have failed Roo - rubbish you have given far more than most, you have tried anything and everything you can and are still looking for options. I can honestly say If Roo was mine I would most likely have made the euthanasia decision by now.....I hope you don't find that upsetting, I am telling you to illustrate to you what a fantastic job you are doing with your girl. You have stubbornly and doggedly refused to give up on this little girl. I feel I can honestly say if you can't do it with Roo then it cannot be done. Best of luck and fingers crossed for your next part of your journey.

Thank you I have been sent a sample of the green tripe which interestingly didn't agree with one of the dogs at all. Lewis in the past has had some tummy issues - now fixed by avoiding chicken in any form, but cast iron gut Rommi did not do very well on it at all, she ets it reluctantly as well. I haven't tried them on the complete one though.

I agree Wabbit - seriously love that name by the way - I guess where I live many people still go to the stockies and get the big bags of stuuf or go to the supermarket. I ma thinking the market for this food may be limited purely becasue it is way higher then what people are traditionally used to getting. I think you woudl get some onto it that have allergy dogs and some that are feeding a raw based diet but I am not convinced that I would sell enough to distributing it as much as I would dearly love to :) I am considering getting it for the cast though as one of the naked boys does get occasional bouts of IBS which are improving in the last 4 months but could be better - ie not happen at all :) Hmm thank you all so much you have definately given me much to ponder over.