alpha bet

Have been involved with dogs over the last 40 years (boarding kennels, training and my own).... Have often encountered dogs with this problem and was told by a vet in the 80's how to treat it.... not always 100% but it would never do any harm.... However I will explain and you are free to try. The skin is inflamed usually by grasses.... hence why it particularly affects between the toes first. ...especially at certain times of year when the grasses are growing.... this is aggravated by the dog licking/chewing the affected areas.. can often send up a bit of a chain reaction thru many parts of the body particularly in between the legs, under the throat etc. When you go to vets they seem to want to prescribe creams or tablets, which do seem to help... for a time.... and when you stop the treatment the condition returns - expensive and frustrating and vets don't seem to offer any other treatments except to do skin samples to try to work out what the dog is allergic to. The big problem is that the dogs immune system is compromised and the tablets and creams continue to degrade the immune system. They work for a time but are often just masking the issue and not actually solving the problem. The objective is to make the dog comfortable, prevent the dog licking/chewing, and let the system repairs its self. This is done two ways.... I have successfully treated hundreds of dogs with this manner over the years... have even had vets admit (reluctantly) that this is valid. 1st - diet - raw is best as you will get a better balance of gut bacteria (which the tablets are compromising) thus will start to help the skin improve from the inside out.... remove the dry food which has too many salts etc..... add plain greek yoghurt (costs $8/kilo at Aldi) which will also help to feed the gut bacteria to create a better balance. - within about three weeks you should see a much better coat coming thru... 2nd - reduce the itchy skin... buy some metholated spirits (bottle costs perhaps $5).... have a small bowl and dip the feet into the undiluted metho and then you can use some cotton wool and dap metho onto any other hot spots on the body... The metho will dry out the skin and reduce/stop the dog itching... no bandages as the objective is to let it air out and dry up.... don't worry if the skin is hot/rash/'pimply the metho will not hurt the dog and is not tasty so often the dog doesn't want to lick it anyway. You can do this in the morning and again in the evening. Perhaps repeat the next day and by the third day you should start seeing a big improvement in the feet and the dog will loose interest in the licking... Once the feet at more stable then after a few weeks you should see the diet starting to help the skin... just keep an eye on the feet as it might flair up again as the grass is growing... then a quick dip into the metho to stop the cycle again.... Best of luck - you are welcome to ring me if you wish to discuss

I suspect it would be Nigh on Impossible.... You need the person shown on the ANKC as owner of the bitch to apply for new papers.... then You need a trail of paperwork for the breeder of the boy... which is 14 years ago.... and if the registration wasn't completed by the breeder then you no hope... Your best bet is to get the papers for your girl and then look at perhaps breeding her to another dog...

Have been running a Training school for 25 years in a semi rural area and hence have worked with many breeds, especially the working breeds of border collies, kelpies, etc... Have also bred 20 litters of Aust Shepherd so will give you some ideas of how they differ. One standard answer to the difference between Borders and Aussies... is that Aussies have an off switch... ready to get up and run around when. needed but then lay down and just hang out in the house quietly. A Border Collie (as with a Kelpie) is primarily bred as a Sheep Dog - requiring stealth and focus which boarders on fixation. Great for a sheepdog but not so adaptable for a family lifestyle. However the Aussie is a Ranch Dog, therefore the Aussie needed to be more versatile - it needed to work sheep AND cattle both in the fields and in yards. Also to let the rancher know when someone was coming to the farm, to chase the coyote/fox away from the poultry, not to mention they also hung around the house looking after the kids and keeping the family company. This required an Aussie to have a stronger mental ability to allow them to adapt to these different roles. In our classes we generally find the Border to be more reserved with strangers or in new situations. They can be unsure when meeting new dogs and tend to give off the vibe of being a little nervous, thus often other dogs don't feel to comfortable around them. Many Borders are unhappy to have strange dogs approach and will give nervous snaps... Generally most Aussies are very positive with meeting new dogs or people, they might wait quietly to see how things go but are willing to make new friends. Other dogs also seem to be comfortable and interested in Aussies, probably due to the more relaxed attitudes. With coats this can vary in both breeds - Often Show Borders are heavy coated whereas the working lines are more close and low maintenance. Again with the Aussies, many in the show scene seem to favour the big heavy coated dogs which look more glamorous but then there are also many (in and out of the Ring) that have a shorter wavy coat or lighter undercoats - some lines seem to throw the easier coats but it is really a bit hit or miss. I have one girl who has a straight lighter coat with less undercoat but has still produced offspring with some heavier coats Of course there are variations within any breed and you may find some breeders work very differently to others in the way the pups are raised. The first 12 weeks of a pups life can definitely set the pup up for success. It is not enough to just say that puppies are raised in a family environment (easy for people to talk the talk / but much harder to walk the walk.

Does anyone know what the prefix was for Fiona McCoy - and has this been reported to Dogs Vic.....

In response to 'talking dog' - with regard to helping to empty the anal glands..... If feeding Vets All Natural adult complete mix... you will notice there are some full oats sitting on top of the complete mix once it is soaked... I always thought that perhaps these full oats had just missed being crushed but then Bruce Syme had an article about the anal glands... the whole oat soaked goes thru the dogs system and then out, this helps to clean out the intestines and also push to empty the anal glands. Pretty clever idea.... For others feeding raw who want to help the anal glands... the same can be done even just feeding the dog some corn kernals.... (not the cob) the corn doesnt break down hence ends in the poo again doing the job of helping clean the anal glands.

Juice, as an idea to think over.... I run a boarding kennel so get loads of different dogs and have seen many things over the years. Had a few occasions where I have had bully breeds who have come in and seen them really get a bit lacklustre and unsteady - each time it has turned out that dog had a blockage... one had part of a ball stuck and had to have an op to remove. The other two had eaten something different... one had eaten a rabbit just prior to coming and about 4 days after I took to the vet as we thought she was off colour and we kept watching and saw she was straining to poo... Vet gave her stuff to help her pass the rabbit.... The final one had been given chicken carcass... the bone and compacted in her gut and caused inflammation in the gut. In the past I had a GSD pup who ended up with telescope bowel and some of the bowel removed. Over the years we found he could not process bone... he tended to grind it down and then it would compact in his bowel... We learnt the signs and as soon as I realised he had compacted I would give him a big does of oil and water in his dinner or even squirted down his throat with a horse injection... I'm always keeping an eye on the dogs poo.... also their habits... Might be worth thinking about.

Find it difficult how now people seem to think a stud fee is for a mating.... In the past a stud fee was to produce puppies... which meant usually two live pups. Stud Owners used to receive the bitch and handle the matings (usually 2) and even put up the bitch for a few days - the bitch owner would pay for the dog to either fly etc to/from the dog. If no live pups were produced then a repeat mating would be allowed... Payment was usually made at the time of the mating although some stud owners would get half fee and the balance on the birth of litter. Also cost of mating was "Once Upon A Time" price of one puppy - but then, that was before all the extra costs being added to the bitch owner. Such as: Much more often outrageous Vet bills, DNA, hip elbow, progesterone testing, pregnancy X-rays, microchipping costs, extra litter registrations, much higher expectations for puppy packs etc. In reality now a Stud Dog Owner often seems to think they are owed the price of a pup... no guarantee... no vet costs.... no comeback... I suppose the idea is now we can't trust each other to offer a fair deal... and hence ideally we need everything in writing.

Couple of questions... what breed is your dog?.... also have you emailed Dr Bruce Syme from VAN with the issues?.... Ive been feeding raw using the VAN mix for years now on many different dogs and really don't believe that the VAN is what causes the sort of problems you are talking about... You have had your dog and and off different things for a while now along with various meds which is probably throwing the whole system out of whack.... What you describe later still sounds as tho she may have a bit of a blockage... dogs can still poo (usually loose and squirty) around a small blockage... but then the intestines are under stress and may not be getting a chance to heal properly so the problem keeps re-occuring. Can become a vicious cycle with taking meds which can just mask the problem and then stop the meds and the problems start again. Diet should always be considered as a start point.... but sometimes it is best to keep things simple.... you have used the VAN diet in the past and have to say this will usually provide much of the needs. probiotics and prebiotics we just use yoghurt... we also will feed the dogs some fruits, banana is good and add some oil. Perhaps it would be good to keep your dog off meat for a time and wait to see if their gut settles down - instead just use veggies where you can either grate or lightly steam veggies and use with the VAN

If buying roo meat from commercial sources it may not be pure roo.... it is legal for pet food to call it roo as long as it has a percentage of roo - it could also contain horse meat or other... however I guess if they put horsemen on the packet many people would not buy it. I use roo meat but it is direct from the shooter... straight from bush to freezer... it has always been very clean, lean with lots of blood - but when someone has shown me the commercial roo from a pet shop or pet area of the supermarket there seems to be more fat etc.... We haven't had problems with stinky farts with our 6 dogs.... but then things can be different for some dogs.

If you have dogs with cancer... this is a site which you might find useful.... www.ketopetsanctuary.com

Personally, I have to feel that if any ANKC breeder has more 11 or more fertile bitches then they are not a 'hobby' breeder and should be classified as Commercial and hence meet the requirements of a business.... which means OH&S, Insurances, Code of Practice and Quality Control...... Victoria also introduced to have a Drivers License ID for members to prevent people having bogus memberships.... I don't believe Qld has this in effect and would be interested to know if the other states follow this as well.

Victoria is not legalising puppy farms.... they now have legislation that makes the puppy farms accountable.... and the new legislation currently proposed will make it harder and more expensive for anyone who has more than 11 FERTILE bitches.... In fact some of the commercial breeders are already looking at setting up in NSW because the regulations are difficult in Vic... The plan is to restrict commercial breeders to less than 50 bitches which is a hell of a lot better than previously where there was no real limit. It is also about restricting how many litters for each bitch and what ages they can breed. Victoria is also introducing legislation to mean that puppies cannot be sold in pet shops unless thru an authorised rescue organisation - surely that is a good thing...????? The regulations in Victoria allow for members of an approved organisation (ANKC) to have up to 10 fertile bitches... it is ONLY if you have 11 that you would then be required to have a DAB (Domestic Animal Business License). If you are NOT a member of an organisation you can only have 1 fertile bitch without a DAB which means you have to show council officers your facilities to get your license. Part of the DAB is to ensure you have pups born and raised in acceptable conditions - this is to prevent the puppy farmers from having rows of pups being born in dark dusty sheds amongst other dogs etc... they must provide a clean whelping room specific for the purpose. ANKC breeders with 10 or less can still operate as normal with pups born in their houses as per usual. The DAB is renewed every year, which means that by rights the Shire/Council can come and inspect the facility and the record keeping of each and every dog on the facility. This is the start of ensuring that the welfare is adhered to. If you know of anyone breeding who has a DAB but is not meeting the guidelines you can report to your council and they can inspect. If you know someone breeding without a DAB you can report this as well.

We don't use dry food. We wean pups from 3 weeks of age on raw food. Have personally done a huge amount of research into dog diets (independent research from the manufacturers) and it really boils down to the fact that dry food is crap... We are being conned by the Manufacturers who have bulldozed the vets into following their marketing. Regardless of what you pay, the kibble is all basically all the same - they are only a filler food but also are filled with many ingredients which offer little if any benefit to the dog... and many can be harmful to the dog in the long term. Ask questions and consider the following points.... 1. Read the ingredients and google what they mean..... how many are salts and sugars? 2. All nutrient information on the packaging is related to PRIOR to cooking.... the nutrients change from cooking! 3. Dogs on raw diets have been tested to have a gut pH of around 2 - highly acidic and capable of breaking down food and killing off bad bacteria 4. Dogs on commercial food have been tested to have a gut pH of around 6 - neutral hence does little to help break down. 5. Clean diets (with no salts and sugars) produce clean saliva that coats the teeth and gums to prevent the build up of tartar... Dry food contains salts and sugars! 6. Strong questions are now raised as to the increase in cancers because of dogs being fed commercial foods.... Don't get pulled into the marketing bullshit - companies don't care about your dog, they care about their profits.

There are so many questions that this story would raise... How on earth this dog got a health check to be exported overseas... why on earth you would pay such a huge price for a dog without running more checks..... etc etc etc.... I think there is much more to the story than we are hearing (there is often more than one side to a story)... and I don't think this poster should be asking anyone here for info or advice.... this is WAY BEYOND the scope of us HOBBY BREEDERS. You have obviously purchased dogs for breeding on a commercial basis in another country

I have been running training classes - pups and adults for over 25 years. What you have is a teenager... he is basically behaving like a spoilt brat... he knows he can get away with it with younger pups but he is a bit more careful with the older dogs... for now anyway.... You need to BLOCK this behaviour... he needs boundaries.... There is nothing wrong with saying NO... and I don't care what the Politically Correct 100% positive reinforced trainers want to say or object to when I say this. We are starting to create a society that brings up children and now dogs without respect and boundaries. Creating boundaries is not about hitting the dog... it is being firm and determined. I have dealt with many situations of this nature and experience will always beat the book theory. If you don't create better manners now he is going to start to push the line with older dogs as well. You may also find that he can start to get snarky about kids being in his space.... Best of luck and any problems if need be scoot around and find a trainer who can help your dog learn good manners with all different dogs.

Actually you can have a pup off to a home at 7 weeks under state laws.... getting a vet check is really just a precaution for the buyer... chances are IF the pup is from an ethical breeder they would have had their vaccination around the 6-8 weeks and have their health check then. But then you may not know the vet the pup went to and you decide to have your own vet check. A cost for a vet visit is likely to cost anything from $60-$120. They usually change a fee of approx $60 and then it seems vets always find things to sell you... so it is easy to spend another $60 without there being any issue. Vets will often try to talk you into buying their dry kibbles as well as worming, flea prevention treatment and other assorted items... Much of which is available at any pet supermarket or online as well. Don't be afraid to check the pricing.

I don't worry about what the other breeders in my breed do - the Aussie Club do very little if anything towards helping or educating the public - there are not huge numbers of them in this State and they are spread far and wide... most seem more interested in showing and hence perhaps little time for anything else. So I just do my own thing...... Holding a M&G is just my way to help new people learn about the breed.... people who have been involved with me over the last 10 years with the breed enjoy getting involved... and it is a great way or us to get together. So I don't worry that it might just be the same breeders making the effort... the main thing is you get to meet some wonderful families and these are the ones that will make great homes.

As a trainer I have come across quite a few people who have gone thru various cancer treatment programs with their dogs. Apart from the huge costs.... (figures spent ranging from $5,00-$15,000) In general they have all felt that the stress and strains on both themselves and the dogs where not really worth it... Instead they felt they would have been best to just aim on enjoying what time they had. Personally in 2008 had a horse (owned from weaning) with lymphomia and was told he would have 3-6 months to live and would continue to drop weight till eventually he would collapse and have to be put down - treatment for horses was not an option at the time. We spoke to a naturopath who made up a herb mix for increasing his immune system and cleaning his bloods... he went off ALL processed feeds and was given only plain chaff with the herb mix. Within 3 weeks he looked better and was eating well... the lymphoma sores was still around his sheath and occasionally would burst and bright red blood would rush out for a few minutes and then stop. The naturopath said this was normal and the sores actually reduced in size. But he was back to his old self. We started riding again at first just gently and then my young daughter started learning to ride him (13yo on a 16.1hh Clydie Cross) She attended clinics and even started some competition on him... 3 years AFTER diagnosis we stopped riding him and he just enjoyed being around the paddocks, a further 3 months he started to loose weight but was still perky and then one day just didn't wake up. He lasted 3.5 years from diagnosis (nearly 17 when he died) - with good quality of life... but it taught me to learn about feeding and to read all the labels.... Since then all my dogs have been on raw diet... no bloody dry food (there is no such thing as good kibble - read the label and google the ingredients). Still believe if I had put my horse onto a clean diet from the start there would be a good chance he might never have developed cancer.... all the sugars and salts in the pellets.

What about your club looking at this whole thing from a different perspective. Get the club to run a couple of Meet and Greets each year. Anyone interested in getting a pup of your breed can organise to come along to an open day. This is a chance for prospective buyers to meet the adults and see the activity level and trainability of the dogs. It is really important for families to make decision based on the Adults and not be swayed by the cute pups. They also learn about the testing available and what issues to consider when looking for a pup. They can have a chance to meet different breeders on a semi social environment where everyone has the chance to show their true personality and not feel they need to "tick the right boxes" to be accepted for a pup - After all, it is important that the breeder and buyer create some sort of connection so that ongoing support can be offered if needed. Myself and a breeder friend have run these Meet & Greets for the last few years as a way to promote our breed. We try to organise families to visit once we have mated one of our girls - we even invite some of our previous aussie people to come and provide a mixed group of aussies for the prospective buyers to meet and chat - It is actually a lot of fun and we have met some great people. Some keep in touch hoping for a pup in future, some get puppies from other breeders (which we are more than happy about) and some even decide the breed is not suited or they are not ready. We see it as a big chance to educate the public about what an ethical breeder really means.

18 months ago my Aussie tore the CL. We took her to Michael Bell in Craigieburn Vet Clinic.... He is a bit of a specialist as they have always worked with Greyhounds plus he is a regular to the USA with some of the leading orthopedic people over there. He performed an operation on my then 8 yo girl... We kept her quiet as best we could for a few months... then she had a tendency to carry her leg a little for about the next 6 months or so.... but about 12 months after the operation she was back to normal... no issues since. They don't put any steel plates so unlikely to have some of the issues with arthritis later on. Plus the cost there was under $1400 whereas other clinics up this way are wanting $2500 - $3500.

We now know this was a bogus report - owner admitted that the dog died... Often there is more information than we know... so sometimes worth waiting to see what the true story is.

Promoting Pure Breeds - is a job for all breeders of all breeds. We have run 3 Meet and Greets in January - had 20 groups of people - We did not have any pups due for about 5 weeks - in fact we didn't even have the pregnancy confirmed yet) - so it is not about selling pups as we told them all that there is no guarantee that we can have pups for them but happy to help them in their research. We are also able to recommend if perhaps another breed might suit them. This is a chance for them to come meet the dogs (not cute puppies) and see if this is a breed for them. To learn about the adult dogs and what is involved in breeding, feeding and also a chance for us to educate them about how the ANKC works with health testing and what shows, obedience comps etc are all about.... We see this as a public service to help improve the image of breeders with the public and the side issue is that we get the chance to meet great people and learn about them so we can source the right homes when we do have pups. Remember : People we can influence to see that breeders of pedigree dogs are helpful and working to improve - Now have some information to help them when discussions about dogs come up with work colleagues or family. Every one you influence can effectively influence 10 others.....

In Victoria we have had a fair bit of promotion by Dogs Vic about pure bred dogs... Because of the State Gvt wanting to bring out more rules to restrict breeders (including us). So Dogs Vic hired a marketing dude to work out a promotional package to get our point across. Thankfully it seems to have worked and perhaps ANKC state clubs will continue from this experience. I think the spin off has been that more of the public are becoming aware of the difference between pure ANKC dogs and BYB or commercial breeding. However personally believe that owners and breeders of our ANKC pure bred dogs need to follow this up with helping the public understand more about what is involved with the pure dogs. Explaining to people the difference with the health testing and breeding to blood lines that will enhance the dogs so that we can avoid issues like poor bites, bad elbows or eye problems. We should help educate people who approaches to ask about your pure dog, even if the questions are pretty ignorant like "bet those dogs cost a pretty penny?" - We should see it as a chance to re-educate them about how the system works and in fact that the purchase price is only a small part in the cost of owning a dog. cont...

Victoria already has Boarding Kennels under a registration system... It is called the Domestic Animal Business... (mind you there were still regulations before this came into effect but now they have just make it more complicated) - it is overseen by local council... and to get a DAB then the council Officer inspect and consider each facility against a code of practice... Business such as Pet Sitting also requires a DAB but generally there are plenty of people who go on Facebook setting up for pet sitting and don't follow any of the protocols. In NSW I suspect there are already regulations that determine boarding kennels - again by Councils. After all if you want to run a business (or even just want to have more dogs than allowed by local laws you need to go to council and get a permit. That means that you have to show you meet the requirements. Oh and by the way the new regs for DAB for Boarding Kennels actually decreased the minimum amount of space required for a dog. (I suspect that the Dept of Ag got consultants who just went to one of the biggest commercial kennels and then used what they had as the minimum standards).... Unfortunately it now means that any new kennel that sets up can actually buy a factory and build pens that are the minimum 4.2sqm and leave the dogs in the vinyl and pretty coloured concrete walls. No way I want the RSPCA having the control over us... after all this is just a way for the RSPCA to look at getting more funds.

All very nice in theory... however when you consider that most countries already have dogs in rescue waiting for homes... why would you bother bringing over from other countries. Costs would be prohibitive.... to bring a dog to Australia you are looking at minimum $5,000. One thing to spend that money on a family pet... but for a rescue dog..... really !!!!!