trifecta

I cook some diced carrots & either peas ,beans or brocolli in the microwave for a few minutes To my mind a BARF diet consisits of raw foods & not cooked Have you tried juicing raw vegetables? I think the problem may lie with the inability to easily digest the vegetable matter in the diet.

How are you feeding vegetable matter? My kelpie vomits if I feed grated raw vegetables but is perfectly happy with vegetable juice & a small amount of carrot pulp mixed with his roo mince.

BB, I am not sure why you would be asking about Supercoat Your Belgian was raised from weaning on the best diet possible, ie BARF. There is lots of info available on BARF on DOL & I know your breeder will also help you to devise a diet which provides optimum nutrition for value for money

I source rabbits from an animal feed store in Bungendore, they are priced at $6.50 each, are skinned & gutted but still have their "slippers" on. Wild rabbit is a much darker meat than farmed rabbit. I have read that Calici virus has had little impact on rabbit numbers due to there being a strain of the disease already present in Australian rabbits to which most have immunity. What is more frightening is that you can buy a mixo rabbit from the Pastures Protection Board for $15. I wouldn't wish death from mixo on any animal, it is horrific!

Having had a dog who was hypothyroid, I recommend looking at a homoeopathic or holistic path of treatment. My girl was on thyroxine for a while, but after consultations with a homeopathic vet, we finally hit on her constitutional remedy, enabling the thyroxine to be phased out over time.

You don't need working line dogs to obedience trial successfully. You need to be a sympathetic & imaginitive owner who can keep their dog interested In recent years there was a Terv in the ACT region who trialled at the highest level & was a state representative at agility. My own Groenendael has the makings of a fantastic obedience dog although I didn't really start her until the age of 3. However we now have maturity on our side which means a steady dog, particularly for the stays! We are also doing herding, so the Belgian Shepherd is a dog that can turn its paw to any task. However, as to the topic of the thread, I too would like to road test a Brittany

Coprophagia is also a learned behaviour..... usually from Mum. In this case the habit is very hard to break & nothing, including Thrive D or pineapples, juiced or crushed, will stop it. Incidentally, the idea of adding pineapple is not to give the faeces a horrible taste but to add potassium to the diet, as it is widely held coprophagic dogs are lacking in this element. If the dog is failing to do well on its diet & is always hungry, there may be an enzymatic insufficiency. This can be tested by your vet (used to be done quickly using X-ray film! ). In this case Thrive D may help as part of the treatment plan as it helps the dog get more nutrition from its food.

Brisket bones are good for fattening dogs! I would also go with carcases or even roo tail as this keeps them happy for ages.

My GSDx was bitten by a snake 2 weeks ago. I suspect it was a brown. I got him to the vet within 20 minutes of being bitten & he was immediately put on fluids, & given an antihistamine & steroid injection. Within an hour he was showing signs of being envenomated so anti-venom was administered. He remained hospitalised overnight & came home next morning with antibiotics in case of infection. The total cost was just under $1200. Vitamin C is an old wives tale. Snakes do not inject venom everytime they bite, 3 out of 4 bites may be "dry" bites..... I think this is where the Vitamin C story has originated. Browns have short fangs (3mm) & inject venom through holes in their fangs, the bites are painful & affect the nerves. Tigers have a sac of venom on the roof of the mouth & when they bite the sac is compressed, venom is released & permeates the punctures caused by the fangs. In my experience, Tigers will often warn by lunging & slapping against your leg & do not attempt to bite the first time! I m told the bite of a Tiger is not as painful as a Brown.... & can even go unnoticed until the victim starts to feel "drunk". I hope your puppies pull through, jeddica, but please everyone head straight to the vet if snake bite is suspected or if your dog is acting strangely. Early treatment can save lives, particularly where initial symptoms may pass...... they can reappear up to 6 hours later when it is probably too late!

Your puppy is doing very well! On the occasion when she chases a chook, you must reinforce the chooks are part of the pack & are "yours" & under no circumstances are to be chased. A behaviourist friend of mine has actually trained a cat-killing JRT to live harmoniuosly with two cats & free range chooks. She also knows to leave lizards & snakes alone, but is allowed to hunt & catch rabbits. One of the cats is particuarly cheeky & tries to make eye contact with the JRT & sits very close to her..... so she turns her head away from him & pretends he is not there!

Many years ago I had a Kelpie/BC girl who was hypothyroid. She was started on Thyroxine, but following a series of visits to a homoeopath who "hit" upon her constitutional remedy, we were able to phase it out. From time to time she would become itchy but once I knew what to give her, the scratching would subside.

Make sure to practise heaps of handwashing after handling animals too, Alyssa!

There is heaps of information on this topic if you do a search on this forum. As usual, I will caution against overdosing on fish oil!

Potatoes are the same family as tomatoes...... & deadly nightshade! This is why ingesting considerable amounts results in poisoning. I would also keep the fire wood away from puppies/dogs, most dogs enjoy chomping on wood & sticks, & some end up at the vet surgery with splinters embedded in their mouth parts & digestive tract!

As someone above has posted, please exercise caution when adminstering fish oils every day. My homoeopathic vet advised me to use flax seed oil as a daily supplement & NOT fish oils due to the danger of overdosing on Vitamin A. My kelpie who has pemphigus (akin to lupus) is the only one to have a daily supplement. The others just get sardines or mackeral twice per week.

Charlie will be missed at the Common, Alix, but he has bigger fields to romp in now. Sincere wishes of sympathy are winging their way to yourself & John from both of us here across town.

Where dogs are coprophagic it is recommended to worm every SIX weeks for YOUR safety. Droncit can be used at the six week interval, but it is more expensive than the Troy Allwormer, so this is my vet's drug of choice.

Kirislin, DOL Just Andrea has had giardia through her dogs & is still trying to eliminate it. Why not PM her for more info?

Forgot to mention Thrive D is a product that is advocated for coprophagia.... but it didn't work for me, LOL!

No, the pineapple theory is that the dog is lacking in Potassium. If the dog has an enzymatic deficiency & is always hungry or looking for particular nutrients this can easily be tested at the vets, however with most coprophagic dogs it is a learned behaviour.... usually from their dam. I have a BSD who is coprohagic... her mother also was fond of the habit, as was another litter mate.

I can now answer that, and yes she is. Had our first session today, both dogs are now sleeping away. It was The Mitchell Method that was used. Will have another session in about a week. I am also starting her on Green Lip Muscle extract as per Bowen Therapist's advice ;) Bowen has that effect on me too....promotes deep, relaxing sleep :rolleyes:

Brisket bones are also good for putting weight on a dog.... but varicool is right, once she is wormed & on good tucker she will gain weight quickly... & there is nothing worse, IMO, than a fat lab!!

I have no idea, what does that mean? Saturday will be our first session.... She is very highly regarded though. There are various versions of Bowen, but Bowtech is closest to the original technique devised by Tom Bowen. The small animal branch of Bowtech is known as CCmrt (Cat & Canine Muscle Release Therapy).

My bet is, a couple of sessions of Bowen & you won't need a chiropractor Is your Bowen therapist Bowtech trained?

Yes, peibe, you are right. My kelpie has a similar nose.... he has pemphigus which is akin to lupus or psoriasis in humans. The nose is often referred to as "collie nose" as collies have a predisposition to lupus & it is more common in this breed. Ringer is affected in various parts of the body when he is at his worst, but basically all margins where mucous membranes meet skin with hair are affected, including nose, eyelids, lips, sheath, anus & under his nails, the latter causing lameness. We consult with a homoeopathic vet as well as maintaining a low dose of cortico-steroids, but the up & down nature of this condition is very vexing. I have used Neocort ointment in the past to relieve the nose, but the amount of steroids being ingested began to worry me. I am now trying calendula cream & massage it in for several minutes to try & get good absorption. I am wondering, however, if I might be better off using calendula oil? I too have tried paw paw ointment but did not get good results.