dianed

Straight down the Kings Highway to Batemans Bay, 2 hours traveling at most. Corrigans Beach just south of BB is a smallish dog beach. The best off leash dog beach is the big beach at Broulee. Entrance at McNee Street right around to the airport wind sock at Moruya. One thing to consider is, does your dog get car sick??? the bends on the Clyde Mountain are very twisty. I found out on a recent trip with my dog, she was fine coming down but going up she vomited everywhere.

Two of my 3 GSd,s that lived to 13yo + were both on the solid side, they both had good appetites. The third one was always lean and very fuss food wise,she passed away before here "fatter" sister. I put their longevity down to good genes and living rural. One of my current dogs turns 13 in October, and has always been on the lean side. She is being treated like a queen at present, she sleeps on a heated bed inside. I dont think she would have made it thru this colder winter outside. I think the way a dog and cat for that matter are treated during their life plays some part in living to an older age.

16 is a good age well done

I had a dog once whose face swelled up like that. The vet gave her an injection , next day it was back to normal, they put it down to a bee bite.

I got a bag and the dogs where not overly impressed, still have some left. I hate the smell of it .....it stinks IMO!

How lucky Ray was to spend his final year with you. You can see the love he felt for you in his old shepherd eyes

The dogs and I recently got ringworm from to new 2 kittens. The vet was no more helpful except for diagnosing what I already suspected. Malaseb for the animals and antifungel for me. It took at least a month to clear up completely. In fact I ended up using Malaseb on me as it worked faster!

I think she,s saying "let me in or I,ll eat the bloody door"

Mine go to the loo just before we go to bed, they sleep all night. They wake up when the radio comes on at 6.30. My older one is sleeping in longer these cold mornings. They will not go to bed before us and hover around if we stay up later than normal.

Good on you, you did a good job :p

Hi Monah, it was 2 years ago the other day Carla got pts I still feel I could have done more. I thought I would have her a bit longer but it was not to be. Good news Benson though

That's wonderfully news, I am so happy for both of you

They say cancer or something sinister?? I never really got to know if it was cancer for sure. I was always hoping for an infection of some sort. Apparently an MRI would have given a better picture but that was out of the question in our area. I think the $900 for the needle biopsy would have been better spent on an MRI. I was told later she had what is known as a hot tumor, she didn't feel cold and she wanted to stay outside in the cold July nights. Funny how these things happen to the loving sweet ones isn't it. I decided back then if it happens to another of my animals I would carry on regardless as much as possible, I wouldn't let them suffer but I would give them as much of a normal life as I could in their home environment. Keeping my fingers crossed for you and Benson.

td 2001, Just read your update, good to see Bensen,s weight is holding. Two years ago I lost a 10 yo gsd. She developed a cough and lost a heap of weight. She had an xray and ultra sound and both showed a mass near her heart and lungs. Sounds very similar to your boy. The vet here could not tell me what it was, so I took her to Canberra for a needle biopsy which came back inconclusive. That was a damn waste of time and money IMO. The specialist vet I saw said it was probably cancer and the mass was attached to her heart and lungs. It will be interesting to see what your specialist says. I,m only telling you this because if I had my time over again I would not have had the biopsy, she went down hill very quick after it and I believe it made her worse and shortened my time with her.

There a case not long up that way with a dog chained to concrete blocks and left in the heat. The same inspector was involved, I wonder if the sicko was caught and charged?

It must include cat Products as well, cause for the last few weeks I haven't been able to get the one I use.

What about getting a bale of straw and put that under or over his carpet in the kennel, make it very thick. It has to be wheat/oat straw not pasture hay. It gets very warm and he will sink into it. Later on you can use it for mulch on the garden.

Yes, I wondered about the cold weather,it is a cold winter. I am feeding my older gsd a diet higher in calories than normal. I give her a few satin balls each day, I suppose at her age it doesn't matter and it has helped put a cover over her hips.She is rugged as well if she goes outside and has a heated bed inside. Very pampered!!!!

Hi, I can,t shed any light on why your boy is loosing weight. I can sympathize with you though as I to have a soon to be 13yo and I am trying to keep her weight up. She is a very fussy eater and can loose a few kilos for no reason. Hopefully you will get an answer on Thursday.

Roo meat is very lean, and good for trimming down and also where a low fat diet is needed. In raw feeding, variety is the key. There are so many cuts of meat around to choose from and I feel better fed raw, rather than cooked. I cook it as sometimes my dogs go off raw food, they just refuse to it. In fact they have just gone through such a stage, seeing I can,t refreeze it I cook it and low and behold they eat it. I suppose they like a bit variety!!

Beware of feeding roo meat alone, tails are ok. I found one my gsd,s lost condition really fast when feed it. And there is nothing to stop you cooking the meat up with rice and pasta like another poster said into a stew like meal. Its an easy way to get quantity and not have to prepare each day.

I defiantly would not take an 8 week old growing gsd puppy of dry food if that is what its been used to. I,d would be adding other raw meat as well as chicken necks,you may have to introduce it gradually. They can vomit it back up, one of mine took awhile to get used to raw food. They also love tin sardines in oil. My dogs are feed mainly raw but I always offer dry, some days they eat it other days not. In the meantime do some research. Its a bit more work feeding raw but very easy once you get used to it. If you have a freezer then you can stock up on your trip to town like I do. The first gsd I got many years ago turned out to be only 6 weeks old. She was breed by a registered breeder and I was told she was older. When I got her papers I found out how young she had been, she lived to 13.3.

I know how you feel, I lost my old girl 2 weeks ago .

She looks pretty good for her age, what is her secret ?

Yes I know all about Freemartinism. All m/f twins get sold as 2 yo,s but seeing I form an attachment to the ones I raise she might be an exception. I dont plan on making the same mistake I made with the last one, this one will go back to herd after weaning.