Rottifan

great idea for a cheaper ramp. I went to Repco and got a motorbike ramp which was more than half the price of the "pet" ramps. i knew it would take my rotti's weight and it is 6ft aluminium that folds in half, light weight and easy to fit in the car upright in front of the passenger seat of alongside the rear of my xtrail. It has aluminium flat steps which you would roll a motorcycle up on but I just covered it in carpet and he loves it! Also for bedding, something flat on the ground, definitely no hanging hesian beds which cause a lot of problems the more they sag as your older dog tries to get out of them in a hurry for any reason. Now for the formula to make them live forever....!

Good to hear of the results on Pernease powder. I have just started giving my nearly 11 yr old rotti fish oil and glucosamine tablets. I tried Sasha's blend years ago but like others didnt see a result. I have been keeping my boy walking like a puppy with regular visits from my mobile animal chiropractor but would like to start trying a supplement again for added help - will give it a go, thanks all!

Quite the opposite with my boy. My animal chiropractor found that my boy had a nerve pinched at the base of his skull. This was affecting his reach and shoulder movement. Perhaps something that happened when he walked into a glass door or hit his head some other way but it affected his movement and therefore could not build or hold muscle due to his limited movement to avoid pain. Keep an open mind, learning never stops!

I love the stuff, for me and my dog! I find it soaks in ok, not the most desirable finish on the coat and can attract stickiness however I care less about what his coat looks/feels like if it helps his movement and makes him more comfortable, when they are old that is most important. Give it a go!! Definitely not a solution for comfort on its own but my animal chiropractor uses it in conjunction with his treatments and I keep it on hand. Good luck - oh and it smells nice!!

Why do dogs lose muscle tone? If you were going to the gym to build muscle yourself and you only did half of the exercise would it work....No! The highly likely reason why is that your dog is out of alignment and has pinched nerves as a result. They can be out of alignment from birth (eg mum stepping on them in the litter or being dropped) or from later in life (slippery floors, rough play, running fencelines, stairs etc). They live with the pain, since their pain threshold is higher than ours, until later in life when something triggers off the pain and it becomes too much for them. We dont notice symptoms until it becomes obvious and we notice our dog is lame BUT for years preceding this point the dog changes the way they walk so they dont experience pain. They might do this by taking slightly shorter steps with their front legs or not driving back as far with their rear legs. By not stretching out and walking with full length steps (because if they do when they have pinched nerves they experience referral pain down limbs/muscle spasm) they will lose muscle tone. Get your dog adjusted by a good animal chiropractor and once in alignment and able to walk properly again your dog will tone muscles back up and toned muscles holds bones in place thus stopping the problem from reoccuring. While your dog is out of alignment and you are exercising him/her you are toning muscles to hold him/her out of alignment. More information is at www.######.com - I am one of the very lucky ones to have this man save my dog - best of luck!

I use the Brighton Vet at North Road who are very very good with their service and level of expertise...might not be the cheapest but great if you want a second opinion etc (ph: 07 32692223). I have heard people rave about Simon the 3rd avenue vet at Sandgate close by and heard his pricing is very very reasonable and he has a good reputation (0ph: 07 3869 3347). Once again probably miles from where you are but worth a talk to on the phone at least! VSS, although a specialist surgery on the Southside is amazing if you ever need, especially Terry King

So sad, I guess people may intentially surrender dogs when faced with health issues they cant afford too...my boy was 7 when diagnosed (elbows) after xrays etc, unfortunately they said they couldnt operate, he got severely lame very quickly and pain killers didnt do a great deal. I was told all I could do was manage his pain and look for a vet that did acupuncture for pain relief. In doing so i found an animal chiropractor - i was willing to try anything. After being adjusted a number of times all symptoms of lameness disappeared. My boy is nearly 11 and has walked like a puppy ever since and been on no medication/supplements and a very happy boy. There is no doubt at all that he has these issues as the xrays/tests proved this for the vets but I proved that his symptoms were not associated with this, he had pinched nerves and was out of alignment. Definitely something I cannot suggest strongly enough for everyone to try, I've been very very lucky!

Fantastic, well done Chloe. Just the feeling of medication being levelled out with a Cushings dog is a relief so can only imagine how happy you are! All fingers and toes firmly crossed for the stabilisation to remain with you!

Dont EVER stop getting second opinions. Every person that you see (whether they have a heap of letters after their name or not) have different experiences with different conditions I have found. My dogs been to many vets, vet specialists, vet chiropractors and other animal chiropractors. He was diagnosed with severe elbow and hip displaysia at the age of 7 - something that I now know vets should have been able to tell by looking at him at a younger age when I had made enquiries due to the amount of muscle wastage he has. When he was severely lame and on pain killers at 7yrs of age (which kept wearing off and symptoms returning) I sought an opinion outside of the vet world and looked to chiropractors. I know that he has these conditions, the same as your dog, HOWEVER the chiropractor I went to that I got the best results from, after a few treatments got him walking like a puppy again. He just turned 10 and a half and has been on NO supplements / pain killers since the age of 7 and is doing superbly. He is a bad case - 2 different specialist centres diagnosed him as being unable to be operated on, no joint replacement or fusing/scraping possible due to how bad he was. The symptoms I now know were not being caused by the displaysia but by pinched nerves in his back and the referral pain caused by this. Nerves properly released and symptoms have disappeare and stayed away and his muscle has now rebuilt. My vet now also refers people to the mobile animal chiropractor I use. Having a mobile chiro - especially if your dog has muscle wastage, also sees more benefits with not bundling your dog in and out of the car or sitting in stop start traffic which can undo the work of the treatment because with muscle wastage it doesnt take much for them to go back out of alignment again at the start. Best of luck but please dont stop looking elsewhere to ensure you get the best results in all aspects of your dogs life, I did and I cant be happier!

My rotti is now ten and a half. I had no luck with any supplements or injections years ago and recently as well. I see an animal chiropractor regularly and once your dog has its pinched nerves released and it is in alignment its amazing how the symptoms that are attributed to "arthritis" seem to disappear! Worth a try

Try "cepacol" human mouthwash from the chemist, spray in mouth aimed at back of throat a few times a day for a week - works wonders!!!

I have a pair of sharp nail cutters and take the one amount off with a very fast clean action rather than clipping regularly and causing the dog issues from struggling or getting distressed over it. Condies crystals will stop the bleeding instantly, pinch it like salt and put on the nail after shaking off any drops of blood and all good! Dogs live in the moment - if it is quick and over with they will not be as distressed or upset over the whole ordeal than if they are restrained and tackled weekly, if that makes sense. I say this with the thought in mind that if the dogs nails are extremely long A LOT OF THE TIME the quik is that long that even if you take a little bit off, the nails will bleed. I've seen nails that long that it causes the dog walking difficulties if they are left like that and these old dogs end up lame and their lives are ended sooner than they should be as a result, it is most important to sort out the issue as soon as you can. If you are lucky enough to have the dog with white/clear nails and the quik has not grown right down then sure take little bit by little bit off! Ownership of anything comes with individual discretion and common sense, and without seeing the nails it is hard to say the best way to go. Dont relate everything about your dog to being like a human experience and life will be a lot easier for you - remember they live in the moment and then life goes on.....but the less struggling the better! Or see a good animal chiropractor afterwards to release pinched nerves. Old dogs need to be treated a lot differently

Yes - the dogs at the airport have regular "training runs" or "stims" set up as a part of operational runs. This is done for the dogs intent to remain at a high level (since yes they work for praise as they independently search or follow different search commands mid deployment BUT ultimately their intent is more driven by their play toy upon successful detection). The training runs are also set up to negate any identified issues, eg search becoming poor late in the run, not switching on early in a search, not searching "high" very well, losing independence, or losing focus to the scent upon detection etc. Never a perfect dog and always an issue to fix or improve. Its a great job and methodologies are always changing...and operational deployments must as well with the intelligence received from around the world of seizure trends. Exceptional dogs but they are bred for same so to be expected that most pass courses now

eh where did you hear that? Gotta love second hand information Steve does a lot of work with customs as well as TV dogs. I have met his dogs and a friend trusts him with her own home bred dogs. I think the OP should go have a look around first before listening to rumours, the governments trust steve with training their dogs and even handlers so I dont see why anyone else shouldnt. He thoroughly understands motivation, reward and getting the best out of a dog. Make that that he does a lot of work with QUARANTINE not CUSTOMS - many dont know the difference. Quarantine, beagles and now labradors = search for food/feathers/animal products..... Customs, labradors only = search for narcotices or firearms/explosives....all training done in house!

My approach would be (because i've been there and done the anti-inflamatories and vet visits and cartrophen and supplements etc) to see an animal chiropractor first. If the dog is out of alignment and has pinched nerves, no amount of medication or rest or anything will help until those pinched nerves are released. The pain will immediately subside and so results (if you see a good animal chiro) will be instant and you'll know if you're on the right track. 3 or 4 visits and job done....BUT the home environment/activities (which most likely caused the problem in the first place) must be identified and changes made so the issue does not reoccur. Eg, slippery floors, use of stairs, running the fence line, jumping or rough play....if a dog is out of alignment with muscle wastage these things will cause a dog to go back out very easily - make the changes, keep the dog in alignment for a period of time with gentle controlled excercise and muscles will build back up to hold bones in place. It is a process but its better than having operations and having your dog still limp because nothing has been done to address pinched nerves. I wish I'd known, would have saved me thousands!!! Oh and adrenalin, yes will allow any dog to push through the pain barrier....and then limp afterwards, thats when secondary issues come into it like doing a cruciate ligament because they extend further than their body wants to allow them with pinched nerves and muscle spasm and something has to give, ouch! Think it through carefully.....

I dont believe anyone should contemplate taking the word of just one vet and making "that" decision based on one opinion. Make sure you follow up and spend the money to take your dog elsewhere to ensure the diagnosis is correct. I know of a few people who have been told that their dog had 'suspected meningitis'. They found out this was not the case and I would hate for you to lose your little one if not necessary. There is a testimonial at:http://www.######.com/testimonials_2_24.html which is of a standard poodle "Beau" that was given this diagnosis and went on to live and find out it was incorrect and was healed through chiropractic treatments. Stay positive and one day at a time!

Is George Schofield still around? I know that he was getting on in years but he is/was the best of the best

Definitely see an animal chirorpactor - drugs wont fix the problem because you are not addressing the cause of it! If you keep walking your dog whilst out of alignment you are toning muscle to hold your dog out of alignment and worsening the problem. I use a great mobile animal chiropractor who doesnt cost much more than travelling to a clinic and then having to pay for drugs/injections which the mobile guy doesnt promote because he gets results above and beyond all that I've seen from anywhere else that I've gone with my dog. Best of luck - a dog in alignment with all pinched nerves released can also avoid the need for cruciate ligament surgery ......if you get the mobile chiro he can advise you on what to change in your dogs home environment which is normally the cause of the problems in the first place. Good luck

From what you have said I believe your precious one has pinched nerves in her back. You have already identified that her composition ("look") is not normal as well as her behaviour (tail issues, crouching, yelping). With a night of rest perhaps some of the inflamation associated with this reduced and therefore some of her movement returned (to jump into your car on her own). Also the other thing is that when they are "off to go in the car", or "off for a walk" their adrenalin will kick in and allow them to push through the pain barrier, so this may have helped her jump into your car whereas she couldnt jump onto the bed. A vet will normally suggest xrays - xrays will not show nerves. My dog had the same issues which fast turned into not being able to move pretty much at all. The vet xrayed, did blood tests and put him on 3 lots of pain killers/anti-inflams. This all did nothing to address the cause of the problem but just reconfirmed that my boy has elbow and hip displaysia, bad arthritis and terrible joints all round (he was 7 at that time). I then tried acupuncture and swimming, no good. I then stumbled across a good animal chiropractor. After a few visits and instant improvement I weaned him off the heavy drugs he was on and he just turned 10 and has walked perfectly since, no operation, no drugs. There is no doubt my boy has bad joints/hips/elbows however this was clearly not what was causing him to limp and become very lame, but it was pinched nerves. This was proven because once those nerves were released by the chiro and he was kept in alignment (I changed his home environment to make sure what caused the problems were eliminated eg. carpet runners down on tiles where he walks, ramp over stairs etc) the problem has not returned and he has built his once wasted away muscles back up again with swimming once in alignment. The vet said operations and euthanasia were the only option, not the case so please think outside the square! I wouldnt bother in the future to get vet advice first but would get a chiropractor to ensure my dog is in alignment, nothing to lose and a cheaper option to eliminate - besides when in alignment the dogs immune system is up and running the best it can be. Good luck!

See an animal chiro! They arent all born with problems therefore its specific to that dog and the dogs that it does happen to. Pinched nerves, out of alignment, means they change the way they walk due to pain, end up with muscle wastage and their front feet turn east west (facing outwards). If you see a good chiro, nerves are released, dog is put in alignment and no operation needed! Been there done that

Apply for the general entry positions for AFP, Queensland Police Service, Australian Customs Service, Australian Quarantine Service and the like. After being in the organisation for a couple of years (and you can help out the dog unit during that time while you perform general duties) then you will be in a better position to apply for a dog handler/trainer job. Mostly these jobs are advertised internally so this is the only way. Whether advertised internally or externally the dog training and animal handling courses mean NOTHING in the organisation. Its about using the dog as a tool to detect whatever the organisation is training them to find. Pretty hard to source the target odours to train a drug dog etc in the private industry unless you can get large quantities of cocaine, heroine, ice, speed, cannabis, ecstacy etc to actually train the dog to associate the food/play reward with and then train them to find same in the environment that the dog will be deployed in. Good luck, it is great fun when you get the job!

Dont let them do it!! Shoulders can go out of alignment if they slip when they jump down, not so bad if they jump down onto carpet rather than wood floors/tiles but regardless you may not notice your dog "out" in the shoulders, they will just start taking shorter steps with their front legs because it will cause them pain to walk full stretch. Adrenalin will see them run around and play just fine but after years of taking shorter steps, they will end up with muscle wastage and endless problems with pinched nerves. Save the cost and pain and find an alternative!

Words will never help you feel better, only time will give you some peace that your beautiful one is not suffering and is at peace, definitely watching over you. If only they could live forever, be so so so proud of being the one that allowed her such a long loved life that many dogs can only dream of being afforded the chance to enjoy. Many a dog would wish you were there owner. The hardest decisions is the kindest one we can make and I am sure they all know that....try to only remember the special happy times

quote] She's able to get up on her own, but she can't walk too well. Her appetite seems to have dropped a bit too. I'm having problems getting her to eat her food with the joint powder mixed in. 5 teaspoons just seems way too much. So it's still not good news at the moment. I just have a feeling there's other problems yet to be found. Taking her to and from the vet practice is now a problem too. Getting her in and out of a 4x4 isn't easy. Putting her in the back of the canopy is now not an option in her condition. Getting her through the rear doors and into the A/C cabin isn't easy. I dropped her twice trying to squeeze her through the door. So i'm off to the coast tomorrow to look at buying a 2nd car that will be more suitable for the dogs. So sorry to hear of the bad news from your xray results. Your experience that you outlined above (with getting your big one to and from appointments) is exactly what made me use the mobile animal chiro. My boy got much better results in his home environment where he could relax immediately after a treatment and not sit in the traffic in stop start mode, or having me drop him or even just pick him up the wrong way with his muscle wastage - and it will only undo the treatment you've just paid for....no point throwing your money away! For the mobile chiro it is the same price as I got quoted from AO and I dont have to leave the comfort of my home and if I have an urgent need he responds quickly and puts other appointments off if my boy has fallen down stairs or done something silly and taken a backward step with his progress! I got great results, walking immediately after being paralysed, no supplements, no medication at all. As long as you keep your beautiful one comfortable and happy thats the best that we can all do for as long as possible and thats more than many animals could ever dream of being afforded the opportunity to experience. Best of luck and please think about making your life and your dogs easier and getting better results having someone come to your home to treat her - it is so much less stressful and great seeing them walk over and curl up in their bed in the loungeroom happy straight away.

Best of luck with your decision, it is not easy. My friend had a rotti that went through 2 lots of chemo, a different type of cancer. The first round he coped really really well and had no really bad side affects, the second I would not put them through because he didnt cope and I think it contributed to his death a short time after that. The specialist that he was seeing was fantastic and I've seen him with my own dog. I would highly highly recommend trying to get in to see him "Terry King" at VSS on the south side of Brissy. Best of luck, never hurts to get a second opinion, well worth it!