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I did the switch too, based on recommendations here and the $$ factor, $31 for 22kgs for GB/UA vs $53 for 18kgs of Supercoat. Initally both dogs were doing great on it, looked good, had energy and poos were good. But they have slowly gone off it, like your dogs have. The only one that they will eat is GB and that is with a tin of Sardines mixed in. My parents Lab othe other hand LOVES it and has never looked better. I am now trying to decide whether I will stick with it, or try something else like Optimum. I may even look at going back to SuperCoat, if I do, it shall be interesting, as my Rottys FAD has settled right down, but I did change flea regimes at the same time. I ran out the other day, and so did the distributor not happy!! I ended up with a bag of Pedigree Natural, the dogs LOVE it, they scoff the stuff, not too sure if I will stick with it though... Will see what happens

Your quote Where did I say that? AKA Supercoat. Or were you referring to all the other drys and NOT Supercoat? No, only anecdotal evidence like yourself which suggests that dogs live long healthy lives fed on wild game such as rabbits. But then I didn't go making any unproven claims the way you did. Why do I need evidence? Yes I did say all that, and you seem intent on reading something into it that isn't there. As others have commented on and pointed out... It was a question aimed at barf feeders OR Raw feeders OR these so called food nazi's. I was putting it out there for those who are so committed to their chosed diets... I have yet to see what is so confusing about this statement It was a statement referring to Supermarket Kibble or non-premium kibble. No where did I mention nor imply a specific brand, you are the one who seems hell bent on bringing up brands. As for unproven claims, am I not allowed to comment about dogs that I have come across in my life? Ones that have not beed fed anything other than the dredded supermarket foods, yet live long happy lives. At the end of the day Ellz seems to be one who is speaking a lot of sense, feed what you want, and I'll feed what I want. I just think it is wrong that when a valid harmless question gets asked, which may challenge the opinions of some, they take it on themselves to pick it apart and insist on taking this thread OT, without offering any vaild response. Unless some valid discussion arises from my question, then I shall be the better person and leave it for now. Sorry all for the tripe that has errupted as a result of my question. Same here Rain..

I was not implying that BARF or RAW feeders are food nazis (although some do have that appearance...) it was a question to those who feed raw / barf and to the food nazis, ie. Those people who say "xxxx brand is crap, you should be feeding Barf/Raw/Premium Kibble/insert food here. Where did I say that? Observations, and REAL LIFE experience mate, personally knowing dogs, both farming and otherwise living into their teens and hardly seeing the inside of vet clinic (except for routine vaccinations, the odd snake bite etc..) sorry I don't have some fancy piece of paper to satisfy your scientific needs. But sometimes real life just likes to thumb its nose at all those theorists out there. I ask you, have you any evidence to suggest otherwise?

I have had dogs since I was a kid, and they have all been on supermarket foods, ranging from Chum, to Pal even at times HomeBrand... I agree tinned food is crap, mainly water and jelly... but dry foods are a different story. Supercoat has been popular in our family and with our dogs since we started it many years ago on our Fox Terrier cross. Since fleeing the nest, I have fed all my dogs on it. All with NO adverse effects. The ONLY reason I switched to AB & UA recently was the cost, although I will admit, my Rottys FAD appears to be much better since the switch (but that could also be co-incidental with a change in Flea Regimes). Both my Rotty and GSD prefer the GB over the AB, but they still don't seemed to be overly fussed on it. When I went to get a bag yesterday, the store was sold out so I hunted through the options and almost went for the SuperCoat again, but decided to give Pedegree Natural ago. Both dogs SCOFF the stuff, will be interesting to see the rear end results... Yet, I have a mate who feeds his Kelpies on the Aldi sold kibble and canned food. Both are beautiful, healthy dogs, full of energy and no adverse poo's etc... I admit that when I am looking for a dog food, I do read the ingredients, but that is only to find a food that does not start with a Cereal or Grain as the primary ingredient. One question for all the BARF or RAW or so called Food Nazis... If the dogs are so much better off on the above diets and Supermarket or non-premium kibbles are pretty much crap, why then are there soooo many dogs out there, on farms, in backyards, on tradies utes etc who live LONG healthy lives on this stuff?? And not to mention all the other "left overs" they get fed?

http://www.cairns.com.au/article/2010/01/1...local-news.html The question I have, is what sort of person waits two days before calling in authorities? Seriously, watching someone laying into their dog with metal poles, then waiting until then next morning when there is more abuse before acting is not right at all... But the upside is, he did speak up and the dog is safe now. Lets just hope they catch the mongrel....

45 - 50kg for a GSD is this an example of an over size GSD? I would expect that from my Rottie at full maturity, but thankfully my GSD is only about 32kg... and i dont expect her to get much heavier... At the end of the day, size is not that much of an issue, it is shape and condition that matters. I follow these points for both dogs: 1) Cannot see ribs 2) Can feel the ribs with a small layer of fat 3) Belly is not round 4) Has a nice waist line (ie not sunken nor missing...)

Just an update, Gilly is showing good signs of improvement, his back had quite a lot more fur on it now to the point you can hardly see where the FAD was. His tail has also improved, with all but one section now with fur. We tried to wean him off the tabs, but he was back at it again, and his tail got quite nasty... so back on to them. The biggest problem we have, is not only the FAD, but environmental allergies in general. Trying to identify what sets him off is almost impossible...

Given that Advantix is pretty much Advatage with tick protection, they should perform equally as well for fleas?

Fran, I ordered the Permoxin from Vet n Pet direct, fast delivery... I am looking for a anti-flea treatment that kills before the flea bites, is there such a beast? Gilly has a real bad allergy to flea bites, so if there is something that I can use it would be great. I am looking at Sentinel and Revolution... Comfortis is on the list cause the vet mentioned it,,,

Thanks heaps for the tips people.... I am confident that he is taking it with his food, the way he eats I should have named him Hoover not Gilly.... LOL He is really great at taking tablets, so it is good to know that as long as he has food in his belly it should be okay. He was doing well on them, and we saw a massive improvement, the vet said that at this stage we could stop. It only took a few days and he was soooo inflamed, poor thing. Looks like he might be on them all summer. Although I have been put onto a Holistic Pet meds place that say they can help, might give them ago, they came highly recommended by the breeder. As for the water, we have two clam shells full that get changed daily...

Thanks Clyde, I have been rinsing him in Permoxin, as well as the daily sprays. Up until today he was showing real signs of improvement. However today for some odd reason he has attacked his tail again, this time it is looking quite nasty... If there is no sign of improvment we will be back to the vet on Monday... Maybe I stopped the Prednisolone too soon... My intention will be fornightly dosing with the top spot, but I am concerned mainly with what to do in the mean time... Revolution sounds okay, water proof within two hours etc...

Hi all, My Rotty has been put on Prednisolone to help settle his FAD (it is quite bad). The question I have, (and should have asked) is how should I give it to him. At this moment, I have been putting the tablet in his food. But I was wondering should I just give it on its own? He is good with taking tabs so this is no issue for me. Or doesn't it really matter?

My Rottie has FAD, at the moment we are washing him twice weekly in Maleseb (until it all settles), and treating him with Permoxin and Advantage. We applied Advantage but less than a week later we picked a number of fleas off him. Firstly I gave him a Capstar, then started to question the effectivness of a topical treatment when we are using such an intensive washing regime, especially since it relies on skin oils... So this led me to look at alternatives, Sentinel Spectrum seemed the logical choice, but a vet recommended Revolution. What do fellow dolers think? Once his FAD has settled, and we are back into a normal wash routine, we will switch back to Advantage / Advantix. I did treat his environment today... But it is now raining, hope this doesn't undo my work.....

Sorry for the typo

Thanks to the advice so far.... Well I went back to my local vet clinic today and saw a different vet, infact the one I did not like was not there, and the treatment I got today was by far the best I have come across, a HUGE improvement over the last person. Turns out I wa right, and my Rotty is Flea Allergic as well as hypo allergenic to other environmental factors..... A big thumbs up to Quinten at the North Nowra Vet clinic, funnily enough, the last two times I had been there, niether Cathy or Quinten saw Gilly.... Although, after the bill, I can clearly see I am in the wrong industry!!!!! :hysterical: FWIW, after speaking direct to a few local pet owners, North Nowra and Bomaderry came up as the top two, with the Kinghorne St vet being next. Hopefully that may help someone down the track.

I have been chatting with some friends since posting this, and the impression I am getting is perhaps it was just the individual vet that I saw. The others in the clinic seem ot have a good reputation

Hi all, I am after reccomendations for a good vet in the Nowra area. I have a 2 Y/O Rotty who seems very Hypo Allergenic, and a 2 Y/O GSD who seems fairly normal. I have been to my local vet just didn't like the vibe I got from them, seemed very commercially oriented, and totally dismissed me when I expressed concerns about my Rotty's reaction to Rimadyl. Thanks in advance Pete

I understand that Supercoat has a lot of cereal fillers in it, but it would also seem that Pro Plan (which quite of few seem to like) also has these fillers? I am looking online at their ingredients, and the Pro Plan Puppy Large Breed and Supercoat Junior seem just as "bad" as each other?

Why do people shy away from Supercoat?? My two have been on it since day one (they are now on Junior) and don't seem to have a problem. (Well i dont think so, my Rotty has a skin issue at the moment, but I am certain that it is FAD...) Also is Great Barko or Uncle Albers okay?

Where has your dog been for 5 months????

At least with the latest dog incident, the media have correctly indentified the animals as x-breeds, and aren't tarring a specific breed. Although "there are calls to ban x-breeds" still a form of BSL though..

Whilst this is a good sign, don't get your hopes up.. We Aussies have to put up with a narrow minded prudish government run by a school boy geek, who thinks we should all live our lives they way he wants. As such they are unlikley to take on such considerations. I honestly think we could jump up and down all we want, but the geek is having his ultimate revenge and we (and common sense) will all suffer as a result.

How did you know?! I worship the man, have a little shrine.....*whispers* Don't tell anyone! Mmm so how many nice Collies did you meet after the one that bit you? Have to be at least one right? See right there.....thats the difference Whats the difference?? You have a bad experience with a Rotty and you hate / have a fear of them. He had a bad experience with a Collie, but chose to get over it and saw the breed for what they are, and not tar them with the same brush simply cause of one deed. If you think it is simply a case of meeting a nice example of the breed and that makes things all better, then I invite you around to meet Gilly, I must warn you though, he is a dangerous dog... he has a tail and a tounge, and is not a fraid to use it! :p You know, the only incident I have ever had with a dog is with a SWF, there was this one that would relentlessly case me on my pushy on my way to school. It would nip at my ankles, bark & yap etc. Smart little thing only appeared on this one section of bike path that was up hill, so riding faster was easier said than done! But no-one gave a damn as it was a SWF. It is the same sort of dogs and owners that give me filthy looks when I walk my Rotty, the SWF drops off line and starts pulling, barking, snarling etc whilst Gilly ignores them. The owner gives me the death stares cause I have a Rotty. I have even had one go as far as having a go at me, for "walking an entire dangerous dog, in his walking area" WTF??? Cause I am new to the area, I need to seek permission? This moron doesn't even know me or my dog, and yes he is entire, but is NOT dangerous. I have 3 young girls, and would not own a dog if there was the slightest sign of agression. Notice I said DOG not BREED. The strange thing is, if I walk my GSD (yes I own two large breeds...) I have no dramas at all with anyone. I have people activley stopping me to pat here and comment on what a beautiful dog she is (I just need to work on her barking...). She could do as much damage as the Rotty... This is a joke, I have had a bad experience with an Aborignial, and if I dare to say something along the lines of what I have read here and other places, I would be branded a racist. But cause I am a reasonable person and can see that it is a case of one person amongst hundreds of thousands, it would be wrong and unfair to blame the majority cause of the actions of a minority. EXACTLY the same principle applies to these dogs, perhaps we should start screaming "BREEDIST" (if there is such a word). I don't see the government introducing race specific legislation to deal with people of difference races who cause problems, so why should they introduce BSL. End Rand....

It is these exact poorly educated views of the breeds that are going to be the death of them. I weigh in at 95kg, and my 1 yo Rotty weighs in at 40Kg, so I guess I had better start stacking on the Kilos to ensure that I can keep walking him hey! IF these breeds are so dangerous, and so uncontrollable, then why is it, that when I walk both my Rotty and my GSD that I have no problems from fellow large breeds?? Why is it that I only have problems with smaller dogs and their owners? Why do the small breed owners look down their nose with contempt at me?? The same owners who have SWF dogs, that are pulling so hard on their leads that their front paws lift off the ground. Is is cause their owners don't see them as a problem cause they are so small? Dunno, but sure has heck, it will be my problem if one of them piss either of my two off to the point of breaking. And dont take that as some sort of admission that I have dangerous dogs or the like (although their tails have a question mark over them). I don't care what species you are or what breed you are, everyone or thing has their breaking point, and the laws of nature will dictate the outcome of that. This is blatantly obvious M2E End of rant Sorry guys just had to get that out, this BSL stuff really gets my back up

Rotties weigh more than their owners?? That is either one VERY under weight Owner or one FAT Rotty. I weigh 94kg, and my wife 65kg (and she is a small woman) if I had a Rotty nudging the 65kg mark, I would be concerned about it. This is one of the biggest misconceptions about these breeds. What hope do we have as Rotty lovers when this is the image they have. Whether due to the media or moron owners. I am not having a go at you Mum to Emma, but I do get frustrated when I hear un-educated comment like this. As for the Rotty getting agitated, with a responsible owner (I know not all are) this should not be a problem. If they have a Rotty that is a bit edgy when they walk, or are a puller, then there are control devices out there that will work to help this. Combined with a bit of attention and time to work at it, it should not be a problem for too long. Just my thoughts