Red Fox

Thanks Rommimum, that's exactly how Kei is -front foot, outside toes only (though only on the one foot). Lol, Kei chooses to sleep in his crate or (more often) in bed with me :D so not from concrete here. But the vet did make a comment that it looks like he's hard on his feet and do we have a lot of concrete at out house? Answer is no, but we do walk for around an hour a day. Although half our walk is on grass or soft ground.

Yes, according to my vet rubbing could be the potential cause. Just want to rule out anything more sinister. I should also mention that it's not bothering him at all, no licking or biting at it, and he doesn't react to having the affected area rubbed or touched by me.

Just wondering if anyone else has experienced this or similar with their dogs, or knows what it could be? Kei has had some thick scaley skin between his toes on one foot for the past couple of months, it's blackish, not swollen or spreading and only on the one foot. We visited our vet today who has done a scraping and also taken some hair to put under the microscope but just received a call to say that the results have shown nothing (no yeast, bacteria, mites, etc.) There is the possibility that it could be an allergy, however seems strange as its only on the one foot. Vet has given us some Canaural Compositum drops to try for a week and I've also been treating it with Malaseb every 2nd to 3rd day for the past fortnight which I will continue to do.

I was always under the impression that when a disease first hits a population (be it animal or human), that it has never been exposed to and therefore has no built up immunity, the reprocussions are often deadly. But then over time the species will build up a resistance to that particular disease and it's effects will become minimal. If this is correct than I guess that is what have would have happened with KC, and while it is somewhat mild now (and by mild I mean that we can deal with it fairly easily unless there is secondary infection) that the first outbreak would have been absolutely horrific Happy to be corrected if I'm wrong though

I use a bit of FuzzYard Organic Paw Balm on Kei's nose when it looks a bit dry. Its worked well for us and smells nice too. Also completely harmless if the dog decides to lick it off http://www.naturalpetstore.com.au/d/FZPB01...-paw-balm-100g/ I wonder if applying some Manuka Honey would help Millies nose? Would be worth a try.

Chicken frames and Chicken carcusses are the same thing ;) The amount of meat on them can vary depending on what 'parts' have been taken from them if that makes sense. Sometimes there will be a fair bit of meat and organs, or the neck will be left on and other times it's mainly bones with a little bit of meat around them (wings, drumsticks, thigh and breast meat is always removed though)

I can't help IggiePiggie but I hope he's okay If it was me I'd be worried, he could be having a bad reaction to the vaccine. Maybe call another vet for a 2nd oppinion.

Yep, Hubby decided to let me sleep in yesterday. He fed the dog breakfast, took him outside to pee and brought him back to bed for a nap before leaving for work. Unfortunately he forgot to wipe Kei's feet before he jumped back in bed with me.... woke up to a bed full of mud sheets in the wash for the 3rd time in a week. You can have a clean house and a dog, but it's a lot of work. I vacuum and mop and dust 4-5 times per week, I need to wash the dogs bedding at least once per week, I wash his Chilly coat sweaters (which he sleeps in) every 2nd day.... I clean up mud constantly ;) Then there's an hour a day of exercise and training -from which we both come home cold and muddy. My dog is inside 90% of the time and he's kept very clean. An outside dog might not dirty your house as much, but it will be so excited to see you when you do come outside that you'll end up covered in mud anyway.

My dog has choked once on a chicken neck when he was a baby puppy. It was only the second or third time I'd fed them and as he'd gulped down the previous small ones whole I decided to try him on a large neck to see if he would chew. Bad move, he swallowed it whole, gagged, I panicked and pulled it out of his throat. I've no idea if he would have got it out by himself, I didn't chance it. After that I fed the necks broken up into small pieces until he finally learnt to chew them. He now had chicken frames/necks/wings on a daily basis with the occasional lamb flap or shank or pork bone. He also gets a large marrow bone to chew on once a week. No problems since

Cooled cammomile tea is also good and soothing too. If it goes on for more than a day take the pup to your vet though. My boy had entropian caused by an ingrown eyelash as a baby puppy. It started of with just a watery eye so it's best to be safe rather than sorry with these things

If there are no other issues (ie, blood, repeated vomit, diarreah etc) and she seems otherwise fine it could just be the grass making her vomit. My dog will occasionally eat grass vomit and then be fine again. Cat does it too....

Couldn't agree more. I was pushed into using a head halter at our first obedience class and I will NEVER use one again. I have never seen my dog so uncomfortable, he went from pulling ahead to rolling on the ground pawing at his face refusing to move, alternating with trying to pull himself out of it by jerking his head around. At the time he was 4 months old. I was also told 'Oh, he'll get used to it.' He didn't, it made him miserable. I was also given no proper instruction on how to use it either, nor on how dangerous they can be which I feel to be very wrong. I ended up buying one of these collars from K9 Force which has been fantastic (and very reasonably priced too ): http://www.k9force.net/index.html?row2col2=mart.html

Hope all went well with picking up your puppy We had a 3 hour drive too. Kei slept 90% of the drive, the only time he woke up was when we stopped to grab some lunch and that was just to 'sniff' He didn't need to pee until we got home.

I find that I'm having to wash Kei less often as he gets older. As a baby puppy he would pee on himself more often than not, lie on top of his bones, dip his ears in his food bowl you name it and I had to bath him at least once per week otherwise he stank. Now he's got better aim and has learnt how to eat without covering himself in food I only bath him once a month and he doesn't smell at all. I was always told that Ridgies were a very clean non smelly breed but for the first few months I thought it was a complete lie

Have to agree with this. I have seen a HUGE difference in the amount that Kei drinks on a raw diet vs dry food. When he first came home he was on dry and would drain his water bowl every day, I was refilling it constantly to keep it fresh and full. As he was changed to raw he gradually began to drink less and less, and now on a full raw diet he drinks very little. I still change his water every day of course to keep it fresh but most of the time he's barely touched it. I also notice that on the rare occasion that I do give dry food in one of his treat toys that the amount he drinks will increase dramatically. So yes, I do think it has a lot to do with diet.

Are the cats only doing their business in certain areas like your garden beds or all over the yard? If it's only specific areas you could try using some sorts of repellent. Citronella is supposed to repell animals (both cats and dogs) but I've also seen some thing with a sensor on it that will spray the cat if it comes within a certain radius of the device. Doesn't hurt them, just scares them off. It would also keep your dog out of the area too. I'll see if I can find a link... There's also those cat sillouettes with the glowing eyes that are supposed to scare cats off. Don't know if they work though? Found it: http://www.absaustralia.com.au/garden-ghost/garden-ghost.htm http://www.absaustralia.com.au/ssscat/ssscat.htm http://www.vetnpetdirect.com.au/product.ph...=103&page=1

If mixing the dry food with things like yogurt, sardines or mince doesn't work then try making a game out of it by putting the food into a toy such as a Kong, treat ball or Tug-a-Jug. Dog's seem to enjoy working for their food, plus it's good mental exercise too eta: If you're mixing mince in with the dry you have to make sure you mix it REALLY well so that the puppy cannot eat the mince and leave the biscuits. This is where the natural yogurt is handy

What types (as in cotton, leather etc.) and length leads people prefer for obedience training. Do you prefer light, heavy, long, short, thick leads, thin leads etc? Just curious

If the whole frame is too big you can just use a meat cleaver to cut it in half or even quarters and feed her a bit eack day Otherwise try chicken wings or thighs. The lamb neck might have been a bit rich and fatty for her if she's never had it before. You might have to introduce the lamb slowly a little bit at a time and see if that solve's the problem. Lamb flaps are good and you can cut them up into smaller pieces and just feed one or 2 ribs at a time. And if the bones look to fatty just cut it off first.

Beef brisket bones? Your dog will be able to consume the whole thing, meat and bone included. Lamb flaps are also good but obviously much fattier eat: Tyra beat me to it

I think its always a good idea to have a crate, even if your dog isn't using it all the time. We upgraded Kei's crate a few months ago but kept the small one in the kitchen/family area, he loves it and still manages to cram himself in there for a nap The new larger one is in our bedroom, he sleeps in it most nights (when he's not in the bed lol) but I no longer worry about closing the door. However, if I have to leave him alone during the day I can put him in his large crate and shut the door and he just falls asleep It's also very handy when I need him out of the way for whatever reason.

Hi RFS, Have you changed her food recently? If so that could be the cause. If not it could be a tummy bug? Try fasting her for a day and then slowly introducing some bland food ie. rice and boiled chicken breast and see if that helps. If it's an ongoing problem you should contact your vet for a check-up

This is interesting as I was discussing it with OH a few nights ago. In the past 6 months he's met 2 people claiming to have APBT puppies. One was at puppy class and the owner who first called his dog a pitbull quickly reverted to Amstaff when questioned. He said his dog, a beautiful red nosed pup, was bought with papers from a breeder. The second person claimed that they had bought their dog as a pitbull (although I never saw it). What neither of us could understand is that if it is an offence to give away, sell, or advertise a prescribed breed than how do people come to own these breeds? Are owners/breeders able to obtain specific liscenses to own one of these breeds or are they all now produced by BYB's? (Appologies if this sound ignorant, but I really don't know ) If you awn an APBT is it registered as such, or do you have it registered/papered (ANKC) as an AmStaff?

Thats EXACTLY what happened with Kei and I did cry. It's getting better -slowly- All obedience clubs are different in what they recommend though. Mine is quite happy for you to use a choker chain and will quickly push a halti at you if your pup is pulling but will under no circumstances allow a pinch collar on any dog. Another club in the area will only allow flat collars to be used. Personally I use a martingale but once Kei picks up a scent no amount of correction will help so for that reason I'd never use a choker on him. I'm not keen on halti's either, I had one pushed on me in our first class and have to say that I'd never use one again. I would definitely consider a pinch collar on an older dog (NOT a puppy) with proper instruction though. I'd say try a martingale like this one: http://www.k9force.net/index.html?row2col2=mart.html and see how you go. High value treats (like the ones Huski suggested) are a very good idea too. Hope that helps

Hi NJSTAFFY Dont feel so bad about getting conned from this 'breeder', Mastiff pups (and of course mastiff x) can look a lot like staffies when they're babies. Especially if you dont know what to look for. He will be a handsome dog no matter what breed he is... and if you don't want him send him over my way Oh and listen to PF and Nekhbet- there are much better foods out there than Supercoat, just depends on your budget.