Skye2

I have just ordered some so will keep you posted on how it goes. My dog is the fussiest eater ever so it will be interesting to see if he eats it. It is expensive at $174 for 4 kg (makes up to 16 kg). If he eats it, it will be worth it as i am sure i throw out just as much.

I have a very fussy eater. Two of my dogs eat anything but my bulldog won't. I feed royal canin with some meat. The only two things he loves are chicken necks and cooked liver (either chicken, lamb or beef). I cook the liver cause he won't eat raw. I cook it in the microwave with water and pour the gravy over the kibble and give him a small amount of liver. I read somewhere he should have liver only once a week. I was wondering if this is correct. He likes lamb hearts also but again only cooked which is a good alternative. My question is what is a safe level of liver to feed and would cooking it destroy the vitamin A content so he doesn't get overloaded with this.

I agree with Karen hedberg or rob zammit. They see a lot of breeders dogs and I know that most breeders with British bulldogs consult either of these two vets. You definitely need to see a bulldog vet when it comes to hips as their hips And bone structure are not really like any other breed. I had a similar situation with my bulldog pup and once I saw a vet that knew the breed things were a whole lot better than what I was first told. Remember bulldogs have the highest hips scores of any breed from memory something in the high 40's. When you have the pup anaethetised for xrays you also need a vet that is experience with the breed. Good luck sorting things out with your pup.

I feed Royal Canin and have done so since my dog was a pup and am very happy with it.

Ali Appollo Armand Bailey x 2 Balou Bandit Banjo Bardigrub Baxter Bear x2 Benny Billy Bing Boxer Brady Brock Brockie Brody Bruce Bud Bundy Caramel Carl Champ Charlie x 3 Chevy Chip Coco Cooper Cowan x 2 Cuba Danny Darcy x 2 Dashx2 Dean Declan Delgado Diablo Diesel Digby Digger Douglas Dumas Dylan Elijah FlashBazil Frank Gandor Greedy Hail Harrison Henry Hudson Ivan Jack Jasper x 2 JayDee Jethro Joshua Judd Juggie Kahn Kasper Kaos Kiba Kei Kisho Kyzer Leroy Lestat Logan Luca Lukas MacKenzie Max x 2 Maxie Merry Milosh Minook Mistral Mr Darcy Nammu Nigel Noah Nova Nudge Nugget Onslow Oz Payton Piikki Porsha Punch Quick Raffy Randy Reeve Riku Riley Ripley Rocks Rove Rover Roy Jones Jnr Rupert Rusty Scout Scratch Shadow Silas Snitch Speed Spencer Spike Sport Spud Sterling Storm Tazz x 2 Tey Dog Thunder Tiger Tirra Tub Tusca Tye Tyson Ulf Wags Walker Watson Weave Willy Zac Zedley Zephyr Zeus

I use Shoo fly cream on their ears. I bought it from the saddlery.

The only way for sure is xray elbows and hips. Hip and elbow dysplasia sometimes are not picked up until the dog is showing signs of arthritis. The other options are to treat her more agressively for arthritis ie cartrophen etc perhaps some swimming instead of walking as it is a non weight bearing exercise. Swimming or hydrotherapy is great for building up muscle and helps keep a good range of movement. Give her a nice soft bed and keep her warm in winter. I think you have to way up the costs of investigations to find the actual cause or just assume it is arthritis and do the usual management. Goodluck with your baby.

Can anyone explain to me what a natural bobtail is. I know the boxer used to have a docked tail and assume that only dogs with tails can be shown now.

I have used my cool collar on my British bulldog and it is great. He doesn't seem to mind wearing it and if you put your hands underneath the collar he is nice and cool. I tried it myself the other night and it is great.

Hi Stonebridge thanks for all the information. Yes I was wondering about health testing as well. Namely hip scoring. I have done a bit of reading on hip scoring. I believe bulldogs have the highest hip scores of all breeds somewhere around 46 according to the AVA website. In saying that there are not a lot of bulldogs that have been hip scored so the statistics won't give a good breed average. Not a lot is ever said about bulldog hips but I am led to believe that they on average are not great. Maybe this is why not a lot of people hip score. I was told by a vet that most bulldogs have a degree of hip dysplasia some obviously worse than others. I would be interested as to what breeders say about xray results although it might be that not a lot of people like to talk about it even though we know that bulldogs have very unusual bone structure. I would be interested to hear opinions of breeders that do hip score to understand a little more about this process and what would you consider a good result that you would to have for breeding stock of course taking into consideration all other aspects of the dog.

Thanks for your replies. My thoughts were it would get worse with age. He has lost a little weight recently but I think could do with another kilo or two off. I think I will follow up on a few vets mention in a previous thread on this issue. Thanks again

Hi I am asking this question for my mum (she is 70) and has a 6 yro Cav. She is getting increasingly concerned with his snoring at night and he seems to wake up panting and breathless. She has to get up with him in the middle of the night and sit with him on the couch until he is okay and then they both go back to bed. After reading peoples posts i was wondering whether it is his palate. She has her local vet and they just seem to fob off her questions so i thought i would ask the DOLers and she what they think. Mum is anxious about consulting another vet but i suggested maybe another vet might feel a bit more confident about looking at his palate. She lives in Bowral. She is a pensioner and can't drive but i said that I am happy to take her and the dog to an appropriate vet that is experienced with this. I usually see Rob Zammit and thought about asking him when next I am there. Is soft palate surgery usually a day only procedure (she would hate that he would have to stay in overnight)? What does surgery involve? Is it similar to a human tonsillectomy? Any ideas of the costs? (approximate of course). If nothing is done is the dog likely to get worse as he gets older? Thanks in advance for any info especially any Cav people

I like some of the states or cities names such as Denver, Texas, Colorado,Vegas, Miami. If you had Vegas you could use a gambling theme for other pets such as Deal, Dice, Gambler. I love to think of themes for pet names.

Definately swimming. It will increase muscle tone but is low impact. The best is an underwater treadmill. I believe there is one in Melbourne and they have a hydrotherapy pool and physio's as well. A hydrotherapy pool is better than swimming in cold water as the warm water increases blood flow. I have been swimming my dog in a hydrotherapy pool and his muscle tone has improved immensely as has his range of motion. I started out on the underwater treadmill to give him water cofidence, he really enjoyed it.

I have just purchased a dehydrator and was wondering if anyone has any tips for successful treats. How thin do you usually slice the liver? How long do you leave it in the dehydrator.? Do the treats store ok? I have tried using the oven before but treats never seem dried out enough and go off very quickly.

www.aussiepet.com.au has Joint Gaurd for $65 for 400g and $118.95 for 750g. It is about $5 cheaper there. They usually deliver within 3 days.

I have had two really good experiences over recent weeks with some really nice and helpful people with my pup and just wanted to post for people who need these kind of services for their dogs. Firstly, Sydney animal physiotherapy- we have had two visits and very good experiences. My goal was to give my dog confidence in water and help assist to get him to swim (he is a bulldog- not know for their swimming ability). I had tried swimming him with a vest in a local dog pool but he panicked. At Sydney physio he used the underwater treadmill and he really enjoyed it and was getting confident in the water. I have since taken him to Berrima boarding kennels to their hydrotherapy pool. They gave him an assisted swim and he was great he managed 8 laps of the pool. It was so great to see. Trish and her assistant naomi were very encouraging to him and made it such a positive experience. The pool was lovely and warm which is great therapeutically. I am very pleased with both services and any one that requires assistance with their dogs should look into these services. Now I feel we are going forward and have achieved something great for the future wellbeing of my dog.

Have you looked into stem cell therapy I know it costs a lot. There is a talk at erskine park in the next week or so. Dogs nsw can give you more info. Have you tried accupuncture as well. I take my dog to Sydney physiotherapy where does underwater treadmill. Christine can give you some different ideas as well such as exercises to increase range of movement, massage, accupucture. I also give monthly cartrophen injections.

I feed royal canin but my pup went through a fussy stage and loved the ziwipeak dry. I feed it as treats now. The other night I forgot to defrost some meat for them and opened a tin of ziwipeak, boy they went nuts for it. I just had it as a sample but I will buy in a couple of tins for emergencies. I live in Sydney I got that at leichardt. But I have seen it on quite a few doggie websites.

I feed fruit regularly. I give apples (sliced up), banana, strawberries and mandarin. They love fruit and we haven't had any problems but probably don't feed as much as you do. They just had a banana tonight after their dinner.

Hi Erin Where do you get the green lipped mussels from? Off topic, thanks for your help with the nails clippers a month or so back. They are going great and clip the dogs nails every saturday morning, with liver treats of course. All three dogs now have beautiful nails. Sheer magic clippers are great!!!

Great thanks for that I will check the site out.

Hi I wanted to try some dried green lipped muscles for a supplement for my dog. I was wondering if anyone uses them, does your dog like them and where do you buy them from (online). I tried the Fish for Dogs treat and my dog loves them although they are very expensive but I wanted the muscles for the glucosamine component as opposed to the omega content. Any thoughts would be appreciated Aussie Dogs

Yes you have to get the Manuka honey with the highest UMF as Erny said. It has been proven to kill bacterial infections and is great if you have gastro oesophageal reflux or stomach ulcers. Take 1 teaspoon at night on bread for ulcers as it is better to use a medium that gets it down into the stomach to work. Great stuff. Do a google search there is a heap of information on it.

We had a Minnie foxy diagnosed at 13 years with symptoms of a cough. She was prescribed vetmedin and aldactone and went on to live till she was 18. The vetmedin is great but expensive at the time we paid $150 every 50 days. But it was well worth it. We didn't give her any other supplements. The same she was a very spritely girl for her age.