Crazy Daisy

Tell him he's a trend setter. Very cute photos by the way.

Is there a dog friendly council in Brisbane? I'm originally from Sydney and am shocked at the difference in laws here. When we moved up we were in Ipswich and now (after the amalgamation) in Logan. I don't know areas around Brisbane very well. Which seems to be the best council to own dogs in?

+1 That's a great idea. It may help a lot with removing the scabs and thinning out the undercoat enough to make future bathing and grooming easier.

I have only ever clipped off one Keeshond and he was a rescue dog that had been matted very badly and his skin was infected. I can't remember how old he was but his coat took ages to grow back. If you can I would try a good steel comb and try and get the scabs off using that.

I've always found our Golden retrievers have been great with kids. They are easy care (except for the shedding!), are great at obedience and agility and aren't too hard to get ready for a show if that's what she choose to do. We currently have a nine month old Golden staying with us and even my four year old takes him for a walk. I also suggest taking her to a couple of shows and letting her see what takes her fancy. If she really loves smooth collies maybe you can take her to meet some breeders.

My Shih Tzu Daisy falls asleep while being groomed sometimes too It is hilarious watching her standing perfectly still and then her head drops, then she gets a bit of a lean and then falls over as she falls asleep ;)

If it was me (and I can't afford the public holiday rate today!) I would wait till tomorrow and then go to the vet if it hasn't cleared up. Just keep rinsing it out if it's not worrying him at all. Ruff had gunky eyes a couple of weeks ago when it was really windy, probably just dirt. I just used saline solution for three days and it cleared up fine.

Your dog will have to get used to the dryer as one day you are probably going to want to have him professionally groomed and they WILL use a dryer. With all my dogs I have taken them into my bathroom when I am drying my hair and say "dry, dry, dry" when they come towards me I give them treats. When they seem comfortable with the noise and focussed on me I slowly turn the dryer towards the dog saying "good dry, good dry" giving the dog a treat. My dogs run to the dryer after a bath because they know they get treats when they behave well while being dried.

That's what I use.

If you have any saline solution in the house I would be using that or you could use some cooled boiled water. Dogs do get conjunctivitis, so it could be that. He also could have just got some dirt in it that has irritated him and you need to flush it out. Hope he gets better soon.

Why not? Way before I was a professional groomer I always used our hand held dryer to blow dry our dogs after grooming. Much better than having a wet mess running around the house that ends up in tangles. Not to mention a great way to see down to the dogs skin.

I agree, I use Lawrence brand ones and the only reason I have ever had to get another one was because I left my first one out one day and Ruff chewed the handle

I agree a good slicker and a comb are the best tools. Also it is easier to see to the skin if you use a blow drier. Never wash a lab x poodle with knots!! So I would suggest if your not sure put your dryer on cool and brush against the coat so you can see the skin. Do a patch and then run the comb through and you should be able to get the comb sliding through without catching. Once you can establish what your dog feels like to brush without knots the rest will be easy.

Sorry it wasn't Browns Plains it was Park Ridge (just up the road) Park Ridge Produce. 3688 Mt Lindesay Hwy, Park Ridge, QLD 4125

Bit of an update - Ruff has been on lamb, sweet potato and zucchini for the last six days and his skin hasn't gotten any worse I am going to a show this weekend and there are a few people there who live near me so I am going to ask which vets they go to as I am a bit frustrated with the last ones I've been to. I have also had three huge bills just come in So will have to wait till after easter for another vet trip. I'll keep him on Lamb for a while as he doesn't seem to react on it. Even though I'm not sure what it is, not getting worse is a good sign.

I changed my Shih Tzu and Retriever from Supercoat to Uncle Albers as the retriever needed to put on some weight and I wanted something with a higher fat content. But he doesn't like the uncle Albers I bought a dog roll and have been mixing it in but he doesn't eat very much of the dry food at all. Bit counter productive when I want him to gain weight. I now have this huge bag of food I want to go through. Any suggestions Ellz on what would be a good one to add so he'll like the taste? JettyJet - Don't know where you are in Brisbane but I got Uncle Albers from a pet produce shop at Browns Plains. It was the last bag but they definitely stock it.

I'm sorry your having problems with your girl. I had a Shepherd x Kelpie who broke his back when he was about six months old and the lower half of his spine fused. He ended up with bad arthritis from about 4 and was on lots of pain killers. In the end he would even growl if you walked near him as he was in so much pain and wouldn't play with our other dog or chase a ball. One day he didn't want to go for a walk and I had to make the tough decision that at only 6 he had had enough. I know exactly what your going through. Big hugs from me as I know sometimes you wish they could just tell you when they've had enough.

This is a hard one to answer as my opinion has changed over the last week. He doesn't actually seem itchy to me the more I watch him and I touch him all over and it doesn't seem to phase him at all. He is just getting snappy, but this could have nothing to do with his bad skin, I just want to rule everything out to try and assess exactly what is causing his unpredictable behaviour. I don't really know how to explain his behaviour. He just seems over it all sometimes, but I don't know if it's his skin that is irritating him.. I think I jumped to the conclusion that it was to do with his hair loss. I guess I'm just hoping that if I can work out his problem with his skin then maybe I can take that off his list as a reason for his crankyness. I'm sorry if that's a long winded response to a simple question and probably didn't even answer it. But I'm just a bit confused at the moment

They said because the last tests were done in early January they want to test again. I will go to the consult and see if they can just give me the referral as maybe the derm would want to do tests anyway and maybe even test for different things. Seems silly to test for the same things for a third time even though when I go next week it will be nearly three months ago.

Yay, see you then.

Wow all this beautiful weather we've been having and it has just come over cloudy. Must be a Thursday!!!

Bit frustrated today. I have seen two different vets about his condition, one I was really not happy with at all and won't be going back to and the other was really nice and understanding but... it turns out she's left . Now to get a referral I have to go back and see another vet and have the tests re-done. I can understand that they can't write a referral for a dog they personally haven't seen but it is just a bit of a pain that it will now take longer to get on the waiting list for a specialist. I had a great vet in Sydney but where I live now in Brisbane they seem to change them all the time. Oh well, off to the vet next week again. Also, he doesn't seem to scratch that much. I just assumed the reason he was getting cranky was he was itchy as his skin looks quite raw in some places and thick in others but I spent three hours with him sleeping near me while I did the ironing yesterday and he didn't scratch once. So I have been watching him really closely since yesterday morning and I only saw him bite at his tail once. I went over and couldn't see anything there. Maybe he's not itchy at all? Could it still be an allergy if he's not that itchy? Maybe I need to look at something else that could be causing the bad skin and hair loss?

The last time I bought a frontline spray as it seemed a cheaper option when you have three dogs all different sizes. But I think it may be too harsh for Ruff's sensitive skin, should i put him back on a spot on treatment instead?

I just wanted to say how sorry I am that you have to make such a hard decision. ;) I think what you are doing by fostering kids that need a loving and supportive family is fantastic. One day when my littlies are all grown up I would love to do the same. Children are our future and there are far too many kids out there that need help and not enough resources for them. Keep fostering, you are doing the right thing. Big hugs to you.

Thanks Anne, he has never had anything with roo in it. The only treats I used to use for training were cabanossi and cheese, but I have since stopped this and he hasn't had any treats in about three weeks. I will have a look at our local butcher and see if he sells goat, if not he may be able to tell me who does. Now I haven't used any flea treatment on any of my dogs for the last five weeks (the cat has had advantage but he doesn't have anything to do with Ruff) Can I use something on them as a preventative? Even something natural? I have heard if a dog is allergic to fleas it only has to be bitten once to react. My golden comes with me to show training every Thursday and we have quite a few shows coming up next month and I don't really want to risk him picking something up and bringing it home to Ruff. Maybe I should just treat the other two and leave Ruff?