BCPuppy

I have the sewing machine on a roll! Have some fabric leftovers and can make some coats if there are any cold doggies in need. West Australia preferred please as post takes sooo long to anywhere else from country WA, (have given to my local SAFE) Can make different sizes and resonably adjustable.

Marlin was diagnosed with arthritis a few months ago. She was limping quite badly after any exercise, stiff on getting up. Periodically I had to use anti inflammatory which helped temporarily, but she did not seem to improve. I had her on Rose Hip Vital for several months prior to diagnosis, and she has always had Omega oil daily since a puppy. The specialist advised firstly to get some weight off her, she was around 3kg too much, and up the fish oils. I have kept up the Rose Hip Vital, not sure if it does anything, but cant harm. Have added fresh fish to her diet on a more regular basis, all her treats are now fish based (I make my own). The weight is slowly coming off, I have added Collagen Hydrolysate (beef gelatin), which I take myself for arthritis, She has always been on the lazy side when it comes to exercise, but she was like a dog possessed when we went fishing, so now she swims daily with me flicking a fishing lure (minus hooks) for her to chase! She loves it! She has not limped not for over two months and seems to be much happier in herself. Just my experience.

What wonderful memories you have of the beautiful Ness, my heart cries for you, my Marlin always looked so much like her, she too is a food fanatic, but nowhere near as talented as Lochness. RIP Ness, you touched many hearts and gave much love and happiness.xxx

We all need to be aware of this, please take time to read the petition and sign if you think this is wrong. It is especially hard hitting for areas only serviced by Qantas. I will affect all pets requiring transport for whatever reason, one local I know has hired a car to drive her dog 1300 km to Perth as it was cheaper than the cost of flying with her. http://www.thepetiti...usands-of-pets/

This will be devastating for animals in areas only serviced by Qantas. The WA rescue group SAFE have started a petition please find time to take a look and sign if you agree. It will now be cheaper for me to hire a car and drive the 1300km to Perth if my dog requires any specialist treatment http://www.thepetitionsite.com/385/117/002/tell-qantas-their-freight-hikes-will-kill-thousands-of-pets/

Everyone is paranoid about this, there are many dogs in this town as we are very much a outdoor lifestyle type of place. It is very worrying for the many tourists coming through, hopefully there are enough notices around to keep everyone informed.We have already had many cancellations for the end of month school holidays, so this affects everyone. We have the Australia Day Cleanup this weekend and lots of people are volunteering to scour the beaches for baits. It makes me feel sick knowing how much the dogs suffered, and how upset the owners are. We can only pray that this person is caught soon.

The shire and rangers have been out putting up warnings. There have been searches for more baits and several have been found. They cannot yet confirm what the poison is as the tests take weeks. This is a deliberate act to poison dogs. We can only hope that someone is caught soon. The areas that have been affected are beaches popular with dogs and children, and areas around a town caravan park! The bait is definitely NOT rat poison or 1080, according to our vet. As to why someone would do this horrible thing, I really cannot fathom

Over the last two weeks the small town of Exmouth in WA has lost 7 dogs to poison, possibly strychnine, the baits have been found on popular dog beaches, walking areas and even residential areas. The first cases were at the end of August when 2 dogs died and 3 others were very sick. Then 10 days later another 4 dogs lost and more very sick, then one more died yesterday. Even some wildlife (rabbits) have been found dead. Whoever is leaving these baits has no regard for any life, they have been found near residences where there are small children. Everyone is very worried for our pets and children. Our poor vet and her staff are run off their feet and doing an incredible job, managing to save some of those affected. My link

Too young, your heart must be broken, hugs to you, your memories are precious and beautiful run free gorgous Ice

For a long time when we were building and had no fences my girl had to be contained upstairs with access to a large balcony area. We made her 'poo corner' from a car boot liner, one of those heavy rubber ones, lined it with the crystal type kitty litter and topped off with about 1.5m square of fake grass. We even surrounded it by plants so it was not obvious and afforded some privacy :) She still uses it today even though she now has access to a fenced off grassed area. Even some visiting dogs use it without prompting! The kitty litter is easy to manage and gets changed out every couple of weeks, only smells if I get slack and dont change it soon enough, solids I pick up daily, and the grass gets hosed off and soaked in disinfectant (i have two pieces and rotate them)when i change out the litter. Good luck!

HaHa love all the different attitudes. Mine only sleeps on the bed when OH is on night shift, and only if the aircon is on, she keeps to her own space at the bottom of the bed, allthough the panting sometimes does shake the bed :) Oh and SAND I have taken to putting a sheet on top of the bedclothes to catch it all as we go to the beach every day and she loooves grinding sand into her long coat. She refuses to sleep with the OH as he 'fidgits' too much and she hates being disturbed.:D

Thanks, they have some vego treats I am always looking for vego treats for Amber. I will be adding a couple of new vegie treats to the range this week. Keep a look out on the web page, I will also post in the commercial for sale forum here.:D

Lots of recipes out there, but if you dont have time to make your own, www.pawspantry.com.au all natural and homemade.

Interesting thread. I am constantly fighting with my OH about clipping Marlin. She has a very full coat, neck, bum, pants and back are very wooly. She also hates being groomed, this time of year I trim her belly, underarms and pants fairly short, rake weekly and coat king monthly, usually costs me heaps of treats each session :D . I also use thinning scissors on the rest of her. Somehow she still looks like a woolly sheep. :) Luckily we only have bush ticks to worry about. She swims everyday and looks like she has dreadies when wet, most people think she is overweight until they see her wet! She copes well with the heat (north WA), and never refuses a trip to the beach, usually reminds me about now it is beach time! I have told OH if he clips her he will be in charge of grooming in future, that is enought to put him off. But I would clip if I thought she was stressing, although I dread to think what sort of job I would do, no groomer for several hundred k's here!

I thought the Pet Loo a bit expensive, so made our own. We used an old heavy rubber car boot liner, it has sides slightly turned up, and a piece of good quality synthetic grass. Experimented with different stuff in the bottom and have ended up using kitty litter, the crystal sort, as I found it the easiest to change and absorbed odours much better than the clay sort. I remove poo regularly, and weekly replace the worst of the crystals, monthly replace the lot and hose everything down,. I have two pieces of 'grass' to rotate use, and soak in disinfectant solution after hosing off then leave to air dry in the yard. Only one dog here though so you may have to change it more often. You can find large boxes/bags of the crystal litter quite easily, Woolies and BigW are pretty cheap. Hope that gives you some ideas!

Too much heartache for one family, RIP Blackie, you were called by the rest of your beautiful pack, run free sweet one, you will never be forgotten

Marlin will only eat fish if it is chopped up and smothered in natural yogurt :)

Just had to hug my girl with my eyes leaking like crazy, I realy shouldnt read such beautiful tributes, they make me think too much

Hehehehe so much is true How about the dog has her own freezer full of best meat I can buy where we live off cheap cuts. Planning a trip away camping involves weeks of making and freezing individual serves of dinner and sourcing bones that fit into the Tupperware box that fits the portable fridge best - sometimes I wish I didn't feed raw next trip is for 6 weeks bush aargh

What a terible tragedy, my heart goes out to you, I am in tears for you and Buddy, poor fella didnt deserve to go in such a way. RIP gorgeous boy.

Koko you brought laughter and tears as RedDog, many will shed a tear on your passing. Taken too young, run free over the rainbow beautiful boy.

OMG this is so funny, what horrible critters we live with. Yes Marlin is not adverse to a bit of poo, was chowing down on some lovely fresh kangaroo poo just this morning at the markets. :laugh: Rolling in poo, fish, or anything dead, is allways such fun. The worst of all was when OH had her on the beach and thought she was having so much fun rolling around, he didnt get suspicous until she had been at it for a while , She was wallowing in a dead shark, it was so ripe it had popped open when she landed on it and she went to grinding it in, Oh the smell, it took a week and about 6 washes to get it out, everytime we thought we had got rid of it you would get another whif, the long hair doesnt help either, I even considered clipping her at one stage, I have never smelt anything like it, rancid fish yeeew . Last time we went camping we couldnt understand why she kept trying to dig in one spot under a bush, what do you know, the people before us had buried their fish offal there! The ocean was only 50mtrs away, why did the bury it at the camp site?? Now we check out the general area when we go to the beach. But she seems to allways find the smelliest dead stuff anyway.:)

I have not noticed the coat getting any thicker since I started with the thinning scissors, I use good quality human ones, recommended to me by a groomer some time ago. If anything the pants and rear have smoothed out a fair bit. I do use the coat king as described by dancinbc, and a leave in conditioner about once a week. She only get washed when she has been rolling in something stinky or we are off on holidays :) there is no was on this earth I would get near her with a hair dryer, she runs a mile at any noise like that - air compressor, tyre deflator, vacuume! But then we dont do shows or anything, so grooming is more for her comfort than appearance.

Mine has a big coat too, hates being brushed no matter how much I bribe her, so we have a weekly battle to keep the knots down! This time of year I try to thin her out as much as I can as gets pretty hot here. She is rarely washed, but swims in the ocean every day and has a rinse with fresh water and gets a quick comb whilst still wet. I use coat king too, but also use thinning scissors, mainly on her belly, pants and tail. Thins without making her look 'raggy'.