JustUs

You won't be disappointed! With all the free info Steve supplies on his website and one phone consultation just before we got our pup we now have the most awesome 18month old dog, he honestly is everything we could wish for :)

Amazon for all our dog toys here, at least half the price even with shipping. Some things will add a huge amount to shipping, so I usually play around adding and taking out things so I know that the postage on each item isn't adding a crazy amount to postage. I usually also add make up into the order as that's super cheap also :)

Thanks for all of your replies :) The vet said it could go either way, next time he could crash big time or the reaction may not be as bad. He was a fly chaser until this happened so I think he learnt a lesson but who knows if he will forget it. I'm just so overwhelmed with how we deal with it, I hope he has another 12 odd years with us but that's a very long time to never leave him outside if were not home. Then even if we kennel him for holidays, I'm sure they won't be watching him the way we do etc. Sorry to hear about your daughter kelpiecuddles, that must be scary.

It's so scary isn't it tdierikx? His reaction was so severe that the first dose didn't do anything, so they put another into the vein in his leg. That helped a lot but he had to go back later that night and have the drip shock thingy done as his blood pressure was so low, poor baby. So keeping them inside is the only option? I thought so but the vet I saw the saw with him the other day, for something unrelated just said it's a risk you take, that we can't keep them with us all the time P

Hi, I was hoping to get some info if anyone else has a dog that has anaphylactic allergies please. Our boy had a pretty major reaction a few weeks ago, we *think* it was to a bee but can't be certain until we have allergy testing done. He is only 8 months old and was just getting to the stage that I thought he could possibly be left alone outside for a few hours but now I'm way way too scared to leave him alone. He is my heart boy and the thought of it happening when one of us isn't there scares the, well you know what, out of me. He is crate trained so at the moment if no one is home he is just crated, but I'm only happy to do that for a couple of hours. Our vet said that even if we get the testing done, then it only is so we know what the allergy is not that we can do anything preventative...does that sound right? Any suggestions on how to manage this would be great. Thanks heaps

What a sweet thing to try to organise :) We took our Stafford boy to Melbourne with us to hang out in the city and he had a great day, so did we as people mustn't see too many medium size dogs hanging out in the city. He got lots and lots of attention and love and we got to chat to heaps of people. So my point was if anyone has a Corgi and wants a nice day out, I would recommend it highly. Only bad point was it made my desire to move to Melbourne and be a local reach an even greater longing

Does anyone have a Hound House that is out in the weather all the time? We were just about to order a new wooden kennel but when we pulled the old one down we found a few red backs Our kennels is very rarely used but we like to have one for the occasional time he is left out, does anyone think the Hound House would be suitable for our needs? Thanks :)

Hi BlackJac, Our old boy moved out with our oldest DS :)

Do you find that the Phenergan knocks your boy out? I know I'm a zombie if I take it...... Glad you found something that works. Your boy looks gorgeous :)

Hi tdierkx :) Not bathing him often now, we did at the beginning as our last boy was a nightmare to bath so we were trying to get him used to it to avoid problems again. Now we are just doing as required, which isn't often and using QV wash now. I miss how white he used to go with the whitening shampoo but then it was more pink than white so sort of defeated the purpose. I bet you were very glad when you finally figured out the Beef was the trigger, it's not much fun hosing the grass after every poop!

I'm not denying him them but when we tug he can't hold it properly and gets frustrated as it hurts We are still having little tugs, but he has awesome prey drive and wants to really get into it and can't, he still loves playing with the prey toy on a rope but he tends to get too over stimulated with it so not good for training sessions, just to let off some steam :) He has Nylabones, Kongs ( soft and harder ) and heaps of other chew toys and is loving face washers that have been in the freezer, so he is doing ok but just missing a good game of tug, as am I. Ps I just looked up from writing this post and he was laying there with a Nylabone Wolf Chew, a Kong Throw Stick and the soft Kong Fetch toy ( the soft tree camo one) all in front of his legs trying to decide which one to chew on...definitely not a toy deprived boy!

Wow, I got ripped off big time, I paid $240 for our pups recent Titre test the had to chase the results myself. I still don't have the complete results though but she said she would ring so I guess there won't be a consult fee to get his results when they are back. And to answer the original question, they did the test but would have preferred to just vaccinate him....I think they thought I was a little nutty :D

Hi again, Firstly I had a brain dead moment the other day and it was actually Wednesday night that he first got ill, so fasted Thurs then only Chicken and Rice all day Fri and then re introduced the other foods from Saturday.......I was thinking I was such an idiot for adding foods back so quickly but I was just sleep deprived ( daughter had also been unwell.....there is no way I could cope with a newborn skin baby these days!) Manukau honey purchased and he is loving a little yoghurt each day, still only on chicken and rice with no sign of any bowel probs for now, so I will continue for another couple of days then slowly slowly add back in some real food, poor boy is looking a little skinny. With the skin issue, it's really not bad we just need to be careful with things like shampoo etc, but as it started immediately after the c5 I'm convinced that the vaccine upset him. The thinning patches are completely gone and he is shiny and lovely without any dog smell ( I love nothing better than cuddles on the floor with my face buried into his side, he smells so good) He still scratches a bit but then I guess all dogs must to some degree, but if I bathed him in his whitening shampoo then he comes out red. Where the same shampoo caused no issues in the 2 weeks we had him prior to the c5. Now I'm stressing about getting the c3 that's due or trusting the titre results. The Vet said as long as he shows anti bodies then he doesn't need it, but as I said before I'm not filled with confidence in the Clinic we chose. I can't get him an appointment at the new clinic with the vet I want till next week, so I guess I will wait and see what they say in regards to the c3 and getting scrapes done also. Poor boy is also teething so maybe that is affecting him too, he isn't coping all that well with it and really missing using tugs as a reward. I really do appreciate all the knowledge shared here, dog training and care is so much easier now we have access to the Internet and the collective wisdom and experience that you guys are willing to share :)

Thanks for that info on the anti histamine. Will print and put in his file now, I had seen it somewhere before but the vet was adamant that she couldn't give me a dosage as they weren't tested for dogs. I will also only feed him human grade food now Staffyluv :) I have been giving him some Yukult also but about to go and make him some unsweetened easi yo as he loves mine but I make it with Splenda so didn't want to give him more than a little taste. I hope your pup doesn't have Dermodex either Staff'n'Toller .....these puppies may be cute but they can be a worry too. In regards to the 3rd vaccination, I was under the impression that it was just a safe guard in case they still had Mums antibodies in their system when they had the first vaccination? So now the the Titre shows that he is covered then the 3rd would just be over immunising him, do you not think that's the case minimax? Will talk to the new vet about it anyway, the one we have been seeing is still very pro yearly vacs but when I questioned why the only answer she gave was that she had researched the info the Drug Companies supplied etc and that's why they recommend yearly, didn't really explain a lot. Thanks so much for all of your help today, I really appreciate it :)

Already chucked it Staff'n'Toller :) His diet hasn't changed from what his breeder recommended, the only change I made was to change the kibble from Black Hawk Puppy to Holistic Select. Then he has a variety of Sardines, Raw Eggs, Chicken Drumsticks and the mince. Oh and goes crazy for Carrots and Bannana! Will find a supplier for some Turkey and some other type of mince now too. Thanks for the advice :) He is awake and happy so I'm sure he will be fine to wait until tomorrow to see the Vet.

Thanks Staffyluv, I'm not sure if it is a contact allergy or not. There doesn't seem to be any common inducers to his skin problems. He isn't very itchy at the moment though. I was actually really disappointed as the Vet wouldn't help with the dosage for human anti histamine so I had to buy the animal ones from her. No she didn't do either gillbear, she said I could leave him there for a skin scrap but she was busy that day and suggested just using advocate instead. He isn't anywhere near as itchy now though so maybe there was fleas in the yard or something, we have dogs in all the houses that our fence joins up to but I had never seen any fleas on him so who knows. Have found another Vet Clinic that sounds promising and they have onsite Pathology so that's a plus and also the website states one of the Vets has an interest in skin issues so I think I will call in the morning and get him checked out and hopefully we have found a new clinic. I think the one we have been attending was a little annoyed at me as I wouldn't just blindly follow their advice.........

Thanks so much Ams

Oh it was a proper liquid Diarrhea....... He is having a snooze now but will see how he is when he wakes. Off to Google other Vet Clinics!

Thanks Ams So no need to rush off to a Vet today? He is drinking and eating ice cubes and begging for food and acting like a crazy boy so not feeling too unwell :)

Hi, I'm hoping that all the experts could help with some info please. We have a gorgeous 16 week old Stafford boy, brought him home at 8 weeks and no health issues at all, he had his 2nd vaccine on Christmas Eve and since then has had numerous issues ( the Vet we saw highly pushed for c5 and I'm now regretting that big time). He now has sensitive skin, then two weeks ago he was itching like crazy and malting a huge amount with a couple of tiny almost bald patches. I was concerned he may have had mites and took him back to the same Vet Clinic but saw a different Vet, she wasn't convinced it was Mites but said to treat him fortnightly with Advocate and see how he went. She also gave some anti histamine, at my request, to help with the itch when needed. I also had him Titre Tested that day as I didn't want to re Vacinate if he didn't need it, after chasing the results for days I know that his Parvo immunity is good, but still waiting for the full report with the Distemper? Results from the UK. Now to the Diarrhea, he woke up distressed to go to the toilet a couple of times Thursday night.....highly unusual as he has slept all night since the second night home. Friday morning he seemed fine but I fasted him all day, them fed him boiled Chicken and Rice for dinner Friday night. He loved eating it and nice firm poo. Saturday lunch I added some kibble and that was fine then Saturday night some kibble and boiled egg and all good too. This morning I did Chicken and Rice with some kibble and a little of his normal pet mince and within 3 hours he had Diarrhea again So I'm assuming that as the Diarrhea had stopped and then returned and that he has Parvo immunity then it's not urgent to go to the after hours vet but should I fast him again. Or just feed boiled Chicken and Rice? I'm guessing that the Diarrhea returned from his mince this morning or would it not go through his system that quickly? Any advice appreciated and I'm more than happy to take him to the vet today if required......just have to find a new one as I was unimpressed with the one we went to

We just flew our boy the opposite route and he was fine :) He was pretty stressed when I opened the crate, I will never forget that tiny little face that did look scared. But I got him out and he snuggled up under my hair then popped him into the back of the car and hand feed roast chicken and he perked up instantly. Good luck to your friend :)

This was a very interesting thread. I'm still pretty much a newbie but just wanted to say that when we talked about getting our new boy, now 11 weeks old. It was discussed with two options and they were....will I return to work or should we get a pup. We got the pup and I won't be returning to work in the foreseeable future. Maybe we are lucky and maybe things will change later down the track but that was how our decision was made, along with the kids giving up our next USA holiday....well it's postponed for a couple of years as we made a commitment to this puppy and for me that means no boarding etc until I think he would cope with it

Thanks for all the replies :) I ended up going with the 30" but just so anyone else reading the thread knows, the divider can be purchased for an extra $5. I have emailed again and hope I can still grab one even though the crate is on the way.......super quick service.

I think the one I'm getting is medium, 30" , I wonder if that will be too big without the divider for a SBT? I want a smaller one to start with to make it easier to move around, maybe I can go smaller to start with then upsize when he is house trained.......hmmmm it's been a long time since we have done this puppy thing!

Thanks Lisacc :) For that price I guess we can work around it not having a divider.