ish

My bitch had it recently because they suspected she had EPI (exocrine pancreatic insufficiency) The normal range for dogs is 5-40 I think, less than 5 indicates EPI and over 40 indicates pancreatitis. It was a standard blood sample sent off to lab and back in a couple of days

What about doing the TLI (?) blood test which shows the effectiveness of the pancreatic enzymes to see if that is an area where she needs help or not?

Great post RP

Yes he is a vet and here are his contact details I found online. It's been a few years since I've been so I hope they're up to date http://www.yellowpages.com.au/vic/cranbourne-south/dr-barry-haywood-12498851-listing.html

Barry Haywood does

Not my vet CnR - the puppy buyers vet

The pup is from a registered breeder - the prefix is in the first post

Personally I think if you suspect HD, you're better off skipping the middle man (local vet) and going straight to someone experienced in taking and interpreting X-rays. A puppy that I bred was xrayed at the time of her desexing at 5 months (against my advice) and the vet not only diagnosed her with HD but booked her in for surgery that same week. I paid for the X-rays to be looked at by Ray Ferguson for a second opinion, as they looked fine to me and the pup was not lame, an he advised the hips were fine and the was no need for surgery. When I spoke to the local vet his response was that the surgery would not have done any harm and the pup may have had problems in the future.

I completely disagree CnR - correctly positioning and then interpreting X-rays is a specialist task and very often not done correctly by the average vet

Please don't think I was questioning your decisions as a judge, because that is absolutely not the case. I am questioning why that rule is in place, especially compared to obedience as I mentioned. To me it would make more sense to check the bitches at the initial health check, and then not again. What if it upsets a male who then doesn't pass? I think there is much more chance of a male being upset about a bitch in true season belonging to the general public who has peed on the course, or even being walked around the course during the ET and there's absolutely nothing stopping that from occurring. As much as we do to condition and train our dogs for the ET, there will always be factors beyond our control that could throw a spanner in the works, including imjuries, interference from outside dogs, etc and I really believe that a bitch coming into season during the test is a very big risk factor at all.

Apollo strapping is good for grubby dogs - I have bought lots of different products from the site below and they're lovely to deal with. Its cheap, strong and you can get so many different colours. http://www.elitegreyhound.com.au/collars_leads.htm

I can't stop thinking about the poor dog and handler (I think it was CC?) who's dog vetted out due to coming into season after the second leg vet check. Its terrible luck but the more I think about it, the less I can understand why dogs who come into season during the test have to be disqualified? That early on in their season, there would be very very little chance of it upsetting entire male dogs and of course its of no detriment to the bitch herself. At obedience trials, you are vetted at the beginning of the day and you can trial several hours later without having to be re-checked. Why are endurance trials different, does anyone know?

Enjoyed the ET today - it was my third one! My girl Questa and my sisters girl Xilla both passed. I've sent off my entry for the amstaff club ET in august and hopefully my young girl can be trained up with the bike in time. She's super fit already but also big and strong so I'm a bit nervous!! Here's Questa and Xilla after the ET today

Some GSD folk call them Germos!

My sister named her puppy from our last litter Wednesay. It's got nothing to do with her registered name and the puppy wasn't born or conceived or taken home on a Wedneday - she just likes it! The dog gets called Wenny for short.

I agree with this - I don't think it would be allowed. I took one of mine on a Julius K9 harness which worked well for her Just done my entry for the GSDCV ET and really pleased to see another in Vic in a few months. I've got a very fit young girl who isn't 2 until July so that's perfect for her! Can I do 2 ETs in one year though?!!

Why don't you out a crate or crates in the car for them and they can sleep in the car?

Karen Hedberg wrote an article for the GSD club magazine recently in which she said older entire bitches were very likely to develop pyometra - so she must see it very often.

Rat zapper - they're bloody awesome. I've zapped 2 in my shed this week. No risk to the dogs

Could someone please point me in the direction to find out more about the steady feet game?

My cats have never had a problem keeping my GSDs in line! My female cat is confident and bossy without being aggressive - she'll smooch up to the dogs but if they're rough she'll tell them so. She doesn't go over the top with the hissy spitty thing which I think can stir the dogs up, nor does she ever run away. She's always got a safe place to get away from them however.

This is the bloat chart http://www.bmd.org/bmdcr/bloat_chart.pdf

Bumping this up to add that my 10 year old GSD was spayed on Tuesday and was absolutely fine. She has extra fluids as suggested and quite honestly from the minute I picked her up she was good as gold. Certainly nothing as traumatic as my imagination had suggested! Pleased it's done and one less thing to worry about

No way would I put my beloved dogs in that piece of junk! Trailers costs thousands for good reason

I'm about to have a 10 year old bitch spayed - wish I'd had her done years ago but kept putting it off She's started having abnormal season which increases her pyo risk. Bloods were good so once her current season is over she'll be done. I'm very worried though the vets assure me she should be fine. Best of luck with your sisters dog ETA I had an 8 year old bitch spayed last year and she was absolutely fine. I requested fluids for her, she was pretty sad the night after she was done but back to normal the next day. I reckon she even coped better than some of the young ones I've had done!