mackiemad

i get wary every time i see a border collie coming towards us, off-lead, on-lead it doesn't matter. i've had so many bad experiences with over-intensity and nippiness which i'm sure come from the herding desire and instinct but i hate it and i know my boy hates it. he walks past fine, but they always seem to want to herd and nip at his back end and tail - freaks him out no end so now i change sides of the street or go the other direction. i haven't had any bad expeorences with staffies, though i've met some uncontrolled and badly behaved ones...

if she returns it to burwood and is honest about what the dog is like in a home environment, then i see no reason for them no to take it back. they would probably do an office foster with it for a bit, or a temporary foster. in any case. many animals that are passed NSS for mionor reasons are given the chance of finding a permanent foster home within the organisation - with employees or some vollies. if it is one of the puppy farm dogs it has a better chance of finding a permanent foster as many of us were involved in helping them, socialising them as much as possible and generally visiting them and sitting with them to get them used to ppl. i'm suprised as i thought that only the puppies from the puppy farms were publically adopted out and the adults all found homes internally as they were NSS, but he may have been one of the less obviously affected dogs...

i walk both but if i have to skip one it is the afternoon walk i skip - he needs something to tke the edge off or i find he's been galloping aroudn the house while i'm away. generally i do a 45min power walk in the morning, heeling most of the way with some training at street corners etc. i like it cos it is quiet and i can juts slowly start to activate my brain and there's no threat of carzy dogs and owners at that time. afternoon walk is around 5pm and i take him for an off-lead run, where i wander around tired and he gallops madly about and rolls in things i wish he hadn't! sometimes this off lead run is at our local, somewhat secret dog park, sometimes it is where my horses are, a little later and he does the feed round and watches me ride (he is tied up if i'm riding)

miniature schnauzer? sauerkraut!

i'm getting my second bag delivered on thursady and am stoked with the product, as is my fussy, intolerant dog (and my bank account *cough cough*)! i had doubts originally but they were answered and the results don't lie, my dog gobbles it up and has never been more consistent in his output or gleamed more in his coat.

kirty, i saw a lot of oodles too, and many 'staffy x's'! i also saw the two huge danes, but topped them with two irish wolfhounds - not something you see everyday! and i think i saw a briard as well - but i can't be sure as i haven't seen one before... and the fluffy afghan was a delight! but it isn't to stop puppy farms, it is just a general fundraiser for the rspca, so most of the money probably goes to paying the bills and equipment, general boring stuff like that...

I'll be there with my boy. Heidii- there is no free microchipping. it tends to be councils that run the free microchipping days, rspca are more likey to offer discounted desexing for, say, a week.

it is part of the re-writing of the code of practice for shelters and pounds. there is no mandatory holding period (i'm not talking quarantine here though) but shelters can still euth animals if they wish, it is just that now they don't have to. in many cases i don't think the animal will be kept for months upon months in the pound/shelter - this gives the org an option to move the animal to a diff pound/rescue/shelter/foster or just give it another week or two that they deem necessary. importantly it allows for more time to be put into behavioural problems before re-homing an animal - so an animal that had, say, fear issues, could be worked with longer and then adopted, rather than euth'ing them because they didn't have the time to put into the animal to make it safe for adoption.

i'm not sure i'd but them - i have a boy and i think the stomach/chest area is too long - i'm ont sure that he wouldn't ahem, slightly pee on it when he's aiming for a specific blade of grass and whatnot! with a longcoated breed i'm not sure the zip up the back would be practical - you may get haor caught. but maybe i imagine it wrong and it is a zip down the back? eh, it would probably be fine but my imagination may be on the blink today! not sure i love the colours, but i'd be happy to pay around $20/$25 per coat for a smallish sized dog, $45/$50 for a bigger dog. hope that helps!

i'm sure chester is doing well and that the vet and nurses are taking good care of him - it s hard not to worry when they're at the vets away from you though. good luck, our fingers are crossed for you and chester

where will they be injecting? do they know which joint it is yet? he is young, large breed and active - has your vet ruled out OCD? personally i hate the approach of trying stuff and giving medications without knowing the cause. i would never take a medication unless i knew the reason i had pain/issues. personally i'd rather subject my dog to xrays etc and get a diagnosis than medicate in hope of catching the issue.

i love the look of my breed (schnauzer) with a tail. i also get plenty of comments on how much more in proportion and good looking my dog is and many people think that is because he has a tail. i wouldn't want him or any of my breed docked, i think they look much better with something at the end to balance out the big beard at the front!

i only just saw this thread... and it is nausea inducing. that poor puppy greytdog- it struck me that perhaps the gf was scared of the man and that's why she did not comment/testify. anyone who pleads not guilty and doesn't offer anything at all, even anger, under police questioning sounds pretty confident/cocky. add that to drunkeness - we already know he's violent given his actions towards the dog, he may be violent to the gf and children as well, you never know...

i have a measuring cup that measures the standard baking cup amounts. my boy (12kg) gets 1/2 cup per day with either some lean meat from the butchers (3 forkfulls, maybe 50g?) or sardines, or a chicken wing/rmb. he isn't fat, gets 2 walks/day feel his ribs easily etc. nice and fit and muscley. so BH is economical for me! if i fed my boy a cup/day, not only would he often leave a lot, but he would get pretty porky pretty quickly i imagine...

when my boy had shoulder issues, we took him to the pet emergency and specialist centre, dandenong rd, malvern. we used the main guy, dr chris preston and i can't reccomend him highly enough. they have fantastic facilities and can offer your dog anything he needs, water therapy, arthroscope etc. though as they are an emergency centre (open 24 hours) they aren't the cheapest - though i didn't feel as though i was being gouged. 1103 Dandenong Rd, Malvern East, VIC 3145, 03 9569 3677

my mini schnauzer would easily slot into a home like that. smart, easy to train, not too hard grooming, though they do need grooming and clipping. as long as they take it to training i'm sure a first dog owner would easily be able to cope with the gentle spunk that a schnauzer offers. plus they have a manly beard and moustache. if you haven't been kissed by a beard, you haven't been kissed by a real dog!!

i used him and his herbal supplements for a horse that had navicular a couple of years back. the horse has since been sold on to a retirement home comfortable, in work and with no changes in his xrays... also a pony that we picked up from soemone who had dumped her in a paddock for 18months, not doing her feet and had left her to founder several times was brought back to a respectable weight and not in pain with robert's herbs. the only other thing she was getting was soaked grass hay and some speedibeet so we had somethign to put the supplement in. have nothing but respect for him and his staff. their delivery is quick, their knowledge fabulous and they don't push you or make you feel bad if you don't go all out and buy absolutely everything.

my problem is that so do i! i have a a full-time job, i am also undertaking post-grad study, i have horses that i ride and compete and dogs that i enjoy going out with every day, i have a partner who wants to occasionally get out of the house just the two of us, a family that wants/needs my attention and friends that i don't see nearly often enough. email is easier and more time efficient for me, as i'm sure it is with the OP - i can type quicker than i talk and i can do it at work in a few moments between meetings or whatnot. for my next dog i'm happy to put in the legwork, i'm happy to wait if the pup is going to be what i want. but just because a breeder is busy it does not mean that i should make it my mission to take elements out of my life in order to practically stalk them to get them to talk to me! i know that you, jodie, weren't actually saying that we buyers didn't have busy lives either, but i just want to illustrate that some of us buyers may have time for a puppy but that for a breeder to expect us to go above and beyond, to make it almost a part-time job to prove we are worthy of a pup is pretty elitest IMHO. now, i will put in the hours to find a puppy and a breeder that lives up to my expectations and of whom i live up to theirs, but i can understand why many people, frustrated with searching for months, putting themselves out there for little response can turn to the quick and easy route. these are not people of whom dogs are their be all and end all, a major focus in their lives, BUT these are the people we need to convince about purebred dogs because that is the majority of the population... every person who is turned away from purebred dogs by finding it too hard or time consuming to find a breeder is a person that would have become a convert, another spokesperson of how fab and sensible a purebred dog is. every potential puppy buyer turned away could go on to perpetuate the horrid suppy/demand cycle that is occuring in the pet shops and online bybs. why wouldn't we want to cut down those numbers?

i'd like one made from fish as well. but my boy is doing really well on the lamb and rice so i'm pretty happy. the most important things to me that aren't in it are wheat, corn, beef and beet pulp (tends to make my boy more prone to ear infections, we think). i too think the emu oil is good for my boy's coat, he seems shinier - though he was also just clipped so that may help!

fair enough, thanks megan! shall buy a hydatid wormer next time, as my boy doesn't usually eat possum poo, but he does enjoy rolling in it - and he imitiates the cats when they clean themselves so better to be safe than sorry!

actually, i think most of us agree that we wash our dogs as irregularly as possible- so once a month is probably waay too often. he will get washed when he is at the groomers (so he smells nice and so their clipper blades last longer), and unless he's filthy from running through mud or rolling in something awful then he really shouldn't need to be washed imbetween clips. i can stretch my boy's clipping longer than many because that is the way my dog is, but i don't wash imbetween clips unless i have to for whatever reason... also megan: - i thought we didn't have to worm for hydatid in aus unless we feed offal/liver to our dogs? do i have this wrong?

*I'm not a breeder and my current 4 year old boy is my first mini schnauzer* but i don't really wash my mini schnauzer very often - i'm one of those that think you strip the natural oils form their coats and often make them dryer. however when i do wash my boy's coat, usually when i have people coming over for a party/dinner etc, i use an oatmeal dog shampoo and i only condition the feathering not the shorter area on his back. they do need to be brushed regularly, as the feathering can knot, tangle and even matt - and the tips can seem tangle free but it can get pretty dense close to the coat if you don't comb through often. i do my dog with a comb once/twice a week and i go through his coat with my fingers thoroughly everyday to check for grass seeds, burrs, dried grass etc - anything that could cause discomfort or a tangle. -don't forget to check between the toes! and i also towel dry my dog and then later re-towel him if it has been wet and muddy to keep the mud from hanging around in his paws. they do need to be stripped or clipped. most poeple clip and my boy gets clipped every 3 months or so, less in summer. take him to a good local groomer (get reccomendations locally) and they should do a schnazuer clip on him, wash, nail clip, ear pluck - the works; i pay around $60-$70 and i think that's a bargain for the hard work it entails. if you are leaving the time between clips a long time you may wish to pluck the ears yourself- esp if the dog is prone to ear infections... ms's are the same as many dogs food wise. but they can get fat and they can get pancreatitis. so less fat is better, i keep my guy a bit lean - but that is more due to how much exercise he gets rather than food. mine gets black hawk atm mixed in with some meat my butcher does for me (chicken, turkey, lamb no beef) or sardines. that's all he gets - unless he sneaks some of the cats' food! (i do use a damp towel on his beard after the sardines because i can't stand the smell though!) i feed RMB's twice a week (and lessen the amount of dinner he gets accordingly) but i find chicken or turkey are better. pork, beef and lamb are too fatty for my boy and can give him the runs - but he also has a sensitive tummy. i don't feed fish oil, he gets it in his food and he also gets it in the sardines he has. my boy's coat is fine so i don't feel the need i suppose. i expect with the better food and with not constantly wahsing your dog (and when you do, in a natural dog shampoo) your mother's ms's coat will start to come good after a couple of week/months. though my boy is rarely as shiny as a short coated dog due to his wiry coat (unless he has just been clipped) he doesn't have any flakey skin and his coat is soft(ish for his breed) and luxurious. i never find matts or serious tangles in his coat and i expect that is because his coat is healthy as well as my grooming regime. i only flea treat in summer when we go to the beach or if i see a flea/flea dirt on him. then i use the sentinel chew - only because if he has a long coat i feel he absorbs all of it in the chew, and only some of it in the neck applicators. (i then also put neck applicateors on the cats, wash all the bedding with a little bit of flea shampoo in the washing machine, and generally itch and become paranoid!) i do not treat for heartworm unless, preventatively, in high summer because we do not have it in my area. thus i only do a wormer that treats other worms in chew form, when directed on the packet depending on what it is. hope that was helpful. you might want to talk to people like showdog and becks - both of which have been involved in the breed for a long time and know infinitely mroe than me - for all i know i'm doing i wrong! but it works for my boy and i so... i do check my boy when grooming/cuddling him for sebaceous (sp?) cysts as they can be common in some lines and in the breed. my boy has had one, when he was a tick under a year old, and as it was under his collar area it was getting irritated (it burst on its own) and needed to be removed properly. other than that he hasn't had any skin related issues. good luck!

there is a really good vet on dandenong rd, at the corner of darling rd i think? opposite spolight and anaconda etc. it is an emergency centre and not the best price wise BUT when my mini schnauzer did some serious damage to his near side shoulder the vet there was fantastic, he gave us options, explained everything really well and most importantly - for the 4 sessions that our boy had to return for treatment he was happy to walk in and be left there, and he is a dog that does not enjoy being parted from us and can be little timid. he loved the nurses and clearly was well treated whilst there. pet emergency and specialist centre i think it is, they have arthriscope, xray, a swimming/walking tank etc - fantastic facilities and some really good vets. chris was the main vet with my boy and i can't speak highly enough of him...

a 'stache of schnauzers (as in moustache without the 'mou')

so your other half loves you enough to allow an animal he is allergic to and your therapy dog inside but not badger? that soudns a bit weird to me. when he agreed to, or asked you or however you guys decided to live together weren't your animals part of the package? i understand that a young, big male dog can probably cope pretty well outisde, esp in WA, and i'm sure a nice weatherbeeta or dryzabone dog coat will solve the problem with a kennel but it just seems odd? to agree to you and everything you are and have in your home and then only put one of the 3 animals outside is a strange decision IMHO, but then, people can be strange creatures - can't we?! and it doesn't sound stupid at all having an anxiety therapy dog - i'm bird phobic and although i find it harder to walk the dog in spring, the only reason i go out in spring at all is because i have the dog there and he chases birds and in my head his presence scares them off a bit - in reality i'm not so sure that is true! of course i wear shatter-proof sunnies, a cap, seriously thick collar and i use my iPod religiously so i can't hear any bird noise as well because, well, a phobia and/or anxiety is damn hard to control and beat.