aussielover

Some of the other gastrointestinal diets may be suitable? Eukanuba low residue ( now eukanuba gastrointestinal ) Royal canin hypoallergenic Eukanuba fish and potato Is he ok on hills i/d?

My atopic dog sometimes licks in that area. Usually only one limb is affected at a time. It is quite a common spot for itchy dogs to focus on. Some dogs can over react to a little bit of itchiness or be very sensitive these are usually naturally anxious dogs though. Drugs like fluoxetine (Prozac) can sometimes help these dogs. However usually there is an underlying reason why they would start itching- commonly allergy or joint pain

Interceptor does not cover fleas. Sentinel Spectrum sterilises flea eggs but will not actually kill adult fleas. You can use both interceptor and comfortis if you need. I wouldn't give them on the same day though, ideally I would give them 2 weeks apart.

I would not be relying on a dog for security. If you are truly concerned I think you should get a security system. Of course a dog, particularly a barking dog will likely deter opportunistic criminals, however if they really have their sights set on your house, then a dog alone will not stop them. They may even be prepared to injure the dog. You should only get another dog if you actually want another dog. Even though your dog doesn't seem like a natural watch dog she could probably be trained to bark on command and then be trained to bark when someone approaches the front door.

Yes I wish I had kept a little blue foster kitten. He was adorable, pretty much just like a dog in a cats body! He went to a fantastic home though which is a good outcome I guess.

Are they against it forever? I personally wouldn't be rushing to do it so soon after the initial surgery. The tissues around the elbow will be traumatized, leaving them more susceptible to infection. And the stem cell procedure requires another GA ad far as I am aware. But I wouldn't rule it out once he has recovered fully from the surgery.

Tibial plateau leveling osteotomy Hope it all goes well. A friends dog had had both legs done and us doing great: like a new dog

I do not think dogs toilet inside to "punish" their owners. Most likely the stress of the new changes are causing her to become confused/anxious and forget her previous training or she could be "marking" her territory. Go back to basic puppy toilet training- regular outings, huge reward for going outside.

Ringworm is not highly contaigous. It is spread by contact with infected hairs but just because you hold an animal with ringworm does not necessarily mean you will be infected. I have had kittens with ringworm and handled them and not been infected. My dog had reasonable contact with them and she wa snot infected either. If your dogs have close contact frequently (sleep together etc) then it would be more unusual for a contaigous disease to only be present in 2 of them. Other causes of focal hair loss could be demodex and sarcoptes (scabies). I'm sure your vet is looking into other causes as well. Skin scrapes and/or treamtent trials (for sarcoptes) are required to diagnose demodex and sarcoptes. A fungal culture of a hair is gold standard for diagnosis of ringworm, however a wood's lamp (UV light) can be diagnostic for up to 50% of cases as additionally a trichogram may show dermatopyhytes on examination (hair examined under a microscope)

How old is he? My dog was quite destructive as a puppy/young dog. After 2 years of age there has been a noticeable difference. She no longer actually destroys inappropriate objects (although still likes carrying them around in her mouth). She is a lot calmer these days and can actually be left unsupervised in the house by herself for a few hours which I originally though would never be possible. She is actually more destructive when left outside now (as she still digs and chews trees). She has never been REALLY bad though- like trying to chew electrical cables (I've had kittens attempt this!), chewing through walls or tyres etc I think if they are "middle aged" (around 3-6yrs) then its probably likely they will stay more destructive....

I'm not sure if sydney is too far away? There is a cat in sydney that is an excellent mouser (was surrendered for this reason). She is a calico coloured cat, friendly, although a bit of a typical naughty torty and about 3 years old. I think she is ideally suited to being a farm cat, rather than suburban house cat. She is overweight from being in the pound for so long. PM if you want more details or alternatively call Cremorne Vet on 02 9953 1090 and ask about "Ollie"

Cuts and abraisons hardly sounds like a full on attack??? I'm assuming they mean emotional shock, rather than the medical definition of shock (which is life threatening). Although I don't know know the full story, dog bite or nip hardly equals a "mauling" or an "attack" as the media like to sensationalise it as.

I think the quality of shelters/pounds resources and abilities varies greatly. I volunteered at a pound where if a dog didn't try to bite you it was basically rehomable. There was no formal behavioural assessment, and skilled though some rangers and pound staff are, they just don't have the time to conduct proper temperament testing, which in itself is only a guide and many dogs can behave differently in a scary/unfamiliar environment like the pound. The majority of shelter dogs are rehomable, to the right home, sometimes these homes are hard to come by. I don't think people should be made to feel responsible or guilty for the ones that aren't rehomable or if they cannot provide the right type of home. I think that was the point of the first article which the author of the second article doesn't seem to have grasped.

A few breeds come to mind: Golden Retriever- great family pets, make sure to go to a good breeder and ask for a more laid back one especially if you aren't intending on walking it everyday. Cavalier King Charles- also lovely family pets and don't need as much exercise as gundogs such as goldies or labs Greyhound- also can make great family pets but I don't see many "out and about" or at dog parks if that's the sort of thing you want to do with your dog. Make sure to go to a reputable rescue Mutt- there are plenty of crossbred dogs looking fro homes that would make good family pets. Preferably go to a rescue that has foster carers who know the dogs temperament really well. I think one of the main things is to get the dog from a reputable source be it breeder or rescue group.

Looks like they just took the rangers/breed assessors word for it that the dogs were part pitbull. Despite the owner of the parents of the dogs testifying otherwise, and obviously it was accepted that these parent dogs were not pitbull or part pitbull otherwise they also would have been seized and destroyed. I don't know why the council and other have gone to such lengths to ensure an outcome in their favour. I'm sure an alternative agreement could have been reached as the owners seemed like decent, responsible people. Do these people seriously think that every pitbull-looking dog is suddenly going to "turn" on people or turn into a killing machine?

I totally agree and share your concerns. They were just trying to do the right thing. Surely they should have been allowed to move interstate or rehome the dogs interstate? The dogs weren't declared dangerous so I see no reason why they couldn't have been moved interstate to a state where it is fully legal to keep crossbred dogs of a certain "type". To add insult to injury, changing the date of the euthanasia at the last minute is a low and disgusting act by the authorities. I find it worrisome as well as sickening that seemingly responsible dog owners with perfectly lovely dogs who have never been involved in an incident, try to do the right thing and then get treated in this manner

I hope the dog can be found safe and well. Just going off the story and without further information, imo it sounds more like the male dog has escaped rather than being stolen. It seems weird to take only one dog and surely the female dog would be of equal or more value for breeding. Also seems unusual to take a dog that they would not know was worth 27K and not take nay more easily sold stuff like electronics and jewellery??? Additionally, 27K is what the owner may have paid for him, not necessarily what he is worth.

We've seen several cases of paralysis tick poisoning so far this winter (which has barely even started!), including an 8 week old golden retriever puppy... The owners say the pup got the tick from playing in the backyard of their beach house as they haven't taken the pup out yet (not fully vaccinated).

Really wish they hadn't held this on the same day as Agility Nationals!!!

I love working dogs. Out of the herding group my favs are Aussie sheps, BC's, Koolies and Kelpies: Why? They are all good loking, coming in striking colours (imo) and are highly intelligent, trainable and loyal. Out of the Gundog group my favs are: Labs, GSPs, Brittanys and working line ESS: I like these dogs because they have pretty wash and wear coats, lots of energy are intelligent and trainable and lots of fun to be around. They also generally make me laugh with their antics! I also love Golden Retrievers but I could never see myself owning one, the colour and length of coat (although stunning to look at) really puts me off... I like Mutts as well, there are some really interesting looking ones out there. I do not generally like designer dogs both the look and the temperament, although there are a few that I know personally and do find adorable (personality more than anything). Not really a fan of the "fluffy dog" look (sorry poodle people) and knowing the amount of care the coat requires totally puts me off. I will say that I have never met an aggressive oodle yet though.

TBH when it comes down to it, I would rather my dog toilet on newspaper or a doggy toilet if she was going to go inside anyway.... I think if she's toilet trained (most of the time) anyway by now, her natural preference will be grass and hopefully she'll only go inside when she has to (in her mind lol) ie when its raining?

Really? I think the opposite. If a dog has such a good temperament that it remains well-behaved and not aggressive even with a clueless owner, I think that is a good thing. These are the sorts of dogs that we should be encouraging as pets. A bad dog, no matter how good the owner is, is always a risk and it only takes 1 accident, 1 slip of attention etc for a disaster to happen. Obviously it depends on how "bad" exactly the dog is... But I don't think there is any place in today's society for a dog that would kill another dog or repeatedly and seriously attack a human with little provocation given the chance. I don't think you can entirely blame either party- there are some dogs born with bad temperaments and some owners that cause dogs to develop bad behaviours. Although technically, I suppose, you could blame people for breeding dogs with terrible temperaments- either purposely or accidently (just by not placing a high value on temperament in their breeding program).

I guess its up to you whether having your dog toilet inside in a designated area is acceptable. Personally I would find that unacceptable but I know there are people who wouldn't find this so bad. She may develop a preference for going inside. Perhaps one of those doggy toilets that are designed for apartments would be better/easier to teach her as it is more natural (I believe they have some kind of fake grass). I think most dogs have a preference for grass-like materials. BTW just out of curiosity is this a staffy thing? I've noticed a number of Staffy's at work hate going out in the rain and will refuse to move or keep turning back when its raining :laugh:

I think we would all agree that the best method depends on the individual dog itself and the specific problem the dog presents with... In my opinion there are no safe "methods" only safe and sensible trainers who know which is the most appropriate method for the situation. Even positive reinforcement can be dangerous if given at the wrong time... I think it is poor form to bad mouth or misrepresent information about a professional company/service on a public forum.

The outcome will depend on many factors: The type of fracture (simple, compound, oblique, comminuted etc), the location of the fracture (ie is it close to the growth plate or even through the growth plate, is it associated with the joint etc)- this can make the positioning of surgical implants like plates more difficult, obviously the skill of the surgeon is a factor, the recovery period, physio, complications such as infection... you get the picture. Having said all this there are all sorts of cases, from simple to severe where the dogs do very well and return to normal function with no ongoing problems. Good luck with your pup, hope it all goes well :)