aussielover

Actually the vet only mentioned a 24 hour hospital after I said I would take Percy home, and she frankly made it sound like not a necessary thing. You insist on critising my every action and I am quite capable of blaming myself. The Lethabarb injection was painful, and you are incapable of understanding that. You are exactly the kind of vet I do NOT want to have to deal with. No one has said the lethabarb injection is always smooth and peaceful. Poor reactions are always possible, even with sedation before hand (although this generally decreases the likelihood). You chose to have Percy euthanised, lethabarb injection is considered a humane way to euthanase an animal. What was the alternative?

I am sorry for the loss of Percy I also consider my dog a member of the family and I know how hard it is to lose them. However, I seriously hope you reconsider your opinions on the veterinary profession. It is true that there are some vets out there that may lack compassion and even competence (as occurs in every profession), however to say that the majority of vets are incompetent and lack compassion is simply false. Even though it may not seem so, there is really very little money to be made in veterinary medicine and most people become vets because they love animals and want the best for their patients. To base your opinion of the whole profession due to seeing one vet does not seem logical or fair at all. No one can truly know what an animals feels when it is euthanized. What we do know is that the agent injected is relatively quick acting and better than the alternative of letting the animal suffer days or even months of pain if the owner elects not to continue with treatment and/or pain relief for the animal. You have not addressed why you did not take up the offer to pursue further diagnostics and treatment at a specialist/24hr clinic, and I must admit I do find it a little confusing that someone who considers their pet a family member would not at least want to get a diagnosis and prognosis before euthanising them. If you feel your vet has been truly negligent, you should contact the veterinary practitioners board in your state, who will then further investigate the matter. I do not think one poster has said or indicated a pet dog is "stupid and inconvenient" and you will find most posters here care deeply about their dog's health and wellbeing. I am not sure why you would post something quite so offensive????

Labs are a great all round dog. They wouldn't be my first pick if you want to win at agility though. If you want to be competitive at agility, it would be hard to beat the herding breeds (BC, aussie, kelpie, koolie, etc) in terms of ideal body type, drive and temperament. If you've never done agility before or are only just starting out, Labs are great because they are so easy to train and willing to please and very forgiving. Personally I think that Vizslas and GSPs can be a a bit more temperamental and flighty, but of course in the right hands they make great sport dogs. A working line labrador may be more suitable for you if you really want to be competitive. They generally have more drive and a lighter build. Plenty of show line or "pet" labradors do very well at agility and gain titles etc.

It does require the dog to be sedated. And it is a couple of hundred dollars. However in a large gundog breed, it would be something that I personally would expect. Weimeraners do get HD. Maybe not to the extent of Labrador or GRs, but it is certainly present in the Australian weim population.

Yes, it was an unfortunate and distressing situation for you. But it could have been so much worse... At least the dog wasn't aggressive to humans or dogs, as you said your young child was there so could have been a disastrous situation. The owner of the dog was trying to do the right thing, they obviously didn't expect the leash to break and as you said, the dog was there in 2 seconds so the owner may not have had time to even react to call the dog back. I think this situation was accidental, but the owner still should have apologised.

If she was examined for cruciate issues in January, and you have been pretty much resting her since then, I doubt it would be a cruciate issue. BTW what did she have done to her shoulder?

A complete cruciate rupture is unlikely to resolve in less than 24 hrs, although a partial tear cannot be ruled out. A complete rupture would likely result in non weight bearing lameness for at least several days, despite rest and anti inflammatories. They rarely fully resolve in larger dogs although smaller(<7kg) dogs may learn to compensate and appear fairly normal over time. A partial tear may result in intermittent lameness or limping; the dog may appear to recover after rest and medication but will usually end up progressing to a full rupture at some stage. The best way to determine whether it is likely to be a cruciate issue or patella issue is to assess the position of the patella when she is actually lame. Additionally, if you are very concerned about cruciate issues you may choose to have her radiographed under GA and they can test the stability of the cruciate at the same time (cranial drawer test). An experienced vet is likely to pick up signs of a partial tear this way.

Happened to mine too, the amount they were drinking was ridiculous, it tripled at least. As soon as I took them off it they went back to their usual drinking habits. I'm talking a few laps turned into drinking a whole bowl at a time (and begging for a refill) when most days they only drink 1-2 bowls the whole day. I wasn't happy with that amount of water consumption (and the newly required toilet trips in the middle of the night!) so they came off it. I guess it depends on the dog, but it just didn't suit mine. Yeah I am filling both water bowls up a couple times a day. Just put Coco on it to from Royal Canin so will see if she does the same thing. If it keeps happening guess we'll look for something else How many litres of water would be considered normal approx? 20-70ml/kg/day is what is considered a "normal" water intake.

LOL the photo and liver treats had me laughing too! My dog didn't even recognise me on skype, although when she heard my voice she apparently went searching under the table the laptop was on :laugh: It would be a very clever dog to recognise its owner from a photo! I'm pretty sure my dog would only want to eat the photo :D

I am sure Sally will have so much fun with 2 other dogs to play with and an exciting new adventure with your friend :) Sometimes an item of your clothing (unwashed so your scent is strong) can be nice to include with their bedding. Mindy used to be drawn to a fleece of mine that I used to wear and would curl up on it if I was out: I used it again for her when she was at the vets when she was really sick. Sadly, it got lost at the vet hospital.

Because they shouldn't. It is totally unacceptable behaviour and a sign of a very bad temperament. Lots of adults will put a puppy in it's place by holding it down by the throat with a lot of noise if the puppy is being obnoxious but any adult that launches an unprovoked attack on a puppy that does damage is totally in the wrong. I have seen it happen at shows and just hope these dogs are never bred from. Agree 100% Maybe it's a little naive, but I think a dog should never attack a puppy. Agree, but it is unrealistic to expect all dogs to be "normal". There is quite a large risk taking such a young/small puppy to a dog park. Firstly because puppies can get excited and ignore their owners and run over to other dogs- never a good idea to allow your dog to do that to a strange dog, they can trigger prey drive and excitement in some dogs, especially if they start squealing, they may be inadvertently injured by rough play. I don';t let my medium size dog play with small dogs or young puppies unless she is lying down. I would certainly never let her play chase games with them. I think a component of DA is genetic. Lots of dogs get attacked as puppies or young dogs and never go on to become DA.

Thanks for the link! Nice dog!!!! Mine appear to have long legs, but in actual fact they are only 53cm, so under standard. I don't think there are very many Labs that I've seen in real life that make the standard Hi Lablover, I would REALLY love to see photos of your dogs!! Please! Yes, I would love too see photos too! the american field lab at crufts My lab is 57cm at the withers, I always think of her as being small but she is taller than the standard allows (but still not what I would classify as a large dog). She also appears to have long legs and a lighter build. Well done to PAX and Prix, what an amazing team Nice to see some other breeds apart from BCs :p

Were the xrays done at your local vet or a specialist? My first lot of xrays were done at the local vet and nothing showed up, it was not until we went to the specialist that the ED was clearly visible. Lab nut- I recommend you get the xrays read by a specialist. There are changes that you can see on xray but they can be very difficult, even for experienced vets. Another option is to get your dogs elbows CT scanned. You can pick up things like fragmented medial coronoid process much better on CT scan.

Not a show Lab, but a failed guide dog trainee Lab. This fellow couldn't swim, in his new home, so his owner gave him swimming lessons. I have never met a Lab that couldn't swim, and swim very well maybe it is just as well this boy is out of the gene pool. It doesn't look as if he is lacking leg or suffering from barrel disease :) Out of curiosity do you know why he failed his GD training? Well, obviously not every puppy in the litter is going to be fit for intended function. Although it is a bit sad this poor pup failed his guide dog training and couldn't swim!!! At least he is very handsome though ;) I think its fine that some members of the breed can't swim/dont like water, aren't fit for function as working dogs (but make nice pets), however, it is important that these dogs aren't bred from. Which I think is the point of the fit for function tests suggested= to weed out dogs that completely lack ability or instinct required for their intended function. I'd say labs who can't or don't swim are quite rare, just as I am sure you can get border collies who are disinterested in sheep or exercise but it would be rare. My pup was bred for guide dog work and although she failed at that, she was swimming at 3 months old and adores water!!!

Trying to figure out my dog's behaviour toward my little foster kitten. Obviously I never leave them unsupervised together. However with what little interaction they have had, I'm trying to figure out my dogs strange behaviour towards the kitten. Initially she was scared and would keep her distance (at least 1m away). The kitten showed no fear of the dog and followed her around etc. Now she is sniffing the kitten and looking quite interested, but I am not sure if it is in a good way? She seems very perplexed by it. She very gently batted it with her paw once and sort of went to mouth it, but didn't make contact, I didn't feel there was any real intent to harm but after this I have completely separated them. I don't know if its overreacting though? She is a gentle dog in general although she has on occasion, killed wild rabbits (obviously they were sick/debilitated for her even to be able to catch them). When she does kill rabbits, she goes straight in for the kill, no messing around or "playing" before. I don't feel she would go for it in front of me, however, if she did I would have very little time to react so i think it is better to keep them separate for now. I know she would not fight back if the kitten had a go, as she has always come off second best in encounters with older kittens/cats. Unfortunately this kitty is just too little to be able to defend itself. All of the other fosters I;ve had have been big enough to tell her to go away.

Labradors excel at eating :laugh: If there were eating competitions like there are for humans, Labs would win!!! Also tail/body wagging. On a more serious note, Labs excel at a wide range of activities, they are probably one of the most versatile breeds in the world.

I do not think keeping a dog at your home overnight is a big deal, especially if it is found in the evening or at night when most vets and pounds are closed. As long as it is taken to the vet or pound the next day and scanned for a microchip. I do have a problem with people who hold onto to dogs for days without notifying or taking the dog to the local vet or pound. That is a sure way of making sure the dog is never found by its owners

So it appears that ectropian is acceptable in the Clumber spaniel breed standard? Yet, the vets at crufts were under instruction to DQ any dog showing ectropian. I feel this is unfair to the exhibitors. The KC should change the breed standard so that ectropian or "haw" (assuming the 2 are the same?) is unacceptable before they go around disqualifying dogs for adhering to the breed standard which allows for it.

Thats about what I currently pay. I paid around the same, a little less I think at $64. Idexx or gribbles quoted over $200, luckily our vet found out about vetpath in WA which is much cheaper

I haven't noticed "elocon" to be more or less effective than neocort or cortavance? Did you find it made a significant difference Trinabean?

Just curious is all. I know lots more people these days who are choosing career over kids, pretty sure theres a movie about it. Always happy to be proven wrong :) Maybe you should think before you type? Do you honestly not understand how your original comment is completely inappropriate and insensitive?

After reading thru 28 pages, I still don't see what the connection between liking animals and liking kids is? The two are completely different... I think some of the comments here are quite offensive, particularly the one about people who are not able to have children being bitter and twisted... very uncalled for and extremely insensitive. For the record, if you are not able to have children and you love them, you can adopt. I wouldn't know if it is "the same" as having your own biological child, however I am adopted and I have a wonderful relationship with my parents, I don't feel it is any different to a normal family relationship.

There was a "bad batch" of the 6 monthly injection in the United States and some dogs ended up dying. I think this is where most of the concern for the vaccine comes from. Also we sometimes see an injection site reaction- a small granuloma forms at the injection site and can feel like a hard lump, it is a bit scary as it can pop up weeks after the injection so appears to be unrelated. A FNA or biopsy can usually confirm an inflammatory response rather than a cancerous growth. This can happen with any injection though. For a large breed dog, the monthly tablets are more economical for me. I set a reminder on my phone so I give them on time.

They need to identify why they feel they are not bonding with the dog. is it a mismatch in energy levels, personality (eg they wanted a more smoochy dog), expectations etc? Then they need to decide whether they can and or want to address these issues. 8 months is quite a long time to have a dog living in your house, and not to feel any bond with it. Why did they choose this particular dog in the first place? They must have liked something about her initially in order to actually adopt her.

Oh no! Poor murphy! Hope she recovers quickly, sending good thoughts your way...