Staff'n'Toller

Is it okay to desex at 1 year old(probably after their first heat cycle), even though 6 months is preferred?

Yes, but it will be more expensive now due to the fact she is a mature dog, and may take slightly longer to do the surgery. You should desex her halfway between her first and second heat cycle if you're planning to - the full cycle is generally 6 months long.

Is it true that every heat cycle they go through increases the chance of a problem happening(not quite sure what 'problem' though)?

Bitches who've been through a number of heat cycles without a pregnancy are susceptible to uterine infection, but we generally see it middle age and older dogs. Bitches who are left intact have much higher rates of mammary gland tumours in old age.

Is it normal for some dogs to bleed from the stitches & refuse to eat/drink for a few days after surgery?

Some slight weeping can happen, particularly if the bitch is too active after surgery or if there were some skin bleeders present during surgery but generally no, it should be a nice clean wound. If your bitch gets adequate pain relief (an opioid in her premed injection, a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory injection at the end of surgery and some anti-inflam tablets to go home with) she should be happy to eat that evening or the next day.

Will the bitch become less active, fat, personality change, etc?

No, generally no personality change. There is some talk about slight metabolism changes in desexed dogs, but you also have to remember that at 7 months her growth is slowing and you should adjust the food intake appropriately.

Will desexing before they're fully grown/sexually mature have any impact on their growth rate/adult size?

There is some evidence that growth plate closure is delayed in desexed dogs and they grow slightly taller than their intact counterparts (I think I have that correct). But for a pet dog this is not an issue.

After surgery, should they be fed less than usual for the first 2 weeks?

No. :)

Anything else I should know about?

Yes, if you have questions, you are welcome to ask them here, or call your vet clinic and ask the vet nurses there - they will give you correct information and you won't need to scare yourself reading through Dr Google. :)

Sweet! And Em sounds like a bit of a wonder. I'll bring a big handbag for the kidnapping! :D

Medium sized handbag should do it. :D

I had a RuffWear one (the "portage" model), it was absolutely brilliant. Allowed for easy movement but kept the dog high in the water.

I think that's the one I bought from you? :laugh:

I still have it, will be using it for the next dog, and I prefer it over the ezydog one I have. :)

I've bought 10 of the 4-way fittings from Clean Run, a bag of 10 basic jump cups and made 5 of my own using the already cut-up pieces of PVC you can buy from Bunnings. Sturdy but also easy to pull apart and relatively cheap.

Ditto to this ^^ although I would probably get the jump cup strips - if cleanrun still sell them?

Cleanrun have a 'ready jump' that is foldable, but apparently the postage is hideous to due box size, however if you're buying a stack of them it might be worth investigating.

Start by clicking and treating anytime during the psycho mode she stops still, or sits momentarily. When mine are new, I focus on rewarding calm behaviour first, then I start rewarding for a split second of calm + looking at me, everything else will follow.

You can also start with nose targetting so she has to target your hand for dinner. :)

I would personally think carefully about bringing a blue into your family not only because of the reasons that our Stafford experts :D have stated above, but they are so popular - they get stolen - often!

I think they are very pretty to look at too, but the security thing irks me.

Edit: If you are considering buying one, you better ensure no-one can see your dog when they walk past the front of your property, or from any aspect over the back fences.

Wright forest might be quite hilly - have you looked at a topographic map? That will tell you.

Also are you on the telstra network? Other networks may be limited coverage i.e. I'm sure there IS coverage but it might only be 1 or 2 bars of signal in some places.

You may run into off lead dogs so perhaps take an umbrella or something? Best to perhaps draw out a walking route and take the Parks Vic map so you know which track you're on. :)

Gaille and Kerry are both tops. Well worth going to. I find Gaille very authentic- she owns multiple Belgian Shepherds which is refreshing! Kerry is an expert in bridge training (obviously) and I would also happily do a week-long workshop under her instruction. :)

These are great Thankyou, something to look at. I found this one and it looks like it would be good too, what's people's opinions?

www.britishcollegeofcaninestudies.com

I'd be looking at the Dog Behaviour Practitioner Diploma. Even though it says there's one practical day involved over there, there is recommendations about it from people in New Zealand and South Africa, surely they can't have all flown over there, they must have worked out a practical day over here?

Some trainers do set aside money for international travel if they feel the content is worth it.

You need to check out the teachers delivering the course and who wrote the curriculum. :)

The Cert IV Companion Animal Services delivered by Delta was great when I did it 05/06, you really need to look at initial information packs for both and see what resonates with you as it's a very personal thing.

This one is not recognised in Australia, but some Cert IV graduates have gone on to do it: http://www.casinstitute.com/dip.abst.html

IMO people are looking for qualified professionals but that doesn't mean the best course is necessarily administered in Aus - so for my money I'd do the CASI Diploma if I was already running classes or had access to running classes.

Your Lab looks fine in the weight department. Most people think they should look very thick set - well that's just adding fat.

If you get along to a retrieving trial soon you won't see any fat Labs there! If you want to do sports, the fitter the better. Make sure you can see the hip tuck in clearly when looking from above, feel the ribs with a flat hand and see muscle tone on the legs.

Tip: Teach him from now-on to deliver only to your hand. You'll get pinged for him dropping the bird/dummy. :)

For anyone who might be interested but doesn't frequent the training forum much, APDTA have kindly organised their conference to be in Melbourne this year and it's coming up soon! :)

http://www.conferenceworks.com.au/apdt/

If you have been to the Sydney conferences in the past, but like me, you moan and whinge about the cost and transit - now is the time to support this conference coming to other states.

And the weather is quite nice here at the moment so don't let that be an excuse! :laugh:

What dry food brand are you feeding? What dry food brand was she on at the breeders?

I had a convo with our Bayer rep recently as most/all the dogs in the remote community I work in swim, and a lot of them wear the Kiltix collars - although this is for bush ticks not paralysis.

She said if they get wet, take them off to dry, then before putting back on the dog, tap the collar on concrete a few times to re-release the actives.

I'm guessing Scalibor works the same way?

There are studies that show us that wolf dog packs live quite differently to companion dogs.

You may be giving clear messages to a bossy little pup that is trying out behaviours to see what works but is not true Alpha material.

It would be wise to remember that the Alpha role can be very fluid in house dogs, it changes hour-to-hour, day-to-day. It's about resources and who is in control of them. It's OK for us humans to say that we are in control of all resources, but in reality, we aren't. There's micro communication going on between dogs constantly. For instance, if the valuable resource is a prime sunny spot in front of the window in the afternoon, we aren't exactly going to go lie down on the carpet and claim the space for hours - we may not even be present in the house at the time.

The safest thing is to reward deferential behaviour, good behaviour, good manners, good settling/calming. All things that you will want to see later. You can reward fastest to comply first- it's safer than 'who I think is the boss at the time'.

Honestly I think you are creating a time bomb because Staffords have strong personalities. Desexed or not, my money is on your bitch becoming boss lady at maturity, by rewarding your Schnauzer you may set up friction (and fights later) where there needn't be. Whatever you do or don't do - they are gonna sort it out themselves anyway once they move through the adolescent stage to adulthood.

NILIF is great, use it on both dogs. Train them both. And don't worry about Alpha's too much.

Murray Tyler makes the best 2x2 bases. If Murray can't do it then my Dad engineered a template for them as he made some for me. :laugh: His schedule is fairly full at the moment though.

The competition tunnel is Mineflex, you get it from http://www.plascorp.com.au/minemaster.shtml#Mineflex it folds up onto itself and is fairly weather durable (to a point). If Plascorp won't sell to you, you could try calling Purple Pig (Bayswater) as I see they have Optima Mineflex on their site and sell to the general public.

I got my tunnel bags from Dot Mitchell and they are great.

Happy shopping. :)

Hi Staff'n'Toller

Thanks for taking the time to answer.

I am concerned that maybe pancreatitis could be an issue but I try to feed a low fat diet and she hasn't had any yellow bile/froth in the vomit which seems to be a pancreatitis symptom. In any case I have located a local vet (who has more years of experience than my current vet) and owns a schnauzer himself so I am hoping he will be able to assist us.

The main thing is I AM NOT content to have a dog with random vomitting and family telling me I am over reacting because she just has a sensitive stomach. I will only accept the "sensitive stomach" when other more serious things have been ruled out. If it comes down to a "sensitive stomach" then I will want to work out what things sit right with her because her health and comfort is the important thing.

No probs, yes I noticed you said non-digested food which is different to normal pancreatitis symptoms. I know in my clinic we 'just do it' now as the test is quite good and can show a low grade/chronic pancreatitis whereas we couldn't get that sort of info from it before. :)

I've also had good results for itchy/bad stomach dogs with Holistic Select Anchovy and I am thinking it will be my dry food of choice for my new Stafford pup as they do a young dog version as well as adult.

As Hankodie says, you can do further investigation but you may never find the answers you seek. You are well within your rights to ask for a referral to an internal medicine specialist at any time and your vet cannot refuse, however you may do every test under the sun and still none the wiser...as is at the moment with people 'It's IBS if we've ruled out everything else'. There are many humans in the same situation. Hope you find some answers. :)

Being that she is a Schnauzer, I would have her back to the vet for repeat bloods most importantly including a SpecCPL test. It's the specific test for pancreatitis and it's much more sensitive than it used to be so it will give a clear indication either way.

If you want to stay on dry, you may need to investigate the very low fat prescription diets made specifically for that - if it is indeed a problem processing fats.

If you feel your vet is a bit nonchalant about it, then you can always try another one for a second opinion. But see your regular vet first and let them know you are becoming increasingly concerned about it. :)

You could PM Aidan2 with your question - he hangs about mostly in off topic.

There is some info regarding feeding carbohydrates to dogs helping with aggression. This guy has written about it, but I can't remember in which book the info is, as I only have the Canine Neuro book. :)

Do you think he could change white Maltese into black Maltese??

I use the PAW chews, as good as any I believe, and a bit cheaper than Joint Guard.

If I need to add GLM I use the dried Aus ones. I've been told if you buy GLM powder it should be cold extracted for max benefit- which is probably never going to be cheap.

I presume you have seen the fleas?

This ^^ have you seen adult fleas on your dog recently??

You need to take your dog to the vet most probably. Could be nothing to do with fleas. Could be hypersensitivity due to the recent infestation.

http://www.clickersolutions.com/articles/2001b/bell.htm

There you go. :)

Have known a few of Welshies through my current nursing job, really nice dogs. :)