Staff'n'Toller

I'm sorry I didn't realise Gina doesn't deal with dogs that have issues. Well the 'Cert IV' delta instructors would certainly have experience in reading body language, managing problem behaviours and showing you how to avert potentially risky situations. I have a book here called 'Click to Calm' (healing the aggressive dog) by Emma Parsons...I must admit I haven't looked at it in depth yet (it's in the 'to do' book pile :D ) but have heard others having good success with it. You can buy it here but it's cheaper from Amazon.com. Cheers, Mel.

I found these on k9events.com, and deltasocietyaustralia.com.au Delta CGC Certificate IV Qualified Veterinary Nurse APDTA member Location: The Eastern Suburbs of Perth in a safe fully enclosed paddock. Specilising in Puppies behavioural problems and PET dog training One-on-One or Small Group Classes for all levels and all ages. Contact Lesley Lynam phone number (08) 95726183 (Home). Email [email protected] ------------------- BOOTHEY Amanda - Certificate IV Mandurah / Rockington Phone: (08) 9581 8248 Email: [email protected] Private consults, behaviour & training issues ------------------- CRAWFORD Louise - Certificate IV Friends For Life Canine Education PO Box 186 FORRESTFIELD WA 6058 Mobile: 0439 903 083 Email: [email protected] Professional dog training and behavior management. Home consultations - Set you & your dog up for success. Group Classes - foundation & intermediate levels, individual attention guaranteed, relaxed, fun, motivational and educational. ------------------- LYNAM Lesley - Certificate IV Good Manners Training & Behaviour Phone: (08) 9572 6183 Mobile: 0419 924 133 Email: [email protected] Servicing Eastern suburbs of Perth. Individual assistance for all ages and all levels in small group classes, behavioural sessions and seminars. Also I believe Gina O'Keefe works at a club in Perth...try PM'ing 'ness' on this board she will have contact details. Mel.

How about some agility or flyball or tracking?

I just recently got a liner for my BD treat pouch...they are actually really good as the small bits of food can't disappear into the corners! :D I now have a mini one for going into the ring with. Mel.

7 years. :D

Girl05 unfortunately you may never find out what happened to your dog. To get real answers a post mortem needs to be done as soon as possible after death +/- biopsies taken and sent for histopathology. If your dog had not been on Heartworm prevention for some months or years before the Proheart injection then the Vet should have done a heartworm test to check for the presence of adult heartworm. If your dog was dehydrated, were you offered hospitalisation and IV fluids for you dog? You say the diagnosis was heart problems, but you can't get a firm diagnosis without ultrasound or an xray at the very least. Cardiomyopathy can be at late stages before the dog shows any symptoms. Broad Spectrum Anti-biotics and pain relief are generally the first step when dealing with vague symptoms. Proheart (whilst we hear all the bad stuff) has a very wide safety margin...one of my thoughts was that your dog may have had a heartworm infestation if you hadn't kept up his treatment continuously, any heartworm treatment can be dangerous given to a dog with an infestation of adult worms. They tend to die all at once and clog the main arteries restricting blood flow. In essence you will probably never know, it could be because of the injections, but it could be totally unrelated. As someone said to you in a previous thread, heart murmurs are difficult to hear and sometimes sound worse than other times. How long had it been since his last Vaccination? This is why 6mthly checks are good for older dogs in between their routine Vaccinations as alot can happen to an old dog in 12mths. Most dog owners don't realise there is any problem until the dog is coughing alot or has fluid in the lungs thus needing a cocktail of medications including dieuretics to get rid of the fluid. Mel.

I am a naughty girl...sorry about that. I didn't have Geords with me anyway just went down to the Aus Day Show to do some last minute shopping. Well we'll have to arrange a meet up and your friend can meet most of the Tollers residing in Vic all at once lol...well all the important ones anyway! :p Tollersowned and I are both showing our boys at the Pet Expo Saturday...everyone's welcome to come visit! We will be the relaxed ones sitting out on the lawns lol. Mel.

Everyone can see that you are very passionate and informed about feeding BARF Vs. kibble, but I would take offence to that comment. Not everyone has endless money or time to spend on their dogs food...people who feed a super premium kibble should not be made to feel bad because they have time constraints. People who choose to feed a premium or at least good brand of food should not be made to feel bad because they cannot afford to feed the super premium stuff. When you are feeding BARF correctly i.e. no mince, it can get expensive for mulitple dogs especially when you are talking organic fruits and vegies, I agree with you it's the best, but it isn't always easy for Joe Citizen. I would rather someone who wasn't sure they could get a complete and balanced BARF diet going for their dog choose a 'good' dry food instead. We are all on different salaries with different monetary constraints. Everyone has different views, I would never touch Pal can food but have seen many 14yr old dogs die of old age who have only ever eaten the stuff. I also would never consider buying from a Pet Shop that supported some of the biggest puppy farms and BYB's in Australia. The day a certain Pet Shop chain dies will be a great day for puppies, kittens and rabbits everywhere. Please don't assume that food companies that test on animals are evil. I have personally been to the Masterfoods Factory and seen the cattery up there, where the cats live in a massive building with a huge play area, own sleeping quaters, cleaner conditions than your average house and if they aren't getting along with each other communaly then the unhappy ones are rehomed. The 'oldies' are even rehomed to live out their days in relative comfort!! The Hills factory in the US openly invites any Veterinary staff from anywhere in the world to go and visit their kennels. I have seen the ground plans they are basically designed for the dogs to reduce stress, they are given exercise and environmental enrichment and we are welcome to visit any time to see the dogs, and take them out for a game of fetch. Mel.

My oldies are on Hills and I think they look great on it. My 12mth old Toller is on Eagle Pack Natural...barf patties and raw meaty bones. I tried him on Hills but wasn't satisfied with how his coat was looking etc. Mel.

Sorry I'm going to hijack by saying sorry I didn't make it...but I think we need to organise another Toller meet once it gets a bit cooler- or at a beach! :D We have Ghillie and her human who have moved to ?Sale? and Kipper and his human who have come over all the way from Canada and are living bayside now. :p We should get ourselves organised. Mel.

I'm not much help storm as my breeder lives North of Brissy and gets them from her local pet supplies there. However, she asked her pet supplies to get them in for her, they hadn't sold them before, I think it took her a while but they eventually obliged and now alot of people are buying from them! I would pester a few of your local suppliers who stock meats about it...you may be able to convince once of them to stock it for you. Cheers, Mel.

Geez Nat they are brilliant pics!! :D Mel.

What time will you guys be finishing up? I'm staying to watch the gundog judging if there are any gundogs there that is... BTW I'm going to by a Coolweave coat for Geords tomorrow so will tell you how it goes....might be good for you Flyballers. ;) Mel. ETA: omg mini-bulls!! I'll be there!! (and to say hi to Todd and Lily of course )

Are you still going 2Tollers? I will be at the Showgrounds at the Aus Day Show with no dogs though, so thought I might drop in depending on weather. Mel.

Yep I have a dog here who has been diagnosed with allergic conjunctivitis, generally there is no discharge from the eyes at any time, but she will rub her face/eyes on the dog beds outside and in the grass. Get a Vet to check out the eyes in general, and if they prescribe an eye medication then you will be able to tell if the behaviour is diminishing while she is having treatment. Mel.

Looking back on previous posts from the OP, it seems this dog was 9-10 months of age when it went into kennels and had fear based issues with barking dogs etc. before this. Mel.

I am not suggesting that they do have the same concept of time as humans, but they do have a 'concept' of it, and perhaps more a concept of ritual and routine, and I think 4 weeks compared to 1 week is still a big difference as far as environment, routine and building relationships with humans go. Yes but the dog didn't have the foresight to realise it was going back home, so it sounds as though it has been a big upheaval for this particular dog. I believe this dog is also young? Care to confirm that for us Panda? Perhaps Panda chose a critical socialisation period to board their dog - to the dogs detriment it would seem. Awaiting further info... Mel.

Sure Erny I understand, was just something that popped into my head whilst reading. I was just thinking that a month is a long time for a dog- as in it would be half settling into it's new environment- so more's the battle with re-introducing it back into it's home. Mel.

A month sounds like a long time away for Boarding and Training. I know that down here in Vic most training schools are 7-10 and 14 days at the most. Mel.

There are varying opinions on this based on the amount of protein. Many breeders and large breed owners change their pups over very early as many believe lower protein means slower growth spurts in large boned dogs. The EP large breed puppy compared to the Natural adult formula- well the usable energy is very similar. So it would be up to you. I'm sure there'll be lots of interesting replies here though...this is just my humble opinion. Cheers, Mel.

Sorry dumb question- wasn't reading thoroughly enough and missed the Revolution. Omega 3's/6's found in Flaxseed oil, soyabean oil, sunflower oil, deep sea fish - sardines/tuna/salmon, missing link supplement. Mel.

If it is flaky then it sounds like the skin is in need of moisturising- but it usually works better if you are feeding them omega 3's rather than using a coat conditioner. What are you feeding? Do you have them on flea treatment? Maybe stop the aerogard and see what happens...Advantix has been very successful for fly and mossie repelling down here in Melbourne at the moment. Mel.

I learnt from a professional groomer at my grooming course that wool wash damages the hair follicles if used regularly and will eventually make the hair fall out. Mel.

Hmm I actually can't remember where I read that but will try to find it for you, apart from Jean Dodds' work I don't know much that is scientifically documented, and mostly I've just read heresay written by Vets on the net...but a good start would be The Whole Dog Journal. I will go back and search through the archives that might have been where I read it...do you have a subscription? It is really good. Since I have not vaccinated her -2 summers- she has had no hotspots over the summer....interesting. I am giving her Heartgard - but the meaty ones...doesn't seem to do her any harm but I watch closely. The Heartgard tabs are fairly easy to get..we keep one of each size in stock for those very few dogs who won't eat the cubes. Mel.

Hey HM, I thought I'd bring your questions over here and not clog up the Eagle Pack thread- 'cause it is good food! :D Yeah it is just the first thing they tend to do, would have been good if it was a food allergy- much easier to fix eh? I know that Gypsy is quite allergic to raw meats, normal science diet, Euk fish and potato didn't help one iota, and any of the supermarket dry foods. I have seen probably a 75% reduction in general redness, pruritis and general itchies with the z/d. I also have stopped vaccinating her as she used to get hotspots on her head and neck every summer (vaccination time) and changed from Proheart injection to monthly heartworm treatment. I've read that vaccinating dogs who are having a flare up can actually make their symptoms worse. Yeah my Staffy would love to eat BARF but it really does her no good, sounds as though if it's not food he may not be on the kibble forever. to you for going the whole hog with the allergy testing, I see lots of dogs who's owners are happy for them to remain on cortisone or deny that their dog is in real discomfort with their allergies. No problems :p I am actually upset with Vet's who don't explain the food fully to clients because it is amazing how much research Hills has put into this food, I can't stand it when they give you the bag and just say "here feed this for now" it's really a very interesting food and if your dog does have a food allergy it is a sure fire way to find out. Nope you are certainly not alone...as you have found out from this thread I was actually going to say PM Zayda_Asher who has extensive experience with allergies and I'm sure Dan knows way more than me! I haven't done any testing on Gypsy as she is nearly 7, has OCD in her elbows and has had surgery on a patella, I just don't want to put her through any more stuff if it's not completely necessary. She has quite a lot of relief from the food and only needs the occasional cortisone shot. I'm also fairly sure she is allergic to most grasses and pollens. (curse of having no hair on feet or belly) As she is an older dog I feel that symptomatic medication is ok. If I *did* go down that road, and desensitising injections were available, for her condition then I'd go for it. Cheers, Mel.