Staff'n'Toller

Probably not a good idea until you've isolated what the allergens are. I have tried both foods with my Stafford who has bad skin allergies and her digestive system is not so great either. I tried the holistic fish and oatmeal because when you're doing a food allergy trial you need to feed something the dog has NEVER eaten before in it's life- it needs to be a novel protein and carbohydrate source. I actually switched back to the z/d because her skin was starting to redden again and her ears and mouth were starting to get that yeasty smell. The EP was much better than a regular adult food, but not as good as the z/d, now she's back to Low Allergen instead of Ultra. The reason they put the dogs on z/d is because the molecular size of the proteins is guaranteed so low (<3000 daltons) that it doesn't create a histamine release. There is no other food on the market that is designed that way. Wait until you get your answers to your allergy testing- it's obviously costing you a fair bit of money- then by all means try different brands/foods afterwards.

It does sound like it needs to be sedated, valium won't really knock them out just make them feel a bit 'happier'. I would echo nynka's advice- some good points there. You may well need a #40 surgical blade if the coat is really bad anyway, and it is really easy to cut the dogs skin if you can't tell where the matt ends and the skin begins. Mel.

The prices are probably comparable with Oz, I pay $85 AUD for a 15kg bag of Natural...although I think with the exchange rate at the moment in probably works out to over $100. What State is your friend in? We may be able to help out further. Mel.

It's called wound guard...bitter bite from the pet shop might sting it. Wound guard has an antiseptic in it. You may not get it for free though, we keep it in stock but it does cost us to buy it!!! Mel.

What's the accommodation for the distance ed course? Sleeping bags at headquaters? and HR would you eat your NDTF hat? I'd like to see that too...we'll take you to La Porchetta's. Mel.

Yep I would say that is a good price for the T4. BARF books and video's you can buy from *Here* I buy alot of my training books from Amazon.com as they seem to be cheaper than here with our book tax and GST, also they quite often have sales on those books and the last batch I bought I basically got for half price. If you want an Australian site then Natures Creatures should have everything there- if you can't find something on the site an email or call to Perla will fix you up. Cheers, Mel.

This is just my opinion..but I wouldn't bother with the Bark Busters one. I would go for something like 'The Power of Positive training' by Pat Miller; 'Don't Shoot the Dog by Karen Pryor; 'The Culture Clash' by Jean Donaldson or 'How Dogs Learn by Burch and Bailey. A really nice novel type book is 'Bones Would Rain From The Sky' by Suzanne Clothier- it's one of my favourites. Also 'Give your dog a bone' by Ian Billinghurst is a good BARF one, he also has 'The BARF diet' (a small book) and 'Grow Your Pups With Bones' (for puppies). As for the hypothyroidism- make an appointment to chat to your Vet about it and they can take some blood for the T4 test while you're there- that way you'll get the answer rather than stressing about it- and you really want to know that she's within range if you're going to breed from her again. Cheers, Mel.

Hey Yogi, Just thought I'd let u know I found a size 3 infin8 halter in purple colour at my house- not in packaging but brand new if you want it. Will be on msn tonight. Cheers, Mel.

I agree with espinay and aatainc some great advice there... Other things I have tried with sick dogs and dogs in the hospital are tuna/salmon juice poured over the food, and chicken/beef stock, made from stock cubes (low salt & no msg) you can pour it over the food whilst it's still warm and it may smell more inviting to her. I'm no Vet or Vet Behaviourist but I know in the past we have used low dose valium tablets especially with cats, as they tend to stop eating- then won't restart again. A couple of weeks of that may just 'retrain' her brain. Also you can try Hills Prescription A/D cans if your Vet will sell you some, it's very high calorie can food that comes in a paste so we can tube feed it if we need to for critically ill dogs, but I generally mix it with dry food and zap it in the microwave for 10-20secs- dogs love it. Do you have access to BARF patties up there? They may make it easier for you timewise- they come in a roll of ?12? and have the raw meat, offal, yoghurt, vegies, kelp, yeast etc. My dogs love them too, they are gone in 2 secs. Lastly- have you run full bloods on her? I would if it were one of mine. Cheers, Mel.

I have bought the Reviva coat and the silver bullet brush. I ordered directly from the website and couldn't be happier with the service. I waited a week or so...then got a call from them on my mobile- from QLD!! to say they were sorry, they had been at the ekka and that's why my order was late...and they sent me a freebie as well. Mel.

No, anal glands are a very common occurence in most Vet Clinics....you can have scheduled visits so the Vet can do it, or if you're feeling brave you can ask the Vet to show you how, you just need a supply of latex gloves and some ky jelly. Make sure that you are shown the correct way, however, you should squeeze all the anal gland contents *out* of the dog. Mel.

They prolly need sharpening You may have only done a small number of clips but if you're cutting through thick or coarse hair- well they do go blunt eventually. I probably get 20 clips out of my blades, they are easy fine hair mitsu type dogs...then I put them in for sharpening, realigning and a general clean. Apparently the 'wings' on each side of the clipper also wear and need replacing eventually. Mel. ETA: If you're doing a 'dirty' clip- that is chopping all the hair off before you bathe the dog- then a clean clip afterwards, they do blunt quicker.

If you tell us your location i.e State and general are- eastern, metro, country etc. We can maybe help out with some trainer recommendations. Mel.

She won't make any connection to the punishments you have used, she is only responding to your body language- obviously you are still unhappy about what happened yesterday. Do you want to use the car harness in future? If you want her to learn to like it then you are totally going the wrong way about it. How did she have access to the chickens in the first place? Firstly when you are not around, she needs to be unable to access the pen. Secondly, your pen should be secure enough that she can't get in- if she can, then a fox definitely can. She doesn't need to see a behaviourist- she's being a dog! - although a qualified trainer may be of benefit. Be aware that you have a breed with very high prey drive, that's what she was doing, demonstrating prey drive. You need to remove the possibility of access to the chickens until you get some help and understand how to correct the behaviour. Mel.

I would probably get a second opinion by way of an Orthopaedic Surgeon...if they take out the artificial ligament and it's not stable- then what? ;) Also you may be dealing with alot of arthritic change, as older dogs have often had a partial cruciate tear for quite a while, and that your Vet couldn't find any cruciate left suggests it was probably ruptured for some time. You can't do much about arthritic change unfortunately other than neutraceuticals, i.e. glucosamine, chondroitin sulphate, green lipped muscle powder etc. Perhaps Cartrophen injections too. Cheers, Mel.

You shouldn't be able to buy it in singles- that's illegal, it obviously doesn't come with the warning sheet every time you buy it??? Being a Vet Nurse you should know that. It is packaged in a six pack and that's how it's supposed to be sold- in the packaging with the instruction/warning sheets. The company will not cover you or your Vet if it's not sold as it arrived from the manufacturer. Mel.

Absolutely agree Stella :D money talks BS walks, that's all there is to it. People value what they have to pay for. I could easily pay $600 for a gym membership, that lasts for a year, with no extra help or tuition...other than "may I scan your membership card". Mel.

Apart from what Erny has said... I have no connection with ADT at all, but they do have to be commended for trying to set a benchmark in the Dog Training Industry for the qualification of their trainers. It takes a huge amount of time, money and effort to bring a course up to a recognised Certificate III, and ADT only take the trainers that graduate that course. You absolutely get what you pay for....you're paying for experience theoretically and practically. You can pay a franchise $400 to come and throw a chain at your dog, or another franchise to come and helicopter your dog- that's supposed to teach it how to heel :D Or you can pay $1.50 at some clubs where your instructor has little more experience than training their very easy Labrador to CDX....I'd hate to be getting advice from that 'instructor' if I had a fear aggressive dog! Sorry, but public clubs just can't match what they do...and if I've paid $2000+ to get myself qualified, spent time learning from mentors, spent time getting hands-on experience working dogs at kennels- then I'd damn well want to get paid for it. Mel. Edited for grammar.

LOL- that's good Rachiie....my Stafford is on the expensive stuff- Z/D :D but hey, I would never begrudge something that works so well for her. Mel.

My seniors certainly do very well on it....and yes my Vet does feed it to his dogs! My Stafford has food allergies- both skin and intestinal side effects, and their prescription low allergen is the only food that has greatly reduced her symptoms. Mel.

There is probably something systemic going on with your dog i.e. skin infection, allergies to food or outside stuff. I would make an appt with your Vet when he's at his smelliest...that would be your first point of call. You can look at diet first off- what are you feeding him, how old and what breed is he? My dogs don't smell, and hardly ever get bathed, they are on premium quality complete and balanced foods though. Cheers, Mel.

It will look worse Imy, before it starts to heal, but from those pics you've posted, it really needed to be cleaned and the edges trimmed. More importantly, they would have reattached all the skin underneath. Small wounds create big suture lines as there is only one way you can trim and restitch without the skin puckering. That's pretty normal. I'm sure he'll be fine, give it a couple of weeks and it will all be looking better. Mel.

Pretty much all of the super premium foods are imported....Hills/Euk/Iams is American, Royal Canin is French I think....Advance is about the only thing made here. I have also seen dogs with horrible dry coats on Innova, and on an American list have read breeders who wouldn't use Solid Gold because it's too fatty and gave their dogs diarrhoea...just because it's THE most expensive doesn't mean it's guaranteed to work. I (and I'm sure lots of others) don't have an endless amount of money to spend on the dogs food. You need to feed the food the dog does well on...regardless of the brand or the price. Mel.

Hey YB, sad that you've been given a hard time lately...but if it's a certain 'trainer' that runs a list then it's really not worth your energy. You really do need a thick skin in Dog Training, and it's hard when you're surrounded by people who are telling you one thing, and you want to do the other. I too believe that no matter what background they come from, every trainer has something valuable in their toolkit...you can learn something from everyone. I always go off to seminars with the expectation that 'if I learn one thing or way of training something that I didn't know before, then it was worth the time/money'. I also think that internet lists and forums are filled with people who preach alot, but don't actually do much of the practical. Often their 'theories' no matter how right they sound are totally frustrating because I'm the one out there 'doing it' and can give them 10 reasons why it wouldn't work for owner and dog. I think on DOL we probably have a high number of trainers 'doing it', which is great. Sometimes you just need to go it alone for a while, and recognise that the trialling world can be an artificial one...and for every person who trials there are another 3 who would never get to trialling stage, or never want to trial and are out there enjoying their dogs. Positive training is a can of worms..it's open to interpretation and everyone has their own definition, and comes to the table with their own expectations. I think it should be more about 'proactive training' using methods that work, and work well for the dog...methods that are humane, and that the dog understands. Positive trainers who dismiss methods and equipment just because it doesn't appear 'positive' to them, are no better than our J & P counterparts who won't use food or a clicker. Mel.

Ahhh yep good question, as I actually asked this at Blackdog when I was learning how to fit them- nope no rubbing...when I said 'thinner' I should have really said in width, no the actual thickness of the strap- it's the same thickness of the strap (the coloured part) of the orginal halters so no problems there...Blackdog have had the prototype out now for at least 6mths and haven't noted any rubbing...and actually because the whole band is all in one and flat- I would say it's even less likely to do so. I have had *one* dog, a very difficult shepherd that learnt to pull on the original halter, and it did break the skin, by constant pulling. I fitted it, and it was working well for me, but back in the owners hands for a week and this resulted...a small sore probably 2mmX2mm, hence we chose another piece of equipment because at that time we could, and their aim was for their teenage kids to be able to walk the dog. Yep totally agree there, I have tried the GL on one of my dogs, and didn't like it, I have also seen many dogs where the GL didn't fit properly and another brand would have been a better choice. I can see where the halti would slip, I would call that material slippery- and I could imagine once it was off the nose it could also slip off from behind the back of the head also. Cheers, Mel.