16Paws

We had our cats in boarding late last year and the kennels were only open for inspections between certain hours. I called ahead to let them know we were coming for 'the tour' and was greeted by the manager who was also a (ex?)vet nurse. In our case, we have 2 cats with medical conditions and I appreciated being shown around by the manager as I could ask questions and discuss their needs - I imagine a junior or newer staff member would not have been able to provide that level of service. ;) We did get there just on 'open for inspection' time and had to dodge someone hosing out litter trays

When our pup got kennel cough he advised 14 days away from other dogs. Her cough started as frequent hacking but with 24 hours was down to an occasion huf. I found it was more apprent when she ran around or if you put pressure on the chest. Our vet told us that generally if a dog is vaccinated against KC they experience a much milder case.

My pup had it at about 4months, very severe runs with mucus, was treated with from memory, a penicillin(spelling?) injection and oral anti-biotics, I think we also put her on a bland diet for the week. She did not have any of the other symptoms and it cleared up after 3-4 days of treatment.

I've had plenty of time to give my lavendar bottle a try out. I haven't used it inside the house yet but I have added it to washing and the 'dog stuff' really does smell much fresher then what it used to after a wash. We've also used it to rinse down concreted areas in the backyard and the dog beds and it works a treat. It does smell when you're using it but it's not unpleasant and not very strong at all. It doesn't appear to leave any residue either. The dogs have laid in it while wet and have not been bothered by it. The only problem I've had with it so far is the first time I opened it and tried to pour some into a small container I spilled a good 500ml

In my defence, I've only dealt with people with allergies and when there is no underlying medical cause you have to start asking questions about absolutely everything to discover the triggers.

Yes I guess that would be pretty strange for a dog to be allergic to the actual dog. OT, I have a friend who is allergic to animal saliva. She comes up in terrible hives if she comes into contact with cat or dog spit. I thought she was joking the first time she mentioned it. I guess that's got to be better than being allergic to their fur when you're an animal lover!

I imagine if he's allergic to a shampoo or grass and the other dogs were transferring it to him the only way to check would be to consider putting all dogs on the same diet and routine as mr allergic. I'm sure a dermatologist will point you in the right direction

It could have an affect. I'm not allergic but I'm very sensitive to fragrance and sometimes I can't be within 1m of my OH after he puts on deodarant, etc because it makes my face burn. Have you done any test to check if he has an allergy to the other dogs (ie, their fur, dander, saliva)?

If it has been an ongoing battle for such a long time with constant changes to his regime, you could consider just stopping everything for a short term to give his system a rest (while getting the above mentioned tests/referrals). Have you ruled out everything in his environment (grasses, pollens, someone wearing or spraying fragrances or insecticides near him, ants, flies, plastic, shampoo, the kind of brush, towels, bedding, toys, etc)? Start keeping a diary of his daily activities and food and severity of his condition if you haven't already - if other medical problems are ruled out and allergy tests are not providing the answer, close observation and elimination of food and environmental causes will probably be the next step.

Our i-squeaks arrived this afternoon - managed to take a couple of photos while dodging crazy squeaky induced zoomies Foster pup

I think that would be fine. I saw a few of the photos in you're other topic, they look very nice Alternatively, if you have the time and inclination you could upload the photos to one of the free photo/gallery sites (i.e. picasa) and just send her the link. Then her friends can add comments, etc.

It depends on what she wants to do with the photos, if either of you have any restrictions on your email accounts (ie. file size limits) and what size monitor and resolution she is using on her computer. At a screen res of 1280 x 1024 you won't want to exceed 900 x 900px.

awww tess is gorgeous Good point about the incidentals, once you have to start buying large size beds, collars, harnesses, tougher toys, etc it can add up very quickly.

I was actually due to sit down and work out our 'animal budget' so - we feed our lab and GR artemis, sardines twice a week, nat yoghurt twice a week, chicken frames weekly, chicken mince daily, pigs ears occassionaly, left over carrots and apples and a tub of peanut butter lasts a few months (added this up on a post-it note while typing and I'm gobsmacked ) - around $250 per/month for the 2 of them (combined weight 60kg give or take) which is around $8 a day - holy moly. Insurance cost $600 p/yr. Worming/heartworm/flea treatments = $15 p/month for both of them oh my goodness no wonder my bank account is always empty

Added :rolleyes: - I have ordered from them in the past and was very happy with the treats.

Noticed a lot of the same questions being asked in the last week so *bump*

11/52 - In the distance

I've never written it as a recipe before but stuffed potatoes is always a favourite (especially for bachelors) Wash a medium/large potato and poke with a fork a few times. Zap in the microwave until cooked (you should be able to insert a knife through the middle with ease) – this is about 5mins in 1000w microwave for medium tato. Slice across the potato 3-4 times (about 1.5cm apart) only to about 1cm from the bottom (so it is still whole but you now have a number of openings/slices). Place a slice of cheese and a chunk of ham between each slice of potato. Spoon tomato salsa or diced tomato over the top. Zap in microwave for another 30-60 sec. Spoon on some sour cream. Yummo stuffed potato. Can also use leftover BBQ chicken, baked beans, chutney, etc for fillings. I know they were terrible instructions

My reply wasn't aimed at anyone so no insuating going on here. My comment doesn't imply that the dogs aren't already happy, the original topic was 'what's the point of playing' - I was just trying to demonstrate that I think (my personal opinion) that dogs may get further enjoyment/fullfillment out of other activities we may not usuaully agree with or particpate in, whether that's playing, swimming, eating icecream or digging holes in the backyard.

Our pup was attacked by a dog at an off-leash park when she was younger and we have never returned to that park. Not just because of this particular incident but from the talk in the park at the time, aggressive dogs were quite a common occurrence there. It is also very busy and I feel that the more dogs there are the more chances of an incident happening. Our lab pup adores other dogs but we keep her away from dogs that we're not familiar with for everyone's safety. We are lucky enough to have met some very nice 'regulars' at our local dog park and we are more than happy to let our dogs have a play session with these dogs when there are no other strange dogs around. In the first few months we had our lab, we took her daily to the local off-leash park before hours (i.e 5am) where she was BFF with a cattle dog a few months older. I could have cried at how beautiful they were together, she has never played with another dog like she did with the ACD, she could spot her and her owner before we could see a spec in the distance and would wait patiently at the gate. ACD’s owner told us that he always knew when we were there as his dog would make a very determined beeline for the off-leash area. Isn’t it a bit like having a child (which I don’t) and not letting them attend birthday parties or play with their friends on the weekend. Sure they might get used to the routine and entertaining themselves but this doesn’t mean they wouldn’t get enjoyment and fulfilment from those other activities. I’m talking about my own dogs here, I don’t have any experience with working dogs/farm dogs/sports dogs.

I'm going to do some ringing around tomorrow to see if any of these places stock the Landa Lite coat which is really the type I want to buy.

I didn't notice the typo! Maybe you could explain that the typo is so you can tell genuine art from fake

That would make it much more difficult to remove the watermark and it's still subtle enough that you get a good idea of how the art looks. You may find that different watermarks work fro different images.

Thanks Staff'n'Toller, if I can't sort out an order myself I may just take you up on your offer

I'm planning on buying WeatherBeeta Landa Lite coats for my dogs but there are no local stockists in my area. Weatherbeeta have given me the details for the Australian Distributor so before I contact them I thought I'd check if anyone else would be interested in these coats (or even another weatherbeeta product). I don't have the price as I haven't contacted them yet but other coats in the range seem to retail for $40-$60.