Dagmar

I regularly worm my dogs with a natural product as worms tend to become more and more resistant to chemical wormers. I am using food grade Diatomaceous Earth and it works beautifully! Even the vet rang me one day and asked what I used. Here is more information about it: http://animalconnection.com.au/Natural_De-wormer.php

Even for vets it is sometimes difficult to differenciate between a normal cough and kennel cough. If there is foamy white mucous then it is most probably KC, also this retching like coughing is an indication. My previous boxer stopped breathing after I gave her the KC cough medication and I had to do CPR to bring her back, I then used Brauer's Cough Remedy for Babies and it worked perfectly!

If you add them to the food, puree the carrots, then the dog's digestive system can actually use it.

My dogs would not talk to me any more, if I forgot to get them crunchy carrots! They are great as a treat and also clean the teeth. Due to the 'relatively' high sugar content I would not feed too many to a dog with cancer, but for a healthy dog carrots are fantastic. If you consider giving carrots as vegetable as a part of their meal, please bear in mind that a dog's digestive system is unable to break open the cells of vegetables (you will find pieces in their poo), therefore puree them and add then to the food and all is good. Happy crunching! Dagmar http://animalconnection.com.au

Where can you buy deer antlers? I ordered them here: http://www.deerfarm.com.au/ Thanks! I will look into that! I hope my dogs find them appealing as there seems to be no meat on them. But one can only try Hehe, no, there is no meat on them, they are antlers. But they do have a darker substance in the middle (I guess some type of marrow), which must be appealing. My boy loves his, and I love the fact I can give it to him inside the house and it doesn't smell or make a mess. Plus he's had it for about 2 weeks now and it's still almost the same size it was at the beginning, even though he's spent hours chewing it. Definitely worth a shot, and if your dogs don't like them, you might be able to give them to a friend with dogs. Sounds like marrow - is it smelly? Then they will probably like it ;) Good to have something to give them inside, especially now in winter! Hehe, good plan - give it to a friend with dogs! I have done that before with roo tail bones, now she has to buy them on a regular basis, her dogs just love them! It is not marrow - it is the renmants of velvet. When the antler is a living growing thing covered in a soft fuzz the inside is a blood rich honeycomb full of amino acids. As the antler ages it slowly calcifies and hardens with the outer layer becoming white and bone like and the inner layer turning into a solid honeycomb, the hardness of which is dependant on whether the antler was shed or cut off. The term "velvet" refers to inner layer not the fuzzy outer layer. Wow - a deer expert! ;) Thanks for the explanation, interesting... The amino acids would be very good indeed! Although I believe you have to be a dog to like it...

Interesting - my first thought was that the dog might have a tooth ache?

Where can you buy deer antlers? I ordered them here: http://www.deerfarm.com.au/ Thanks! I will look into that! I hope my dogs find them appealing as there seems to be no meat on them. But one can only try Hehe, no, there is no meat on them, they are antlers. But they do have a darker substance in the middle (I guess some type of marrow), which must be appealing. My boy loves his, and I love the fact I can give it to him inside the house and it doesn't smell or make a mess. Plus he's had it for about 2 weeks now and it's still almost the same size it was at the beginning, even though he's spent hours chewing it. Definitely worth a shot, and if your dogs don't like them, you might be able to give them to a friend with dogs. Sounds like marrow - is it smelly? Then they will probably like it ;) Good to have something to give them inside, especially now in winter! Hehe, good plan - give it to a friend with dogs! I have done that before with roo tail bones, now she has to buy them on a regular basis, her dogs just love them!

I am using a similar style of finger brush and I have boxers, no problems! ;)

Where can you buy deer antlers? I ordered them here: http://www.deerfarm.com.au/ Thanks! I will look into that! I hope my dogs find them appealing as there seems to be no meat on them. But one can only try

If I cannot get hold of bones for my dogs, I brush their teeth. It takes a while to get them used to it, but patience will get you there. Maybe start with a toothbrush from the pet shop which you can slip over your finger (but be careful not to get bitten ;)) and use a special dog toothpaste (no human toothpaste!) and let your dogs check out the brush with a bit of toothpaste on it. This way they get used to the feeling of the brush. Next lift their lips and gently brush a tooth, just from the outside is fine. If your dogs are a bit like mine, you will experience tongues everywhere . So do not get frustrated, just do every day a bit and eventually they will learn what you are doing. The reward is the taste of the toothpaste. Good luck!

Where can you buy deer antlers?

I agree. Working with alternative methods myself made me realise how many black sheep are out there who just try to sell their products, no matter what. I had lots of clients who also spend a huge amount of money for conventional methods with no return ;)

I agree with Rottifan, could well be a pinched nerve. Maybe get a full blood count done AND see an animal chiropractor. If she was my dog, I would also add acupressure. There is a saying in Traditional Chinese Medicine - if there is a stagnation in the Gallbladder Meridian, one cannot move his limbs... Dagmar

If he was my dog, I would go to an eye specialist right away. Normal vets do not have the expensive tools to check a dogs eye properly. My dogs had corneal ulcers and they are VERY painful. My previous vet actually suggested to stitch the eye closed for a while! Thank god I refused and went to an eye specialist and within only a few days they were fine. Dagmar

Very hard to say, I would get her to the vet and have it checked out. If it is a lump, the vet can also do a fine needle aspiration. Dagmar