shez78

I don't think it was your fault at all. The owner should warn people that their dog could potentially bite. Then again maybe it would of been best to ask if you could pat. I trust my dogs won't bite but I hate how kids just come up & pat them. Parents should be teaching their kids to ask the owners if the dog is okay to pat! If it is any consolation I also have been bit by a chihuahua, only I did ask the owner if it was safe to pat. He had the chihuahua in his arms at the time & told me that his dogs was friendly & likes to be held. When he went to hand the dog to me, it went for me, bit my nose & drew blood. Turns out the dog maybe doesn't like being hauled of to strangers - lol.

I can honestly say with hand on heart that I have never hated a dog in my life. In fact it is the polar opposite. I can say that there are certain breeds of dogs that I wouldn't be keen on owning. However in saying that I am sure if for some weird reason I ended up with that particular breed of dog that I wasn't keen on, that I would find the traits I did like in the dog & focus on that. Take my youngest dog, Lilly, Maltese & a total fluff ball. I wasn't really keen on fluffy dogs ( I was stereotyping) but when I laid eyes on her I just knew that she would be the last addition to my pack . She makes me laugh everyday & makes my heart melt everytime she looks at me. She has picked up training really fast & is the most loving & loyal dog. However there are other Maltese dogs I have met that I am not fond of, but that is more down to the behaviour & lack of doggy manners from a lack of training. I grew up on farms for half of my life & we had working dogs, plus I got my first dog when I was 12, a German Shepherd who I named Raja. My point being that I think apart from when I traveled overseas for a couple of years, I have owned or been around dogs for all of my life. There were dogs that I was wary off, not breed, but rather the individual dog, but that was due to the dogs behaviour. But my personal opinion is that it is not the dogs fault but rather the owners of the dog. I was so proud of myself when I had Raja as he was trained well, was obedient, a happy & extremely loyal dog. @ Big Paws - I totally agree with you. A dog is a lifestyle choice, but not for a couple of years, it is for life. People these days think buying a dog is like buying a TV. Keep it for a couple of years & then get a better one. I do however that there are sometime circumstances in which it would be better for the dog to be re-homed & that sometimes there are legitimate reason for giving the dog up. But as for excuses such as moving O/S, can't have pets in new house, dog is aggressive, doesn't get along with cat - blah blah. Load of cows manure! But lets be honest even though the owners in my opinion are wrong, the dog is definitely better off being re-homed. Because not loving a dog is a form of neglect too in my eyes & every dog deserves a home where it will be loved & never have to worry about getting ditched when the owners get bored with it. I think apart from military & elderly & the off special circumstance that we have a massive problem. Anyway I could talk about this on and on ( am quite passionate) but its off topic so I will zip it. No I have never hated a dog & never hope to either.

Sorry, I must not have communicated my post clear enough. I wasn't looking for information or advise regarding discontinuing of use & what my next course of action should be. I had OF COURSE spoke to my vet & Dog dermatologist (specialist) before I stopped giving the melatonin to my dog. I am aware & have read up the information you posted in regard to the actual side effects, what the medication is & what it is used for & what studies have been carried out. My vet, dog dermatologist ( specialist) & I went through all of the veterinarian reference material & information that is currently available on the internet before I would even consider giving a treatment to one of my dogs. The reason I took Charlie Brown off the medication (Melatonin) was for that very reason, that there have been no clinical trials on long term use & possible side effects, if any, caused by it. I was however posting to see if any other members have had their dogs on Melatonin & they're personal experience with it, if it indeed actually worked & so on. If anyone's dogs have pattern balding & what they are using as a course of treatment.

Charlie Brown is a Mini Foxy. At around 9 months of age I noticed a few bald spots that seemed to be getting bigger. Charlie malts a lot but where it was going bald it looked more like the hair wasn't growing back. I let my fingers do the typing to investigate it & came up with the obvious answers. Skin allergies, Food allergies, or alopecia but none of it seemed to fit her. There is no redness or welts & Charlie doesn't bite or scratch at the area. And so started the long investigation into what was causing her problems. My vets first suggestion was fish oil which I had her on for a couple of weeks then came the change of diet, shampoo, lotion and so on. The only place it affects her is under her neck & around the base of her ears & a tiny area, smaller than a five cent piece on top of her head. Around the back of her back legs the hair is a bit sparse but not like under her neck. Nothing was working so the next step was to take her to see dog Dermatologist, Beth McDonald, at Sydney University. Beth did a skin scraping & enquired about scratching to which I advised it is more like the hair is falling out and just not growing back. The skin scraping confirmed that the hair shafts were falling out & not breaking off & that the hair isn't growing back in that area. Beth suggested a biopsy just to rule anything else out such as diseases and so on. I will post about the experience concerning the biopsy in another forum re: vet care! When the biopsy came back it showed that Charlie Brown has pattern balding which is apparently very rare in females & even more unheard of in her breed. On her back legs it is a low grade dermatitis - contact allergy. Beth suggested Melatonin to stimulate the hair growth for a period of 3 - 4 months. I hate putting my dogs on any type of unnecessary medication, especially when the pattern balding is not causing any health problems. This would be just for vanity's sake & to put an end to people asking what's wrong with her. Plus from all the articles I read regarding Melatonin, I was a tad concerned with the side effects caused by long term use. I did decide to try Charlie Brown on it & at the 3 month mark discontinued use. I was just posting to see if anyone else has tried Melatonin and if by any chance you could see a difference or that it actually worked? I decided at the 3 month mark it wasn't worth putting Charlie Brown's health at risk just for vanity's sake but I would be interested to know if anyone else has come across pattern balding & if any other treatments were used/ and or worked?

My dog Charlie Brown was desexed at 6 months of age. Then the problems started soon after. She was going to the toilet a lot & from what I could see only weeing a small amount each time. Then she started weeing in her sleep. She would be devastated when she would wake only to discover that she had wet herself. The first few times it happened I thought nothing of it, however did notice the amount of times she was going to the toilet. But then it seemed to be getting more & more frequent. She fell asleep on my lap & wet herself. As I said before she was absolutely beside herself when she would wake. She did it in my bed too when she asleep so off we go back to the vet to investigate. My poor angel was so upset, especially when she did it in my bed. I think she was waiting to get scolded for it but if anything it upset me to see her like it. Because when she would wake, it was like she was in shock, she would sniff at the area & look at me as if to say "Whoa what the hell happened". My vet ran a few different tests, did a urinalysis to see if she was diabetic, checked her thyroid & so on. All the tests came back normal. I have decided not to put her on medication at this stage. If the problem gets more severe then the occasional accident then I will look further into it. At the moment it is just the occasional drip & she hasn't wet herself in a couple of months (touch wood).

WOW $90/ $130???! for the TT??!! I say this as I made the decision not to vaccinate my dogs every year after doing extensive research into the matter. America is way ahead of us in terms of research, for example the AVMA & WSAVA & it is amazing how long this information is taking to get out to the general public in Australia. One of the arguments is that we may be doing more damage than good to our dogs by constantly vaccinating an already boosted immune system. Though I am sure not all vets WANT this information to be well known as they are making a small fortune. Anyway, sorry I digress. It's just when I found this information out I was quite upset that vets aren't more upfront with this kind of stuff. What amazed me was when I approached my vet about this, he told me that no staff in his clinic vaccinate there animals every year either. But here we good pet owners take our beloved dogs in every year for a shot, thinking we are doing the right thing, when in actual fact we might be doing more harm than good?! Don't even get me started on the 1 year heartworm injection!! Vets should be informing there clients that this injection should be only given, if for a medical reason it cannot be given orally! That there can be serious life threatening side effects immediately or that might not be seen for months. Which it is clearly labeled on the product but this information is not getting passed along so that the owners can make an informed decision. I say wow to $90/$130 because when I asked my vet how much it will cost to have the TT done I was told approx $300!!! I was told that the only place that does it is, is a pathology lab in Melbourne & that's why it costs that much. But after reading your posts I am now thinking I should shop around & make a few calls. I know that my vet is overpriced, I mean it has hospital in the title so that says it all really. But in saying that I live on the central coast & I have had some really horrific experiences with the vets here. So even though my vet is overpriced I go to it because of one of the vets who I trust implicitly with my animals. And that to me, is priceless!! I am moving soon & I am dreading the whole find a good vet again. They are few and far between it seems. Sigh

Hi Bartok, I only know that it is sold here, not as to where it is manufactured. I just assumed it is imported. My vet recommended Comfortis but before I give my dogs any new medication or treatment I do a far bit of research on it. What I found was similar to what you mentioned, seizures, allergies & death in some cases. I have decided to stick to Sentinel until Comfortis has been on the market for a couple of years & the statistics change for the better. From what I read Comfortis was rushed through the FDA & even though they have an alarmingly high side effect they chose to release it anyway. My vet said a lot of his clients give it to their dogs & love it, one of my friends even gives it to her dog. As far as I am concerned though I will err on the side of caution. Be good to know what you find out though!

Ohh I am so sorry for the loss of your little girl! Reading your post made me pick up my little angels & hug them.

I like to think my dogs have the best of both worlds. They are inside dogs but have access to the backyard 24hours a day. They have both an inside & outside schedule so to speak. I like to think of it as being healthy for them to be outside through the day when the sun is shining & they are able to chase each other around or just lay & soak up some rays. Plus there are certain things that are an outside thing only, like chewing bones ( no bones in house EVER) or playing in their blow up pool I got them. I have no beef with anyone having dogs as an inside or outside dog. I don't believe if you keep your dog outside that it is loved less. However I do agree that some people have dogs for the whole white picket fence scenario & that those dogs are normally thrown outside, left to fend & amuse themselves. These are the types of owners that eventually come up with some lame excuse such as moving o/s, getting a job in another state or just the plain old I don't want the dog anymore & ditch the dog to a shelter. There are LOTS of these types of owners. The statistics of how many dogs are getting dumped per year is not getting any less! But the same thing can be said for dog owners that keep there dog inside 24/7. I know dog owners that work 10 - 12 hour days & in that time the dog is left inside ( pee pad trained) and although when they get home the dog is with them, the dog has no mental or physical exercise. They say they got a small dog as they live in an apartment to suit they're lifestyle to which I agree to an extent, however even though these types of dogs don't need walking quite like a big dog, they still need exercise & stimuli. Plus I think it's healthy for them to chew the grass, fall asleep in the sun or just for socialisation reasons to be outside! But to each their own. My choice is to keep my dogs inside with access to the backyard. They can sleep on my bed, lounge, floor or if they really want to surprise me their dog beds!! They are part of my family! I remember I took Charlie when it was her time to do puppy school training to one of the classes & the trainer told me to get Charlie, who at the time was sitting on my lap, down on the floor. The trainer said that she is a dog & dogs belong on floors, not beds or lounges or laps. She decided to do this in front of the other 20 or so other people in the class. I told the trainer that basically it was her opinion! That I have spent all of my life around animals, whether it be on our farms or my pets & that I definitely agree that dogs are dogs & should be treated as such. However I bought a lap dog for the purpose of being a lap dog. Just because I allow my dog when I want her to, to get up on my lap does not mean she is not a dog! In saying this I could tell by the way she spoke of her own dog that she loved it & that it was treated well, however we just had different opinions on what place a dog had in each of our homes. Such is life!! I must admit though, I always wonder when it is winter & really cold how owners don't relent & let their dogs inside. I mean some dogs have the right coat to be outside but not all. I always say to my dogs as we are snuggled up in our blankets watching tv about how lucky they are & just think of the poor doggies outside in this weather....