tanteNdut

Hi, We just moved from Queensland a couple of weeks ago and our mini schnauzer is starting to develop UTI. She's been getting this on and off for the past couple of months and we think it was because of her pee pads (we used to live in an apartment) and the stress from moving houses, so we bought a new one especially designed for pets (her previous one was a patch of artificial grass we picked up from bunnings). We've ordered cranberry powder for prevention in the future, but in case it doesn't go away within the next week we want to take her to the vet. I was wondering if anyone can recommend a vet around Sydney/Newtown area...we have a car, so anywhere within 30mins drive would be okay. Oh and it would be great if you can share your experience with UTI and any supplement that you use. Thanks!

Sorry, have not heard about that one either. But we're in the process of getting one from here (http://www.temporarypetdoor.com.au/large.html). It's a bit crude, but the price difference is huge and we have a bolt on the sliding door so it looks really sturdy. Hope this helps :)

Hi Stitch, My dog back home is a mix between pomeranian and shih tzu. She is more or less the same with your dog, she's very skinny and she doesn't eat much. I finally gave up trying to feed her on a schedule basis and just leave a bowl of food out. I find that she is more willing to eat of I make it into a game, sometimes I would throw the food and she'll chase it but now as an addition to the bowl of food, I also gave her the ball food dispenser. She likes rolling it and the harder it gets to get the food out, the more excited she is - although sometimes she won't eat the food that came out of the ball. However, she loves human food and dog treats...and my mum has been known to gave her left overs when I'm not around. I would let her watch us eat dinner and then give her the food dispenser ball to get her excited about her food. She is very skinny, you can easily feel her rib cage when you touch her. But she's always been very active and happy and according to my vet, as long as she seems happy and active then it's okay to have a skinny dog. She never had any health problems and she's 8 years old now...still very happy although not so active anymore.

Hi Petmezz, I've only bake two biscuit for my dog. A peanut butter biscuit and a fruity biscuit (both treats), personally I prefer the fruity one because it came out nice and crunchy. The peanut butter was more of a soft cookie and she made a mess when she's eating it. I didn't follow the recipe I got because it didn't feel right. This one is similar to the one I made, but I blend an apple instead of using apple juice. banana carrot dog treat

A party pack sounds great! I made some treats to bring to the dog park last week because one of the dog had her birthday the day before. Too make sure that the treats doesn't ruin any diets, I choose a low fat dog cookie recipe. The one I made was oatmeal, apple, carrot and banana cookie....left it to cool down in the oven until it's extra crunchy. Everyone loves it Good luck!

Bought my phone from the US and it works fine. Make sure you get the unlocked version, unless you want to unlock them yourself. It depends on the brand, but usually the price difference between unlocked and locked aren't that much. I also buy gels for teeth...petzlife? It cost 1/2 the price here

Thanks everyone, it's been a horrible couple of weeks I've sent an email to the breeder the first time she was diagnosed with a heart murmur, I also ask for her complete medical history to be sent to me but no reply until now. I will phone the breeder this weekend, but I feel that looking at the condition - they should already be in touch with me by now. I went to the pharmacy yesterday with the prescription and they told me that it won't be ready until sometime next week because they need to break up the individual tablets into smaller parts and put it in capsules. I'm not sure if it's normal, but I feel so frustrated now...I just want her to get her medication as soon as possible At least I can take comfort knowing that she doesn't feel any pain :D

Thanks everyone :D Kelly_Louise, I'll try your suggestion and stick with one friend to see if she can adjust because my OH is still refusing to get a professional help. But I'm still trying to talk some sense into him

Thanks for the replies I didn't exactly choose her, I was looking for an adult dog and this breeder just happen to have one that she wanted to sell. So we went there and we thought that she was just a bit shy. The first time I saw her I picked her up and she lean on my shoulder....I can't say no to that! The food (with sardines) is her dinner, I put it in her balcony like usual. I did wonder if she's going to associate sardines with being nervous when there are strangers in the house, but we give her sardines once or twice a week anyway. We just got home from the cardiologist and she's been diagnosed with a severe case of SAS. I'll have another talk with my OH after we calm down and have time to digest all the information we get today. If she doesn't have a long time with us, the least I can do is to make sure that we're on the right track and can help her to adjust properly. I can't stop him from inviting people over, so the best way is to get someone to come over and help point us in the right direction. Any suggestion for an animal behaviourist around Spring Hill/Brisbane?

Hi, We went to the cardiologist today to check for Bobbi's heart murmur. The vet did an ultrasound and ECG, came back to us with a severe case of SAS He said that her condition is rare because it's usually found in larger breeds. She also have some other condition as a result of the SAS, and because her heart rate is very low he doesn't recommend giving her the usual beta blocker. Instead, he prescribed Sotalol as a milder alternative. There's nothing we can do apart from giving her lots of love and making sure that her life quality is good. We don't really give her any exercise since her usual vet told me that she's got a heart murmur and she doesn't eat any fatty treats. She is 15 months old now and the cardiologist said that in large breeds, around 70% of the dog can survive to 3 years and the rest survives longer. We're not due for another visit to the cardiologist until the end of the year so he can monitor her progress. Does anyone have an experience with SAS in smaller dogs?

Hi lappiemum, a bit of her background: - we got her from a registered breeder, for some reasons she kept her until she was 1 year and then get her spayed before selling her to me - we went to the breeder's house to check her out before committing to buy and she was very timid and shy compared to the other 20 something schnauzers that jumps and barks with excitement The breeder said that she was always very quiet and she's smaller than the other dogs. So she basically spend 1 year in a huge yard with 20 very active dogs that probably bullied her a lot and she doesn't have much human contact except with the breeder. Since we brought her home, she has changed a lot. She is now running around the house chasing us and started playing, jumping around and being a little mischievous devil. It wasn't easy though, we had to give her lots of cuddles and just give her time to adjust to us and living in an apartment. Her progress is amazing, even when we take her to the dog park on the weekend...the other dog owners can see the difference in her. Last Saturday she even come up to some of the dog owners and let them pet her - usually she won't let anyone pet her except for us. I think she's doing good with people in the dog park because they never try to pet her and she's got plenty of room to roam around if she doesn't want to go near people. But if we have company at home, it might be a different case because it's strangers coming into her house that was suppose to be a safe place for her. I asked my friends to ignore her but every now and again someone will always try to go and pet her Oh and until now...she jumps every time one of us sneeze! We're in Brisbane but as much as I would like to get a professional help, my OH don't think that we're at that point yet. He said that if it takes her a couple of months before she can be totally relaxed around us then it will take at least twice as long to get her used to strangers and our friends that probably come over once a week.

Hi, We've got Bobbi around 2 months ago and she's 1+ year old. Since then, we've had a couple of dinner parties and the occasional friends coming over to hang out. My problem is that Bobbi can't seem to adjust to new people (even to one of my flatmate) and she refuses to eat for the rest of the day if someone come over - not even treats. I can get her to eat only if there's some sardines in her plate. Just wondering if we're doing the right thing by adding the sardines to help her eat when there's people in the house or should we let her be until she decides to eat. I was planning to get all of my friends to give her a little treat after she sniff them but can't do that because she won't eat. We're also trying to take her to public places so she'll get used to being around strangers, but she's extremely jumpy and just refuses to walk towards strangers. It doesn't really matter if it's just 1 or 2 people, but if we're walking towards a group of people then she'll try to run away or cross the street. Any advice on how to get her used to this? I'd like to be able to take her to an outdoor cafe for breakfast on the weekend and I don't want to do it if she's going to be jumpy and shaking all the time. I realise that this is going to be a long process of getting her used to living in the city and having strangers around her all the time, but I want to make sure that I'm on the right path. Thanks!

Bobbi did the exact same thing a couple of weeks ago, but I thought it was because she's still trying to get used to her new home. The next day she had another set of accidents in the house but I notice there's a couple drops of blood in her urine. Another thing I noticed is that she was drinking at least twice as much, so the next day we went to the vet and they check her bladder and stomach to rule out stones. Gave her a set of anti biotic and she hasn't had any other accident since. Hope this helps

Bobbi has been developing some bumps, so far she's got 2 but I've popped one - both bumps is on her legs. A friend who owns a mini schnauzer from the same breeder told me that I shouldn't worry and just pop it whenever it's ready. Bobbi doesn't seem to notice it at all, but this morning before I go to work I notice that she's licking her leg (the part with the bump). After browsing about schnauzer bumps, I'm getting a bit worry and will definitely check it when I get home. Oh, a little background...she didn't have any when we got her (about 2 months ago), the first time I notice her bump is last week. I think it's because I usually take her to the park, but have stopped in the past 2 weeks because she was diagnosed with a grade 3 or 4 heart murmur. According to some of the articles that I read, sunshine plays a big part in helping to stop the bumps....and her coat is starting to grow thick so my next plan is to keep an eye on the bump and take her to the rooftop for some morning sunshine before I go to work

Congrats on the new addition!! I'm with Pet Insurance Australia, we're just about to claim our first vet bill but from the reviews that I read when we were shopping for an insurance it is one of the best

Thanks Staranais :D We have an appointment this Saturday, apparently her urine test came back with a weird result. The vet said that there are lots of sediments in it and she wants to do a blood check up and check her kidney for stones. I'm planning to have another chat about the heart murmur and see if we can get a referral to a specialist. Wish us luck!

Thanks for the reply Darkrai! Is your boy on any medications for the heart murmur? We just got her, so we're still trying to figure things out and that's why we thought she was just a couch potato. The heart murmur really is a nasty surprise! She's got tons of love and cuddles when we're at home. We're having some problems with the insurance as well, so I'll have to wait and have a talk to my OH about our next step. My first dog has a heart murmur, but I wasn't worried at all because it was only a grade 2 and he was a happy and active dog. Bobbi has always been a little fragile girl, she's a special girl who needs special attention

We went to the vet yesterday because my dog has blood in her urine, I thought that was my biggest problem until we discovered that she's got a heart murmur. The vet didn't specify exactly how bad it is, but she did say that it's a grade 3 or 4...and looking at the vet's face when she said that my dog will have a shorter lifespan it doesn't look good at all She's a little over a year now, I just got her about a month ago and she's been a real couch potato. I was always worried about her sleeping so much but my OH convinced me that she's just a low energy dog (we've been watching the dog whisperer). But now I think the reason why she sleeps so much and she barely play is because she's tired all the time. I'm extremely stressed now, trying not to google too much about heart murmur and just concentrate on the urine problem....but as you all know, it's pretty much impossible not to google it. So I did, and I read a lot of the threads about heart murmur in this forum but most of them are either in really young puppies or older dogs. Has anyone have experience similar to this? We're not due for another vet visit until her test result came back for her urine sample, so it's going to be a long painful wait. I also notice that for the past 3-4 days her breathing is a lot faster than usual and she's been sleeping a lot more (if it's even possible). We tried taking her for a walk yesterday but by the time we came home, her breathing was really loud and it didn't go back to her normal (fast) breathing until about 4 hours later. I'm cutting back on the playing and exercise, usually I would take her to the dog park for 1 - 1.5 hours after work. She's a really sweet dog and really timid, I don't think she's going to miss going to the park although I think I'll still take her to the park on Saturday mornings so she can play with her friends. Other suggestions will be much appreciated

Thanks for the advices! We're really excited to get her to settle down and see her true personality at home, but can't stop worrying about everything. It's been so long since I brought a new dog home and the last one was a puppy when I took her home - I was still in uni so I had plenty of time to stay at home with her. She was a total angel yesterday, nothing breaks or chewed apart from her toys (yay!) Maybe I was being too paranoid and just assume the worst Will keep an eye on her progress though, discussed this with my OH and we agree to try the bitter spray (or vicks) for a week but if it doesn't work we will get a play pen for her. I made chicken broth last night and freeze it, put it in her bowl this morning. That should keep her busy for a while and then she can start foraging for treats we left throughout the living room.

What about Victoria Park in Spring Hill? I've been taking Bobbi there for a walk, but because we just move I'm not too sure about weekends. The off leash area is pretty decent and so far everyone has been really friendly. Would love to have a meet somewhere within walking distance since we don't have a car ;) Anyway, I'm planning to go there this weekend. Will give an update next Monday

Yeah, I can see how that an accident might happen with the balcony (even though the breeder assure us that miniature schnauzers can't jump too high). We always left the balcony door open so she can come in whenever she wants to. The balcony is covered so it's really nice and breezy on warm days, but not a pleasant place to be if it's extremely windy. I've ordered a bottle of bitter spray and will try that option first because the only thing that I need her to stay away from are the cables. Apart from that, our living room is pretty empty (no more clutters lying around). What do you do for potty when your dogs are inside? We're still trying to train her to pee on one of those pee stations with the imitation grass but the progress is really slow. She only pee on the balcony or when we take her for a walk. I guess it's a blessing in disguise, at least she doesn't pee on the carpet. The only room that I can think of is our bathroom...or maybe the kitchen area. For some reason she doesn't like both area and prefers to stay on the living room/balcony when we're at home. She's only been with us for a short period of time, basically her spots are the dog house outside, my couch and under my OH's bed (which is out of limit when we're not at home). Apart from those spots she won't even consider sitting down even though I've been encouraging her to walk around and putting treats everywhere Any suggestion on where I can find gates?

I'm not worried about her climbing up the balcony wall, because it's pretty tall and there's nothing near the wall that she can use to climb up. Took all the basic precautions like switching off electricity socket and cleaning up little knick knacks within her reaching distance. We also hide treats around the sofa and her dog house for her to find, hopefully she'll behave better today....2.5 hours to go before I get to go home and see how she's doing Thanks for the advice, will definitely consider getting a playpen set up if she still chew on cables. My OH promised to get a webcam ready for streaming, so we can watch her behaviour when we're at the office. This should help us to decide what our next step is, she might just need time to learn that she's got toys to play with instead of chewing random stuff.

Hi, I got a new dog recently and she's a little over a year old now. She's been in kennels all her life so doesn't have any trainings at all. I've been with her for the first week but now have to leave her home alone during the day. Yesterday was the first time we had to leave her alone, and when we get home she chews my OH's adapter cable and a roll of double sided tape that I left on the table. I left the balcony door open again today in case she wants to come inside, but left a plastic bottle with her treats inside so hopefully she'll get distracted (still waiting for her Kong to arrive). I'm not sure which one is best for her training right now: 1. Leave her on the balcony (it's pretty spacious so she can run around) during the day with her toys 2. Leave her in the house but put bitter spray on items that we don't want her to chew on She's pretty comfortable playing in her balcony, her dog house and food/drink bowls are out there. I just don't have the heart leaving her outside because our unit is on the 8th floor and it can be very windy. Also, would appreciate if anyone can give tips on home made bitter spray. A friend suggested to use chilli, but I think that's just too mean Thanks!

Thanks she's very cute and yesterday she started playing with us so it's a major progress! Aannie, doggylovers, Huga...can't wait to see more pictures of your puppy

Somewhere to sleep - we'll be crate training so I already have the crate. Need to get some bedding. Grooming brush/comb - I've been advised to groom for a few minutes each day for the first couple of weeks to help with bonding Baby gates or play pen - for confinement to a room or area Doggy door Pet insurance (if you're going to get some) Booking for puppy pre-school Storage container for the dog food Thanks for the help! We have her house for the balcony (we live in an apartment) and also a pillow for the living room. Still need to get a comb but she's so affectionate and loves cuddles so I'm not too worried about bonding. But I think we still have a long way before she'll be her true self at home, she's extremely shy and timid. Here's Bobbi...!