westielover

Another thing to consider is what type of plants you have in your garden - being spring a lot of plants have come into flower and a few dogs I know have broken out into alerrgic reactions. Wandering jew, jasmine, azaleas etc are a few plants which dogs are allergic to. Food can either heal or exacerbate a problem. For example, yeast overgrowth disease thrives on foods that convert to glucose in the body, such as carrots, peas, any type of grain including wheat, corn, barley, oats, rice, anything that contains refined sugar, sucrose, dextrose, just to name a few. It will never completely go away until the culprit is discovered and eliminated from the diet. A journal or food diary is a good way of keeping up with what Minx is eating and subsequent responses to the diet. This includes every single item Minx eats, including dog treats and chew bones. Other meats to consider feeding Minx include turkey, lamb, fish (tinned pink salmon), rabbit & definately kangaroo mince. It's a shame you're not in Sydney because I could recommend an excellent vet to help you out. Best of luck with resolving this.

I use any type of fruit which is sweet (slightly overipe as well) -I stay away from citrus fruits and grapes. My boys tend to favour watermelon - without seeds, mangoes & papaya in summer!

I've read her books - definately interested!

I use the monthly heartguard tablets for my boys. I don't like the idea of having them injected with too many chemicals!

Wandering dew is a plant and it looks like this: http://www.naturespic.com/a1/image.asp?id=8056 dogs are very allergic to this plant/weed

Hi Amelia, I use a food processor - I just throw in english spinach, chines veggies, carrots, squash, brocolini, apples & cabbage - if it gets too dry then I had a bit of water. Then I pack i cup portions into freezer bags and use the veggies as I need them. cheers westielover

I guess there are some principles in their method - however I agree in that they are emotionally harsh. I also find the feeding raw meat & sleeping outside bit annoying - is raw meat supposed to make a dog wild!!! I don't agree with the sleeping outside business either - dogs are part of the family - do people's kids sleep outside??? Also - what was the purpose of not walking your dog for two weeks - gawd - how boring for th poor doggy!!! Remind me never to get Dogtech to come to my house!!!! Too harsh for my liking. I totally understand the concept that a dog must know where it sits in the pack but there are many more positive ways of making that happen!!!

Hi skyes dalimit, He's a small local butcher and he knows how much I love my boys and that I wouldn't feed them rubbish. I used to buy regular mince from him and then one day he told me he could make mince for me with his off cuts - no sausage mince - so he does that for me and now some of the other doggy parents in the area. At least that way he gets some money for it and doesn't just have to throw it away. So it's worked out well for us & for him. He's a good guy - I trust him. He always says hello to the dogs when we walk past his shop and always asks about the latest foster dog we have!!

Hi Electrawoman, It's difficult to decide what to do when vets always advocate commercial pet food! I have never come across a vet who will enthusiastically tell you to feed your dog raw meat & veggies (except Dr Ian Billinghurst of course!!) I have been feeding my west highland white terriers raw meat/veggies/bones etc since they were puppies and they have been very healthy becuase of that. No skin problems, healthy, shiny coats & bright, bright eyes. Occasionally I throw some kibble into a treat ball & they look at me as if to say 'what the hell are you thinking"!!!!! Their treats also consist of dried liver, dried kangaroo meat, non oily pigs ears, dried tune meat, lamb & cow ears & the occasional dentabone (but never too much!) I try to stay away from processed foods. I find by feeding them this type of diet their motions are always solid. If I veer away from that diet and give then cooked meat or processed food of any type - their motions are very, very sloppy and their stomachs makes all sort of funny noises AND they do the smelliest farts!!!! I must say though - that I don't make a habit of giving them a lot of beef on its own - my local butcher makes pet mince for me with his left over meat - which is pretty good - bit of chicken, veal, pork & beef. They do eat a lot of chicken (wings, necks, carcasses), I have also introduced turkey mince when I can get it, sardines are good occasionally too. Always mixed with raw, blender mashed vegetables (mostly green leafy types - chinese veg's are excellent). Sometimes if I give them miced meat & veggies - I throw in a handful of chicken wing tips (from chicken shop at about $1.50/kg) for a bit of crunch - rather than kibble. I also add vitamins & oils. Might be handy to get yourself a "BARF Diet' book. Good luck with your decision.

small pieces of cubed cheese makes them do anything!!!!! But not too much. BBQ chicken is also a "i'll do anything' treat when teaching a new command. Cabanossi is another one I have seen used. Unfortunatelty - I suppose these can get quite expensive too!

I did the 'Dogtech' train the trainer course in May last year. The 'dog whisperer' guy knows a lot about dominance & aggression issues with dogs - and I must say the course was heavily focussed on those 2 areas. If you had a dog with major dominance or agression issues - I would recommend him. Otherwise I would go elsewhere. If you are in NSW I would recommend this mob: http://www.getsmartdogs.com.au/ - They do clicker training and I did the course twice with both of my west highland terriers & they were very responsive to this method of training. The other person who I have heard is supposed to be good with dog behaviour issues is Velma from Velma's Pets as Therapy http://www.velmaspetsastherapy.com.au/dogadvice.html She is also in NSW. Good luck with your puppy!

Hi gusgem - westielover here!!!! I didn't vaccinate Winston & Riley this year - they have been vaccainted for the past 4 & 3 years. However - i did the titer test this year and their immune levels exceeded the minimum requirement so the vet told me not to vaccinate this year. The vet said that she had titer tested 70 dogs this year and only 1 dog needed a vaccination top up. The vet also told me that Kennels are starting to accept titer test certifactes as proof of immunisation. Also - my vet told me that Sydney Uni Vet School graduates are being taught a new protocol with regard to vaccinations - I beleive it will something like every 3 years. They will still be doing the puppy vaccinations - but then every 3 years. Anyway - I am sure it will take a while for this to work it's way thru to all vet clinics. Now I know you had a bad experience with parvo - but research is starting to indicate that over vaccinating may be the cause of compromised immune systems and if a dog has a compromised immune system - it's unlikely that the vaccination will help the dog, as the immune system will 'reject' the vaccination and this still leaves the dog exposed to diseases. I did a heap of research about this this and I also spoke to a westie breeder in the USA and she hardly vaccinates - if she needs to - she uses homeopathis nosodes. She reckons she has had the healthiest dogs since she stopped over vaccinating them. She's also a vet nurse, a homeopath & long time westie breeder. Westies are prone to skin conditions and she hasn't had any problems in the last 8 years since she stopped over vaccinating. Gusgem - I am very concerned with Winston's & Riley's health - you know what I'm like with my boys - and this year I thought it was in their best interest not to vaccinate based on the test results. Also Riley had a bit of a skin problem last year after he was vaccinated - it took about 3 months to fix it. Hence my decision this year. See ya at the park gusgem!!

I was speaking to a woman last night who told me an awful story about her 6 year old female Border Collie who died 6 weeks ago. When I asked why she died - the woman told me that she had a bad reaction to her annual vaccinations. The poor border collie had a stroke and then became paralyzed - so the woman was advised by her vet to put her border collie to sleep as her quality of life was no good. This woman had been vaccinating her BC for the past 6 years and it wasn't until this vaccination that this occured. She then went on to tell me that she has some vets in the family and spoke to a couple of them after this horrible incident and was told that apparantly this is a known reaction with Border Collies!!!!! The vet said that they haven't been able to figure out why this occurs in border collies - but it does occur! So those of you out there - be careful when vaccinating your border collies. Just thought I'd share this info.

I had my 2 westies titer tested two weeks ago and their results were so good that I don't need to vaccinate this year. I have a 'titer certificate' which can be presented to some boarding kennels which are starting to accept them. I have been vaccinating my boys for the past 4 years and last year one of my boys had a bad skin reaction to one of the vaccinations - hence I was determined to find an alternative method. So I am pleased that I don't need to vaccinate them this year. My vet advised that they have titer tested 70 dogs so far and only 1 required a booster vaccination. The titer test which is done in WA only tests for parvo & distemper 'immunity' - it doesn't test for hepatitis. The full test for all 3 needs to be done in Scotland as per the previous post. However, my vet advised that the trend in the results is that if the titer levels for parvo & distempter come back good - then hepatitis 'immunity' is fine also. Also - as for the espense side of things the vaccination usually cost me $180 per dog per year. The titer test cost me $85 per dog + consult fee. I also chose to do a health check - which checks organ funstion - so that cost me another $70 per dog - but I didn't have to do that test as part of the titer test. So at my vet in Five Dock - the titer test was cheaper than the annual vaccination! Some vets don't seem to be keen on doing titer tests as they will lose their "bread & butter' income which they get from annual vaccinations. You can read all about titer testing on the internet - just type 'canine titer tests' into your searh engine and all sorts of info comes up.