BrunoBella

Hey BrunoBella, I live about 15 mins from you and would be glad to show you how to check your dog. Do you want to meet at a dog park or something? Please read up on the life cycle and habitat of ticks, really need to "know your enemy". Thank you... Do you live in the gold coast? I had forgotten about videos, so today watched about 20 videos for how to find ticks.. I feel a lot more confident already... Diagnosing tick paralysis Edited for forgetfullness..Thank you everyone for the fantastic info... We have been to Burleigh beach every day for the last two days..... Twas bruno and bellas favourite place in the world :laugh: We are near Nerang. We have a GSP cross something something, however he is a total goofball and typical of the breed. There are 8 acres here and we now have it all mowed and cleared. No ticks on the dog yet.. touching wood. We have had a couple of sessions in the dam paddock chasing swamp hens and no snakes or other nasties have been spotted. This is due to the fact that the snakes were all around the house (sorted now) so I figure the paddock can't be any worse. It is shady around the dam (treed) so that is not the snakey area, keep him focused on the water birds and me. When I see him start to quarter the open grassed area I worry then, he is looking for water dragons or any other reptiles. Very dry early summer was good, now the rain, storms have created humidity I would expect to find ticks. Have read they breed in mulch so must keep up the regular mowing so no thick mulch accumulates. Cane toads under control finally, I have been collecting them every night for over 2 years now only the odd one. Qld is a bad place for breeds with high prey drive! Gsps are goofballs especially the boys, thats why I miss bruno so much Prey drive has killded 2 chickens, possums, , butterflies, christmas beetle, lizards and snakes since july. Bella and bruno killed two snakes together . Scary to watch!! Good idea about the clearing. Will try and do that when I get to back to brisbane.. Currently with family. GSPs are good friends :) I was about to try and train Bruno to be my assistance dog for when I get older.. However, have been reading another topic on assistance dogs so might have to get a calm lab for my next dog. Only if I can have a chocolate lab. Bella is already fantastic at slobering me with kisses when i sat and cried about bruno...

Hey BrunoBella, I live about 15 mins from you and would be glad to show you how to check your dog. Do you want to meet at a dog park or something? Please read up on the life cycle and habitat of ticks, really need to "know your enemy". Thank you... Do you live in the gold coast? I had forgotten about videos, so today watched about 20 videos for how to find ticks.. I feel a lot more confident already... Diagnosing tick paralysis Edited for forgetfullness..Thank you everyone for the fantastic info... We have been to Burleigh beach every day for the last two days..... Twas bruno and bellas favourite place in the world :laugh:

Jed What region are you from .... am trying to find a safer spot than gold coast.. :)

thanks for that info and sympathies. Bella getting twice daily checks .. currently looking for house urgently in Brisbane know of any rooms. Or house sitting jobs?

I agree, ticks will be a bigger problem with climate change.. I had never seen a tick as I come from Canberra. That's how I lost bruno Checking bella daily. Don't want to lose another dog... Is there somewhere where you can get someone to show you how to check for ticks? I have been doing it for two weeks but am still not confident of my skills.

I moved to the Gold Coast . Mudgeeraba.. I did not realise how bad the tick season was and I lost Bruno to paralysis tick ...I had never seen one before and was usiing advantix on my dogs 4 wkly. I don't want to lose Bella as well . I have learned that vomiting is the first sign and that if I had found taken him to the vet they can fix him... Also, am checking poor bella twice a day... Poor dog....Also moving to 2 wkly advantix.. Do you guys know the high and low regions so I can find somewhere safer to live in Brisbane ?. Come back Bruno, I miss you so much. Paying off vet billl over 1.5 yrs :laugh:

Thanks guys. :D Gonna take me a while to get over this..Have to get a new rental in brisbane and then another dog or 27 more.. Dogs are addictive

I wish I had seen this warning,,,,, Just lost bruno to a paralysis tick in the Gold Coast. I have never seen a tick before coming from canberra and the first one kills

I moved to the gold coast in June - a high tick area. I've never found a tick before and use advantix on my dogs. Just lost a bruno to paralysis tick last week.... He got one while I was out for the weekend.... by the time I got back it was too late . What a waste of a wonderfull dog, only 8 years old . Too upset to talk about this yet but have to send out tick warning only.. Lots of people have lost dogs to ticks here this season. Am checking poor bella twice a day... Poor dog....

I moved to the gold coast in June - a high tick area. I've never found a tick before and use advantix on my dogs. Just lost a bruno to paralysis tick last week.... He got one while I was out for the weekend.... by the time I got back it was too late. What a waste of a wonderfull dog, only 8 years old. Too upset to talk about this yet but have to send out tick warning only.. Lots of people have lost dogs to ticks here this season. Am checking poor bella twice a day... Poor dog....

Corvus is spot on I use an ecollar for my two gsps and I had a 100% recall within a few months. We now go to the beach and anywhere with the dogs off lead all the time. I tried normal training first but my dogs are so bird focused it is hard to get them to come back all the time. I got my ecollar from K9 Force (www.K9Force.net) and did a distance training course through there. It was magic. I am still impressed in the change it has made in my life.

I just did Bella and Brunos first home alone training. Apart from the first minute it went a lot better than I thought it would . I had forgotten how easy it is to walk only one dog ;) We'll keep doing this a few times a week forever, I think, as it's very handy

Some dogs just don't like other dogs ;) and Bella might be one of those. I did think this about her when I met her a few weeks ago (or I think I met her ...). If she is uncomfortable at dog parks the easiest thing to do is not to take her. Dogs aren't social like people and don't need to meet other dogs (read K9 Force topic on Socialisation vs Neutralisation). For me, dog parks are for meeting people. I don't normally take my dogs to dog parks because there are a lot of unstable dogs around and bad experiences can lead to fear agression. I learned all about this a few years ago because my Bella was fearfull. I say Steve from K9 Force and he quickly worked out is was a lack of pack leadership from me To fix this, I went on the NILIF (nothing in life is free) program which you can google. I also did Steves Triangle of Temptation (TOT). Within a few months my leadership skills were much much better and Bella's fearfulness was pretty much non-existent. With Bruno (now 3), I didn't introduce him to unknown dogs till he was nearly two and he is fantastic with getting on with other dogs. Hope you get it sorted out

Nothing like a double speed gsp

You're getting slow ruges. I'm going to have to leave mine separate to go to agility so am starting home alone training this afternoon.

Beware, bruno doubled his energy levels once I switched him to raw...

That's pretty much what I've had with both my two GSP's... they do grow up... eventually, and you are right in saying that it can be a bit exasperating! They stay overgrown puppies for a loooong time; some breeds/dogs longer than others. It's mostly the adolescent period, as younger pups, both were super easy to train, and very quick to learn. Once they hit about 3-4 (or maybe 10 ), they grow up a bit and settle down some. I notice that the gsps that are occassionally dumped are all 8-9mths old. 9 to 12 months was a nightmare for both of my dogs :D Bruno is three and people still refer to him as a pup :cool: . One person was most surprised to hear that bruno was three years old

I have thought about taking my dogs hunting but I don't think I could shoot anything :cool: My GSPs have a high drive for cats, possums, birds and butterflies. They have always been easy to train and bella is more intelligent than me most days :D I had some problems in the first years because I was a newbie dog owner. I have learned so much from living with gsps. Mine will play happily with chihuahuas and any other tiny dogs. As long as the dogs like to run and to rumble, they like them.

RMB - Raw meaty bones aka Raw I have switched my two to this diet recently. The rmb is meaty bones your dog can eat completely. Eg, chicken carcasses, lamb flaps/necks, turkey necks etc. The rest of the food is mince/veges/offall and a whole huge list. This is a recent topic with some info on amounts.... How much to feed on raw Basically, your dog should eat 2-3% of their body weight, more if they are a pup. You split this amount into RMB (I'm doing 70% I think) and all the other stuff. Look up sites by Ian billinghurst Some people feed the prey diet instead which tries to emulate whole animals. Have fun researching

That's very interesting DIVA. This is one of the reasons I don't like normal ranges for test results cause they are always changing....

Weight loss is definitely a symptom. You'll have to do some research. Steer clear of fads though....... kidney disease has been around for a long time so there should be lots of information. I was looking at some of list of a foods protein content. If you have a calculator, one percent = 1gm per 100mls/gms. So to get food less than 13% means it has to have less than 13gms per 100mls. Don't forget that other foods count as part of the 13%. So beef at 23% can be mixed up with a non-protein food to equal 13%.

High protein levels do not cause kidney disease, they are just a natural way to reduce the urea and creatinine levels. Lowering protein levels does not stop the disease getting worse, it just lowers the symptoms. I have treated humans with kidney disease for 15 years as a nurse. In humans you don't get any symptoms of kidney disease untill your kidney function is down to 5% (for humans they have a creatinine level of > 500 which is really, really high). If your dog is 11 he might never show any symptoms before he dies of old age but I'm not sure how fast the symptoms move in dogs. As Sheridan said, their dog was not diagnosed till the Urea level was 56.1 so this might be the level that dogs start showing symptoms. Could you ask your vet (who should have told you already) how fast he thinks the kidney disease is going to get worse (he should have told you that already though)? Hope it all goes well

Yes, I had exactly the same problem with my GSPs. Increasing their food intake didn't help. I ended up adding a chicken carcass daily and this put a bit more weight on them. My GSPs are very very fit and active. Two weeks ago I switched to raw and they are keeping weight on easily. I feed less active dog 2.5% of body weight per day and active one 3%. Recommended is 2%. I don't want my dogs to get fat, just stay lean and healthy. They are not getting fat on raw but it is making their ribs disappear to a much healthier level. And it costs half the money so that a bonus. eta - they have also switched from four poos a day to one small one

Thanks! I have the Pine River about 3 km from my place - which comes in really handy! I bought the Ruffwear Floating Jackets. I know they're pricey but worth every cent! I don't use them in calm waters (except to try them out) but when we go to the ocean. http://quentinsdream.blogspot.com/2008_11_01_archive.html I was about to suggest the same. I used a ruffwear coat to get bruno over his fear of the water. Now swimming is one of his favourite activities.