Miranda

Are we talking about the Adult Fresh Mix or the Grain Free Maximal Dog? I originally used the Adult Fresh Mix which contains grain and that's the one that caused loose poo and gas in my dogs. I've just bought a bag of the Grain Free and they had it last night, so far so good they haven't pooed yet but they don't have any gas which was immediately noticeable the next morning when I fed the food containing grain. Hopefully this one will work

Evo's probably a good product but only available through PP and its subsidiaries so I won't buy it on principle. Actually by restricting the product to PP I think they're doing themselves a disservice because it's usually breeders and show people not pet owners who tend to buy the expensive foods and a lot of them won't even consider Evo simply because it's sold by PP. This is probably why they have so many bags over their use by date. If Evo could be purchased from outlets that didn't sell live animals I think many more people would buy it.

I wouldn't put a puppy in day care you don't know what experiences he'll be subjected to while he's there and depending on your pup's temperament they may affect him in a negative way. Some puppies don't handle being placed in such a highly stressful, highly stimulating environment with complete strangers. He'll be much better off left at home in a safe area with his toys, after all he has to learn to be alone otherwise you may end up with a dog that can't cope unless someone is home and this can be a huge problem. Remember he's a dog not a child and treat him accordingly, don't spoil him and don't tolerate behaviours in a puppy that you wouldn't tolerate in an adult dog. 'The Perfect Puppy' by Gwen Bailey is a very good book for new puppy owners.

Very strange and a bit worrying, I'd go straight to the vet.

I recently had a 7 year old bitch spayed and she was given 5 x Rimadyl, the first tablet to be given 24 hours post surgery.

Brisket bones, chicken wings/frames, pigs ears and the occasional rawhide. I don't use any weight bearing bones such as marrow bones or shanks because they are extremely hard and can damage teeth.

You're lucky, I would have loved to have used it, but unfortunately it didn't suit my dogs at all.

Yes I fully agree MonElite, I should have mentioned that too

If that's your dog in the pic I don't think you have much chance of proving he's not a pitbull. If I were you I'd pay the relevant fines and agree to comply with the restricted breed legislation. The sooner you do this the sooner he'll be home.

At 8 years of age I would imagine that the behaviour is well entrenched and I'd recommend that you contact a qualified behaviourist/trainer. You may find it very difficult to deal with without professional help.

Is your dog a registered (with canine council) Amstaff because if he is they don't have a leg to stand on. If he isn't registered you will probably have to comply with the regulations for keeping a restricted breed, having a childproof pen and a notice displayed at the front of your property are two of them. I think they also have to be desexed. I am not an expert by any means, but I have seen 'There is a restricted dog breed kept on this property' notices on houses when I've been walking my dogs so obviously you're allowed to keep them if you comply.

Do you know why they won't supply to Australia? Because the company won't compromise the quality and safety of their products by subjecting them to irradiation, neither do they wish to change the way they prepare their foods just to comply with Australian requirements. Australia is a very small market for them and the only country in the world which has these restrictions. Nutro chose not to export to Australia for exactly the same reasons.

He's probably still getting his rear molars, but I doubt that this would cause his eye to weep. If it's been weeping for a while it's probably best to get it checked out by a vet just in case it's entropion or trichiasis.

Prime tallow is obtained by rendering fat and bones from various animals eg. pigs, cattle, lambs etc. It is a cheap form of fat. The food looks pretty average to me and has a lot of fillers. Personally I wouldn't use it, but that doesn't mean that your dog won't do well on it, all you can do is try it and see.

I have never seen any temperament (or personality or character or whatever you wish to call it) changes whatsoever in a bitch following desexing and unlike some my opinion is based on experience. I've desexed many bitches ranging in age from 1 to 9 years and the only things that change are their ability to produce and their coat quality (I have long coated dogs).

It won't affect her personality and other than being unable to have puppies she won't be any different at all.

Thanks for the heads up Mum to Emma, all my dogs weigh between 32 and 38 kgs and I'm only 52kgs so I guess I'd better stop walking them. Actually I'm surprised they haven't already pulled me over and raced off to savage some poor little SWF, I guess I've been lucky

Thanks Miranda! He's back from the vet & they've made an appt for him to see a Specialist on Monday who will take x-rays. Once they're done, i'll def give the chiro a call -great idea!! I hope he's feeling better soon

You need to take him to a chiropractor, vets are useless for things like this. I would recommend Barry Haywood in Cranbourne, he's a qualified vet as well as a chiropractor. I think his phone no. is 5978 5174.

Dry coat and excessive hair loss can be symptoms of hypothyroidism as are weight gain, increased lethargy and a host of other symptoms including diarrhoea. Symptoms can vary from dog to dog. Most dogs that develop thyroid problems are older, but it may be worth getting her checked out.

:cool:

Poochmad, I can remember seeing quite a few field spaniels back off judges in the ring, from what I've seen recently things have improved, but there were definitely temperament problems in the breed a few years ago. The breed standard makes no mention of wariness with strangers and I would consider this sort of behaviour very undesirable, there is a distinct difference between dogs that can be a little aloof and dogs that are timid. I'm sorry, but I have no suggestions as to how to deal with this, I'd recommend you contact one of the qualified behaviorist/trainers on this forum, Erny, Cosmolo or K9 Force, it may also help to have a word with his breeder as they should have a thorough knowledge of the breed and their lines and may be able to help.

Wing K9 & Katz Kitchen do free delivery to the Melbourne metro area, they offer an excellent service and I can highly recommend them. K9 & Katz Kitchen website ETA Oops someone's already posted.

Yep there's another one gone, just like Nutro which was the best dry food I've ever used

I tried Artemis Fresh Mix prior to using Orijen and it didn't suit my dogs at all, they got lots of gas and loose poo. Apparently this is because it doesn't contain beet pulp and it can take a while for some dogs to adjust. Unfortunately my dogs reacted so badly that I chose to stop using it. I think it's a good food, but it definitely didn't agree with my dogs. The Artemis Power wasn't as bad, but I still got a lot of sticky poo that was hard to pick up. I also get the odd loose poo with Orijen so I'm not 100% happy with that either. Like I said I am so over the whole kibble thing I agree with you about K9&Katz Kitchen, Judith does a fantastic job and is also a lovely person, highly recommended