Miranda

Do you have any paspalum grass? Paspalum can cause allergic reactions in some dogs.

A puppy left on its own all day, especially if it's a highly active breed, is very likely to get into everything. If your garden is very important to you DEFINITELY fence it off and make sure that it's secure fencing. It doesn't matter how many toys and distractions a puppy has, they will always get into something they shouldn't when left alone for extended periods of time. A puppy can totally wreck a garden in an hour, he'll probably be ok when he's very small, but they can turn into a bulldozer on legs when they get a little older. Good luck

I agree

Well I've been clipping show dogs for over 30 years so I'd count myself as a professional. I've always used Osters, I agree that they tend to get hot, but they last very well and I've never had a problem with them. I have only replaced my clippers once and my first Oster clippers lasted for 25 years.

It's school holidays cavNrott

Clippers made for cutting human hair aren't designed to deal with the density of coat that you often find on dogs, they're just not up to the job. I use Oster clippers, but there are many alternatives, I suggest that you ask your breeder

I agree with Tilly, I wouldn't use canned dog food either, it's a waste of money IMO

So what does it eat? :D

If it's lethargic, not eating, coughing, vomiting, or has diarrhoea. If it has discharge from the eyes or nose. If the ears smell and are full of a brown, waxy substance. If it is scratching and/or losing hair or has sores on any part of its body. If it is limping or appears to be in pain. Any of these circumstances warrant a visit to the vet.

I didn't even know that dogs could get this, but I have a girlfriend who developed it from typing on a keyboard all day, it is an RSI (repetitive strain injury) and she has to take anti-inflammatories. I think it affects her wrists and she has very little strength in her hands. I'd be interested to know what caused it in your dog or maybe it takes a different form in dogs to humans. How old is Kobi?

cavNrott I just checked out Judith's website and she's offering the Holistic Large Breed at $90.40 for 18 kg. I just paid $113 at my regular supplier I'm going to start using K9 & Katz again, they do offer excellent service and they're quite obviously cheaper!

Is that through K9 & Katz Kitchen cavNrott?

I like that name, it's got a nice sound about it. BTW I'll be there tomorrow and will take your stuff

Eagle Pack currently has a special offer on their Holistic Large Breed Formula and you can get 18kg for $113.00.

A crate

Quite a few people do earthdogging (probably not the right word ) here in Victoria. We actually have an earthdog competition area permanently set up out at KCC Park. I think it's growing in popularity as are all dog sports.

There has been an upsurge in IMHA in recent years and there MAY be a link to annual vaccinations, many people report adverse reactions from vaccinations, but most of this is anecdotal and there is no scientific evidence that the vaccination was actually responsible. Heartworm is becoming much more widespread (I believe that Tasmania is still heartworm free), probably a combination of climate change and the fact that dogs now travel all over the country. Other than titre testing I know of no other way of determining immune status. I didn't know that you could get a three year heartworm injection! I use Drontal for intestinal worms three or four times a year, as we don't have ticks in Melbourne and I haven't had fleas in years I have no use for the monthly treatments. If my dogs did get fleas I would use Advantage. I've just had kennel cough in two C5 vaccinated puppies too. Sorry, but I don't know how to quote and answer individual sentences in a post

One of my puppies did this when very young, he's seven months now and hasn't done it for ages. As someone else said it's usually something they grow out of

Thanks for the clarification mjk05 To return to the original topic I have been told by a number of vets that the reason for annual boosters has nothing to do with dogs' immunity, apparently the drug companies who manufacture the vaccines will only guarantee the efficacy of their products for one year. Therefore vets really have no choice but to recommend annual vaccination. Now I have absolutely no time for conspiracy theories, but even the most gullible person would have to admit that annual vaccinations mean massive profits for the drug companies when you consider that a large proportion of dogs in the western world are vaccinated every year. And why would vets be keen to press for a longer guarantee when the cost of the yearly vaccination also adds valuable revenue to their practices and vaccinating a dog means very little work in a very short time. Also please be aware that the profit on vaccines is enormous, annual vaccinations add many thousands of dollars to veterinarians' bank accounts. I definitely appreciate mjk's points and I certainly bow to his/her far greater knowledge of titre testing, but nothing will ever convince me that vaccinating a dog every year is necessary. I can appreciate that a child vaccinated for a disease which is uncommon in Australia may have low levels of immunity in their mid twenties, but I cannot accept that a dog vaccinated against a disease which is reasonably widespread throughout the country is likely to be lacking immunity just one year following the vaccination. Studies conducted in the U.S. have shown that the vast majority of dogs tested had high levels of antibodies seven years after their initial vaccinations and some veterinarians are conceding that these dogs may be protected for life. I'm a big believer in living a healthy life, exercising and eating healthy food and I try to ensure that my dogs do the same. All these things can help to maintain a healthy immune system and although I certainly believe in vaccination I really think that vaccinating every year or even every three years is going too far. Some people vaccinate with a C7, which includes additional protection (totally unnecessary IMO) against leptospirosis and corona virus, give annual heartworm injections and administer monthly tablets to treat a variety of intestinal worms, mites, fleas and ticks which their dog may or may not have. All these things must have a huge impact on the immune system of the dog and may (note that i say MAY) contribute to the upsurge in canine auto-immune disease that we have been seeing in recent years. At this point I would like to say that I do not agree with giving homeopathic nosodes in place of conventional vaccines, but some people do this and that is their prerogative. Anyway these are my thoughts on the subject, I know that a lot of DOLers will disagree, but debate is healthy and informative. Very interesting discussion BTW, any more participants?

Remind me where I claimed expert status? I'm not a vet either, which is why I suggested the OP might be best to consult one. But there's an awful lot of quasi-science floating about on the internet... and I'm constantly surprised by the poor level of knowledge in the general community about vaccines and the diseases they are designed to prevent, given that they affect us all. Sorry mjk05 I read your post where you made a reference to med school and assumed that you were a doctor. My mistake

mjk05, do you think that parvo will ever become as rare as distemper if all puppies are consistently vaccinated against it? Also does a virus such as parvo mutate? I have heard differing opinions on this even amongst vets, why is it that some viruses mutate and others don't? Nice to be able to get an expert's opinion on all this stuff, virus mutation is something that has always intrigued my layman's brain

That's not true at all. Many of us do lose immunity after our childhood vaccinations, but aren't generally checked for immunity (unless you work in a field where its important you are immune). I had to have a number of immunisations redone in my 20s when I was in med school, after testing. The titre testing-immunity concept also seems a bit muddled above. I would discuss this with an imformed vet if I were the OP. We are speaking mainly about parvo here and parvo is still common in Australia, dogs only live around 12/14 years on average and would be constantly exposed if they are taken out into the community so surely this would mean that immunity would be constantly challenged and that antibody levels would be relatively high? I do concede that an old dog who has been kept in isolation may certainly require a booster if taken into suburbia. I can understand that one may need to have a booster of one of the childhood vaccinations if travelling overseas to a country where the disease is still common or if working in a field where exposure to a virus is likely, that makes perfect sense to me.

Well I believe yes, but I am not a vet. Humans are not vaccinated every year to protect against viral diseases and I really cannot understand why dogs need to be. The only disease that you need booster vaccinations for is tetanus and that is caused by a bacterium not a virus. Once the immune system has been challenged by a disease it 'remembers' the virus and will automatically go into attack mode if it detects it again. Back in the bad old days when vaccines for dogs just didn't exist, many professional dog people wouldn't buy a dog unless it was 'over distemper', the reason being that a dog that had had distemper (if it survived) never got it again. Good dogs were expensive (I am talking sporting/working dogs here) and no dog person would waste money on a young puppy that was almost certainly going to contract distemper and had a good chance of dying from it. Anyway these are my personal beliefs based on my personal research and as I say I am NOT a vet or a scientist and I am certainly not recommending that you do what I do. I haven't been vaccinating annually for over 12 years (since I had a dog die of an auto immune disease), I do however do all the puppy vaccs and the 16 month booster as a dog's immune system isn't fully operational until six months of age.

oreo this puppy needs feeding at least three times a day, just leaving a marrow bone isn't sufficient IMO. Is there someone who could come in and feed him and play with him a couple of times a day? Judging by his breeding your puppy will grow to be very active and there is a good chance that he will become bored, frustrated and destructive if he's locked in a pen for 8/10 hours a day. Yes he'll get used to you leaving and coming home, but you may have to put up with an over the top, very excited, uncontrollable puppy unless you put a lot of work and training into him. BC's need a lot of mental and physical stimulation, they were bred to work all day and a bored BC can be noisy and very hard to live with. Staffies are first and foremost people dogs, they are also highly intelligent and can be incredibly destructive, a combination of these two breeds could be a recipe for disaster unless you make sure that he gets lots of attention, training and exercise.

I'm terribly sorry openarms :rolleyes: Although it's probably the last thing on your mind at the moment perhaps you should consider having an autopsy done, at least it may help you to make some sense of her death. My thoughts are with you.