Miranda

I always have the 16 month vaccination done because a dog's immune system isn't mature until 6 months of age. However that's the last vaccination my dogs have, I don't do any more boosters. ETA I doubt your dog will have an adverse reaction, it's not common.

Anyone? :D No they're not, the only difference being that we don't routinely vaccinate for rabies or lepto in this country.

It could be anything, take the puppy to the vet. What breed are they?

If he ate the vomit he's probably ok, eating vomit is pretty normal behaviour. I agree with the others, don't walk him in parks until he's had his 12 weeks vacc, I take mine out and about to to the shops, friends' houses etc, but I steer clear of parks or any other places frequented by large numbers of (maybe unvaccinated) strange dogs until the second vaccination.

She will need feeding three times a day, hard to estimate amounts as I have always had litters and they are fed 'en masse' not separately. Maybe 1/2 to 3/4 cup of a good super premium puppy food (Eagle Pack/Royal Canin etc.) in the morning, you could flavour it with a little Advance Puppy Growth Formula if you wish, a chicken wing and a neck for lunch and another 1/2 to 3/4 cup of dry with a little human grade beef mince for dinner. All puppies are different and she will grow rapidly so you will need to monitor her and adjust the food as necessary. You could also add canned sardines or mackerel occasionally and give her a brisket bone to chew on. I wouldn't leave food with her at any time especially at night, if she doesn't finish her meal take it away after 10/15 minutes and don't feed her again until the next mealtime. Water is ok, but it may mean that she'll find it harder to hold on during the night and you will probably have to get up very early, if she's outside then of course it doesn't matter.

Well that's very strange, I have been in dogs for over 30 years and have never heard of any vaccinated dog contracting hepatitis. One of the causes of fading puppy syndrome can be the canine herpes virus which will attack the puppies if the bitch is exposed to it during the last three weeks of gestation and has no immunity. Fading puppies can also be the result of a bacterial infection, cold and a myriad other reasons. I would actually question why someone whos bitch had had canine hepatitis was subsequently mated less than 12 months following the illness, but that's going OT. Distemper, hepatitis and parvo are all diseases caused by viruses, once the immune system has been alerted it will 'remember' and automatically attack the virus if and when the dog comes in contact with it. Everytime the dog is exposed the immunity builds up again so actually a dog that is kept in isolation is likely to have lower immunity than a dog that gets out and about and meets lots of other dogs. This is the reason why titre testing can be unreliable, if a dog hasn't had any recent exposure to any of these diseases its titre levels will be low, but if it has had recent exposure its titre levels will be much higher. Humans are vaccinated for viral diseases too, is anyone reading this thread currently receiving annual boosters? The only disease that requires a booster (after 10 years) is tetanus and this is because it's caused by a bacterium not a virus. An interesting and very important topic, obviously everyone will have different opinions :D

I agree wholeheartedly morgan, I do give my dogs one booster at 16 months, but that's it for life. After having a dog develop an auto-immune disease in 2000 immediately following vaccination I have done a lot of research and have decided that annual boosters are unnecessary and potentially harmful. Of course all dog owners must make their own decisions.

I can't see anything wrong with this method, if it works for you then do it I say I too have been known to carry food in my mouth in the showring (some of my outfits don't have pockets and I hate bait bags), but I can't stand the taste of the liver treats ;)

You will need to have them removed by a vet under a general anaesthetic, it is easy to remove them soon after birth, but is a much bigger operation when they are older.

She could have patella or cruciate ligament problems, if you don't get it checked out and it's something serious she may really damage herself. I would take her to the vet.

I have my puppies on EP Large and Giant Breed Puppy Formula.

Any dog that bites or attempts to bite is dangerous, this is a very serious situation especially as you have a toddler who could be badly injured if she connects. I would be contacting an animal behaviourist about this matter and in the meantime I'd be keeping her away from your son. If this dog bites someone you could be in serious trouble and the dog may have to be euthanased, I'd be seeking help asap.

Are we talking acreage mickatie or just a house block?

She'll be missing the other dogs and it will probably take her a week or so to settle in, I hope everything works out ok

It is not a good idea to acquire a new puppy at night, the best time is early on a Saturday morning so that you have all weekend to spend with the dog and help it to adapt to its new environment. The dog is only young and is confused and stressed, of course it is going to bark, I suggest that you buy a crate for the dog and have it next to your bed, you will find that the dog will soon adjust to the crate and once it's become familiar with you and its new surroundings you should be able to move the crate out to the kitchen or laundry. What is the dog's history? If it's never been penned outside before it will probably continue to bark for sometime, if you're out at work all day it will probably bark during the day as well. GSP's are a working dog and require lots of exercise and mental stimulation, left in a run all day it will become very bored and could become destructive. Did you research the breed before you got the puppy?

Are you sure the dog doesn't have some other problem, I've never heard of a $100 injection once a month to deal with a flea allergy. I suggest that you go to the vet with your grandmother and have a talk with the him as this doesn't seem right to me. The normal treatment for flea allergy is a cortisone injection followed by a course of tablets such as macrolone which is gradually reduced over a week or so. The cortisone represses the immune system and stops the inflammation and itching and by the time the tablets are finished the fleas are gone so the allergy doesn't recur. This usually isn't expensive, it shouldn't be over $100 and providing the fleas are TOTALLY eradicated the problem won't recur. You will also have to ensure that EVERY animal on her property is treated for fleas, cats are frequent harbourers of fleas even though they show no symptoms themselves. Another option would be to try another vet.

He probably wants to give him a cortisone injection followed by a short course of tablets with the dosage gradually reducing over a period of time. This will check the auto-immune response and the dog will stop scratching within a day or so. If he's really uncomfortable I'd recommend that she have this treatment, it's not very expensive and it is by far the quickest way to ease the dog's discomfort.

Not good enough I'm afraid, the fleas will be breeding everywhere and for every one she kills there'll be 500 more hatching. The dog obviously has a severe flea allergy and he won't improve at all until every flea is eradicated. If she wants to save on vet's bills then she absolutely MUST get rid of the fleas. Buy some Advantage for the dog and flea bomb the house, wash all his bedding and spray flea killer around anywhere the dog tends to lie. If she just lets the current situation continue the dog will get worse and worse and could eventually rip himself to pieces, develop sores and hot spots and then the vet's bills will be horrendous. IMO it amounts to cruelty if she doesn't do something about this, the dog must be really suffering.

Does he have fleas?

Why can't he stay outside, he'd probably be much happier? The sound sensitivity could be due to lack of socialisation, have you been getting him out and about to get him used to different sights, sound, people, dogs etc.? Puppies need a lot of work when they are very young (especially prior to 16 weeks of age). It sounds as if you don't really have enough time to devote to this dog and as a consequence the dog is bored, frustrated and destructive, it is a common scenario. Not very helpful I know, but that is my opinion after reading your post

I have found that the very best solution is to ignore the dog completely when it jumps up, simply stand with your arms at your sides and stare into the distance, don't look or speak to the dog and then walk away. Once the dog gives up and is sitting quietly praise and make a fuss of him, but when he jumps up.....nothing. It takes a while, but absolutely any reaction from you is seen as attention by the dog, if you give no reaction, the dogs gets no attention and he soon realises that jumping up gets him nowhere fast.

I'm with you blue elephant pjs, my dogs eat just about everything, sometimes I think people get too hung up on this sort of thing

I've had three dogs that have had to have their tonsils removed, antibiotics will clear up the symptoms temporarily but it flares up again a few weeks or months later. Some vets are reluctant to remove them, don't listen to them, it's a relatively simple operation and other than keeping them on soft foods for 24/48 hours the recovery is rapid and I've never had any complications. All the dogs involved improved out of sight once their tonsils were gone, they were just totally different dogs. Recurrent tonsillitis sets up a low grade infection that can affect the entire system, when they're really bad and don't respond to antibiotics it's best to have them removed. ETA bad breath is not always present.

Have you checked his tonsils, recurring tonsillitis can cause these sorts of symptoms? Quite often the tonsils look normal when you look down the throat, but they're actually badly pitted and infected back where you can't see. If they're enlarged at all it's worth having them checked out and if they're bad have them removed.

I doubt that feeding occasional small quantities of ice cream caused your dog to develop diabetes, it is far more likely that she had a genetic predisposition to the disease. Eating sugar doesn't cause diabetes in humans and it doesn't cause diabetes in dogs, three of the biggest risk factors are having a close relative with the disease, ageing and becoming overweight. I have fed all my dogs (and I've owned a LOT of dogs) small quantities of just about everything during their lives and that includes ice cream, nuts, raisins, grapes, tomatoes, chocolate and onions and I've never had a problem. It's all about being sensible and only giving small amounts and not too often. Don't blame yourself for your dog's disease, sometimes things like this just happen and it's nobody's fault just one of those things.