Miranda

kez, can you tell me where you get the breeder bags from? Thanks

I agree with Dianne and no, I don't vaccinate annually.

Yes I use it, I've been using it for over 2 years now, as dry foods go it's excellent. I currently feed the Holistic Lamb, but they only get one cup a day (they weigh 30/36 kilos), the rest of their food is meat, bones, canned fish, yoghurt, veg. etc. I highly recommend it

I checked out the ingredients and they didn't impress me, they have rice as the first ingredient and it also includes beef tallow (a VERY cheap source of fat) so I don't think I'd bother buying it. JMO

If you don't want to return it and get your money back you could still use it, just add a little to their food each night mixed in with the Eukanuba, that way you won't have wasted your money.

I've had a dog with this sort of tumour, it was removed, but unfortunately the cancer spread. The dog lived for two years after the operation. However the earlier the tumour is found the better the prognosis.

I have never heard of it, but I went to the link you provided and they do not have a list of ingredients or a guaranteed chemical analysis. I would want to see both before I bought this food. A good dry food will have meat as the first ingredient and preferably there should be two meat ingredients in the first four. Do you know where I can see a list of ingredients?

Sustain is the Australian equivalent

ToyPoodleLover :D

ToyPoodleLover, I seem to remember from previous posts that Einstein has many other problems in addition to his teeth, doesn't he have a heart problem, low stamina and troubles with his feet? I think that you were advised to take this dog to the vet a few weeks ago, if he now also has a mouth abcess he will be in terrible pain (I know 'cos I've had one) and you MUST take him to the vet asap. If you leave him as he is you are being cruel to your dog. Please, please take him to the vet for a complete check up. I agree with LittlePixie, why can't he go to the groomer AND the vet, if he has to be muzzled so what? He needs veterinary attention NOW!

I remove dew claws at 2 days of age, I would never remove the dew claws from an adult dog unless there was a specific reason for their removal eg. the claw had caught on something and been damaged. Provided they are clipped regularly I have never had a problem with them.

Thanks for the links everyone.

Does anyone know where to buy Barf patties in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne?

I have no experience with BARF patties, but just remember that pet shops want to make money and it's to their advantage if you buy lots of supplements, therefore they will always recommend them. Likewise vets will always advise that your dog must be fed a certain type of expensive dry food, it's just coincidence that it's a brand that the vet happens to sell. I recommend that you check out the ingredients and chemical analysis on the BARF packaging and make up your own mind. Also there are probably people on DOL who already feed the patties and I'm sure they'll be able to tell you their own experiences.

That's great news Staffyluv, at least you now know what it is and know that something can be done about it. Not knowing is the worst thing, all that worry waiting for test results etc. What's the long term prognosis, does the vet think that he could develop another stone later on or is there some dietary/medical treatment which may help prevent this?

Yes, sardines, mackerel, tuna are all excellent and the occasional raw egg doesn't hurt either. I also give mine avocado if I happen to be eating one, they contain a lot of good fats and my dogs (all except one) love it. Don't give too much though, it can make the poo a bit soft if they OD on it!

I once used the 'big dog' Drontal (I think it's 1 tablet per 35kgs) and my dogs either vomitted, developed diarrhea or both. However they have no reaction to the 1 tablet per 10kgs Drontal, I can't figure out why this happens, but it does. Are you sure that your vet didn't give Droncit (a tapeworm specific wormer)? I find it hard to understand why he would give Drontal in addition to Advocate, seems a bit of an overkill to me. Advocate does the other three intestinal worms so Droncit not Drontal would be the obvious choice (plus it's cheaper). If he did use Drontal as well as Advocate maybe it was just a bit too much for your tiny puppy's system to handle, especially if he had a C5 shot as well. If you continue to use Advocate you will only need to give him a Droncit next time around. If you stop using Advocate you could try him with one of the all wormers from the supermarket, they contain the same ingredients and I find them perfectly satisfactory. You'd have to get separate flea and heartworm treatments of course, because the all wormers don't cover them. Glad to hear he's ok now.

Hi haven, you must live near me! I always go to Ray Ferguson or Mark Foley at Monash Veterinary Clinic in Clayton, they are both excellent, two of the best vets I have ever come across. For emergencies I would recommend Dr Roslyn Fleay at Chirnside Park Veterinary Clinic, she is also brilliant. I have complete trust in any of these vets.

I've never owned a dog that wouldn't eat cat poo and my dogs get plenty of protein. As cats tend to be much more fussy about their food than dogs commercial cat food tends to smell stronger and is more palatable than dog food. Some of that smell still remains in the poo and as dogs are scavengers and are attracted to things by smell they are naturally attracted to cat poo. My dogs will also eat some other dogs' poo, especially if it's poo from a canned food fed dog. Once again I think the strong smell of canned dog food is still present in the faeces. They will also eat human poo (nappies) if they can get them!

That's wonderful Staffyluv, you must be sooooo relieved. I hope Ollie continues to improve.

My dogs absolutely love cat poo, they'll also eat possum poo and cow and horse poo (especially when it's nice and wet and green), yummy! ;)

Yes I agree with you, I always train my dogs to go outside from the very start, the newspaper/wee pad thing is a waste of time IMO. However I'm sure that lots of people find that the newspaper/wee pad method works for them. I just couldn't be bothered with it.

Oh dear greentea you really don't like me do you? It's lucky I'm not sensitive. but then I'm a dog show person, how could I survive in the dog showing game if I was sensitive ;) George my Doggie posted on the Training forum a few months ago and had some very strong opinions on how to train dogs and what methods to use, she also mentioned how easy she found it all. She was very reluctant to listen to anyone else's views and opinions and now I see that she is having some very serious problems with her dog, including aggression..................need I say more? She is now doing exactly the same thing in this topic and getting annoyed when most people's opinions do not coincide with her own. All I am saying is that GMD is a little over-confident considering that she has only had a dog for six months. When it's your first dog and you've only had it for a short time you really do know very little and here I'm definitely speaking from experience because I've been there myself. You don't learn anything by going into something with preconceived opinions which you have no intention of changing, why bothering asking advice at all? Now, the Infamous Grooming Topic!!!! Greentea, I never said that you were irresponsible because you wanted a professional to groom your dog, I just said that your breeder should have informed you better about the specific presentation requirements of the breed. Please go back and reread the topic. I know how hard it is to groom one of these breeds and I have every sympathy, my breed needs specialised grooming too and I know how hard it is to learn. What upset me was when you asked if you could send your dog away for training at 12 weeks of age. Having just read your previous topic I mistakenly jumped to the conclusion that you just couldn't be bothered to learn to do it yourself, no, that's not quite correct, it was your seeming unwillingness to try to learn to do it that got to me, not the fact that you couldn't. If you had mentioned that you had a major health problem at the start of the topic there wouldn't have been a problem, one can only reply to the facts given. Anyway that's all water under the bridge now, I hope that we can get on better in the future. :D Regarding GMD I think we'll just have to agree to disagree. BTW to quote just click the 'quote' button, a little box will appear with the text and you can edit as you wish and then reply in the larger box above. I hope you find this little bit of advice helpful at least!

Has anyone on this forum actually bred a bitch and raised a litter of puppies whilst feeding a vegetarian diet? Because, to me, this is one of the most important questions. If a bitch can conceive, gestate and whelp a litter of puppies who grow normally without being fed any meat products whatsoever then a vegetarian diet may have some credence. Procreation is vital to any species and if a bitch cannot sucessfully reproduce on a vegetarian diet then it stands to reason that vegetarianism is not a suitable regimen for a canine. BTW I would never attempt to breed a bitch and raise the puppies without meat, but if someone has done so (especially with a large breed) I would love to hear about it.

Yes I agree with you greentea, I only eat organic vegetables and I think they taste better too, plus you just feel better about eating them. I don't eat meat at all, partly because of the health issues (totally separate topic so I'm not going into that) and partly because of the way intensively farmed animals are treated. Unfortunately I have never seen organic meat at our local Safeway (I think that's Woolies?), we have an organic butcher near us, but the meat is quite expensive and I have more than one dog. I do feed organic free range eggs though, I never, ever buy eggs from battery farmed chooks. I would love to feed organic meat if I could.