Salukifan

I try to resist picking apart posts but you don't have to stretch your imagination to infer it from this: My concern with what you are saying that there is a risk that an authoritative statement like that will see people take you at your word. The qualifiers that follow don't always sink in. And its happened here before. There are a lot of half arsed diets out there that people consider "natural" or "raw", including strange cooked concoctions of meat, vegetables and pasta that the chef considers "balanced". Feed that to any pup and you'll get growth issues. Yonjuro: By "some" you mean me of course. Did you miss this in my post? Is that me pressing my point?But I see you've moved on...

Yonjuro: Are those percentages by weight or volume? You're suggesting that that this is completely safe and balanced for all breeds of dog and for pups? Do you know the calcium/phosphorus ratios for this? Best crunch those numbers for all kinds of meat and all kinds of bone because the ratios are not going to be stable. It is that ratio that's critical for raising a giant breed soundly. Meat and bone are digested at different rates. Should they be fed separately too? Someone better tell the Great Dane people You CAN raise giant breed pups on commerical or raw diets. But for a novice owner, an all raw diet is a RISK and frankly its not a risk I'd recommend a person take lightly. If you want to follow your own views about diet, my advice is to wait until a pup is fully grown. Until then, stick to what your dog's breeder recommends if they've got a decent track record for raising healthy dogs.

Where is the calcium source in this diet This might be fine for an adult dog but not for a pup. Add RMBs and you've solved it though. I've fed a full raw diet and now a mixed diet of kibble and RMBs. What your dog likes may decide what you feed in the end. One of my Whippets refused point blank to eat my BARF mix. He refused point blank to eat most of the premium kibbles I tried him on. He likes Royal Canin - so that's what I feed. And interestingly, the toy poodle that had regular anal gland issues on a fully raw diet has none on a mixed diet. In her case, cereal fibre appears to have solved the problem.

Agree. Stick to what has been proven to work. For that advice, go to your breeder and/or those experienced raising giant breed pups. Get it wrong and you're looking at potential disaster

Nothing. I was just after some advice as I have no idea about WA laws. I put ducks in the title so if you weren't interested why read it? Just thought seeing as you posted it in General Dog Discussion it might be somehow dog related. My mistake.

And quite a few ready to buy into spreading the hysteria that such threads create. If you think carefully about this story, you can drive a truck through the logic of nailing (??) ribbons to gates to identify dogs. As someone has already said, texting is easier and doesn't signal to anyone that a theft may happen. It simply doesn't add up. Lock your gates, keep your dogs behind your house when you're not home and DESEX your pet bull breeds. I queried the veracity of the Hills district story last time and copped it. Now it's been proven to be shite. Don't buy in and don't spread this rubbish. Just as many people get their jollies scaring the shite out of pet owners and threads like this help them.

I'm still trying to figure out what this thread has to do with dogs?

Try Ebay. They seem to have a fair bit of sighthound art.

Possibly an incurable case of "sighthound thinks his body is younger than it really is". They still want to blat but the brain is more willing than the body. You learn to hold your breath. :) They all seem to go from on three legs to back on four pretty quickly unless something dreadful has happened.

Keep them fit and lean. That will give them their best chance.

This is true. A fine coat and lack of a cushioning layer of fat makes them prone to skin tears. But this doesn't tend to happen in apartments and other than that, they tend to be pretty healthy dogs.

I think your first (and not an insignificant) obstacle will be getting a landlord that will allow you to keep a dog in an apartment. After that it comes down to your commitment level. Few breeds can't be kept in an apartment if the owner is prepared to put a lot of time into making sure their mental and physical needs are met. Avoid 'vocal' breeds. You have the potential to get the boot from an apartment based on neighbour complaints FYI, there is nothing fragile about Whippets. However keeping a young Whippet amused enough not to trash your apartment could be challenge. Crating all day is not the answer for any dog IMO, regardless of where you live. My toy poodle girl would be perfectly happy never to go outside - she'd have made an ideal apartment dog!

Same design as the Puppia ones.

How about one of the Puppia ones. They are reasonably priced and fit well.

He is! I thought a little girl went to canberra, dare I ask the puppy's name? ;) There are TWO pups in Canberra! My friend's pup's name is Blaze. Blaze is doing fine on the Royal Canin. His owner says she hasn't heard of any issues with the other pup. :) If you have any concerns, just pick up the phone to Gus's breeder. From everything I've seen and heard, she is one of the good ones! :)

Padlocks solve a lot of problems :)

I've asked the owner of the pup here what she's feeding and will report back. He's a male. Is your pup from Skyehaven? But littermates can be different! Problem with black dogs is any amount of scurf is obvious but it could be the heating. There are plenty of good brands of food and frankly, if your dog doesn't mind, I dont' think it hurts to change it up a bit. Proplan is another popular brand amongst folk I know. Don't let the vet talk you into Hills Science - its rubbish. I've got one dog who won't eat anything BUT Royal Canin. I raised my 2 youngest on RC and have dogs ranging up to nearly 16 years old on it.

Given that Day Dot was less than a week ago, I'd be hesitant to diagnose a food allergy. Have you raised your concerns with his breeder? A scurfy coat can be a sign of stress - and he's been through a big upheaval coming to his new home. Talk to his breeder. If he was raised on RC without issues, my guess is that this is not a food issue. Have a good look at the overallo balance in his diet. If you say you are feeding a lot of meat without bone, this is not good for a growing pup as it will create a calcium imbalance. Feed meat on the bone or the kibble. Another reason for his lack of interest in kibble is perhaps you are feeding him too much? Do you add the sardines to his kibble? The brand you feed is entirely up to you but if you change, discuss it with his breeder. If she's raising happy healthy pups on this food, think carefully. If the Artemis you are thinking about feeding is grain free, rethink that. A kibble with about 40% protein is unsuitable for a growing pup. Resist the urge to wash him constantly or add more chemicals to his skin - its just overloading what may be a sensitive system. FYI, I think one of your pups littermates may be with a friend of mine here in Canberra. :)

Have you contacted the Welsh Corgi Club of Victoria? They have a puppy contact person who would probably have a very good feel for what litters are around and planned.

I would make no assumptions about the quality of the pups from the ad in the Trading Post. Ask the questions you would ask of any breeder but clarify that the pups are ANKC registered before going any further.

Where's the harm? There are far larger issues in dog welfare than the small number of dogs used in creative grooming competitions. I don't think anyone's suggesting this is a viable cut or colour on a pet. No different to creative hairdressing competitions from where I sit.

Have you been throwing the ball for her? As a 9 year old, are her feet starting to flatten? A change in the shape of her feet may be the reason this is a relatively new issue.

Age is a great pacifier.

I would be toileting her on lead and avoiding any fast exercise until you see the vet. If you have to take her outside, put a plastic shopping bag over the sock, tape it around the pastern and cut off the excess above the tape. It will keep it dry. I would add vet wrap to your home "dog first aid kit". Very handy stuff.

You can buy vet wrap or its cheaper equivalents at horse supplies and rural stores. It's water proof. It's going to get wet when she goes to the toilet isn't it?