Salukifan

I read an interesting take on this a few years back. It suggested going for a small breed or a larger breed and to leave the medium sized dogs out of the equation. The rationale was that if pressed, a small breed would be unlikely to do much damage while a larger breed was generally big enough to shrug a toddler off. A medium sized breed could inflict quite a bit of damage but wasn't big enough to escape. Not sure what I make of that. I would suggest the best breeds for young families might include: Staffordshire Bull Terriers Whippets Pointers All smooth coated so coat can't be grabbed with tiny hands. All pretty tolerant breeds. I think the tinies are too easily triggered to defence or at risk of injury. No one can supervise their kids 24/7.

Cheapest way to source it is via the RC Breeders' Club. If you don't have access to that. Petstock tends to have regular (every couple of months) offers of 20% off.

It's FHRP that has the knowledge.... she went through Hemangiosarcoma with the wonder dog - I just got to witness the worry and decision making that she went through. Flynn was 13? I think. The op was hard on him. There is no doubt that it bought him time but the vet's advice was that if it had progressed to a major organ, it was probably already present in others. That turned out to be the case. I think a lot will depend on your assessment of how Boof will bounce back. No easy decision here

How old is Boof Anne? If he's not a young dog, think hard before subjecting him to splenectomy. if it's in his spleen, chances are its elsewhere too.

Yep. Most seem to warn owners off grains.

Sorry, I missed this... Apparently not because the only one they recommend is Hills Science, which is based on Dr Ogilvie's diet. Personally, I wouldn't buy it because it contains beef (and I don't like feeding beef to dogs). The problem with cancer is that nobody really knows what causes it - so you just have to try and cover all bases (well, that's my plan, anyway :) ). Why no beef? The problem with cancer is living causes it. You can certainly adopt strategies to lower cancer risk but sometimes it just bites you in the arse anyway.

Jysus.. that's one hell of a load on a dog's kidneys! If canine oncologists recommend a home made diet isn't a commercial cancer diet an oxymoron?

Given your experience with MCT's I have no doubt you've researched them heavily. The issue of course, is whether a home diet is automatically better. Bear in mind that due to commercial diets, some dog health conditions are pretty much a thing of the past. It's up to each of us to decide. I feed a mix of raw and commercial.

if you have a breed prone to MCTs, diet may have had little to do with it.

Maybe their owners are sick of being told to feed their dogs.

oops - that one was pregnant...I did wonder.

This was Dodger a few weeks ago. He has a few exposed vertebrae but was actually a little less toned than I think ideal. He's a bit more buff now. A glimpse of rib certainly doesn't offend me and if a dog has a decent spring of rib, that's more probable than in a slab sided dog IMO. You see rib on Dodge when he moves but not stacked. You can just see a glimpse of his last rib in this shot. You don't see Dodger's hips but Howie has a steeper angle of croup and his hip bones are visible.

I recall complaints about an "emaciated Whippet" to RSPCA staff at a Million Paws Walk a few years back. Same result - took one look and left it at that. My friend with a very lean endurance horse used to get a visit every spring as she prepared for a major ride. That horse was solid muscle, very little fat and the RSPCA inspector knew that. Severely emaciated dogs do not have good muscle... pays to keep that in mind. Frankly the muscle loss on the head is often the big teller of severe starvation to me.

General rule of thumb for a Whippet is 3-4 visible vertebrae. I'll post examples tonight.

There is no ideal that has all a dogs' bones showing. However, some breed standard require a dog to be shown in working condition. "Working Condition" for a dog breed developed solely for speed and to bring down prey is not going to be the same as "working conditon" for a dog bred to break ice leaping into water to retrieve ducks. Many would argue that the overwhelming majority of show dogs have too much condition on. Sometimes it's a matter of getting your eye in. Sighthounds are very different in structure, fat and muscle distribution to other breeds. That does NOT mean your average show dog is emaciated. They are simply not bred to carry weight. To me a fat sighthound looks horrendous.

Just looking at a dog with little to no body fat and a super fine coat as a normal condition is not going to be the same as just looking at most other breeds. Most pet dogs carry too much weight. In my opinion so do most show dogs. In my experience your average pet owner has no idea what "lean" is and regard any hint of rib (when three visible ribs is quite normal) as "skinny". A dog in good working condition should have slighly exposed hip bones. Show most people a fit lean sighthound and most will think the dog emaciated.

Quite a few Whippet folk keep their adult dogs on RC Junior due to its high fat content. I'm one of them. It still has far less protein than grain free products like Artemis.

I find regular exercise, chiro and muscle therapy are good. For me its a case of "move it or lose it" in terms of mobility. And cartrophen for when arthritis bites.

Never let a vet fob you off like that... and Im sure you wouldn't. The workplace is very different, it's all about active listening and asking. I like to double check everything. That should flow into my daily life as well where I'm much less of an active listener. Thanks again. :) Never forget what a small world dogs sports is... everyone pretty much knows everyone, particularly in a region. Social media just makes people known more widely (for better or worse :D)

Never let a vet fob you off like that... and Im sure you wouldn't.

Do the old active listening trick - reflect the question back. You'd say "are you saying my dog is too big to do flyball?' or "are you saying I need to check Muffy every 5 minutes"? Let me give you an example of possible consequences of people attributing comments/behaviour to you that you haven't made. Some 20 years ago, I was appointed to a team charged with the investigation of sexual assault and harassment at the Australian Defence Force Academy. A fellow officer told a group of young female Academy cadets (without my knowledge or consent) that if they'd been assaulted, they should contact me as I'd be able to help them. One of those cadets took that statement and intepreted it as me insisting I be contacted and repeated it to others. At this point, I knew nothing of the referral or the conversation about me. Next thing I know, I'm summoned to my (very senior) boss's office. I'm told that he's had a phone call from the Commandant of the Academy (even more senior)who's had a complaint from a female cadet that I've been ringing their accommodation and harassing them to report incidents of sexual assault. My boss has had to peel that very senior officer off the wall. I'm sure people can grasp the gravity of those allegations in terms of my career. My abject denial of any such conduct ( still recall my words "utter rubbish") was fed back and the female cadet who made the allegation questioned. "Oh no" she said "LCDR HW never actually rang ME, but I heard she'd done it to others". So readers, be careful about what you say others have said... because it can have consequences beyond what you can imagine.

However, it IS what you accomplished. I never meant to make anyone out to be misinformed, I simply asked a question as I rarely have contact with this lady and thought it would be quicker to ask here than wonder for a few weeks. OK, so the person you say is starting a flyball club in your area never actually said the exact words "your dog is too big to do flyball"? No doubt people will conclude that me hammering you about this is because I'm a bitch. That's one possible explanation that will no doubt have my detractors nodding but the other is that people need to be careful attributing comments to others that they haven't ACTUALLY made. The dog world is a small one. It won't be too hard for people to figure out who is trying to get flyball started in your area, and in this case, potentially think that person is a bit of a fool (as others in this thread have already concluded). It's hardly likely to endear you to the person you've dropped into this. So, if you want to know the answer to something, simply ask the question. People get misquoted in a dog training context all the time and it's not fun. As you are student vet nurse I'll give you a piece of advice that you'd be very very wise to make your mantra. Never assume. If you don't have a crystal clear understanding of what is being said and what it means, clarify it. Goes for all walks of life actually.

However, it IS what you accomplished.

So she didn't actually say your Kelpie was too big to do flyball? Just too big for the dog she was looking for for her team? No she said she was too big. I didn't ask for all flyball teams. I just assumed. So the person seeking to start a flyball club in your area isn't necessarily the misiformed person with no understanding of the sport you made her out to be?

So she didn't actually say your Kelpie was too big to do flyball? Just too big for the dog she was looking for for her team?