Jed

Too much meat - or meat alone does provide too much p, and the calcium can be leached from the dog's bones to compensate However, if you wish to feed mince, simply continue to give the dog bones, as well as whatever else he gets, to provide him with c. I feed chicken mince which is the whole carcass minced, bones and all, and the dogs get beef bones a couple of times a week as well. If they didn't get the beef bones, they would still get enough c from the mince. I add veg. fruit, offal, so the c is not too high, as I like them to have bones - for their teeth, and recreational chewing. (Saves them chewing each others ears!!) If the mince was mince only (without the bones) I would give bones more often, or supplement with Sandoz or something similar. So, if you are going to feed mince, make sure the dogs still get bones My theory is that cavaliers have shocking teeth, (probably hereditary) and the more bones you can get them to gnaw, the more likihood of them actually having some teeth after 8 years of age! (Jed dons flame suit and runs for hills, chased by irate cavalier fanciers!!)

Re walking it in from the park - first - you have to stand in it second - it has to not wear off your shoe on the way home third - the dog has to find one bit of virus on your property fourth - some authorities believe long exposure to sunlight kills it but if you have a dog with parvo, the virus is everywhere, there is no chance of it being worn off your shoes, so your dog's odds of contracting it are multiplied by zillions. Too big a risk to take, IMHO

Hi, Buster's Mum I've had it a couple of times (rescues), and none of my adult, vaccinated dogs were affected, so I hope Buster is ok. A vet friend got a new pup - which had been vaccinated - it had parvo, and her adult staffy got it and was very ill, but recovered. Use a parvocide - I have used Microcide and Trigene (don't know about F10, but your vet can advise). I washed all bedding - everything - all my clothes - in the parvocide in the washing machine. I sprayed it, at correct dilution (the strongest one) all over the carpet, floors, walls to above "pup height" with it. Wiped down the cupboards, sprayed it onto the car upholstery, and floor carpets,wiped it all over the inside of the car. I used pool chlor on the wooden verandah and the steps, and sprayed it everywhere outside the pup might have been. Note - bleach WILL NOT kill parvo in the presence of soil - but Microcide at the higher concentation will. The parvocide needs to be in contact with the virus for a certain amount of time, so I wet everything pretty thoroughly. I had other pups in the house after that, with no problems. It's a mongrel thing, and while you are working your fingers to the bone trying to get rid of it - and wondering what you have missed - you have the addedd worry of whether your own dogs will contract it. Good luck! :p

Raz - re Vit C - I have read a lot of anecdotal information - which looks ok, but the question always remains, when the dog survivies after being given C, if it was a dry bite, or little venom was injected., and the dog would have survived regardless. Personally, if I lived a long way from the vet, I'd do it, and take the dog to the vet as well! On the basis of "can't hurt". See what I can do about red belly venom. One thing I do know about snake venom - it takes a very long time for full recovery to occur. A friend was bitten by a large king brown, and though she survived, she had problems for about 3 years, particularly with her nervous system. You think surviving the bite is good, and the end, but it is only the beginnng of a long slow recovery. Which is why any snake I see goes to snakey heaven!!

Snow nose or winter nose are thought to be caused by weak sunlight or lack of iron or vitamins. Sometimes the pigment returns, sometimes not. It occurs most commonly in white coated dogs, and there is believed to be a hereditary predisposition There is also a condition known as vitaligo, where there is a gradual loss of pigment on the nose. There is no known cure, but the dog may recover without assistance The reason for not using plastic dishes is that there can be a hypersensitivy of the nasal skin to the chemicals used in the plastic. The skin becomes irritated. Iron and seaweed supplements may help. I have found the amino acid methionine helpful. I bought it in powdered form. I think some seaweed supplements do contain it, but notice the one I am currently using doesn't. Livermol might be worth a go too.

Fiery Di - Raz - Poyvite is available from any good, big pet shop. Rudducks in Melbourne distribute it, and if the pet shops near you don't sell it, Rudducks may be able to tell you where to get it. Or, a shop which deals with Ruddocks may order it for you. It is a vitamin supplement, and can be fed with everything else, including the capsules. My experience is that it is excellent for dogs with skin problems. My experiences with it have been excellent, and even if it doesn't work, it will aid the dog's health! Raz - what sort of snake? I'll see if I can find out. The venom of different snakes has different effects. Also, Raz, it might not hurt to put some cider vinegar in the drinking water - if you aren't doing that already. And, when you wash him, put a dessertspoon of cider vinegar in a litre of water and pour it over him - getting it onto the skin - following the final rinse. If a litre isn't enough, use more water with a corresponding increase of cider vinegar.

Great Danez, I am pleased your dogs do get bones - both as bones to gnaw, and mnced with the meat. With only meat, the P ratio is far too high, and leads to calcium deficiency. The addition of fruit/veges, put through the food processor will ensure the dogs receive additional vitamins and nutrients. Raz - I would be surpised if he didn't do well on a raw diet. Add some corn oil once a week, and a small tin of sardines - divided in two - per week as well. There is a Ruddocks product Polyvite, which I have found excellent - specially for dogs with itchy skin. The ingredient which helps is linoelic acid, but it contains various ingredients which aid the skin, and promote general wellbeing. About $15 a bottle. Got my itchy dog off cortisone, and she has never needed it again (6 years later) A large percentage of Aus. dog breeders do feed raw, Great Danz :D And - for Raz, or anyone else hesitating about changing - I wouldn't preach, but mine receive 99% raw - with the occasional feed of top quality premium kibble - no preservatives, no flavourings, and I have been feeding them like this since BEFORE canned food and kibble was available. They are extremely healthy, and raw diets are cheaper - providing you can source the food at reasonable cost.

"Ate 6ft of her oiwn intestines" Hungry, perhaps? Greatdanz - meat, offal, bones. P:Ca ratio? Complete? Balanced?

My boxer had a mast cell tumor removed about 4 - 5 years ago We did not know what it was prior to removal - looked like a wart, and was only removed because I saw a sussy looking lump elsewhere. She had had it for about 9 - 12 months, but because it didn't grow much, and didn't look like a mast cell tumor the vets thought it was just a lump. I now have a needle biopsy done on ALL lumps no matter how they look, or what the vet thinks. The vet took a wide margin - just in case - and I was so pleased he did, when the biopsy results came back. He warned me that mortality was 45%, (or was that 55%?) but so far so good. It seems to be important to take as wide a margin as possible. She has not had any special after care - but she eats BARF with vege, fish, cider vinegar, Vit C and yoghurt (sometimes), occasionally dry food . Nothing special. However, she has not been vaccinated since she was 2, and will not be again. Having read some stories here about older dogs being vac. and developing tumors soon after, and seen dogs exhibit strange symptoms following vac/heartworm meds, I wouldn't vac an older dog, and certainly not with anything except C3, nor would I allow vac/heartworm to be administered together. Just my own phobia!!

They are a bit like a flat disposable nappy. Plastic, wadding and lining. You put them on the floor and the pup uses them instead of your brand new carpet. They are impregnated with something which suggests to pups - "go here" although they do not obviously smell. I have found the majority of pups use them, though some will not. You do not need to throw them away after each use - they can be dried,(on the line) and soil shaken off them (not if it is runny though!!).

Hi, GeorgeMyDoggie, you may of course, feed your dog what you wish, but do your research very carefully, with scientific studies to back the information given. You mention "natural": Consider that mammals fit into three categories - carnivores, omnivores and herbivores. They fit into these categories because of their dental systems, and their digestive systems. From birth, they are aware of the class of food they should eat. The cow, for instance, has the teeth of a herbivore, for biting and pulling grasses.It also has 4 stomachs, which is where digestion takes place. It can also regurgitate food, and rechew it. Food takes a long time to be processed by a cow, because being largely grass and herbs, a lot of digestion is necessary to extract the nutrients the cow's system requires. Grasses largely have an outside covering called cellulose, which the long digestion period can dissolve,. The horse has a small stomach. He also is a herbivore, an eater of grasses, grains and herbs. His stomach is small, but he has an enormous length of intestine and bowel, and the food passes quickly through his stomach, and the nutrients from his food are extracted as it passes more slowly through the intestine and bowel. He cannot digest cellulose very well, because of his physiology and the relative speed at which the food passes through him. The horse cannot survive on the rough asnd lower nutrient pastures cows thrive on - because of the difference in their systems The teeth of both these animals have large, fllat surfaces for efficient grinding of rough grasses and grains. The dog is a carnivore - he has sharp pointed teeth at the front, for ripping meat, and back teeth with smaller bearing surfaces. His diigestion occurs mainly in the stomach, and the food passes through fairly quickly - he is designed do this. Unike herbivores, his droppings should be moderately hard and dry, as he "uses" nearly all of the available food (If fed correctly), having extracted the necessary protein. As you know, herbivores have large wettish droppings, mostly composed of the undigested vegetable matter and cellulose in their diet. A dog's excretory system is not designed to pass a large quantity of undigested vegetable matter - fibre and cellulose. The above is why vegetables/fruit fed to dogs are better put through a food processor to break up the fibre and cellulose into smaller portions which his system can deal with. Wild dogs would eat the stomach contents of their kills, which was already partially digested. Nature designed these animals very efficiently, to eat and process the foods they are meant to eat. These are the foods that each category of animal needs for optimum health. And it is natural for him to eat a diet consisting largely of meat. Providing this is balanced and complete, failing accidents, he should remaiin in good health into old age. Steve has explained more of what a dog needs in his diet, and how difficult it is to provide that if he is not fed the class of food his system needs for effient processing. Feeding a vegetarian diet would go against his nature - and he would have difficulty extracting the nutrients he needs ..... plus, his system, via the liver and kineys would be processing larger volume than optimum - as well as his excretory system dealing with larger and wetter volumes of cellulose and fibre than it was designed for If you do feed the dog a vegetarian diet, I would suggest you do some intensive research - and if you read articles on this, make sure there are valid studies done under the auspicies of a reputable body to back up any information given. Anecdotal evidence is not sufficient, as if a vegetarian diet is going to cause any problems, it may take years for them to be obvious. We should always try to go with nature, not against her. Good luck with whatever you decide. ;) I would be interested to see the results in as few years if you decide to go vegetarian.

Mine get anything which looks a bit sad in the fridge, and veges/fruit which are not too expensive, and I have Jap pumpkin growing. They always have variety, and have had bananas pears apples plums peaches rock melon pumpkin (I partly cook this, for the sake of the processor's motor) cooked potato sweet potato broccoli cauliflower beans peas carrots parsnip silverbeet/spinach cucumber zucchini Zucchini and cucumber give them terrible wind, so that's pretty well off the menu. They totally refuse to eat any citrus products. They get other fruit/veges, whatevear is a good price - but I have more than 1 to feed. They seem very partial to carrots and bananas - but it's hard to tell, really, they just hoover everything up! Variety is important.

Hi, Pennygraic, and welcome to the forum. There must be a much higher incidence of "Cocker Rage" in GB (amd I presme that is your home) I feel for you, having such a bad experience with your dog. Someone came tp tjos forum some time ago with a dog suspected of having rage (bue roan, I think) and advice from an experienced cocker breeder was pts. Although it does exist in Aus. there are many long time cocker breeders who have never seem it. My children grew up with gold cockers and sweeter dogs with them would be impossible to imagine. Totally trustworthy. In the 70s, when it seemed to be more of a problem. I have 2 male gold cockers now, and again, nicer dogs would be hard to imagine. Even in GB, there are many cockers without problems. I presume the people who contacted you were owners with problem dogs? The ECSC recommends breedingly only with temperamentally sound stock, but of course, the puppy farmers do not do this. Some incidents which are put down to cocker rage have been proven not to be rage, but a dog which wants his own way and has got it for much of his life. The main point is that the original poster understands that her dog does not have this. The A Ones site has some interesting information on rage too.

Course no one thinks you are a bad owner - I only hope that some of the advice we've given will help. I know who my alpha dog is - but I don't treat him any differently - at tea time. the dinners go down, and they share. My front lawn looks like Mars, because they have developed an intense interest in landscaping. Every time I buy something to plant I need 2 - one for them to kill, and one to grow!! I have a submissive one here, and she is disobedient as well, so I have to tread a fine line between buiding her confidence, and getting her to obey I want her confident, as I would like to show her - everyone with dogs at some time has problems, small or large, and if you can discuss them with other dog owners, if often helps Cost you though - wanna see pictures!!

I feel for both of you - and will cross my fingers for these dogs. I think Haven's suggestion about natural therapies is a very good one. They do seem to help. I have heard that glyconutrients are helpful .. I don't know much about them, but there is a website www.glycoscience.com though I fear they may be quite expensive. I know of a couple of dogs with cancer who did very well on them - sorry, not sure what sort of cancer, or anything else much.

Thanks, Basil, don't want the poster to even think Jess might have cocker rage!!

I don't think cocker rage is appropriate for this discussion and IMHO, cockers are not more prone to possessive aggression than anything else. This dog certainly doesn't suffer from cocker rage. I think Jess is submissive - which is the reason for the peeing - and she may also grow out of it in time - a lot of pups do. If a sensitive dog is chastised for doing this, it can make it worse. The growling may be part of submission and being the underdog - or it may be possessiveness ... hard to tell. I presume she doesn't offer to snap at you, or bite?? Be aware too, that some cockers are "grumblers" - Don't chastise here for peeing (hard when your couch is being ruined, I know). Maybe solve the peeing in the house - which I think may be part of wanting to establish her place in the house - by watching her like a hawk whilst inside and perhaps confining her at night, in a crate. Digging in the garden and eating plants is about par for the course at that age - she will grow out of it - squeaky fluffy toys, balls and ropes with knots may help. Don't go crook on them hours after the event - they have forgotten what they did. Cockers ARE sensitive (hard to believe sometimes) and gentleness works every time. It's hard for anyone to give good advice on the net, so, if the breeder is a reputable one, ask him/her for advice, get a recommendation from your vet, or obedience club for a behaviourist, or buy Val Bonney' book, "Whos The Boss". Good luck, let us know.

Hi, Spikes Puppy - just to give you heart.......Leo the rescue Cav had not been abandoned, but had had a bit of a rough life. He had a pretty jittery temperament too, and when he first came here, he barked non stop. He had frightful separation anxiety - if I was inside and he was outside (with the the other dogs) he became hysterical - frothed at the mouth, he barked so much. He went berserk at any noise, and like Iko, he was demented if I left him. I considered clomicalm - but he eventually stopped - it took 3 full months for there to be any reductiion and nearly 6 months for him to stop, so don't despair with Iko. It may not be possible with Iko, but I crated Leo - I am not a fan of wholesale crating, but I let him sleep in my bedroom in his crate. I then put him in the crate at odd times, in the house, when I was moving around the house. I gave him bones in the crate, and occasionally took him to work in the crate. He had his own comfy bed in there too. I went away for short periods leaving him in the crate. Beginning with 10 minutes, as I was scared he'd kill himself I suppose he came to see the crate as a place of security, and I left the door open, and him at home, so he could come and go. He took to having naps in it, and finally progressed to the stage where I could leave him at home ... whether he actually used the crate, I don't know. The rest of the time, I allowed him to be with me and that certainly helped him. He was just lonely and afraid. I also did some simple training with him - leash work, sit, stay, down etc. with excessive praise- from not accepting any of it (he was feral when he came) he began to like learning, and I think that helped him too. Now, about 18 months on, he is a very good dog. Good luck!

Yes, it can be genetic. The amino acid methionine can help if the grey is caused by lack of melanin production. Simply seek out a vitamin mineral supplement with methionine as an ingredient. May not work in every case, but the supplement wont do the dog any harm (more zoomies, maybe, Carebear??)

Sorry wrong thread

No, I haven't. If the anorexia is a problem, perhaps she could have steroids, or whatever is appropriate to improve her appetite - sorry, I am a bit at sea here, but I would ask if something like that is possible, if the anorexia becomes a problem. Presumably this drug will have no ill effect on the neospora? There may not have been studies done, as neospora is so rare ... worth asking. Luckily, dogs don't experience the same side effects from chemo as people do, and if it was my dog, I'd be giving it a go!! How old is she Bommy?

Oh, dear Bommie, my heart goes out to you. Our poor boxers and their immune systems.

John Edwards is, IMHO, one of the best coker groomers in the country. And, a lovely person as well. Why not ask him? Otherwise, buy yourself a pair of thinning scissors, and working from the middle of the feathers, thin them out. Do a few cuts, comb out, and continue until the feathers are to your liking. You may also shorten them with scissors. Buy a Coat King, and use that on the body - it shortens and thins the hair. Buy some Alpha Keri oil - from the Chemist - about $7, and mix in a 500 ml spray bottle - 1/4 to 1/3 Alpha Keri to water to fill the bottle. Spray this on the dog a couple of times a week. Or more. This wont make the feathers oily, but will make them softer and easier to groom. Gorgeous dog, lucky thing!!

Gibbo has posed a problem - and has received good advice about how to cope with his own situation. Owners want to keep their dog in the situation which is best for them. Gibbo, I had a similar problem - with an 8 week old cocker pup I was minding for a friend. He began barking at 4am. Ignoring him did work to some extent .. but not totally. However, he did grow out of it --- just in time to go home!! pewithers, you have certain aspirations for your pup, and indeed some breeders and trainers do advocate allowing the pup to sleep in the bedroom in a crate. This works for most pups However, if Gibbo's pup is to sleep in the laundry, he needs to learn social habits. There are many successful methods of puppy raising and training, but the best method is the one which works for you. I don't think pewithers was hijacking the thread, he was suggesting something which was working for him - in his own situation. His method works for him, but this is not what Gibbo wants. Incidentally, the very best dog I ever owned sustained some serious injuries at 10 weeks, and her recovery necessitated her being close to me for the next 10 weeks - this included sleeping in the bedroom, and spending about 20 hours a day with me. Whether this was the reason she was the best dog I've had is a moot point - there is no criteria to judge by, but going by my own experience, I don't think Sooki will develop separation anxiety. I had another very good dog which was hand raised from 3 weeks and slept in the bedroom from that day until she died, 12 years later. She had no problems either. I've had others who spent their formative years sleeping in the laundry at night - also very good dogs. The main thing to remember is that the dog is a social animal, Cockers were bred to be close to people, so ensure the dog has sufficient people time. Horses for courses!! s

C'mon Rappie, you forgot to mention recognition of Rabies, and how to get a horse out of a swimming pool!!