TashaBailey

Well I got the Titre results back for the litter sister to the girl that died of Parvo and the results indicate that there was a possibility that she was inadequately covered ( result was less than 1 to 5). Gabby has been revaccinated. My vet will be referring the case to the drug company as the girl that died from parvo and my girl had the same batches of vaccine which means that something is not quite right. TB

I have had my 9 year old sheltie Bailey (extreme Arthritis case) on Cartrophen for a while. First he started with the weekly course for 4 weeks and that lasted for about 6 months when he then needed to be started again. Due to a deterioration in his condition ( he has zero cartiledge) he is now on Catrophen once a month. When we last went for his monthly injection the vet has changed him to a monthly tablet instead ( so we will wait and see if it works as well as the injection). We use the cartrophen in conjunction with daily pain meds and Glyde powder. So far we are very pleased with this treatment as this dog was days away from being put to sleep as I could not bear to see him in pain anymore. TB

Here is my dilemma. I have a 13 month old Sheltie who has been vaccinated with a C4. Her litter sister who I had until she was over 4 months old and who was vaccinated whilst under my care, so therefore has had excactly the same vaccinations has come down with Parvo and is likely to be put down this morning as she is deteriorating. I am thinking that I should bring my girls vaccination forward by a few months so that I can ensure that she is adequately covered as she is out at shows and training a few times a week. Is this the right thing to do? Also my puppy buyer has asked me to look out for another pup for them. My concern is that there has been Parvo in the yard and therefore they obviously need to clean that up first. What do they need to do to clean up the yard and how long should they wait before adding another pup. I have already said that personally I would not put a young pup there as the risk is too great and that they should look at an older pup that has already had the full course of vaccinations. TB

Shet, It depends on the breeder and your relationship with them. Most sheltie breeders do not keep waiting lists as litter size and whether the bitch actually ends up in whelp is unpredicatable, you also find that when you contact the person when you have a pup available that they have already found something and not let you know. Because of the high demand for pups breeders generally do not have a problem placing them. Unless it was someone that I had met personally that I had promised a pup if someone had only emailed me generically asking to be put on my waiting list I probabaly would not contact them unless they had been in contact with me in the last 2 months. Have you met this breeder and decided that you only want something from this particular breeder. Make sure you do the research and only buy from a reputable breeder who at least does eye testing and will provide you with a copy of the eye certificated from a registered opthamologist. Just because the breeder is registered and advertises on DOL does not necessary make them reputable ( refer to the recent thread in general discussion on BYB on Animal Rescue) . Please note that shelties are not immune from the puppy farmers and over the years we have seen some pop up regularly with litters. If you are in doubt and do not know who to ask for recommendations for breeders please feel free to PM some of the people in the sheltie thread and we may at least be able to steer you in the direction of the better ones. Good Luck TB

Jeanne, If you decide on a sheltie and are looking at doing agility you probably want to lean towards one at the smaller end of the scale so that they end up competing with the smaller dogs and not the border collies etc. TB

Jeanne, You will find most breeders of Shelties would recommend Sentinal because it does not contain ivermectin. If you are in a tick area they would recommend Interceptor in conjunction with a product such as frontline. I have used Capstar tablets on my dogs occassionally when I have noticed 1 or 2 fleas on them. Have not had too much to do with Paps however there used to be one next to my horse that was very annoying and would escape all of the time to get to my terrier. That pap was agility trained. As for Grooming Shelties generally only need 15 minutes to half an hour of brushing once a week ( mine are lucky to get that some weeks) to keep them looking OK ( that is providing they have the correct coat type). Baths obviously take a bit longer as you need to make sure they are dry however for my ones that are not shown they would only get a bath every 4 to 8 weeks and do not get the doggy odour. Shelties excel at obedience and agility and are realtively easy to train. Exercise requirements vary per dog but mine are happy doing whatever I am doing so if I am a couch potato they are a couch potato. If I am active they are happy being active with me. My shelties are all good off lead and there is nothing better than taking them to an open area and letting them play zoomies with one another. TB

My nine year old Sheltie suffers from severe arthritis which we suspect is hereditary. The Chiropractor is amazed that with the severity of the arthritis that the dog is even walking. Baileys mobility has decreased significantly over the last few months and I have noticed in the last few weeks that he seems more unconfortable to the extent that if I cannot ease some of this discomfort that we may have to give him his wings. Bailey had a course of 4 Catrophen injections over the course of 4 weeks a month ago but this time around I cannot see any improvement. Bailey is also on 1/2 a tablet morning and night of Glucosamine He is also on 1 tablet morning and night of a chinese herbal remedy ( China Med Arthritis) from the chiropractor (increased to 2 morning and night after consultation with the chiro on the weekend) He gets a fish oil capsule every few days as well. He underwent laser therapy at the chiro on the weekend. We have been leaving his heated dog bed on almost 24/7 and he does spend a fair bit of time on that. I noticed on the weekend that he is no longer able to get up and down my back stairs at home so we now carry him down the stairs to go to the toilet and then bring him back up. We can set up a tray for him on the back deck if we need to and put down some fake grass so that he can go there if we are not home Has anyone got any suggestions of anything else that we could try to make him more comfortable. I will be taking him out to Karen Hedberg tomorrow afternoon to see if she has any other suggestions as to date his treatment has been with another vet more local to me. Thanks TB

Glad to hear that your girl has been adopted. My cousins sheltie was diagnosed with a liver shunt at 7 months. Due to the expense of the operation and the not great success rate they decided to manage by diet. He got another 12 months but then the decision was made to put to sleep as he was deteriorating and was fitting. It is a mongrel of a condition. I applaud you for not sweeping this under the carpet and for allowing your girl to be used to try to find a marker for this condition.

Loyal K9 I second what Cowanbree suggested earlier. You do not seem happy with the dog. Sometimes a dog does not gel with a particular person or situation. Please contact the breeder as I am sure they would be horrified that this dog is not fitting into your household and meeting your expectations. The breeders that I know want what is best for the dog and the current situation does not sound like it is best for this particular dog. If it is the dog that I am thinking of he used to go to training where I take my dogs so was well socialised, as well as walked around the street up to the shops etc. I saw him quite a few times and never saw any signs of agression. Mum and Dad had fantastic outgoing temperaments as did the other pups that I have seen from that litter. Give the breeder a call, that is one of the reasons why you buy from a registered breeder, in that we should only be a phonecall away to assist with any issues. TB

MTD, Coat helps complete the overall picture that you are presenting to the judge. An out of coat sheltie as my girl Jane is at the moment is is almost like a collie smooth along her back and sides at the moment. She would be penalised because she is lacking the double coat at the moment. If there is another comparable speciman there on the day you would find that the dog that is in coat will go up. As for ears they have a mind of their own in Shelties. You will probably find that most ears need a bit of assistance with either weighting or bracing (for a heavy ear) to ensure that you get the nicely tipped ear. Some breeders no longer take a chance with the ears and they brace and weight to ensure that they get the ear set that they want. As a result it would be hard to determine whether you have a dog with a natuarlly correct ear set or whether it has been helped. Jane from my first litter has reasonable ears that I do not touch. That being said she went though a stage for about a month when she was teething when one ear was heavy, as a result we glued the ears for about 2 to 3 weeks and have never touched them since. My boy we weighted from 4 months to 12 months and have not weighted since. My older girl we have to keep weighted between shows as she has one ear that has a tendancy to prick. My young girl has one ear that tends to be heavy so we have to keep her braced between shows at the moment. Hopefully by 12 months the ear will have settled and we will not have to worry about it anymore. When I place my puppies out to pet homes I explain to the new owners about ears and also provide them with some goop to put on the ears should they prick during the teething stage particularly if they prefer the look with the tipped ear. They are told to get onto it straight away because if you leave it too long you have less chance of correcting it. TB

I can usually get turkey necks from Woolies at Pemulway ( Pendle Hill/Greystanes area). This is on Greystanes Road at the old Boral Site. So not that far from you. They are in the pre-packed meat section near all of the other dog food. My other local Wollies do not stock them but this one does. tb

Nikitaken, As Persephone said follow the breeders advice for the first week or 2 and change the pup over gradually to your preferred food. The best food is whatever your pup does best on. If you want to buy before you pick the pup up, contact the breeder and ask what the pup has been on. My last 2 litters of sheltie pups were raised on Advance puppy food (dry kibble). I switch them off the puppy food by the time they are four months as I find it promotes too much growth and then I switch them an adult kibble. Many of the breeders that I know feed Advance and get quite good results on it. Most of the breeders that I know do not feed tinned food ( trying to clean a shelties rear end when tinned food has gone right through them is not pleasant. I generally add about a tablespoon of monce to the dry kibble and also feed the tinned sardines once or twice a week along with a raw meaty bone once a week. TB

I ahve just had a litter with a Sheltie bitch that has done the same thing. Decided that she could not stomach dry food right through out the pregnancy. I was able to get her to eat tiny bits by mixing with some very mushy mince. This bitch probably only ate well for about a week of her entire pregnancy ( she commenced eating like a horse for the week after I had the vet confirm the pregnancy). She has existed on an allmost entirely meat diet for most of the pregnancy. Her mother was the same for her first litter. and she would only eat diced rump steak. The vet told me that whatever the bitch would eat let her. If that meant BBQ chicken then so be it. This vet had one that the only thing that she would eat for the pregnancy was some sort of Pate. If feeding a mostly meat diet ensure that the bitch is getting enough calcium do you may need to supplement her diet with a calcium tablet. This same btich last night within asn hour of finishing whelping almost too my hand off because i was not quick enough when feeding her some left over BBQ Chook. TB

Do a search on here for Satin Balls. I made these up for my young sheltie who I needed to put some weight on and they seem to be doing the trick. TB

There was some discussion on Sheltie Ears in the Sheltie thread in General Discussion. The thread there discusses all things Sheltie related. Many breeders use weights. Personally for pricked ears I use a mixture of sump oil and cement mixed to the consistency of peanut butter with a bit of powder ( chalk) to take the wetness away once placed on the ear. I have also used in the past antphlogestine (I got this from a produce store as it is used as a poultice on horses). I have however had someone glue the ears of 1 that had been pricked for more than a week and after a week or 2 of being glued the ears are fine. With gluing however you need to ensure that you are only gluing the hair not the skin. I have found that at that age due to teething that the ears will change almost daily. In my 14 week old litter at the moment I have had one bitch going from heavy in the morning to pricked in the evening so sometimes it is better to leave them alone. There is a book called Sheltie Talk ( American) that has a really good section on ears so if you can get your hands on a copy of that it may help. Regards, Tashbailey

I am a Nutro convert here as well. Have had my young Sheltie on it for a few months and have had lots of comments on her coat. I do add other things as well so could not tell you if it is the Nutro, the other food additives or the Leave in Lustre that I put on her coat that is doing the trick. I have found it easy to keep her at a good weight on the Nutro. My only complaint is the availability as it is widely available. I travel to get mine ( it is pointless getting a big bag when I only have the one dog on it) which sometimes can be a pain. I had a bag of Nutrience given to me a few years back and my guys turned their noses up at it. I have tried Proplan but I am not a fan. Fed Eukanuba for years but found that my young girl was not a fan of it. She much prefers the Nutro. I got a trial bag of Eagle Pack at Pet Expo and I am currently using that as a bit of variation to the dogs diet. They get a tiny bit of it mixed with their respective dried food and vegie mix. They don't seem to mind this.

I have 2 dogs who I have to constantly watch their weight as they blow up overnight if I am not constantly on top of it. I have found a workable solution for me at the moment while I am trying to strip some more weight off is to reduce the meat and the dried food portion and replace what I have reduced with boiled pumpkin that has been mixed with the smallest amount of lean pet mince ( ie pobably 80% pumpkin and 20% mince at most). This fills them up and they love it. I have also put them on a restricted calorie dry food ( available from your vet although I source mine online) as this has even less fat than the light version. Once I have them down to a comfortable weight I will probably switch back to the light food as it should be OK to maintain the weight. Mine at the moment are on about a 50/50 ration of the restricted calorie premium dry food and the Pumpkin/mince mixture. I have had other breeders recommend grated carrot ( have tried this and it does work) but mine seem to like the pumpkin mix better. If your dog is quite overweight then you may need to consider what the fat content is in your VIP meat and consider changing or reducing accordingly. It is probably easier to control calorie intake with the dry food than with prepackaged meat as you dog is probably getting most of its calories/fat from the meat you are feeding rather than the dry food. Also I have found that most times the feeding ratios on the food bags are too high for my dogs given their size and weight. I have reduced by at least a 3rd. Also if you are training your dog and giving treats you need to reduce this amount off the dogs meal. Good luck with the diet. It is very much a trial and error situation as what works for some dogs will not work for others. Michelle

I have been ordering some of my dogs food through www.petfooddirect.com.au for the last few times. They stock Euk, Advance, Hills and Royal Canin. They deliver to NSW, Victoria and Qld and the delivery is quite reasonable less than $6 for metro areas and just over $9 for country areas. The postage is fixed up to 32 kgs. Super Fast delivery. They also stock the usual prescription diets that you usually pay through the nose for at the local vets. An example of the prices are 15kg bag Euk Adult Large Breed is $78.77, Royal Canin Labrador 12 kg $77.96. Unfortunately I cannot get everything I want from there and still need to source the Nutro for my girl from another supplier. Michelle

So sorry to hear of your loss. She looked like a beautiful girl. Shelties just have a way of attaching themsleves to your heart and not letting go. Run free Annie.

My thoughts are with you. It is so hard losing a much loved family member. Run Free Chilly. Michelle

We received news this morning that a dog matching Tasha's description was picked up on Monday dead in the area where she went missing on Sunday. Due to the council not detecting the microchip and not checking with reports of lost dogs and the flyers that were very clearly on display in the immediate area where she was picked up we have not been able to reclaim her body and give her the proper farewell that she deserved. The council did not even keep the collar that was on her so that we could then be 100% sure that it is her. In reality though I feel that it is most likely her because we have had no sightings of her since Sunday evening and we have extensively searched the area where she went missing. Tasha was 2 years old. She had been with us since she was 8 weeks old. She was my birthday present and was my first foray into the world of showing dogs. She was to be my foundation bitch. Unfortunately in true Sheltie style she went too big for the show ring but she was always first and foremost my pet. She was spoilt rotten, sleeping on the bed, all the dog toys ( of which there were many) were all hers ( in the world according to Tash anyway). You were definitely the boss, you ran rings around Wags, Bailey and Sonny. Sonny will be across the bridge to guide you having passed over on Sunday afternoon. To say goodbye to two of you in such circumstances and so close together is so hard. Wags and Bailey are still waiting in hope that you will both return home which we now know will not be likely to happen. It is a struggle just to get them to eat. Missing you heaps my dear Tasha and I am so sorry that I did not find you in time so that your last hours were spent in the arms of someone who loved you instead of in fear and alone. You will be forever in my heart. Run free dear Tasha and stay forever young over the bridge where you will know no pain

Sonny you were only with us for a short part of your long life. You did not deserve to have your life ended by a car following the actions of a stupid teenager leaving a garage door open. You did not stand a chance on a busy road given that your hearing was gone and you only had limited visibility. May your sight and hearing be returned to you over the rainbow bridge. We are upset over your passing. Please help guide poor Tasha home whowho has been missing since Sunday 1.30pm