Her Majesty Dogmad

Anal glands would be my immediate suspicion. I've just answered a thread on the same subject above. Even the best diet doesn't always eliminate the gland problem. I just lost a dog after 10 years who was on a fantastic diet but had his glands done every 2-3 months for the whole 10 years. One time I left it a little too long and he literally exploded all over the surgery and the vet - not nice!! If you know it is anal glands, it costs about $20 as opposed to a full consult fee. Should it turn out not to be that (I've had this happen too), then they can do further exploration but it is important not to leave it too long because it can become an infection or worse, an abcess which will have the dog in agony.

Please get your dog straight to the vet! I have (unfortunately) a lot of experience with anal glands. My first was our first dog, I thought his bottom looked a bit swollen and was told I was imagining things by the rest of the family. There were no other signs at all. A couple of days later I was walking him and suddenly there was an explosion of pus/blood etc, it was awful. I rescue dogs and almost all of them seem to need their bottoms fixing!! There is a lot of ignorance out there and even amongst some vets, they just kept giving someone I met worm tablets and then more worm tablets. I told them straight away that it was infected anal glands but they didn't beleive me because I'm not a vet ... Anyhow, the dog got a very sore bottom and went to a different vet and had the glands done and then antibiotics for a week. Some dogs just need it done regularly, others occasionally and some never. There can be a smell which is quite revolting, a lot of licking sometimes and/or bottom scraping. Anyhow, if it doesn't look right, get the vet to squeeze the glands and problem is fixed. It is only about $20 - I have a couple of dogs that get it done very regularly. You can learn to do it yourself but I'd rather pay!

What a beautiful girl, she would have been so happy to find you and you can feel the love in those photos. Her last few weeks were obviously very special. I am so sorry that it ended so tragically, my heart breaks for you and sweet Ruby .... life is so unfair sometimes.

Thanks everyone, I'll pass your comments on to my mum's friend.

Diet can really help but yes, I had a dog that needed them doing every 6 wks or so in spite of an excellent diet. He developed a serious disease at around 7 yrs and the anal glands issue was part of the disease. Having fostered over 50 dogs in the last 4 years, I have come across many dogs with anal gland issues, eg they haven't ever been emptied or hardly ever, pretty easy to resolve and some only need it once or twice a year.

My mother's best friend lives in a small town in the USA and has an elderly poodle who has just been diagnosed with diabetes. She has been told the dog will need daily injections and she cannot cope with doing that. My mum has asked me if I've heard of any alternatives in natural medicine that may be suitable. I have no experience of diabetes so wondered if anyone has any experience/suggestions that I can pass on. I don't think I would be able to cope with giving injections either so any help would be much appreciated.

Dear little girl, I'm glad she had love and comfort in her last weeks.

My friend had to catch a nasty dog the other week and got a tranq from the vet, fed it to the dog and that's how she managed. As a poster said above, I would recommend not allowing her to continue with any pregnancy. Probably won't cope and whelping/raising pups is a massive job even if you have a great and cooperative mother!

I've had a few dogs like this, one sat on the sofa and bared his teeth at me for 3 weeks. I give them time but I also think that because I have other dogs, they often learn by watching them interact with me. It's never quick but you are on the right track. I am very surprised she came from a breeder, mine have been abused and dumped but you would expect more from a breeder surely?? Anyhow, I think a behaviouralist's advice would be great and very reassuring for you, I'm sure you'll make progress but it will take a while and lots of love and patience. Best of luck.

And from the attack you describe, it was a miracle that this little dog survived - to get any other dog by the throat is extremely aggressive with intent to kill. I hope it doesn't have a haemorrhage or other delayed reaction.

Dogs loose in the front yard are a major issue in my area. You cannot have your dog loose in your front yard if you don't have a high fence and gates, eg if it is not secure. If your front yard is insecure, your dog is free to attack another dog (for whatever reason), a cat or bail people up. All against the law in NSW and can attract big fines. I'm very sorry for the poodle and the poodle's owner, what a horrific fright for all. I had to report the owners of two large dogs (GSD and Labrador) who have been loose in their front yard and chased me and my dogs on several occasions, the people have nothing to answer to my requests to control their dogs except the "f" word. If I had been walking across the road, their dogs would have just run over to come and see us. My dogs are all about 5 kilos. The Council took my complaint seriously but I no longer walk down that road.

Easy - I go to All Natural Vets at Russell Lea (next to Drummoyne). One of my dogs had a total collapse last July, couldn't stand/walk properly for 2 months. We went there 3 times a week and she has now returned to normal!! She had chiro and accupuncture. I have also been there for Chinese herbs which I can't recommend highly enough, quite amazing results for different things. The vet is on Lyons Road, Russell Lea. Tel 9712 5844. Barbara Fougere is among the practitioners there, she's a well known author on animal health.

Sounds like fleas or lice to me. Are you using a barrier product?

As a terrier fan, all I can say is wiry coats are the best!! So easy.

cannibalgoldfish - sorry for your loss, I will be taking my dogs ashes with me when I am cremated and we'll be scattered together if that might be a consolation for you.

Sorry to hear of your loss, what a wise old soul Sage was.

Natural Balance is the name of the food I'm referring to. As for value, I found it was excellent and have continued to buy it. Storage is more of a problem for me as it's a large bag but I break it up into containers so bag size shrinks for storage. I have had many foster dogs and I have tried many foods. Hand on heart - NB is the only food that no dog has ever refused to eat!! It's a really nice size for small dogs and the dog I was referring to didn't have many teeth either. My vet could only put the improvement down to the food. Her ears never got better as such but we managed to maintain them for 2.5 years until she passed away. She'd been in such terrible pain for so long when I got her, I could still cry just thinking about it. I was glad that we found a way to make her life more bearable.

I had a rescued foster dog with two burst ear drums, filled with pus. Poor baby. She had 3 surgeries and permanent antibiotic ear drops which had to be changed to keep them working. I tried a number of diets but my vet could not believe the improvement after she ate a particular dog food for 2 months - it was purchased online from www.pricelesspets.com.au. It's a dried food specially formulated for ear/eye/skin probs and it certainly worked wonders for my girl who would have been possibly euthanased due to severity of problems.

I've got a dog on Metacam, she wouldn't be able to live if she didn't have it as she'd be in so much pain. As someone who has been diagnosed with arthritis in feet, hands, knees and probably other places I haven't yet had x-rayed, I can tell you it is very painful and debilitating. I've had to come off my anti-inflammatories as I'm having surgery next week and it is hard! It's got to be all about quality of life! I'll be back on the pills as soon as I can .... I was taking glucosamine and fish oil for a long time but as things progress, it simply isn't enough. If I want to do anything except sit down, then painkillers are required and it's the same for the dogs, even though they are very stoic, it would be miserable.

Perhaps dementia could be starting?

I'm pretty sure you'll find this is dementia. Very hard to live with - I've just lost 3 dogs with dementia in the last 6 months and two of them kept me awake a lot in the night, one would bark at the wall etc and the other just wanted food all night long. I tried all sorts - the lights on etc etc, nothing stopped the barking. My vet recommended some low dose tranqs so I could get some rest but they didn't work on her. Following the passing of the old girl that barked, with my Italian Greyhound, I actually achieved great success with chinese herbs from a natural vet in Sydney. He really improved on those for his last few months and I finally got some rest.

My dogs have sardines in the morning and sometimes again at night!! They wouldn't have it any other way ..

We had a Lakeland Terrier in England who was similar to this (crazy) and my darling foxy was the same with a hose. They need an awful lot of stimulation.

So very sad, another dear little mite taken far too early and especially hard for the kids.

So very sorry, she was a beauty, hard to understand why such a dear little one is taken so early.