Her Majesty Dogmad

I feed at all times of the day, I don't like the 'expectation' of being fed at a certain time. After reading this thread I feel like a right bitch! My dog gets a once a day feed, and if she starts looking like she is putting on weight I skip a day. We had working dogs when I was growing up in the 70's and they were fed every second day, and were fed a combination of raw and PAL dog biscuits (one or the other). When an animal was butchered, they had a feast! I would have thought that any working dog should be fed every day, I really feel every second day would leave them very hungry indeed. Animals like routine, yes it can be a pain if you have to change your own and they get a bit worrisome but it's part of pet ownership.

I own and rescue small dogs and I don't believe in once a day feeding personally, it might emulate what dogs do in the wild but we aren't in the wild and I find that snacks in the morning and an evening meal works for me. I like my dogs to be settled when I go to work, they've been walked and have a biscuit or two (or similar) before I leave. I take on many dogs that are underweight and feed them 3-4 small meals a day until we can revert to the same routine as my own dogs. It's not good to have your dogs get obese as it's bad for their joints and I often see chubby dogs at the vets. You can overdo snacks etc but with young dogs they are generally a lot more active so it can be hard to keep weight on them.

Thanks a lot, everyone. We have taken him to pre-school at Sydney University, and tried to train him at home. He is doing really good on sit, stay, down, turn etc, but on leash walking isn't the best. He is rally good, doesn't bark a lot, super friendly, getting gentle....great dog. Maybe have a look at the different harnesses on the market if the onlead walking is the main issue. You could contact your breeder for advice or one of the Labrador rescues (national Labrador Rescue or Labradog Rescue in Sydney) - this would be a very common problem that they'd have to provide advice on I'm sure.

Is anyone nr Fullertons Cove to do a homecheck please? PAWS have a littlie that would love a new home if it works out! Thanks in advance.

Excellent, finally people might be getting a bit switched on ...

Emily Brightside How do you know the real reason the dog was surrendered? A family pet bites the baby, they love the dog and don't want their child at risk...so they dump it and say they can't afford it anymore, I come to your pound and buy this dog, you didn't do any temperament testing and you want the dog alive and rehomed asap, I take my new bargain dog home and it attacks my baby the next day. Do you have a duty of care in this situation, or hold any responsibility? Do you have a good reputation to maintain, if not your own, the reputation of the industry you represent? You'll be deleted you know, for asking the wrong (but very relevant) questions! You would laugh if it wasn't so irresponsible.

Kristine comes highly recommended by people I know who are experienced dog people/rescuers.

I can't comment on WARN but hope they are good - I'm sure they would need foster carers. Have they got the sort of dogs you like/need to foster? If it doesn't work out, some of the Sydney groups do take Wollongong based fosters as long as they can drive to their rescue vets if need be or get back to the coordinator in Sydney - wherever they are. Things to think about are whether you need help with food, flea treatments etc etc. It's great for any group if a foster carer can provide that assistance as well but some will provide. Also ask how/if they would involve you in any potential adoption and what checks they do. If they don't do yard checks then I recommend avoiding.

I'll be minding a dog with Demodex shortly, I met her last night and she's very sore and sorry after years of neglect and a vet that just treated her with cortisone She's on Telfast tabs as well which really helps - the rescue vet in this case is excellent and very experienced with mange. This poor little dog scratches and whimpers, smells terrible. I can't wait to see her better. I've had a few dogs with mange before. Takes about 3 months to get better. Malaseb baths every couple of days at first plus the Ivomectin and a very good quality natural diet. They can come down with it again - one of the dogs I had with mange was eventually rehomed in good health but got it again a year later and he was returned to me for the care regime (another 3 months) which the new owners couldn't cope with. Two years on and he's still good.

My friend will take the dog to the vet I'm sure, she'll need to in order to get the Amacin - if that's appropriate. She just wanted to be armed with some information first.

I rescued a dog last year and during her period as a foster dog, a cherry eye popped up. I expected surgery but my vet prescribed an ointment which reduced it within a week. A friend's new dog has cherry eye coming up and I can't remember the name of the ointment as I gave it to the new owner. Does anyone know? If not I can call my vet's on Friday and ask. Thanks!

I'd definitely change the diet, no bones at all. I'd be cooking up turkey mince (very lean) with rice and veggies and stop the son-in-law feeding the dog titbits - it could be something pancreas related to fat ... anything with skin on also contains too much fat for dogs with an issue. The son-in-law needs to wake up to himself, he's being cruel - unintentionally but cruel all the same. My friend feeds her dogs the main meal in the morning and only a small snack or two at night.

You are best to train your own dog - what are you looking for with regards to training? Sit, stay and on lead walking are trained at different locations around Sydney - Brush Farm at Eastwood is great because they hold classes at weekends. Training your own dog helps you build a strong relationship with them and is very rewarding - I thoroughly enjoyed taking a difficult dog I had to 2 months worth of training at a club in St Ives on Saturdays - just for an hour or so, it's not onerous. I would have kept going with him but he wouldn't sit for long enough so couldn't progress. There's a club in Hornsby Heights on Sundays too, so something to suit everyone. Hanrob also do training and boarding I think if that is the only way you want to go but I'm sure that you are still going to need to do some work with your dog (practice etc) once he/she returns.

I'd recommend a chiro too, an old dog of mine was suddenly in pain, vet just gave him painkillers which wasn't fixing it, the dog chiro determined the issue and over several visits, he got better. As someone who has a bad neck/back, I had many years where when something in my neck went out of position the pain was dreadful and really stopped me from being able to function properly. It would always take several visits to a physio/chiro to fix. I really feel for any person or dog in that situation. It's difficult with the ear infection because as they worsen, so many dogs will shake their heads.

These people at PR generally have little experience and once again, are most likely putting animals and people into dangerous/compromised situations. As you say, their only aim is to save a life - not to make sure that once saved, the animal ends up in the best possible home. Any animal, anywhere.

Hugs to you, so sorry it wasn't something treatable and lymphoma is truly rotten to deal with. He was very loved and will always be in your heart.

Fingers crossed it's nothing to worry about and you'll hopefully feel better after chatting to the vet. Horrible seeing out dogs get old .... My Westie cross has had Cushings for nearly 4 years. The medication has been amazing, he's done incredibly well. One of the Cushings symptoms is muscle/ligament related, mine has had both cruciates with issues over the period. Perhaps that is causing the wobbly walking. Keep us posted and good luck!

Maybe speak to the council re your concerns and ask what the stats are

Diamond did an audible fart last night as I was about to pick up the phone. It's a miracle I survived the night as she was truly evil for hours ...

Might be something like Cushings, they tend to drink and wee a lot more. There's a simple urine test that can indicate Cushings now, my vet did this on my old Maltese last year. Another old male Chi cross that is being fostered by a lady I've been in touch with, has also got urinary incontinence - I put a thread on here about it. He's just had an ultrasound (checking for kidney stones) and other tests that ruled out anything bad so vet has put him on Propalin. Could be something simple, best to get it checked though - he's the right age for these problems to start.

Can anyone help PAWS with a yard check at St Georges Basin please? Thank you!

This little chap is in foster care a long way from Menai, new prospective owners have already met him and loved him. Now all SOS need is a yard check at Menai - can anyone help please?

Sorry everyone, this is a very complex situation, I really cannot get involved more than pointing the person in the right direction. I've done that. The person ringing me has issues and gets angry when I won't go and pick up whatever she wants picked up and according to her it has to be under cover of darkness etc etc. I've called the local council and they are aware of the situation, they gave me advice which I passed on to the person. Thanks for all the advice and feedback, if it was up to me in this country, we'd have compulsory desexing and these situations would not be happening. The laws need to change.

My dog had many distressing symptoms, I saw 3 vets and they all said it was likely to be a brain tumour. The only definitive answer was to have an MRI. It is not easy to get one and it costs thousands - my vet advised against going down that path because of the difficulty and expense and also, if that's what it was, the treatment would be removal and apparently it generally changes your dog completely. Sadly I had to put him to sleep about 3 months after the first strange initial symptom which was that of confusion - he got lost in a familiar place. After that he started to lose his ability to jump around from place to place, he was a pocket rocket kind of dog. He also became aggressive on odd occasions to myself and the other dogs and finally he had fits and urinary incontinence. Some days he was fine, other days not. I didn't let him linger.

Poor old lad, so sorry about this.