Rosetta

Just saw this on nine news yesterday (Adelaide)

That is incredibly scary! To steal dogs out of yards is bad enough but to try and steal one from the owner's possession like that is gobsmacking Owners were obviously very upset - what is happening out there with these dogs that are stolen? And why would they steal a husky - I didn't they would be considered "fighting" dogs

Olly's outdoor Dunny !!

(sorry...the mind pictures made me smile)

Best laugh of the day!

Actually Rosetta - that's not such a silly idea.... I'll certainly suggest it if it comes to that - thanks.

I didn't think it was silly at all really. I don't mean a structure!! I mean a bit of plastic stretched across from a patio and tied to an outdoor chair or something - I've done it with my little dog and it did the trick when the rain was pouring down. Better than wee indoors.

Good news! Don't know what their house set-up is but is it a possibility to set up a little "lean-to" perhaps against the patio/porch - jus to provide a little sheltered area for toileting?

Hi all, S and T and Rosetta in particular. Well its 2.50 am and Mac's pacing was terrible 20 minutes ago. I have set up three night lights around the house and bought a heavy weight bandage from the chemist today and swaddled him in it as in your link Rosetta a few minutes ago - and he settled almost immediately - the effect has been really dramatic and he didn't protest against the bandage one bit - he's still heavy breathing but the pacing has stopped and he's lying quietly next to me on the lounge. . Despite the expense I'm leaving the gas heater on in the lounge overnight as well at the moment - hopefully that will help too. (Is really cold overnight here at the moment - I think we are in for a really cold winter this year after a really mild one last year).

Now for some sleep myself... thanks again guys. Will report back again tomorrow.

Fingers crossed WM

Mac - good boy. Mum needs to get some sleep

I find that whole website totally confusing. Is the nutritional breakdown for the PRODUCT ie the Supplement. Or the breakdown of the DIET. Perhaps I'm just a Nong (I'm probably a Nong).

I have just finished my first container of the Superboost, can't say I've seen any miracle results. I had Dory on raw diet for about a month before using it and Willow has been getting some as well.

I read it as a breakdown of the nutrients in the Superboost product rather than the diet. I thought it would just add some balance to home made to make sure he gets all the proper nutrients.

Better to feed balanced than add a powder, really.

I think it gives us peace mind, if nothing else. I'm always questioning if I'm giving the right balance, even though I have shiny coats, good teeth, fresh breath (the dogs, not me), nice firm poos. As far as supplements go, I think this one is fairly reasonably priced.

But how do you know its the right balance?

I don't. I certainly haven't been feeding this supplement in the amounts it recommends. I'm not even sure if what I'm feeding is the right balance. I try to give plenty of variety within the scope of what the dogs are willing to eat. (Dory won't touch offal with a 40ft barge pole, no matter how much you try to hide it).

I've read multiple books on raw feeding and all of them give you a different breakdown, most of them recommend this supplement or that supplement. Which annoys me, because I begin to question the credibility of an author that is pushing their supplement, whilst bagging out commercially produced foods that push their product as the best for balance and nutrition. Bit pot calling kettle black.

An over riding question I have is...how do we know what nutrients they need in what balance...and how did they work that out?

From my observation of Dory's changed appearance, what I'm doing now seems to be better than what I was doing before. (raw vs dry food). Is it the best? I have no idea.

The yanks did a big deal and determined the levels of nutrition determined to be the norm for our dogs not that this really means much.

Its about understanding what happens inside the dog's body when some things are lacking or when some things are over represented. So for example lets look at calcium - dogs need calcium - right? But in order for the calcium to do what it needs to do it needs things to ensure the calcium assimilates. just giving the dog calcium and neglecting the rest has huge long term consequences - you need other minerals such as zinc and magnesium and the right level of phosphorous and it needs vitamins in the mix vitamin D and E.

So you dont need to be a kitchen whizz or a scientist . When you look at feeding yourself or your child you know already that no matter what you cant get everything you need in for long term health .the way we deal with that is to eat a varied diet and try to balance it with a bit of everything over a period of about a week.

When you feed commercial foods the enzymes needed to assimilate these things which are found in fresh food are dead , the vitamins are dead - cooking and storage makes sure of this and you are left with a bag full of minerals which need others things to assimilate.everyone says they are a complete food and every one says they are the best and they are all different to each other. At the very minimum if you feed commercial dog food you need a multi vitamin and enzymes suppliments - but you can see what the vitamins are and you can see what the enzymes are when you determine you will use them. you see people who change foods and see a good result maybe its got more oils or fats etc for shiny coats so they stick with it but over time it cuts the immune system to the bone - because its just not possible to feed everything the dog needs by feeding only the same thing and little else.

If you are feeding raw and try for variety with whole foods rather than suppliments I promise your dog will be healthier than anything else you can do. But just be aware of some of the common mistakes mainly the ratio of bone to meat and chuck in everything else when its in season or handy and all is well.

My big argument about products such as this is that the chemical analysis hasn't been done and you are either wasting your money and or setting up future problems.

If you are feeding raw and you are a bit concerned that you arent covering it all then all you need is a children's multi vitamin.

You dont need to spend a bucket on something that is being marketed as a suppliment but which hasn't even done the analysis.

I get what you are saying Steve but I would be concerned that a multi designed for humans may not be appropriate. Here are the ingredients for the Blackmore children's multi for instance - what about the iron component would that be OK for dogs?

Free of artificial colours, flavours and sweeteners

Vitamin A

Vitamin B1

Vitamin B2

Vitamin B3

Vitamin B5

Vitamin B6

Vitamin B12

Folic acid

Vitamin C

Vitamin D3

Natural Vitamin E

Biotin

Calcium

Iron

Potassium

Magnesium

Manganese

Zinc

Resurrecting this thread having read it as I'm wondering if a thundershirt might help Mac? As some might be aware my almost 14 year old westie has canine dementia which has worsened in the lat ten days to two weeks. He is finding it impossible to settle and is waking the whole household overnight for party games and constant wandering - last night it was 3.30 am - and that was after 2mg of valium at 10.30 pm. The vet has given us the valium while the Lovan kicks in - about ten days. Mac is also deaf with poor night vision - so he seems more anxious overnight.

I've noticed he seems to calm if I cuddle him tight and he often wants to really snuggle in when he's on my bed - but I can't sleep like that.. I've had about 5 hours sleep in the last two nights here so something is going to have to give.

Has anyone used a thundershirt successfully with a dog with general anxiety, obsessive pacing and/or dementia? Thanks for any help or advice.

You can get much the same effect from a snug fitting t-shirt or try wrapping a wide bandage around him - it will give you an idea whether a thundershirt would work before buying one. This site has some pictures of how the bandage wraps around

http://peacefuldog.blogspot.com.au/2010/11/t-touch-and-anxiety-wraps.html

A step in the right direction. Very sad when older people in particular have to surrender a pet because they need to move into smaller accommodation. In the long run I wonder if it will make a difference to the number of pets surrendered due to rental issues as well.

Since when did feeding our dogs become such rocket science? Don't know how they survived in the days when most dogs just got left overs :D I think the pet food industry have profited greatly by making feeding more complicated than it is.

I won't feed raw - it upsets the tummy. Cooked meat with some veges and fish/eggs/dairy is fine IMO and doesn't hurt to add a vitamin/mineral mix. People who question adding a supplement probably happily pop a multivitamin themselves each day without agonising over it.

I find that whole website totally confusing. Is the nutritional breakdown for the PRODUCT ie the Supplement. Or the breakdown of the DIET. Perhaps I'm just a Nong (I'm probably a Nong).

I have just finished my first container of the Superboost, can't say I've seen any miracle results. I had Dory on raw diet for about a month before using it and Willow has been getting some as well.

I read it as a breakdown of the nutrients in the Superboost product rather than the diet. I thought it would just add some balance to home made to make sure he gets all the proper nutrients.

Ingredients listed here - plenty of good reviews on the site.

http://store.augustineapproved.com/augustines-superboost-220g/

I am looking at switching to home cooked meals and wonder if anyone has any feedback on this product? Home cooked meat/fish/eggs and veg with this - or similar - as a supplement. I am really not too happy with any of the kibbles and wonder if it is just as easy to prepare the meals myself as we generally have meat left over anyway. I am looking at the VAN supplement as well but it has kangaroo in it which I don't want.

The affected products are sold through veterinary clinics and select pet specialty retailers nationwide and in Canada. They were also sold in Hong Kong, Korea, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, Australia, and Costa Rica as well as online.

Thats odd - in the link Kayla posted it says this:

"The affected products are sold in bags through veterinary clinics, select pet specialty retailers, and online in the United States and Canada. No canned wet food is affected by this announcement."

Where did your statement come from?? Sorry - just saw it in the original post.

Edit to add - I am sick of all this worry about dry foods - I am going to start preparing the food myself!

This seems to relate only to products sold in USA and Canada.

Sorry to hear that Westiemum. How did the vet visit go?

Deals Direct have this playpen on sale - worth a look.

http://www.dealsdirect.com.au/portable-pet-exercise-playpen-red/

I haven't read this complete thread, it's too big. I'm wondering if there's a "make your own" mix instructions for adult dogs in there somewhere?

I have 5 whippets, all mature, ranging in age from 8 to 14 years old. I would consider them all very healthy for their ages, none are overweight but the oldest girl is arthriticky now. I currently cook for them a mix of beef, chicken and fresh veggies and rice. They've done well on it but lately I've noticed some of them dont seem to be digesting the veggies as well as they used to so I'm thinking about starting them on raw.

Have you thought of just adding a supplement to your home cooked meals? VAN have a "health booster" for example that can be added to meals and there are other similar products out there.

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If you think she is reacting to as advantix then I would not ever touch it agin, nor use permoxin. Allergic reactions often get worse each time.Frontline spray. Top spot is useless, spray much better but not cost effective.

When I used Advantix on Jasper. ( 2 year old 3.5 kg toy poodle) last week he went berserk. Scratching , rolling madly on my bed, was acting weird. Couldn't sit down and relax. Kept laying down, getting up , changing spots. The next night he was worse. Then gradually over next few days stopped scratching. I will never give that again.

He did get sprayed with frontline by vet when he had tiny ticks and was ok. And I'm sure he's had Advantix several times before but this dose was dreadful.

If you do some Googling you will find that this reaction to Advantix is not uncommon with toy breeds. I believe the recommended treatment is to wash down immediately with a dish washing liquid - you would need to research further to ascertain which are suitable to use.

You have a few options - none ideal. Rehome the dog to a home where he will never be in contact with small children - hard to guarantee, isolate the dog to an area where he is unable to ever have any contact with your baby or PTS. Only you can decide which option is practical and fair to all.

I am sorry you are facing such a hard choice and hope your baby was not too badly hurt.

I don't think Poppy's coat is as shiny on the VIP BUT she doesn't shake her head or scoot when on it. I felt guilty about feeding it and went back to Holistic Select and she started shaking her head again and scooting.

I didn't really feed Earthborn long enough to comment on it but didn't notice anything good or negative.

What is the connection to the head shaking do you think? My little poodle boy has always shaken his head - no idea why

I have stopped feeding the VIP because of frequent and loose motions.

Just a thought out of left field - is he reacting to something you have done rather than the other dog?

Good boy Ollie

No doubt the toileting hiccup was due to the new environment. So happy to hear a good ending for a change :)

This is timely - I just saw an ad on Gumtree where someone was giving away a lovely five year old female cocker. The dog was an inside dog but has been banished outside since they got a bird because of her "hunting" instincts so they are giving her away. Some people...

Have you seen this thread?

http://www.dolforums.com.au/topic/232270-vets-all-natural-perfect-puppy-nutrition/

Lots of information and if you post a question VAN are very good with responses.

There is a thread about this in the "news" section as well.

I think it is always best to take precautions. I have a small cute dog and no way is he in the front yard when I am not with him and when I am out he is behind high locked gates. There are a lot of dogs that go missing and I couldn't stand not knowing what happened to him if he wasn't there when I got home.

There was a similar story being circulated that this was happening on the Gold Coast as well. Men in reflective type vests claiming to be council officers trying to impound people's dogs on the beach. Honestly you hear so many of these stories I have to wonder if some of them are an urban myth. I don't doubt that dogs are being stolen but with the stories going around of houses being "marked" with dots etc you have to think there must be an enormous number of dog fighting rings out there and yet very little in the news about them being exposed - where is it all taking place??