Pjrt

Hello everyone I have been a professional dog groomer working at it full time since 1986, as a salon owner since 1989. When I first started grooming, plucking the hair out of the ears of dogs that grow hair in their ears, such as Poodles, Schnauzers and ShihTzu, was the normal thing to do. Get in there with forceps and yank every damn hair out of there. Over the years my methods changed, and these days I use electric trimmers to clip the area out, and then I use depilatory powder and my fingers for deforestation of the ear canals.I also am not as pedantic over getting every hair out. I am leaning even further away from ear plucking as the years roll on. Often now days if I am presented with a clean fresh and not overly hairy ear, I will run the clipper lightly over the area and leave it be. When I first started grooming, topical flea treatments did not exist. When the were introduced a few years later, I noticed a MASSIVE drop in ear infections among my grooming clients. I know some of those topicals cover mites as well, and I assume this was the reason for seeing so many less ear infections. It used to be every second ear I looked in was plugged up with thick brown or yellow goop. These days I'm lucky to see 1 ear infection a month. I must confess I also have a very awesome client base of very conscientious dog owners. Any who, I have noticed a big increase in clients coming in stating their vet told them to tell their groomer to never pluck the dogs ears. I'm fine with that,.......BUT......... I get just as many clients changing groomers because ' the other groomer didn't pluck fifi/fidos ears. AND, I have had a few clients noticing I haven't been getting all the hair out of their dogs ears, and asking me to pay particular attention to 'do it properly this time'. So, I'm stuck in the middle :banghead: It seems the first batch of new vets out of Roseworthy are being told don't pluck, and passing the message on to their clients, and other vets are getting on board with this advice. I would like some actual professional advice on this. I would like to become a " no pluck" salon. But I can't win. Some clients want them plucked, some tell me their vet said they should change groomers because the groomer isn't plucking the ears, and others are saying the vet said don't pluck the ears. I feel it is a classic ' if it aint broke, don't fix it' and am happy to leave healthy ears alone, and especially leave infected ears alone, and advise veterinary intervention. I actually don't think plucking the hairs helps prevent grass seeds either, possibly actually makes it easier for grass seeds to slide right in down there. So many times I have pulled a seed trapped in the ear hair. If it wasn't for the hair plugging the ear, it would no doubt have gotten deeper into the ear more easily. Ok well sorry for the long post.

Haha my hoverdog :laugh:

Yes he has plenty of enthusiasm for life.... But thankfully he has a very definite on and off switch. He sure knows how to relax too!

Skink hunting in his own speshal way.

naw Chihuahua

There are a couple of kennels in the city here in the industrial areas. Both are also welfare orgs, but you would expect they would have systems in place regardless of where they are located in the case of any sort of emergency. Can anyone with kennels give a definitive answer on the issue of release/ waiver forms. Do they stand up in court? Could the pet owners have signed away their rights? I was discussing this with someone earlier and they said they bet there were lawyers out there rubbing their mitts together drawing up class action. Etc. So I wondered how release forms would come into it.

The area the kennels were in were in an area under 'catastrophic' warning on that day. I don't want to be an arm chair critic just stating a fact. I have NFI what I would have done under the same conditions I wasn't talking about the kennel. I was responding to the Pipsqueak, CavNRott and Showdog conversation. yeah i was just using the fact that the kennel was in a 'catastrophic' warning area that day, maybe they should have peed their pants

The area the kennels were in were in an area under 'catastrophic' warning on that day. I don't want to be an arm chair critic just stating a fact. I have NFI what I would have done under the same conditions

Gruf is a very active 23 kg mixed breed, raw fed, and he gets a breakfast of about two large tablespoons of raw mince The Formula from Adelaide Dog, which I feed as a meaty soup by adding about half a cup of room temperature water to it. Some times I will chuck in an egg, or some cottage cheese, or yoghurt, or some raw organ meat etc but only another couple of mouthfulls of whatever. In the evening he gets a meaty bone meal to suit his size and the days activity level. These include a staple of raw turkey necks, and we swap sometimes for raw chicken carcass, raw duck carcass, raw lamb neck bones etc, and sometimes fresh raw whole sardines. When he is at work with me during the week I feel sorry for him and give him a snack at lunch time to help fill in his day, which is usually a tiny piece of lamb neck or preferably a raw chicken foot. He has a very varied raw diet. He is always excited to get his meals, and always eats everything with enthusiasm, but never pesters me for food. He appears to be active, healthy, and satisfied with what he eats and how it is fed. Personally I would not be comfortable letting him gorge his daily raw allowance in one feed. If I were feeding kibble, which I do not, but if I did, I would not want my dog eating a large volume in one meal, and would split it into two. Really the answer lies in what you feed, how much you feed, and what suits your dog and your routine best.

No one is asking them to represent any but those signatory to their own charter.The pedigree breeders who follow their protocols. They CAN'T represent any one else. So no, it would not encompass all breeders. They are quite entitled to represent their members as they fit. Removal of that rule would not change that. For dogs sake, there is no US and THEM!! There is only a community and its expectations. Any division of those expectations is the K.Cs own device. That rule is a political statement beyond the bounds of what they do. Its not their business to make rulings there unless they DO accept responsibility. By re-inforcing that they don't do it, with a negative ruling, its not JUST that don't do it, its that they are OPPOSED to it. Anything that does not occurr within the registry. So the communities expectation is now divided and all placed on this one organization to provide for all needs. We should expect nothing from out side the K.Cs right? So they carry the expectations of us all. Its an un-realistic expectation. So when its not met, another org . starts up in opposition. I say opposition because thats the only position open to any whos needs aren't able to be met within the K.Cs. Of course they can't meet the expectations of the whole. Opposition is written into the charter. Its not a real division. Its written words that can be unwritten. They oppose by choice. They chose their antagonist and named their fight.Its all who are not with them, so we are all drawn into it. They would not need to meet the expectations of us all if they did not oppose those who might meet other needs. With out that rule, with out that division, there is just a community. Some keep dogs, some don't. Some are pedigrees, some aren't.Some breeders register with a body to promote their own specific goals and interests, some don't. But each of those people carries then their OWN responsibilities to meet the expectations of their community.The expectations are the same for any breeder or owner... that they excersize due care and take responsibility for their own choices. Its not opposition to the K.Cs that cause the problems, but its opposition that they recognise.Its what they see and what they react to because its what they named it, this outside influence.There is no US and THEM. There is only expectation. An all encompassing organization is only needed if the antagonism can't be removed otherwise. Hi Moosmum. I just wanted to drop in to let you know I completely get what you write, most especially this particular post. Please keep posting even when you feel like your shovelling shit up a hill. I get it! I love reading your posts :D

Thank you!

Homeopathy- Tim Minchin explains it best. I am also in the puppy vaccs and first booster and all done for life camp. The more I read and hear, I am even becoming less inclined to go with the booster. Puppy vaccs and it's all done. My current dog had a C5 coming out of the shelter at 9 months of age. No idea if he had anything as a baby. I have no intention of vaccinating him again.

I feel the same. I feed raw with loads of different bones and have dental scalers that I teach my dogs to tolerate. It is not hard to do it yourself. I rarely have to resort to manual scaling though. Every time I bathe my dogs from when they are babies, i just use a tissue to rub the canines mainly, the tissue is abrasive enough to wipe away any soft plaque that appears. I sometimes scratch with my fingernail to get anything a bit more stubborn. By the time the dogs are middle aged i may need to get out the manual scaler every so often, and they tolerate it very well. My old vet showed me years ago how to crack hard buildup off the teeth with haemostats! I have found between the diet rich in bones and natural chews, and a lifetime of diligent manual checking and scaling, I have never had to have a dog put under for a dental, not even my elderly Chihuahuas.

My personal opinion is people should be grateful to find their dog locked up safe for collection and be happy to pay whatever it takes to get them out, regardless of how long they are there, or how they ended up on the run in the first place.

My two cents from a groomers perspective, with 28 yrs experience. While we LOVE getting puppies started early, there is no way I would take a baby puppy that has just had a vaccination, for a start. The area behind the head is always a scary area for pups starting out, add a vaccination and you have a sore tight area as well. Add an ear infection and wham, overload for poor baby. You can't take back today's experience, so I would wait a couple of weeks until the ear infection is clear and have another trip to the groomer with lots of positive stuff backing him up on the day. Some might shoot me for this, but although we see relatively few Lagottos in the salons, I have to say, most of them come with fears, phobias, anxiety and aggression of different levels. is your breeder local? I would turn to them for advice also. Maybe even for grooming if possible.

Thanks moosmum. You always make such sense to me. All for dogs, for all dogs.

Immune Mediated thrombocytopenia?

Are you able to have another mild mannered dog around when you offer your puppy his normal meal? It can be quite a trigger for disinterested eaters, having a little competition in the mix. Also can you be certain your puppy's senses are 100% eyesight, hearing, smell etc. I would also want to be certain there are no underlying issues with structure and movement. Not to discredit vets, but they seem to have some trouble with things that are subtle like slight misalignment of neck or pelvis etc. These things can potentially have a big impact on a dogs physical and mental health. Are there any DOLers local to the OP that could recommend a canine chiro?

Where is the petition and outrage urging people in the North west to be better more responsible pet owners in the first place. That is where efforts and outrage would be better directed IMHO.

I saw a report on this on the ABC 24. They said that qantas has been heavily subsidizing this service for many years. And now qantas has decided not to offer subsidized rescue freight. While I can understand the frustration from people who were relying on this subsidized service to transport rescued pets and wildlife, qantas is a business and should run their business to their best advantage. Rescue should not expect this service to be subsidized. It's not a massive increase, it is a reversion to normal charges.

Whoopdedoo. The average puppy buyer is duped by the words 'registered breeder'. Just one example is PIAA member pet stores source their puppies from commercial dog breeders (ie: puppy farms) but trick the public when they say they only source their puppies from registered breeders. What they fail to explain is that the sort of registered breeders they are talking about are commercial dog breeding operations which are certified and registered in their local council/shire. And their puppies come with 'papers' ...you know, puppy information papers and veterinarian papers. While I support any move to reduce the viability of commercial dog breeders, I think what ANKC breeders need to do is find a better way of explaining themselves to the general public. I really think the average man in the street thinks pedigree breeders are snobbish, hard to approach, expensive, exclusive etc. How do we blow the myths apart and get the news out there in a simple and informative way?

Sorry if this sounds a bit blunt, but do people really take their dogs out, along with a crate to put them in, and set up at the location (friend, relative etc) if it's just for several hours, say, less than 6 to 8 hrs? I don't understand this at all. I take Gruf for a good run, throw him a bone and off I go. He can relax at home with indoor/outdoor access and do what he wants for a while.

A lot of grass seed abscess around the face and neck are caused by the grass seed entering through the mouth. Often the dogs chew seeds out of their feet and end up with them lodged in their mouths, or chew on toys or food that have seeds on them, where they enter through from the inside of the mouth. If that is the case it may make finding an entry point a bit harder. Good luck.

Lol does she have chips n dips to go with that I'm sure you can make her a whip! Seriously though, Very beautiful