aliwake

OMG! If your breeder was local, then it maybe wouldn't be a bad idea for him to go for a visit until his medication has been sorted out - but I have a funny feeling your breeder isn't close? It's definitely a scary and stressful situation for all of you. Maybe you could do a call around of local vets, and see if any of them have heard of a temperament change to start with - then maybe you'll find a vet who will be willing to work with you to find a solution. Is the pred a permanent medication or is it just to get things under control initially?

http://www.mypetwarehouse.com.au/ stock all of those (including canidae) if you have trouble finding what you want in stores - and they have flat rate shipping for $5. Not sure how their food prices compare though.

Oh Lhok, don't apologise, that must be so distressing for you! I agree it needs further looking into. Perhaps it is another, unrelated symptom? Can you try a different medication at all? Poor Treble, he must be feeling so yuck and confused

It's pretty disturbing, and I have no doubt that some vets do it, but we need to have some degree of faith in what they do. This is an article a vet friend of mine posted to fb recently - gives another inside perspective: http://lindseylaneverlander.blogspot.com.au/2013/11/the-reality-of-veterinary-medicine.html?m=1 I think all we can do is keep both in mind when getting treatment for our pets. I think I've definitely experienced the upselling, but not in an excessive way, or a way that would harm my pet, so I try not to get too worked up about it :)

And Lisa, that sux so much about Nova's grain allergy! Hopefully he'll improve fairly quickly once you change his food... I hope his paw is looking better.

Ah, new puppies!! They're both absolutely gorgeous!! I too, am more impressed by the sleeping than lack of peeing. Somewhere along the line Nixon decided he needed to start waking me up once, if not twice during the night - sometimes to go outside, sometimes just for the hell of it A sleeping puppy is pure gold!

Nah, Nixon was cuter then, but such a PITA!!! I like him better now :)

Ohhh, love baby pics - where did the time go!

That's not good Lisa. I really hope those drops give him some relief soon. Must be awful for him Did the vet offer pain killers at all? I know what you mean about food Hankodie - there are way too many choices, and everyone has an opinion! I'm feeding Royal Canin because they have a lab specific food ( so I figure it should be suitable?!), and Nixon actually likes it (even I quite like the smell of it - compared to eukanuba anyway). I still think we're getting too much poo though, and it bothers me how often Nix still needs extra probiotics. Gave him more this morning cos his poo has bee super stinky, and doesn't look too firm. He laid this one bizarre little nugget at the park yesterday that looked terrible, and everyone was asking what I've been feeding him (not in a good way!). Things are already looking better today though.

I call it his frog pose :) I think he lies like that more than in any other position. Must keep the boys cool ;) That's awful Nova has an infected ear! I had an ear infection after bursting my eardrum once - it came up within a couple of hours and was absolutely agonising! Some of the worst pain I've ever had, so I hope the vet can mange to see Nova asap, or at least sort out some antibiotics and painkillers for you...

Nixon had a bare spot under his eye too - I'm pretty sure it was from some dog park bitey-face shenanigans :) Thanks for being so reassuring Steph - I feel like a bad mummy at the moment, but given I can see it affecting him adversely I think it is probably the right thing to do. And holding out this long has been an achievement in itself!! It's definitely a pity you guys aren't closer - I'm sure some play dates with Gus and Rosie would wear him out beautifully! I'll see if the vet can remove his mole while he's under. From the googling I've done, it tends to be a viral thing in puppies - trust Nixon to catch anything and everything that's going around! I love that first pic of Nova Lisa - he look so cute snuggling in the bean bag! This is a funny pic I took of Nix the other night - I gave him half a carrot to eat while I was cooking dinner, and I swear it just exploded!

Steph, I've been meaning to tell you, Nixon has joined his buddy Gus in the 'mole' club, but Nixon's is inside his ear! It appeared a couple of weeks ago and is growing quite quickly! It's cauliflower style, but dark brown. In other news, we've decided to desex Nixon next week I feel awful and conflicted, but I'm 98% certain his barking is hormonal, and we aren't home enough to try to deal with it through training. My lovely next door neighbour called me at work yesterday afternoon to say she'd gotten home earlier than normal, and he'd been barking non stop for at least 1.5hours... I could hear him barking through the phone, and she was calling from her house... It has been quite a sudden, clear change is his behaviour, and I don't think it's fair to be relying so heavily on our neighbours' good natures for the next 3 months (at least).

I'm really glad he's stepped up Mogda! He may mean that your pup needs some time by itself, without your company, so she doesn't get too attached or needy. A playpen will be much better than a crate for that, because she'll still have enough room to play safely, while experiencing some important alone time. My pup didn't like his playpen much, but he was in it every day when I went to work, and did settle down eventually. Good luck implementing his suggestions, it's great he's willing to help!

P.S. have you tried feeding and/or giving treats in the crate? That's usually the fastest way to get them ok with being in there... I once hand fed our pup his whole meal of kibble, piece by piece in his crate, just to get him relaxed and happy to be in there. I had the front door shut and fed him through the hatch in the top :)

I don't have a lot of advice, but just wanted to offer my sympathy. Our lab pup is now 9 months old, but was extremely challenging for the first 4-6 weeks we had him (at least!). But, your pup sounds like she's taking things to another level! The thing that concerns me most about your pup is the lack of sleep - a pup that age should be sleeping around 20hours a day I think, and that's clearly not happening. Possibly she is stressed out, if she's awake all the time? One option to consider may be mild sedation, though it's not ideal, and not the first thing to try. Another option is a DAP collar (called adaptil now I think?). You should be able to get one from your vet. We got one for our pup the day after we got him, though I'm still not sure whether it helped him or not. In theory, they're meant to release a calming pheromone, similar to what's released by their mother when they were feeding, so it should be a comforting thing for them. The collar lasts for a month. Your breeder does sound a little strange, but if he has any genuine concern for his dogs, hopefully he will be able to offer you some decent advice!! Fingers crossed. I still so clearly remember the stress of having a new puppy, so I really feel for you, and hope you can manage to work through at least some of your issues soon.

Oh, you can buy holiday knotties! Like, santa, and reindeer and snowman etc. There's some on amazon, or just do a google image search.

She wasn't too bothered Lisa - slightly embarrassed probably (like me), but not upset which is good! Nixon and Gus do sounds like they'd be like 2 peas in a pod... Would probably spend the days lounging around licking each others bits :) Poor Nova - it's crazy to think something as tiny as a grass seed can cause so much discomfort. Glad he's doing better today.

Very cute pics - congrats on the catching! Nixon seems to like catching more than fetching now - he's a pretty average retriever :) Yep, the excitement was was almost of an intimate nature. He's not much of a humper, but he was savagely attacking his teddy one night, and was just getting more and more over-excited, culminating in some air humping whilst eating teddy's face. Given he isn't a big humper, and he should have been settling down for the night, teddy got confiscated! We had another funny incident at the dog park last night though - we had a lovely great dane come in to play. unfortunately, Nixon is a serial doodle licker (his own and others), and this gd's doodle was at perfect head height! It got quite embarrassing after a while, but the gd was pretty happy about it!

They are very cool, I want the blue one! Nixon's knottie teddy is still is isolation after being the cause of some severe overexcitment... they're great toys! I'm sure he'll be very happy when I finally let him have it back again :)

that's great news he's eating again!

No point put in any text - this is all about the pics: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2508490/Dog-tired-Mom-photographs-toddler-Beau-puppy-brother-Theos-daily-nap-ritual.html

Nixon would eat the eukanuba too, he just was never very enthusiastic about it. I just think if you're paying for a premium food, you may as well find one they actually like eating! Definitely put a pic up for us :)

A mixed blessing Lhok. Glad Treble is going ok though. Hopefully you can figure out a plan and get some weight back on him asap!

We're using the Royal Canin Labrador food, but I think they have a food selector tool on their website? It came up with two options for us - I think the other one was called Maxi? There's a junior and adult food in that, so that could work for you. It looked pretty similar to the lab food anyway. I have to admit I like the smell of the RC much better too - it smells like vegemite :) Hope you have better luck finding something he likes!

Poor Nova Glad he's on the road to recovery. It's a good excuse for some babying though!