Leah82

I got told by the inlaws when Sarah and Collie were staying with them last weekend that Sarah had gone off her food and was eating half her dinner at best. based on the amount of food they went through in less than a week and the fact that Collie's ribs we're feeling a bit more filled out I'm guessing she was probably just full :p Gotta love having a self regulating dog. Also we generally feed our 2 raw meat from a local pet shot with black hawk kibble, cost is probably on par (or even less when you factor in smaller portions) with commercial wet food and there's no preparation other than to portion up meals before putting them in the freezer.

Just the local vet, I'm pretty sure the specialist said that drops weren't necessary until the cataracts were more advanced but it was awhile ago Probably should book in with the specialist and go from there.

Thanks for all of that Kirty he does have PRA, we were told 2.5 years ago when he got his initial diagnosis from the specialist that he will probably need eye drops. Every time we've been to the vet since (for either him or Sarah) we get them to check his eyes and he's been fine, it's only in the last 6 weeks he's gone from practically no cataract with still some sight to one full blown white eye and only very very slight vision in his other eye and now we're noticing some slight swelling. With a baby on the way I'd rather get any large medical expenses out of the way rather than persist with drops when he'll need to have the surgery in the future anyway.

Ok maybe not glass eyes but does anyone have experience with prosthetic eyes for dogs? Cost difference in just removing the eye vs removing the eye and replacing it with a prosthetic? Difference in healing time? Any long term side effects, infections etc? Collie has developed quite a sudden cataract in one eye which is starting to swell, it doesn't appear to be uncomfortable for him yet but I guess it's only a matter of time. As he doesn't have any sight anyway we'd probably just remove both in one go. I know it's vain to be thinking about prosthetics I just think a dog with no eyes can be quite confronting and our lives in the next few years will include lots of curious small children as well as grooming customers.

I always wanted both, spent many of my early adult years with pocket pets as an apartment alternative until I had the space for a dog :p Dogs are companions, they don't ask for much (at least ours don't) and are an absolute joy to have around and snuggle up with when I'm not feeling well, they don't really grow up although they leave us all too soon. I'm currently pregnant and I'm under no illusion that it's going to be hard (although my definition of hard probably needs some adjusting) but I'm hoping raising children to hopefully be compassionate and contributing members of society will be a lot more rewarding that teaching my dog to spin :p

Sarah is still changing after 2 and a half years with us. She's gone from a scared little girl to a cheeky and confident poodle. I say poodle coz she's so friggen bouncy and quick and has a decent prey drive :p Collie and Sarah didn't play for ages and now it's almost a daily activity She's gotten pretty cheeky as well and will sneak onto the couch for cuddles or run out the front door only to bounce around in the front yard. She'll now actually grab the ball when playing fetch, poor blind collie often doesn't realize what's happened until he stumbles upon her when searching for the ball, he then sits there with the saddest look on his face until she gets bored chewing it and walks away. And she loves her cuddles, if I stop the pats she'll often put a paw on me to say 'more!' And she goes through stages of liking OH more or less, this seems directly tied to how often he's accidentally scared her recently. One thing that hasn't changed, an accidental loud sharp noise followed by a scurry of nails on floorboard is always then followed by 'Sorry Sarah!' Oh and she has two barks. The 'you left me outside all alone' bark and 'hurry up and throw the damn ball' bark

Yup, the truly 'naughty' dogs are just repeating the things that they enjoy doing as they haven't been taught not to. This is why it's the untrained dogs that end up dumped at the pound. They're not naughty, they just haven't been shown any other way to live

A lot of purebred breeds have had a period of time where they severely suffered from over breeding and the consequential health issues that come along with that Other breeds have become almost extinct and needed to be crossed out to continue/improve the breed. Hybrid vigour was a thing and did make sense back in the days before genetic testing, however in order for it to work you need to be selective about the breeds you are crossing - no point mixing two breeds that get PRA and assume that your dog isn't going to go blind. Most people don't realise that pedigree breeding has actually advanced and a lot more is done to ensure the health of each individual dog than was available back in the 70's and 80's but there are still downfalls, many show judges are known to have a preferences which impact judging. I for one would like to see less 'show' and more tests (actual measurements, temperament tests etc) to warrant a champion title.

Someone posted the attached spreadsheet awhile ago, more so aimed at the types of breeders rather than the breed but after all it's the unethical breeders that create these issues in the first place.

I always remember the day after :laugh: Collie's birthday is Jan 14 Sarah's is April 15 according to her microchip deets and her gotcha day is the 25th May

There are definitely muzzles available for smaller dogs, most commonly used by groomers :p

I didn't get through all of that, good luck finding a carer with that essay

I'd be interested in what people think of this no pull harness that we use with Collie. http://www.cleanrun.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=product.display&product_ID=3470&ParentCat=202 It's designed to tighten around the girth, bit like a martingale but for the chest instead of the neck. we find it gives us more control of collie's movements than a martingale as he can't actually see where he's going. there is a front attachment as an option to use in conjunction with the back attachment but we don't use it

France must be doing something right if the worst thing someone could do to a dog is involve them in 'begging' surely the rescue's efforts could be better used elsewhere or at least gain evidence of actual mistreatment before you steal the dog

They're in kiama. I keep hearing different opinions of the working spaniels! A few have said that ESS are full on, working dogs only. But I've also heard cockers are more busy and less focussed, so it's hard to know! In terms of size and "look" they're spot on. It's just the high drive and no off switch that worries me. I'd actually quite like one for agility but they aren't interested in doing any of that so 80% of the time the dog wouldn't get much "work". I've also heard working cockers are very intense, they aren't particularly common and the ones that are out there are definitely bred to work so it's a bit different to finding a less intense border collie or kelpie. Is there any reason your parents are against regular grooming? A typical cocker spaniel would fit that environment well and providing it has regular grooms would dry off pretty quickly. I find cockers that have been left entire generally don't have as much coat as the ones that were desexed young as well.

Devils advocate here... While Dr Zink does seem very qualified to make her assumptions they are just that. For most dogs they would only be in the harness at the most for 30-60 mins per day which unless shown evidence to the contrary I can't see how that would impact the dogs gait permanently. Also the article only refers to front clip harnesses, there are other no pull harness options like the sporn harness and those that tighten up around the chest that allow the dog to spread their weight evenly on both the left and right sides so I'd hardly call it a 'No-pull debate'

Yep I hate that, my dog is blind, he takes longer to find the ball and if your dog swoops in to grab it he gets very confused and sad

There's always going to be a need for registered breeders and it would be nice if more rescues could point families in the right direction if they aren't suitable for a rescue dog I knew a family that wanted a cocker spaniel, it would be an only dog and they had a young daughter, so many of the cockers that come through rescue are very anxious are just not suited to being an only dog, the young child pretty much ruled out the others. Unfortunately they didn't know the right avenues to go about getting a registered puppy and they ended up with a cocker from a well known online source in victoria. I groomed this dog a few weeks ago and having it's first groom at 10 months old I had to use a muzzle.. simply put the dog is fear aggressive which is a far cry from the breed standard temperament. I ended up advising the family to get a muzzle as they were too anxious to brush their dog

Cocker Spaniels are extremely prone to anxiety. They're smart but not too smart, biddable but not too biddable (um where's my treat first), and will take as much or as little exercise that you can throw at them (age depending). But what they won't negotiate on is needing regular and quality human interaction, if that means following you into the toilet and jumping up on your lap because you haven't met today's quota then so be it

I'm not in WA... yet we bought a house last month near Rockingham and it's being leased for 12 months so we're planning to make the move over when the lease expires :) Can't wait to get back to Perth sunshine and beaches

I had a customer with a 3 legged oodle, he was born that way and she seemed so proud of the fact that she took him on. Pity she didn't pity him enough to give the guy a brush once in awhile. First groom was at 7 months old, 2nd was about 5 months after than and at 6pm at night I sent him home because I didn't have the time to deal with a 1 year old fully matted oodle that had only ever been groomed once. Advised her to reschedule for a weekend when I could give the guy some breaks but not surprisingly I never heard from her again

I go to Aquapaws weekly. They do have an off leash fenced in section but it's not very big. People there have common sense and know not to go in with their dog if it is in use so I don't think you need a sign. Again it's small so if someone does look like they want to come in really all you have to do is say No... it literally is the size of a small suburban backyard. Maybe if you ask the owner she will let you run your dog in one of the bigger horse paddocks but the fencing is not the same as the off leash yard. Edit : Have you tried Kepala?? Their facilities would suit your needs for a secure off leash romp. Hmm. Still, even if it's small it'd be nice to introduce her to new locations and people. Our first visit will be 2nd week September :D I've not heard of kepala! But it looks like they only do pet boarding? Which would probably set her way back - strangers are scarier than dogs and if I'm not there she'll shut down Or do you reckon if I called up and asked they'd let us have a quick romp on our own? I don't mind paying, I'd just like to let her go off lead sometime and ...yknow run around without worry. Do they have a strong 'give dogs space' Policy? Sorry I'm on mobile so the site is hard to navigate XD *cautiously excited thank you!* Here are the details for Kepala's country club http://www.kepala.com.au/country_club They have 2 large grass runs, an agility area, a sand run, an indoor pool and outdoor pool. all of which you can hire out for as long as you need them (depending on other bookings) You can run into other dogs between runs, all are on lead though and most people that use the country club are pretty dog savy so they would take notice of a harness that said your dogs needs space

:) just came across the same thing check out the link http://www.boredpanda.com/russian-werewolf-dog-muzzle/

if your brush isn't getting close enough to the skin look at getting a rake and google line brushing (this is where you essentially lift up the coat to get the undercoat underneath) As with everything there are right and wrong ways to use these tools so be careful you're not putting your dog in any discomfort. And of course when you experience a coat drop a good groomer will be your vacuum's best friend :p You might want to look at booking in soon, blinkblink can easily remove the existing matts and show you how to brush him to make sure you're getting to the undercoat which will be a small win for your husband as you can stretch your visits out

LOL You can have all my cockers, I hate grooming them, especially black ones. I started back grooming at a shop a few weeks ago after about 3 years off (only grooming my husband's and friends dogs) and the first dog waiting outside the salon was a black cocker What are the formal quals for groomers anyway? I learned at a few salons 10 years ago(!) now, it's not something I want to pursue, just a bit of extra pocket money atm, but I would point our young bathers that way if they were keen. haha, considering I learnt on my cocker and help out with cocker rescue it's kinda come with the territory. Luckily I love them and love making them look somewhat like proper cockers. I do have a pair of black brothers that like to test my blades though. Formal qualifications... you can do a cert 3 at most TAFE's and there are a few institutions that you can get an International Master Groomer certificate. Masters are usually completed by people that have been in the industry for quite awhile I'll be aiming to get my Masters once I get up and running full time, that way if the industry ever does become regulated I'll be sorted