Seren

Hi Sheridan, All I can say is Go for it.... when I got my Holly 2 years ago we had already planned on getting another pup and had tracked one down but further away than we expected... I let Holly settle in for 10 days then we went and picked up Lace... Travelling home at first we had them in separate crates but they cried to be together so much we stopped and put them in the same crate... they curled up together immediately and went to sleep until we got home. They were never parted - even when they were desexed the vet laughed that she ended up putting them into the same cage until pickup time as they just wanted to curl up together. I found that potty training 2 of them was no different to training one.. they were probably a bit quicker... (I have had many other pups over the years)... Sadly we had a farm accident when they were 14 months old and we lost little Lace. Holly was inconsolable... and so was I.. So for Holly's sake we bought another puppy... a 9 week old boy ... Holly has such an amazing temprement she took to Harry straight away and mothered him... I am so relieved that I took that plunge and got another puppy after losing Lace... it helped us heal in a sort of a fashion but I will never get over losing Lace.

Today marks the awful day one year ago whne I had to say goodbye to you sweet Angel Lace.... So many tears and the heartache is still so raw.... I have accepted that I will never be the same again.... Hey Baby you are so so special - I want you back here right by my side again... Love you always Lace Talina and Holly sends you her love and your new brother Harry Felix does too....XXXXX God I miss you Angel

Yes!! Agreed Steph M and Her Majesty Dogmad.. I just spoke to them on the phone and said "GET REAL - you know deep down you are feeding her wrong! S-i-law if you keep doing this you will KILL her!!" They are taking her back this morning to vet as he has found a dense section on the ultrasound or something.. I said to S-i-law it could well be an obstruction of cooked indigestable food from you sneaking her food over Xmas!! I didn't pull any punches with him because my daughter knows damn well better than to feed junk food to dogs! It gets me so irrate - they do it then cry when things go wrong! If it turns out to be an obstruction I hope the Vet tells them what to feed her over new year and onwards.. I have always spaced out chicken legs to Holly as I always feel they are too much thicker bone in ratio to meat if fed constantly... oh well, I will try to find an article to send to son-in-law so he knows I am not just making it up. Thanks Her Majesty I will text to daughter to buy some turkey and do a stew for her... Maybe this thread should have been titled "How do you get through to thick ppl about feeding dogs..." Sorry I just do run out of patience now that this obstruction has unfolded... no wonder the poor baby is vomiting

Hi, Firstly hoping you all had a very Happy Christmas! This problem is on behalf of my daughter.. She is a rescue Rough Collie from a puppy farm (but Heidi looks more of a Sheltie X to me..??) Well when daughter got Heidi she was very thin and ate well. Nearly 2 years on and she is now finicky and vomits up to 3 times during the night nearly every night. She sleeps on daughter's bed so daughter can monitor her. When they visit here she eats well with my 2. I told daughter maybe not so much bone and keep the meals small and often. I don't know if that is the right advice. Heidi seems to vomit up a lot of chicken bones (daughter was feeding chicken legs) so maybe more meat than bones?? Also I have to admit here that son-in-law cannot be TOLD NOT to feed her junk food that he is eating.. chips etc.. There in lies the problem I feel... maybe too much rich food on her tummy that was starved for the first 2 years of her life? But I am wondering if I have maybe missed something. She has been Vet checked yesterday (of many times).. and the Vet said "she has digestive issues and also anal gland problems. And feed her early in the evening to try to have her stomach emptier at night". Thanks for reading...

Yes, go with the angels little Blue-eyed Caillie... You have been very loved and missed by the sounds of it Hoping that you are now playing on 4 strong legs of youth XXX

"Lots of people talk to animals" said Pooh, "Not that many listen though" That's the problem Harry thought about his hip this morning - must have got stiff through the night. But after he got going and went out to have a walk around he wanted some food. I waited until he showed that he wanted something to eat this morning so I didn't start 'hounding him to eat' again. He is a slow eater, but he happily had a nice sized breaky at his own pace. He lay down next to Holly but showed her he didn't feel like playing. Holly is so happy that we have "happy back here", she is a really sensitive girl and goes into her shell if there is any upsets. It is so good to see little Harry happy again too! Yep, you do have to listen to them and I learned yesterday that it isn't always what it appears... It is so good to be able to come in here and have help.. Thanks so much everyone once again (And I completely ignored my neighbour who said "Oh you always have your dogs to the Vet"....) And post script .... Daughter and son-in-law just arrived with their dog Heidi. Daughter said "Welcome back Harry!" They all went crazy-so-great-to-see-you-again as they always do and I had to hold Harry from doing his mid-air antics. Daughter (teacher) and her hubby have gone off to the farm to help Hubby for a few hours, but the dogs have all settled down again... they just love having Heidi visit. Heidi loves being out in the country as well, city girl that she is.... Just smiled that Harry had to have the last say before they all settled into the shade... little boys lol :laugh:

why don't they have a 'like' button on here - they do on FaceBook....

Well, guess who has mowed through a lamb shank (taken off him after he had a chew on the bone for a while), followed me in and sat at the fridge door so I gave him a lamb neck (thanks The Spotted Devil I went down and got some to have ready)... then tonight he came in and backed up for some chicken meat in a chunk, a chicken neck and then some Royal Canin biscuits... Then went out and happily took in the views off the porch. He is hovering around again now so I might offer him some supper later if he still seems to be wanting something more. I cannot believe the difference in this poor kid... thank goodness I haven't scarred him for life by trying to force him to eat these last few days... I will always remember that this boy doesn't eat if he is in pain.. thank goodness his big teeth are almost completely through now. When I go to Toowoomba next I will get some turkey wings and necks for him to try Persephone. The great thing is if they don't take his fancy good little HolDol is happy to have them for her dinners... she is a real Lab loves her food whatever it is.

I have just spent some time reading over a lot of posts and realise just how much we love our furbabies past and present. I want to light a candle for all of us who know the pain of losing our furchildren.. And from what I have read that is ALL of us... we feel the pain and hurt because we love them so much. Reading through everything I realise just how much support I have been given in here and I want to thank everyone and tell everyone who feels sad for their little Angels that I am thinking of you all as well. Hugs to everyone today

So sorry for your loss Huski.. It is hard to lose a furbaby when you have loved them for so long.... RIP sweet little Cherry now an angel

Scootaloo my heartfelt sympathy to you in losing your little Man.. How heartbreaking for you; and I know what a shock it is to lose a young gorgeous dog... Words aren't enough really to express the loss when they are still so young RIP sweet little Robo.. and maybe you have buddied up with a little Golden named Lace..

Just checking if it is okay to give raw lamb shanks?? Or are they too splintery?? Harry keeps smelling up at where I had put them on the bench

Well so now I know. I take Harry to the Vet with what I think is an eating problem and Rob says it is something completely different! When I walked Harry in Rob studied how he was walking and said "This pup is Lame!!" He went over him and found he is so tender in his right hip and down his leg, and he has swelling in his left hock. I thought back and yes - Holly rammed him on Friday when they were playing and Harry went and sat under the tree for a while. I feel like a totally bad mother! I thought he was walking like that because he was not eating, and he wasn't playing because he felt sick.. I got it wrong. Rob went through all the notes I wrote and went over Harry and said , He is lean but not thin by any means. He looked at how I had put his weight and age down and said he has been growing well and steadily and to stop worrying about him being picky - I will be glad of it as he gets older. He went over him a number of times and each time came back to the hip and leg. He gave him an injection for the pain and inflamation and tablets and will check him in a weeks time. If he's not happy then he is going to x-ray him. As he said with the breed it is better not to take chances. (Whole different thread there - he talked to me about Lace's hips as well. He didn't treat Lace or see her X-rays but he had heard about her.) If I am worried in the mean time I have to bring Harry in. He said his gums and inside his eyelids are fine, well pink and not a worry. He offered to do blood tests if I wanted but I thought maybe go with the leg injury. He said if he is in pain and a sook he probably won't eat. And he could see that when he was teething was the time he started becoming really finicky with his food - didn't like chewing on sore gums? I bought some lamb shanks on the way home. Harry gave the bag a good long sniff. Is it okay to feed lamb shanks to him?? Or are they too splintery?? Yeah I cannot get over that I have been up the wrong tree

Thanks again you are all so good to me! I actually managed all his food diet pretty well down pat and have his weight each week/fortnight as he has grown.. I could pretty much align the food fed with his age even.. and also how he ate well when I first got him then teething and onset of eating problems... Persephone, he has been Milbemax Heartwormed all on the right ages and all documented I rang the herbalist and she gave me the list of ingredients but he only had 2 doses (Friday night and Saturday morning then I stopped it) she used to be a Vet Nurse and her hubby is a Vet - she said get him checked out too The darn breeder hasn't answered my calls or emails... and I haven't been sent his CCC papers (limited reg) I have just jotted down all that you suggest the Vet check and do - bloods/urine etc... I love this little guy... thanks so much everyone again... I am off to town now with Harry and will get back to you when I return..

Thanks so much everyone for your support and ideas and not the least your encouragement to Relax with him and enjoy. I left him with an assortment of things as you said persephone and I decided to put him out in the run that he likes to play in (large outdoor run with play things in it that they go in at will to play in during the day). But he curled up and slept the whole time. Holly was sitting outside 'talking' to him and he growled at her. It was no where near the food so he wasn't protecting his food - showed no interest in it at all. I gave him a new toy as well (I will get some Nutrigel today - I could have smeared some onto it).. but he just mouthed it and then used it for a pillow. Holly destuffed hers as usual but he did nothing to his. Hubby went in and was nursing him and we looked in his mouth and his gums are pale, well paler than Holly's. So I have made an appointment with the head Vet (I have to wait until he finishes surgery). I think I need to rule out if he is sick or not. He had a few licks of water but I thought I should add some raw honey to the water.. I don't know anymore. Bring on 11.30... and hope that Rob doesn't have a bank up of surgery this morning. I the meantime I am writing down everything I have fed him since I got him for as far as I can remember.. most of the things Holly is now enjoying so I still have the packets etc here...