xxx

Thanks Denali & halfthewords I used to scissor cut though the paws getting trimmed have always been difficult. My family like her coat to grow out over winter BIG MISTAKE as they don't brush her and I have learnt the hard way that grooming needs to be regular. I have started to work on de-sentising her by touching and brushing her legs lightly with a baby brush which she is tolerating. Would love to find someone who could work with me and her on the legs, a groomer who might be happy to have her the last appt of the day so the other dogs aren't an added stress. In the meantime the vet is going to try trimming today. As there is some matting we need to shave it and start again. I haven't been able yet to locate a groomer close by who can help.

I have a mini schnauzer that I groom myself. I have no problem clipping her body, face, tail and rear but she has become very "thingy" about grooming her legs. I have tried brushing her legs with my hands to desensitise her to no avail. The vet recommended a local grooming business who had no problem when grooming her body but she became very stressed when they tried her legs. They said I would probably need to visit the vet for sedation. I'm not overly keen but what else can I do? Her legs need to be done. I came home from the groomer and clipped her (but not legs) and she was calm and co-operative. My mini is a shy girl (trembles on a visit to the vet but co-operates without muzzling) and taking her to the groomers with the dogs all barking and new people she didn't know obviously did not help the situation. I realise sedation and shaving is probably the only option at this point.Can anyone recommend a good groomer in the Sydney metro area who may be able to help in the future? Or offer any other advice? Thanks. Ausy

Hi everyone Thanks for your posts which have many suggestions that I will be following up ie. checking out kibble varieties that have been recommended. The vet thought the shnautz looked really well. Think he was wondering why I brought her in. He checked her over and couldn't find anything obvious standing out. Considering she has not had blood work for 18 months he suggested we do that his words were " see how healthy the dog is rather than how unwell". He thinks blood work should be done every 6 to 12 months especially given that one year is 7 in a dogs life. We will be going back one morning as he wants to do the test on a fasted dog. He said if blood work indicated high levels of fat in the blood, an issue with the breed, then a lower fat kibble should be given. Being a vet he recommended Hills. soothie yes she does seem to be a fast eater and I will look into the bowl you mentioned to slow her down. Like most dogs the food goes down before she tastes any of it. As I said earlier I used to give chicken necks until I saw her swallowing them whole. Its been good to read your stories and see that dogs like humans can all have great variances in health and well being. Thanks again I really appreciate all information and suggestions.

HI Yonjuro Thanks for posting. Haven't noticed any blood etc in urine. I will be carefully looking into dietary issues if any changes are to be tried. I would hate to adjust anything and create another problem hence me following food and allergy posts here. I do add grated zuccinni, pumpkin soup, cooked carrots etc at times to her food. She has had anal gland issues in the past and the zuccinni/pumpkin have really helped as well as kangaroo chew sticks. The vomitting doesn't seem to particularly coincide with these items. Her kibble contains corn and other grains which I am wondering about. I have to be careful if feeding bones etc as I can't trust that she is going to "chew, gnaw" them properly. I used to feed her chicken necks which she loved until I found her finishing them quickly. On observation I found she was swallowing them whole so had to stop them. Until viewing posts I had no idea how many dietry/allergy issues there are amongst our four legged friends. This is quite an education.

Hi everyone, Thanks for all your input. hankodle & will_454 your stories sound very similiar to mine and I'm thinking that I may need to do some trial and error with food and kibble. Thanks so much for posting. It gets pretty frustrating when you get into a pattern of racing out to see if the dogs been sick overnight and the relief when she hasn't. Staff'n'Toller blood tests and pancreatitis tests will be good to get a picture of whats happening and if negative at least I can try out alternative foods. I will look into Holistic Select. I realise that I may not get a clear answer but am keen to see what the other vet has to say. Will be seeing the new vet tomorrow.

Hi Staff'n'Toller Thanks for taking the time to answer. I am concerned that maybe pancreatitis could be an issue but I try to feed a low fat diet and she hasn't had any yellow bile/froth in the vomit which seems to be a pancreatitis symptom. In any case I have located a local vet (who has more years of experience than my current vet) and owns a schnauzer himself so I am hoping he will be able to assist us. The main thing is I AM NOT content to have a dog with random vomitting and family telling me I am over reacting because she just has a sensitive stomach. I will only accept the "sensitive stomach" when other more serious things have been ruled out. If it comes down to a "sensitive stomach" then I will want to work out what things sit right with her because her health and comfort is the important thing.

Hi everyone, I have been reading topics under allergies, kibble etc to try to get information that might help me with my dog and vomitting issues. My 5 year old mini schnauzer has had issues with random vomitting and allergy issues. She has always been an itchy scratchy dog and came home from the breeder on Eukanuba and raw mince. After the recall two years ago I researched Australian made kibble and transferred her to Supercoat sensitive skin and stomach. She has done well on this and definately scratches a lot less. I did ask the breeder if she had the itching problem with her other dogs but was assured that she did not. Eighhteen months ago we had an issue with vomitting that lasted a week. I fasted her and fed her a bland diet of rice and chicken. The vet took blood for testing which did not indicate anything amiss. The bland diet and a reduction in the amount of kibble fed, when returned to normal feeding, helped. We continued to have one off vomitting episodes once or twice a month. This usually happened during the night some time between 11 pm and 7 am. There has never been bile or froth just food. Currently she has experienced another week of vomitting mainly on alternate nights, sometimes twice in a row. She has been regularly eating grass. Again I minimised food to wet rice, small amounts only, then introduced boiled chicken. On this diet she was fine for a week and am introducing regular food slowly with one episode of vomitting. At a recent vet check the vet was not concerned and said if it kept up for a month or two it would need to be investigated further. I have noticed at times that after eating she appears to burp, so I am wondering if there could be an indigestion/reflux problem. Recently she has had quite a bit of stomach gurgling, loud digestion noises. Other than feeling like I need to feed her chicken and rice the rest of her life ( I know this will not contain enough nutrients for her) I'm not sure what to do? I have looked into other Australian kibbles grain free (in case corn could be an issue) but only really came up with Black Hawk. Other than this the dog seems happy, energetic is happy to play and walk. Would appreciate if any one has any insight for me to this puzzle. Thanks. Ausy