espinay2

With big dogs and a bodgy knee I have been on a mission to 'downsize' my gear. I love my oztrail compact. I never take the full size one now. Yes, it is a bit 'sticky' to put up but I have no real trouble doing it on my own. I can fit two large x-pens under it without issue (them and the compact rather than crates and a full size gazebo as made showing dramatically more pleasurable for me!!)

I agree that this is becoming all too common. The things that trouble me the most are the following: Vets that are not specialist radiologists are reading the x-rays and making the recommendations. The recommendations are being made on pups that are as young as 16weeks -when it is well recognised that it is NOT possible to read x-raysat that age and know how healthy the hips are. The x-rays can NOT be read using the Willis system at this age (or any other international system such as OFA). The ONLY system which has any real possibility of giving a prediction of future hip health at this age is Penn HIP - these require a personspecifically trained in thismethod to x-ray (as they require three very specific x-rays, two of which are different from those normally taken) and they MUST be sent to the US to be read by specialist readers. NO ONE in Australia can read PennHIP x-rays!! Any vet who can tell you that they can read hip x-rays on a 16 week old pup and know what the hips are/will be like is one to run a mile from as they are (IMO) blowing it out their ear. Most of the vets that are recommending the procedure are pressing their clients with a sense of urgency that they MUST do it now or their dog will suffer. The procedure is sold in a manner where owners are made to feel guilty if they dont get it done 'for the good of their dog'. This is real pressure selling and IMO highly unethical when it comes to such an elective procedure (this is NOT an emergency!!!). The recommendation to get the procedure done is also often made 'just in case' regardless of any actual need. Once done there is no way of knowing if the dog would have developed HD or not. The surgery is not cheap - we are talking several thousands of dollars. I have no problem with surgery on a dog where this is found to be warranted following specialist diagnosis. But all the above for me just smacks of shonky pressure selling which is taking advantage of peoples vulnerabilities. Honestly, the practice has me so worried that I have found myself writing an article for puppy packs to warn new potential owners of the practice and what they should do if they get the 'hard sell'!! The practice is just not on as far as I am concerned.

Raw is easy to do on the cheap. You can provide a very healthy diet on a tight budget. One way to do it as an example is as follows: The main ingredients: *chicken frames *Pet mince - whatever your local butcher does for a good price as long as it includes some organ meats such as liver etc (they usually do though) This is the bulk of your daily ration. Feed mostly chicken carcasses, but with a small portion of the pet mince. Just shove a cup to half a cupful in the carcass for example (or feed chicken frames most days and a pet mince meal once a week or so) In additon feed the following when available: *an egg or two once a week *healthy leftovers from your own meals such as veggies/pasta/rice etc (no need to go out of your way and prepare extra veggies) *Some canned fish such as sardines or salmon (not essential but good if you can - at least once a fortnight). If the budget is tight look for the home brand cat food sardines. These generally have no additives so are a very economical way to feed fish. If you are concerned about supplements the one I would suggest is fish oil capsules. A large bottle of 400 capsules can usually be purchased from discount chemist outlets for under $20. (for canberra folks the discount chemist at the airport for example) If you want to give a biscuit as a regular treat etc or in addition to the meal, look at 'Box One' 2x2 or 2x4. There is a page on diet on my website: http://www.espinay.com/feedingourdogs.cfm

Really IMO the basics are to lead, to ride in a vehicle and to be handled all over. These allow a dog to be caught, inspected, moved to another location when required (with or without sheep) and recieve health and veterinary care with limited stress to the dog and limited issues (including time management and occupational health and safety issues) for the person managing/handling the dog.

LGD's can be worth their weight in gold. They definitely earn their keep and your respect (and can save you major $ losses). Definitely agree with suggestion to talk to Andrea. I can perhaps get you the contact for someone I know who Andrea has helped recently to overcome just your problem. He may have some first hand insight for you of how it can operate on a larger more remote property. Also check out the links on my website links page - the library page on the www.lgd.org website is a particularly good resource. Also check out http://www.feral.org.au/guardian-dogs/ which is a recently produced Australian manual. Dogs will likely require you to change the way you manage your flock. They do live with the flock full time. they are not herding dogs - they bond with the flock and protect them. How many dogs you need will depend on your predator load and setup. There are ways to manage 'range' flock guards (eg the use of 'feeding stations') but you will still need to visit and montior on a very regular basis. The dogs are your partner in flock care and management. I guess in the end it is a matter of doing the sums and a cost benefit analysis on how much trouble they would be versus how much money they will save/make you. FWIW

Thanks. We are very pleased to be able to use him Biting our nails until ultrasound next week!

Pyrenean Mountain Dogs - 1 July. Fingers crossed here!!! :D

Dry foods need to be 'scientifically balanced' - the reason for this is because they want you to feed that thing only and nothing else so whatever that one thing has in it needs to have everything in it to at least maintain a dog in reasonable health. A bit like promoting a 'superfood' for humans - a paste or shake that you can have at every meal and nothing else and get 100% of your daily nutrients. That is basically what commercial dog foods are equivalent to. Feeding foods in their natural form is a different proposition. It provides the nutrients that the commercial diets mix up in their test tubes in a whole food form. Feeding natural foods like raw meaty bones with commercial foods is not going to mess up the 'balance' of the commercial foods any more than a person eating a nutrient shake with a salad for lunch is going to . But just like eating a variety of whole natural foods ourselves provides a lot of added benefits that you simply can't get from those 'scientifically balanced' formulas. BTW, studies on humans (soldiers) fed for an extended period (in this case one to two months if I remember correctly) on pre-prepared and 'scientifically balanced' ration packs and no fresh foods showed over that time decreases in immunity and issues with sustaining performance. Those fed at least a portion of fresh foods maintained better immune response and fitness levels. FWIW

Good for you for wanting to learn. First thing I would suggest is make no plans to breed your boy. Not at this point. He in the first instance will be a way for you to learn more, but he may or may not ever be a dog you breed with. Is he on the main register? If not I would strongly suggest desexing him now. He can still teach you and you can still learn and prepare to become a breeder while you work with him What about taking up a dog sport with him? Obedience and tracking maybe - things that will teach you more about how the breed thinks and how to handle and train them will put you in a better position to be of assistance to puppy buyers when they need help and advice with their new pups. Joining a beagle club and getting involved will help you learn more about the breed too. Being a breeder is more than just mating dogs - it means understanding every aspect of your chosen breed so you can do best by that breed. And puppy buyers deserve a breeder who doesnt consider that they are breeding 'just pets' - pets deserve a breeder who puts 100% care and responsibility into the health, structure and quality of the dogs they produce. If he is on the main register, start talking to his breeder (presuming they are a responsible one). Talk about your plans to breed sometime in the future and get them to help you assess his strengths and weaknesses and his suitability to be used at stud. Learn about his pedigree and the dogs behind him - what are their strengths and weaknesses? Take him to a few shows. Learn about the health issues in your breed and in his lines and the things you need to be aware of and test for. Learn about assessing structure. And then be prepared never to use him at stud even if he is good enough. Being a breeder is also about learning when NOT to breed. Take the time to learn and let your dog teach you. Then in a little while, consider getting a bitch as your potential foundation. By that time you will have made more contacts and may have even reassessed your goals and what you want in a beagle. you may be looking in directions you never even thought of right at this point. I say potential foundation too because if you are buying a pup their is no guarantee how that pup will turn out when fully grown. And while you may develop some ideas too I wouldn't be settling on a dog for her until she is grown. There is a good chance that the right dog for her will not be the dog you own. You will need to be able to look at your dogs on multiple levels - on the one level as your lovable pet, but on the other level as a potential breeding animal. You will need to be critical of your dog as a breeding animal and divorce yourself from your emotional attachment when you assess them. Frankly some people cant deal with that. Keep asking and learning. We never stop learning. Being a breeder is a serious responsibility - you are responsible for the future health, happiness and life of all those potential family pets you plan to breed. (be aware that if you do it wrong, there is the potential for you to be taken to court by those family pet owners....) It is not something to enter into lightly. Learn about dogs and their structure, learn about dog management, learn about your breed from the inside out and back again, learn about training and potential problems and issues that pet owners may encounter. Every dog you own will teach you even if you do not use every dog you own to breed with. It can be an exciting journey while at the same time it can be a heartbreaking one. Patience, a thick skin and intestinal fortitude as well as an open mind and a willingness to learn will stand you in good stead. Good luck!

While ther may be some judges out there who go with the 'safe' options, from my own point of view I have found it more productive to subscribe to the way of thinking espoused by Mary Roslin Williams in her book "Reaching for the Stars" when it comes to 'frequent winners'. To quote her on the issue, she talks about 'the second big millstone around the middle-breeder's neck, and that is the ringside, in other words, his fellow middle range competitors'. She goes on to say.. 'This is a very big millstone, because the novice listens to others instead of looking to see why the winner went up. the middle-ranger is all too glad to find an excuse for his own lack of top wins, so instead of looking at his dog and also looking at the top dogs, he joins in with the novices and comes in time to subscribe to the idea that 'names' win because they are 'names'. Once he really comes to beleive this he will be a middle-ranger forever, because he will never discover why the good breeders' dogs win. For many years I have seen promising novices come up into the middle-ranges and have felt hopeful that they would eventually become good breeders and my heart sunk because they have come up and said that very thing, that 'Mrs Blank can win with anything'. As soon as they start thinking that, I have no further hope for them. they have mentally evaded the issue that it takes a better dog to win.' While I may not always agree with a judges choices, they generally have their reasons for putting up one dog over another - and that reason may not be obvious to those outside the ring who are looking at the dog from a different angle and dont have their hands on them. I am not going to dismiss a judges choice as arbitrary though just because a dog or dogs from a certain kennel wins a lot. There is usually a reason why a person has become a 'face' and even if their dogs would not be my choice, I would rather look and learn from that than dismiss it out of hand as being somehow corrupt or dodgy. In the end how far you go and what you achieve really is about attitude.

Another vote for "The Perfect Puppy" by Gwen Bailey

The thing that worries me is a diagnosis of possible food allergy at such a young age. What was this based on? I worry that food allergies are being over diagnosed these days. Are we really breeding so many sick dogs? (or are we doing something to them to create problems - I do have my opinion on this one, but also worry about over diagnosis). I worry about a pup being put on a food like this during an important growing phase too. Keeping the pup lean is good (extra weight is not good for growing bones and joints) but they need the nutrients to be able to grow. I agree on getting a second opinion. Agree too - kibble has too many things in it to be effective as an elimination diet. Only real way to do it is to feed items individually.

Yes!! Agree on the thyroid panel!! Just re-read the thread and was thinking a full blood panel would be in order, but especially thyroid. If I were feeding this dog it would be raw and no grains (which includes no rice). Stick to one simple protein. I have no problem starting with chicken on the whole - it is amazing how many dogs considered allergic to it (because they react to 'chicken based' commerical foods - which of course include lots of other things and present protiens which are not in their natural state) are actually not when you feed it plain and raw with no further processing.

Agree with a lot of what is being said here. I would back right off and go back to simple basics. If a dog like this were coming to me I would do the following: Feed only chicken (mince and/or wings etc) and nothing else at all for a few weeks at least. To this however I would add Vit C, Vit E and fish oil. Bathe only in a very mild no soap shampoo. If he is not dirty, refrain from bathing too much. Rinse with a mix of vinegar and water (as strong as he can stand - if the skin is broken mix 50/50 with water - if not got as close to 100% as possible) Vinegar is anti bacterial and fungal and will help with any infection (or stop it developing). You can use this in a spray bottle to spritz on the skin between washes too. Then rinse with a a little alpha keri oil in some warm water - this will help sooth dry and broken skin. Alpha Keri Oil is available at the chemist. Also investigate what you are using in the house and yard. things that may be suspect include your washing powder, fabric softener, anything you use on the carpet or floor etc etc. Try removing or changing these things.

By AVA. There may be others scored that are not showing in the stats. For example the same AVA stats show 3 Pyreneans as being scored in that whole period. There are definitely more than that that have been done in that period that I know even just personally (10 at least without sitting to add them up). They were done directly by Wyburn though and not through AVA.

Force rest is not really necessary but if the dog is on pain killers, an owner should make sure the dog does not overdo it. The pain actually provides an important self limiting factor. You still want the dog to move as much as it is able. One thing I forgot to mention earlier is the importance of weight. If the dog is even a little overweight it can be important to get the weight down. Overweight and fast growth can be factors in bringing on Pano. Much better to keep them lean and slow growing. I would probably be giving Vit C too.

Mary Roslin Williams in her book "Reaching For the Stars" discusses an interesting system for 'grading up' a line and ensuring you are always keeping the dogs faults as well a virtues in mind. It gives some interesting practical advice for those looking to maintain smaller numbers but still improve on their dogs. I found a lot of 'food for thought' in what she writes.

Yes, they grow out of it. For some who get it it is more painful than for others. There does seem to be some sort of genetic link in that some lines can get it more often than others. The only real treatment is pain relief/anti inflammatory to help the dog 'ride it out'.

Often called 'wandering lameness' as it can move from limb to limb. They do grow out of it, but yes it can sometimes be painful. Try supplementing with Bromelain from the health food store. There have been reports of this sometimes helping.

Depending on how inverted it is, it can 'pop out' more once a bitch has had a season. If it is too tucked under and she has problems though, a vaginoplasty may be the way to go. I personally would probably take a 'wait and see' attitude unless it is really quite severe and alreay affecting her. If it doesnt cause problems, the pain and expense of surgery is avoided. If it does, it is not too late if you wait until she is more mature. JMHO.

Agree - who says it needs to be 7kg? I never go by weight ever - I only go by look and feel. Like humans, the correct weight for the dog is the weight at which THAT dog is in a lean and healthy condition. Is the dog lean and fit and looking in good health? If so, it is much better it stays that way. We humans nowdays have a habit of keeping our dogs way too fat. A fit lean dog that you can feel the ribs in under a light cover is a healthy dog. Note that young dogs may stay lean for a couple of years - dont push them to put on weight too fast. Weight (or rather bulk) comes with the development of muscle and maturity. If it is really thin with no covering and hip/backbone really prominent and coat not in good condition then maybe more weight is needed. Feed more fat and protein. As suggested, lamb is good.

While of course there is variation in personal preferences amoung individuals, dogs as a species are designed to work on a system of gorge and fast. Basically when food is available, they eat it and often they eat it fast due to an inbuilt system of making sure they get as much as they can while they can before someone else does. Here is an article which explains a bit more about the anatomy of a carnivore and how it differs from humans.

I remember seeing these a number of years ago - at a GSD club in fact (they seem to be popular with owners of this breed). Honestly? I really cant see the point. It is carrots. Dried carrots. Why would you pay good money to import dried carrots from Germany? If you want to feed carrots, they are cheap and all you have to do is run them through a food processor. What reason would you actually want to feed a high concentration of carrots for?

Dogs don't 'chew' food. They are not designed for it. Compare their mouth and jaw to ours. Notice how the jaw and teeth can go up and down but not side to side. They don't have teeth that grind like we do, only ones that rip, tear and crush in a vicelike action. When it comes to eating commerical dog foods, there is nothing to rip, tear or crush!!! The pieces are already smaller than the chunks they would naturally swallow (the largest percentage of a dogs digestion happens in the stomach - they dont need to chew their food to start the digestion process like we do). As a result, the most effective way for dogs to eat it is so pick it up, flip it to the back of their mouth and swallow. If you want a dog to eat slower (though it wont mean they 'chew' it more), there are a number of options including the following: *spread the food on the ground so they have to hunt for it *place an object like a large rock in the bowl so they need to eat around it *provide food in a more appropriate size and shape - i.e. large chunks - that need to be ripped, torn and crushed.

Interesting. Without knowing more about it, it does sound like it could be the result of a practice of religious 'offering' - a bit like going to church and lighting a candle or offering food or flowers to the gods or ancestors. In this case a puppy was provided and mummified as part of the 'prayer' process - something that facilitated the prayer getting to the 'right place'. Supplying them for this purpose was probably big business if this were the case.