Trisven13

so sorry Allerzeit - she sounded like a lovely old bag.

I would probably give it one try to see how it worked. (Edited to fix wrong word) I'm no expert on all this as you would all know BUT I have had a dog who we had to pts due to serious skin allergies. Not because of his allergies, but because of his reactions to the treatment - the treatment was more stressful than the allergies, and they gave him fortnightly hot spots. This particular dog had a bad history with vets, he had his eye punctured by a cat when he was only 10 weeks old so was sedated for 2 weeks to allow it time to heal. He also had quite involved veterinary treatment at that time which made him quite panicky about vets. He started to improve but then broke his leg :D . When he was just under 2 years old he developed the allergies and the vet diagnosed air-borne allergens, so essentially he was allergic to stacks of stuff. We tried to treat him for a while but he had to be sedated for every single vet visit and he started to freak out everytime I had to give the sedation - it was just horrible. In that instance we decided for a 3 year old baby that the kindest thing was to pts ;) . Devastatingly sad but even his breeder felt we were making the right decision for the dog. His name was Murphy and I always blamed it on Murphy's Law and refuse to allow anyone to name any of our rescue dogs Murphy - if it can go wrong, it will go wrong.

Welcome to the wonderful world of baby pups SR!!! We've raised 5 litters here now and all have been different as to the weaning BUT the litter here currently were tucking into solids quite happily from 2 weeks 4 days!! You may find these pups are in fact only 4 weeks but are just really easy to wean. They seem to be like human kids - you know how some never want to start on solids and prefer Mum's boob but others can't wait? I'd also recommend the rule of 7 that I read about on here a couple of years ago - essentially it means exposing them to 7 different ground surfaces, 7 different foods, 7 different people, 7 different dogs, 7 different noises etc etc (when it is safe due to quarantine of course) as once they have passed 7 things new things aren't so worrying. Another thing that sounds easy but actually is quite hard when you're looking after a kennel full of dogs AND new pups AND 3 kids is to try to handle each pup quite a bit. Our last litter of babies were the first litter we have raised exclusively in the middle of our loungeroom and they are the most amazingly confident little pups - obviously the nature of their Mum (and whoever Dad was) has helped but I firmly believe nurture has much to do with it too. They were exposed to grumpy tantrumy kids, other dogs, cats, the TV, the vacuum cleaner etc and I haven't seen them frightened of anything more than once. Campbell especially love to help raise the pups (supervised of course!) and it really shows with this litter.

So sad.... Poor Alice and all who loved her.

This one has brought me too to tears. I loved how great Thomas was with your babies Rozzie and so admire you and Mr R for taking in these dogs that everyone else has given up on and giving them love, particularly as you then have the grief when they go. Run free Thomas.

I've also heard, don't know how true it is so don't shoot the messenger , that tennis ball obsessed dogs grind their teeth down quicker because of the glue used to hold the "fluff" stuff onto the rubber ball. I was told never to let a dog have a "normal" tennis ball as it will ruin their teeth because of this. Apparently that is why the dog type tennis balls are soooo expensive. Who knows how true that is?

Yeah he improved over the two weeks I had him but I've never had a pup soooo loud! And it was all because he couldn't hear himself. Glad he has improved - I gave up on crate training Bart too as he hated it. He also sleeps on his puppy bed still even though it is miles too small for him. Must be a greyhound thing and Snoops always reminded me of Bart! Glad that Diesel is better in storms that Sheila - she was a nightmare. I'd also read that about torches with flicker switches but as my trainer said - we don't always have a torch at hand. Maybe investing in one of those little "pointer" torches that you can carry in your pocket would be a good idea?

I have owned a deaf dog before and fostered Joho's deaf puppy for two weeks before he was old enough to move on. I have to be honest Joho's pup is VERY vocal due to his deafness and I suspect that, by comparison to my deaf dog, he is completely deaf, and she was mainly deaf. I talked to both of them, called them, told myself I was stupid etc many times but loved them both. He was, however, very clever, and I think will compensate in many amazing ways for his deafness. Sheila was owned by us back when training wasn't such a big thing and I don't know if we ever really bothered training her but I can say she was VERY frightened of thunder storms and is the reason why I think dogs "feel" them as much as hear them but maybe she could hear a level??? In Sydney the thunder storms are pretty full on though and they have a real "smell" about them that I miss in an Albury storm so maybe that was what she was picking up. Sheila was a wonderful family companion who lived to 14 years and in all honesty we never really noticed her deafness. Enjoy your puppy and good on you for seeing the joy that can be had in a deaf dog.

Your bond with Tahi sounds like mine with Bart. I hope I get as long with him..... So sad that it has to end one day. :rolleyes:

I feed my guys chicken frames and the lamb off-cuts I buy from the supermarket (Safeway Lavington always has a great range :rolleyes: ). I also get them the occasional lamb flap, kangaroo tail and beef neck - haven't had any problems with bones so far.

I know Rozzie.... It just feels like Pirate all over again and to see the poor baby at the vets tonight just broke my heart. Not looking forward to telling Ashlyn on Friday when I get to Sydney.

With only 4 days to go before Lola moved in with us she was diagnosed with hyperglycemia today. Apparently it is quite common in toy breed puppies and her blood test showed a reading of less than .5 which was lower than my vet had ever seen. She was treated with loads of glucose but didn't respond and it was decided that the kindest thing was to put her to sleep. I can't believe it and don't know how I'm going to tell my daughter. To make it worse hyperglycemia is apparently caused by her pancreas not working properly, her Nan is currently dying with pancreatic cancer. Run free Lola - I was so looking forward to living with you.

This has been such a sad week Paula.... I'm so sorry for both you and Harry as I know Shadow was very special to you both. What a lucky girl she was to have found you and what a crime she couldn't have longer. Trish and the gang in Albury

So glad they arrived safely - their brother and sister Tooheys & Moet are still here in Albury. Moet is nowhere near as confident as the other three but just in case anyone is after a male, Tooheys is the same lovely red & tan as his sister in Melbourne - and just as ballsy! :D

Heard so much good stuff about it on here. Read about it in Natural Nutrition for Dogs & Cats. Heard it reduced poo - always a good thing in a multiple dog house. Gave it a shot and have been very pleased with the results - still learning, still refining but my dogs look great and every rescue pooch we get just loves it!

No way Beau will lift his leg Stormy - he will run up, freely to you and your family (and hopefully me somewhere along the line too ) - his legs won't be rickety, he won't be painfully thin and he will be the most beautiful fawn colour with such spark in his eyes. He will know that you gave him the best life he could have possibly had - the only thing that might make him lift his leg is the fact that he didn't get his whole life with you!

Oh Stormy.... Thank you so much for giving your Beau (and my Kenny) the chance to live the end of his life in luxury. Beau was actually a dog who came into Albury Pound, old, thin, wearing a jacket after a major storm in his suburb. We located his owners who didn't want him any more . The wonderful Stormy has given him a wonderful end to his life. ] We never knew exactly how old he was but he sure was rickety but such a lovely boy. Rest in peace my beautiful Kenny boy and hugs from my family too.

I should stress that by saying greyhounds are not so bright I don't mean that they're stupid! Anyone who knows me knows that I think Bart is the smartest dog on the planet BUT I have to say that I don't find them to be as smart as many of the other breeds of dogs that I rescue. That, to me, is what makes them such a great breed to own as they are not the constant challenge that, say, a kelpie may be. I suppose, as someone who does all breed rescue, I find that the smartest dogs are normally the most difficult dogs to live with, as they are constantly challenging you to find different ways to keep them occupied, learning etc. I don't find that with greyhounds which is why my OH says another greyhound doesn't count. And Spotty Spencer IS cognitively challenged .

My friend is a breeder and she has a bitch that she acquired from another breeder who has been debarked. I must admit that if this particular dog hadn't been debarked she would have been pretty darn noisy as her raspy bark goes non-stop the minute she sees someone! Given that she lives in boarding kennels & the pound that happens quite a lot. As we have a lot of dogs at our house regularly we crack down on barking very very quickly - the minute we hear barking we are up, looking at what they're barking at and calling them off if there is no reason. The other night I went out the front and yelled at the dog for barking only for my neighbour to laugh and tell me it was her dog that was barking!!! We had someone turn up at my house the other day, knowing I had 10 dogs at the house, and she commented on how unbelievably quiet it was - as I said to her then - dogs aren't allowed to bark at our house . I do, however, own a Min Pin X whose barking is BLOODY ANNOYING and after 8 years of living with him and dreading getting council complaints I would quite happily de-bark him. He will bark at us, non-stop, when we get home. He barks, non-stop, when the neighbours are in their backyard. He barks, non-stop, at every car that pulls into our driveway, which we share with 3 other houses. He barks, non-stop, at every person who walks through our gate, even if they live at our house. As you can see - he barks at EVERYTHING. It is because he is frightened of EVERYTHING. We deal with it by having him crated whenever we are not home but it would be much simpler if he just didn't bark. The other week he started barking, inside, at 5.00am every morning for a week - let him out to go to the toilet and he just kept barking. I could have, quite happily, ripped his vocal chords out of his throat at the end of the week! I wouldn't want to live next door to him if he was owned by someone who just let him walk around and bark and there are some days when I don't like living with him, despite how much I love him.

Mine have sardines in oil 3-4 times a week BUT that is 2 tins spread throughout enough food for 8-10 dogs so probably equates to 1 tin per dog per week. Gracie has Sprint Oil (2 capfuls) each day to try to help with her mange (is that the flax oil you're talking about NAO?).

You're right Showdog and they did consider a trolley but decided that Sammy would not be happy with this. This surgery gives him the best chance of a longer, less painful life and that is what they were aiming for. I don't know what it is about this boy but having fostered him myself as a puppy he really is something special - when you rescue a lot of dogs there are not many that really hold a place in your heart but Sammy has done that from the day he came here and did the same when he went to his current home. Trish

Owner has discussed this thoroughly with the vet and her partner and they have opted to give him the chance. They hope (of course) for a great result but if this doesn't work then he will be pts. Samson is very much their child and they want to at least try. Lucas is being x-rayed in about a week Rebanne and if he shows to have the same problem then his brother Ibrah, who was adopted, will be x-rayed (at our costs of course) as well. I haven't heard from Rozzie as to whether either of the two pups she took have had problems but if x-rays show problems in all 3 pups here then I would expect problems with those as well. We are desperately trying to contact the vet who initially vaccinated them (they were surrendered with vacc cards) to ensure that the person who bred them is aware and DOESN'T ever allow this to happen again. Not sure if it will make a difference but we will see.

The surgery will be the one where they completely remove the ball of the joint - I think that is the one where the muscle takes over???? Sounds like what Minty the CGAS greyhound puppy had done. We have seen x-rays of the elbows and the vet has said that it is not elbow dysplasia, rather severe arthritis of those joints. She says that they can be treated quite easily and are a very minor problem (comparatively) - it are his hips that need the work and are causing him the extreme pain. Time and effort are not a concern for his owner, nor is money, but she doesn't want to put him through the surgery if it doesn't have good results.

Samson's owners (foster failures) have had some x-rays done of Sammie's legs and we have discovered the problem (you may recall we suspected muscular dystrophy). He has two problems, the first of which is the worst case of hip dysplasia that our vet has ever seen - I saw the x-rays and this poor dog has NO HIP SOCKET at all - the bone is essentially straight . He has also has very bad arthritis in his front elbows (backyard bloody breeders should be shot!!). The arthritis is very bad for an 8 month old pup but can be worked with. What his owner wants to know is what sort of success have others had for surgery to hip dysplasia - she doesn't want to put Samson through this if it won't give good results. If it is worth the surgery he will have done it on Thursday. Only posting as she has no internet access. Trish

Okay, fair call and probably accurate. How do I work out what is wrong and how to fix it? M-J and I have talked about Bart's issues with food around other dogs and she had recommended that the simpler solution was management given the large number of dogs we have through the house due to the rescue work. I had understood that the things we were doing were important things from TOT but will admit to difficulties in fulling "understanding" aspects of it - have read it over and over and over again so I'm sure that I'm just having difficulty actually picturing it. We will be going to training with M-J again very shortly so will try to get her to explain it to me in the flesh.