brightstar123

Great news about the heart and lungs! HyperA (Cushings) is definitely a possibility (the panting and pot-belly appearance are pretty classic signs) however the oedema around the front legs is a bit more unusual and is usually a pointer to heart disease. Increased appetite and thirst are also typical of HyperA though. Keep us updated!

Here is the culprit (on the left) in his favourite morning position. Sorry for the blurry phone shot!

No problem, let us know how Milo goes at the vet today ... I think being comfortable and being able to breathe better would be the main goals.

Great idea about the sand, I've heard that too (and felt it myself - very hard work running on deep sand!) Whenever I can I'll get him to the beach - fun for both of us (until I get home and have wet salty sandy hair-monsters to deal with :laugh: )

So sorry to hear about your little one. These are very common clinical signs in older dogs. The fluid around the top of the front legs is oedema and from the sounds of it he could have pulmonary oedema (fluid in the lungs) and ascites (fluid in the abdomen) as well. I'm sorry to say that by far the most likely cause is congestive heart failure. In an older small breed dogs this is usually caused by mitral valve disease. Your vet will be able to check his heart and lungs tomorrow and perhaps perform some X-rays to see what's happening. There are definitely treatment options to help Milo become more comfortable - triple therapy with a diuretic, Pimobendan and an ace-inhibitor usually works well - depending on the situation of course. Sorry again and best wishes for Milo :)

Hmm, sounds like they are related! Especially the basic commands/sitting part too. It's been two weeks of training and 'sit' is still not 100% :laugh: At first I thought that he wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed but now I agree, he gets it, but he doesn't give a stuff! Amble is also an excellent work to describe our Lab's most energetic gait. It goes plod, shuffle, slow walk, normal walk but scuffing feet, floppy half walk/trot and then amble :)

Omg that's exactly what happens when I throw the ball too! It's even the same with the possum poo! How funny. It sucks at the park when I end up going to get the ball more than he does because he found some poor plant to pee on a thousand times. That happened at first with our female too - slowly I taught her the words 'ball' and 'find it' so when I point down the yard she'll go and search for it and bring it back. But then she actually wants to play with it :) It is handy because I can send her out to get the things that he forgets about, so I don't have to, but now she's getting fitter and fitter and he's still just the same... :laugh:

He'll play with other dogs to a certain extent - with our other Lab they play face-bitey games all without him ever standing up! He'll play bow and have a bit of a wrestle but when the other dogs run around he'll just stand there. I think he's realised that while the other dogs all run around, he hangs out with the people and gets all the pats, so I don't pat him and keep sending him off and encouraging him to play. Of course everyone else at the park pats him though, they think it's hilarious! He's had full bloods but not T4, he doesn't have any signs of hypothyroidism (apart from lethargy - normal skin/coat, good weight etc) but I also know the clinical signs can be variable/mild. I could do thyroid testing I suppose. He doesn't seem like a sick dog or a dog lacking energy for medical reasons, he just seems a bit like a Greyhound, as everyone has said. Super happy just snoozing :laugh: I do think the bigger Lab boys can be a bit like this though? Although not quite to this extent?! My smaller female has huge drive and would retrieve all day long - and both dogs are closely related!

He is pretty funny, I've never had a dog like it! He clearly has no future as a retriever - I'm thinking maybe therapy dog or something that doesn't involve moving a lot?! He'll always be a sloth but he has to do some exercise lol. His balance/co-ordination is pretty shocking so fitpaws etc might be good, although I can imagine him just snoring peacefully away sprawled on top of the balance disc/fitbone etc while I poke/prod/pat/clap loudly/praise loudly/jump up and down/pull my hair out... I can bang two big saucepan lids together near him while he's sleeping (not something I would ever usually do lol) and I get one lazy eye open... that's it!

Heart good, been hip/elbow scored, all good there. Stifles feel ok, no luxation etc. Cooler helps, he feels the heat. He speeds up from a plod to a slow walk in the late evening :D Just changed from balanced 100% raw to quality dry food purely to see what happens, I'm not expecting it to help much but you never know! Destinations he enjoys include his bed, the bed outside, the dirt hole up the back where he sometimes sleeps, the lounge, our bed... just kidding... sort of...

Thanks for the ideas so far, there's some good ones! Forgot to say that no, he's not overweight IMO. Last 2-3 ribs visible, the rest palpable. He has a clear waist but doesn't have much tuck though because I don't think he has much core/abdominal muscling. He's lean enough but flabby looking. All preventative health care up to date, fully vet checked and no obvious soreness, stiffness or unevenness. Good feet, conformation not disastrous but he's a little overdone for a Lab IMO, back legs a touch too straight through the hock/stifle but not terrible. Gaits even and quite nice if you can get him moving freely for 5 minutes lol. Poorly muscled hind quarters and top line, shoulders not too bad. Will definitely try chucking around small chunks/bits of food on the lawn as he will probably at least trot to those :) Way too lazy for Kongs etc, would starve to death. I never have had him retrieving in competition with our other Lab (also retrieving machine!) but I believe he was in competition previously (with his old owner). I crate each of them in turn and they both get games, training, play etc separately, or at the park one is on the lead and the other is not. He won't free run at the park, just sniffs around, tries to hang out with families having BBQs Will try hill work - would involve me dragging him up and down lol. Cavalettis would be good - any cheapie sets around? I doubt he will pick up his feet over them but he might learn to :) Sit to stand to sit etc can be done but it's always in super slow motion and his mind wanders lol. Trying to slowly work on more snappy responses but it's hard. If it's too challenging he just flops over :laugh: I think he's actually a sloth ...

Forgot to add I've tried lots of different toys, treats, balls etc - I can't find anything that motivates him to move much!!

Any tips for building up fitness, muscle tone and drive in a very very energy-efficient big 2yr old male Labrador? Obviously I can walk/jog with him, but I'd like to do other things with him as he's a bit flabby and poorly muscled. Doesn't much like to swim (I know, is this a really a Labrador?!), will retrieve a few times then wander off lol. I'm walking about 6-7km a day with him now (he drags behind like a boulder!) but he just plods and slops along, dragging his feet like he's dying. I don't always have time to do that either, so some different options would be good. Treadmill sadly unaffordable right now - would definitely help! I'm trying to build up his retrieving drive, I think he's become discouraged by others that are faster and always get the ball, so I have him alone with short retrieves (5-6 metres lol) and loads of praise. He's still super lazy though - he will walk to the ball and back if he goes at all! He tries to please and he's a lovely kind and gentle hug machine, but he would sleep 23.9hrs a day if I let him. Any advice appreciated as my other dogs have all had heaps more drive :)

Lol totally agree about the raw beef neck/spine. My dogs love it and days later they are still chewing on and carrying vertebrae around the yard :) I tried all the dried treats I could get and couldn't find anything I was really happy with. They did eat the dried trotters once or twice with no ill effects but I stopped giving them because they only lasted a few minutes. I wouldn't give them to a dog that's not on a 100% raw diet though, as they may not have the necessary gastric acidity to digest the bones properly. I've tried different ears, tendon, jerky, bully sticks etc and none lasted. Ordered cow hooves and deer antlers but they didn't really like them much. In terms of lasting a long time and being enjoyed, nothing beat the good old rawhide bones, but that's not really something I want to give more than once in a blue moon. Raw meaty bones are awesome but it would be nice to have a less messy chew option for inside!

Yep agree with the previous comments, our dogs do this sometimes too if I've been gardening :) Dynamic Lifter is their favourite - so gross! It's probably just some manure in potting mix or fertiliser of some kind. Unless it's actually really just dirt?

Yes this does sound like it could be an oesophageal problem - common causes of regurgitation include megaoesophagus, oesophagitis, oesophageal foreign body or oesophageal stricture. In a young healthy dog with a sudden onset of regurgitation I would be concerned about a foreign body, although it does sound like oesophagitis could be possible in this case. Either way, IMO the vet has performed a completely insufficient work up and I would see another vet ASAP. Oesophageal disease can be pretty painful and have serious consequences like aspiration pneumonia or nasal cavity infection so definitely seek a second opinion.

Totally agree! Our Lab's worst time was when I also ran out of food and bought a small bag of Supercoat to tide her over - the results were instantly horrifying, especially for the lawn! Foul skin and breath too. She did improve to a degree on super-premium grain free dry food e.g. Canidae Pure Elements or TOTW but not nearly to the extent that she improved on raw. Obviously doesn't work for all dogs but it worked for her.

Interesting about the guard hairs. I can say for sure that the raw diet 100% stopped her bad breath problem almost overnight, her yeasty stinky skin/paws are no longer a problem (also could be grooming, calendula etc), her poos are normal/formed and don't stench (no more cow pats) and the farting is no longer driving us out of our home every night for fresh air lol. To me she seems in much better balance :)

Yes I thought the stress of being rehomed might have increased shedding, although I kind of believed that much shedding to be quite normal for a lab? Does anyone out there have a yellow lab that hardly sheds at all? I know blacks are supposed to shed mainly twice a year, where as yellows are more like 356 days a year, however I suppose there's individual variation. Was expecting her to drop more after winter but nothing yet... Could definitely be the grooming rather than the diet or anything else, although she was groomed a fair bit before we got her for shows etc. Probably not daily though. She is pretty happy though - her obsession with retrieving gets worse everyday lol.

Hi everyone, just wondering if anyone else has noticed if the amount of hair shed by their dog is affected by their diet? Our lab (adopted at around 1.5yrs) shed unbelievably when we first got her about a year ago. Yellow hairs everywhere, in a crunchy layer on the floor, coating the inside of the car, all our clothes, in our pantry So really just the usual story with labs! However after a few months the shedding decreased gradually and for the last 6-8 months the shedding is not noticeable at all. There is nothing on the floor, nothing on our clothes. I find a stray hair here and there in the car but that's it. I pat her and cuddle her and nothing sticks, also nothing in the brush now when I groom her. Which doesn't seem like the usual story! Much as I would like to believe I've invented a labrador shedding cure :laugh: I'm sure that's not the case. I changed her onto a 100% raw diet, supplement fish oil/Vit E/krill oil and borage oil, give Dasuquin, eggs and a probiotic. I brush her daily for 5min; she was also spayed when we got her. I don't wash her much, just use the good ol' Calendula rinse as needed. Anyone do any of the following or make any diet changes and notice a reduction in shedding? Just curious :)

Hi, just a quick question about applying the tea/rinse. I'm really struggling to get enough penetrating our dog's dense labrador coat to reach the skin. To pour it on and properly saturate the dog all over I think I'd need gallons of the stuff :laugh: How many litres does everyone use for a large dog? I made up a couple of litres but a lot runs off the coat and it didn't seem to be enough. I tried back-combing the coat and misting/dribbling it on but it was pretty patchy. I also found it hard to fully saturate the feet, belly and throat. Any advice for densely coated dogs? Sorry if it's been covered, there's a lot of pages to read through! On the plus side, I added some organic chamomile flowers to the calendula and it's given my yellow lab a nice fragrance and lovely shiny golden highlights lol.

Agree with previous comments and I love to do the best for my dogs just as much as everyone else does. However, sometimes when I'm travelling in the Middle East or Asia and I see sick, starving dogs and cats on the street, my slightly excessive tendencies (in terms of my own pets' care) don't sit as comfortably with me. Indeed, there are many starving children that would like to eat what my dogs have for dinner. Do my dogs really need a range of different collar and lead sets lol? Do they need to eat fresh salmon heads instead of tinned sardines? Or have a zillion different toys?! Sometimes I contemplate spending a bit less on my own pets and donating some of the saved money to reputable charities that care for these poor animals. I also often wonder what my dogs would say if I could ask them?! It's a tricky one as I believe all our pets deserve the best care we can provide ... and many people derive pleasure from providing top-notch care for their animals ... PS. I know this is a light-hearted thread :) but it's also food for thought!

I really did find our Keeshonds (in particular) very low maintenance, in terms of grooming, exercise requirements, health and being easy to train What I liked was that most of the hair stayed in the rake rather than ending up all over the house. The groomers did the hard yards with the trimming/blow drying etc but otherwise they were very clean and a great indoor dog. I just spent 10-15min per day brushing them and it seemed to be fine. Our labs shed way more hair and I spend a lot more time than that vacuuming lol. She didn't bark much either, apart from alerting us to strangers being around. Anyway, perhaps we got lucky or Spitzs just fitted in well with our family :)

We had a Petit Basset Griffon Vendeen when we were kids and he was the best family dog. Loved to go on adventures, happy little fellow, grooming manageable, not too stubborn lol. We also had Keeshonds, Samoyeds and Finnish Lapphunds and they were fantastic with children too. Super trainable and great with other animals. The grooming seems crazy at first but with the right tools and a few trips to the groomer every now and then it's really not hard. I wouldn't go for those if you like to swim/go to the beach a lot though!

I wasn't necessarily recommending a large breed like a labrador, just saying that many things are possible if you are committed :) I do have a friend with two retired racing greyhounds in an apartment and like Rebanne said, I often think they are a really great choice for smaller spaces. Actually IMO there are quite a few low-energy larger dogs/breeds that could be just as, if not more suitable for an apartment, than many highly active small breeds.