karen15

My staffy was quite crippled as a youngster from sore licked feet. Multiple vet visits, lotions and potions, no improvement. In desperation while away saw a different vet. He suggested soaking in condes crystals daily. I might have done it twice daily to start with, so long ago I can't remember. It cleared it up and any time after that when his paws looked a bit red, I'd do them again. Easy to do, just mix up in a jar. Put paw in, stand 30 seconds, do next paw. It will stain, so do outside.

All good advice above, but even after you've been to training and go back to park, if you feel uncomfortable about a dog, take your dog home. My staffy was the friendliest dog. Loved every one. One dog park we went to, this stunning red pointer type dog would come. I never liked how it's body language was with my dog, so it would arrive and we'd leave. I was talking to another regular and they said the red dog started lots of fights. So I was reading it right and leaving was the best option.

I'm really happy that in Brisbane we have a small dog specific area next to the large dog areas. This means, now that I've got a Westie and a cocker, that they can go and play safely with small dogs and not be at risk of being attacked by large dogs. If it wasn't for small dog park then I wouldn't take my dogs because I think it is too dangerous for them being so small. When my staffy was young we used to go to a park that had a regular group of four dogs, including him, who all got along famously. A german shepherd, a standard schnauzer and a whippet. I remember one day they were playing and two large dogs came in that hadn't been there before. Everyone played nicely for a little bit and then the whippet and my staffy started running around and having a bit of fun. The other dogs joined in and all was going well, until the two new dogs decided that they were going to kill the whippet. Luckily the German Shepherd saw what was happening and positioned herself between the new dogs and the whippet. Unfortunately they attacked her. The person with the new dogs wasn't their owner, turned out that she was a dog sitter. I remember a time not so long back, with the westie and the cocker, we were walking up the footpath to go into small dog park. Out of nowhere and off-leash border collie raced up to them, I couldn't even see it's owner. When the owner finally appeared I went off like a frog in a sock. She said that it was all ok and her dog was friendly. I very bluntly told that it was not ok and that if she wanted her f****** dog off lead that it needed to be in the off lead park which was right there! We will literally right next to the off leash park. We've got a weekend Westie group in Brisbane that meets up on a monthly basis to go for a group walk. It's so cute seeing about 50 little Westies in a small dog park running around being wild, before they get their leashes attached and go on a bit of a hike. Amazingly, with so many small dogs, there's never been an incident of poor play or aggression in the group. We always have a really good fun day.

I got wahl KM 2s to groom my westie and cocker. A groomer friend recommended the book Theory of Five. It's excellent and easy to follow with super instructions. Clippers generally come with a #10 blade and you can use combs over this to cut longer. You can get other length blades too. The lower the number, the longer the cut. So a 10 will cut shorter than a 4. I have: 7F - cockers shoulders, forearms, chest, westie nose 10 - westie ears 15 - cocker head, throat, tops of ears 30 - to trim out paw pads The cocker will get a #2 or #3 comb over a #10 blade over her back to get the longer curly hairs. I use a mars coat king on both to remove undercoat and get the coats nice and short and tight. But the cocker was clipped short by prior owners for three years, so her coat isn't as it should be. It's improved but still needs help.

On my sample size of one lagotto - it's a nice, friendly family dog with a child of 5 years, now 6. No behaviour issues, slightly excitable, but it's not 2yo yet.

Dogs cool through vasodilation in their heads, so cooling bandanas (while supervised) can really help. You don't need to buy special ones. An icepack rolled diagonally in a tea towel works really well. https://www.scienceabc.com/nature/animals/dogs-keep-cool-summer.html For me i provide a splash pool, access indoors, air conditioning on days like today where it was 32 at 10am, otherwise fan, water the garden to make the shaded earth cool - they can dig if they want, plus cooling gel pads to sleep on.

I think dogsfevr was on the money. She has just finished her season and coat is now coming back

Haven't heaard any further Pandi - we've been on leave. Will follow up though.

Ok, take a breather the vet didn't say he was obese. I presume the scale was 1-9, if 5 is perfect. A 6 on that scale isn't obese, it's just "good" condition. It's only slightly over 5. If he's sleeping a lot at present, he's probably growing. They store up energy then grow. I find my westie is finicky with kibble too. He would prefer to get kibble from a toy. Unfortunately the cocker collects all food toys, sits on her bed with them and gets the food out by jamming her tongue in. Food either comes out or ends up a sodden mess i have to try to remove. This is a link to really good description on each step of the scale https://vcahospitals.com/know-your-pet/body-condition-scores

Great visuals asal. On that chart I aim for ideal. But as I noted above, if the cocker looks like that from above, she's too thin. From above she looks like the heavy picture. Hard to reconcile when I'm used to keeping them at the ideal. I have to check her ribs and spine regularly to make sure weight is ok. CharbearsMa the best thing is, once you get used to monitoring their waist, you just look every mealtime. If waist is less defined, all you need to do is give a slightly smaller meal until waist is back to where it should be. If a bit too light, just a small increase until ideal weight is reached. I've found the dogs don't notice the smaller portions as it's only a 5-10% drop from a normal meal. My staffy, when young and active had a weight between 19 (light for him) and 21 (max weight without being fat). When he was no longer able to exercise due to arthritis, he maintained a weight of 21-22kg, just from visual assessment and small tweaks to portions. Maddy, my reference to stocky was where a dog has wide shoulders and well sprung ribs, waists are easy to see. When they're built like my cocker with slight shoulders and ribs and hips of similar width, waists are trickier to see and, as in the case of my cocker, may be misleading.

Going from your posts, you seem to be offended your vet suggested your pup is slightly heavy? My experience with the body score charts is it depends on build. Stockier dogs eg staffies are easy to monitor as they have a nice defined waist and little fur. My cocker on the other hand is tricky. If she gets to having a waist when viewed from above, she is too thin as her ribs are pronounced and spine can be felt. So with her, she's a bullet shape from above. Vet is very happy with her weight. Actually, vet is always happy with their weight. My staffy was well muscled from exercise. The first time Dr Leigh saw him she said "OMG he ripples when he walks". He was beautiful. I see a lot of people think fat is muscle. It obviously isn't. I've never had large dogs but from reading, know it's important to grow them properly. I think excess nutrition is as bad as not enough as you don't want them growing too fast. What I look for is a straight line from ribs to hips when looking down on the dog. That varied as my westie was growing from a long line to a short line (indicating he was fatter) but there was always a waist. Then I daily check ribs. If they are easily felt with a light touch, then it's possible the dog is a little light. The more pressure you use to feel the ribs the fatter the dog is. As my dogs are close to the ground with skirts, I can't check their profiles. However, with my horse, what you look for is a tuck into the groin area. The more rectangular they are side on, the fatter they are. The same for large dogs.

Not a fan of pet mince as I think the standards are lower. I buy mince for human consumption and feed raw daily.

I mentioned thyroid today, so that's on the list to ask vet about. History - under 2years old, apparently has runny eyes, so possible allergies, goes for walks daily, lives inside and outside, washed in sensitive skin shampoo that isn't oatmeal based, fed advantage kibble and some wet food - not sure what that is- plus pigs ears. I suggested trying a grain free kibble. I suppose raw would be another suggestion. Hair loss has been the last couple of months. I'll suggest they look at what has changed in that time. Owner went away for a few weeks but family still home and hair loss started before then, but stress may have contributed in recent times. Forgot to mention vet checked for mites and all clear there.

A colleague has a tibbie that is losing a lot of hair. Coat is so thin skin and skin markings like dots are easily seen. Would anyone have any suggestions for vet to check? She is entire, so vet has suggested possible ovarian cyst and scans will be done. Blood tests have been inconclusive. Any suggestions welcome.

I would suggest if you are somewhere that gets hot, both breeds would benefit from being indoors or having cooling outdoors. A fan would be great. My staffy lived happily outdoors during the day in Brisbane but had a pool and a lot of shade to cool himself down. With solid dogs, their body mass causes them to overheat. I worked with a girl who came home to a dead staffy cross due to overheating one day while she was at work. I was paranoid ever after and made sure my staffy had plenty of cooling available when I wasn't home.