flashfire

Thanks for that!

The bleeding stopped last night, after quite a while. Some of that powder stuff must be purchased methinks! How long before I should resume our daily walks? Is there a risk of infection or anyting?

I can join the ranks of claw clipping failures! I just tortured my poor goldie girl. Bled for more than half an hour, but she had a good lick of it before I realised how bad it was... The bleeding has stopped, but what do I do for her going forward? She'll be unsupervised tomorrow; do I leave a bandage on her or do I remove it and hope for the best? Any antiseptic creams/powders I should apply?

perfect Thanks amypie. Now to hunt that obedience thread (if there is one!)

Hey, just been scouring the forums looking for recommendations for obedience training clubs around Sydney and had no luck. I'm sure I'm not the first to come here looking, nor will I be the last. Would be fantastic if we had a sticky with the links to DOL recommended clubs all around Australia. So, anyone got anything for me? Sydney, pref within 30kms of CBD, pref on a weeknight.

Well, the vet stuck his finger up her bum and said the sacs were both empty... she must have sorted it all out for herself on my bedroom floor last night. He seems to think that all her problems - dermatitis, anal sac stuff, sneezing etc are possibly a food allergy reaction. So, she's going on a controlled elimination diet so I can figure out what to steer clear of. Oh - that 15kg bag of food was on my doorstep when I got home! :lol: I am going to use it, and incorporate it into her diet as it claims to be au naturele and has loads of omega 3 & 6 in it which is good as the vet suggested I give her 2000mg of omega 3 every day. Hopefully she'll stop being so itchy all the time. edited for spelling - it's been a long day!

6pm vet visit tonight.... My dog costs me a lot of money! But she's worth it! I took this pic on the weekend after a splash in the wading pool and a roll in the dirt.

Saltwood - I just ordered a 15kg bag of dry food!! She gets some slightly moistened kibble mixed in with her meat each meal (twice a day) and I have noticed that her poo is very firm and sometimes she strains for a little while. I personally feel she doesn't drink enough water. You can lead a dog to water but you can't make her drink! Thanks for the link - I will check it out. Nekhbet - she doesn't scoot at all... *shrug*

Roast pumpkin eh? Sounds like a plan! But I will take her to the vet either tonight or tomorrow night anyway. Thanks for the advice

Thanks poodlefan! I think I will book her in for a consult. What can I feed her that will give her more fibre? She currently eats a mix of dry food and fresh meat/vege stuff (like BARF patties), as well as plenty of raw meaty bones and other interesting bits of dead animals.

hmmmm. Thanks Gretel :D I think I will take her to the vet and get him to have a look. I am a big princess when it comes to bad smells (watch me gag!) and would rather pay a consultation fee than deal with it myself. ;)

Last night I woke up as my 14month old GR was on the bedroom floor making some disgusting noises. She has a bad habit of biting around the base of her tail (yet to be resolved) however she was biting/licking under her tail. I got out of bed to find out what the problem was, as she was quite frantic about it all so I thought perhaps she had an insect bite or something. Anyway, it was at that point I noticed a foul smell - a pungent stench that hung in the air, and on her mouth.... I can only presume this is the anal sac business that I have tried to pretend doesn't exist? This is the second time in 6months I have noticed her "eating her bum" then stinking of a very foreign odour. I just did a quick google search on it (what will the IT people think when they see ANAL SAC punched into the search engines!!?) and saw that dogs often scoot their bums on the ground to empty the sacs. My GR has never done that. What should I do? Is this perhaps a vet visit issue, or a perfectly normal aspect of dog ownership that no one ever tells you about beforehand?

Nice one Ange! Glad to hear she is doing well. Bless ya! Sarah

That stuff has made me itchy, despite the fact I was wearing gloves! To answer your question Becky - my dog thinks it's hilarious. Just try keeping a golden retriever away from freshly dug earth.... I am going to a nursery tomorrow to get advice and tools and figure out some way of keeping her away from the dug-up patches. Maybe if I cover the areas in rocks or pebbles or hay or woodchips???

Geeeeez. I just went to pull out some of the stuff. It's hideous! And, ALL OVER my garden around the perimeters, just where my goldie girl loves to sniff around and play. Big job ahead!

That's awesome advice - thanks everyone. Also, just as a side note: is the prednisolone the vet prescribed likely to result in long term negative health issues? The vet never mentioned anything about it! My poor baby girl - uncomfortable all this time and I could have sorted it out for her ages ago.

Really? That's fantastic news! So easy to remedy! Guess what I am going to do tonight and tomorrow? hehe... Yep - weeding the garden!

and yes, it just rained.

My 1yr old goldie has been very, very itchy. She has had a steriod shot at the vets and been prescribed prednisolone, which I only give her when she's really bad as it makes her very depressed. I have just been reading the itchy dog thread and decided to have a look in my garden to see if there is a plant there that may be causing all her problems.... I just took these pictures - is this Wandering Jew? Please help! I would love to stop having to medicate my girl, and mostly for her to stop itching/biting/licking and being uncomfortable.

Well, she had a GREAT day yesterday at daycare! I dropped her off at 8am to spend the day in the company of a lovely 7month old lab boy, and a gentle old lady smaller dog. She was very comfortable with these dogs, and apparently spent much of the day initiating play with the lab and running around the yard with him. I am so happy! But yes - Mel, I need to be mindful of some of the dogs in our area. They're just not nice. jaybeece - she IS a big dog! She's 11 months old now and fully grown.

Thanks for all the advice guys! I am trialling her at a doggie daycare with just 2 other dogs tomorrow, just to see how she goes, and hopefully without me there she will have a great time and not have the opportunity to hide behind me. She's just a funny one. Whenever we go to the park and she sees other dogs there she is super keen to go check them out, so I let her off leash and she runs towards them, stops short and then freaks out when they approach her. It's obviously just going to take time, and to be honest she is probably picking up on my slightly overprotective vibes - as I said she gets picked on, and I hate seeing other dogs bully her - standing over her, getting in her face, putting their mouths around her neck . Hopefully the doggie daycare place will help, as will the addition of a second dog in our home. I'll report back with the result from her daycare experience tomorrow.

I'm in the inner west of Sydney.

Well, my once scared puppy is now a scared 11month old! She hasn't really changed much with regards to how she interacts with other dogs. She gets plenty of exposure to dogs at parks but is the biggest wuss I have ever met. However, she is more interested in dogs than she was before - likes to have a bit of a sniff but has no idea how to play and would certainly never initiate it. She just turns her back on the dogs and sits, or (more typically) lays down and plays dead. She gets picked on a lot too - overly submissive I'd say so every dog who likes to be alpha has to reinforce that with her. I don't know what to do, really. We're in the process of trying to find a perfect second dog but it's a bit tough. Fortunately she has overcome her fear of people; she is very, very friendly! She approaches strangers with enthusiasm, but still gets straight onto her belly when they go to pat her, which she loves. I found out recently that she was the smallest of her litter. Perhaps her temperament is symptomatic of that?

My 14 week old female GR puppy really doesn't like other dogs. She either has no interest in them or is afraid of them. She came from a litter of 10, with many other dogs on the property, however since I've had her (8 weeks) she has no interest in socialising with other dogs. I started her at puppy pre-school straight away, and she wouldn't socialise with the other puppies and spent much of the time trying to run, tail between legs, away from their prying noses for all 4 classes. Now that she is vaccinated I've started taking her out and about - there is a dog park up the road and the other night there was 4 adult dogs all very interested (and gentle) wanting to say hello. My puppy did her best to keep away from them the whole time - pulling against the leash etc. Same again the following night. Yesterday, my best friend brought her Rotti over and Indy was petrified and, when she eventually overcame the fear, simply not very interested in socialising with the Rotti. We then took both dogs to the beach where there was about 30 dogs of all shapes and sizes, on leash and off leash. Again, she just didn't want to have a bar of them. Irrespective of the size & breed of the dog that just wants to say hello, Indy won't let them near her - she faces away from them, tail between legs. pulling on the leash to get away. When she stops being scared, she just sits down facing the opposite direction, quick to move away if again approached by a dog. Indy is also very submissive around other people. As soon as a stranger puts her hand out to pat her, she lays down then soon rolls over onto her back. It's weird because Indy does her absolute best to get people to notice her to give her attention, then once she has it she is a massive sook! Which is in complete contrast to the dog she is at home when it's just me and my partner with her, and also anyone she is comfortable with in my home (friends, relatives etc). Is there a problem or is this normal?

I was hoping to utilise this method also, however I've been chatting with a relative who said that mice will eat wood if they have to in order to survive - once you've got them, they'll breed and breed. I was surprised they have moved into my house - aside from the toaster, there are never any crumbs or food left-overs around, mostly cos I'm lazy and eat a lot of take-away food! Thanks all for answering my questions. I will certainly not put down any poison.