pebbles

I sometimes wonder how dogs ever survived years ago before all this research etc. became a necessity to owning a dog. Early days Pal was the absolute best you could feed! Meat from the knackery, dry food and family left overs, many show dogs and pets thrived on that. Pups were weaned on Farex, Weetbix, milk with Pentavite added. There didn't seem to be the amount of allergies etc. around then either. None of the monthly flea/worm etc treatments either. Your dog picked up a few fleas, you bathed in a flea treatment, washed the bedding and surrounds in the same stuff. Could be a case of too much information? I stay out of the food debates, don't want to get into trouble lol.

One problem I find is that I cant get any of the premium brands in small, 1kg, bags. My littlies dont have much, mainly on raw. I did get a sample pack, half kilo, of one of the best brands and one of mine had the itchies within a week so back to Supercoat.

They are so light to lift as well. I've got a 'proper' dog pen and it weighs a ton for this old lady to lift in and out of the car, luuuvvv my Bunnings ones.

Great, aren't they? Reckon I might have to sell some soon, can't resist buying another when ever I see them at Bunnings

There would appear to be more incontenience in spayed bitches than mammary cancers in entire bitches? Only ever spayed one bitch in 50 years + of having show dogs and never had any problems. Yep, a bit of inconvience for a few weeks maybe twice a year but IMO better than mucking around with mother nature.

The OP mentioned a granny flat, how about the OP moving into there and then he/she can have the pup inside when he/she is home? Still the problem of containing the pup during the day - perhaps a solid secure fence could be put around the granny flat making this the pup's home?

I've been using extender leads since they first came out and have never had an accident. Like all things - common sense is the answer, use them where applicable and know how to use them. I've still got the first one I bought, no cheapies around back then, I think it cost me about $40 and it's still in excellent order. If you want to use one then get a good one, extra money is worth it.

This brought to mind a friend's dog. We lived near a river in the country and the dogs often swam from one side to the other then back again. Friend's dog had great recall, mine were so so but followed friend's dog so that worked. We took the dogs to the beach one day, no-one around and they had a marvellous time until friend's dog went swimming. Unfortunately he didn't realise the other side was China and we had to race up the beach to a fisherman with a boat who had to rescue him, scary at the time but many laughs later! Luckily my guys weren't keen on the waves so stayed on dry land.

On Monday I had to say goodbye to my lovely girl. Pebs was the ultimate show girl and we had a lot of fun travelling to shows for weekends, she loved camping. Pebs gained her Grand title with many BIG wins, RUBIGs, classes in Gp and classes in Show although we didn't manage a BIS. Mins just didn't win that high back when she was being shown although Group 1 was seldom under 100 exhibits. She was a very independent girl, not into the cuddle bit, in her element in the ring. I was only there to hold the lead, pay the entries and provide transport lol. I miss her so much but can smile when I remember the fun we had and what a fiesty lady she was. Run free with your mate Ben.

Well said, morgan, totally agree

Back when I had a lot of dogs I used to buy in bulk as well and found that by the time I got to the bottom of the bin it seemed to be a bit off. I kept mine in the large plastic rubbish bin and kept a spare bin and about once a week I'd tip the food into the other bin, sort of bringing the bottom stuff to the top and found this worked. Might be worth a try?

After my experience with Rimadyl my Vet stopped using it and Pfizer practically admitted it was the cause.

Not a bone story but pure embaressment A lot of years ago the Minister came to visit and chat about getting my youngest child baptised. Sitting in the lounge having a cuppa when in trots my young Affie with a large pack of sanitary napkins in his mouth and promptly presented them to the Minister The was much later after I recovered

I use the muelsing powder for the little black ants here and it works very well. The big black ones, meat ants, don't take any notice of it - just walk straight through it so there's all these white ants running around. The pest exterminator who recommended it to me said it wouldn't work on the big 'uns just on the tiny ones, Dunnwarren, so see if you can get a small amount to try first 'cause it aint cheap but last a long time.

I lost my Ben after 2 days on Rimadyl. 6 weeks of the Vet fighting to save him. The Company which markets this drug practically admitted that it was the cause and apparently there have been court cases over it. My Vet. was convinced it triggered the shut down of Ben's body and now longer uses it.

The girl just looks far more mature than the boy to me. But then we all know the females are faster, cleverer than the males lol.

Erny, I sometimes cringe when I read/hear about all the chemicals pushed into dogs. I realise there's some areas/times when it's necessary to use treatments but month after month of chemicals pushed into the system must have some adverse reactions. So question - not being smart or anything - but why is it done? You will hear people say "my dog has never had a flea because he's dosed up with 'whatever'. How do they know they'd have fleas if they didn't dose? My old Vet. agreed with this and untypically explained to clients that unless they actually had a problem, it's not necessary to use anything.

I avoid chemicals like poison, which I guess they can be. The areas I've lived in with dogs is West Gippsland and now the Mallee. Except for once when I took a trip to NT with a Gordon Setter, I've never given heart worm medication and never had a problem. Never used tick treatment as the areas I've lived in haven't had that problem. Don't use flea treatments. Had a plague of fleas here when I moved in so had the exterminator go right over the property, used washes on the dogs until the problem was solved. Brought home a few fleas from a dog show once, washes used again on dogs, bedding etc. Worming is done as advised on pups but once they are over about the 12 months I take a faeces sample from each to the Vet about every 6 months. Over the years I've only had to worm very occasionally. Inoculations are given to the 14 months booster then no more. Never had skin allergies, food allergies, basically all have been very healthy, shiny coats, bright eyes, plenty of energy and live to old age. Actually the only disaster loss was with Ben, given Rymadil for strained back. Don't desex dogs or bitches,(that are in my yard) no pyro, no cancer or any other connected problems. Maybe I've been lucky but after 50+ years of doing this, perhaps there's more than luck?

"Barambah" - Border Terriers and Miniature Pinschers. This belongs to a very good friend whose dogs I have shown for years. She no longer breeds due to an accident and age. I phoned her and it's fine to put it on the site. I had a couple of prefixes but didn't breed many and don't reckon many pedigrees would go back to the ark lol. Just in case - "Caladier" - Afghans. "Calambra" - Min Pins in partnership with "Barambah".

Are you after just current ones or ones where they are no longer breeding but the prefix is still prominent in many pedigrees?

A lot of years ago when I had the grooming, pet accessories, pet food shop I sold horse meat. Back then the knackery wouldn't take horses which had been euth.ed because of the chemicals. I had a few racing greyhound kennels which used to buy a large quantity of the horse meat weekly so I would assume there wasn't anything in it that could be swabbed in the greyhounds. Of course, things may have changed now.

I had an incident a few years ago when I was travelling up to NSW. Stopped at a round-side pull-in and gave the dogs a break. I walked them on lead around the area, no long grass, easy to see anything on the ground and as it was fairly warm I was looking carefully. Anyway, got back to the car and Sam (Min Pin) started shaking, then vomiting, then collapsed still shaking. Rushed to a nearby service station and they phoned the nearest Vet and gave me directions. It was about a 10min (fast) drive. Sam was unable to stand and still shaking badly. Vet. suggested snake bite but I was positive that it wasn't that. He gave Sam a couple of injections (forget what they were now) and within the hour Sam was OK, although a bit weak on his legs. The Vet gave me the number and directions to the Vet in the next town but Sam was 100% by the time we got there. There wasn't any visible bite marks from anything so it was a mystery. The only time I've ever had anything like that happen and Sam never showed any ill effects after.

The gingernut biscuits work, ask Dunnwarren! Her Sheltie drooled badly all the way from Ballarat to Swan Hill. fed him the biccies before leaving to go home and problem solved! Although we did have to travel 28ks to get some

Some Vets scare me - they seem to be 'spey happy'! My pup needed a baby canine tooth removed, phoned a Vet (my long-time Vet retired :D )who in the first sentence mentioned desexing, explained that she was a show dog and would be bred the time was right - made a point of this. Vet. then went on about removing the tooth and mentioned an appointment time. I agreed with this then the final words from the Vet - "Oh and while she's under we could spey her at the same time" . Promptly cancelled the appointment and made the long trip to the breeder's Vet. whom I knew would just remove the tooth. I've had show dogs for over 50 years, never desexed a male, speyed one bitch at 8 years for her health, never had any problems related to not desexing nor any unplanned matings, maybe I've just been lucky.

Yep, until you get cramp in your thumb lol.