kelpiecuddles

I don't think there are any natural therapy type vets around here unfortunately. So it could simply be that she's not lifting her feet as much? If that's all it is I'm not too worried, I was worried it might have been an indication of something worse. We have been taking a few slow meandering strolls lately just enjoying the sunshine. :)

I can't decide how I feel about this whole thing. In theory I think it's good that it encourages people to get animals from shelters rather than pet shops but I worry that it may encourage people who otherwise weren't planning a pet to get one that they were unprepared for. They are basing it on the lack of trends towards seasonal animal surrenders BUT not having a trend in surrenders doesn't mean those animals weren't poorly informed Christmas presents, it just means people make their choice to surrender across the year. I'd really like to see a break down of how and when people who surrender acquired their pets, when there's no trend in those figures that shows that pets as presents are generally a bad idea THEN I'll be OK with this scheme... http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/video/watch/20423667/pets-can-be-for-christmas/

The information I found suggested that other than a few that may or may not be in Germany they are becoming increasingly rare even in Bhutan as locals are favouring more 'exotic' breeds like labs and dals... Sad, they sound like nice dogs

The vet wasn't sure, there was nothing obvious. She's very healthy and there is nothing in the way she stands or moves to suggest an obvious reason. I said "maybe she's just being lazy and not lifting her feet as much" and she said maybe and to keep an eye on her and see if I can pick up anything when we are walking. All I have noticed is that she does it more when we are meandering at a slow pace whereas she tends to lift her feet more when we get a bit more speed up.

I reckon we just see the bad natured little dogs more because big dogs with crappy natures are hard to take out and about so their owners leave them at home but little dogs are much easier to hold on to even if they are snapping and carrying on so their owners still take them out. Therefore more exposure skews the perception.

My vet noted today that my basset hound, Josie, is wearing the top of her middle claws on her front feet due to dragging the top of her nail on the ground sometimes when walking. She seems to walk fine, no pain and is otherwise well so I'm a little puzzled. Could it simply be laziness and not lifting her front feet as high due to her long, low, heavy frame? It's not a long dragging motion, just a quick click on the ground every now and then when walking but enough to sand the top surface of the nail a little. I keep her in beautiful lean condition so she is definitely not overweight or anything like that. Any thoughts or insight are greatly appreciated :)

Call a vet and ask how many tick cases they are seeing at the moment. It is a generally bad year for ticks. I was at my vet today(sth coast, not Sydney) getting my dogs nails trimmed and the vet nurse said they had six ticks cases out the back just today!

Thanks Dezzy :) Unfortunately there is no training close by to me, closest are Sydney and Canberra(both atleast 2 hours drive away). It's a drive I'll be happy to do though when we get to that point that it's feasible. In the meantime it's research, research and more research to put us in the best position to know exactly what we want in our foundation animals and how to spot it in the pups we are looking at. Once we've worked with our first few through the club and I'm more confident in the training we'll likely just train down here ourselves(and maybe down the track even see if there is interest in local classes), I have no shortage of people down here who would get a great kick out of helping me train my dogs. :)

It's standard practice for many diseases of both animals and people Erny and has good potential to allow the body to produce enough antibodies to fight it. If the vaccine is administered early enough it gives the body a head start on antibody production to prevent or reduce the severity, if it is too late and the body has already developed the disease it won't make it worse. It's the same as getting a tetanus vax if you step on a nail or a rabies vax if bitten by a bat.

...and then bam, they're Coles Myer!

I've tried Cobber and I'm not a fan, you will need to feed twice as much I have found. I used to feed food about that price range and I've recently switched to black Hawk which is about $100 for a 20kg bag and the bag is lasting me A LOT longer than the cheaper bag would have so I'm very happy with it because it isn't actually costing me that much more in the long run. Plus we've gone from picking up heaps of poos in the yard to not too many.

In NSW you can keep them as pets like a normal dog.

Josephine is a very useful basset, she thinks she is in fact a foot stool and will stand in front of you until you oblige LOL Anyone else have a 'very useful' doggy? :laugh:

I was reading a blog article yesterday that stated that ACDs were actually a recent designer crossbreed of the labrador and the blue heeler. It was an American blog as are a lot of the references to chocolate ACDs, etc so I'm wondering whether there is some weird breed confusion going on by some people over there?

Weird?! Is this another gumtree classic?

Thanks pesh, some of that is even cheaper than with my work staff discount! Do you know what the postage is?

Gross I can handle. I've been at a ceasarian but it was not a good ending for those puppies so it will be nice to go to a (hopefully) normal birth.

I'm very excited because a friend of mine is expecting a litter this weekend and I will be acting as second midwife! They are bull terriers and mum is HUGE!!

I used to have big dogs but I've now noticed I see anything much larger than a kelpie as being 'big', I think it's probably because Josie is so short, technically she's a bigger dog than my kelpie but she's only about 2/3 her height so she feels smaller.

Personally I'd wait to see the dermatologist if it is something you think your pup can tough out for a few more days. If I'm going to the trouble of getting specialist care I like for them to be able to follow treatment options through from the very start so they can see any changes for themself. Just my personal preference though.

I use stainless steel mixing bowls as food bowls for my dogs, I like that there are no corners so they don't rub their faces raw on the bowls and they are great to clean, might be an idea for you, I think they were about $8 at Coles

Why do you say this? Allergies are common in my family and it is not uncommon for reactions to be localised around the mouth, surely the same could apply to dogs?

At the age of 9 1/2 despite have access to them her entire life my kelpie has suddenly discovered the joy of toys, zoomies and digging I soft ground! :laugh: In the past the most I could convince her of was chasing a tennis ball, suddenly now she chews the tennis balls up and plays with other toys she never would have touched before...weird dog :p

If the only way to wash the cat is to do that then the cat should have been sedated and washed at a vet.

Do you know which vet in Wagga they are talking to?