Poodle wrangler

If it's not the food colour it could be yeasts/ bacteria collecting where it's nice and warm and moist. Keep area clean. I notice this develops occasionally on my lighter coloured poodle, but I shave off the fur as part of his grooming.

I'm thinking the water will end up all over the crate?? All depends, I wouldn't leave a bowl of food in there. I'd probably compromise with a short-nosed breed and leave a small amount of water, but be sure to offer it each time he gets out of the crate and free access at other times.

Cavandra, do you use any supplements or special diet for your dogs with these growth spurts? Modify their exercise at all? I currently feed an adult dry food + raw bones/ roo mince (chicken necks, brisket bones mainly). I add some Livamol (~ 2 teaspoons) to the mince. A kg of mince lasts about 4-5 days. Livamol: http://www.cyberhorse.net.au/iah/livamol.htm

Heart murmurs are in no way painful. Depending on severity, he could have less tolerance for exercise or breathlessness when he exerts himself rather than any pain. He might not even have this.

Thanks. It could be a growth spurt. He filled out a little then became leaner much like the way human children do with their growth spurts ;) I'm not aware of an injury, though it's always possible. He has a smaller dog to play with. Anyone know of an animal chiro Nowra area, South Coast NSW ??

7 weeks is plenty of time to develop anal gland issues again. The vet can show you how to do it yourself. Just wear gloves, do it outside (or when he's having a bath) and stand clear! I'm guessing you've done all the regular worming etc. So, I'm not much help, sorry.

How old is your dog and what breed?

Some people say brands like RC are a "complete food" and feeding other things somehow makes their diet unbalanced. I don't agree and like to feed some raw food, too. With things like pet mince, you don't know what you're getting + preservatives, but I don't think you can go far wrong with some chicken necks (deli section of many supermarkets) for pups- they chew the bones up and swallow them. I also feed brisket bones sometimes. It's a sad day when it's "wrong" to give your dog a bone

Good breeders would want to know this. She may have kept a sibling to breed with, though they should also have been hip scored before breeding. Bad hips can come from health tested dogs with good hip scores, though it's much more rare. Sounds like you've been very unlucky. There was a thread about a young labrador with HD and excellent hip scores from both parents. Your chances of getting it are greatly reduced by health testing, but not eliminated . Also, what were the sire and dam's hip scores? There was another thread about someone who'd done the right thing and bought from health tested parents only to find the hip scores were poor, but breeder bred them anyway . I guess it depends on how you approach the breeder? I'd send an email saying you wanted to inform her that this problem has been diagnosed. Mention the name of the vet etc., so they know you're genuine rather than out to blame her. Far as I'm aware, it's a matter of treating the symptoms- cortisone injections, maybe antiinflammatory medication for pain. There are supplements e.g. fish oil and glucosamine and chondritin which may also help a little. Surgery is extremely expensive and I'm not sure of the rate of success or it I'd be up for it, but there are some here who have. Talk it over more with your vet- a lot of information + shock to deal with.

Charlie (9 month old standard poodle) had XRays at the vet last week and has luxating patellas in both hind legs. Medial. Vet said XRays however were near normal. In the past week, I've seen him dislocate 3 times- twice left, once right and have also noticed the last couple of days he tends to hold the back left leg in toward the middle (instead of normal position). Know I'm humanising here, but last time he looked at me, as if to say, "Help me!". Like any good dog owner, I burst into tears . It clearly hurt him, he held up the leg longer than normal and I've got no idea how to pop it back in. He was only out walking for 10 minutes, not running/ zoomies/ twisting etc. . He's such a lovely-natured, affectionate dog I really want to do what's best for him. We don't do walks for more than 15 minutes, less zoomies and no ball games (per vet). I've taken him walking on sand, but not started hill walking, yet. I think he's pretty lean. .. Should I have asked to have his hips XRayed also? It was under GA, so I'm not keen to put him through that unnecessarily. I can take him back to the vet, but would anything come of that? I would not consider any hip surgery (both expense++++ and risk of complications) but would certainly have the luxating patellas done (still about $800+, but less risk complications; not recommended by vet at this stage). Any thoughts?

I googled heart murmurs recently, too, and it wasn't easy to get much easy-to-understand information . Can you speak to the vet again on the phone? Just say you didn't take in all the information and write down any questions you may have. My understanding is that a heart murmur can have different causes (born with or related to an illness) and so different outcomes???

So sorry to hear that! If she's still enjoying life and can be a happy member of the 'family', I wouldn't rush to PTS either. If after you've made some adjustments she still isn't coping or becomes snappy and untrustworthy, that's a different matter . Whatever happens, at least you've given her a good 7 years she might otherwise never had .

She's not a pup? Toilet trained? If so, can you put her bed in there? My pup only liked the crate once I put his bedding in there. Start with the door left wide open. I'd not let her sleep anywhere else in the bedroom. No crate, no bedroom. Don't have to close the door to start with, one thing at a time.

I've given them to one of my dogs in the past and he liked them, too. Sorry to be a party pooper, but I know I've read they can cause major problems for dogs, too. Sorry, can't remember the details but do remember thinking, "Thank God he was OK. Won't buy those again". Rawhide chews can also cause problems. Some vets will say even raw bones can cause problems, but then it gets in to seriously no fun for dogs territory. Right sort of bones, raw cause minimal problems.

What everyone else said. I keep a few treats with me when we go for walks as extra motivation. I also practice calling them back (off leash) with treats, then let them go off again with a, "Go play". Keeps the recall positive. Our off leash beach has no traffic issues and often no other dogs there. You're in no way depriving your dog by not letting them romp off leash with other dogs. Have a read of all the horror stories of people's dogs being attacked unprovoked at off leash parks....people take their repeat offender dog aggressive dogs there . Makes great sense to work on a good recall first .

My black mini poodle gets little patches of brown grow thru occasionally and breeders say it's related to having brown in the pedigree (which he has). First noticed it at about 4 years old.

I'd strongly advise to have her desexed before her first season. Dogs will go to great lengths to get to yours in season and it's just not worth the risk of pregnancy at such a young age .

I thought it was more of a concern for large breed dogs, too? I'm not sure how much evidence there is for this, either? Regular 5km runs, I can understand, but ?? I'm going to go with it and stay on the safe side because it's what the breeder recommended. She also said no regular jumping in-out of cars, no racing up & down down flights of stairs etc.- same idea that it's hard on growing joints.

A friend is an osteopath (not unlike a chiro) and isn't a big fan of manipulation on it's own, either. He'd say, "well what do you think happens later?". The muscles pull the joint back out of alignment unless you also use stretching, massage, posture changes etc. on the muscles also.

Ditto. "Severely cross bred" If she seems otherwise healthy, don't worry. If you get a vet checkup and/or vaccinations each year, I'd mention it was grade 1 (may change over time?). She's lucky you rescued her .

I use Advantix for fleas and tick prevention. Starts killing fleas within 20 minutes. Not sure about Frontline.

Desexing certainly won't hurt. Can help calm tensions and hormones. Nipping- train her not to. Give her raw bones for her teeth and a chew toy. No nipping fingers- it's not something they grow out of, they have to be trained out of. Hate the leash? Keep on-leash training very short. Is it just excitement? If so, play a short game before you start to burn off a bit of energy. Are you using a light leash for a pup? With pulling- allow her to pull for any reason and you're sending mixed messages- she'll think it's OK all the time. Keep up the training to heel (or walk on loose leash) and reward with treats for her being next to you. Trashing the laundry- I agree with you, she's bored. Chew toys are cleaner than a raw bone and some you can stuff with food. Apart from that, walks are good for tiring pups. Can you do twice a day? I found even a 10 minute walk would settle our pup way out of proportion to the amount of exercise involved- lots to see, sniff etc.

Hmmm. Don't know if I'd be taking advice from the pet shop. Don't believe everything on the internet, either . Use the right tablet for weight, though you could buy the larger tablet and cut in half while he's a lower weight. I don't know about any that lasts 3 months. I only know of monthly tablets and yearly injection. Worm every 2 weeks. Drontal from the vet or link below. We're also in tick season. Do you have them in your area? If so, use either Frontline Plus, Advantix or check out if a Preventic tick collar is OK for pups (cheapest option). Cheapest stockist I've found is pricelesspets.com.au

They need the IV site to give the anaesthetic, don't they? It's not hard or expensive to hook up fluids to that, but I hate to think what's charged.

My pup was 18kg when desexed and coped well without blood tests or IV fluids, however, it's a bit easier on the boys. They offered the blood tests but suggested IV fluids really weren't necessary. I'd be wanting to hear from other Dane people about it before deciding. Some vets are more about the $ than others, even at the same surgery.