TangerineDream

You're right - I'm hoping that it isn't too and I've got an open mind until I can't avoid admitting it to myself that it has to be.....I'm logging everything and watching closely. Tonight after a walk and a bit of a supervised run under floodlight in the backyard (I haven't been able to get him out for the last 2 nights due to 90kmh winds and horizontal rain) he's more settled and much more like himself - more aware of what's around him compared to last night and not at all fidgetty.... ;) We'll see if the cycle repeats ...... will be absolutely delighted if it doesn't, but prepared for it if it does. Have placed an order for a new Forester (the current Forester's done 263,000kms in less than 4 and a half years) and the next one will have a cargo barrier behind the front seat and a barrier and gate at the back, tinted windows and a sunroof....I buy my cars for my dogs and I thought Tango would approve :D - better than being crated in the car... :D

We have no sign of dopiness as far as being depressed goes...last night he was hyperactive, driven, enthusiastic, puppyish, nagging, distracted - I wondered if that was a sign as I'd had the feeling that he'd had a mild bout 48 hours after the first one in May - and that would have made it last night, so I gave him some Rescue Remedy which had no effect at all ..one interesting thing I did notice is that when I turned the radio off and the budgies (who shout constantly and have done all his life) finally shut up...he suddenly managed to stand still and then happily went off to bed with me and slept well........ I wonder if he's still 'oversensitive' to stimuli......

Thanks for your kind thoughts! Cuddles duly handed out and gratefully accept with return wide body wiggles. Vet said that he might be a bit spaced out on the tablets.....naaahhhhh....I've just watched No 1 lunatic hurtling around the house burning off excess energy and throwing a tennis ball at me...nothing spaced out about this and no quieter either...think he's feeling better again. Now we wait...

Hi Puggles, with sadness, we accept your welcome. Little bloke had blood tests today that came back perfect and started pheno tonight. Fortunately, after going back through conversations and observations of the 2 incidents, Tango gives up to 36 hours notice of an impending attack, and now I know the signs I can put some things in place that will help me 'control' their occurrence with a slight change in routine and Rescue Remedy prior to...hopefully, those and the pheno will help either get across it with only a weak attack or keep it at moderate like last night. They also seem to happen at the same time of day when they do happen (the first 2 were 47 days apart) He's been overstimulated by everything today except in the vets, he was the perfect gentleman..the vet still can't believe that he has an entire male GSP who doesn't hurtle about like a looney - in fact I sit there watching tango wondering whose dog I actually have there Little bloke is lying in front of the heater after his entree (a rather late breakfast before I feed him his tea)...

Looks like it's epilepsy - he had a classic seizure fortunately in the loungeroom so a) he didn't hurt himself and b) I could see so I could describe it to the vet. Also wasn't as bad as the last one because he didn't lose mucous membrane colour or refill at all, was much better co-ordinated and had settled completely within 45 minutes. Off to the vet in the morning for another bloodtest and to start on whatever the drug is starting with p..which I've forgotten because I'm exhausted......poor little sod.... can anyone direct me to some reading please - I need to learn very quickly as much about it as I can.... atm, he's just had tea and is lounging across my feet and my chair under the desk in front of the heater like he always does....sigh - life's not fair sometimes.......

I teach the signal (exaggerated dropping of my left shoulder), check with lead and swing right leg across in front of dog to start with (all I need is big clown feet for effect ) and then as it all starts to make sense to the dog with repetition, the signals get toned down more and more and more till they are imperceptible to everyone but the dog...in the end all I do is twitch my left shoulder a couple of mms and that's enough to swing Tango into a turn as I turn. Very neat and a good thing to teach if you have a dog that forges.

I've always cooked oatmeal in with my dogs rice in winter as a blood warmer (and an aid to make sluggish dogs more hyperactive like chestnut horses :rolleyes: ). They love it and it helps their coats tooo, just make sure your dog doesn't get overheated with it in warmer weather.

Tango gets washed completely every few months if he starts to smell (he must be the cleanest dog I've ever known ) - he gets a wipeover with my shampoo if he's coming to work with me......

Have checked with neighbours - no-one sprayed or used anything that might cause a problem, council don't spray. He's had no reaction to anything since, so I'm wondering whether it was a Euro wasp and he mouthed it enough to get stung and had an allegic reaction (there were a few out the back where we'd dug a drain in the clay). He's finally back onto a normal diet (ie: not just chicken mince and vegies) and I'm feeding him 4 times a day to get some weight back on him quickly as the weather is just stating to turn cold and he's very 'trim'. Decided not to show this weekend, cold, wet, skinny dog (but healthy) - am 'forcing' him to lie in front of the heater and sleep Thanks to everyone for your support - you guys helped me stop worrying myself insane (like I think we all do when a furkid is not well)

Twice a day for Tango.

Young bloke continues to improve - I didn't realise just how different he has been to his normal self till yesterday!! My next question - atm I'm feeding him a low fat diet of chicken mince (low fat), rice, oatmeal, vegies, pasta...which he absolutely adores!! and I've just changed him off Supercoat while we see if that has been 'causing' his other little problem of lumps on his scrotum...... oh yes, now the question - can I keep him on a diet with 25% chicken mince, 50% vegies/ rice/ oatmeal and have the dry foot as say 25% or should the proportions be different? Cheeky, big hugs to him given from you guys......but I'll pass on the lick thanks Little bloke grinned back!

I'd run a thyroid test and see that the levels are ok - I had a Dobe producing virtually no thyroxine due to a damaged thyroid and her coat and skin conditions sounded similar.....

Cadence couldn't have bones from the age of 18 months because he had pancreatitis and there was too much fat for him so I would regularly lie him down between my knees with his head cradled comfortably and scale his teeth using a dentists scaler.....he used to doze off through it Tried it with Tango the other day just to see how he'd react and got the same..1 very relaxed dog... Much cheaper than Nylabones!

I use Polaramine also (for me & Tango).

72 hours on and all's well...... he loves his vegies - which is a good thing because he's on a low fat diet for another couple of days, and has 'hated' having to come to work with me.....everyone at work thinks it would be a good idea if he was under their scrutiny for at least another week something tells me that he won't complain.......he likes it under my desk at work, it's bigger then the one at home. Having coffee and lemon tart down the main street in Woodend this afternoon and Tango was being very good sitting quietly next to me till the cafe owner came out and gave him his own ice cream cone (happened last time I had coffee there too!!!!!) - so today was a 'lower than usual' fat diet day Looking at him you wouldn't think anything had ever happened to him....... ;) Don't think I'll get to the show tomorrow in Euroa......have a retaining wall we need to finish before the rains start.......

To complicate Cadence's long drop story....he initially got up when rolled on by a GSD having a good scratch, looked with horror at me and walked slowly across the ring and sat in front of the handler next to me.....from that day on he did that in every single trial I entered, but wouldn't do it in mock trials.....I never worked out how to fix that one...

I'm standing next to Kavik on this one...I have the same 'problem' - cadence would bomb the long down in a trial but not a mock trial and it was because of my nerves in the real thing giving it away......

I've had the same problem and have attacked each thing, one at a time... with inside left about turns, I worked out that I needed to do something that Cadence could pick up on as a signal, so I started to dip my left shoulder with an exaggerated movement one step before I started to turn and then did an exagerated turn also. When he picked this up and became reliable (with lots of praise from me), I made the signals smaller and smaller so by the end it was like with dressage, all I had to do was twitch my shoulder so slightly that you wouldn't even see it, but he would see it and start to turn.... Read a book on training young horses to do dressage movements where the principle is the same.....you shouldn't be able to see the command so the horse should appear to be doing everything with no input from the rider.......you find that the commands and pressures that they apply are big and exaggerated to start and then become smaller and smaller until they are almost invisible to the naked eye.... Pick one thing where you think you give the wrong signal to your dog and work on that....work out what you should do and retrain yourself first, then train the dog to pick up on it and reward - but only one at a time......I had to write a list of mine there were so many :D Same in the show ring - I used to freestand Cadence ... in the end all I had to do was list 1° to the left or the right and he would move the front foot on that side forward slightly - but to teach it I had to start off using pressure on the lead and literally falling in that direction :p

Tango gets excited in all of the most inappropriate places, and when you have a 'well hung' dog waving about 12" of it around in the breeze...I now just say "ok Tango, bring it with you and we'll go for a walk" :D (it's got a mind of its own!!) The guys at work stopped making lewd comments the day that one of the girls turned around and said "what's wrong Steve? are you jealous of what he's got?" - no more comments

24 hours later, he's back to his old self, rolling around and launching off the couch, offering you pieces of shadecloth during dinner he's just ploughed through an enormous meal of chicken mince, rice, pasta, oatmeal and vegetables designed to give his liver a rest and get the enzyme levels back to normal, and for mate to ask what smelt so wonderful that was for tea......was last heard wandering off into the night muttering "but dogs aren't vegetarians" :p should be at Euroa if I can hold the weight on him...although he may be a bit 'light on' after 4 days of this...and only 40% of normal food yesterday but he 'has' to come to work for the next few days just to make sure that everything is ok and I **KNOW** he'll hate not being locked away in his run but being forced to socialise, walk at lunchtime, talk to people all day :D AND A VERY BIG THANK YOU TO EVERYONE.......I was beside myself with worry and I think I'm only just coming back to earth now, and everyone here has helped me keep my sanity. Thanks guys!!!!! :D

hmm....................... you mentioned insect bites...the froth/foam was only on one side of his face and I know that the same happened with foam when he grabbed one at Christmas..that time I stuck a Polaramine down his throat and thet seemed to stop it...would a Euro wasp sting that he reacted to in an anaphylactic way ie: pale gums, disorientation possibly raise his enzyme level? (clutching at straws here but hate not having a definitive answer....)

Tango's 20 months and he stopped taking up calcium at 17 months. Interesting thought though.....he's stopped growing upwards but is now starting to bulk out. I thought of Polaramine but not right at the beginning...stupid me! Took him for a walk about an hour ago and even I wouldn't have picked that he had experienced what he experienced last night....everything is back to 'normal' again.....he's back asleep in dispatch with the guys (who enjoy his company, even when he's asleep )

He slept well last night after he settled down. Took him to work and then to the vets - he did a full blood screen which picked that only 1 liver enzyme was elevated but not much. Either he's picked something up (but only a small bit) or he's had a seizure and the vet wants him monitored for the next 4 days, so he's in a crate with the guys in dispatch atm......he also has to have a diet with no dry food or procesed food for 4 days to bring his liver back to normal so that if it is a seizure and he does have another we can start to treat it. If you didn't know him as well as I do, you wouldn't have picked that there was anything wrong this morning......even the vet was hard pressed to find any signs of abnormality - but they all adored him, said that he was the best behaved entire male GSP they'd ever met - were astounded when he held his front leg up to have blood taken and they all wanted to take him home They want to see him again...but only because they think he's gorgeous!! ;) The vet is hoping that he'll never have another seizure if that's what it was or that I never have that particular toxin in the yard ever again... so, the upshot of all of this is...we don't know yet but it was one or the other.......and Tango's happy and fine with it all.....

Erny, I'm hoping that's what it was...and that he never has another one...

No idea what happened tonight...came home about 7.10 drove into garage, opened door, Tango rushed past as usual, round the car, as usual, round the run while I picked up, as usual, out into the backyard carrying a bowl in his mouth off into the dark, as usual..... Can back sortly after, rushed around, rushed out (nothing unusual) and didn't come straight back...nothing unusual.....when he did, he had froth along one side of his mouth and face, no colour in his gums at all or his tongue, was hyperactive and lacked co-ordination...tail still wagging, still hyperactive... Wiped froth from face, checked refill, no colourm no refill that i could see, rang emergency vet (local) and while waiting, Tango's colour started to come back slowly, although he still couldn't get onto the couch. I went and got changed and he was then able to jump on and off the bed and sort of stagger around me in an approximation of what he normally does, kept improving...put him in the car to keep him quiet, turned all the lights on, went and checked the yard with a torch. Found where he had eaten grass and vomited (nothing nasty) twice, no signs that he'd run into anything, no magic mushrooms (1 toadstool hadn't been touched), no signs that he'd leapt off the embankment and fallen....... Finally got hold of vet who said that hard to diagnose over the phone, if a young dog then either a seizure or a snake (8°C?????? outside) and to watch him. By this time I'd done knuckle over tests (although he was knuckling a bit when he moved, he passed the test ok), torch in the eyes (pupils contracting, but slower than usual), he was somewhat unco-ordinated but it was improving, no swellings anywhere, no apparent bites anywhere, whites under the eyes bloodshot. thoughts.... - European wasp (he's foamed before when he's snapped at one) - white tailed spider (but he's not paralysed like Cadence was) - went to jump up onto the embankment and missed and knocked himself badly - snake (although we are now 2 hours down the track and he doesn't seem to have regressed and is not agitated, sleeping under the desk as usual - seizure - no flaming idea........ On the vets advice I've given him 1/3 of his tea which he ate normally, then went hunting for more, hasn't even considered throwing up.... 2.5 hours later, he's demanding I feed him my toast, has full colour back, drool reflex is functioning, isn't unco-ordinated any more, but seems rather tired. One thing I have always noticed since he was a baby is that occasionally he will not pick up one of his back feet quite enough and I'll hear it scrape across the carpet, but I've never seen him do it, just heard it.... any idea / hint / thoughts? for a still worried mother....(please)