Sheridan

A friend would like to contact a ACT-based behavourist for her little dog if anyone could recommend one, please?

I've ditched the generic liver treats available from the supermarket. I know get the liver crisps, which are a fundraiser for Monika's Doggie Rescue. Bradley's Liver Crisps, I think they're called. They seem to be kinder on my old dog's tummy.

Sorry Sheridan, but your post was very specific..........and if that is what you claim the Vet says then the Vet is wrong! To have any understanding, the dogs need to be titered a couple of weeks after they are vaccinated to PROVE they get immunity in the first place.....If you vaccinated a baby at 6 weeks & titered it at 8 weeks plus it will show zero immunity, as the immune system is too young & undeveloped to work........They MUST be first vaccinated at 8-10 weeks for it to be effective.......That is why sooooooo many baby puppies contract parvo virus despite having been injected. In most cases a pup done at 10 & 16 weeks is done for life............a pup done at 6 & 12 is not done at all. Adult titers mean nothing unless you know they had immunity from the injection in the first place....which is a rare occurence here in Australia, as Titers are not utilized here. Nonsense, Cavandra. Believe what you like but there are as many differing opinions on it as there are on regular vacs.

With all due respect Cavandra, you don't know the vet, you don't know what he does or does not know or understand, you know nothing other than what I've reported he said.

Sheridan, a low titre doesn't necessarily equal lack of immunity, it just means you can no longer prove that your dog is immune. Dogs can still be immune without a high level of circulating antibody. Protective level of antibody present in the titre test = dog is immune. No serum antibody or lower than protective level = dog may or may not be immune. 'Doesn't necessarily'. 'Can no longer prove.' 'Dog may or may not be immune.' I think you just proved the vet's point.

I had a conversation recently with a vet who had done titre testing for a number of dogs and several of them, he found, had lost their immunity after a couple of years.

Thanks for suggestion. She has a very severe sensitive stomach and she reacts very easily. I cant give her any raw foods so cant try the sardines plus i dont think i ever will give sardines to dogs the smell just makes me want to Charlotte gets brushed a few times a week. I will get a skin scraping done to check if there is an underlying cause. I felt the same way but my dogs eat sardines or tuna nearly every night now. I can't smell them anymore.

why spring water? The oils are really good for them. As long as there's not a lot of processed fats in their diet, I drain most of the oil, but leave a little when I feed sardines or tuna. It's not natural oil, it's vegetable oil.

Thanks all. Grumps was good all night. It was Mini, who had none of the chicken, who vomited this morning. Comedy of errors. Mini vomited, so I washed her bedding. Hose pipe flipped out of the sink, flooded the hallway and bedroom carpet and into the dining room underneath the gas heater and fridge. Have just spent an hour and a half on the phone to the insurance company and am waiting on the carpet cleaner guy to bring heaters to try to dry out the carpet. Will have to get someone to check the heater and the ducted aircon controls next to the heater. I blame global warming for the whole thing.

Oh. My. God. The end result of raw chicken is very smelly.

And some dogs don't do well on BARF.

Not a change of diet, just more food. Grump is a delicate old man and he does very well on his mostly fish diet; it's just that he thinks I starve him (as I listen to him chow down on a bambi ear ...).

My niece (the culprit) says that it was fresh chicken from the supermarket; she'd had it in the freezer. Some of it was half frozen.

Grump's just elongated his neck to eat some raw chicken breast pieces ready for tonight's stirfry. There's a mixture of info as to whether this is good or bad. Some sources panic and say salmonella; others it's the basis of raw feeding. DOLer's opinions? What should I look out for?

ha ha sorry this is funny!!!! Let's just say that it makes life with him careful but interesting! :p

My dog's vet prescribed vivitonin for Grumpy during his aggressive phase last year. It made no discernable difference and we just decided that Grumpy was just grumpy.

Some dogs do very well on processed foods without any aggression or fear type behaviour. If you're going to state your opinion as fact, best back it up with an actual source.

I picked up canned sardines in springwater from Woolworths last week. However, on reading the ingredients, I noticed it contains salt. Is that ok for dogs? There's salt in everything, mostly naturally occurring. If it doesn't say 'added salt' then I think labelling is such that it's naturally occurring.

I think it depends on the dogs and their personalities. I wouldn't add another to my pack as Grumpy is grumpy and Mini fits his personality. It would be hard to find a dog that fitted in with both of them and I think it would be unfair to Mini, in particular.

Could she get that second opinion? There seems to be a vast variation in the prices.

Yes, unfortunately, it's not that simple. The protein source is only one part of it. For the ignorant vet nurse: http://www.vetnpetdirect.com.au/product.ph...&bestseller

No, sorry, this won't work for some dogs. A commercial kidney diet food is balanced with low but good quality protein, low phosphorus, etc. Just because a protein is low content, it doesn't mean that it's good quality or that the food as a whole is low in phosphorus or balanced. I would be very wary in feeding a dog with kidney disease BARF, for instance, because it's so hard to get the balance right. You may as well just have the dog pts if you only consider the protein and not all of the food content. There are other commercial kidney diet foods. There's also an email list K9-Kidney but be aware that it's full of Americans who prefer supplements over a balanced diet.

The diet for a dog with kidney issues depends on the type of kidney issue.

I get the feeling the correct answer is that it's all about you.

It sure is hey, it happens what 100's of times each and every day across this great nation of ours. And what? You don't care? Do you feel anything for the dog that was attacked at all? Anything for its owner? Or is it that because the attacking dog was an APBT the dog must be innocent or must have been provoked by the old dog in its own backyard?