ellz

One of the most important things to understand is that if the bite is allowed to come in misaligned (ie with adult teeth all over the place because of retained milk teeth), then it increases the likelihood of dental problems in the dog later on. Crooked teeth create many lovely little hidey holes for plaque and bacteria which in most cases are not attended to on a regular basis resulting in illness and pain for the dog in later life and lots of wealthy vets as a result of the tooth cleaning procedures and extractions that will result from them!

If it were me, I'd have them pulled. If she is 6 - 7 months old and the adult teeth are coming in and the milk teeth are still not showing ANY signs of budging, then it is time for the pull.

Congratulations MM!!!!!

The procedure was done to a dog that I bred which sustained an avulsion fracture in a kennel accident. She went on to a full recovery after many months of crate rest followed by rehab via swimming and gradual increase in "roadwork". I can't give much more info than that because the procedure was done by a vet at a major Michigan Vet School. Other than that, I had a young dog who shattered an elbow at 17 weeks requiring insertion of much scary-looking hardware. He too had months of crate rest followed by swimming and walking but went on to a full recovery. The fear was that his growth plates would be involved but thankfully he had matured sufficiently that they weren't and we were given the choice as to whether to remove the hardware of leave it in place. I decided to leave it there with the thought that when he aged, it would give some stability to the compromised joint. Apart from a slight scar on the outside of his leg and a couple of nobbly areas inside his leg where the screws protruded slightly, there was no sign of the operation whatsoever and at the age of 10 months he attended his first Specialty show (and won Best In Show) and the judge was amazed to hear that he had even been injured. Good luck with the injury and I hope it all goes well.

Well, Miss Koda's "morning sickness" of the other day seems to have passed. It lasted 24 hours. Now she is back to her evil self and eating like a horse. Interestingly though, Mr Ellz hadn't seen her since she first came home from Melbourne and last night he commented that she is acting like such a wimp now that he wouldn't be surprised if she expected me to go into labour for her AND raise the puppies! She's still quite loose behind and her nipples are still very perky and prominent as well.

Nah, the coat is the easy part. It's the tendency towards stupidity that does my head in most of the time! Seriously though, if the puppies resembled either parent I'd be happy. It's a nice pedigree and both parents have some damned nice things about them so it is a breeding that, although it is an OOPS, I am not stressing about having on the way.

NUP! You heard me the first time!

Well, I've learned never to say that I want either gender because the opposite WILL happen so I would like a nice puppy with the combination of these bloodlines of whatever colour (will be buff or black) with either parents headshape, both parents dark eyes and earset, both parents length of neck and placement of shoulder, would prefer mothers' overall length with fathers' topline but just fathers' topline would be good, both parents tailset, mothers tail carriage (which is partly attitude related ) and mothers coat texture. Just a nice blend of both really. No outstanding faults on either parent to correct, but some lovely qualities on both to consolidate. Sire's grandfather is dam's father and they are mostly outcrossed through the dam lines with some very slight linebreeding a tad further back. I don't think I'm asking for too much!

Almost 7 weeks...still not overly large in the belly area but still has the gummy discharge and today has milk.

Like the masses, I'd be feeding less but more often. The metabolism is like a slow burning fire. It needs to be fed when the body wakes to give the body the energy to burn calories during the day and the fire needs to constantly maintained to keep burning. The last meal shouldn't be fed too late in the day either. To add extra "bulk" to the feeds so that the dog thinks it is eating as much, but isn't getting the calories, try adding heaps of grated carrot to the meals.

Sweet potato is great however served, although as with "normal" potato you should be careful with the portion that is directly under the skin. Sweet potato can also be fed as part of a bland diet if your dog is unwell, along with or instead of white rice and chicken.

My girl MIGHT be suffering from morning sickness (see my other thread) so cross fingers that it is a sign!

If it hasn't affected them thus far as far as the poo factory is concerned then I wouldn't worry too much. Just make sure they drink lots and get bones to clean their teeth.

If they eat too much, they'll probably get the trots. Just make sure they don't get the pear or apple pips which are toxic (can result in cyanide poisoning).

Clipperworld are very good. But another alternative might be The BARF Shop. I've dealt with them as well and they offer "grooming packages" for professional groomers.

This thread hasn't been bumped for a while!!

Yep, the Ichthammol ointment is basically a poultice. You slather it on, cover it and allow it to get hot and moist under the bandage which softens the skin and allows the medication to pull the foreign body to the surface. In most cases it will either appear on the bandage, or at the very worst will be close enough to the surface that it can be easily removed without too much digging.

It's also known as black drawing salve. It looks like vegemite (and doesn't smell much better). I have it in a tube, but I think it comes in a little tub as well.

Definitely see an opthalmologist. Labradors can be prone to PRA (Progressive Retinal Atrophy) which can start as early as 6 weeks of age and causes gradual blindness (often night blindness).

Very welcome raz....I didn't think PRS would mind me sending it on to you.

Another vote for Ichthammol ointment. Awesome stuff, pulled a deep splinter out of the bottom of my foot many years ago. Foot was sore and I could "kind of" feel that there might be something in there so rather than go to the Dr (I'm a wuss), I went to the chemist and they sold me a tube of Ichthammol. I bandaged up my foot and kept applying the ointment and a couple of days later, there was this dirty great big chunk of firewood on the gauze!! AND it didn't get infected either which surprised me because it must have been a fair way in!

Done. Looking forward to reading it. I'm looking forward to reading it as well. Unfortunately I think my copy took a detour via alpha centauri I'll send it to you razzle! :laugh:

Done. Looking forward to reading it.

Yes, have more to add but am waiting to see the information that you were forwarding to another forum member on EAD. Care to share with me?

Should mature dogs only be allowed to be advertised on DOL if they're desexed? I'd say yes. so we should not be able to sell any main register dogs or bitches that are suitable for the show ring ? If the dog or bitch is not of show /breeding quality , then by all means desex before rehoming but there's nothing wrong with selling a mature animal to an approved home, it's no different to selling a puppy, other than the mature animal can be viewed. What she said!