ellz

Mine were done when they had their first needles - 7 weekish. They yelped more when they had their shots. Didn't even react when the chips went in.

My first thought upon reading this was tonsils. Especially as antibiotics cleared it up and then it returned when the antibiotics where finished. Followed closely by another vote for lip fold dermatitis although I've never had it treated with antibiotics before, just anti-fungals.

Yes, the food nazis would say that. HOWEVER, some of Australia's top breeder/exhibitors feed it and swear by it. I feed it and find it to be one of the best foods I have ever fed. My dogs do VERY well (some TOO well) on it and it is kind to my wallet.

Hmmm....you could find the dog roll is contributing to the extra output. It's kind of like expecting us to live on a diet of Spam. Would also be expensive I'd imagine. Dog roll is great for travelling or if you are busy, out of everything else or just can't be stuffed, but I certainly wouldn't feed it as a basis for a diet.

Uncle Albers is higher in protein and is beef/chicken, Great Barko is beef/lamb. Apart from that, I couldn't tell you!

Personally speaking, Supercoat is probably the last supermarket food I would feed. For a value for money dry food, I highly recommend Great Barko or Uncle Albers which are Australian made. On occasions, I have also fed my lot the Woolworths brand Chicken and Rice dry food which I am told is manufactured by Coprice, as is Woofbix which is available at Big W (same food, different packaging). Optimum is quite ok, and I know of people who feed Beneful. But really, in the long run, what you feed should be dictated by what your dogs do best on and what you can afford. Don't ever let yourself feel like you are being looked down on because you aren't feeding a premium food if your dogs are doing well on it. There are too many food nazis around these days.

I don't know about Orijen or EP or any of those but an Australian made kibble that I HIGHLY recommend is Great Barko. Manufactured in Australia by the Laucke Mills in South Australia. My dogs all do very well on it, probably TOO well in some cases and not one of them, not even the fussiest ever turns their nose up at it.

http://www.clipperworld.com.au They are located in Victoria.

Hi ellz were do you get them from? if i may ask. I got mine from Clipperworld.

Lazor RX either corded or cordless are great. I use them on my American Cockers, Lowchen and even my horses. I used to swear by Oster and Wahl but much prefer the Lazor which are lighter, run cooler and are a lot less noisy.

After 22 years of using Oster and Wahl, I have now been converted to the Lazor RX. There are corded and rechargeable models. I have the rechargeable ones and I liked them so much I purchased a second set. I use them on my dogs (American Cockers and a Lowchen) and my horses (Arabians). They are great. Light, quick to recharge, adjustable cutting lengths and don't run hot OR noisy!

Yup that's the one I have *shudder*. My back aches just thinking about it I should have just stuck to my tried and true Simpsons. Now that is a quality dryer. Your choice and fair enough. For MY part I researched for many months before returning to what I know and trust and I am perfectly satisfied with my choice or I wouldn't recommend it to others. I have used many other dryers in my 22 years of breeding and exhibiting long coated dogs and I am happy to have purchased my second Beacon. I don't get back aches from using it, but I also have my grooming workspace set up quite ergonomically to accomodate my particular health and comfort requirements.

And now you've got less noise and no grunt Don't need grunt when you have proper heat controls and ease of movement. And can dry a dog without creating an environmental (noise) hazard!! Have to disagree. The Beacon is the worst moving dryer I've ever used, also one of the most useless on a commercial level. Mine is tucked up at the back of my salon only to be used in emergencies. Your prerogative to disagree. I don't use my Beacon on a commercial level and I daresay the OP wouldn't either. This is the second Beacon I have owned. The first one (which WAS a sod to move around) was 15 years old when I got it and I owned it for 17 years before selling it to a friend where it is STILL going strong. The second I purchased a few months ago....Beacon Jetstream MkII and it is really great. It IS easy to move, equally as easy to manoeuvre as the Liberty stand dryer ever was and I personally like the finish on my dogs' coats much more than I ever did with a Liberty dryer. I'd still choose a Beacon over many of the dryers previously mentioned in this thread.

"simple" explanation is using the direction of the air and the brush to straighten and dry a coat at the same time. For this, yes, a stand dryer or at least a dryer you can use hands free is the best. It IS possible to use a hose to dry and straighten but unless you know what you're doing and are very, very careful the average person will end up with a tangled, twizzled mess.

And now you've got less noise and no grunt Don't need grunt when you have proper heat controls and ease of movement. And can dry a dog without creating an environmental (noise) hazard!! And, as I said, if I want to blast the water out of the coat BEFORE I fluff dry, I use the Ultraforce.

As I said in your other thread. I use a Liberty Ultraforce (cannister) for blasting water out of the coats, for drying the smoothies (Staffords) and for the horses. I use my new Beacon stand dryer for fluff drying. I had a Liberty but hated the fact that it was more noise than grunt and sold it. I also use a powerful human hair dryer (with a cool setting) for drying at shows or for spot drying or straightening at home.

I like either the Doggyman Slickers or the ones from here (no photo but they are excellent) http://www.petgear.com.au/?page=shop/flypa...d=&offset=0

I've had puppies get a grass allergy. In much the same way that some humans start to itch if they sit on grass, the same thing can happen with puppies. And it is made worse by scratching.

A lot of it could be your body language towards the task too. If you're feeling uptight because you know that she's going to get uptight, then you might be feeding off each other. Try and make it fun and relaxing for both of you. Do you have a table you can put in the lounge in front of the TV so that you can try and divert your energy, or even sit on the floor in the loungeroom and do the brushing there. Teach her to lay down and do the brushing in layers. If she's laying quietly, you may also find that loosely draping a face washer or hankie or something over her face helps her to learn "lights out" at brushing time. Whenever I have older dogs in coat, they all love the "together time" that we have at brushing time. I do it in front of the TV so it isn't as much of a chore for me and because I'm enjoying myself, so are they. And agree with other posts. Check your grooming equipment. It could be wrong for her hair type or hurting her skin. Try it on yourself at the same "weight" you'd use to brush the dog with. If it hurts you, then chances are it will hurt your dog.

I was given a set of Show Pro clippers for my horses and I HATE them!! On the other hand, I have a set of Moser Arco which were highly recommended by American Cocker people in the USA and I hate those as well. My best purchase and I loved them so much I purchased a second set are as Jed recommends, the Lazor RX cordless. I use them on my dogs AND my horses and they haven't missed a beat. Best value for money around I feel. They are light, quiet and don't run hot.

Another for Great Barko from here! My dogs thrive on it. All get very plump, very quickly and have shiny coats and healthy ears. Very rarely do I find one who won't eat it, normally I have at least one who turns their nose up at whatever everybody else is having. And the cats love it too. :rolleyes: It is economical to feed and easy for me to obtain. Fed in conjuction with the other stuff that I feed, I'm confident that everybody is getting maximum nutritional value. Particularly if appearances are taken into account. AND, whether this is relevant or not. I didn't feed Great Barko for a few years and one of my bitches didn't come into season the entire time. I switched to Great Barko when I moved out here to the farm in February this year and not only did my bitch have a season, but I have 3 almost 7 week old puppies from her. Coincidental perhaps...but still makes me wonder.

I had 3 littermates who all had seizures, but all of varying kinds. One would just kind of "zone out" and get very fearful, almost like she was seeing things that weren't there. Another would go rigid and start "pedalling" his legs and rolling his eyes back into his head. The third was by far the worst and he would start with the "zoning out", progress into the eye rolling and leg pedalling and then go absolutely board-rigid and lose control of his bladder and bowels. There was nothing that could be done for any of them when they were in the throes of their seizure other than be sure they were safe and wait it out. The seizures would vary from a couple of seconds to a couple of minutes. The vets were unwilling to medicate unless the seizures became particularly violent or a very regular thing. And yes, it was hereditary. And no, those dogs were not included in my breeding program. This was back in the late 80's and nothing from those lines is around or being bred from today. Funnily enough, for OTHER reasons, besides the seizures.

That is a "how long is a piece of string" type question. Much depends upon how long you're asking her to hang on, how big the area is that she is confined to, her breed (which I know, so don't jump on me, I just have no experience with them! ) and even the size of her bladder. All of these things can play a part. I personally don't think the "average" puppy can be considered remotely reliably trained until after 6 months, sometimes later depending upon the individual and their maturity. And that is only in one of my breeds, in another of my breeds, I think myself lucky if they're reliably trained at 9 months. What has your pup's breeder said?

At 4 months of age, 2 weeks is a nanosecond. They've barely got control of their bladders, let alone reliably at that age.

If this is the case, then you have confused her totally by allowing her her freedom way too soon. They need to be reliably trained to hold on before being allowed their freedom, unless you are there to take them outside yourself and supervise their toileting. Easy, don't allow her up there in the first place. As I said, you will probably be surprised the use that you WILL get from it if you keep an open mind and lose the prejudice about it looking like a cage. And no, 4.5 months is not too old to start.