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Perhaps a syringe of vegetable or paraffin oil wouldn't go astray either, just to help "grease the way" IYKWIM. My dogs have eaten some pretty bizarre things though with no ill-effects. It's nothing around here to find "gift-wrapped" turds.

Good things come to those who wait!

Does it make the "output" easier to pick up or does it just float away?

Just feed a good balanced diet and you won't need to bother with multivits (or cotton wool).

Best times for u/s are 21 - 28 days. After that the whelps are too big to be picked up on u/s (for counting purposes) unless the vet can find heartbeats. Your best option now is to wait until after about 58 days and have an xray done. U/s isn't infallible though. I've had a bitch ultrasounded and the vet said no puppies and she had 3. By the same token, I've had a bitch ultrasounded and the vet said 4 and there weren't any so presumably she reabsorbed them.

I got my hydrobath from The BARF Shop. It is a heated twin-tank. Basically twin-tank baths have a wash tank and a rinse tank. You attach a garden hose to the bath and the tap and turn it on. The rinse tank automatically fills and heats. When you've finished washing, you turn a handle and it switches to the rinse tank which automatically refills as the water level drops. When you want to empty, you open the drain valve and it drains the bath. How it drains would depend upon where you have it. Mine is outside and on wheels so I just wheel it to where I want the water to go and open the valve. You could easily attache a hose to it for disposal down the sink or wherever. You don't need to have them plumbed in and you don't need any special skills to use it.

Hmmmm....obviously somebody forgot to tell my MIL's dog that. He has NEVER been around another male dog (only boy in the litter and hasn't left her property since) and he has cocked his leg since about the age of 11 months.

If she were a show puppy, I'd say have it pulled ASAP, but as she is due to be speyed, hold off until then. As everybody else has also said, give her heaps of bones to chew and it may well come out, or at least loosen by itself.

West Oz based manufacturer. http://companionschoice.com.au/

It isn't a collar. It is an ultrasonic unit that you place near the barking. If you want to google it, it is Model BC16.

I have put this in the BSS section in Off Topic, but am aware that some are not able to access that area. So if you are interested in purchasing this unit, please feel free to PM me. I don't need it any more because my "nuisance barker" has moved to a new home.

I'm going to be using a product called K9 Showstopper which is an "overall" product of the ilk of Missing Link. Only problem is that it isn't in the country yet. However the importer tells me that he has a meeting with the "authorities" next week and will hopefully have the product on the market early next month.

Thanks Cavandra. He's a very wise man! I originally started using it because of the taildocking issue....I'm all for freedom of choice. I was tossing up between Voltaire and the one about religions....you know, when they came for the Jews etc etc until there was nobody left to fight and Voltaire won because he was shorter!!!

Is it the coloured part of the eye or the pupil? Solid-colour or opacity? A photo would be very handy.

Shredded newspaper is more absorbent.

Raw egg used to be a no-no and I personally prefer not to feed egg white (unless the egg is cooked) because of the biotin issue. But I think that the current thinking is that like cows milk, provided it is introduced at a young age, there shouldn't be any issues with it in adulthood.

If you feed the whole egg (whites, yolk and shell), it is correctly balanced and you don't have a problem. A correction.....you SHOULDN'T have a problem, UNLESS your dog has an inability to digest the egg which is quite possibly the issue you are having.

It's definitely an instinctive thing. My first American Cocker boy didn't have any other boys around him but he still learned how to lift his leg. I think it's probably something to do with making sure the scent is up high so that it can be picked up by the wind.

I really don't think it matters WHAT a person feeds as long as they are happy feeding it and their dogs are doing ok. My preference is a meat and kibble diet with bones etc as additives. Others prefer to feed canned and dry. Yet others feed dry alone. It's a very personal choice. My parents feed their dogs a diet that makes me shudder (based on canned and dry with table scraps), however the dogs are all happy and healthy with shiny coats and bright eyes so I'm not going to start dictating to them what the should, or shouldn't be doing. I feel the same about premium dry foods. If your dogs are doing well on a budget brand and it fits your wallet without overflowing, then go for it.

I had one American Cocker boy who used to squat or lift depending upon whether or not he was "dressed" for a show. If he'd had a bath, he would carefully squat. If he was between baths, he'd merrily lift and spray everywhere!

To be perfectly honest, there isn't a lot between them. The only difference is how they are packaged and presented. Overall, most have the same nutritional value. Canned dog foods have come a VERY long way since I started breeding and exhibiting purebred dogs. Even though they still aren't generally thought highly of by most breeders, they are a lot more nutritious than they used to be in the days when they were at least 20% water and the rest fillers, flavours and colours. I am guilty of using most of the above brands of canned foods at some stage or another. I ALWAYS have a few cans of "something" on hand for emergencies such as running out of fresh meat, a picky eater, a ravenous puppy or whatever. Of those listed...for MY preference, I say Woolworths Select or Natures Gift, but as I said....they are all much of a muchness now anyway.

Why do you think salty water is given as an emetic in the case of suspected poisoning??

On the flip side however, I have not one, but TWO dominant bitches who only EVER cock their legs!! I'm sure you can picture me, standing outside at pee-time in winter, rugged up against the cold, saying to the puppy boys...."there, look at your mother, that's what you need to do!" :cool:

You're only creating more work for yourself and the puppy. Just work on teaching him to be reliably trained when you are home and holding it when you're not and he is inside and you'll be fine.

How long is a piece of string? I've seen some that never do. I've also had a couple who will lift their leg if they are in the mood. One of the more memorable boys only ever cocked his leg ONCE. He lifted it, weed all down the back of his front leg, looked at his leg and then me in absolute disgust and never tried it again! :D