ellz

Well in MY humble opinion you could do far worse than ditching a lot of your pre-conceived ideas and looking very carefully at the writings of some of the people who have posted here. With all due to respect to your first breeder, her ideas are rather "outmoded" and have been largely superceded by good old science, technology and proof! I've been breeding for 20 years, still largely follow my "original" gameplan but have introduced some new things and am finding it all to be so much better for myself AND my dogs. You could do worse than take notice rather than sit on your soapbox and tell others what they are doing wrong. I will be perfectly honest here and state that for somebody who is so forthright about their way of feeding, you are very novice in many other areas of dog management. That in itself tells me that you could do worse than adopt a new mentor and do some more learning.

The chemical IS Theobromine. The rule of thumb is that the darker the chocolate, the higher the levels of the chemical. That being said, as with some people, some dogs can have high sensitivities to it, so what doesn't affect one dog can quite rapdily kill another. White chocolate isn't in fact chocolate (it is cocoa butter and emulsifiers) which is why some dogs are ok on it. It is however loaded in fats and sugars which is why caution is advised.

Gee, I'm so glad my dogs exist on nothing but pure Tassie air. It appears that everything else that they like is bad for them. Oh but wait, they aren't Chinese Cresteds, just common old American Cockers, Staffordshire Bull Terriers and a token Rottweiler so maybe they're exempt?

Excellent! So glad it helped! :D

And the problem is? The dog will still lick at the stones to get any remaining treats. That is why it is best to use smooth, round ones that can be easily cleaned.

hehe....I LOVE brainstorming!! So glad I could be of assistance...let us know how you get on and what you ultimately end up with. Hey, maybe you could patent it and sell it to others with puppy/pussy dynamic issues?

This wouldn't work for me I'm afraid. In the first place, I'd have people gutsing bones too quickly or I'd have what you describe about bones being taken off and food being stolen in the absence of the owner....which would cause fights or you'd have my old girl who would simply lift the bone out of the bowl and ignore it, inhale her food and then head off to see what else she could scrounge. The whole concept is to use something that is quite large and VERY inedible to create a necessity to slow down and pick through and around the barrier to find the food. As A Pup says, it doesn't necessarily HAVE to be rocks or stones but I've found these to be the most effective as they are the least palatable objects I can find. A kong wouldn't work on my dogs either because half of them are so darned scatty they'd start playing with the kong and completely forget to eat!

hehe...you'd be amazed at some of the stuff I have stored away for a "rainy day". But then again....you probably wouldn't! ;) Actually it was something that was suggested to me for a horse which used to eat itself into a colic on a regular basis. I had a guts-pig dog not long afterwards so thought I'd see if the concept worked on dogs....and it does! Glad I could help anyway...good luck!!

Get some large, round, smooth stones and place them in the food bowl on top of the food. They must be large enough that they won't get swallowed but small enough so that the dog can move them around to pick at the food underneath. Putting the stones in the bowl on top of the food encourages the dog to slow down and find the food, rather than just breathing it in.

I don't know if this would work for you but friends of mine in the USA converted an old kitchen cupboard to a cat feeding station. The cupboard was similar to one of those two-door jobbies with the stiff latches that are common in older housing department houses. They basically cut an opening in one of the doors (like a porthole type effect), at a height where the dogs wouldn't jump into the hole but where the cats could access freely. Inside, they put in another 1/2 shelf for the food and at the bottom on the inside dividing wall, they cut another opening into the next cupboard which was where the litter tray was placed. That side of the cupboard had the back taken off it and replaced with heavy mesh so that there was plenty of airflow around the litter and this prevented any moisture build-up or retention of smells which also meant that the cats were still happy to eat in the cabin next door. Naturally, you needn't put your litter tray in the cupboard, if you don't have a problem with them but certainly the food side strikes me as being a possibility.

Actually, our local discount shop has something like this. It is basically a flatt(ish) plastic food bowl with an upturned plastic cannister attached to it. Similar to those water bowls you can get where you upend the coke bottle and screw it into the bowl. But as far as grazing goes....I have American Cockers and a Staffordshire Bull Terrier...potentially two of the WORST garbage-guts breeds you could have. My older dogs are ok with the grazing principle and rarely clean their bowls in one sitting...preferring to do sneak attacks during the day for the odd snack or two. The cats are fed on top of the clothes dryer. They always have dry food available and get extra "wet" food when the dogs are given theirs at night. I've found that this is the easiest solution all round.

and:

I'm with you Haven. Talk about biting the hand...... I hope your vet did a blood test prior to giving the heartworm injection too. Mind you, given all of the nasty press I'm reading and hearing about the heartworm injection...that's one route I personally wouldn't be taking either. And no doubt I'll be hammered for making you feel like you've poisoned your dog again. Oh well......it's your dog, I guess I shouldn't give a damn!

Nope, plain email. No attachments. Nothing which could be cought by a profanity filter etc etc. I probably couldn't afford to feed it anyway so I'll think it over before I ring them.

OK, well, they've not answered me yet again so I think I'll take my business elsewhere. ----- Original Message ----- From: Lisa-Marie To: [email protected] Sent: Thursday, August 11, 2005 11:31 AM Subject: Fw: Breeders program

I used that email address too....some days ago now. And no, have been checking the spam filtered mail on a daily basis so it isn't there either. ETA: Last attempt to contact them was on the 8th. I have just sent yet another email to them. If they don't bother to respond this time, they obviously aren't that interested in supplying me with their product and I will ask my questions elsewhere.

Hey, don't sweat on it sweetie. Alls well that ends well and your boy is going to the vet. That's what matters in the end. ;)

FWIW, I'm not saying the dog doesn't need to go to the vet. But it could be something as simple as an overly damp ear which wasn't dried properly, or whatever. Had the OP not been able to get to the vet immediately, there were things she could have done which would have eased the discomfort somewhat until professional advice could be sought. I'm not saying that I'm as "good" as a vet, but in the course of my involvement with dogs there are many conditions I have encountered which I can identify just by the sight or smell. Some ear problems are amongst those things. A damp, yeasty ear has a particular odour about it, as does an ear which is riddled with ear mites. When you've smelt enough rank ears, you also then know which ones require IMMEDIATE attention as well.

Perhaps if sand or water got into the bottom of the ear and the warm dampness encouraged an overgrowth of bacteria??? ETA: Over the past 20 years I have seen American Cockers (and other breeds) with some pretty spectacular ear ouchies due to water being left in the bottom of the ear. This is why it is recommended that the ear be cleaned with an alcohol based cleaner on a regular basis. To help dry any moisture left behind.

Try mixing white vinegar 50/50 with water, squirt it into his ears (gently). Warm it slightly first though. Squeeze it into his ear until you can hear it "squelching" and then use a face flannel or a chux or old cloth nappy or something similar to wipe out the residue. Anal glands are easy enough to empty yourself, however it is best if you are taught to do it properly and do it when the dog is in the bath. And be warned, they do NOT smell very nice! You might try giving him a little extra meat to harden up his poohs a bit. That will help to massage his anal glands and may help them to drain a little more effectively as well. These will possibly help you until you get paid and can take him to the vet.

You could look at it laterally and say that YOU are his competition at the food bowl. Maybe some competition is what he needed, Pandii says the baby there is food aggressive so it could be a puppy-psychological thing??

You meanie...they were only trying to share their good fortune! Sounds like my old Devon Rex cat though. He used to get VERY upset when people would react negatively to his carefully bestowed gifts of chicken wings and necks in unzipped handbags. He didn't give them to just ANYBODY you know!! ;)

I've printed off the breeder's club info but had a few questions I wanted clarified in writing from them before I post it off.

<sigh> I wish RC would answer their emails!

Hey Shekhina....you haven't mentioned just HOW MUCH Daegon LOVED his pretty blonde vet!!