Glacius

Well i am happy to report that Charlie's pigment is returning!!!! YAY I changed her food about 8 weeks ago and also started supplementing with the Vets All Natural Health Booster around the same time, I have been giving her the Colourmax Black as well for the last week or so (hoping that will boost things along... I can see the black creeping up the front of her lower lip and closing in from the sides as well as some spotting here and there! Here is an updated photo...taken on the weekend before grooming her for our breed clubs open show, which she went Best Junior In Show at!!!! So proud I am:0)

Thanks for all the info guys.... SilverHaze, I have changed feeds, she was previously in Artemis and is now on Eagle and also getting the Vets All Natural Health Booster (as are all the doggies) I will look into the colour max..I had forgotten that was out there!! I understand it will probably take quite some time to come back if it does, after all it did take quite some time to fade :0(

I have looked up a couple of foods and Brewers Yeast is listed as ingredients in EaglePack Power and Artemis OSP Power formulas so i am guessing that it is ok for dogs

Thank you for that...Mals also get "winter nose" or "snow nose" as we call it. I came across this on the lowchen website... Technically called "hypopigmentation" (or snow nose, winter nose) it results from loss of sunlight, and causes the nose to fade to brown in winter; normal colour returns as summer approaches. Snow nose occurs mainly in light-coated breeds; the colour change can become permanent in older dogs. It is not associated with disease. Another reason for this condition is a deficiency of B vitamins, PABA in particular. Vitaligo causes black depigmentation in the nose and sometimes the lips to fade to brown. PABA is found in liver, kidney, brewer's yeast, molasses, whole grains, bran, yoghurt, mushrooms and spinach, and can be made by intestinal bacteria. I wonder if this has anything to do with her being on an almost grain free diet??? Tho i have recently changed her food and she is now getting one with more grain and i am giving her Vets All Natural Health booster with her meals swell

Oct 22nd 2011

Sept 19th 2011

July 30th 2011

May 30th 2011

I have a girl that has some faded pigment on her lips but the lips look normal in texture and size. It is also quite symmetrical? She is not in any pain and is completely normal as far as activity levels, appetite and general demeanour go. The colour of gums has also been quite pale at times, but as i mentioned about her energy levels are normal and we have done a CBC, which came back fine. I am not sure what has caused this pigment to fade out but I noticed it about 5 months ago,(obviously it started to occur earlier but really didn't stand out until it was really quite bold) she is 16 months old now. Onset was roughly between her 1st and 2nd heat cycle. I came home from work one day and thought she was throwing smilies at me! LOL We tried antihistamines with her at first and then cortisone for a while when what didn't work She definitley had dark almost completely black pigment prior to me noticing this, so i am not imagining it. photos attached from throughout the year so far. There was no change in diet or environment factors that i can pin point. If anyone has any ideas about what may cause this or has experienced it with their dogs please share... Xmas 2010 MAY 15TH 2011 more pix attached below

It does look like an irritation or reaction to something to me, the lips look pimply like, rough like she has been rubbing them on something maybe? I would suggest having it checked by your vet.

I wasn't aware that advantix repelled insects?? There is no information on the bottle about use in pregnant bitches, only the manufacturers name and address (no phone number unfortunately) tho that probably wouldn't be hard to find out. I don't actually use any type of flea/tick prevention as we don't get ticks where we are and have never had any problems with fleas.

We also possibly have a litter due the 9th of June - Frozen AI Everything is crossed, booked in for U/S May 15th Good luck to everyone else who has litters due

I was wondering if anyone can suggest something to use as a fly repellant on a possibly pregnant bitch? I usually use Musca-ban on the dogs ears over summer but am unsure if it is safe to use on a bitch in whelp? Any help appreciated

I am in the process of purchasing some frozen semen and would like feedback from anyone who has done frozen AI's recently that can recommend a good vet in victoria for the AI procedure?? I am in Melb's WS but am happy to travel and I have a local clinic who can do my prog testing. I have had a recommendation for McIvor Road, Vet in Bendigo...Just wondering if anyone else has had excellent results elsewhere??

this is an interesting website to look thru when choosing a diet for your 4 legged friend.....some of the foods are not available as it is a us site but most premium (or so called premium foods) sold here in Australia are listed.. http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/dog_food_re...index.php/cat/1

What is the breeder feeding/recommending?? I agree with Aziah, tho poultry meat is very general - could be any sort of bird in there! LOL I would go with something that has a meat meal (chicken meal/pork meal/duck meal) as the first ingredient. Ingredients are listed by weight - Meat meal as the first ingredient means that is what the food is mostly made up of.....meat, and meat less the water content! Corn in any form is one ingredient i would stay away from

I was advised that the 3 year vaccine is exactly the same as the 1 year vaccine just that it has been approved to last 3 years - My vet charged me the same price as the 1 year vac and she comes to my home to do it.

I didn't get any with my last lot either, tho i never really used them....I just set a reminder in my phones calendar!

After discussing diets over the last week or so with other breeders i have decided to change my dogs onto the Artemis grain free and add fish oil to their diets daily as i am not 100% happy with their coats on the Osopure power and Artemis Adult Mix - don't get me wrong their coats are not in bad condition, but i think they could be better :0) Does anyone know of a good dose rate to give them??? They are 1000mg Fish oil capsules (container says - Fish Oil, Natural 1000mg containing Omega-3 Marine Triglycerides 300mg) Also are there any other things i should consider giving them - say Flaxseed and or Zinc??? How much would you recommend for a large breed dog of 30 - 40kg?? I do feed sardines in oil once/twice a week as well as raw chicken wings/carcusses a couple if times a week...any suggestions greatly appreciated

A few years ago i started using the 3 year vaccination with my adult dogs. In discussing the vaccine with my vet i was informed that the 3 year vaccine was the same as the one year vaccine, only it was registered to cover my dogs for 3 years, I was given a vaccination certificate that said my dog's were not due to be vaccinated until 2011 and my obedience club accepted these. My vet also said if i want to titer test them, to do so around the due date of their next vaccine, If all is well then no vaccination is required, after this i would presume yearly titer testing?? We only vaccinate against parvo, distemper and hepatitis (C3) as i believe the less stress on the body the better. If we need to give a vaccination for kennel cough for any reason (usually only boarding if its required) then we take the dogs to the vet about a week or so before boarding and get the intranasal kennel cough vaccination given, firstly it is less stressful for the body given this way and it is also a more effective prevention that the injection as it is administered where the infection would start, tho it only last 6 months or there abouts but thats not too much of a worry for us as we only give it if it has to be given and over the last 5 years i have not had any of my dogs get kennel cough and we frequently attend dogs shows, obedience, sled dog racing and a few other canine sports! I do know of a dog owner who took their 12 week old puppy to the vet to be vaccinated and they were told they needed to give their puppy a C6! I had no idea this even existed so googled it and there are others, C7, C8!!! needless to say the puppy that was given the C6 vaccination had a reaction the following day! If you want some good reading about vaccinations google Jean Dodds, since attending a lecture given by her here in Melbourne a few years ago i have only given the C3 since if needed and only if the dog isn't under any other physical/emotional stress, ie...in season

I don't know about Altona North, but there is the Williamstown Veterinary Hospital, I see Dr Russell Croser there when we have a problem...he is very thorough and great with the animals. Hope this helps

capstar is designed to be used in conjunction with sentinel as sentinel doesn't kill all life stages of the flea cycle. From memory Sentinal stops flea eggs from hatching but doesn't kill the adult flea....thats where capstar comes in...Usually during the summer months it is bundled free with the sentinel packs If it's a serious problem i would probably use the frontline spray, you can use it on puppies from 2 days of age and it lasts for 8 weeks it's also great for spraying bedding and kennels - Excellent at killing fleas - much better than the spot on treatments out there

I have been using Artemis dog food for over 12 months now. I have a dog (malamute) that blew his coat about 4 months after starting it and thought all was normal as mals blow their coat about once a year and generally in the warmer months, but now he seems to be continuously blowing coat? He looks to be in good coat tho every time i bath him more hair comes out and this has been going on for about 9 months... I figure the coat is coming back just as quickly as it's going as he doesn't look out of coat, but i think he would look better if he wasn't rolling it all the time. I have also noticed he hasn't lost any guard hairs in this process, his black guard hairs especially along his topline are reddish/sunburnt on the tips and they have been like this since last summer. Apart from this he is a healthy, active happy boy and his coat is in great condition only it's continuously dropping, his thyroid has been checked recently and is fine and the only thing that has really changed over the last 12 months is his diet. He is on the Osopure performance atm and has been on the performance pretty much the whole time as he is very high energy and found we were having trouble maintaining his weight on the normal adult - we also feed raw chicken carcasses/chicken wings a couple of times during the week as well as fish (sardines) on the weekends. I have 2 other mals on the Artemis adult both are doing great on it, one previously had stomach upsets and the other bounced back from having a litter last march like it was nothing! Could it be the performance formula that is causing my boys coat drops?? We have pretty much always fed him a performance diet (no matter the brand - previously it was Pro Plan) as he is so high energy. Does anybody have any suggestions or have similar things going on with Artemis dog food??

We have a huge problem every year with flies biting our dogs ears, we use musca-ban with excellent results. I get it from the local stock feed place. It's a spray rather than a cream, which i find works better, i usually spray it on in the mornings to the ears, top of the head and toplines of our dogs. It can be a little greasy on the coat but probably not as messy as a cream