sandgrubber

Patience. If she's 8 wks she's only been away from the litter for a couple days. Maybe 5:30 is when the puppys all woke up and got fed at the breeder's place. Very likely she is unused to being alone, and waking up and finding herself alone is upsetting.

Healthy puppy behaviour, I'd say. If you can't build an adequate fence, don't expect to have a pup and save your garden. You should be able to train 'out of the garden' or 'leave it' or some such when the pup is older, but pups are much harder to train, and harsh training methods tend to leave mental scars when applied to pups. [You could probably find a trainer who can teach your pup without damage, but expect many hours training, spread out over a few months . . . can be done, but requires skill and patience]. Appreciate the crazy puppy stage when you've got it. Mature dogs are both less trouble and less fun/crazy/cute.

I was badly bitten by an Irish Setter (required several stitches) . .. in the face . . . when I was four. No doubt I did something that offended a high strung animal, like pulling hair or whatever. I was accompanying my father, a doctor, on a housecall. Adults were present in the room, but paying no attention. No one did anything radical, other than patch up my face. So far as I know, the dog continued life as usual. It did me no long term damage. Dogs that act in a predatory manner toward children are very dangerous and, fortunately, very rare. Those who protect themselves against a child's unwanted attention . . . simply badly handled. If no big fuss is made, the child will handle without physical or mental scars. Hopefully, the adults will come through it a bit wiser. In my book, this is a SH*T Happens case. I love seeing dogs in shops . .. yes, accidents will happen. But I don't think it's reason to ban dogs in shops, or declare the dog in question DANGEROUS.

The cause of seizures can be difficult to diagnose, and many people go into denial re epilepsy, which is probably the most common cause. Also, there is great misunderstanding about manifestations of epilepsy. Not all epileptic seizures develop into the full terrifying grand mal type. The language for partial or atypical seizures is all over the place . .. . but at least in my breed (Labradors), partial/atypical light seizures are more common than the classic heavy duty kind. What were the seizures like? If Osca is epileptic, no amount of changing flea treatments will make the condition go away. I wouldn't go for expensive diagnoses . . . which are often inconclusive for epilepsy . . . and I would let things go for a few months on a treatment and then change to a chemically unrelated treatment before pointing the finger at the flea treatment.

To my knowledge, there is no test for epilepsy in ANY breed, least of all Labradors. The above quote is contradictory. The above isn't contradictory, it's nonsense and clearly a typo. 'There is are test'. ??? There is work in progress on K9 epilepsy. Here's a less technical article . . . that has been posted before on DOL http://www.bsdaofgb.co.uk/idiopathic_epilepsy.htm a paragraph from the above Towards a DNA test for carriers of epilepsy in the Tervueren Progress from now on should be quite rapid. Anita Oberbauer at Davis, University of California has now been awarded a new grant from the Canine Health Foundation to develop genetic markers for idiopathic epilepsy in the Tervueren. What does this actually mean? Although we know this major gene now exists, we don't know what it is, neither do we know where it is on one of those 38 different autosomes. Using the newly developed genetic map of the dog, Anita Oberbauer hopes to be able to localise the gene to one small region of one of those chromosomes. The genetic map of the dog is made up of a series of special DNA markers, each marker uniquely identifying just one region of one of the chromosomes. The map contains 100s of different markers ensuring that each chromosome is evenly decorated with DNA markers. What Oberbauer is trying to find out is which of these markers is always co-inherited with the mutant version of the gene. DNA regions that are always co-inherited are physically close to one another on a chromosome. Markers that are co-inherited with the mutant version of the gene are said to be linked to the gene. The identification of markers linked to the mutant gene will immediately locate the mutant gene to one small region of one of those 38 chromosomes

I breed purebreed Labs but also run a boarding kennel, so observe crossbreeds. I find some crosses are more successful than others (in terms of how well the pups and dogs work in to living with a family). I look after several ShihTzu X Maltese in boarding kennels. I don't care what label is put on them. In general, they seem to be a good cross (maybe not as good as Labrador X Kelpie, which doesn't even merit a DD nickname). I also find I get a lot of successful 'spoodles'. SBT crosses tend to be more problematic as adults, as do sibe, GSD, Rotti X dogs. Note, the dog rescues I know are flooded with little fluffie crosses, so I may be observing only the successful dogs . . . and cute little fluffies may, in general, be problems waiting to happen.

To my understanding, there are is test for epilepsy. It is idiopathic. Diagnosis involves ruling out other possible causes. Prognosis is usually inconclusive unless seizures re-occur in a pattern that fits the disease description. The symptoms you describe don't fit the excited state associated with EIC . . . could also be atypical epilepsy. Hopefully the U. Minn mob will succeed in finding the gene for this and we will end up being able to test.

Brush her daily, slowly increasing the time. Get her used to being calm while being groomed. I doubt that taking her to obedience training will help with staying calm whilst being groomed. Agreed. I have six Labs, ranging from 4 months to 9 years. All love being brushed. But it's part of daily routines and general pattern of hands on living with a dog. We spend ~15 minutes a day on the bed, first thing in the morning, doing touchy things. They compete for what they see as affection. Grooming needs to be worked into a pattern of living with a dog . . . not treated as 'obedience'. We also do daily walkies . . . and they have a couple acres to run on so they can work off steam. I think a lot of naughty Labbies are pressure cookers who have no way to vent excess energy.

Not speaking for Sylvia, but she typed 60% carrier, which should mathematically translate to 8% affected, but the latest figures showa higher total in Australia. Sylvia's numbers: (700 affected +2595 carriers) /6959 total =47% affected or carriers . . . but 40% or 60%, the point is the gene is widespread and the decision to breed it out will mean dropping a lot of dogs from the gene pool.

Just curious, have you ever seen a dog with EIC? I haven't. With -- based on the statistics Sylvia posted -- 50% of dogs being carriers or affected, you may have to do some serious culling to end out with entirely clear stock. Personally, I think most of us have other faults to work on that are higher on list of priorities than a condition most of us have never seen manifested -- even if our dogs are affected. I hope the day comes when we can submit one swab and get the whole battery of genetic tests . . . hopefully to include HD/OCD factors, epilepsy factors, overshot jaw, colours, and mismark genes along with PRA. Until there's a good, reasonably priced, integrated genetic testing program, I don't want to get sucked into doing every new test that comes along.

Great to have some statistics, Sylvia. I'm amazed that prevalence is so high; and on that basis, it looks like testing is a good idea. I'm uncertain, re seriousness. It's a strange condition. My stock are calm-tempered and rarely get worked up into an intensely excited state. Thus, even if they were affected, I doubt I would have seen manifestations of the condition. I haven't sold a single pup into a family that does hunting: there are few places where you can hunt waterfowl or game birds in WA. Nor have I ever had a report of one of my pups collapsing. I think there was suspicion that one of my girl's sire was affected, but this was never confirmed and I've heard nothing suggesting that any of my pups has ever collapsed. As more and more genetic conditions are identified and more tests become available, we're going to have to make more decisions about what to require, and what to do voluntarily. For the time being, I think I'll give EIC a miss . . . On the other hand, given the relatively high frequency of epilepsy identified in Danish Labradors (3.1%, 70% of which were partial seizures: see http://cat.inist.fr/?aModele=afficheN&cpsidt=13669562 or do Google on epilepsy Danish Labrador) I would say epilepsy is a greater concern . . . and hope genetic tests become available for it in the near future.

I'm no expert, but as I understand it, the key with pancreatitis is low fat. Cooked grain -- I think oatmeal or rice are preferable, combined with a low fat meat -- roo is great -- and some veggies, plus supplements such as flax seed, fish oil, and kelp, to make sure the trace elements and omega 3/6 etc are covered -- would do. I think this has been discussed before on this forum. You might want to do a search for +diet +pancreatitis.

Does anyone have any idea how many dogs have been found to be carriers? In the US, or in Australia? I'm happy to do tests for genetic diseases that are a real possibility, but don't want to end up in a regime where breeders are required to test for everything they've been able to develop a test for, even if there's been no evidence of the diseases being present. (Eg, I've been told there's never been a reported case of narcolepsy in Australian Labs and many vets are recommending against testing. Would be interested to know if that's true).

If I have long term bed destroyers in kennels they get a pallet with carpet nailed over the surface. Hard to destroy. Cheap to replace.

Deed not breed. Lab pups . . . and pups of most breeds . . . tend to be submissive and generally get along with older dogs. . . but there are exceptions. Cattle dogs vary greatly in how they get along with puppies and other dogs. If the vaccinations are ok, I'd say it comes down to knowing the individual behaviour of both dogs . . . and having time to supervise during the first few days (and ability to separate the dogs if problems show up).

No, I think there are two of us now. ;) Try google on dog foot smell. It isn't just labs and it isn't just you. eg http://www.oes.org/page2/1797~My_dogs_feet...corn_chips.html Someone told me that this was a smell that was released through the feet, and indicated good mood. Jeez I wish I could remember the details.

What is called 'crittering' with an e-collar would work if you want to establish a 'leave the cats alone' as an absolute rule. see http://www.loucastle.com/critter.htm You might try something like squirting her with a squirt gun or spray bottle (perhaps using a scented water that she doesn't like, eg perfume or citronella) when she goes for the cat. I think that would get across the concept of 'leave the cat alone when I'm in the room'.

We get loads of bobtail lizards in early summer. The dogs have always barked at them and harassed them, but usually I've been able to rescue them before they are harmed. This year I have two puppies (Labrador) aged 3 and 5 months, who have taken to catching them and eating them alive. I have a Dogtra e-collar and have no problem with doing aversion training on the older dogs. They've done e-collar for recall, and I don't expect any real problems. I don't like the idea of using an e-collar on a young pup. Does anyone have any suggestions? p.s. Just tried aversion training on the adult dogs. Of course they weren't interested in the game and showed no interest in the lizard while we were watching. Put the lizard on the ground and let the puppies out to try just telling them off. The 3 mo old had a go . . . as she approached the lizard and he managed to bite her good on the face (very quick . . . we think he got her eyelid). She screeched and ran away and wouldn't come back out. Lucky outcome. Don't think she'll be bothering lizards again. Back to the adults. A friend came up to the dog wearing the e-collar carrying the lizard. When they showed interest they got zapped. If approached by someone carrying a lizard they now back off.

Imagine what chaos would be unleashed if they started doing titre testing on children for measles, mumps and polio!!!!

I'm a breeder who lives next door to a rescue organisation, and KC of various forms seems to hang overhead all the time. I have one of my own pups (12 weeks) who has it now . . . a rather nasty, persistent strain. Another pup from the litter came down with KC two weeks after going to a new home . . . no way to know where it came from . . . whether it was picked up here and had a long incubation period or was picked up in the new home environment. I offered to pay some vet consult fees, but they haven't taken me up on the offer. My general experience with KC in puppies is that it passes . . . . sometimes rapidly, sometimes very slowly. In a slow case, there are no magic bullets. It tugs at your heart strings to see a puppy miserable with a cough, etc. You want to do something. It would be easy to run up a very large vet bill going from vet to vet, and create a lot of bad karma looking for who to blame. But it does generally pass naturally. When it's simply a virus (KC) there's not much you can do other than keep the pup warm and give it nutritional support plus cough meds of some sort. If there are bacterial infections on top of the virus ('pneumonia'), antibiotics. Of course you need to monitor. If your vet doesn't give you a list of danger signs, and doesn't explain the virus vs bacteria question to you, I would change vets.

I was talking with a local vet who said that the theory about human allergies . .. that over-hygenic upbringing can result in an ill-equipped immune system . . . is also valid with respect to domestic animals. Ie, eating dirt of various forms, chewing well aged bones, coping with fleas, rolling in yuck, etc. are natural for puppies, and leave their immune systems better prepared to cope with what the world throws at them. None of my mob have skin problems or allergies: could just be luck. It would be interesting to know if letting them grow up, relatively 'free range' in a two acre paddock has contributed . . . and whether it might be a bad thing to start using flea control measures from early on. Anyone have anyone has stories that either support or contradict the idea that 'too clean' results in allergies and sentitivities.

The fila was bred to chase runaway slaves and adapted to hunt jaguars and cattle rustlers . . . in a frontier environment where GBH to trespassers is widely accepted. They are expected to be aggressive to strangers, and it's taken as true to breed if they bite the judge at a dog show. They may be graded for proper aggressive behaviour while their age is counted in weeks, with the 'friendly' pups being rejected. If this is a 'real dog', then I think 'real dogs' are too dangerous to be kept as pets. If working rottis, shephards and dobes were this extreme, I think there would be a basis for banning them from built-up areas -- or requiring the owner to have a license to keep them. If people and dogs are to live together in urban and suburban areas, I think that restrictions on breeds selected for extremely aggressive temperament are warranted: particularly given the volume of evidence that there are a lot of idiots out there who think it's cool to have a vicious dog and see it draw blood.

Don't know Vic at all . . . why not call the nearest decent pet store and ask them if they can order it. All of them get goods from Troy. It's not a big deal to add something to the order . . . alternatively, try online purchase .. . . if the mark ups are high in your local store that may be cheaper.

?? According to the label on the bottle the Troy product has 22 mg/mL calcium in the form of Calcium Glubionate and Calcium Lactobionate. I don't have a Sandoz bottle handy, but I compared them in the store and I'm pretty sure the active ingredients were the same.

I've been training a ~16 wk Labrador pup on lead. She is a strong show prospect, so I decided to try her on a lovely snake chain I have for show . . . just to get her used to a different collar. She immediately clicked into line . .. no need to use the thing for corrections, she kept the line extended but a little bit slack, just as I like it. If I do want to give a correction, eg to say "time to turn now", a tiny very mild tug seems to make her understand. She shows no sign of fearing the thing . . . comes to have it put on . . . I thought snake chains were a no no on pups. Curious as to why. I think the smooth surface allows instant transmission of signals given by the lead. Seems to me that so long as you're gentle, this is good and not harmful. Interested to know if others have different opinions. . . or have had similar experiences.