sandgrubber

Do you mean King shepherd?

What were the 'excuses'? If they had to do with waiting for the Canine Association to send stuff, I'd say it was a reason, not an excuse. There was a time when I let puppy buyers choose their pups' names. Result : I couldn't file for pedigree papers until the last pup went home. And sometimes the K9 folks end up way behind schedule after the holidays.

Glad I'm in NZ. Australia seems to be going crazy.

I rebooked, but did some reading and saw another vet, who says her energy level and condition are not indicative of a heart problem. The aspirated sample of abdominal fluid was inconclusive. Possibly a sarcoma. Possibly an infection. All in all a difficult diagnosis. The bloods ruled out liver disease. Patty responded so well to antibiotics that I decided to put her back on and watch and wait. If a longer course of antibiotics takes care of it, good news. If not, waiting awhile may result in a clearer reading on the aspirated fluid. If it's a sarcoma, there's not much hope of a cure...just prednisone and measures to reduce fluid buildup. When I has the kennel I watched a few clients go through expensive and difficult testing only to have their dog die soon after. Unless there's likely to be something curable, I think I'll settle for paleative care. Who knows, the antibiotics may do the trick.

With Labradors there's a long tradition of working towards a 'dual purpose' dog. That's show + work. Some, though not all, leading Labrador breeders take this very seriously. It's made confusing because 'work' for a Labbie can mean assistance dog work, sniffer dog work, or dock diving as well as retrieving. However, if you look around, you can still find Ch and BIS Labs who retrieve, either competitively, or as hunting companions, and breeders invest in importing dogs (often from Scandinavia) with strong dual purpose credentials.

The OP mentioned only one carrier. I'm old enough to remember the days when genetic testing for EIC first came out. Many Lab breeders were surprised to find they had affected dogs, although they had never seen an episode of collapse, even in working retrievers. (Read the Wikipedia article on EIC... it isn't a good thing, but it only affects strenuous exercise and it's not progressive. I'd much rather have a pet with EIC than serious allergies or a nasty temperament). Personally, I would pay more attention to testing for PRA than EIC. Btw, If you want a dog with greater potential for assistance work, ask around to find breeders (and dogs and bitches) favored by assistance trainers. I haven't kept up with this. There are many many Lab breeders to choose from.

1. Unless you intend to breed, being a carrier of EIC is not a problem at all. 2. Hips and elbows matter, but they aren't the primary concern. IMO they are overrated because they have clear numerical values. Plenty of dogs with 2 elbows or hip scores of 8 or more live to a ripe old age without any sign of arthritis. 3. Other health factors need to be asked about. Allergies? Epilepsy? Heart disease? Cancer? Ask what health problems have showed up in the bloodlines. If they say none, run. They are lying. Ask about longevity, and what ancestors have died from, or suffer from, at what ages. 4. As Pers says, temperament is extremely important. Ask the breeders what they consider 'good temperament'. 5. I half disagree with Dogsfevr about gentleness. I'm not a skilled dog trainer at all and I'm pretty lax about training. I've owned 20+ Labs, mostly bitches (I was a breeder). Not one was a fighter or food aggressive or fear aggressive. All had stable temperament. Virtually all were friendly to people and most dogs...even when bitches were on season or had baby pups. I also ran a boarding kennel for 5 years. With Labs, it was rare to have any behavior problems other than digging, rowdy puppy stuff, and overeating. I say half disagree because, yes, Labs can be naughty, and if you accidentally train a pup, say, to think chase is a fun game, you can end up with a dog that chases and frightens small children. True, the failure rate is high for Guide Dog training... but that's not surprising given what is expected of guide dogs... starting from a young age.

Went to the supermarket just before my appointment. Dropped my keys somewhere. It took 45 minutes before someone returned them to customer service. Missed the appointment. Bugger! (it's only 16C today... no problem leaving a dog in the car).

She's fine. I wouldn't know she'd been sick. Though of canceling the appointment but decided it was worth looking for advice on what happened and whether it might reoccur.

There's no shame in being open with your vet about price. I'm not a vet, but if I were, I'd much rather have price issues put to my face (politely) than discussed behind my back. I doubt vets make much profit on meds because it costs a lot to hold inventory when you buy in small lots and have to toss stuff that goes out of date.

Very well. Her belly has shrunk as well. I begin to hope this was all a scare, though nothing I found on the internet gave me reason to hope the distended belly was anything other than a symptom of a terminal illness. Holding my breath until the cardiologist visit on Wednesday

Until next Wednesday. Yes, decisions are hard. Patty has improved so much since the first vet put her on antibiotics, I keep hoping it will all blow away. Nothing I've read suggests that's likely. Yes, the specialist has an echocardiograph. I hope he will have a clearer idea of what's wrong. I don't think the first vet even did a careful listen to her heart or looked for enlargement on the ultrasound. Maybe my expectations are too high. (My father was a cardiologist who worked as a GP).

I recently posted about Patty's distended belly (ascites, in jargon). Blood tests have ruled out liver and kidney malfunction, which seems to indicate heart, ie. dilated cardio-myelopathy (sp?). or DCM. No grain free diet. I'd love to hear from others who have been down this path. The vet wants to refer me to a specialist. It's a long drive and she says $500 would be a conservative guess. I asked her what, beyond a clear diagnosis, it would gain, and she got vague, but I think it boils down to a better treatment plan and maybe a few months of life. There are no vet cardiologists nearby, and I'm not sure how much value there is in getting a second opinion from a non - specialist. I'm unsure of the diagnosis. There's no question that she's retaining fluid, but that's the only symptom of DCM (various vet school websites give lists of symptoms...retaining fluid in never at the top of the list). Her resting breathing rate is 21/minute. The vet sites says to worry at 40/minute. She is less energetic than the two 15 mo puppies with me ATM, but she's 6 1/2, but not lethargic. Any thoughts or suggestions? NOTE: After posting this I checked around and found that there is a veterinary cardio about 25 km from me. GRRRRR. Very disappointed in my vet for not referring me locally. So I've scheduled a local consult. P. S. She also had some sort of tummy bug. This has cleared up with antibiotics.

She was talking about protein in the aspirated fluid. I think she meant the serum ascites albumin gradient (SAAG) test, but was trying to avoid jargon.

I don’t know. Tried reading vet journal articles on fluid in the abdomen. It's complicated and hard to diagnose the cause. I dread the possibility of spending months and many hundred dollars on testing and still not having a clear diagnosis (>$300 already and that it just the beginning). Uncertainty dragging on isn't fun.

Suspense. The blood work showed nothing. The vet took this afternoon off, sigh. She did an ultrasound yesterday and used it to get a sample of the fluid in her distended belly... The fluid was clear. I was told the next step is to send it in to look for protein. Patty is doing much better, though her tummy is still distended. She went for a short walk this morning and thinks being put on a boiled chicken and rice diet is wonderful.

May be more than 'slightly' different. When I lived in Perth I found a range from $25-$85. If you're short on dosh, community clinics are fine... I have found the vet's there do pretty much the same quick physical exam as 'by appointment' vets.

Patty's energy level crashed, along with vomiting and diarrhea. The vet's guess is heart or liver, prognosis poor either way. Blood tests should tell which. She's looking sad. I feel terrible and guilty .

Couldn't decide where to put this. Decided General hasn't gotten much action lately. Amusing photos taken looking up through a glass plate https://www.demilked.com/under-dogs-photography-andrius-burba/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=link&utm_campaign=DemilkedFB

Patty did what Labradors do so easily, she got rounder. I cut her chow by 1/3. A bit of her ribcage is now peeking through, but she has a rounding behind and downward from her ribs like as if she were preggers. She was spayed 3 years ago and hasn't come into season, so I don't think that's the problem. We're going to the vet tomorrow... I expect for an ultrasound. Curious to know if anyone has seen similar.

Interesting observation. Might be worth sharing it with the study's author. mailto:[email protected]

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/334707275_Best_age_for_spay_and_neuter_a_new_paradigm Abstract For the past several decades the mantra for the age of spay/neuter of dogs not intended for breeding was around 6 months---maintained on the basis of pet population control, as well as beliefs in prevention of mammary and some other cancers and prevention of some behavior problems in males. This project, undertaken at our center with an extensive case record database, focused on examining the incidence of joint disorders, certain cancers (including mammary cancer), pyometra, and urinary incontinence associated with gonadectomy in various breeds and at different spay/neuter ages. The findings on 35 breeds reveal that in some breeds the occurrence of one or more joint disorders or cancers for dogs spayed or neutered at 6 months reaches as high as 3-4 times that of dogs left intact. In other breeds, including small-dog breeds, neither joint disorders nor cancers increase with spay or neuter at any age. In a few breeds, the “safe” age for spay/neuter to avoid an increase in joint disorders or cancers may be as late as 2 years. So far, we have published the findings on three breeds: the Golden Retriever, Labrador Retriever and German Shepherd Dog. Some examples of breed-specific results will be presented at the conference; we anticipate that by then all results will be available in an open-access journal. We propose that the new paradigm for spay/neuter be to give a client evidence-based information and guidance on the best time to gonadectomize their particular dog to avoid increasing the likelihood of debilitating joint disorders or some cancers. Key Words: gonadectomy, neutering, spaying, joint disorders, cancers

Presuming it's a metal crate, I'll bet someone who is handy with wire / fencing / welding could cut yours down.

Fetching With Wolves: What It Means That A Wolf Puppy Will Retrieve A Ball https://www.npr.org/2020/01/16/796715763/fetching-with-wolves-what-it-means-that-a-wolf-puppy-will-retrieve-a-ball?sc=18&f=1001

Mine was about 12 months too... maybe she just grew out of it and it had nothing to do with head out the window.