sandgrubber

Eggs are great, but for small dogs, you don't want to feed too many for fear of off-balancing the diet. . . .an egg a day would be a big chunk of the diet for, say, a chihuahua.

You have the right to not buy the puppy. Unless you see evidence that the pup in question is worth a premium price to you, I'd advise doing so.

Demand a refund of your deposit. Don't ask. If they said 8 weeks initially, you have a verbal contract. Codes of practice support 8 weeks. You could take them to small claims court, but doing so would be a pain in the backside. However, it would be even more of a pain for them because they would most certainly loose. The threat of being taken to small claims would most likely suffice to get them to return your deposit.

I worry about Labrador stereotypes. They aren't all that bad. Almost every Lab I've known, and I've owned around 20, has been a gutzer, and will eat almost anything that falls on the floor when I'm cooking. They also happily eat acorns. I've owned a few that tear their plastic toys andM tennis balls to pieces and the pieces decorate their poos. However, the only thing I've ever had to help one pass is long strands of grass, and that's pretty rare. My present trio won't even steal from the food bin when I forget to put the lid on it . . . and none of them has ever turned over a trash can.

please fill out the issue. What are the 5812 standards?

For some perspective go to the 'They Ate WHAT?" Xray contest in veterinarypracticenews.com (they do this every year so there are several such pages) http://www.veterinarypracticenews.com/2016xraycontestwinners/ My favorite this year didn't even earn an honorable mention . . . Finn, a 2 1/2-year-old Labrador retriever, likes to eat lots of different things. She wasn’t her normal perky self when she presented after vomiting up a piece of a pacifier. A radiograph revealed suspicious material in her stomach and small intestines. A further history of her gustatory adventures included possibly eating a peach pit a few weeks earlier. We performed abdominal exploratory surgery and recovered 23 green pacifiers (mostly intact), one peach pit, multiple pieces of white plastic and a black foam nipple. Funnier still, there were no babies in Finn’s house. She collected the pacifiers over multiple visits to a relative’s house. Finn made a beautiful recovery and is still a Lab who likes to eat.

This belongs in "Other'. Lovely as the stories are, they have nothing to do with pedigree dogs.

Also . . . don't beat yourself up if your attempts to prevent this sort of fear fail. Some of it is pretty hard wired. Gun shy dogs tend to stay gun shy, though you can modulate the startle response. My guys, all well-bred gundogs, never had any conditioning. They all love loud noises. Drop a pan and they'll run toward you; they've been that way from 8 weeks. Power tools . . . same thing. They sleep through fireworks and thunderstorms. My mother had a dog who barked at thunderstorms, as if trying to scare them away. I take no credit for this . . . it's in the bloodlines.

I sold my boarding kennel to some lovely folks, who are now having a hard time. WA's economy hasn't been so good. Seems like people haven't been taking as many vacations, and aren't as willing to spend on their dogs. I'm curious, is everyone having a hard time? Or Is it just WA?

Not dog specific . . . but pertains to veterinary meds as well https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/homeopathic-medicine-labels-now-must-state-products-do-not-work/ Over the counter homeopathic remedies sold in the US will now have to come with a warning that they are based on outdated theories ‘not accepted by most modern medical experts’ and that ‘there is no scientific evidence the product works’. Failure to do so will mean the makers of homeopathic remedies will risk running afoul of the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC). The agency argues that unsupported health claims included in the marketing for some of these remedies are in breach of laws that prohibit deceptive advertising or labelling of over the counter drugs. The body has released an enforcement policy statement clarifying that homeopathic drugs are not exempt from rules that apply to other health products when it comes to claims of efficacy and should not be treated differently. In order for any claims in adverts or on packaging not to be ‘misleading’ to consumers it should be clearly communicated that they are based on theories developed in the 1700s and that there is a lack of evidence to back them up, the statement says. It adds that the FTC will ‘carefully scrutinise the net impression of [over the counter] homeopathic advertising or other marketing … to ensure that it adequately conveys the extremely limited nature of the health claim being asserted’.

I would look for accidents early in life before concluding anything. Asymmtric scores often have environmental causes, but you can never REALLY know. I have a similar problem with a girl who, radiometrically, has one bad hip (they don't use the same scoring system in the US, so I can't give you numbers). She fell off a porch at six months and had to be crate rested for several weeks. One of her tendons was nearly severed. I had one test litter from her because I really wanted a pup from her. So far no problems (3 years). 2:1 dam, 0:0 sire, great scores back a generation, no other hip problems in the lines that I could find. I ended up getting her desexed because . . .well . . . it's a worry breeding from a bitch with a bad hip score.

I would avoid that breeder. If they do not select sire and dam for temperament, they cannot be doing a good job of breeding. Temperament is largely genetic. Why are herding dogs different from sight hounds, different from scent hounds, etc. GENETICS! Try training a dog that is hardwired for dog aggression to be dog friendly. A good trainer can get to hold back and tolerate other dogs, but the underlying aggression is still there. Try training a well bred Labrador as a schutzhund. It's an uphill battle. Soft mouth, strong bite inhibition . . . a good trainer can make biting a game, but the dog's heart isn't into attacking. Or for that matter, try to teach a Labrador to herd sheep. Good luck!

Pretty amazing . . .

Ugh, it can be really complicated and ambiguous with some dogs. He might find chasing them helps him resolve whatever he's feeling inside. He might recognise the activity as a safe outlet because the bigger dogs are ignoring him. He may indeed feel more in control, and he might be feeling like he's successfully driving them off. My Erik loves to chase other dogs and can get intense, but it seems like a good outlet for him to cut loose. He is often more relaxed after a good crazy run. He used to chase our retriever friends, who don't mind much as long as he doesn't get near their things. Now he has Kestrel and he plays rowdy chase games with her. I suspect, also, that dogs vary in their imprinted definition of prey. In particular, the tendency of dogs to be valued as vermin hunters often seems to result in deep drive against small mammals. GP's don't have a chance where this imprinting is in play. I have retrievers. They tend to either ignore or try to catch (without killing) birds, but they want to kill and eat rabbits, mice, rats, armadillos, etc. I've seen hounds repeatedly attack porcupines, despite getting a very very painful face full of quills each time they do it. Same with skunks, though it's stink not quills, and many breeds will go for them. There seems to be a different prey drive for things categorized as 'might sting or bite or poison'. When I was in Australia, they harassed blue tongue lizards but didn't mount a full on attack. I'll never forget my first dog's reaction to a starfish . . . she was obviously terrified of it, but at the same time wanted to kill it. Darted in and out, air-nipping when she came close, and at the same time barking furiously. Likewise, insects seem to be categorized. Most moths, flies, and grasshoppers are in an 'eat without question' category. Beetles, wasps, and cockroaches seem to be protected by a 'taste awful or might bite' taboo.

One of my three is seizure prone. She has done fine on Bravecto, and it works. The soresto collar caused compulsive licking . . . which the vet on the helpline said was probably a result of paresthesia (tingling sensation that manifests in dogs as compulsive licking). I haven't tried Nextguard . . . it's similar, chemically, to Bravecto.

If the cats are about when you are watching, you can also buy a BIG squirt gun, like the kids use on hot days, and fill it with something smelly. Then 'shoot' the cats when they appear. My mother trained the neighbors cats off her bird feeder this way . . . and got a lot of malicious pleasure doing it.

Doesn't Australia follow the convention of listing ingredients in the order of quantity? I don't see how you could formulate (or feed) a kibble that had more salt than wholegrain cereals and cereal by-products.

If you don't care about aesthetics, you can probably make the equivalent of a concrete sink by making up a bag or two of concrete and forming it around a plastic bowl or dish pan . . .or even a 4 L milk jug. Dig a hole in wet sand to form the outside. Nearly fill it with wet concrete. Push your mold down in the middle to yield something weighing 20 or more kg with walls a couple inches thick . . .you will probably need to dig as well as push. A trowel helps for this. Flat bottom is highly desirable, so you might want to make a wood or plywood form instead of sand. You can buy stuff to paint on to make concrete release from boards...or just line with plastic sheeting. You might want to put plastic sheeting around the thing you use to form the interior mold as well.

Mild yeast infections are very common in dogs who (a) like water and (b) have ears that flop down. I've seen loads of yeast infections in Labradors. I don't think it has to do with food . . . just with their ears being ideal environments for yeast and the reality that many Labs are water-mad. Yeasties like a warm moist environment; they do no like low pH. My vet recommends getting a ketchup bottle, filing it 1/3 water, 1/3 vinegar and 1/3 rubbing alcohol, and squeezing gently into each ear. ...then gently rubbing the outer ear to clean up any gunk and dry things out a bit. I've heard that the same treatment is used for swimmer's ear in kids. The vinegar brings down the pH, the alcohol is drying, and the water makes sure neither is too strong. I'm not sure I'd do this with a 10 week old pup . . . but it's a great way to control mild yeast infections, and a lot cheaper than the commercial ear douches.

It depends on where you are. Where I live, in rural Florida, pit bulls, and bull breeds in general, are not only allowed, but extremely popular. I find it silly that Australians are so fond of Staffies (#1 or #2 in number of pups registered with AKC in recent years) and so worried about pit bulls. Yes, there are some bad pit bulls, most of them have bad owners. But in the 15 years I lived in WA, I met a few just plain ugly-tempered, mean Staffies, and quite a few f DA Staffies and staffie crosses. By in large,if you overlay the temperament spectrum of both breed/types you get more overlap than separation. As for AmStaff and pit bull, in my experience the difference is more historical and a matter of pedigrees than real. "The following 17 states prohibit their municipalities from passing breed-specific laws: Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Maine, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia, Massachusetts, Nevada, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Utah and South Dakota." Quite a few cities have BSL, but most don't. The bigger problem with bull breeds in the USA is that they have large litters, and quite a few people don't spey or otherwise prevent pregnancy of their bitches. Hence shelters are overflowing.

It's quite widely used here in the US, and many people are more-than happy with it. I used it for a year and a half on my dogs (two batches). Had problems with the third batch. One of my dogs started compulsive incessant licking, which went away when the collar was off. A vet told me this probably indicated that she was feeling a pins-and-needles sensation, and it could be a side effect. The other two had no problems, but our local flea population seems to have caught on to the collars, and they have ceased to work for my dogs.

I suspect microchips are over-rated. Has anyone studied the number of dogs they save? Or the number of microchips that have become useless because the puppy buyer never mailed in the paperwork or forgot to register changes in phone number and address? Seems to me there are much more important things to talk about . . . like people who bring home a pup but don't spend any time with it. IMO chips are mostly a quick feel-good gesture but the problem they resolve is a small one, and they often fail to resolve it. But it's an easy law to write and sounds good.

#1 ASK HOW SERIOUS THE SEIZURES ARE AND WHETHER THEY SEEM TO BE GETTING BETTER, OR WORSE, OR STAYING THE SAME! Some dogs have full grand mal seizures and don't do well at all. Others have little focal seizures . . .they may stare fixedly for a minute or two or walk funny or something well short of loosing consciousness, gnashing their teeth and going incontinent. Some dogs do get better. Others just go from bad to worse. My old girl, who just had her 12th birthday, started having seizures at 7 years. Her muscles tightened and she got uncoordinated, but didn't loose consciousness. It started with a horrid episode of cluster seizures, which I think was brought on by licking a spot-on flea treatment off another dog (synthetic pyretheroid-type ). The vets called it epilepsy. She got put on phenobarbitol, which controlled the seizures. Over four years, I halved the dose, then halved it again, then went to once a day, then stopped altogether. She no longer seizes at all. Epilepsy is a variable condition, and veterinary science has a lot to learn about it.

For the many years I lived in WA, the better known breeders in WA didn't advertise much. They always had waiting lists. But they were friendly enough and would pass on referrals to people who have used their dogs (as studs). When I was in WA, Glenice McClure at Blackboy Labs, in particular, had a long history of working toward the dual purpose ideal. I expect there are some great newer breeders as well. Yes . . . try the breed club.

I did it years ago. It was open book then. Not really an exam. Just an exercise that makes you think about subjects any breeder needs to know. I don't know if this has changed. If it hasn't changed, use it as a learning exercise. P+