sandgrubber

Horrible story. Poor kid. Not clear to me whether Housing or Animal Services is more at fault . . . but it's astoundingly stupid that the dog owner is still allowed to keep dogs.

Exaggeration. I was one of the people who protested. Without feeling that particular dog, I would not be able to say if it was overweight. It's true that many flabby Labs show up in the show ring, but it's also true the combination of well sprung ribs, not much tuck up, and a thick coat may make a Lab look fat when it's not. It would be interesting to know if the study results would have changed had the authors actually set hands on the dogs or done some sort of analysis that actually quantifies the amount of fat present. My old girl LOOKS fat. She has saggy boobs and a thick coat, and a lot of bone. But if you feel her ribcage you get the sense that you're running your fingers over a washboard.

as Granpa used to say: "A fool and his money are soon parted." (I've been a fool myself, a few times). At least no dogs got hurt or abused and they traced down the alleged seller.

Has anyone ever seen any research on exercise and old dogs? The doctors are forever telling us old farts that exercise is good for our brains and our bodies, and that we should challenge ourselves more than we do. Wouldn't surprise me at all if it's good to keep an old dog exercising . . . and that some of them would live longer and healthier lives if we didn't let them turn into couch potatoes. I'm 66 . .. last year I took up running a couple miles a day. Wasn't comfortable at first, but it's done a lot to reduce my aches and pains.

In my experience, kelpies can be remarkably good jumpers. It may require more than a 1.8 m fence to keep a kelpie in. I'd be cautious about invisible dog fence. If she gets out she'll get shocked trying to get back in, which wouldn't be good.

Pet-I-Supply.com is selling standard meds at discounted prices internationally. Apparently they ship from the UK and Australia. They will sell Bravecto without a script. Call me a cheapskate, but I'd rather pay consult fees for three healthy dogs to get scripts. Has anyone used them? Is there reason to fear that they're a company selling counterfeit meds?

what is fex?

+1 The poll forces inconsistency. If you say never, you still have to say when your dog stopped using a crate etc. I tried leaving the second two questions blank and got an error message.

Berners have a bad habit of getting AWFUL cancers. Chessies are hard dogs, not for beginners. Whatever the breed, if you're going to get a pup, training the kids is important. I had one Lab pup I sold to a family with small kids. They allowed the kids to play run-chase games with their puppy and got into a mess with a puppy that nipped and kids that encouraged nipping by running away and screaming . . . which the puppy thought was a wonderful game. Those needle teeth aren't child friendly, and most gun dogs are mouthy.

Not sure what it's like in Oz these days, but in the USA I'm finding that there are various good fish-meal based dry foods on the market. Not too expensive. My dogs love them, results in great luster in their coats, and it's sooo easy compared to dealing with fresh and/or frozen fish. (Now using a salmon based version of ProPlan).

We're having a bad time with fleas. Our local population has gotten resistant to Frontline and related chemicals, and to the Soresto flea collar. One of my girls gets seizures from synthetic pyretheroids, which rules out Advantage and a bunch of other treatments. I can't get diatomaceous earth to work very well. Spinopsid-based meds aren't recommended for dogs with a history of seizures. I've been going over the girls with a flea comb and being totally grossed out by the number of fleas I find. Has anyone succeeded in reducing flea population by regular grooming with a flea comb?

My Labs are happy to eat pumpkin raw. You just need to slice it pretty thin. I sometimes peel pumpkin/winter squash before cooking. I just aim the peeler for the floor and the dogs clean up. Actually, they eat all cucurbits (squash/pumpkin/cucumber family) raw.

So is Haribo. It's no longer on the market. After going viral on Amazon the price went sky high. Then no more. http://camelcamelcamel.com/Haribo-Sugar-Free-Gummy-Bears/product/B008JELLCA But if you want something exotic to poison your dogs, Amazon does sell a nice dark chocolate covered bacon http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00YSRKL8W/ref=ams_at_4918087722616_B00I5NL9KO

Xylitol is considerably more expensive than cane sugar, so it's most likely to show up in specialized foods such as sweets for diabetics or sweet health foods that advertize fewer calories and better for dental health (eg., gum). If you're like me and buy el cheapo p'nut butter, you're unlikely to encounter the stuff.

The few difficult clients are the worst part about running a boarding kennel. Far worse than picking up poohs. Another way to handle the 'outside of hours' problem is simply add, and make public, a hefty charge for after hours pickup . . . as many vets do for after-hours emergencies. If someone has a good cause and no money, you can always make an exception (and thereby appear as generous). But it's surprising how willing people are to do a schedule work-around to save $100!

Sorry to hear Ebony has problems. My 10 yr old Lab has been on PB for four years to control mild focal seizures. She 'went' epileptic after a cluster seizure episode brought about by synthetic pyretheroid flea control meds which she licked off of a puppy...she was treated with the same stuff. This first episode was terrifying: the convulsing was so severe that she flipped from standing to lying on her side, and this went on for half an hour before a vet identified it as poisoning and advised me that thorough washing to get rid of all the flea meds might bring it under control (it did). The seizures afterward have been short without severe symptoms like loss of consciousness, incontenaence, etc. She just tenses up, especially in front legs, loses coordination and lies down; she also stares. They put her on a fairly high dosage initially. I have halved that twice, and now she just gets a half a tablet once a day. On this dosage she still seizes once or twice a year, but I can live with that, especially as, these days, she wags her tail throughout the seizure. Every case of epilepsy is different. Not all end out with such an easy management regime as mine has, but many end out with stable solutions that allow the dog to live a normal life. It usually takes several months to work out the correct dosage. PB isn't the most harmful drug around, but it can do damage over the long term at higher doses. Once you get control, you may want to work with your vet on experimenting with lower dosages.

About this Course Dog Emotion and Cognition will introduce you to the exciting new study of dog psychology, what the latest discoveries tell us about how dogs think and feel about us, and how we can use this new knowledge to further strengthen our relationship with our best friends. Subtitles available in English 10-15 hours of lectures and assessments Taught by Brian Hare at Duke University https://www.coursera.org/learn/dog-emotion-and-cognition

Sorry to be a wet blanket, but those 10 reasons type commercial sites turn my stomach. Look at the "you might also like" clips. UGGGHHHHH!

I've heard discussions of robots deliberately designed for elders with dementia and severely autistic children. Apparently it's possible to design a cute furry that people get attached to. If I end up dysfunctional with Altzheimers, I hope someone will provide one for me. Until then, I think I'll stick with the real thing.

Johnny Who?

There's no hard cut-off. The probability of catching parvo, if exposed, drops off with each later vaccination. The specifics . . . how much it drops at what age . . . vary with vaccines, and with individual dogs/breeds (Rottis supposedly are higher vulnerability), and may also vary with the season. So, yes, taking a risk . . . but it may be a tiny one. From recent findings on gene expression and season of the year, the immune system seems to work harder in winter, and there's less parvo around, so it may be fairly safe.

Personally, I think it was a mistake to split retrievers up by color way back when (somewhere around 1910). Flatcoat health, particularly cancer risk, is a concern, and the population is small enough that it may be difficult to breed away from the health concerns. The whole practice of breeding for solid colors was some silly 19th century notion of purity. Too bad it made it into so many standards. For some discussion of the origins of yellow in flatcoat lines . . . . http://retrieverman.net/2008/12/12/sewallis-evelyn-shirley-and-some-flat-coated-retriever-history/

With my first litter of puppies I ended out paying a $120 vet bill for some puppy buyers whose puppy threw up on the way home. Turns out it was simply carsickness. Thereafter I was careful to fast puppies for several hours before sending them off in the car.

Another test for pain is to give an appropriate NSAID. If the medication results in a general rise in energy and a more cheerful dog, it's likely the dog was in pain. Not a foolproof test . . . it's still possible that the painkillers weren't effective. But generally, if painkillers don't seem to be doing any good, there's little point in giving them.

No contest: Import semen. Quarantine fees are out of control, and the risk of importing a dog who turns out to be less than expected are horrendous. Surgical AI and frozen semen are expensive, but the cost is trivial compared to that of live animal import. Should someone offer to give you a great proven dog with health tests, etc., I'd consider importing the dog, but not otherwise.