Hafhafa Hounds

Drakes/Foodland (the Mighty South Aussies, yeah!) sell them @ $1.99/kg, so I guess checking out all your nearby supermarkets is worth a try. Can you ask the meat department fellows? My butcher generally doesn't get them in, even to order. Sonia

BIG pieces, ditto. WHOLE frames, WHOLE lamb necks (not neck chops!) and WHOLE racks of ribs work well for my gulper (a Kelpie). Sonia

It's a terrible feeling when the realisation that your dogs is *old* hits. I live with 3 oldies, 2 middle aged and one youngster. The older dogs are 14/15/16 years two are deaf/going deaf. Some small tricks - when I want my dogs attention, clapping hands produces a much more dramatic result than yelling, hand signals can help a great deal and approaching from the front rather than behind helps too (and from the right front for Zoom, who's blind in the left eye as well!). Dogs get old. And they're never here quite long enough. But I have been saying that Sally (almost 17) is old for nearly 5 years now... so goes to show you they can go on for a while with all those symptoms of old age. Are you giving something for arthritis? Sonia

Black Kongs work for my Killer Kelpie! FYI - Not long ago, I heard of a young dog ingesting the stuffing from a soft toy designed for kids and treated with a fire retardent. The "teddy blood" (stuffing) turned to a gel in the dog's stomach. Dog was very sick. Vet operated. Bowel was black & dead. Could not save the dog. Be wary of allowing unsupervised play with stuffed toys designed for children, esp. if they are treated with fire retardent chemicals. Sonia

My pleasure. Feel free to email me ifyou want more info / to chat about raw... Your doggies are lovely in your picture!! Sonia

I have used Aloveen for 10+ years. It's a great product. I also use J&J Baby Shampoo on my show dogs. Makes a nice soft coat on my grizzle Saluki - everyone comments. Apparently the grizzles are known for a hard coat, but my guy's never had one!! (I use the yellow not the pink shamp/conditioner combo - that makes stacks of dandruff!!) Sonia

It's often the case that a kibble fed dog *will* have tummy upsets after a meal (or 10!) of raw. To switch over (esp. with tummy upsets) you need to persist with 1 type of meat for several weeks, then expand the variety. Generally, boneless chicken is a good way to begin, adding in soft bones like bone in breasts gradually. Then you can add thigh/leg combos and eventually add in red meats and liver/offal. Have a look specifically at this section of the rawlearning website: http://www.rawlearning.com/rawfaq.html Specifically this section on GRAINS: "Dogs do not have the digestive system to cope with grains. Most commercial dog foods contain more than 50% grains (yes, this includes all those fancy expensive ones too! ) Grains are one of the biggest sources of allergies in dogs. My dogs have a diet that is high in protein, and low in carbohydrates - like nature intended." Poor coat can often be an "allergy thing" - and he may be allergic to one or more of the grains in the food you're feeding him. It sometimes takes several weeks to settle a delicate tummy into raw feeding, but remember that during this time your dog is purging the bad kibble stuff as well as adjusting to a new diet. My girl Sally used to have terrible tummy upsets and vomiting (and the itchies and the bad ears & eyes) - raw fixed it. Permanently! She's heading for 17 now and has been on raw for 15+ years. I HIGHLY recommend you try it. ETA: Didn't your original post say you've had Osca on Nutro for 1 year+ ? Maybe it's time to evaluate right now. 1 year is a looong time for a dog to be miserable/be in poor condition/have allergies/be "not right". ;) Also, you might consider reviewing Osca's vaccination status - maybe there's an issue with vaccinosis? Sonia

Please add HAFHAFA to your prefix list. Thank you. Sonia

So true - my 5 kg Tenterfield Terrier can move my 30kg Saluki out of an armchair with 1 look! Sonia

Thanks! Sonia

They will, soon enough! I have some too (but plastic bought for $30 - not nice wooden ones like that!!). My dogs didn't take long to get the hang of them, but they use them for going up only - they still jump down, so I have put mats where they usually land to soften the landing! Sonia edit to add 2 quick pix!

My dog Sally used to have this too. Her eyes were always goopey and she was itchy as well. I changed her diet from dry/canned to raw prey model. Made a HUGE difference and cannot speak highly enough of feeding a species appropriate diet. Sally has eaten BARF then prey model for 15+ years now and is a healthy 16 year old. http://www.rawlearning.com/ Sonia PS I know that doesn't really address your question (finding a vet in Hobart) but have you looked at their diet?

What's the pup's expected adult weight? A large breed puppy could easily eat 1kg of (edit spelling!) meat a day, and yes, you need to add some bones to this diet, but no more potatos. http://www.rawlearning.com/ Sonia

I have 2 Tenterfield Terriers, a JRT-X, 2 Salukis and a Kelpie. The Salukis, JRT-X & Tenties all share the house well. The Kelpie doesn't get along with my Saluki bitch, so they are always seperated (bitches! sheesh!!). Sonia edited to add pic:

My yard is in two (dog proofed!) sections, plus I have an enclosed porch off thr front of my house. My entire boy is generally inside at night when I have a bitch in season, or he sleeps in (his usual spot) the trailer. Never yet had an unplanned litter in 7 years of entire dogs on the premises with entire girls. Sonia

http://www.rawlearning.com/ Loads of info! Sonia

2 - 3% of expected ADULT weight and nope, not balanced if you're not feeding bones and organs as well as meat. (Also, ditch the potato!) Check out http://www.rawlearning.com/ - loads of good info and check the FAQs. Sonia

PP, Have you tried a species appropriate prey-model diet? BARF (the commercial stuff) contains veg and that could be what they don't tolerate about it. It sometimes takes a few weeks for tummys to settle after you change from kibble to raw. You really need to give it at least a month or even 2 before you sya they can't tolerate it. Have a read of http://www.rawlearning.com/ Sonia

Vets are still very likely to recommend yearly vaccination - the AVA has not publicised the change in protocol in mainstream press (for reasons known only to themselves, but rumoured to be because of sponsorship deals!). My own opinion is do some research. There's so much information available out there and you can make up your own mind of the way you want to go. Google "vaccination +dogs" - you should get zillions of hits. Then try "caberfeid deerhounds". Sonia

Ok, normal & great!! I don't feed weight bearing (leg) bones of any animal larger than my dogs... They get chicken/turkey/rabbit leg bones and do fine. You might want to check out the FAQs at http://www.rawlearning.com/ Sonia

Quite true... My young (22 month old) Kelpie CAN NOT keep up with Moss (Saluki, aged 7) but she tries. They box, run, Moss mouths & rolls her by her head/neck, but they are pretty quiet. On the other hand, when Moss & Arella (female saluki, aged 8) run together they are loud to the point of "those dogs are killing each other" - but they're not, they're just loud! Sonia

It's no "bandwagon" - it's species appropriate! Check out http://www.rawlearning.com/ - it's a great site for newbies and has links to heaps of interesting information, as well as lots of lists that you can join as you learn to feed raw. Sonia

Not true - raw diets are very easy to balance. Go for 80% meaty meat, 10% edible bones and 10% organs (of which half should be liver). (edit) Dogs need roughly 2-3% of their expected ADULT weight per day, then you adjust according to what you see. Balanced, easy, cheap, and (above-all) species appropriate! If it was my dog, I'd follow your breeder's good advice to feed raw. Sonia