LurcherGirl

Troy (10-year old pyrenees): Wainwrights Trays - it's the only food at the moment that doesn't give him the runs Dylan (9-year old lurcher): CSJ Lamb Senior/Light - he is prone to weight gain and this keeps him in good shape and I can still feed him a decent amount Flash (5-year old saluki): Benevo with Missing Link and Vegezyme supplements. He is allergic to animal protein and is on a vegan diet. Jesse (3-year old American cocker spaniel): home cooked, turkey mince, sweet potatoe, veg, fruit. Jesse is allergic to all sorts (including ALL dry foods), so needs a strict diet. Vera

I tried the liquid Glucosamine, Chondroitin & MSM complex from Holland & Barrett and saw pretty quick and excellent results in both the dogs I am giving it too. It is quite cheap too and often available half price. Another one which I haven't seen mentioned here is Green Lipped Mussel extract. Good stuff too as it helps with the inflammation! Vera

Jack's been found! He walked all the way to Orpington where he was picked up by a couple on Sunday and returned by the Dog Warden on Monday! He is a little lame, but otherwise well! Vera

This is the email I got from a desperate friend this morning: "Just to let you know that Jack went missing from Beckenham Place Park on friday 31st July. He has not been seen since. We are devastated and are doing everything we can think of to get him back. We wanted to let you know and wondered if you could put a message on the wagging tails site? We have everything crossed that someone will find him. He was out with the dog walkers at the time and got spooked. He hasn't done that for a bout a year but he did." Any information please contact me via email or pm and I will forward it.

Another article to look at: Kidney disease

Sounds very good indeed... would particularly love to do gundoggy stuff with my American Cocker, but I do classes on Saturday mornings and it's a bit on the expensive side at the moment. Will mull over this a bit longer and then come to a decision... Vera

When I used Orijen some time ago for our two older dogs, I did like it (and so did they... ), however, one of the reasons why I changed away from it again to CSJ was that I ended up feeding such small amounts to Dylan, that it was hardly worth the trouble... and left Dylan very hungry! He only gets small amounts of most foods as he puts on weight easily, but Orijen was a bit extreme and I felt sorry for him. Vera

Or perhaps due to their experience, they just don't know how else to deal with stressful situations and automatically resort to what they've always known... Vera

Our pyrenees used to wear a round leather collar which is the best for long haired breeds. It was however not strong enough, so he now wears a 3/4 inch leather martingale collar which seems to do the trick too with minimal matting. Vera

Have you tried baby whipes? I use the for all sorts and they generally work great. Vera

Mistral here too, I love the eucalyptus smell. Why not see whether you can share it with someone? There is four of us at my dog training club that share, so postage is not such a big issue then. We buy four bottles at the time. Vera

Happy Gotcha Day, beautiful Indy! What a distinguished looking gentleman you have turned into. Vera

Jesus, now you're telling me... Am I glad or what that it wasn't the right time for you, because I would have missed out on the most wonderful boy! Vera PS. We went agility training yesterday for the first time in a few weeks. It was hot (though not unbearably, so it wasn't a problem for the dogs) and we did the last round in the session! Flash had us all in stitches when he casually WALKED over a jump instead of jumping it. I think he was trying to tell me that he'd had enough...

I'm in South London, a bit far to "pop along" I guess... but here's an obedience test I have done with Dylan at Bishop Burton College, (keeping in mind that he had a small abscess on his foot so we didn't insist on sits if he didn't want to do them): Copyright by Pauline Jackson, 2007 If you fancy doing it, I would definitely give it a go. They are not easy, but it's not impossible! They will never be obedience champions and with Flash I am unlikely to ever compete in outside venues due to his habit of suddenly taking off for a run... But he enjoys the indoor limit shows and always makes people's heads turn when he works. Vera

No, no-one I know has ever come across another saluki or even saluki cross at obedience shows. There is however a lady that does it with afghans. Vera

I have seen one or two huskies at obedience shows, doing a pretty good job too! Vera

I can't believe it is already 4 years today since we got Flash! He has made such a transformation from the insecure worried doglet we adopted to the confident chap he is these days! All my grey hair (and there's a fair few of them now... :rolley: ) are almost exclusively due to Flash! Undiagnosed food allergies caused behaviour problems (disobedience on walks, messing indoors etc) which tested even my patience at the time! But those times are gone now, his system is stable, and due to his vegan diet he is fit and healthy - mentally and physically! Since last year, he has finally grown up as well (as much as salukis ever grow up that is) and he is a joy to be with! He is probably also the only saluki in the country that does competitive obedience! My trainer says that's because no-one else is stupid enough to try... :ph43r: :lol: Flash is a one-in-a-million dog and although he wasn't an easy dog by any account in his first 3 years with us , I can't imagine life without this nutty creature! Every day I am grateful to Kaye from LurcherLink for letting me have this most beautiful boy in my life. Vera And he is a bit of a commedian too... Playing with his brothers With Daddy

Jesse came 3rd today in Beginners - his highest placing so far! I was surprised to have been placed... for Jesse's standards, he didn't do well at all! But it was very hot... in fact so hot, that out of the 30 odd dogs entered, and 20 odd booked in, only 9 completed the whole test including stays! So it wasn't that hard to actually be placed... But a lovely rosette nonetheless! Vera

I must admit, health issues in a breed have never been a consideration when adopting a rescue dog... it has however been a major consideration when I bought a puppy from a breeder! When adopting a rescue dog I accept that there is nothing that anyone can do now to prevent any breed specific or other health problems, so I am prepared to take a dog on whatever issues he comes with. Vera

Why not? I post pictures of my American Cocker Jesse, eventhough he isn't a rescue! He is as much my baby as our rescue dogs and if someone is offended by that, they can very easily click on the back button! Vera

After three rescue dogs, I went to a breeder to buy a puppy of my chosen breed. Why? I had been thinking about getting a small dog for a while, when I met an American Cocker Spaniel puppy and fell head over heels in love with her and the breed! In fact, within weeks of that meeting, I was talking to ACS rescue organisations finding out whether they would have any suitable dogs in... They didn't, and they said that they are very unlikely to as this is what I wanted: 1. A puppy or very young dog as I wanted to do doggie activities with him, mainly competitive obedience and possibly agility 2. Undocked (that's a whole different story... but of course at the time there was no docking ban, so 99% of ACS in rescue were (and still are) docked) I was prepared to wait for however long it took... But it then so happened that said ACS owner couldn't cope with their puppy anymore and we agreed to adopt her from them! But after three days they changed their mind and it broke our heart when we had to give her back! (And it broke the heart of one of our dogs too). This was situation that made me decide after serious thought and consideration that I would find a responsible breeder to get the ACS I so desperately wanted. This was of course little Jesse. And I would do it again! Even since that time, 2 years down the line, I have still not come across an ACS in rescue that would have been suitable for us re fitting in with our family and being suitable to do the training/activities I do with Jesse; and I now know people from ACS rescue and many general breed rescues very well and hear probably about most ACS in rescue! So I still feel that my decision was the right one. In hindsight, it was definitely the right decision. As it turned out that Jesse has major health problems being hypothyroid due to autoimmune thyroiditis! This caused aggression issues which would have caused major problems in your average pet home and many a vet and behaviourist would have classed as "cocker rage" that may well have resulted in him being put down without ever diagnosing his problem correctly! As a friend said to me when Jesse was diagnosed "He is very lucky to be with you, otherwise he might not even be alive anymore by now!" Now the argument that there are plenty of dogs in rescue to chose from if only I hadn't wanted that particular breed is valid, but another very important consideration for me was to get a dog that had a low pray drive and was easier to control on walks than my two saluki crosses. There is no way I would have physically been able to cope with a third sighthound or any other breed with a very independent mindset like terriers etc. I "needed" an easier breed... and the ACS with his gundog traits, but toned down, was the perfect choice for that. As I said, I would do it all again, Jesse is wonderful, I am still in regular contact with his breeder, and I am not excluding the possibility of having another ACS (or certain other breeds) from a responsible breeder some time in the (distant) future. However, I would never dream of getting a puppy from a breeder of a breed that is common in rescue, e.g. our other breeds salukis or saluki crosses and pyreneans (not common, but available if patient)! My first choice would always be rescue and if I can find a suitable dog/puppy in rescue, then that will always be my first choice! But I have come to accept (though still with a hint of guilt!!!) that I may not always be able to find a particular dog in rescue! I do feel also that responsible breeders are not the ones that contribute to the rescue dog problem! It's puppy farms, it's BYBs and it's the fact that puppies can be sold in pet shops and through free adds! Take all that away, demand would FAR outweigh supply and there would not be any more rescue dogs other than the very genuine rehomings due to major change in circumstances, death etc. So if someone is looking for a dog, I always recommend to look in rescue, I always recommend to neuter etc, but I am certainly in no position to blame anyone that has got a dog from elsewhere. Vera

Good boy, Kevin! Well done to both of you!

I was in exactely the same situation as you just over two years ago, when after much deliberation and talking to ACS rescue, I decided to buy a puppy from a reputable breeder rather than rescue another dog of a different breed! That puppy was Jesse, my American Cocker Spaniel. Yes, I still sometimes wish I could have adopted a rescue ACS but as they are very rare in rescue (thank god) and because I "needed" a puppy or very young dog due to me wanting to work with him, it just wasn't going to happen (and indeed, in the two years since I have had Jesse, I still have not come across any "suitable" ACS in rescue eventhough I now know the rescue people very well and would hear about them). But Jesse has turned out to be an absolutely wonderful dog as a pet as well as a working/obedience dog, so I don't regret it for one moment! And as it happens, it is just as well that Jesse came to me... had he gone to someone else, he might well not be alive anymore now as his hypothyroidism caused serious aggression issues which most pet owners and vets would not have diagnosed and treated correctly, but would have labelled as "cocker rage" with the possible result of PTS! So all I can say is, enjoy your little pup. He is gorgeous! And yes, rescue dogs should be our first choice, but I am certainly in no position to blame you for doing what you did! Vera

Thyroid, my favourite subject... My ACS has autoimmune thryoiditis, so I have done quite a bit of research about this subject. First of all, did your vet do a comprehensive thyroid test (which includes amonst other things antibodies) or just a basic T4 test? Most vets do just a T4 test, which is not a reliable way to assess thyroid function in dogs! It needs to be a comprehensive test (which is a 4 or 5-panel test). The presence of antibodies can falsify the results for T3 and T4 and make them look spuriously high... when in fact they are not. So it is actually possible that the actual thyroid levels of your dog are much lower than a T4 test may suggest! I can give you the example of my spaniel to explain. When he was tested (comprehensive), his T4 levels were at the very bottom of the normal range (normal range is 15 - 40, he was 15.5), but my vet suggested to give him thyroxine anyway. The change in Jesse was incredible, mainly behavioural (he also showed severe aggression in certain cases), but over time also physical. When he was retested again 6 weeks later, his T4 was sky high at 130... He should have shown major symptoms of being hyperthyroid, but he didn't! When the medication was halved on my vet's advice to bring the T4 down, Jesse reverted back to his "old horrible" self and we had two serious aggressive incidents within two weeks, his resource guarding came back with a vengeance... After three weeks, we put his dosage back up to the original dosage and bingo, all was fine again. This is when I contacted Jean Dodds (thyroid specialist in America) and she told me that the presence of antibodies influences the T4 test results and she wasn't worried at all about the high T4 reading. In fact, she said that even the 15.5 was probably a lot higher than it the actual levels were! With the medication, the number of antibodies should decrease and therefore the T4 test results come down with it. Here are some articles by Jean Dodds that you may want to bring along to your vets too: Assessing Thyroid Function Thyroid test influence And the general link to all her articles: Thyroid Articles Also, re your question whether you can just use thyroxine regardless of the test results: yes, you can. It does not have any negative effects and if you stop it at some point, the gland will just resume producing the thyroxine again (provided of course the gland is not damanged). Vera

It's the same at my vets. They have their own out-of-hours service between 7 am and 11 pm, every day. Last time I checked there was a surcharge of £60 when using this service, which I think is reasonable. To cover the hours from 11 pm to 7 am, they use a local emergency clinic. This is a lot more expensive and last time cost just over £100 just to get through the door... Vera