lucyandmeg

Anyone?

Aww he is gorgeous, saw the article briefly as i was flicking through but i'm off to read it in bed so i'll report back with the praise later!!

I find my retriever very difficult to bond with. I love her to pieces, and would dearly love her to play but she isn't really interested. Shes 3, and i've had her since a pup, but shes never been very interested in playing with me. Shes got loads of toys, and is quite happy to play by herself or with the other dogs (Loves playing tuggy with the spaniel) but apart from the occasional tug game nothing seems to interest her. We've done loads of clicker training but shes not really very motivated, although she is quite keen on food. She will fetch toys because i ask, but doesn't seem to see the point, no matter how much i wind her up. Its really hard as my other dogs like playing with balls (my collie is obsessed) and i'd really like to find something ellie enjoys. When we go for a walk, the other two interact with me whereas ellie just runs off to hunt in the undergrowth, and although she comes when called i feel we lose out on that bond. I've tried agility and flyball with her but shes not very interested and am hoping to try some gundog classes for fun this summer, but i can't find anything she enjoys doing with me. Shes quite an independent soul, but very sensitive. Shes also partially sighted with probably doesn't help. I've tried loads of different types of toys, swap them for treats and tried just keeping a special one for playtimes, but nothing gets her interested in playing with me. I know i should just accept that she doesnt enjoy it, but part of me feels there is something missing in our relationship as she adores training with other people and actually puts effort in ,whereas i think she finds me dull!! (I try not to be!!) Can you teach an adult dog to be interested in toys?

On lead is a nightmare with my 3 so i just don't do it if i can avoid it. If i have to they all wear headcollars for safety. On a normal walk they will all be off lead and are usually ok. THey test me a little because the 2 gundogs disappear into bushes and run for miles but their recall is excellent. THe collie never leaves my sight because she is always waiting for her ball to be thrown. I have to keep my eyes open for other dogs though as murphy can be a little off with other dogs and we are currently working on the problem.

I don't like his way of thinking at all anway, after promoting labradoodles as crufts last year and actually openly writing in a dog magazine that he is looking forwards to his daughter in laws dog having pups this year - its a collie x lab, aren't there enough in rescue all ready?!

All my dogs have had rimadyl for one injury or another and have never suffered any ill effects so i wouldnt worry too much, particularly as it is quite a low dosage. Although 50 mins is a long time to wait it sounds like she had been thrown into the deep end, and was probably struggling a bit trying to get to grips with everything. Hope jess gets better soon!

Oh, have fun, and pick up some training tips whilst you are there!!

My friend has a dog (strangely enough named cassie) who went a little senile in her old age. (She was 17 when she died.) Vivitonin worked wonders for her, but she also fed her Hills BD (brain diet) which had an excellent effect too.

I know exactly what you mean! At the end of last year i was box loader for one of our teams and they left me to lift the box in and out of the lane by myself. Bearing in mind i am 5ft and weigh 8 stone its wasn't easy! I was very uncomfortable for a few days afterwards. Cant they design a box that can be taken apart to make it easier to carry? Hope you feel better soon!

Thats what makes me really feel sorry for these dogs, my dogs absolutely hate going out in the cold or wet (unless it means a walk!) and they are hardy gundog and pastoral breeds that are meant to be out in all weathers. I am way too soft on my dogs though, they sleep in my room because i like having them there, at least 2 of them would be happy downstairs but i wouldn't be!

I have just let the dogs out for their final wee and had to force them out because they aren't too keen on the cold - and boy is it cold! Their paddling pool has frozen over. Whilst standing by the door i hear the dogs next door making quite a lot of noise. THey live in a small kennel which is like a purpose built outhouse, smaller than a shed. I can't help feeling sorry for the dogs, a working cocker and a very young lab, particularly when i look at my lot snuggled in their big beds in my bedroom looking very content. My friend has a kennel for her dogs as her husband is allergic to them and can't have them in the house, but hers is a shed with heating etc. I don't imagine they have heating in the kennel next door. Although its good that they are inside away from the wond, i can't help thinking that it isn't very warm in there. Do any of you use outdoor kennels and how do you cope with really cold weather?

I'll be in Kent on the 11th february.

Pet plan are refusing to pay for dap and feliway diffusers now too, even if they are prescribed by a vet. For example a cat with recurrent cystitis is usually under stress so a vet prescribes a feliway to reduce the stress and prevent reoccurance. THey class that as prevention rather than cure and won't pay.

OMG! I bet the person who had him didn't expect him to turn out like that, he doesn't even look longhaired as a pup! Very cute though!

Trouble is that all of his methods have all been proved by scientific study to be fairly ineffective in extinguishing unwanted behaviour in the long term, and the last thing you would want is for a previously aggressive dog, "treated" with punishment suddenly going into spontaneous recovery when socialising and going for an all out attack! Reward based programmes have been shown to have long term success rates. WHy put a dog through excessive stress, fear and pain if you can help the dog through kinder methods? THe problem i have with this kind of programme is that we are knowledgeable enough to know how wrong these methods are (All the dominance theories are being disproven now so the basis on which all this theories are based are wrong!) but joe public may try and copy these methods and go horribly wrong and end up seriously hurt by trying to force a dog in full aggressive display to the ground to "make him submit"!

I couldnt believe it last night! To be fair he didn't suggest the collar, the owner had already bought one, but he had no problem using it. Personally i wouldn't use it on any dog, but what angered me any more is that this dog had horrific stars around his neck where he had a metal make shift collar EMBEDDED in his neck and it had to be surgically removed. THe last thing he needed was a collar designed to inflict pain! Plus the voice over had said it had left nicky with virtually no feeling in that area anyway - so what was the point!!! I really disliked the way he used flooding to make the dog deal with his fears. Take a dog aggressive rottie into a pen full of loose dogs and then expect him to cope. And then when he showed he was uncomfortable by lashing out he was forced to the ground and held down next to the dog he was scared of. given how over weight the dog was, that kind of stress could have brought on a heart attack! (And so he put him on a treadmill instead wilst cesar did his weight training!!!) My heart was in my mouth when the rottie grabbed the gsd and wouldn't let go though. The trouble was is that the methods did appear to work, as he was shown to be fine after 2 weeks so of course the general public thinks hes a magician!! GRRRR!

Thats sounds really good! Lindsay, i hope you don't mind me asking but how much is it to swim at the canine care centre? I would like meg to do some hydrotherapy as she is starting to get arthritis at the grand old age of 5 and i can't decide between here and the one in totton. They are lovely people, they go to my agility club. What a fantastic job that must be!

I would definately go with vaccinating. The chances of a reaction are slim, but the problems that are associated with being over weight and unfit are not particularly nice either. THe stress relief would be highly beneficial too.

My friend has just picked up an 8 month old kelpie bitch, and he intends to train her for agility and flyball. I've seen a few in agility, but haven't yet come across a flyballing one. Shes very sweet and good natured and already has a good recall (Better than my spaniel whom i've had for 18 months! ) She likes toys and is going to be fast. Shes almost whippet size, and is toller colours, short coat and big prick ears, shes gorgeous!) Does anyone know what sort of speed kelpies do? Collie fast or faster?

Oh i really do sympathise!! I've been there (and really still am!) I was very lucky my first dog meg (wsd) picked it up incredibly easily and lives for it - and luckily enough shes quite fast. However murphy (spaniel) really has taken a long time to see the point, we have just about got there (touch wood) but it still very much a work in progress and he has an awful habit of chasing the dog in the other lane, and his run outs are much slower than his run backs. Its taken over a year! Ellie, my retriever, for want of a better work is useless! Shes scared of the box (and shes been going for almost a year!) she doesn't put in much effort and cant do change overs because she just runs towards the dog and then chases it away. SHes also discovered the fun that can be had chasing the dog in the other lane. Sadly she is faster when chasing the dogs than going after the ball as shes not very motivated. THe only reason i take her is that i feel she would feel left out, and she likes to socialise with the people (not the dogs though!) Its made me really want another wsd, but i am finding it hard to convince my parents with whom i still live, and i have such specific requirements i don't know if i will ever find the right one! Hang on in there, remember its supposed to be fun. I know how frustrating it is though, especially when you see every other dog progressing well.

But the way i see it is that they are one and the same, the only difference is that a vet is a gp that treats animals and vice versa. Costs and outgoings are calculated in the same way. Thus anything to do with the cost of vets should be compared to the human equivilent to see if they are over pricing or not. I thought this was a discussion forum, what is so wrong with having a discussion about 2 things that are interconnected?

No, we have a hi-tech computer it takes 2 seconds! Seriously though it does take a little longer than that, the veterinary prescriptions tend to need a little more info than the human ones it seems. THe money charged takes into account the receptionists time to take the call and write down what is needed, the vets time to check the records and write the prescription or if its a normal repeat prescription, book and dispense the drugs. (Or so i'm told!) If you think about it, if a vet charges £30 for a consultation fee which is for a 10 minute slot, if they are spending 4-5 minutes checking history and writing a prescription then in theory they should be able to charge quite a bit. (Although in my practice its just under £7 - it seems a lot of me, but theres nothing i can do about it unfortuantely). Don't forget though, a GP charges about £20-25 for signing forms. My dad suffered from liver damaged a few years ago and whilst waiting for a transplant he had to get a form signed on a monthly basis to get certain benefits, the gp charged him £25 to sign it every month! He also charges £40 to fill out a passport form! I think at the end of the day, there is money to be made for absolutely everything. Mind you when you find out that vet practices are taxed if they provide us with tea making facilities you have to wonder what kind of world we live in!

They can't charge for the actual prescription but they can charge for the vets time to check and write the prescription, much the same as they can charge to check and dispense a normal prescription. THere are loop holes for everything these days!

I'm sorry but it is well known that the nhs is understaffed and severly lacking in money. THere are always reports in the local papers about people who have had to wait several hours for a doctor to come from out of the area. Personally having had my dad with on the transplant list and having to call out the doctor on a regular basis at the weekends i know this to be true. Its not the staff's fault, but thats just the way it is. (Now do you see how disconcerting it is for veterinary staff to get all this criticism all the time!) It really does seem like you get what you pay for. Some drugs are cheap, others are expensive, just like on the nhs, some like prednisolone are very cheap, others such as medication for dogs with cushings are horrendously expensive, which is always reflected in the prices you will pay. It makes absolutely no difference if they use the normal vets practice at the weekends. THe overheads are there 365 days a year! If someone is in the building there is electricity costs. The rates, telephone line rental, equipment maintenance are all spread out over the year. The difference is that at the weekend the vet may not be at the practice all the time, so may have to travel more to and from the practice, and is less likely to see as many people as they would during that time. Costs have to be spread out, of you see 50 people in a day on a weekday and then only see 2 people at the weekend, they have to charge more to cover those costs. I believe it costs more to call out a plumber, electrician or locksmith at the weekends, why should a vet be any different, they are still a business and the vet is still on call for the weekend and even if not called out they are unable to do anything without fear of the phone ringing. £90 is actually quite a standard ooh fee, its alot more at my practice if its after 10pm, i can assure you.

Umm, i'm not certain but i think it is illegal to import prescription only medications from abroad as we have different licensing laws over here. I personally get a bit annoyed when people insinuate all vets are trying to fleece them, most of the time their costs are high because of high overheads. In one consultation fee they will need to recover a proportion of the cost of building ad maintenance, vets time costs, receptionist and nurse time, bills and rates, and equipment running costs. Its really quite cheap when you consider all of the hidden costs, plus they do have to make some profit, but its certainly not as much as people make out. Drugs cost an awful amount of money, you only have to get private healthcare treatment and you realise that we are very lucky to have the NHS! Mind you, i think the care you may get from the vet is ten times better than human healthcare, if i needed a vet at the weekend i know i can phone the emergency number and will be put through to one of my vets almost immediately. I know from experience that to see a doctor you may have to wait several hours!