Gnasher

Just seen this - so sorry

Gnasher has been having acupuncture for spinal pain for over four years now and it really helps him. We were initially asked to try three consecutive weekly sessions and warned that initially it might make him worse but that is usually a sign that it is working so not to worry too much if it did. He had previously been on metacam which did not really help with the pain but was clearly happier the day after his first acupuncture session and the following two - we then switched to sessions whenever I felt he needed it and have kept him pretty much pain free for four years like that. I am insured with petplan and they pay for it with no problems. His problems have got a lot worse this year and he is starting to lose the feeling in his back legs so we are seeing specialist vets too at the moment but the acupuncture still seems to be helping keep him mobile and pain free so we are sticking with that too.

Very rarely reply here - but you do realise they are film cameras don't you not digital

Oh no so sorry to hear lovely Lucy is poorly It sounds like the tablets are doing the trick so hopefully she will be back to full health very soon

I used to do agility at an indoor riding school place years ago and the poo eating was the main hazard but they also insisted on people having an up to date tetanus jab due to the increased risk due to the horses not sure if there is an increased risk but that was their rule at the time

So sorry

So sorry

Gnasher who is an eight year old collie/terrier type cross has recently been diagnosed with degenerative disc disease, he has several areas on his back where the disc is causing pressure on his spine and causing him a loss of sensation in his back legs causing him to be drag his leg at times and be generally clumsy and not fully aware of what his back legs are doing Surgery is not an option for him at the moment (and probably won't be) so I am doing whatever I can to minimise damage and help him. At the moment this includes wearing a coat to keep his back warm, a magnetic collar, acupuncture when his back is hurting him, joint aid supplement, attempting to minimise his jumping (as much as you can with a collie/terrier ) and last week we have started swimming as well Has anyone got any experience or other suggestions which might help my lovely lad

So sorry

So sorry

Glad she seems a bit better this time. In theory animals are meant to be sleepy after a session (although Gnasher never has been) so hopefully she will be better still tomorrow after a good nights sleep

I know when Gnasher started acupuncture the vet asked me to have three sessions before I made my mind up about whether to continue or not. He also said that some dogs can get worse initially but if they do that is actually quite a good sign that the acupuncture is stimulating the correct areas and should be able to bring about improvements. For each of those three initial sessions he was a bit better than he had been before. We did have one session last year where he had not been too bad before the session and was definitely worse afterwards - I took him back for another session and that sorted him and thankfully that is the only time we have had that problem. Hope Mollydog is better after her next session.

Gnasher-dog always wears a harness and a coat in winter and I have found works much better with the harness over the coat - that way it just seems to hold the coat on a bit better whereas if the harness is under the coat it seems to pull the coat about a bit as the attachment on the harness moves slightly from side to side hope that makes sense

Not sure if you have anywhere around that might offer it but Gnasher has been treated for the last three years with acupuncture for his back pain - we have to go every 4-6 weeks but it does keep him pretty pain free.

I met Maggi a few times a good few years ago well before MR and she seemed to have good intententions. BUT the problems I have been reading about have gone well beyond something that can be cleared up with a good sweep round and disinfect. Dogs were homed in a condition where they could barely stand and dogs returned as seriously ill were left until the following day to receive veterinary care - in the case of one dog he died for that reason - this was a dog struggling to breathe - there have been many comments about where this poor dog did spend his final night but it has not been disputed that a dog this ill was not taken straight to the vets as he certainly should have been. It is great to hear that comments have been taken on board and conditions appear to have improved but it concerns me that another incident like this could occur as I am just not confident Maggi has the necessary experience to really understand what she is seeing and doing. That dogs were homed in very poor condition like Mia and that poor Pip died are not disputed - they are fact and I have not seen that fact addressed anywhere. That seems to me to have been either basic neglect or lack of knowledge and either are equally dangerous. I have no doubt that dogs were homed in good condition from MR and also no doubt that conditions were found to be good when you visited - however - there are more properties involved than were inspected and I have also heard about dogs in poorer condition being moved out of sight before visits so I am not 100% convinced that this means all is as well as it should be. Do the dogs you saw there match up with the dogs MR is advertising for rehoming? I can't see a rottie on the website? Did you ask about dogs such as Pip and Mia and can those answers be shared? Does Maggi admit to there being a crisis point with so many dogs being ill at the time this all came to light? Please don't let this become yet another "our forum is better than yours" row - there have been far too many of those in the past and I for one fail to see how that is even vagually relevant to anything in this matter.

So sorry Wendy

Lots of good thoughts for Charliegoo hope he is soon feeling much better

Only just spotted this - well done to both of you

Blimey - well done Charliegoo

Try this link for t-touch practioners: t-touch My chap used to be set off by anything even slightly unusual and anyone he came across suddenly, if they came out of a gate suddenly he would bark lots We have done lots of walking in various areas but me attempting to always stay within his comfort levels. We have also gone to training classes where he has met lots of people and started to learn that people can be good. I avoid shouty or unpredictable people as much as I possibly can Not too sure what you mean by berating him for barking at strangers - if he is anxious any sort of telling off will make him more nervous - we use a "hey look at those nice people doing odd things" type of voice - if he finds it too much and barks I think I have overdone it by pushing him too far - it is me that needs berating not him

Wow - well done Jayne

I can thoroughly recommend t-touch - I also own a small black dog who was pretty scared of people and did the whole barky lungy act when things scared him. Through t-touch I was able to help him learn to be more calm and assess situations properly rather than just kick off. From being a nightmare to take anywhere he has turned into a dog I can now take out and mostly rely on him behaving himself. I agree with keeping him on a long line with a muzzle. How does he react to people normally - can you just sit somewhere quietly with him and watch the world go by whilst feeding him titbits so he can start to learn people are not always a threat to him.

I hope I would be brave enough to do what is best for the dog. My first dog Frankie had been well loved for his first five years then handed back to the dogs trust as he had epilepsy. For months though whenever we took him for a walk he checked out every person we saw clearly looking for his old owners - it took a long time for him to stop looking and I think only at that stage did he really become mine. Gnasher on the other hand was very badly treated before I got him and no way would I have let him return to that.

Only just seen this - hope Saffy is OK now

Ouch - hope you are soon feeling much better. I always ended up with tons of bruises when I unloaded the flyball box - they are a touch heavy