imported_Cassie

Tammy my condolences to you :(

It has been so busy these past 2 weeks! Between the kennel, vet clinic and grooming facility I think I am losing my mind :o I have been so tired lately I have been creating work for myself. At the boarding kennel my boss has a compound for her own dogs off her back door...off her kitchen. Any way it has been cold her in Canada and the poop has been frozen with snow mixed in. I picked up poop bagged it and proceeded to come back in through her kitchen to put it in the poop bin outside her front door. I don't know where my mind has been, but, I saw some dirty dishes sitting on the counter...by mistake forgot what I was carrying and set the bag of poop on the kitchen table :o :oops: I put the dishes into the dishwasher...forgot about the bag of poop (why I put it on the kitchen table...I do not know). Went down to the boarding kennel finished up what I was doing and went home...mean while the poop is thawing on the kitchen table :oops: My boss called me last night laughing (thank goodness she has a good sense of humor) she told me that from now on could I please put the poop in the poop container. I was a little miffed, thinking I always put it in the poop container...what are you talking about. She then proceeded to tell me how she came home to a thawed runny bag of poop on her kitchen table. Since there was snow in the bag and the poop had been frozen it leaked out all over the kitchen :oops: I am sooooo embarrassed. To top it off, I was feeding the pups...we currently have 8 Newfoundland pups at the house. I had 3 big round dishes of watered down mashed kibble...I tripped going downstairs and dropped all 3 dishes. :oops: Also, I was hosing out runs the other day, blistering cold out...I dropped the hose to pick up some poop I hadn't seen before starting and sprayed myself in the face...my face coat and pants were soaked.. I think I am so tired I am creating work for myself :-? we have been working long hours at the grooming facility and then I stop at the boarding kennel on my way home to care for all the dogs in boarding. Oh yes, and as a side note my boss at the kennel just recently found out her favorite house dog has bone cancer :( he was top Newf in Canada a few years back. They amputated his toe, but, we all know how bone cancer spreads :(I gave her the article from the Whole Dog Journal on feed the dog starve the cancer...but, I don't think she is going to follow the diet suggestions :( I also gave her an article on Artemisinin (anti malaria treatment) people have had great success using this in the treatment of cancer....but, she is not interested in this product either. I feel bad for the dog, but, he is not mine and there is nothing more I can do. Her other housedog has a heart problem, I suggested Hawthorne or Co-enzyme Q-10...she is not interested in these either. She is from the old school and does not believe in any of these hokey pokey holistic ideas. Any way, you guys will either be able to relate to my horrible week or at least get a few laughs at my expense. :lol: (except of course the health problems...) Have a Merry Christmas every one. I may not be on line for the remainder :wink: :D

[quote]Well ok Cassie, you may have had the name first but I had it second[/quote] :lol: :lol: :lol: :wink:

DP, just as a side note regarding the name Kavik. I had a Husky/Shepherd mix 27 years ago named Kavik. I too named my dog after the lead in the movie/book. :D :wink:

[quote]Just to update everyone on Kavik. I think it is the Innova dog food causing the gassy intestines I fed him only the Innova dog food mixed with Innova canned last night and he started salavating and licking about an hour afterward. Im changing him back to his wellness today to make sure. The pills the vet gave me work great for the gas. I also gave him some yogurt last night before bedtime.[/quote] [b]Quote by Matty[/b] How terrifying: o This is one topic that scares me to death. I currently own 4 bloat prone breeds. Matty, I would agree with you that it is the Innova which is causing the excess gas. Looking at my booklet for EVO and looking at my current bags of Innova I see the first ingredient is Turkey. Turkey is known to cause gas in many dogs. At the Vet clinic I work at; we have more cases of bloat during thanksgiving and Christmas due to owners feeding Turkey to their dogs. It is wonderful you figured out what was causing your dog to have excess gas. Perhaps stick with foods that contain no turkey in them. I would also follow the advice your veterinarian gave you to watch out for gas causing vegetables as well

Of course its proper Etiquette. What people forget is when you have your dog groomed we groom the whole dog...not just it's head. We have to dematt, clean ears, clip nails, brush out, and brush out all the undercoat. [quote]Today I got Zebra groomed. The cost was 65 for a haircut (no bath)[/quote] Isnt Zebra a double coated dog? if so, without a bath thats an even BIGGER job. People don't realize how much work a groomer puts into their dog. With a bath we can get the undercoat out much quicker and much better. I've seen us speand 5 hours on a Newf and charge $60.00 Canadian...some people don't appreciate the work you put into the dog. The people who tip are the ones you are going to go a little bit more out of your way for. I find this amusing as one of my friends just had her hair trimmed and highlighted and it cost her 80.00 plus tax, plus a tip. She was only there for 2 hours. One more thing we find at the grooming facility...rich people count the pennies and don't give a dime extra (in some cases, not all). The working class people and some of our clients who can relate to how hard we work are the ones who tip.

[quote]So let me get this straight: A dog has to actually EAT/INGEST an infected flea to get tapeworms right?[/quote] Right :wink: [quote]So if a dog's bitten by a flea can they get them from the flea that way too?[/quote] No, a flea cannot transmit tapeworm by biting your dog. The dog has to eat/ingest the flea or flea larvae. [quote]trying to figure out how Frontline is supposed to prevent tapeworms if a flea has to bite the dog to die. Seems like thatt bite, even if it kills the flea, could transmit the worm eggs.....Does that make sense? [/quote] Since fleas are not transmitted by flea bites and only by your dog eating the infected flea or flea larvae....what you are trying to do is eliminate the fleas from your dogs environment.

HF, what a shame. :( I know this isnt going to help much, but...when my bitch comes into heat I send my intact boys back to the kennel to stay with the breeder. This is when I had the 2 intact males, now I just have the one...any how, my group of dogs gets along famously...until they have to restructure themselves. When the 2 boys are gone my little Dobie mix Beau tends to be the ladies man. When the boys come home they have a few sessions with Beau to put him back in line then life carries on as usual. Beau usually backs down after a day or 2 some times it takes a week...then he goes back to his old ways of catering to the boys :wink:

Kat, what a hilarious story! :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

Don't get yourself panicked over a tapeworm. I couldn't count the amount of times over the years my animals have gotten worms. Just keep in mind that tapeworms can only affect you if you eat the intermediate host. So, if your in a habit of eating fleas, lice and or rodents then I would be concerned :lol: :wink: This is part of the life cycle of the tapeworm, they develop in the intestine of the host (your dog or cat) the pods of eggs come out the anus. They fresh sacks can move and do have their own reproductive system. The sack dries up and then looks like a peice of dried rice it is when it dries up it breaks and lets loose the eggs. A flea, louse or rodent comes along and eats the eggs and the eggs mature into larvae in the intermediate host...then a dog is licking it's hind end and swallows a flea and there the tapeworm becomes an adult. This is just a brief summary on the Taenia tapeworm which is the most common dog tape worm. There are all kinds of types of tapeworms or breeds...each having a different intermediate host and host. For worming my dogs I give them a Drontal plus wormer, this is great as it kills Roundworms, Hookworms, Whipworms, Taeniid tapeworms, Flea Tapeworms and Echinococcus granulosus tapeworms...then I follow up 2 weeks later with strongid T to kill any roundworms (if any) for tapeworm you don't have to follow up in 2 weeks one worming is enough. :wink: So, don't let it bother you that Dresden picked up a tapeworm. It happens to every one with pets at one time or another.

Thank you TDG. I must sound like such a novice when it comes to food. I know the basics...but, it really made me cautious when the Innova rep in my area...I don't know if I should call her a rep, she just sells the food in her store. It wasn't a comment I was expecting from a person who is selling the food. I try to do the best for my dogs...it makes sense about the higher protein to help a dog loose weight. I forgot that when I am trying to loose weight I cut back on useless carbs like white bread etc. I am going to order in a few bags...she gave me some samples and my dogs loved it. As for the expense, yes, it is going to start adding up$ :lol: I have been very fortunate thus far as the breeder of my Newf's was buying and providing all food for the Newf's...I only had to worry about my non Newf dogs. She will only provide me with Eukanuba as she still lives in this bubble where it is the best and only food to feed. Mean while her whole kennel of Newf's are suffering from skin problems, hot spots, chewing paws, ear infections...you name it. I believe all these problems to be food related. I am now on my own feeding my Newf's...the only problem is she still legally owns the Newf's so she has been providing me with Eukanuba without fail when ever she thinks I may be getting low. My basement now looks like a warehouse...I am too frightened to tell her that I no longer feed this food as she may just take back her dogs. I doubt it, but, it is at the back of my mind. :lol: what a weird perdicament to get yourself into...I have a hard time trying to get my opinion on dog food across to all my dog expert friends...there fore I just keep my mouth closed and do research on my own. Think it would be sneaky of me to drop off all the Eukanuba at the local shelter??? or would this be like stealing??? :-? :D

I meant to add, usually there are signs that will signify a person may be growing drugs or selling. If growing Marijuana in the house (In Canada it's pretty difficult to grow out doors unless in the summer). They can tell some one is growing Marijuana in the house due to the unusually high hydro being used. The hydro companies will report very unusual high usage to the police dept to check into. In my area this is how 80% of drug growers are caught. Another give away is the amount of company you have and the length of time they stay. If neighbors report that another neighbor has a lot of guests during the day and throughout the night and they only seem to stay a few minutes...this is also a give away for a drug dealer. I think (not really sure) that most drug busts are done without the Canine unit ( in home drug bust). They would catch the perp with a small amount on them...then they would bring the Canine unit in. I have a few friends who are cops and they usually wait until after the house is cleared out to look for the stash. Most drug houses have a couple of dogs and it

HF, you are a saint in the dog world :wink: how lucky those dogs are to be in your care. In my current situation and having rescued a malnourished underweight Dobie...it is difficult to keep weight on the dog. They are high energy and do have a high metabolism. I find with my Dobe's, past and present any stress or change in routine or environment would have them drop weight very quickly. With a Dobe I owned years ago (Heidi) she was perfect weight until I had to go away for several weeks and leave her boarding at her original breeder

Katrina I currently have a bitch in heat and she is driving my neutered male Dobie mix Beua crazy :roll: not in the sense of the wonderful scent she gives off but the fact she is riding him and sticking her butt in his face every chance she gets :lol: she stands there flagging him and poor Beau is getting very confused as he doesn

I asked my local representative about EVO Innova dog food. She said she can order it in specially for me, but, she was a little hesitant as she said the protein level was much too high for most dogs. She stated that it can cause problems with the kidneys? I was thinking of switching my Dobie mix; which by the way is a high energy dog and hard to keep weight on. The other dog I am thinking of switching is my Rottweiler, I am a little wary of switching her to a high protein as she is currently over weight and a very difficult dog to get weight off. She gets out for 3 hikes a day same as my other dogs and eats less than they do. I guess she has a slower metabolism. My Newfoundland dogs I currently have on California Natural and was thinking of mixing in small amounts of EVO with their food. What do you think TDG, should I just switch my Dobie mix Beau completely over to EVO and perhaps just leave Athena my Rottie on Innovia adult and just put a few sprinkles on top of her food? For my Newf's I don't see any harm in adding the extra food as they do not have weight problems.

I do believe that there are some breeds better suited for first time dog owners than others. But, no matter the predatory level of the dog breed they all require training. People are mislead when they think that a certain breed comes free of problems and will just learn every thing naturally :lol: At the grooming shop I get to see first hand the temperament of breeds under stress. I have never met a Golden Retriever or Lab that I didn't trust...in my 20 years I have never had to muzzle one of these breeds. I would be very very shocked if a Newfoundland dog ever tried to nip while under stress. There are some breeds I don't trust these include some of the more dominant breeds such as Chow's, Rottweilers, APBT's, mainly all terriers...it's funny when you get a snappy terrier on the grooming table you are prepared for it :-? It

We start weaning Newf pups at 3 1/2 weeks of age. We take puppy food and mix with a special milk replacement specially made for pups. It

Newfiemom, if you could meet my boss you would see how she can be such a pushover :lol: she is so non assertive, her customers rule her world. She is a wonderful groomer with talent, but, when it comes to saying no she has a hard time. She tries, but, she comes across as being rude not assertive when she finally does try to be assertive. You should see her when she goes to a dog show :roll: :lol: she has been taking her dogs to get their obedience titles...and a little R&R for herself. She gets to the show and all heck breaks loose. She has her breeder clients asking if she could just trim their dog up a little before going into the ring. Every show she attends she spends grooming Newf's, Bernese Mountain dogs and pyrenees. She just can't say no...its just her personality. You should see some of the Newf's we get in for grooming :roll: oh my, some have been matted solid from ears to tip of tail. Here are some of the great excuses we get for matted dogs. "He stuck his head out the window on the way over :o " "He was out in the snow for a few minutes this morning and got matted" :o "We brush him EVERY DAY :o " we had a little Lhasa come in which the owners groomed daily...the owner of the grooming facility has a policy of humanity before vaniety...she will not put a dog through the torture of dematting huge mats. This little Lhasa was shaved and the groomer kept the well groomed coat for the owners to see when they picked up. The coat was just like shearing a sheep..it came off in one huge matted peice...my boss held it up and just showed it to the owners...she then demonstrated how to properly groom a dog :wink: Its amazing how many people just brush the outer hairs and leave the mats alone :lol:

Here we go :lol: [b]Cassie[/b]: Newfoundland, 9 1/2 years old. Champion in 3 countries and has her CD title as well. [b]Athena[/b]: Rottweiler 5 1/2 years of age. Rescued her, she was left tied out in a back yard with no shelter while her owner was in jail. She had a lot of issues (aggression etc.) I have worked with her and she is now my perfect little angel. Her nickname is precious, if you ever watch Lord of the Rings you will see where she gets her nickname. :evilbat: [b]Dilon:[/b] My male Newf, Champion in 3 countries and just aquired his CD title over the summer. Momma is very proud. :wink: [b]Tori:[/b] My little flirty Newf, one time mother and hopefully never again :roll: Champion in 3 countries...never was able to get an obedience title on her as she was never interested in it. [b]Beau[/b]: Dobie mix; My newest member, I found him half starved and malnourished on the side of the road. Took me 3 months to get him back in shape (enough to get nuetered). He is doing great now and fits in wonderful. [b]Spu[/b]: Domestic short hair kitty, black and sweet. One of my dogs found her by a pond as a kitten. Her eyes were not even open, the other kittens were not so lucky and had drowned....I don't know how Spu ever made it to shore, lucky I guess. It seems the owner must have thrown them over the side of the bridge in a burlap bag to drown them. My little Spu is a survivor. [b]Oreo[/b] Domestic short hair kitty, black and white very strange looking kitty :lol: He was given to me by a friend, their child had developed allergies. [b]Sassy[/b] She is my oldest cat, she is a Domestic long hair. I can't remember exactly how I aquired her. I think I found her on a back road as a kitten (dumped). [b]Misty[/b] Grade mare, was leasing her recently bought her. Misty is a Cattle penner, I actually took her away to play Cattle penning with her...we had a blast. [b]Crystal[/b] Palomino Quarter horse, my friend could no longer afford her so she signed her papers over to me :o I will board both horses for the winter, but, this spring I am building a barn and fencing in some of my pasture land for the horses. They will then live here full time. The new house I bought has huge lawns and pasture land, I decided it was either a ride on mower or horese...the horses won. :lol:

HF, my boss has a huge regular customer base. We are the only groomer's in town who will do large breeds. We are basically set up to do large breeds, plus large breeds are the love of my boss's life. It's nothing for us to have at least 9 Newfoundland dogs in the shop to groom before a show. She also takes care a numerous kennels, keeping the dogs in shape for showing and in a show clip. She is quite in demand, no one else in our area does show clips. The other groomer's also do not take on the large breeds as you tend to loose money on them. You can whip through a lot of smaller breeds compared to one Newf. My boss also had a message on her phone that she is no longer taking new customer's. She recently changed that when she hired the new groomer...she is trying to establish a clientel for her. This groomer is wonderful, she has been grooming for over 10 years and ran her own grooming shop in BC, Canada. She is gentle with the dogs and gives them time outs like we do when they seem to be getting stressed. We never have a slack time throughout the year. It dies off only slightly after Christmas. DivineOblivion19, I forgot all about the vet clinic's and the squeeze me in for booster vaccines for boarding people :lol: yikes, I don't know which ones are worse. Kat, every holiday brings about the antsy owners. As HF mentioned they seem to let their dogs go and then expect us to get the dog looking great for any holiday. I really think most of our clients with Shelties wait until the poop is so caked on the dog's rear that the dog needs to be groomed just to go to the bathroom :-?

My friend who breeds Newfoundland dogs is experiencing the same problem with her dogs. She currently has 7 dogs at the kennel and every single one of them has hot spots and skin conditions. Even her 8-month-old pup is having skin problems and hot spots. She works at a Vet clinic so the dogs receive top of the line conventional treatments. It just makes me wonder as you mentioned you feed Eukanuba, that is what she feeds her dogs as well. I have 3 of her Newf's and I have no skin problems at all only one of my dogs has experienced a hot spot and that is my old girl Cassie (she actually had lick dermentititis brought on from stress...I had just lost 2 Newf's due to problems). Its just odd that both of you are experiencing the same problems. First she blamed it on the environment and through precautions in that regard. She used antibiotics and skin topical's. She then blamed it on the shampoo, we were using A-1 all systems at the time. She then thought that perhaps she wasn't getting all the shampoo out. She brushed these dogs daily and they had little undercoat...you can take a fine toothcomb to these dogs at any time. It was not due to mats, as the dogs do not have any. The dogs are always blown completely dry, I don't bother blowing my dogs out completely dry and I have never had a hot spot :D perhaps the dogs skin was being dried out by too much bathing and blow drying so she stopped bathing the dogs every 4 weeks. Still no success, to this day she has still have problems with her dogs. She also has problems with breeding, her bitches half the time don't take. They all have to be Artificially inseminated...the males cannot breed naturally :roll: Im sorry to go on, but, it just sounds so much like my friends problems...the only difference she will not listen to a word I say as I am just the lower class help at the kennel :-? We all know that hot spots are a combination of different problems. Diet, exercise, proper grooming, stress. You sound like you know all the in's and out's regarding nutrition etc. of course I would definitely be taking the dogs off Eukanuba, it just seems much too coincidental that yourself and my friend are experiencing the same problems. Try to get more omega 3 fatty acids in the dogs diet. I add canned sardines to my dog

Norzilla, you are making each breed out to sound like they are a separate species within the Canine world :-? You do realize that Neapolitan Mastiffs and all other purebreds come from mixed breeds or mongrels as their forefather's. I find it really silly to try to analyze a mutt or mongrel, perhaps its a purebred mongrel?? you do know that all of our current purebreds come from mongrel descendants or races of dogs. I have seen many purebred dogs have throwbacks from their mixed parentage. Take Newf's for example, I had a purebred Newf in at the kennel I work at which had a very slight build shorter coat, and no jowls. The dog did not drool at all. So, for me to say that all Newf's drool, or that all Newf's have a love for water is very inaccurate...I have 3 Newf's at home (purebred, champions in 3 countries) which will not go near the water. I have a nice swimming brook in my backyard and I live by the ocean. My Rottweiler loves to swim, but, not my Newf's. So, for me to say that you know you have a Newf if it loves the water would be highly inaccurate. It's OK, to discuss what possible breeds may be in a mutt or mongrel. It's even helpful when you have a Vet appointment/grooming or boarding so the person will have a general idea of the size of the dog coming in or the coat they will have to groom. But, to sit here and actually tell someone what his or her dog has in it is a little off the wall. There is such a thing as a purebred mongrel, the only difference is a kennel club hasn

We are now working 6 days a week at the grooming shop. Normally my boss is only open 5 days a week. The Christmas rush is on, my boss has been booked up for Christmas a year ahead of time. Most of her regular clients book their next Christmas appointment during their last Christmas appointment. Any way, there are a lot of clients who leave it

My dogs are allowed loose in my yard; most of my yard is fenced in. I also have 16 acres, which I walk with them off lead. I put them in the fenced in area when I am not there to supervise, but, when I am out with them I will do yard work with them loose...I live way out in the boonies and don't have many neighbors to worry about...I would only worry about a couple of my dogs with high chase motor pattern to chase an object and possibly ignore my recall...even though their recalls are wonderful...you can never be too sure what is going to interest your dog more...you or a rabbit :wink: They are also off lead at my place of work. At the boarding kennel my boss has 2 acres of land fenced off with 9-foot high panels. I put her dogs out with my dogs, its great for the social interaction. I don't allow my dogs off lead anywhere there is busy traffic or children playing. Although all of my dogs are great with their obedience and their recalls are 100%...there is always that one time when some thing may be of more interest to the dog than my calling him/her back to me. :wink: My Newf's are big dogs and although I know they would never harm any one...but, they could unintentionally knock some one over. With my Rottie she has a high prey drive and due to predatory drift I would never trust a dog with high prey drive around running screaming children, cars or any fast moving objects...you can never be sure your dog is not looking at the children as little prey objects. It

First off, what are you feeding your dog? My first recommendation would be to find a natural home made diet you could follow. You could also try some of the hypoallergenic foods out on the market. A friend of mine with a white boxer who had many allergies switched to California Naturals with great success. When a dog has ear infections it is often times the result of an underlying problem. Allergies, yeast build up in the body and bacteria can all result in ear infections. I would also add probiotics (friendly bacteria found in natural yogurts that state live bacteria) is a great food source to add to your dogs diet. I would also give the dog more omega 3 fatty acids which can be found in hemp oil, flax seed oil (or as I like to use organic ground flax seeds which I grind at home in a coffee grinder), Wild pacific canned salmon is a good source as well. There are many wonderful books out there that are great starters for a natural homemade diet. Dr Pitcairns book Natural health for dogs and cats is a good book to start with. I am sure others will have lots of suggestions for you in the regards to good books to read. A good suggestion for a nasty ear infection from an article in WDJ Use a combination of boric acid and an ointment called Pellitol. Boric acid dries and acidifies the ear. Yeast and bacteria are opportunistic organisms that die in a dry, acidic environment. They thrive where it's moist, dark, and alkaline. Place 2-3 pinches of boric acid powder in each infected ear unless it is ulcerated, bleeding or painful. Being acidic boric acid might irritate open wounds. In that case just use the Pellitol alone. Otherwise, a pinch or two of boric acid is an effective preliminary treatment. Boric acid is toxic; shield the dog