DogPaddle

Where will she sleep, will you be spending alot of time on the beach or in the sun, do you have lyme disease in your area? If you do a lot of hiking etc you pup will eat (and drink) more and keep an eye on her pads. Have fun! My dogs love camping only slightly more than I do!

My brother was "watching" my dogs and they appear to have eaten at least some of a lightbulb. Ack . . . panic! What should I do! [size=2]Aside from kick brother.[/size]

[quote]We lug around raw meat for a Great Dane camping, we just had to shift what we eat. [color=blue]Less meat for us [/color]LOL. [/quote] We don't eat [color=darkblue]any[/color] meat on our trips. It won't keep without a cooler and ice and aside from the weight of a cooler and ice they are horibly unweildly to portage*. Kavik and Zaphod together would eat about 1 1/2 to 3 lbs of food per day - it's not so much the weight of the food, its the weight of the cooler and ice. Does anyone know if unsalted jerkey will keep? My other option is to do a different diet there are plenty that aren't as strict as the Volhardt one and I might be able to do dehydrated versions of them. *Portage - think mosquitoes, black flies, psuedobogs, rocky paths, single plank bridges and hills - lots and lots of hills, with a canoe and all your food, tent, clothes and other gear on your back. Total weight, sans cooler and ice, would be between 175 - 275 lbs or 80 - 125 kgs for two people and two dogs. Portages are ususally between 400m and 2000m and on any given travel day there are 3 - 8 portages. Its fun . . . really . . . no I'm not kidding . . . you should try it.

:( Poor Max, keep us posted.

Competative obedience, therapy dog stuff, carting, weight pull, kicksledding and of course SAR.

Crate training, someone home most of the time, frequent trips outside, a shedule, eagle eyes and possibly pup attatched to someone by a longish line . . . if I start talking about getting a puppy again, EVER, someone remind me of this, please.

We were at Dairy Queen getting ice cream and had Kavik with us, we had already got our order and were sitting at the outdoor tables. Some guy came by with a plain cone and gave it to the dog and told us we were mean for not getting him a treat too (he was teasing of course.) Kavik adores ice cream by the way. K - that is a lovely storey.

:o :lol:

Thanks Roo. 4 - ooops, I had thought there were only three, I'll check them out.

Thanks Kiger :kciuki:

If your mom has bonded with him and wants to keep him and is going to do right by him (cookies aside) and you haven't bonded with him, maybe its for the best. Either way you should sit down and get it all talked out plainly so everyone knows what to expect. If you are going to keep him yourself and take him with you when you go - I wouldn't worry too much about bonding, it will come, probably sneak up on you and you won't know what hit you.

There is a grouping of three Belgian dogs, all originally sheepherders. I have heard wonderful things about them but its all sort of a mishmash. I would love to hear from people who actually own/have owned/have personal experience with. . . Carol?

You will, almost certainly, move out of your parents house in the next 10 years - What will happen to Coal then, Is he expected to go with you or no?

Shara - Pik is in an "in-between phase" right now. I'm sure he'll eventually figure out what it is he is [i]in between[/i] and get on with getting somewhere in paticular. :niewiem: :) Currently he is living with family and they have no internet there. I will be sure to pester him to post on his visits here though.

Pik is 'hanging his hat elsewhere' but is doing no worse than when he moved. He will be visiting this evening, I'll let him know you asked about him.

Hmmm, been reading some more and I have come across a problem: I often go on canoe trips that last between 3 days to 2 weeks. There is no electricity and dragging a cooler full of ice and food over 2k portages with a canoe on my head doesn't sound like fun so I've never done it and hope not to. Consequently during trips I eat no meat (well occaisionally jerky but that barely counts) no dairy except old hard waxed cheese and after the first 3-6 days no fresh fruit or veggies. In fact on many trips most of my food is reconstituted dehy and dried fruit and nuts and stuff. Last time we took Kavik he carried his own kibble (real high protien, high fat stuff to keep him going) and ate some of each of our meals. This Volhard diet discourages switching back and forth between kibble and raw but it also pretty much requires refrigeration. Suggestions?

I was checking out a job futures web site and the average vet makes more than the average doctor, in fact only dentists make more than vets and not by much. Animal lovers my butt! I bet at least half of them are in it for the cash. I'm glad I've got a decent vet at least.

I just went to the pet supply store and got some new toys. [color=red][size=6]$60 [/size][/color]- how did that happen?! :o :hmmmm: Hmmm . . . Kavik is now uncrated when we go out for 4 hours or less and Zaphod is working on it. They are ok if the house is extremely tidy and there are NO temptations. I though some extras toys would help. So I got another [color=orange]kong toy [/color]and another [color=green]rope toy [/color]and of course another [color=yellow]tennis ball [/color]and then I thought a chew toy would be great so I got one of those [color=darkblue]tire toys [/color]and while I was there I though I'd get a [color=red]frizbee[/color] for when we play outside and then I thought - oh the poor kitties aren't going to have the run of the place anymore so they'll stay upstairs mostly so I got them some toys too - [color=olive]catnip[/color], a [color=violet]fuzzy mouse on a spring stand[/color], some [color=orange]loose fuzzy mice[/color] and a [color=red]string toy[/color]. . . yep that's how it happened. :niewiem: :lol:

I'm very excited now. We have decided on the Volhard diet I think (in part because no one seems to carry the Pitcairn book or have it in stock around here), [i]I have Holistic Guide for a Healthy Dog[/i] and another book for comparison. The second book is a very simple diet without much in the way of supplements - [i]Better Food for Dogs[/i]. I think we will use some of their stuff for when we are visiting family or on canoe trips. We will be starting in just over two weeks. :D My mom still has to find out from the vet if Abby's crystals or from low or high PH but I think the vet will be a great help, he suggested the raw food diet (eventually) to my mom and provided her with a supplement powder free of charge. (I've got to find out what's in that.) Thanks so much to everyone for their help

As many of you know Tyr was disagnosed with 4rth grade HD (pretty much as bad as it gets) at 9 months or so. What we learned from our wonderful vet really might help owners of dogs with HD or people considering adopting dogs with HD. Many dogs with HD symptoms prior to 1yr of age find that the symptoms are greatly reduced after 18 months. Even in 4rth grade HD cases, symptoms can be controlled with simple uncoated aspirin. Glucosamine and Chondroitan, less then 10ml/per day will eliminate many symptoms in many dogs. A simple surgery, costing around $500 Canadian, will eliminate most symptoms in many dogs. This surgery involves removing some muscle from the inside of the dogs thigh which takes pressure of the joint. In old age (say 8-11 for breeds such as German Shepherds) symptoms may worsen to the point where euthanization may need to be considered. This is still a good life span with a good quality of life. The average shortening of life span for the above reasons would be approximately 15%. Many dogs with HD can lead reasonably active, certainly comfortable lives with very little cost or extra effort from their famalies. I have bursitis in my hips and shoulders, I treat my bursistis with aspirin. I developed bursitis at 10. If you were to ask me if my life was worth living I would easily tell you yes. If you where to ask me if I would mind living only 85% of a normal human life span in a touch of pain now and then or if I would like to be put down now - I would certainly opt for as much time as I could get. I don't see how my dog is any different.

[quote]Get well soon Abbey! [/quote] Thanks Nadooshkinz!

[quote]Have you considered Solid Gold Mmellinia? It really is an awesome food with a moderate calorie level around 450/cup[/quote] I love Mmillenia, it did wonders for the boys coats. It does however have a little bit higher protein and fat content - its well suited for very active, actively working, performance dogs or maybe adolescent dogs but might be too much for some dogs. Good if you want your dog to put on a touch of weight too I guess.

[quote]I tried to tell him to stop, but it will get more wild after that...[/quote] Sounds like someone doesn't like to be told what to do. Could be some dominance issues that need to be dealt with or maybe he just thinks your playing along when you tell him no?

Things the dogs have destroyed -the ropes out of 5 kongs and 2 puppy kongs (never the adult kongs though) -the paint on one 4inch/10cm section of baseboard near the door to the yard which the dogs lick off if I don't notice they want out -hand made, well used and much loved, mead mug -underwear and socks of course -enough tennis balls to supply a public school -three frizbees -a few stuffed animals but they were the dogs anyway -more paper and tissue than I care to remember -the end of a 100ft ethernet cable -the tv remote and [color=green]THE EXACT SAME TV REMOTE REPLACEMENT I WENT TO SO MUCH TROUBLE TO GET[/color] And last but not least (and by the way I think this demonstrates the border collie work ethic nicely) the [color=blue]very neat[/color], [color=darkblue]perfectly triangular [/color]shaped hole in the [color=blue]extreme bottom right corner[/color], with all the [color=darkblue]edges cleanly trimmed[/color] away of the baby gate meant to keep him in the kitchen (He is perfectly capable of jumping/climbing it but I guess he wanted to make a point.) [color=red]The only thing I truly lament is the mead mug. My brother is sort of upset about the tv remote though . . . it was his.[/color] :angel:

In addition to all the great advise so far I would like to mention the following: - the new dog may eat as much as your other two put together depending on how active he is - yearly shots, heartworm, flea treatment etc - find out if your vet gives a group discount - I am easily able to walk my two dogs on a leash and splitter but I never could walk all three easily by myself As for HD concerns - after talking with my vet and working with Tyr I would not be too concerned. We had three in a house smaller than yours with a yard smaller than yours and yes it was some work and yes sometimes you couldn't just walk straight through the house without stepping in drool, dog toy, doghair creatures or dog (ok maybe never) but I loved it.