Angie Black

I had a similar experience with Pepper however it did turn out to be arthritis. Anti inflamatories for a week, light execise and Cod Liver oil for the long term has helped a great deal. I also used a magnetic collar with a previous dog which meant we could lower the dose of Rimadyl.

Hi Sue and Ed, Penny and I are doing fantastic thx. So glad she's had a full proper season before we got her dressed too. I was n't 100% comfortable getting her done before this so its worked out great. We can set a deffinate date now too - 3 months from the first day of her season so it'll be late April she is due for the big op. We had a week of spotting and have now got real blood so I think we are half way through the 2nd week ( I hope ) Yes very dilligent lol... no way I could cope with a litter of Pennys. She is a pet and will not be bred so deffinateley getting her dressed. Poor Pennys a bit down and prefers getting off leash to run around mad, but not taking any chances. Its only for 3 weeks of her life. ( then again after her op for 2 weeks :eek: )

Way hey !!!!!!! Penny is having her first full season. She is nearly 16 months old however I've now learned this is not at all uncommon. Many thx.

My vet and I are both happy with Penny's development now. I was initially concerned but it seems it was my lack of knowledge about BC that was the problem not Penny. I've learned a lot and am absolutley fascinated by the breed now. I'll need many years and a lot of experience to learn all there is to know but we're both doing well. Hi Brookcove 2, I'm sorry I don not know anything about Pennys breedining or why she came into this world but I dont think it was a planned breeding by the shepherd and it certainally was n't for making large amounts of money. ( I'm curious myself ) I was the one at fault though and went into it blind, I took the risks and purchased the puppy. I belive Penny is meant to be here with and would nt change her at all but I've learned a lot and i'll take more care in the future if looking for a pup. I think it will definately be another BC next time too. I'll leave this post alone now, just wanted to update everyone and say thx. Hope it is helpfull to some other worried mummy's. Many thanks to everyone that has helped and offered advice. Much appreciated.

ok ....dressing Penny in Febuary has had to be cancelled !!! We've got spotting again .... more than previously so maybe this time Penny will have a full season. She's totally mad and hormones all over the place so need to rescedule her getting dressed till end of April now. :confused:

Just wanted to update on Penny and thank everyone and hopefully this post can help or reasure others too. Penny is 65 weeks and still has odd days with spotting but no sign off a full season. The vet has examined her again and has said, she is larger internally than 3 months ago and has agreed to dress her next month so long as there is no spotting in between. Its been worrying and Penny is deffinately slower to develop than any of our other none BC's. Many thanks everyone and I guess the moral of the story with a BC is to be patient.

No, I'm afraid I've not and to be honest ....don't think I could stomach it lol. :eek: Come to think of it , my friends husband works on a farm and when the cows are done, the bits removed are tossed to the dogs. No way - not for me or my dogs for that matter .... I'm sticking to food from a bag or tins lol.

Awww, that was so easy with my well trained, well behaved dog lol. Penny is 20 inches exactly. 16.6kg and 60 weeks old. Seems perfect, just need to keep her weight steady now and we're laughing.

Hi Tassie, poor Penny would n't be able to walk with another 10kg on her lol. She had never been skinny or lanky and i feel she is perfect just now, maybe 1 or 2 kg lighter in an ideal world as she is still very young and has not yet been dressed. I'll make a new post soon about feeding as I don't want her to gain any more weight. Maybe its time to change food again. The measuring explanation was perfect thx, I had a rough idea but was n't 100% sure. I'll measure her and let you know lol. I'm positive, she's pretty small for her age. OMG ...... I'm sorry but the lambs tails sound absolutely revolting lol. I used to feed Pepper and Penny pigs ears bought from the pet shop and that was bad enough. I stopped as they were chewing them soggy and swallowing them whole. I suppose lambs tails are just something else disgusting that goes with owning a BC. I've never heard of it before, sorry lol. Thanks for all your help.

Hi Tassie, Your deffinately right, Penny is massively over weight !!!!lol. She is 16.6 kg not 26.6kg ( sorry but thx for spotting my mistake because I did n't ) ok, I've still been rumbled !!! I admit it ... Penny is getting tubby. I had Penny weighed a few weeks ago as I felt she had more than enough weight on her. I recon she's only going to grow another inch, maybe two and she is quite small. She was weighed with her soft all the time collar and her outside half choker and her lead on which does weigh a fair bit. She was ready to bolt for the door so I did n't fuss and tried to calm her and make it an uneventfull, painless vet visit. The vet was happy with her weight but advised, not to put on a single pound more. She's not over weight but she can't afford to get heavier. She is due in for her jags next week so I'll re weigh her again without the collars . She has never been through a skinny or long legged stage while growing. Pennys mum was quite small and the father a little bigger but I would n't say they were big. How exactly do you measure a dog ? ( No wonder you thought Penny was over weight ... I'm sorry. Pepper, our non BC was 30kg but is shedding loads and is 20 something kg. I've been concentrating on Peppers weight going down which is where I've obviously got confused ) OMG .... Lambs tails ??? That does not even bear thinking about :eek: Penny once ate a dead field mouse and that was bad enough. Many thx for your help and sorry about my mistake.

Hi Sue and Ed, We are doing brilliantly thx, Penny is very cheeky and will always be a handfull. It'll be a year on the 21st of December since we got her and although its been an eventfull year, we've not had anything major go wrong .... no major health, injuries or behavioural problem so we've been very lucky. Considering she is our first BC, and I new very little about them when we got her, I'm very pleased and more than happy with her. Looking forward to many happy years together. Its been a vey chaotic year for us which is why I've not been on the boards for a while and I cant plan anything deffinate for next week let alone next year but we will deffinately need to stay in touch and it would be great to meet up when you come over. Thanks again from myself and wee Penny. ( I need to learn to post pictures because she really is still small for her age.)

Just wanted to post an update on Penny and thank everyone for their help and advice. Penny is perfectly fine. She is and has been perfectly capable of holding her bladder fine for a while. I think it was more a case of .... she did n't want too, despite her knowing it was wrong. The vet has said she is slow to develop however resticting her playing in the pond had the biggest impact. No infection was ever detected so I'm guessing it was more to do with a chill. Penny was asking out early morning but suddenly, she became terrified of something in the garden and refused to go out. This fear got worse and worse and she would hang on to her bladder till daylight rather than go out. Several months have passed and she still has a fear of something outside although much milder than before, but I am totally baffled as to what it is. Penny has gone right through the night for months now but after swimming last weekend, she had an accident two nights running again. I don't suppose I'll ever definately really know the cause of Penny's initial problems however she is now fine which is the main thing. The swimming deffinately is a contributing factor though. Many thanks to everyones help and advice.

Hi Sue and Ed, Sorry not had time to post or read on here for ages. Busy life owning a BC lol. Awww your trip of Scotland sounds fantastic and sounds like you took in loads of the major attractions. My favourite part is up the west coast, Aviemore, Fort William and Oban area, especially Autumn / winter time. If your coming to Glasgow, we'll deffinately need to meet up. Would be great to meet you and of course I'll have you and Ed.

Ahhh fantastic thanxs. Not had time to do much reading on here lately so it was nice to find some replies. I've since spoken to my vet about the problem. He had not heard of the pineapple cure but said it was quite possibly a cure. He did not give me much information and reconed it was an old wives tale that dogs eat their poo as they are lacking in vitamins and stuff and that Penny seemed perfectly healthy. It is probably just a disgusting habit and to research and purchase supplements to add to her food to stop the problem if it persists. I deffinately think suplements would be easier than fresh pineapple. Its interesting to hear your suggestions on feeding and worth keeping in mind. Penny has always been fed a mixture of pedigree chum dry and tins mixed with a little water. We are currently on a mix of adult tins and junior dry food. Penny is 14 months but really quite small in height and weighs 26.6kg .... she is perfect and has not to put on any more weight at present. I've heard about raising their bowl before to stop wind and bloating especially with older dogs. Penny takes twice as long to eat her dinner than Pepper though but I think she swallows her treats whole. They just dissapear. You could be onto something there. I'll break her treats up and try and make her at least taste them and see what happens before we resort to supplements as the problem has deffinately improved. I think with Penny it is just a disgusting habit but she seems to improving with age. I've not caught her in the act recently but her dodgey breath tends to let me know when she's had a nibble. Thank you so much for the advice and hopefully it will be of great help to others on the boards too. Corophagia was not something I had experienced with my dogs before and had never even heard of it before. Many thx.

Sorry, I've not been on here for a while. I wanted to say thanks for everyones help and advice with Penny and to let you know, she is fine When Penny was 12 months, there were a few traces of spotting. Her behaviour was really weird and she became really destructive which was odd. She was ever so slightly swollen and we were convinced it was time for her season but other than her hormones being sky high .... nothing! I took Penny to the vet who examined her. He said it sounded very much like her season all be it very mild, and to take her back in 3 months to be re examined. He said Penny is a little slow to develop and a little small so he did not recomend dressing her till she is a little more mature. Other than being slow, he said she is perfectly fine. I've always felt she was a little slow anyway. Penny is 14 months and again there are a few traces of spotting and again she is a little swollen and her behaviour is weird. I think poor Penny's hormones are all over the place just now but she is deffinately maturing and I don't think it will be long till her full season. Many thanks to everyone,