jenkshipley

This could potenially be giardia. One of my Border Collies developed a swollen abdomen on Thanksgiving night several years ago. I rushed her to the emergency vet. She had very low protein and was leaking fluid from her intestines into her abdomen. I was told it could be many things. It turned out to be due to a very heavy load of giardia. If your vet did not do a stool sample and the liver and kidney values looked okay on the blood work, I'd have him do a fecal immediately. Jen

http://www.backontrackstore.com/ecommerce/dog-products http://www.dogleggs.com/files/hocksock.cfm Best, Jen ADCH Enna TM - Silver, SACH, GCH, SCH, JCH, RCH, MX, MXJ - rescued champion Rising Sun's Hot to the Touch - aka: Fever - retired due to epilepsy Flute AAD, AX, OAJ, OAC, OGC, NAJ - retired Ignited's Molten Rush, aka: Lava - BC puppy in training Kasi EAC,EGC,EJC, OA,OAJ - (1992-2007)

You aren't the first person I have heard say that Frontline has stopped working. My mom using Frontline on her BC/Lab mix and we have pulled engorged deer ticks off of him. I managed to eradicate the tick population in my yard. I used insecticide once and then followed that up with a series of things. Dish soap and water sprayed on the yard and about 20 feet outside of the fenced portion of my property surrounding the yard, bagging and removing the cuttings every time I mow the grass and a cleared perimeter around the fence about 6 foot wide. That doesn't do anything to protect the dogs when I am off my property so I have really limited the areas where I take them and I use natural alternatives which work to some extent. Jen

Googling reactions to Advantix in dogs provides quite a bit of interesting reading. Although that can be said about quite a few of the conventional flea and tick preventatives.

I am not sure. I never asked. I don't use chemical based preventatives anyway. My dog's neurologist, however, recommends Frontline if one is going to be used. I have used both a homeopathic vet and a holistic vet, neither recommend the use of Advantix.

me='jenkshipley' date='Feb 4 2010, 02:51 PM' post='338820'] Yes, same thing. You don't need to protect against mosquitos if you are also using Interceptor. You just need to protect against ticks and fleas. My veterinarian advises against Advantix. Interceptor is fine. Since you have stopped feeding him the other food, just keep an eye on him. If you see anything similar again, I would see your vet. Best, Jen Flute AAD, AX, OAJ, OAC, OGC, NAJ - semi-retired ADCH Enna TM - Silver, SACH, GCH, SCH, JCH, RCH, MX, MXJ - rescued champion Rising Sun's Hot to the Touch - aka: Fever - retired due to epilepsy Ignited's Molten Rush, aka: Lava - BC puppy in training Kasi EAC,EGC,EJC, OA,OAJ - (1992-2007)

I would suggest running a chem panel to make sure his levels are all normal to rule out anything that way. Has he had Interceptor or an application of Advantix in the last week or two prior to the incident. Personally, I think the safest Flea/Tick preventative you can use is Frontline. You want a food without chemical preservatives, where the first one or two ingredients are meat, not meat by products and made by a reputable company. Depending on what you have available to you - Origen and Fromm are very good, Blue Organics is decent, Merrick is okay. This could have been a seizure, but it could also not have been. I would watch him carefully for awhile and, as I said, a chem panel wouldn't hurt. Best, Jen Flute AAD, AX, OAJ, OAC, OGC, NAJ - semi-retired ADCH Enna TM - Silver, SACH, GCH, SCH, JCH, RCH, MX, MXJ - rescued champion Rising Sun's Hot to the Touch - aka: Fever - retired due to epilepsy Ignited's Molten Rush, aka: Lava - BC puppy in training Kasi EAC,EGC,EJC, OA,OAJ - (1992-2007)

It's hard to know what exactly is going on with your dog again without meeting you, him, seeing him work and watching his use of his body. That being said, I don't think bars on the ground or a break will fix what seems to be wrong, which is - in my opinion - at some point along the way, either your dog decided agility was not motivational or you weren't. No offense intended here, it happens all of the time to all kinds of people with all kinds of dogs. The trick in my experience is to change the dog's perspective of work. It must become play. I have found that starting a give and take kind of relationship with you dog and agility works best to fix this problem with any dog with toy drive. Does your dog play fetch with a Frisbee or a ball? If so, then every time he wants you to throw the toy, he needs to do a piece of equipment for you. Every time you play fetch with your dog it should involve equipment. You do this tunnel, I'll throw your Frisbee. Take this jump, I'll throw your Frisbee, etc. Eventually, you can easily withhold the reward for a knocked bar or a missed contact or any behavior that isn't the correct behavior, without added correction. The desire for the toy helps take the dog's focus off of thinking about being stressed, allows him to deal with the fact that he made a mistake and repeat the behavior and also helps to build drive for the equipment that he is doing in order to get the toy. I train all of my contacts, table, jump grids, tunnels, and eventually weavepoles throwing my dog's toys as a reward. Once I have really good equipment = toy reward skills I use the toy placed on the ground as a target to train a lot of my one jump work as well as all of my jump grids. I put it at the end of sequences, drop it after directional commands, place it in areas where I want to teach send behavior, etc. I think if you simply stop training at all and spend a month or two with one tunnel, one jump and maybe a training board for a contact, and teach your dog that he will get his toy thrown once he completes a piece of equipment and gradually build from there that you will see an entirely different dog. Flute AAD, AX, OAJ, OAC, OGC, NAJ - semi-retired ADCH Enna TM - Silver, SACH, GCH, SCH, JCH, RCH, MX, MXJ - rescued champion Rising Sun's Hot to the Touch - aka: Fever - retired due to epilepsy Ignited's Molten Rush, aka: Lava - BC puppy in training Kasi EAC,EGC,EJC, OA,OAJ - (1992-2007)

Struggles how? Knocking jumps or motivation? What are the behaviors he is exhibiting that lets you know he is stressing out? How old is he? When did you start training? If he loves his tug toy, why are you using food targets? Is he food motivated? He is drivey when? In what circumstances, doing what activity? In my experience with my own dogs and some previous students/friends dogs I have worked with, drive for agility can always be built. The trick is to find the right motivator for the dog and to create a fun and positive experience in training for the dog. Often this means training out of the box, not following criteria from a specific trainer or not following a specific training plan but instead using each training session to determine where training goes next. A Border Collie is not forgetting where the target with food on it is placed. He is either not food motivated or has decided that the food target is stressful for some reason. It is hard to even have a clue what is going on without watching or meeting the dog or watching you train him. Can you video tape and post to the list? A break in training followed by a completely different approach might be in order. As for rear end power, I have a dysplastic dog who is now 11 who could literally jump over my head and pick a Frisbee out of the air when she was younger and who could clear a 4 foot aframe from a stand still. If your dog does not have structural issues, his rear end is not the issue here. I would recommend working through some of Susan Salo's early jumping exercises after the break. They are low height and very specifically engineered to teach jumping without pressure. They teach a dog to take a jump while in stride something the Linda's method does not do initially and something which I feel may help a less confident jumping dog gain confidence and learn without stress. I used a lot of Linda M.'s training approaches and a lot of what she does to introduce jumping, but I also work quite a bit of Susan's exercises as well. Send us video if you can of your dog in motion and some training. Jen Flute AAD, AX, OAJ, OAC, OGC, NAJ - semi-retired ADCH Enna TM - Silver, SACH, GCH, SCH, JCH, RCH, MX, MXJ - rescued champion Rising Sun's Hot to the Touch - aka: Fever - retired due to epilepsy Ignited's Molten Rush, aka: Lava - BC puppy in training Kasi EAC,EGC,EJC, OA,OAJ - (1992-2007)

My question, has anyone been able to find individual vaccines rather than the combo shot that is given? When it's time for future vaccinations, I would like to spread these shots out over the course of a year, one shot every three months. My vet can only get coronavirus and parvovirus individually. It's impossible to determine what he reacted to but I'm suspecting the combo shot was the culprit especially given at the same time as the rabies shot. Rhonda, If your dog had a poor reaction to a vaccination, it may not be worth the risk to vaccinate him again other then what is required by law. Titers are not necessarily accurate either. A titer will only show antibodies present IF the dog has been exposed to a particular disease. If there is no exposure for a time before a titer is performed, the titer will show low antibodies. This does not necessarily mean the dog does not have good antibody protection from the disease already present. It's a gray area. Personally, I vaccinate once at 16 weeks and then once more at about 12 months and that's it for the life of the dog other then the required rabies every three years. I do not vaccinate using a combo shot that includes Lepto or Coronavirus and I use a modified live vaccine. Best, Jen Flute AAD, AX, OAJ, OAC, OGC, NAJ - semi-retired ADCH Enna TM - Silver, SACH, GCH, SCH, JCH, RCH, MX, MXJ - rescued champion Rising Sun's Hot to the Touch - aka: Fever - retired due to epilepsy Ignited's Molten Rush, aka: Lava - BC puppy in training Kasi EAC,EGC,EJC, OA,OAJ - (1992-2007)

There is a really good Yahoo Group for people with dogs who have renal issues. http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/K9KidneyDiet/ Also the Dogaware site has some good info. http://dogaware.com/ Traditionally, veterinarians have put dogs on low protein diets and reduced sodium. This has been shown recently not to be the best approach. Low phosporous, high quality protein foods and a moderate protein level in the diet has been shown to work. There are also a few supplements that have actually been studied and have been shown to aid in kidney function. Epaktin and Azodyl. A phosphorous blocker may also be beneficial for your dog. Best, Jen Flute AAD, AX, OAJ, OAC, OGC, NAJ - semi-retired ADCH Enna TM - Silver, SACH, GCH, SCH, JCH, RCH, MX, MXJ - rescued champion Rising Sun's Hot to the Touch - aka: Fever - retired due to epilepsy Ignited's Molten Rush, aka: Lava - BC puppy in training Kasi EAC,EGC,EJC, OA,OAJ - (1992-2007)

Make sure you re-treat with Panacur for a minimum of 3 days in 3 weeks!!! Add some whole fat yogurt, cottage cheese or some cooked ground meat to his food. You could also consider some canned Evo or Wildnerness Blue Buffalo that has no grain and good fat content. Best, Jen Flute AAD, AX, OAJ, OAC, OGC, NAJ - semi-retired ADCH Enna TM - Silver, SACH, GCH, SCH, JCH, RCH, MX, MXJ - rescued champion Rising Sun's Hot to the Touch - aka: Fever - retired due to epilepsy Kasi EAC,EGC,EJC, OA,OAJ - (1992-2007)

Recently someone turned me on to a product called Level 5000. I have an 11 year old Border Collie with mild dyplasia and arthrits in her back and pelvis. I switched to Level 5000 and also started Flute on Zeel three times a day. I have seen obvious and signifcant improvement in my dog's usage of her body and in the reduction in soreness and stiffness after exercise. I now have all four of my dogs on various amounts of Level 5000. Regards, Jen Shipley Flute AAD, AX, OAJ, OAC, OGC, NAJ - semi-retired ADCH Enna TM - Silver, SACH, GCH, SCH, JCH, RCH, MX, MXJ - rescued champion Rising Sun's Hot to the Touch - aka: Fever - retired due to epilepsy Ignited's Molten Rush, aka: Lava - BC puppy in training Kasi EAC,EGC,EJC, OA,OAJ - (1992-2007)

Hmm, maybe Leslie McDevitt would like a trip to Africa. It is a little out of range of where she usually holds seminars. You can work through the exercises on your own. Read the book first. Take your time. Move forward with the training in tiny, baby steps. If your dog reacts during training, back your training up a bit and go slowly in moving forward again. Be very aware of your environment and don't let your guard down when you have your dog out in public. Always be aware of what is going on, if a person or people appear while you are working with your dog that you feel may frighten him, remove him from the situation before he can react. Have anyone that will be someone who will be a regular fixture in your boy's life work with you with him. Never force interaction. If he looks or acts even remotely uncomfortable ask the person to back away or back your dog away yourself. Make sure you are in control of how others interact with your dog at all times. In that way you can protect both him from behavior (no matter how unintentional) and protect the person involved who he will react against. I personally corrected Fever for aggressive reactions although Control Unleashed does not include correction in it's program. I do feel that you have to be very careful about how and when correction is applied if you are going to use it with a fearful dog. A gruff and assertive verbal correction is a big deal to Fever and I used it carefully and sparingly. I also always then immediately worked with Fever using my favorite CU exercise, Look at That, until she was calm and reacting positively before removing her totally from the situation. However, it was several months into work with her, 5 + days a week for a couple of hours a day a day building up her comfort level and ability to choose a positive reaction before I ever put her anywhere near anything I felt might cause a reaction. Best of luck with your boy. Jen Flute AAD, AX, OAJ, OAC, OGC, NAJ - semi-retired ADCH Enna TM - Silver, SACH, GCH, SCH, JCH, RCH, MX, MXJ - rescued champion Rising Sun's Hot to the Touch - aka: Fever - retired due to epilepsy Ignited's Molten Rush, aka: Lava - BC puppy in training Kasi EAC,EGC,EJC, OA,OAJ - (1992-2007)

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