HINTS/TIPS & PROBLEMS

Puppy Formulae

Puppy Formulae
If the dam is not producing enough milk, or no milk, you will need to bottle feed, either with fresh goats milk or a tried and trusted formula as below.

****************************************************************

Liquid Life Aid - Made by Norbrook available from vets [if not in stock can usually be ordered within 24 hours]. Must be liquid and not powder. Dilute Life Aid 8ml -100ml with cold tap water [2ml - 25ml water].

Mix made up Life aid ie: 75ml of the diluted Life Aid to 25ml Carnation Evaporated Milk. [ie: one quarter Carnation to three quarters Life Aid].   Move onto half Carnation half Life Aid when puppy gets to a week old. If puppy is only bottle fed with no milk from mum at all, add 3 drops of ABIDEC [available from any baby food stockists] and 3 drops of liquid Calcium [available from chemist or vets] per bottle.

If tube feeding use F4 Nasal Tube give 1ml milk for every once puppies body weight every 2 hours. If a puppy is dehydrated, you can tell this by pinching the skin at the back of the neck, andif it doesn't immediately return to shape then you must re-hydrate puppy BEFORE you give any milk. Life Aid and water is also used to re-hydrate a puppy.

Similarly if a puppy is too hot or too cold. If puppy is too hot, the inside of the mouth and pads will be dark red/purple and you must remove from heat source. If a puppy is too cold the gums and inside of the mouth and pads will be pale pink/grey. Warm up on a heat pad by turning every 15 minutes. Normal colour should be rosy pink and puppy should feel warm to the touch.  Do not feed milk until the puppies temperature is normal.

If an infection is suspected, the glands will be up. Run finger from back of puppies ear to to underneath the jaw, if the glands are up you will feel a bump either side. Treat with liquid antibiotics from vet.

We would like to thank Caroline Tipper (Tiganlea) for sharing this recipe with us.


LIVER CAKE RECIPE.

Those of you who show dogs may well have used Liver cake to bait your dogs in the ring but for those of you who may not have heard of it below we have printed the recipe for this cake as it seems to have the effect of holding your dogs attention whilst in the ring and has the added advantage of not making one's hands sticky.

8ozs Liver [preferably Lambs]
4ozs S/R Flour
2 Eggs
2 Cloves Garlic/ or 2 tsps garlic puree.

Put all the ingredients into a blender until the mixture is smooth, pink and runny [not too rigid a requirement if you prefer to make it a bit chunky' Pour into greased swiss roll type baking tin and place in the oven [Gas Mark 4] for around 30-40 minutes.
Leave to cool and cut into bite size pieces.
It can be frozen into individual bags [enough for a show] and makes enough for 4/5 shows.

BAKE YOUR OWN DOG BISCUITS

In the Sheltie breed notes in "Dogs World" dated December 18th 1998, Irene Beaden prints a recipe for dog biscuits that can be moderated to your own dogs tastes. It is simple and easy to do and the dogs love the smell of them cooking especially with the added garlic in. It takes 5 minutes to mix and just under 40 minutes to bake.

All you need is : 8 ounces sausage-meat, 8 oz .plain wholemeal flour, 2-3 oz of stock or water (Irene uses a Knorr beef stock cube) and some garlic granules.

Put your oven to 180C/350f, mix the sausage-meat, flour and garlic granules thoroughly and bind with the stock or water to make a very stiff dough. Either roll out on a floured surface to ½ inch thickness and cut into bone shapes or any shape you want. A quicker way is just to roll into 1 ½ inch sausages and squeeze the end to make mini bones. Keep using all the trimmings until all the dough is used.

Put onto un-greased sheets and bake for 30-50 minutes (depending on size). Let them get good and hard but try not to burn them. Let them cool and serve them up as a treat. There is nothing in this recipe that makes it unfit for human consumption should any tricks be played at the New Year.

NAIL TRIMMING.

Reprinted from the Stabal Mail Bugle -
A letter from one of its readers, from the Wirral

I suspect that many readers, like myself, dread the task of trimming our dog's nails. Those with dogs that are oblivious to this chore are indeed blessed, unlike the remainder of us who must resort to all kinds of tactics and deceptions to get the dog to stay still, not bite or howl until everyone in the county complains of the cruelty we are inflicting on our dogs.

I now have a wonderful tool that makes all the traditional nail trimmers totally redundant. I now use the DREMEL MINI MITE, cordless grinder [available from Diamond edge, Petcetera and others]. This battery operated gadget comes available as either a dry cell model or one with rechargeable batteries. The dry cell model is priced in the region of £45, but you might find it cheaper if you shop around. The unit is two-speed [10,000rpm & 5,000rpm], of which I find the slower speed better for those awkward dogs who might be put off by the whine of the higher speed.

The unit is ideal and safe to use for use with dogs, as the power is limited and will stall if perhaps hair is accidentally caught in the revolving head. Use of the course sanding disk removes large amounts quickly and the fine disk is ideal for quick tidy ups. I have found that the carborundum stone does an ideal job of finishing the nails off and giving your dog a professional look manicure. Replacement disks, mandrels and other accessories, are readily available at D.I.Y. shops. You can even use this tool for other jobs - craftwork, metal and glass engraving etc.

We have one dog that had to be under general anaesthetic to cut her nails, but now she enjoys her feet being manicured.

I wish to thank Andrew Brace for this tip, it is the best idea I've come across in decades…………

Another pleased exhibitor...Oct 2010

For quite a while now I have had real problems trimming the nails of my Rough Collie Bitch. This task was very stressful for myself as well as her. My younger bitch was also starting to re-act the same when it was nail trimming time. I found it was the clicking of the clippers that they did not like. I tried various different methods including trimming in the bath but this still proved a problem.
After looking through Collienet I noticed the Hints & Problem page and read the section that had been printed about nail trimming. I decided to take a chance and purchase what had been advised. I bought a DREMEL 7700 cordless Which is re-chargeable. I could not believe how well it did its job. It did take a while for both the girls to get their confidence, obviously they did not know what it was for and as i picked up their paws they struggled a little but in time and with me talking to them the task became easier.
The DREMEL did cost about £40 but it was worth every penny. So now, nail trimming should not be so stressful.

PDSA PET FIT CAMP CHAMP IS A GOLDEN RETRIEVER

Oakley, a six year old Golden Retriever from Plymouth has battled the bulge to win PDSA’s national competition to find the UK’s most committed pet “Inch-loss Idol”. Oakley beat five other UK finalists by shedding 7.6 kg (16% of his own bodyweight).

Oakley was enrolled on the “pet fit camp” by the PDSA after being nominated by his owner, Lisa Deadman. Starting the 100 day diet and fitness regime in September 2005, he originally weighed a massive 46.5 kg due to his unstinting love of “Rich Tea” biscuits. At his current weight of 38.9 kg Oakley has lost the equivalent weight of 25 packets of his favourite snack.

For all his efforts Oakley won the coveted title of “PDSA pet fit camp Champ” and a holiday at Knoll House in Dorset for both him and his owner. As a combined effort all the contenders have also managed to raise over £500 in sponsorship for PDSA to help pets in need of vets thanks to donations from friends, family and supportive members of the public.

In second place came “Buster”, a six year old Staffordshire Bull Terrier from London who lost 3.2 kg (13% of his bodyweight). Exercise has been the key to his success. In third slot came “Pebbles” a five year old cat also from London, who lost a massive 0.65 kg (8.7% of her bodyweight).

“Oakley” and the other five contestants were chosen to take part by Kevin Adams, Fame Academy fitness guru and by Elaine Pendlebury PDSA senior veterinary surgeon.

The previous combined pet weight of 183.2 kg is now a more modest 126.5 kg this equating to a loss of over 28 bags of sugar. Elaine said that many of the pets have discovered a new lease of life after losing their excess weight. Eating more healthily and taking regular exercise as recommended by your vet, may well improve the overall enjoyment of life for the pet.It is important to remember that a slow and gradual loss of weight programme together with exercise will achieve the best results.

WINTER PET CARE TIPS FROM THE PDSA

1. Don’t leave a dog or cat outside in freezing temperatures for any length of time without access to shelter and warmth
2. Don’t let your dog or cat rest on frozen ground
3. Don’t take a dog for long walks outside during freezing weather
4. Don’t leave a pet in a car. Even a few minutes in a cold car can cause hypothermia

In some circumstances dog coats or sweaters should be used before allowing a dog to venture outside and more than one layer may be required – the same rule applies to what a human would wear i.e. the layer closest to the body should be a thin fleece or wool material to provide insulation and carry moisture away from the body.
DANGERS OF CHOCOLATE FOR DOGS

The “Our Dogs” Breed note writer for Pugs reminds us all of the dangers of chocolate for our dogs as “human” chocolate contains the chemical, theobromide which is extremely poisonous to dogs. Pugs will eat anything and most especially whatever their humans are eating. It is very worrying when visitors come at holiday times when they may not be able to resist the temptation of the Pug pleading and will think they are being kind by sharing their chocolate bar with a dog. This is definitely not the case. It is possible that a large breed of dog may be able to eat a tiny piece of milk chocolate safely, but the same amount of dark, expensive continental chocolate which contains more theobromide can be fatal in a dog the size of a Pug. The choccy treats made especially for dogs are perfectly safe as the theobromide has been removed. The greatest danger lies in the expensive upmarket dark bars of chocolate that we treat ourselves to at Christmas time etc. Never leave them open where a dog can reach them.

Dogs are as keen chocholics as we are – once they smell chocolates they will search it out and even climb and jump to get their prize, a prize that could find them very ill within a few hours or even dead.

Theobromide passes from the stomach and into the blood stream quickly, causing rapid heart beat, and strong muscle contractions which often progress into convulsions and fits. Increased urine output causes increased drinking which leads to vomiting and a very ill dog in great pain. There is no known antidote to theobromide poisoning , the only remedy seems to be to get the drug out of the dogs stomach as soon as possible – with emergency veterinary help of course. It seems that some individual dogs are more susceptible than others.

When you come in and see the dreaded sight of the chocolate box torn up and the wrapping scattered, it is obvious who the culprit is. It is wise to ring your vet and get the dog there as soon as possible so that there may be time to wash the poison out of the stomach before it travels around the body. It is sad to say that the recovery rate from theobromide poisoning is very low. A practising vet considers that most dogs which have eaten upmarket chocolates in quantity will die in acute pain within 24 hours.