chesnelay

These days it isnt just cancer which troubles dogs, its the condition of their teeth and gums - many more dogs are going to the vets to have dentals but unless the diet gets changed there will need to be another dental at a later stage as the majority of these processed foods aren't 'chewed' by the dogs, they just get 'woofed' down whole and then swell up in the stomache over a few hours.  Since changing my dogs onto a more natural diet - i.e meaty bones, raw chicken, raw vegetables, egg yolks, offal once or twice a week, their teeth (particularly the back molars) have lost a lot of plaque.  If a dog finds it painful to chew, then it will lose condition and it will be more suseptible to other illnesses.  There is more information on natural diets for dogs on the internet and at the end of the day, its all about what feels right for an individual.

Hi Londoneye - if you have a look at www.camomilelawns.co.uk it does give information about the two different types of plants. I was considering a camomile lawn until I found out the costs of the plants, and then decided to opt for a 2 metre strip alongside a garden bench next spring! Good hunting!

Hi Londoneye - have you considered acclimatising your youngster to an indoor kennel - if you place a blanket over the kennel it gives the dog a 'safe' place to go when he chooses to, (without shutting the door).  If he finds it a comfort, you could take the kennel plus bedding(minus the door) when you next have to take him into kennels and it may just take away some of the perceived threat from the other dogs. Don't forget to give him 'rescue remedy' before kennels and after he comes home. A kennel would be very unusual if they could afford to pay someone the minimum wage to walk any of the dogs - if the dogs are lucky they might get put into a compound while (if) they clean out - an acquaintance of mine said that many kennels tell owners the dogs get  walked every day but he said its not true - very untrue!

Kennel cough is a virus and for most healthy dogs, the symptoms are no worse than if we got flu; (very young dogs or elderly canines are worse affected and so should be closely monitored) so in most cases the vets are not able to prescribed anything - however if the kennel cough virus gets worse (nasal discharge, sneezing and the cough gets really hacking) then gets a secondary bacterial infection is suspected and the vet will normally dispense some medication.  it can last 4-6 weeks and is infectious for as long as the dog is coughing/sneezing.  There are lots of different strains of the virus so Kennel cough vaccines do not guarantee much protection!  I am sure she will recover very quickly if you keep her warm, limit exercise (and a harness is more comfortable to a collar if you have to walk her on a lead) The aneasthetic will have compromised her immune system so its not unusal for dogs to end up with something they picked up at a vets - incubation time varies from a few hours to several days.  I am sure she will continue to improve.    

JSA Aude - hi, there are other reasons for spaying after the first season in the bigger breeds because the hormones are required to help close the growth plates which affects the limb structure.  Our vet wont spay our 6 month Rotti until after her first season because her hind quarters looks like she may have hip displasia so he has advised to wait and Xray at the same time.

I recently changed my vet as I felt the two passport charges for my dogs (with just drontal provided by the vet) was excessive at 70 euros. (Labrador and lurcher) 2nd vet was a different cup of tea - told me I could frontline them at home as he could see I had the right type, dished out the drontals and said I could do that at home, did the paperwork and gave me the bill - 42 euros.  Fine til I got home - he had put the wrong dates on the passport - on the one page he had put 15/6 (correct) on another page 16/6 (that was the day we were travelling) and the last couple was 16/9 !! Went around to the neighbours and borrowed a blue pen and changed the dates to the correct dates. As I had the invoice and tel no, plus my receipt with date and time on it, I decided to blag it - the port only questintioned the time, which was consistently correct though his handwriting was poor.  I guess its a case of you gets what you pay for - efficiency is expensive but less stress-inducing!

Hi Londoneye - sometimes it is not the food that is the problen but how the food is fed - for example, dogs need to feel safe before they can feed, if you stay with her, is she more likely to feed than if you put the food down and walk away?  Does she have collar tags that 'clang' everytime she puts her head to the food bowl? when you offer spag bol, do you put it in her bowl or do you feed off a plate/hand? Just a few questions that may give you cause to think.  Dogs don't intentionally starve themselves and a slim dog is generally more healthy than an overweight one if everything else appears normal.  Best of luck.

Fig - couldnt you suggest to your vet that breed type might be Collie x because apart from the shape of the brow - there is not much about him that seems to be staffi - the carriage of the ears might be a give away but they were not in a normal position, by the looks of the photo. You will need to see a French vet before you come back from you house-hunting for worming and frontline and he would be your best bet because you may find holiday makers have less attention drawn to the 'staffi' issue than if you are a resident - you might get a different reaction then, but the French vet should know. Hope all goes well.

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I took in a copy of another communes publication of the local VTT routes to my local maire and asked about 'sentiers' but she said they didnt do one.  Went into the local tourist office and the girl was very helpful but said the A28 new road had cut through the majority of the existing routes so even if I bought the blue maps they wouldnt be up to date.  The local riding school which I have used several times is so stretched for staff you have to wait for one lesson to finish to speak to 'the person' and before the next lesson starts! The other young french trainer there does a runner every time she sees me coming as her boss has told her she must learn to speak English (and there is me, more than happy to give a good onslaught onto the French language).

Can anyone tell me where I can get a map of local 'sentiers' for horseriding?  We are based in the south of Sarthe Dept 72? Thanks

We bought 10 supertickets 18 months ago for £190 that need to be used by end of this year.  Last year was not a problem at all, you just emailed when you wanted to go and we never had a problem.  Now, we have to book on-line using the new booking system and it is evident that it is not possible to book up for the more popular departure times such as 7.00am Sat as these are not shown as 'available' even booking for trips 4 months in advance -of course I could do it by phone but that costs £15 which goes against the grain when the whole point is that we are trying to make a 'no frills' crossing and doing it on the cheap - I know 'you get what you pay for' its just the fact that the goalposts appear to have moved!