Corinne

Cillitbang...absolutly NO bang what so ever.  Found it to be no better than any other cleaning stuff, for about twice the price. Have seen washing powder reviews (can't locate it at the moment) that showed that Lidl washing powders to be just as good (and even in some cases, better) than the expensive branded stuff.  So being on a tight budget does not always mean putting up with poorer results.

What ever make of food you go with, I still believe that at 8 months your dog should be on adult food and not high protien puppy food.  Most German Shepherd sites will suggest that the dog should go onto adult food from the age of 6 months to reduce the chance of rapid growth which causes skeletal problems in big dog breeds. Another option which may work out cheaper is BARF which is a feeding method of feeding your dog fresh raw food but you would need to do some research on the net to get the full info.  Seen plenty of German Shepherd sites and breeders that recommend it but it is a lot LOT of work.

Hi, I am another long haird GS owner.  Our girl is three and is a stock coat which, if you don't know, means she has longish very soft fur but not got the extra long fur like the standard long haired and has the undercoat which standard long hairs doesn't.  Don't you just love the baby faces they seem to keep because off all that fur...not to mention the bushy tail We have had ours from a pup and had a lot of problems with finding a food that did not give her a runny bum (could not think of a nicer way to put that sorry :blush.  German Shepherds are renowned for having delicate stomachs.  We have found the only dog food that she both loves and is perfect for her stomach is Royal Cainin German Shepherd 24.  Not cheap but has been well worth it for our girl. We also give her tables that are both for the fur, skin and ticks (so say the packet but we use other tick treatment as well) but we get it in Germany so only know the German name (Formel-z by Bandorf) Even at 8 months I would recommend that you give your dog adult dog food as German Shepherds can have problems with joints and it is best to not give them food to build them up quickly. As far as dairy products (milk/eggs), a lot of dogs can not tolerate milk more specifically.  If you do want to give your dog them then try it out and see what effect it has at the other end.  If it all turns to liquid then stop. I hope you enjoy your new addition as I am sure you will. Best wishes

The 'EastPak' craze is also at my daughters school in Germany, however my daughter refuses to have one...she says that everyone as one of those and she would rather have a Nike (at twice the price).

We don't actually use a French vet but is should be pretty much the same as our German vet. We had a booklet (size of a normal passport) suppplied by the vet which was recorded all injections.  When the new European passports were introduced and at our next injection visit the vet gave us the new booklet (still the size of a passport but this one is blue with the stars on it) and charges a nominal fee. Your vet should have a supply of the booklets, he should be able to fill one in and give you it when you are there.

Great news, thanks frog.

Thanks frog, Already got the European passport, tattoo and microchip so my mind is now put at rest about getting over that hurdle...didn't even have to lift a leg

We will be moving to Portugal in December (found out yesterday, nothing like big suprises) and need to get a Health certificate issued by a 'Competent Authority' from the animals country of origin for our dog. I know the address for the required authority in the UK so know that getting it from a vet is not going to be good enough.   Does anyone know the authorities in France that issue this certificate? Thanks

SPA will want you to put it in writing but will keep the source confidential.  They will check on the aminal and could possibly offer the owner some assistance in medical bills to ensure the problem is delt with.

  Forgotten all about that Athene, good one   I was thinking more of those used for cleaning up toxic spills...then that is still probebly the same thing

11 in one year...oh My!!!! Been lucky not to have had one but then I have a big long haired dog who (unselfishly) I let walk ahead of me.  She basicly cleans the way for me.  The most I have taken off her after one walk was 32.  The dog didn't mind as she gets a treat for each tick removed.  I just got to retch for each one Funny that you said about having one half way round your back as that is where my neighbours was.  She got hers from her cat sleeping on her bed.  They went to bed with it on the cat and woke up with it on her.....Mmm nice After the day I get my first I am not going out without one of those all-in-one plastic suites....at least it might help me loose a bit of weight in this weather.

I guess that if you hear a report about a specific unsafe pond/river then there is no harm avoiding it just in case, better to be safe that sorry.  Not heard of any problems in my area but every river has its own unique additive sources.  Last year gypsies camped around our lake which made sure the water levels did not drop Our dog will plunge into the nearest river/lake at every opportunity and firstly lay down and secondly drink about a gallon with no side affects so far.  When it comes to water in her water bowl however, she will only drink it if it is fresh out the tap, if it has been there any longer that 5 minutes she is not interested.

Well, would you adam and eve it, just finished watching a TV program all about ticks.  How's that for timing   It included a Dr (sombody) who is a Biologist and who specialises in and studies ticks. Basicly they showed a lovely zoom in of how ticks attatch and latch on.  It showed the ticks 'cutting/biting' it's way through the skin and not 'screwing' in.  They did say the best was it to remove it is to pull it straight out (not turning at all) as this method has the least possibility of leaving the head in.  If the head does stay in then not to worry to much as it will drop out after about 3 days.  Once the body is removed the chance of any/further infection being 'up-chucked' by the tick, is removed. Now I am in no way able to say if the tick expert Biologist on TV knows what he is actually talking about any more that a local vet but I can only quote what I was told.   For those interested the program is Welt der Wunder on RTL II  but I am sorry but, as you may have guessed, it is in German. Link to TV program site (you may have to copy and paste it as it could be too long to link) http://weltderwunder.rtl2.de/archiv/2005/07/wdw/Mensch/Gesundheit/Zeckengefahr/1_Ueberlebenskuenstler/index.html

Was well aware of your sarcasm so don't worry about how good you are at it.  And like I said, I have no problem with you quoting information but I would expect you to do the same.  I never intended it as a ridicule of you personally it was that it just stuck me as funny and that I found difficult to not comment on.  I am quite aware it came from a vet but I am sure that not even every vets would agree on every vet query,  just check the vet sites on the web to see that and I would never expect them to either. And the 'gobbledegook' explained...you copied and pasted by name into your previous post which has turned it into a link to a search engine.  Would appreciate it if you would edit your post and remove it and just type in the name instead.

I have no problem with you quoting information just as I am glad you don't mind me giving mine.  Heaven forbid that a vet may not know everything about everything. Any reason why my name apprears to be linked to a Webcrawler search on back spasms in your reply?

Quote "...he also said that ticks are endemic this year He also gave us free some little plastic crowbars that remove ticks the tick screws itself in clockwise so to remove them you place the crowbar under its head and screw anticlockwise and the tick comes out alive to flush down the loo" ...and if you eat crusts you will get curly hair     Sorry don't mean that to be sarcastic but ticks, and feel free to get your magnifying glass out, don't have a head the shape of a screw direction clockwise or any other'wise.  So being specific about which direction you twist the little blighter is really not needed. Lastly, I don't actually have any proof (little difficult to get) but have read plenty of info that says that flushing a live tick down the loo does not actually kill it.  At least it will probebly be the last time 'your' dog gets to feed it though

Thanks for the info Vraititi, did a search on the names you gave me and have found one that is as close as I can remember it looking...even the man looks like it could be the same man, truly! (before he grew his hair to shoulder length) and I refuse to say that all Frenchmen look alike      Vraititi | 

The vielle a roue and hurdy gurdy are generally hand held instrements....always loved the name hurdy gurdy makes me smile just to say it, simple things please simple minds as they say These pics are the closes I have found: The cards are coming out on the right of the picture The cards where larger (folded A4) and the 'Pram' was way way more basic like in the picture above.   

[quote]Maybe you have an admirer which your OH doesn't know of!... and this poor admirer is trying to woo you away from the beastly OH!...How romantic! Balcony! Music! Serenade! Red roses? Long blond hair?.....[/quote]     Not sure what my German husband would think of me being wooed by a French man...not that I would complain to much, after all it would just be me doing my bit for european relations would't it?    The old man did shut the balcony door and put the blinds down while the guy was singing his heart out, maybe that was a sign  Not a rose in sight (yet) but Long hair although more a mouse brown rather than blond and not forgeting the nice voice..if only I could have understood a word he sang

There are no fates or anything going on in the area.  We had the balcony doors open all evening and had to heard him singing anywhere else before or after our house which is very strange.   It was very similer to a barrel organ except it worked using punch cards rather than a barrel but same type of noise...I mean music.

Went out into the garden on Tuesday at 10pm with the dog for her last job before bed to be confronted by a man standing in the middle of the street facing my garden.  He had a music cart/wheelbarrow (how educated am I ) which played music when he turned a handle with the use of card stips (A4 size linked together) and he was singing very loudly (no microphone need for sure).  Not really my kind of music but I enjoyed it non the less. Anyone else been entertained by a street musician and is this an old French custom?

Found a link that you might find useful (at bottom of page) and gives some enjoyable reading...NOT   But here are a few snippits to wet your appitite Your Baked bean I believe : There are two basic types of ticks. Soft ticks, the argasids, are distinguished by their soft, leathery cuticle and lack of scutum. They can be recognized easily by their subterminal mouthparts that are on the underside of the tick. Soft ticks when engorged with blood blow up like a balloon. Soft ticks are fast feeders, being able to tank up in a matter of hours. The brown dog tick, stick to you like glue it seems : Hard ticks, the Ixodids, have a hard plate on the dorsal surface and have terminal mouthparts. When attaching, a tick will slice open the skin with the mouthparts and then attach itself. They also secrete a cement that hardens and holds the tick onto the host. Hard ticks are slow feeders, taking several days to finish their blood meal. During feeding a tick may extract up to 8 ml of blood, they can take 100X their body weight in blood. Interestingly, they concentrate the blood during feeding and will return much of the water to the host while losing some by transpiration through the cuticle. Now you will know what it feels like to be a bed for hanky panky..A drink of blood is their equivelent to a ciggy: A female tick can produce up to 20,000 eggs. Mating usually occurs on a host, after which the female must have a blood meal in order for the eggs to develop. You hoo I'm over here!! They will then climb up onto a blade of grass or the leaf of a plant to await a potential host. They will sense the presence of a host and begin the questing behavior, standing up and waving their front legs. Can live longer than your dog....so who wants one as a pet then? Some ticks have been known to live for over 20 years and they can live for a very long time without food.   http://www.spokaneoutdoors.com/ticks.htm

[quote]The special hooks MDW mentions earlier in this thread as beat as there is no squeezing of the tick involved in removing it, thus minimal risk of regurgitation whilst still attached and thus lower risk...[/quote]   risk of regurgitation Now that is one nasty way to put it...made me laugh though

The Lyme Disease Foundation advises against burning or smothering ticks (which is what using an arasol will do) to remove ticks as this may cause the tick to release infected fluid. The best was is to just simply and carefully remove the tick wash the area with soap and water and use antiseptic on the bite AND the tweezers. Don't try out  ways of killing it before you remove it as it is more likely to make the tick to it's worst before you get it out.

We have a German Shepherd that suffers from an enzyme deficiency and requires regular medication. The only food he tolerates is James Wellbeloved   I am sorry, I don't know anything about enzyme deficiency and the avalability of James Wellbeloved...so basicly not an amazing help, however, I do know the diffeculty with a German Shepherd stomoch. So just incase you do have a big problem I was wondering if you had tried Royal canin German Shepherd 24™ Formula We have a German Shepherd and it is the ONLY food that our dog CAN eat (without getting a upset stomoch and we tried many many brands) and Will eat (would just plain refuse to eat other dog foods unless desperate and it is mixed with tuna).  And it is available in France   P.S I have no connection with the company