# Our Shade



## JanHank (Mar 29, 2015)

Shade was 12 years old on Friday 30th June, a good age for a German Shepherd and the vet says in good condition especially as he is castrated, the dog that is not the vet.

Late afternoon, Saturday 1st July Shade was behaving very strangely following me everywhere, even into the bathroom, then he started wobbling all over the place, we both thought `Heart´. 
Couldn´t contact his vet, rang the so called duty vet also not available, Hans rang every vet in the area and finally found one 3/4 of an hour away, told him the symptoms and he was here one and a half hours later.
He gave him the once over, heart sounded fine, pressed his sides, Shade yelled. As he had testicle cancer 19 months ago the vet was a bit concerned. Sunday we went to his surgery, X-ray showed his gut was full of gas. 
Who would have thought it, not us.

He has an allergy, he now has to have purely Royal Canon Sensitive which he´s had for years mixed half and half with Happy dog Nature Croqu and until recently its suited him, but in the last few months he has been very whiffy, we´d put it down to being shaken up in the MH, obviously that was not the case.
He must not have anything containing pig, so his after our meal treat of a few bits of German sausage has been replaced with cheese. No more liversausage to get him to eat his food, I now buy minced beef, cook it and then use a tablespoon of that on top of his dinner which I have split into 2, one third in the morning 2 thirds in the evening.
He saw this vet on the Monday as well, tell you about that later.


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## HurricaneSmith (Jul 13, 2007)

Funny things, dogs.

Our westie is twelve years old, and at Christmas she looked to be on her way out (I won't describe her symptoms!)

The vet charged £600 to have her in and run a series of tests. Nothing found. She became worse, and a more exhaustive set of tests cost another £600. Nothing found again.

As a last resort, we changed her diet from expensive stuff to cheap and cheerful "Chappie." She immediately bounced back and is her old self again. Now she runs around the fields like a puppy.

I hope your mut is fine - They really get under your skin. (Best wishes to Hans!)



.


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## JanHank (Mar 29, 2015)

Hi John, good to see you, don´t go away again.

A vet told us to try Chappie some time ago, no good unfortunately. Motley can eat anything and he has that sometimes.


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## jiwawa (Jun 22, 2007)

And is Shade better now Jan?


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## JanHank (Mar 29, 2015)

jiwawa said:


> And is Shade better now Jan?


Oh yes Jean, he didn´t like the change from sausage to cheese at first, but now its alright. :laugh:
He is back to his playful self, would play with a ball from morning to night, he can´t run or jump anymore, thats been for a couple of years now, can´t hear so good (thats another story) but he is a very happy dog.


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## jiwawa (Jun 22, 2007)

That's great news!


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## JanHank (Mar 29, 2015)

*Part 2*

On Sunday we told the vet Shade has something in his ear, he thought the dog had had enough for one day, Shade doesn´t like being held down which he had to be for the x-ray that was a bit stressful for him.
Shade went deaf quite suddenly, he could only hear us whistle.
Monday Shade was anaesthetized and from way down next to his ear drum on both sides the vet pulled out a bunch of hair, I couldn´t have removed it because it was so deep inside.
Although he is going deaf the hair had nothing to do with it.
I showed the vet Sinupret tablets (I have talked about them on another thread) and asked if it would be worth trying them, he said they won´t do any harm even if they don´t do him good.
He has taken them for 10 days and he can hear when we speak a bit louder than normal to him so I call that a result.
I now have 2 jobs every morning. clean his teeth and make sure there´s no loose hair in his ears, worse than having babies to look after.


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## patp (Apr 30, 2007)

Oh no Jan! Poor Shade! Hope he is on the mend soon.


Just off to the vet's with Tigan. Bloody diarrhoea and I am not swearing  Never known him to ever have the d word or even the v word so a bit concerning...


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## JanHank (Mar 29, 2015)

Let us know the outcome please.

Shade is as mended as he will ever be, still plenty of life in the old dog yet.


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## patp (Apr 30, 2007)

The vet has prescribed pro kolin for Tigan. It is a tasty (whew!) paste that lines the gut and helps soothe the inflammation. He has lost a bit of weight  The poor boy has to have just boiled chicken.... I think he might leave home.
If he is still poorly in a couple of days then we move on to antibiotics and, at that time, she wants me to collect a poo sample for analysis because he has had giardia (a parasitic infection that causes diarrhoea) in the past. Fingers crossed that the light diet and pro kolin do the trick.


In the meantime, my 3am insomnia is taken up with cleaning of carpets and disinfecting of cleaning materials  After three such sessions I decided to leave the back door on the jar so that he can hook it open and let himself out. He wouldn't let anyone in. I hope.


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## patp (Apr 30, 2007)

A poo free night 


Well, I did let him out at 2.30am. This is not always a guarantee of success though. His bowels have a mind of their own


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## JanHank (Mar 29, 2015)

Let's hope the kolin works and he's soon back to normal.
Jan


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## JanHank (Mar 29, 2015)

patp said:


> A poo free night
> 
> Well, I did let him out at 2.30am. This is not always a guarantee of success though. His bowels have a mind of their own


Has the pro kolin done its job?


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## JanHank (Mar 29, 2015)

Last week Shade started wetting a bit in his sleep, it happened 4 times.
We remembered the week before he had slipped the last few steps down the stairs.

Took him to the vet last Wednesday, he x-rayed, no bladder stones, but inflammation in his arthritic spine was detected.
He gave him a strong anti-inflammatory injection and Metacam medicine to give him the next day and until the bottle is empty. _*If *_after 3 days he was still wetting caniphedrin tablets.
He stopped wetting after the injection, but m still giving him the Metacam as instructed. the tablet will be returned to the vet.
He´s doing well and we are getting poorer.


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## tugboat (Sep 14, 2013)

My Ellie is a foodaholic and a proper little scavenger. If I'm not vigilant, she'll pick up stuff and scoff it while out walking. This can lead to squitty botty.

I find Pro Kolin works well for that and I always keep a couple of packs on standby(I take them away in the van, too).

I buy them over the internet as it doesn't require a prescription and is a lot cheaper than via the vet.


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## JanHank (Mar 29, 2015)

How old is Ellie tugs ?


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## patp (Apr 30, 2007)

Sorry to hear poor Shade had a painful incident but glad it was diagnosed and can be treated.


No Jan. His poo did start to get some substance to it but only for a day. Fortunately he has, so far, managed to hold on until I can let him out at night.
Phoned vet and they put up some ab's (Nisamox) and some more Pro Kolin for him. Cooking chicken on a conveyor belt system. I never know how much fresh food to feed a dog! I think I might have overdone it a bit which does not help his guts  I was also including the skin of the chicken until it dawned on me that chicken is now much fattier than it used to be so, after checking with the dispensing nurse, I am skinning the chicken as well as de boning it  Might change to white fish after he has eaten the latest batch.


Scavenging is always the favourite cause of squitty bottom (love the term!). Although Tigan is a greedy dog he is quite picky too. If you try to give him something "different" he will not accept it straight away. Might be a "Romanian Street Dog" survival instinct. Our old Whippet, on the other hand, would scrape up road kill off the tarmac as you walked down the road! Nothing was safe from her jaws. Tigan is a different character entirely, he will actively avoid dead things in the road as though they are poisonous. Not ruling out that he has eaten something but cannot for the life of me think what it might be.


He can, and does, eat grass and not be sick. It then pokes out of his bottom after a poo making him stand stock still until some slave or other removes it!


Before he came to us he was in and out of rescue kennels. He had a case of giardia parasites which gives dogs diarrhoea. He was treated by the kennels for it but I also treated him again when he arrived here. They need a long course of Panacur to get rid of it. The vet did mention that we might get a stool sample, if this latest course of treatment does not work, so that he can be tested for giardia again. Oh joy! Any ideas of how to scrape up diarrhoea, into a sample pot, from fields of stubble do please send them to me...


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## JanHank (Mar 29, 2015)

We carry a small shovel everywhere when the dogs are with us, we have half a dozen scattered about car, Navajo, front door, back door, garden and shed, so picking up poo is not a problem just drop it into a large top jar, (ours goes into the fields of course) such a lovely pastime.

Some years back Shade had enteritis, he never picks up anything off the ground or floor.
He was put on a drip for an hour 2 days running.
If someone throws something on the floor for him, as strangers tend to do now and then, he looks at them as if to say "If its not good enough for you its not good enough for me".


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## tugboat (Sep 14, 2013)

JanHank said:


> How old is Ellie tugs ?


4 next month, Milly.


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## patp (Apr 30, 2007)

JanHank said:


> We carry a small shovel everywhere when the dogs are with us, we have half a dozen scattered about car, Navajo, front door, back door, garden and shed, so picking up poo is not a problem just drop it into a large top jar, (ours goes into the fields of course) such a lovely pastime.
> 
> Some years back Shade had enteritis, he never picks up anything off the ground or floor.
> He was put on a drip for an hour 2 days running.
> If someone throws something on the floor for him, as strangers tend to do now and then, he looks at them as if to say "If its not good enough for you its not good enough for me".


Would need a syringe to pick up after Tigan at the moment. Luckily he is fond of fertilizing the local farmer's field or our back garden so it can be washed away.

Sandra, are you there? I know you feed Shadow fresh meat. You wouldn't by any chance know how much he eats of it in weight each day would you? I would then need to know his rough bodyweight so that I can figure out how much fresh chicken Tigan should be having.
I wasn't too worried to begin with as I thought it was only for a day or two but we are entering the second week now


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## JanHank (Mar 29, 2015)

One of our last white GSD´s had chronic colic, I cooked for her minced beef pearl barley and carrot, its 12 years ago now, but I think it was a 500gr. margerine pot of pearl barley, quater of a pot of cooked mince and a tablespoon of mashed carrot plus a table spoon of bran and a multivitamin tablet twice a day. I think. 
How many times a day do you feed him?

I just found this on the internet :-

How much should I feed my dog on a homemade diet?

I might start with around *2 pounds* of food a day for a 100-pound dog (2 percent of their body weight), 1 to *1½ pounds* of food for a 50-pound dog (2 to 3 percent of body weight), ½ to ¾ of a pound (8 to 12 ounces) of food for a 25-pound dog (2 to 3 percent of body weight), and 5 to 6½ ounces of food for a *10 pound* dog (

Boil *chicken* and cook white *rice*. Shred the *chicken* into the cooked white *rice*, and add roughly ½ cup of warm water. Mix thoroughly, and *feed* to your *dog* in place of its usual meals. You can also *feed* this in smaller quantities throughout the day which can be easier for their gut to handle.


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## aldra (Jul 2, 2009)

I've a dog with the majority of his gut removed 
And he should not have survived 
But he did 

And is an 8 + stone hound from hell

He eats fresh chicken, Brown rice , carrots , green beans, peas 

His chicken is boiled , his rice is cooked in the stock, fat removed 

A few tins of sardines, and a few eggs thrown in 

9 years old, I track my heart valve by his age 

One of us will go first

He's looking good

Aldra


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## coppo (May 27, 2009)

aldra said:


> I've a dog with the majority of his gut removed
> And he should not have survived
> But he did
> 
> ...


Is Shadow still on that diet?

He's been on that a few years now then Sandra.

Our two are on the Royal Canin, very expensive, we occasionally give them rice/chicken and they love it, I didn't know you could give it long term though. I must do some more research I think.


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## aldra (Jul 2, 2009)

He can't process "normal food"

But it isn't a cheap diet

And it can be a pain away in the van

Still he looks pretty good

People are surprised he's 9 yrs old

He has 1/2 a tin of butchers tripe a day to Supplement it 

Sandra


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## coppo (May 27, 2009)

aldra said:


> He can't process "normal food"
> 
> But it isn't a cheap diet
> 
> ...


Do you cook a big batch, say a week at a time and leave it in the fridge?

We may try this for a week or so.


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## aldra (Jul 2, 2009)

:surprise:No I don't Coppo 

I wouldn't want to cook to much in advance

I have an electric pressure cooker and I cook a couple of days at a time, I don't know how big your dogs are , shadow needs 3/4 lb of lean chicken thighs ,200 grms of tinned butchers tripe, one pound of brown rice cooked in chicken stock and veg daily 

Sardines and eggs as and when 

It seems to suit him, he's a bit overweight at home but he runs/ swims it off when we travel 

You could freeze it though, and I tend to freeze some cooked chicken and stock when we go away in the van to give me a head start 

I wouldn't do it if I didn't need too, but it's second nature to me now

And the vets are amazed at this dog, well when he isn't snarling at them :surprise:

They didn't think he would thrive with the loss of his guts 

when young Alberts dog is here during term time , he absolutely loves his chicken and rice

Sandra


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## coppo (May 27, 2009)

aldra said:


> :surprise:No I don't Coppo
> 
> I wouldn't want to cook to much in advance
> 
> ...


This is one.
It doesn't let me post 2 photos on one post for some reason, I,ll not bother reporting it to VS>


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## coppo (May 27, 2009)

This is the other one.

She's small.


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## aldra (Jul 2, 2009)

They are lovely Coppo 

If they are thriving on their diet , and they look like they are ( sans ice cream !!!!) 

Why not just feed them chicken and rice as a treat now and again ?

No point in making a rod for your back 

Shadow has a health problem, along with a personality problem:surprise:

Chicken and rice does nothing for the latter>

Sandra


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## coppo (May 27, 2009)

Yes I think you are correct there, an occasional treat only as they do love the Royal Canin.


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## aldra (Jul 2, 2009)

I'm here 

Shadow is 8+ stone

He eats 3/4 pound of cooked chicken thighs , boiled, 
the stock is then strained of fat to cook brown rice, carrots, green beans and peas 

Plus 1/2 a can of butchers tinned tripe, it has the vitamins , ground bone etc 

But calm down, when shadow came back following his op he lost more in diarrhoea than he ate or drank he was skin and bone 

So at the moment quantities don't matter

I bought him packets online to ease his belly and firm up his stools at the moment I forgotten what but I'll try to find it 

Feed him small frequent light meals of lean, boiled skinless chicken and I'd guess white rice 

I cook the chicken with the skin, then strain the fat off the liquid, and cook the rice in the liquid so he gets all the goodness

It's so worrying I know 

Come on patp, he's not well, he won't disappear from lack of food yet 

Just feed him gently frequent small meals, plenty of fluids and stop panicking 

Lots of love 

Sandra


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## patp (Apr 30, 2007)

Thanks Sandra. You wouldn't believe I was a Vet Nurse would you  So different when they are your own. Thanks for the quantities, I know it won't matter in the short term and I always feed to condition anyway so if he looks lean I will give him some more etc. All my dogs are kept on the lean side as I believe they are healthier for it. This means, though, that if they become ill they look worse than others might  At least we get sympathy on our dog walk...


Vet advised just chicken, no rice, so I have to give him sufficient chicken for his weight to keep him going.
Ab's are kicking in as he was a little better last night. 


Jan, have you thought of acupuncture for Shade? It had the most amazing effect on my old lurcher. As soon as the needles were inserted she would go into a kind of trance. I always thought of it as pain free heaven. It has to be given fairly frequently at first. She started off at twice weekly and then it was once weekly for quite a while, eventually spreading out to fortnightly then monthly. She also had hydrotherapy and physiotherapy but they might not be appropriate in Shade's case.
Over here only a vet is allowed to administer acupuncture. Luckily I know one who runs a pain clinic as she herself suffers with severe back pain brought on by wrestling with horses in her career.


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## JanHank (Mar 29, 2015)

*Animal and human medicine*

Isn´t it strang?
I have just measured out Shades medicine, it depends on the dogs weight how much is given,
humans on the other hand no matter what the weight its always the same dose.


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## patp (Apr 30, 2007)

Oh, you are right. Except for children of course. And the elderly. Makes us wonder if us little people are being over dosed?


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## JanHank (Mar 29, 2015)

patp said:


> Oh, you are right. Except for children of course. And the elderly. Makes us wonder if us little people are being over dosed?


How old do you have to be to be elderly though Pat? :laugh:


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## patp (Apr 30, 2007)

He he! I might be classed as little and elderly


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## JanHank (Mar 29, 2015)

patp said:


> He he! I might be classed as little and elderly


I´m past it.


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## aldra (Jul 2, 2009)

The powders I used Papt 
PRotexin Pro
KOlin Enterogenic 4gms sachets 
30 sachets £25 

Not cheap but contains probiotic and worked for shadow in the early months when nothing else seemed to 

Sandra


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## aldra (Jul 2, 2009)

Shadow is abit on the fat side

But hey he should not have managed that 

He doesn't get enough exercise daily

Alberts knees are bad 

When we go away we seek out swimming areas, he is a fantastic swimmer

And his weight reduces 

He's 9 and should never have got there 

But he has 

So we'll just continue and hope for the best 

Sandra


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## coppo (May 27, 2009)

With that diet Shadow will go on for years yet.

Is it easy to manage his diet when away in the van Sandra?

Shadows I mean not Alberts.


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## aldra (Jul 2, 2009)

Well, yes and no 

It's what i need to do , and I've done it for years 

So it's just second nature now 

I wouldn't recommend someone adopts it 

Unless for health reasons , shadow needs this diet to thrive 

If dogs thrive on easier diets, go for it 

Sandra


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## coppo (May 27, 2009)

We are going to try once a week as they love rice the odd time they have had it, just hope these 2 don't become apprentice shadows:grin2:


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## aldra (Jul 2, 2009)

Be it on your head Coppo

A lovely treat

Keep it that way 

Personally I wouldn't do it

They are fine as they are

Come on Coppo, they are dogs not people

Your little treasures I know
But they won't miss what they haven't had

Sandra


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## JanHank (Mar 29, 2015)

Totally agree with you.


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## patp (Apr 30, 2007)

If Shadow likes swimming, Sandra, have you thought about taking him to a hydrotherapy pool? It is fantastic exercise for them and good for their joints as non weight bearing.

Coppo, the buying, defrosting, cooking, deboning of chicken for Tigan is driving me nuts. Can't wait to get him back on proper dog food. As Sandra said in an earlier post you do have to worry about it being a balanced diet when home cooking for your dog long term.

If you fancy changing dog food, or checking out what you are feeding, take a look at https://www.allaboutdogfood.co.uk/ a really well researched site. They can be a bit geeky and mark a food down for having a tiny bit of something they don't approve of so look at the list of ingredients to see what your food might be failing on if it is getting less than top marks.


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## aldra (Jul 2, 2009)

Pat
I don't defrost the chicken, I buy it fresh then freeze it , I pressure cook it from frozen with carrots etc , twice in the electric pressure cooker , or when we travel the same 

Strain the cooking liquid remove the fat and cook the rice in the stock 

The bones slip out and I feed him the boiled skin and chicken 

I don't recommend what I do to anyone 

But hey he's 9 , 

A bit overweight , but he's still alive and just as obnoxious as he's always been

But he's my baby, loves the kids and grandkids

And those introduced into the family home 

Hates everyone else


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## patp (Apr 30, 2007)

Because chicken has got more fat on it now, Tigan was not allowed any skin. I could not use the cooking juices as they had fat in them. Not much left after that.


All his medication finished the other day. He is being a bit secretive with his poos. He runs ahead on our walks and dives in a field. I have seen one or two which are still a bit soft. I will give him another day and then I have to get a sample for analysis. They could have had the scrapings from my fingernails the other day when I missed with the poo bag


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## aldra (Jul 2, 2009)

Are you roasting or boiling it pat?

Pressure Boiling the thighs renders most the fat out of the skin

I use a fat separated and get around a litre of chicken stock to cook the brown rice in 

Sounds like Tigan's on the mend now, good news 

Sandra


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## patp (Apr 30, 2007)

I'm cooking it in the Remoska, Sandra. I suppose that counts as roasting. I put it on the trivet so that it drains. Then I just skin and bone it.


A normal poo this morning!!! Now to wean him back on to normal dog food


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## aldra (Jul 2, 2009)

Yes, that would be wasteful for me given the quantity of chicken shadow requires 

Plus I need the chicken and veg stock for the brown rice, he has a pound of cooked rice daily 

I get a good amount of chicken free from megs dad, which is useful before we go away

I cook it , strain the fat from the juice and bag and freeze separate portions , chicken + stock and veg 

Obviously not enough for two months 

The rice I cook fresh alternate days in water whilst we travel, I have a fab Italian small pressure cooker, bring to pressure, 7 mins , switch off, perfect rice 

Sometimes finding chicken in France is expensive compared to here, and we carry enough butchers tinned tripe for the duration, 30 tins , as he will not eat any other brand 

But he looks fine and the vets are always amazed at his age and condition given the traumatic loss of his intestines, although he has a grey beard now 

I think they'd like to know him better, but being the hound from hell he isn't interested in casual aquintances 

Although the vet who received him the night his intestines fell out , supported by a towel wrapped around his abdomin, panicked and said she she didn't think she could save him, his intestines were black and dead,she works only nights, and occasionally we have needed night service (although it cost a £100 just to visit) , Victoria, she's not as big as him, but she fought to save him, was with him night after night following his op, and he never forgets her 

Really pleased that Tigan is recovering well

Sandra


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## patp (Apr 30, 2007)

Sounds like a good system Sandra. I will make a note so that if I ever have to feed him fresh food long term I will know what to do. Trying to fill him up on just chicken was a nightmare. Of course it does not matter if he loses weight short term but could not carry on long term.


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## aldra (Jul 2, 2009)

If you had to you could

But you don't so alls well 

Sandra


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## JanHank (Mar 29, 2015)

*A special treat shared*

Cooked a whole turkey breast especially for their after dinner treats, sliced it and some of the crummy bits they shared.


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## patp (Apr 30, 2007)

What thoroughly spoiled doggies they are


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## JanHank (Mar 29, 2015)

patp said:


> What thoroughly spoiled doggies they are


 Yes, but they are worth it.


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## blondel (Jun 12, 2005)

I can't get the video to run. It says this video is private!


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## JanHank (Mar 29, 2015)

blondel said:


> I can't get the video to run. It says this video is private!


Please try again. 
Yes I did make it private in error, sorry.


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## aldra (Jul 2, 2009)

How old is shade Jan ?

I see he's short haired, can't think why I always thought he was long haired 

Sandra


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## JanHank (Mar 29, 2015)

aldra said:


> How old is shade Jan ?
> 
> I see he's short haired, can't think why I always thought he was long haired
> 
> Sandra


He was 12 on the 30 th of June. There have been a lot of photos and videos of him, always white with short hair :grin2:
He's the opposite to Shadow don't forget, white with short coat to your boy black with a natural long coat. 
Need a photo of him trimmed if you please. Your new iPad will be the thing for that:laugh:


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## aldra (Jul 2, 2009)

He's not as short as shade even clipped 

Alberts still battling though the undercoat she missed in his groom 

12, he's absolutely fantastic Jan 

Our first German shepherd reached 13 , non others have made that 

The hound may just, he's enough trouble to make it through sheer ackwardness 

Il take a photo, but he is not into posing 
Sandra


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