Lovely little Finny is taking after her Mum Nelly and showing she is a true water dog. Since her first little swims here, she has now progressed to swimming in the ocean, lucky girl has a fabulous private beach to practice on and plenty of sunshine by the looks of it.
A week of celebating here, a 60th Wedding Anniversary and the coveted message from the Queen for my parents, the final Biology exam and very last day of high school for my youngest, and the last day of Uni for my other daughter. Time really has flown by, and whilst browsing some old photo's, found this one of Odo four years ago. He still loves to sit on our chairs.
Here I go again, talking about ticks. Ticks are Arachnids, just like spiders, and are horrible nasty little things that easily attach to your dog, and can be very hard to detect, especially if you have a dark haired, long coated breed of dog like a barbet. I will hasten to add, the only time we have ever had ticks attach themselves to one of our dogs was on a trip to Germany, but as I said in an earlier post, we do have deer very close to home now, so I will have to be more vigilant. OK, as I said previously, I personally would not recommend only using 'natural' deterrents. As I have been closely associated with the pest control industry, I have read many magazines published for that sector over the past years, and was very interested in a new product aimed at killing and deterring bed-bugs which like in America, are rampant in London too. As many products that we have previously used are now banned in Europe, there is always a need to find new products that really do the job, so I was curious when I read that a new product not only killed bed-bugs, but also ticks (and head lice, ear mites, spiders of all varieties, roaches and so on). So here is the list of ingredients if anyone wants to try it at home. Almond Oil Glycerine Eucalyptus Oil Purified Water and .625% overall of Clove Oil. Oh, if you have cats, they need more Clove Oil. Just mix it up and spray. Hmmm. Then look at this; OSU Entomology Report Synopsis Evaluation of Greenway Formula 7 for Management of Ticks and Bed bugs Objective: To determine the efficacy of a proprietary formula developed by American Achievers, LLC. Tests were made of their product Greenway Formula 7 for management of ticks and bed bugs. Location: Year: 2012 Laboratory Evaluation Insect Physiology Laboratory 333,335 Noble Research Center Oklahoma State University-Stillwater, OK Rationale: In Oklahoma, ticks are the vectors for animal and human infections including Rocky Mountain spotted fever, anaplasmosis and ehrlichiosis. The immature, nymphal tick life stage is the most important for disease transmission. Nymphs are difficult to see and can inject pathogens into a host virtually unnoticed. In addition, Oklahomans are encountering bed bugs in many high density living environments including hotels and university dormitories. Bed bugs are highly adapted to human habitations and feed almost exclusively on human blood. Bed bugs do not transmit any diseases, but are the source of irritation and allergy to its human hosts. Finding effective and safe treatment methods to eradicate these blood feeding arthropods is essential because ticks and bed bugs are becoming pesticide-resistant. Target Organisms: Nymphs of Amblyomma americanum, Lone star tick; Dermacentor variabilis, American dog tick; and Ixodes scapularis, Black-legged/Deer tick: Immatures and adults of bed bugs, Cimex lectularis. Experimental Design: For each arthropod and life stage, three replicates were done. Small plastic condiment cups were utilized to contain the ticks and bed bugs. A 100% concentration of Greenway Formula 7 and three one-tenth dilutions of the formula were impregnated on glass filter discs and placed in cups. All dilutions were made with inert mineral oil. Additionally, a control treated only with mineral oil was used. Twenty ticks or ten bed bugs were added to each plate. All plates were stored in 96% relative humidity room with temperature and room photoperiod. Mortality was checked after one hour, 24 hours and 7 days. Results: For all replicates, both bed bugs and ticks, at one hour, no mortality was seen. For all replicates, at 24 hours, the 100% treatment of the Greenway Formula 7 (non diluted) solution killed all the ticks, all the immature bed bugs and 90% of the adult bed bugs. For all replicates, at seven days, the 100% treatment of Greenway Formula 7 (non diluted) solution killed all the bed bugs. For all replicates and all other treatments including control with the diluted version, there was 0- 10% mortality with the ticks and bed bugs and did not vary over the course of a week. Bed bugs were not repelled with the diluted version of the Greenway Formula 7 solution and repellency for ticks could not be determined. Ticks always moved upward and away from the filter. Bed bugs stayed on or near the filter disks Well, you can work out for yourselves I'm sure. Lets see what the results are in a few years time when it has been on the market, or will it end up like these? http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2012/09/cedarcidermb.shtm As much as applying chemicals to yourself or your dog isn't ideal, it is for me, the only way to ensure that you are getting tried and tested protection from these nasty little bugs if you are living in or visiting a tick infested area.
A nice way to spend an hour in the company of your dog, after a walk, a day out, or when meeting friends, is of course the 'local'. With so many pubs having lovely dog friendly 'beer gardens' where you are made to feel very welcome, and a good many allowing dogs inside too, it is quite a surprise then to see that Wetherspoons, the chain with hundreds of pubs that have swept across Britain is not dog friendly.
Think before you drink! Taken from the Wetherspons website. While we are fond of dogs, we allow only registered assistance dogs in our pubs, including gardens and patio areas. To avoid confusion when bringing a registered assistance dog, please ensure that it is readily identifiable by means of its leash, collar or harness. It is also helpful, if you bring along your own identification which explains the dog’s purpose. As everyone who has met my dogs knows, they all have beautiful white teeth. I don't clean them, as I've never had to. They eat a raw and meaty bone diet, with a few other things added in, and have a good old time cleaning their own teeth at the same time as some recreational chewing. Lulu our 12 year old girl who we sadly lost earlier this year, started eating this kind of diet after she was re-homed by us, until that time she was eating commercially store bought foods, she never had a problem with her teeth either, never have we been to a vet for any dental issue. But.....this past week I have seen lots of reports on the use of Stag Bars (small pieces of antler). I have been using these, and not had a problem with them, and the puppies too all had stag bars to help them while teething. Every now and again,something will crop up on various internet forums, which makes me wonder, who is behind it all. Is it the vet who is sponsored by a company that makes rival products? We all know that if you visit three different vets, they will undoubtedly give three different answers to what you are querying, whether it be food, neutering, excercise, supplements, or indeed vaccinations.
We are all able to make up our own minds about what is good and what is not good for our dogs, and a little common sense needs to be applied. I would have thought that if a tooth is broken or chipped by chewing on a Stag bar, then there must have been a weakness in the tooth already, and surely chewing anything could produce the same result. Rather like those who won't eat toffee in case it pulls out a filling :-) Anyway, here is the link to Stag Bar and a response from them after all the internet activity of the past few weeks. https://www.facebook.com/pages/Pure-Dog-natural-treats-for-dogs/135463099839961?fref=ts With so many barbet clubs in Europe, you'd think one of them may have posted this news by now! At the World Dog Show, Genoscoper announced the discovery of the gene (or a marker) for CA in the Barbet that can be tested for via DNA. Hopefully this discovery will also be applicable to Lagotto or move them forward rapidly in their research to develop a reliable CA test for our breed. Genoscoper will at some point in the very near future be calling for samples from affected and healthy Lagotto. (Updated MAY 2013) And as pointed out to me this morning by a friend, WHY is it not on a barbet club site but on a Lagotto Club site amongst others?
I've been asked recently about repellents for ticks. If I don't know something, I try to find out. So after reading again all the info I had, I would recommend to go down the route of buying a licensed product from your own vet. The reason I personally wouldn't try only 'alternative' repellents is that the tick isn't just an uncomfortable and ugly little bugger, it can carry and pass on diseases to its hosts. Some things just don't respond well to alternative treatments, and when there is the risk of a truly horrendous disease....I wouldn't take chances. If I were in an area running alive with ticks, I would use both licensed AND alternatives.
I've never encountered ticks here in or around my part of London, but having met my first deer only a couple of weeks ago just a few miles from home, I think now is the time to start using preparations I have only ever used before as part of the procedure for re-entering the UK after a trip on the continent. I would recommend reading this website via the link below, I've now stopped googling for alternatives as I don't believe there are any that are 100% reliable. http://www.bada-uk.org/petsproblems/prevention/indextickprevention.php |