Merlin update

MellowYellow

MellowYellow

OH took the dogs to the vet for their pre-travel worming tablets this morning. Merlin weighed in at a whopping 36 kg... That sounds like a lot, but considering what a big dog he is and how big his bones are, that's actually very good. He could easily weigh a couple of kilos more and still look trim.

We won't say anything about poor Poppy, other than the dreaded D I E T word...
 
Lab_adore

Lab_adore

Moderator
Staff member
Location
Sydney, Australia
Tell Poppy to chat to Maxx about how devastating the D I E T word is. But it has worked, he has definitely slimmed down but we are yet to get him weighed so not sure how much he has lost. He topped 47.6kg in January :(
 
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Lab_adore

Lab_adore

Moderator
Staff member
Location
Sydney, Australia
Oh it's ok @Atemas we should never have let him get so big. I think he is getting close to ok now; when I stroke his back or sides I can feel his spine and his ribs. I've been trying to get a good photo to show you all and get your thoughts but he is very camera shy
 
MellowYellow

MellowYellow

Ugh a reminder that Merlin is not a completely healthy dog... It's all been going so well that we kind of forget about his hips from time to time. Well, not really, but it isn't at the forefront of our brains (especially not OH's...).

There is a bitch in heat in our road, and that makes Merly a bit jumpy. He's not too bad, but he does better if kept occupied, and unfortunately this means that we have overdone it a bit with him over the past few days. OH took him out for a training session on Saturday, then he was with us and took part in my training class on Sunday. They had a quiet day on Monday, but then on Tuesday I took them into the woods and did a searching and retrieving session, and yesterday OH took both dogs out with the dreaded tennis ball flinger (grrrrrrr...). Not surprisingly, Merlin started limping last night, not wanting to put weight on his left hind leg. I gave him metacam, and he seems fine this morning, but we have agreed he will have three days of quiet walks with NO RETRIEVING.

Silly of us. We know that if he does some training then he needs a day or two afterwards to recover. It was just I think that he needs distraction to take his mind off his girlfriend, and doing some retrieving in the woods is the easiest way to do this. Reminder to self: Don't be an idiot. And throw that blasted flinger away.
 
Stacia

Stacia

Location
Malvern Worcestershire
Yes, throw the flinger away! I am sorry to read about Merlin. My Rourke is not allowed to do any retrieving :'( and as that is both our passion, it is difficult. I do place a tennis ball, hide it, and send him from a few feet to search in long grass or cover, perhaps you could do that to help putting too much strain on his hips at the moment?

Just seen the photo after I posted this so editing to say they look beautiful dogs, Poppy gives way I see :)
 
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