Hey sorry I haven't gotten back sooner I was having computer issues. We considered the possibility that she would be better in another home but decided, together, to keep her. We put her on her old food and she's not been throwing up since. We're mixing it with new food, IAMS (vet said to go with Hills but I educated my mom on who trains vets in nutrition). I was giving her the milk we drink but not to sustain her, just a small bit to keep hydrated when throwing up. Now she drinks water. Having three 8 week old puppies was too much at the time but now that Peanut and Punkin are almost two years old they are not as dependent and are house trained (well Peanut still goes inside if you don't see her heading to the back door) and have taken more to the puppy now. They play together a lot especially outside and there is harmony in the kitchen at meal times. I've read up on the breeds and know that early socializing and discipline are needed to have this dog's respect. I believe that she will need a long walk in the morning and evening (45 mins each time at least) and I can challenge her more if I get her a backpack when she's older. She had her first shots two weeks ago and I really want to get her walking but beegood mentioned about sidewalks and Parvo so I was wondering if anyone knows how long before I can take her outside and when she can meet other dogs? Also she has really short soft fur and seems to get cold very easily. I bought a small jacket but its light and goes over her back mostly. Should I wait until the weather gets warmer?

The antibiotics are for the potential infection from the aspiration itself - not the lump. I'm sure that the lump is not infected - it's something else. But vets don't find out every type of bacteria they're dealing with - they give "broad spectrum" antibiotics first and those usually work. I've never had a wound become infected and I usually give tetracycline (an old-fashioned antibiotic). I have 16 dogs and they do get in fights so I rarely take a dog to the vet for a wound. People who fight dogs for sport don't use vets. They take care of their own wounds - even though the average person is offended by that - it's true. Good evidence of the felony of dog fighting is having antibiotics on hand. Don't you think that vets lose sight of the common mans' ability to handle medical conditions? It's the difference between how livestock and pet dogs are handled. It's the culture of pet ownership. For example, aren't cattle castrated without anesthetic? Is that because they have less nerve endings than dogs or because we wouldn't want to do that to our sweet little puppy dogs? How often would a vet tell a patient to "take some antibiotics, keep the wound clean and it will heal?" No, they'll spend your $200 and suture it up. After having many dogs, I've learned that wounds heal - just need to prevent infection. I think that vets are somehow taught to be so safety-conscious that we laypeople have to educate ourselves on basic health care. I use vets a lot though - but I also can avoid them too. I live near Mexico and antibiotics and prednisone are otc there - what does that tell you about American medicine? I'm a different type of dog owner than most people on this forum - I know that. One of my dogs dislodged his entire top canine tooth (one of them) and it was just hanging there by a piece of flesh. I brought her home, gave her a muscle relaxant and severed the flesh - . No way I'm going to spend money on that small procedure. hope i haven't alienated too many, vicky

Let's see...I did just look that up for you! I think it's rare for animals to be quarantined but depending on the animal they need an inspection and some vet documentation. Apparently they might not be accepting horses from Colorado right now? PS Here's a selection of farms for sale...http://www.novascotiaproperty.info/ For horses: Zoosanitary Export Certificate for Horses INSPECTIONS INSTRUCTIONS Require: US Zoosanitary Export Certificate (completed in the past 30 days (VS 17-140 or VS 17-145 OR a hard copy of the electronic export certificate), check date) Verify that the US zoosanitary health certificate is endorsed by a US federal veterinarian. If not endorsed, refuse the entry. Must have been a resident of the US for at least the past 60 days or since birth Must match description on the Certificate and appear healthy Must have tested negative for EIA (Coggins or ELISA test) in the past 6 months (check date) Foals under 5 months of age are exempt from the EIA requirement if they are imported into Canada at the same time as their dam and must be identified on the certificate of their dam or on a separate certificate of their own Foals born en-route are exempt from the certificate requirements If Box #4 on the certificate is checked - refer to CFIA Vet USDA Veterinarian Signature must be Present Date and stamp the original USDA Health Certificate and return it to the importer Retain a copy of the certificate . Fax a copy to the district office of the POE. INSPECT THE HORSES to ensure that horses are transported without injury, distress or undue suffering and with sufficient headroom and space - if this is not the case, please refer to CFIA for veterinary inspection.

Oooh! Sweet potatoes with chipotles? That sounds interesting! I'm with you, Annie, about not adding sugar to sweet potatoes, but I have to say, really good butter all melty makes one go from garden variety tuber to amazing dessert. Tempura turnips also sounds interesting. Whenever any food is compared to another, I balk. Cauliflower is very strongly cauliflower and nothing else. I was treated to cauliflower Italian pizza crust. It tasted pretty good, especially the almost charred edges. Quality food. It had cheese but no sauce. It was fine. Really well herbed and seasoned. But it was cauliflower. And tasted like cheesy cauliflower with Italian herbs. Better than that actually, because it was dryer and had a better mouthfeel than ordinary cauliflower. So it was really good cheesy cauliflower. I don't even mind it being called cauliflower "pizza". I have a narrow definition of "pizza" (I don't think an English muffin, spaghetti sauce and cheese is pizza. A goopy cheese sandwich, but not pizza). The cauliflower pizza had enough in common with real pizza to earn the word...but only with "cauliflower" in front of it. Because it really wasn't much like pizza. Just pizza shaped and seasoned cheesy cauliflower. Cauliflower doesn't taste any more like potatoes than it does like pizza crust. Nor do parsnips. People think just because it's white, and pureed, it must taste like mashed potatoes. I say stop smoking, it interferes with your sense of taste. That's the only explanation I have for such statements. It's white and the speaker can't taste anything anyway. Mind you, I like a good parsnip puree! It's excellent with strong flavored meats like lamb and duck. But it doesn't taste anything like potatoes. I do believe that radishes could taste similar to turnips. They do have similar flavors raw. Different, but at least in the family. OTOH, I think you could make a mash out of Japanese yams that would be mashed potato-ish. Adjacent. Like radishes to turnips. Sibling resemblance, not twins. Lars, great news on the progress, especially the driving! That should make life easier for both of you.