My dog had a bone earlier this evening and after chewing it happily for some time, he left it to come to me, as I thought, for a fuss.  I stroked him and he was fine for a second, but then suddenly grabbed my arm and sank his teeth in quite hard, but without breaking the skin.  He then snapped several times at the air and tried to grab hold of any body part he could with his teeth.  He chewed and snapped at my daughter's feet and I tried to calm him by talking quietly but firmly to him, but to no avail.  He then jumped onto the sofa on top of my daughter and tried to chew her and snapped at me when I tried to get him by the collar.  My daughter is 20 and therefore not a child, but he had her pinned to the sofa.  I fetched his lead to try to gain control, but he snapped at me so that I was unable to put it on.  By me directing his attention onto myself, my daughter managed to extracate herself and he jumped back onto the floor.  I tried to take his collar, but he snapped again and then rolled over on the floor pushing me away with his paws.  He is only a puppy really at 10 months old, but he is big and he knows that once he is down like this, there is no way I can move him, so we abandoned him for a while.  He went a bit mad, jumping onto the sofas etc. but then calmed down and has been back to 'normal' ever since.  This happens fairly often, but I can't predict when it is likely and tonight he seemed worse.  I am worried now that there is something more wrong with him. I put it down to youthful exhuberance before, although I have had excited pups in the past, but they have never been like this.  My vet says that he is just 'strong willed' and I have also seen a behaviourist with him and he said that I took him away from the 'kennel situation' he was in, too late at 81/2 weeks.  I don't pretend to understand what that means, but perhaps someone with more experience can explain it to me please.  He said that he wasn't in a domestic environment and would take a lot longer to settle into a home. I am so worried that there may be more to his behaviour problems - perhaps a physical cause?  He is not food protective and I could easily have taken the bone off him at any time, so I doubt that the bone really played a part in what followed, but I could be wrong.  I am not new to the breed, but I have never experienced anything like this before and I'm worried that he may be like this with others if I can't find the cause and change it soon.  It only seems to be really bad when there are two or more people in the room at any one time, but I don't understand why this could be. We have tried to be firm but kind since day one, so I can't think it can be anything that we have caused, but perhaps those of you with more experience can please advise?  I don't know what to do next, but I can't accept this behaviour any longer.  We love him dearly and want to do what we can to help him, but I can't help feeling that we have failed badly somewhere along the line and this is very upsetting to us both.  I'm sorry that this is such a long post, but I really need some support and advice please.
Thank you

This must be extremely frightening for you; I urge you to seek proper, qualified professional help immediately; your "behaviourist's" comments are complete and utter nonsense; your dog may have a condition which makes him unable to be in full control of his actions.

This behaviour is completely unacceptable and potentially extremely dangerous.  You must ask your vet to refer you to recognised behaviourist accredited to the APBC http://www.apbc.org.uk/ and together both the vet and the behaviourist will be able to assess your dog properly and advise you on what to do next.

Please do not feel a failure or blame yourself, unlike the propaganda, it is NOT true that there are no BAD dogs only bad owners; some dogs, like some people are born with, or develop conditions which affect their mental outlook.

Please, please seek advice from trustworthy sources in order to avoid further distress to both yourself, your family and your dog.

best wishes

Thank you tohme.  I was referred last time by my vet to the behaviourist David Appleby who is a member of the APBC, but I didn't find his advice very useful as I think you will have spotted from my first posting.  I will however, ask if I could be referred to someone else.  I have just come back from walking the dog and he was happy and bouncy, wagging his tail and enjoying himself.  I can hadly believe he is the same animal really. I can't help but think that there may be medical explanation when all the way along I have been looking for something that we have done wrong. I shall see the vet first and then ask for another referral.  Thanks for your sound advice and support.

What breed is your dog?

Have you had blood work done? Could be the food or even something wrong with his brain. But if you have not done blood work or even maybe a brain scan maybe that would be something to check into. If this is a purebred have you called your breeder to see if they have had any of these behaviours happening with any of their dogs or puppies they have sold? That may be a good start and help pinpoint the problems.

good luck :)

Hello dollface,  no I have not had any blood work done and to be honest, I don't think that my vet quite appreciates the problem - perhaps I need to reinforce the issue and suggest that further investigation is needed.  My vet always says that he is very strong willed, but this is more than that to me, as it implies that I can't do anything with him, which in normal circumstances, isn't so.  I think that your suggestion about blood and brain scan seems sound, so I will take this up with the vet. He is on Burns food which seems to suit him in all other regards and I have tried him on Barf before but it didn't seem to affect these episodes. Thanks for your reply.

Lorna

Please please insist your vet does a full Thyroid blood panel - not just for level of thyroid but for antibodies. Get it analysed by a lab that knows what it is doing (such as Jean Dodds in the US - she will do tests sent by post very quickly and my vet says more cheaply than some in the UK! http://www.itsfortheanimals.com/HEMOPET.HTM as contact details for her lab). What you describe sounds very similar to what we experienced with our dog - it turned out he had autoimmune thyroiditis which is easily treatable (though not always completely as far as the behaviour is concerned). This is NOT the same as hypothyroidism - he may not have low thyroid levels (our boy had levels off the scale). It is a condition that if untreated can lead to hypothyroidism.

Best of luck.
Janet

To be honest, David Appleby is one of the few behaviourists whose judgement I would trust.

A lot of years ago a friend of mine had a Cocker Spaniel who did this all the time.I think is was a trait with the particular colour gene of the dog.
Sometimes that kind of behaviour, when unprovoked, can be a symptom of a kind of epilepsy.
We have just had one of our dogs diagnosed. Although our dog doesn't have this particular epilepsy we were warned about it.
What breed is he??
Does he look 'disoriented' when he reacts in this manner??
Were his parents aggressive??
How do you respond to the behaviour??

He is an OES and this is certainly not a breed I would think of as agressive generally. He eats Burns, although he was on Eukanuba when he left the breeder and I gradually changed him over.  He has also been on Barf for a short period, but went off it, so I put him back onto Burns which he seems to like. It seems to happen regardless of his diet. When he has one of these 'turns', he gets quite a wild look in his eye and has a totally different manner to his 'normal' self.  I have tried to distract him with toys when it has started in the past, but this has no real effect other than him grabbing at the arm that is extending the toy to him.  I give up at this point and having tried to be calm and quiet with him, I tend to distance myself from him until he calms down.  It can be at any time and is unprovoked.  Sometimes it is during play and others he seems to just 'pick a fight' as it were. All the commands that he usually responds to are totally ineffective during this period.  His parents both seemed placid enough.  They too were big dogs, so I expected him to be on the large side, but he has so much strength and a will of iron, which doesn't help during these episodes as you can imagine.  The reason that I started to think that there could be a medical problem here, is that he seems to be a totally different character when it happens.  He is usually very loving and often puts his paws on my shoulders for a cuddle.  I don't imagine that he would ever be aggressive at times like this, so I think that there must be more to it.  He does seem to genuinely enjoy our company most of the time and loves us to play ball etc. All the more reason then to be worried about his health I felt?
Thank you all for your replies.

If the dog has had extensive vet tests and there is nothing apparently wrong, then unless something has not been detected, it must be a behavioural problem. If it is, then you need a training programme tailored to your situation. I've just re-read your post and have every sympathy and what happened must have been frightening; however one can read what happened in several ways and it may even be that the dog is just being a manky teenager. Dogs do jump on people although of course it is not acceptable and certainly not in the way you have described!

Its intersting that he goes upside down and pushes you away; that can often be a sign of conflict in a dog or sometimes manipulation (or both).

When i first read your post i immediately thought there was some physical problem (possibly neurological) , and indeed it is not unusual for vets to not pick up these and behaviourists will sometimes refer a dog back to the vet because they still feel there is something wrong and they are usually right. As i said though, reading your post the dog could also be a very exciteable, controlling and manipulative youngster in which case the problem could likely be solved by consistenly using a "learn to earn" or "nothing in life is free" type programme which sets boundaries and instils some kind but firm discipline ;)

I would want to set my mind at rest. I think if it was me i would approach both vet and DA and discuss the case further. If the breeder is approachable maybe also a chat with him/her. I presume DA did not feel the dog was aggressive. What was his "conclusion", did he set you any training exercises for example? :)

Lindsay
X

I hope you vet is able to come up with something
Good luck :)

It is very kind of you all to take the time to reply to my cry for help so constructively. Thank you all for contributing.  I think it is time to go back to basics and approach the vet with a shopping list of posible tests and take further advice. I may have to make a bit of a nuisance of myself, but hopefully he will take notice and not try to fob me off with the 'strong-willed' diagnosis this time. Thank you.

Reading on another forum sometimes moldy dog food (you don't see it) can cause a behaviour problem, WDJ did and article about it a couple of years ago. I guess ingesting this type of mold causes behaviour problems in dogs(light avoidance and hiding under the table is some). Just passing on what I read.

:)

That's an interesting one dollface.  I'll have a crawl around under the furniture to make sure he doesn't have a secret stash - well you never know, they can be that sneaky can't they. Thanks.

Hi Lorna. What a terrible experience - must have been very scary with a dog the size of an OES. To be totally honest with you, an episode like that would have me calling his breeder sharpish to ask their advice and if they have heard of it before - and, I would also be considering rehoming the dog (preferably back through the breeder). I would also make sure he doesn't have anything that might provoke him again - ie bones - in the future until this is sorted. Is he getting lots of walks and training to occupy his mind and get him focused on you?

can't see it being anything to do with the Burns... what else is he getting with it? Is he a good weight? Which type is he on?

Hello again ChloeH.  You may not remember, but this OES is my beloved Barney who you corresponded with me about some time ago, as he didn't like to be groomed!  Needless to say, matters have got considerably worse since then.  He is a good weight and size (you have one of his older photos on your Champdog owners website) and he has Burns for large breed growing pups and lactating bitches in the morning and venison and brown rice, or the organic variety, in the evening.
I must admit that I don't think his breeder will be very interested, espcially if I were to suggest that they have him back (heaven forbid, he is my lovely dog and my responsibility in spite of his problems).  They were nice enough when I bought him, but did say that they don't keep in touch with the new owners of their pups, although they like to get pics and hear about how they are getting on.  I mentioned in an email to them, that he is very mouthy and I was having grooming problems, but I have never had replies to any emails and photos I have sent. I am just so upset that my dog, whom I love and train and play with and cuddle, is turning into an animal that I don't trust and sometimes don't like. If there is a problem that I can help put right, then I will do whatever it takes, but I am very worried that there is more to it than boisterous puppyhood games or teenager tantrums.

Of course I remember Barney - he's gorgeous :)

Just one word of warning from one large breed owner to another - I would get him onto an adult food asap - something like Burns Venison and Rice... other feeds can have too much protein and it can send them a bit wild. You could give him some NatureDiet to make it more palatable. I know Willis went bananas on Nutro when I gave it him - so it could really help to swap him ;)

Thanks ChloeH.  I don't really think that I had thought too hard about that one.  I must admit that so many people seem sold on Burns, that, knowing it to be a good complete, I thought it was the very best thing for him.  I will take him off the high protein one completely and try what you suggest by gradually introducing NatureDiet with his venison and rice.  I've nothing to lose and everything to gain after all and you always give me sound advice.  Thank you. Love to Willis too - he is real pin-up!

What I ment was the food in the bag could have mold, other wise maybe it was just a bad batch, or the shelf life of the food....Just a thought and thought I would just pass it on :)

Sorry, just me being a bit thick! Yes I see what you mean dollface.  I am going to try changing his food on the advice of ChloeH, so that should solve that particular problem if that is the case.  I always buy direct from Burns, but you never know how long they have the ffod before they deliver do you.  It is a sound theory and I'm taking note as there is nothing that I won't try.  Thanks for putting me right.

Have you compared the protein levels Burns v Naturediet; presumably you know how to calculate the protein levels by removing the moisture content etc; you may be surprised when you have done this calculation!  Aflatoxins (which are the toxins produced by the moulds found in grains in dry foods) can cause a variety of symptoms.

To be honest your dog's behaviour appears, from what you say, to need a lot more than reducing protein intake, and I have yet to be convinced that protein levels per se are the cause of behaviour problems as all the "studies" conducted have been on commercial diets which contain so many additives etc as well as having non appropriate sources of protein; it is not protein itself that is the problem but the bio availability of it and the type eg complete v incomplete and then of course you can throw the tryptophan problem into the equation.

Before you change foods in the search of lower protein, make sure you understand how that %age figure is arrived at and how to compare foods eg dry v wet.

If in doubt contact Burns and Naturediet direct, their nutritionists will advise you correctly on the actual %age of protein in their foods...........

Must you ALWAYS query other peoples advice?

Every other LARGE BREED owner I know has had problems feeding higher protein foods - ie over 22%. Its very straightforward for those of us who can't be bothered/don't have time to "calculate protein levels" anfd look into dog food in minute detail. If my dog was being unruly or badly behaved or over exhuberant, the first thing I would look at would be his food. Yes, this poster may have a few more problems, but is it really going to hurt to get this dog onto an adult variety food asap? This board has gone mad with unsufferable know it alls and frankly, its ridiculous. MOST of us don't have time to do barf and have behaviourists every five minutes. And personally, if this dog were mine, he'd be t the vets rather than a behaviourist anyway - because I'd be insisting that more tests were carried out fr this behaviour. But still - some of don't have the "scientific" experience that others have do we, we just get on with it.

Lorna - I apologise for my spelling in my previous post - it all went to pot as I hadn't got my contact lenses in LOL

Have you spoken to the breed club? They would be your best bet. Also, please feel free to PM me as I'd be interested in what they say to you :)

ChloeH

I am querying the advice regarding higher protein because whether or not the dog is on puppy or adult food is immaterial, all dog foods contain differing amounts of protein.  Is Naturediet lower in protein than Burns?

I fully agree with the advice with the vet and you will see in my original post I did say that this behaviour may be due to medical problems..................... and needs looking at.

as for  getting on with it, perhaps if we took that to the nth degree a) people would not look for a variety of opinions, experience and knowledge that is on this board and b) people can spend a lot of time doing things which may be a complete waste of time.

Changing foods WITHOUT knowing the protein levels in both would be a waste of time and in fact the poster could end up feeding a food that is actually higher in protein in real terms.

Surely ALL advice given should be questioned by EVERYONE and ANYONE if the advice appears to be incomplete, inaccurate or ill advised

I was under the impression that this board existed to help people and that everyone was entitled to express their views and opinions whether or not we agreed with them or not.

If feeding was so straightforward I would have thought there would be a great deal fewer posts on the subject.

Why so aggressive?

This sounds exactly like a dog I had, eventually these "fits" got to a point where he would be fine one minute and attack the nearest thing to him the next! He was diagnosed with a form of epilepsy.  It was frightening how quickly he would change, then change back again. As he got older he would often have a staring or glazed expression in his eyes after an attack. We had to have him put to sleep in the end.

Hello Polly. Thanks for your reply.  I'm so sorry to hear about your own dog.  Isn't it awful watching the pet you thought you knew change so quickly from one character to another and back just as quickly. I just pray that this isn't going to be the same for my dog, Barney.  I will get him to the vet and try to get some tests done to see what the problem is.  I am beginning to get nervous about doing this, but it must be in Barney's best interests. If the tests prove that there is nothing wrong, then I guess we are back to the behaviourist again.

Fingers crossed it is nothing that cannot be sorted out for you and for Barney. Callum was a lovely dog in every way except for this strange behaviour, and it took some doing to get the vet to look at him. We later disccovered he had a tumour on his brain.

Oh Polly, how awful for you.  Its so sad to lose a pet like that when they have a long life ahead of them and you love them to bits.  Thanks for your good wishes.  I'm determined to do my best for Barney, no matter what.

Lorna - I note in one of your messages above you said "I don't think that my vet quite appreciates the problem - perhaps I need to reinforce the issue and suggest that further investigation is needed."

I have noticed that I can describe a problem on here in detail, then when I go to the vets I say (for instance about itching) "well she does it a lot...and uhm...she does this...and uhm...this happens...."

Its so much easier to 'write/type' the problem down and not always so easy to communicate it to a vet especially when you get there and start feeling paranoid that you are worrying over nothing.  Consequently my advice would be, how about printing off your first message here which describes in detail the 'full routine' of actions that your dog performs...or write it all down in a book with a couple of other examples and tell your vet you have been keeping a diary.  Obviously vet's don't have a lot of time, but it would only take a minute to skim through something like your first message and get the gist of what is actually happening, whereas if you were telling him verbally you would probably shorten it and trivialise it unintentionally and he wouldn't understand the full extent of the problem.  I think any vet reading your first message would have to sit up and take a bit of notice, but if you went to him and said "we're still having the problem and the other night he jumped up and tried to bite my arm and then pinned my daughter down and it was really scary" he might be forgiven for thinking its puppy behaviour because he doesn't appreciate the full extent of what he's doing in the way we do by having the advantage of seeing it all written down shortly after it occurred.

Please excuse me if you have communicated the full extent and details in the past and feel free to ignore me!  I just know that when I get in the vets I tend to stumble on what I'm saying and they don't really listen if they think its an everyday matter.

Lorna
as well as seeing the vet etc...you could try some scullcap and valerian tablets (Dorwest sell them). I have tried other herbal remedies from them with excellent results....just a thought!
Archer

That's a brilliant idea jessthepest.  I admit that once I get into the vets I do tend to do the same thing and never feel that I have really got the message over.  I usually end up coming out dissatified with what I have said and therefore with the outcome.  The vet also seems to speak over me and ignore my concerns whilst he describes in vivid detail the various bits of the dogs anatomy, which isn't really helping with the initial problem.  I then find myself being ushered out having failed to get the full extend of the situation over as I had hoped.  I shall take up your suggestion and take my first posting with me and if he won't read it then, perhaps I can leave it with him and ask to ring him back once he has had time to look at it properly without feeling the need to get me out and get onto the next patient.  Thanks for that - excellent advice.

Lorna.
Have Pm'd you.
Karen.

I have only just seen this post.   It must have been very frightening for you.

Lorna I don't know much about the OES but are you aware if there is Epilepsy in the breed. When you say "he gets quite a wild look in his eye and has a totally different manner to his 'normal' self."  reminds me of a Border Collie I had which turned out had Epilepsy, she turned very nasty during an attack, but was a loving dog inbetween.

I don't want to scare you, but if these are Epileptic attacks they are likely to become more frequent and someone could get seriously bitten.

Chloe has recommended you contact a breed club and I would second that, they may know the breeding line of your dog and could help.

IMO you being very sensible in your approach and feeding, I personally feel this is a medical condition of some description and a behaviourist is unlikely to help.

I wish you well with this and please keep us posted.

Sandra

Thank you all so much for your advice and support. I have to admit that I am sitting here in pieces at the thought that I may have to deal with a very serious situation here in a way I hadn't thought I would have to in such a young dog.  I am keeping a glimmer of hope alive that Barney is not suffering from any of the illnesses suggested as possible, but there are so many similarities between his and those that some of you have witnessed that I am feeling very worried.  I have an appointment to see the vet with Barney on Thusrday evening, so I shall report back once I have seen him and let you know how we have got on.  Thank you all.

Lorna if you are considering changing your dog's diet over from Burns to Naturediet please be aware of the following if you are concerned about protein levels.

Depending on the variety Naturediet contains 7/10/12% protein and 75% moisture

To make a correct protein content calculation one must divide the protein content by the dry matter and multiply by 100 to arrive at the ACTUAL percentage of protein.

Thus Naturediet is 7/25 x 100 = 28% protein, 10/25 x 100 = 40% protein, 12/25 x 100 = 48% protein( 25 represents the percentage of dry matter after you have removed the 75% moisture)

Hopefully this will enable you to come to a balanced and informed choice on which to base your decision.

regards

hi

sounds like a very excitable young dog having a crazy time if he was really being aggresive he would have drawn blood, my boxer has mad moment like this she just can't contain herself and lets loose she's a year and these mad moments are getting less and less, both the boxer and oes are exuberent breeds and have so much energy they almost explode they are dogs after all.

j

Lorna - I think I remember recommending a low protein Burns (Adult) with ND to add variety - but again, the BREED CLUB are the best to advise you on this. I am just speaking on behalf of other LARGE BREED owners and what they recommend to keep bigger dogs calm :)

Thanks for all your advice ChloeH.  I have already dropped the 'puppy' Burns and am just giving him the venison and brown rice at the moment.  I have sent an emai to the breed club as it's a bit late to phone.  I have asked for advice on the suggetions that have been put forward in the various posts here and feeding is one of those, so I will see what they have to say.  We have an appointment at the vets on Thursday and I shall take a copy of my first mail with me as suggested by jessthepest.  I know that you are giving me the benefit of your experience and I'm very grateful for all this help.  If it's still OK with you, I will PM you once I have some feedback.  I appreciate that everyone is trying to help in their own way and not every poster will see eye to eye, but then I need all the information I can get right now. Don't worry about not having your contacts in earlier - I hadn't noticed any mistakes!!!!
Thanks again
Lorna

Anytime Lorna - PM me and I will re-send you my email addy. Would be nice to see some new pics of Barney :) Don't worry, it WILL work itself out I am sure.

hello

can i just say that my dog was worst behaved when she was on burns food i really think it was because she never felt full and satisfied since changing her food she's more content she also never put enough weight on burns is a great food for dogs with allergies and overweight but for your general healthy LARGE breed dog it does not satisfie them enough and thats when they start acting naughty and agitated just like when children are hungary they are naughty and miserable.

j

I was just rereading your post and my friend had a pit who had epilepsy and just before she had a fit she would get this blank stare in her eye's and then she attacked her a couple of times and also attacked her other pit. This happened alot and was getting worse, she did have her on meds, blood work, white blood cell counts ect. She was the sweatest dog when all was over you wouldn't even think she could hurt a fly. She said when this happened she was a totally different dog and since the meds were not controlling her behaviour she decided to have her pts because she felt it was the best thing to do actually it was the vets advice. She doesn't no why to this day if it was because of the epilepsy that caused it cause shortly after her weird behaviour she would have a seizure and be out for a long while, the seizures were really hard on her and took alot out of her.

She rescued her from some people who use to beat her and stuff, but in the long run she was happy that she was able to atleast give her a loving family for the short year and a half she had her.

Good luck with your dog and am very curious what the vet finds out :) The best :)

but for your general healthy LARGE breed dog it does not satisfie them enough

This may have been your personal experience jackalyn but I can speak for hundreds of owners of healthy LARGE breed dogs (and working gundogs too) that they have certainly not found this to be the case.

As I have often said there is no one perfect food for ALL dogs.

Surely if a food doesnt fill / satisfy a dog AND doesnt put weight on it, cant you just.......give it more food?

Perhaps I am missing something?

Sorry Jackalyn, I don't mean to be rude nor critical of your experience, its not my intention, but I had the same thought as Havoc.  I know Burns warn against over feeding, but they also encourage experimentation to find the optimum amount of food for the individual dog.  We had to tinker with the amounts a bit when we switched ours to it, but now that we've got it nailed, it suits them just fine.  My experience of it as a food is that it suits my particular specimens of a large breed very well indeed, although of course, like any complete it wouldn't necessarily suit all :)

Lesley  

Hello everyone.  Well Barney and I have returned from the vet.  I took my first posting to show the vet and that was good idea thanks jessthepest, as I didn't trivialise, summarise or omit anything.  My daughter came too as back-up.  The vet listened to his heart and said that he immediately suspects thyroid problems, but will carry out bloods if I take him back for them to be done under anesthetic on Saturday. He said that there are definitely physiological and psychological issues to address here. He was critical of the way we allow Barney to ask for fuss rather than us choosing when to give it and was also concerned that there is no male 'voice' in the household as they carry more authority (I would personally question this point of view).  We have to be even more strict with Barney over food (no treats etc - ruins the training regime however).  We have weighed him to make sure that he gets the correct proportions in his food bowl - he is 35kg, so you see he isn't a small dog!!!  We now have to wait for Saturday and the tests and then however long the results take.  The tests for epilepsy will be run at the same time, so hopefully we should soon have some idea what we are dealing with.
I'd like to thank you all for your suggestions, ideas, advice and support.  I think I would have gone mad if I hadn't been able to share this with fellow dog-lovers and those of you who have far more experience than I.  What a great website!  Anyway, I will let you know how we get on with the blood tests and if I can get a really gruff voice perfected!!! Thanks all.  Lorna and Barney

Thats great news I hope your vet gets to the bottom of it :)

I too heard that dogs listen to men better because of the low deep voice, where women voices are more high pitched in away...My dogs listen better to my hubby then I and I am the one that does all the training with them...Go figure    I think Iam more lenient and the dogs as well as the children no that...I would use treats and praise for training and alternate them so he doesn't know which one he is getting, even use a toy then thats 3 things to use and always something different to keep him focused. I do this when training Junior and it works a charm he gets really excited all the time when rewared for good behaviour, I also stop before he gets bored of it so we always leave on a good note....

I wish you the best and good luck :)

Lorna that really is good news.  You are on a positive track now and it is being taken seriously.  Even by ruling out what it isn't, should help with the problem.

I think you have approached this very sensibly and Barney is a very lucky dog to have found you.

Good luck for Saturday
Sandra