Is this about right for a 18 month German Shepherd - he's 41.4 kg. He doesn't look overweight but is now starting to fill out - he's put 3 kg on since his last vet visit about a month ago. We took him to the vet because he had two strange scabs under his fur on his shoulder which the vet thought he may have caught on something. So the vet promptly put him on Pred (steriods) to stop him itching and re-opening the wounds.

Max has never suffered from fleas or ticks so I was wondering what are the symptoms, what exactly do you look for when examining your dog for fleas or ticks, I hope its not a tick or something inside these two scabs or I wont be very pleased the vet didn't spot it. :rolleyes:

Tim, I hope you've seen Mattie's post - ticks, where there is a reply with a link to photos of ticks.

Yes I did Lynn thanks - orrible lil things aren't they

Having just, in the last half-hour, had to get one out of Ben's foot (conveniently buried between his pads:() I totally agree!
Lynnt

Poor you Lynn....
The worst place for me to get them out is just around Samma's mouth or eyes. They like to bury themselves deep in the soft skin. I know the topical stuff I use on her will kill them, but it hurts her when they're in that deep, so I don't wait for it to work.
toodles

Sara, I can't imagine how you keep a dog still to get one off their face! I grossed myself out last night by looking up all sorts of stuff about ticks. The concensus of them seemed to say that most of the things I'd heard about removing them were old wives tales. I just hope I don't encounter too many of the little b****rs!
LynnT

I have really good dogs :D :D :D :D
Seriously, because of hair patterns, Samma learned long long time ago to keep still while I trimmed the 'triangle' area where her hair grows along her nose and into her eyes. I don't hold her muzzle anymore to do this.

Besides, both are used to me 'fussing' with them all of the time. But they really go nuts with joy when I've successfully 'pulled' one of those 'b******s' off of one. They check the tweezers to see what it is and get all happy about it :rolleyes: Then it's to the cupboard for a treat :D Yeah, behavoral reward, but I remember a couple of years ago, when hubby removed one from my shoulder blade. I wanted ice cream and NOW!!!!!!

That said, disgusting things, ticks are..but I would rather deal with them than fleas. I start imagining fleas jumping around on me and get very paranoid about them Haven't ever had a problem here though, just in MD and NJ.
Ick, searching photos for ticks... I'm shuddering at the though You brave soul, you :D :D
:cool: