I add this year a few words about Lyme Disease. There is more news about vaccines being expected. For the past few years there has been a vaccine, and some Vets recommend it. We have not used the one that has been available, although we have a lot of Lyme Disease in our area. Discuss it with your Vet. Lyme Disease is now in just about every state. Not every dog that limps is dysplastic, and these days here, if a dog limps, our first thought is Lyme Disease. Symptoms of Lyme Disease in dogs can involve limping, joint pain which seems to affect different joints at different times, lethargy, general poor condition. If the Vet suspects Lyme Disease, early administration of antibiotics is given, whether a test is positive or not. Lyme Disease tests are not always reliable. If anyone has any ideas about keeping ticks off the dog, let me know. We go over our dogs carefully and often, but we cannot keep ticks off of them. Dips seem ineffective here; flea and tick collars for dogs that are outside in known tick-infested areas are more successful, but vigilance is the real answer at the moment. We have had good results in keeping ticks down with the Preventic collars. Our dogs wearing them are not completely tick-free, but they have few ticks, while in the past they have had MANY ticks. No matter what you use, check often for fleas and ticks and remove any promptly. For some reason, we hear from several owners on the West Coast who feel they do not have ticks and hence cannot have Lyme Disease or Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, etc. Honestly folks, there are ticks in California.