Safe Guard Canine Dewormer?

Sorry -- gotta ask -- Worm for what?  I use Interceptor because it covers everything blood-feeding (hooks, whips, lungworm, roundworm, as well as heartworm) so I haven't had to use anything else.

Panacur that has been linked with HeartGuard isn't working well if you are dealing with hooks/whips (that's what my vet told me - I have nothing written, just what he told me).  That was back when Kee had gotten hooks and we didn't know what heartworm preventive she'd been on prior to us getting her so I had to run the Panacur twice and then do another bloodtest b/c it didn't work right the first time around -- then I put her on Interceptor with everbuddy else.

 I had a temp foster come through with round worms. Also, my dogs have been eating a lot of critter poop lately with all the snow melt. So, I am just wanting to worm them to be sure. I could just take them to the vet and have them tested like any normal responsible dog owner would do but I guess I'm being cheap and trying to cut out the middle man.

I don't give year round HW. we don't need it up here in the frozen tundra.

Safe-Guard uses the same pesticide as Panacur (22.2% fenbendazole), but it is OTC rather than prescription.  Not sure why one requires a prescription and the other doesn't.

Safe-Guard
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=13555

Panacur
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=1457

I use a "higher" dose of ivermectin as both a heartworm preventative and general de-wormer.  I say "higher" in quotes because it's MUCH higher than a Heartguard tablet but still like ten times less than what a dog gets for heartworm treatment.  There's a huge spectrum of what they can handle depending on what you want it to do.  That said, ivermectin is not the best for whips and a few other parasites.  I was using Interceptor for HW and all-purpose de-worming but it's just too expensive with 3-4 dogs every month.  Not sure if this is an option with Aussies or if it meets your needs.  I got a bottle and syringes for less than $50 and it will last all year.  I dose with a 1cc syringe and then shoot it onto a lump of food roll.

Janet, I couldn't figure out why one needs a script and one doesn't either. They seem the same - it could just be a marketing / control thing much like prescription foods and some flea control.

I ended up talking to the person in our rescue that handles worming all the dogs that come through and ordered the same stuff they use (canine all wormer). It comes from australia, which I would normally have reservations about but since we have an established history with this stuff being used on hundreds of dogs per year (have used it on my own fosters) I'm comfortable giving it to my dogs.

Liesje

I use a "higher" dose of ivermectin as both a heartworm preventative and general de-wormer. 

Just a caution for lurkers:  The dosage of ivermectin in Heartgard was set so that dogs with a faulty MDR1 (multi-drug resistance) gene can tolerate it.  Be sure your dog is not one of the affected breeds (or test for the faulty gene) before using a higher dosage of ivermectin.

http://www.vetmed.wsu.edu/depts-vcpl/
"Dogs with the mutant gene cannot pump some drugs out of the brain as a normal dog would, which may result in abnormal neurologic signs.  The result may be an illness requiring an extended hospital stay - or even death."

See this list for affected breeds: http://www.vetmed.wsu.edu/depts-vcpl/breeds.aspx

Jewlieee

I ended up talking to the person in our rescue that handles worming all the dogs that come through and ordered the same stuff they use (canine all wormer).

Canine Allwormer contains 3 pesticides - Praziquantel, Pyrantel Embonate and Oxantel Embonate.