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Memento1979 posted:Question for the thread: does anyone have any experience with Idiopathic Vestibular Disease? The symptoms you're describing are pretty similar to my old dog who was diagnosed with IVD about six months ago. She was still a bit wobbly (more wobbly than usual anyway, she's 16) a couple of weeks later but otherwise improved very rapidly.
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Jan 1, 2013 15:30
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MrDutch posted:Hi, The issue with getting a dog when you live alone is that you can't really switch up your schedule on the fly. It limits your opportunity to go out for drinks with coworkers at the end of the day, or spending a night crashing at a friend's place. If you're sick the dog will still want/need your attention and there'll be no one else to help cover for you. My non-dognerd friends tend to forget I have dogs and need to go home every few hours (I hate leaving them home more than 8 hours at a stretch, and 10 is really pushing it even on special occasions like, say, New Years). Again, my general rule of thumb is not to leave them for more than 4 hours if I can help it. I'm kind of obsessive/paranoid like that. If you look for a mature, laid back dog with a stable temperament and medium-low exercise requirements I'm sure you could probably pull it off. a life less fucked around with this message at 16:13 on Jan 1, 2013 |
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Jan 1, 2013 16:04
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Have any new neighbors or current neighbors that make late night Taco Bell runs? Did your dog have an insatiable appetite for Doritos and other junk food? In all seriousness though, IVD in that young of a dog would be pretty odd. That recovery would be pretty quick for it too - any chance of eating meds/drugs that you, your neighbors, visiting family, etc., may have? Still peeing/eating okay?
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Jan 1, 2013 16:37
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Memento1979 posted:Question for the thread: does anyone have any experience with Idiopathic Vestibular Disease? Our dog Seamus (Cavador, 12 months old) was whimpering in the back yard yesterday and when we let him in he was basically acting drunk, and wouldn't sit or lie down. He was wandering all over the place, his head was bobbing up and down as he walked (which is really OOC for a Labrador breed of any sort - they normally have very still heads when walking) and trying to walk up or down our back step has been resulting in falling over forwards. He's also been drooling more than normal. To head off people telling me to take him to the vet: we already did. The vet checked him out yesterday to make sure he hadn't injured himself; he sleeps on top of his kennel and we were worried he had fallen off. The vet mentioned it might be IVD in passing but the only way to know that for sure is if it goes away after a few days. They were incredibly busy down there, it being new year's eve and them only working a half day. Given that the other name for "idopathic vestibular disease" is "old dog vestibular disease," I would also be hesitant to diagnose it in a 12 month old dog. If he is still off today, a video might be helpful, or at least entertaining. Also, IVD tends to get better without treatment, but I think it usually takes longer than a couple days to resolve. In my neck of the woods we see a couple dogs per month with similar symptoms who we end up presumptively diagnosing with marijuana intoxication. There isn't a great test for it, but the symptoms are fairly classic and, in this town, everyone and their brother grows. The symptoms of a dog who has eaten pot include: Slow heart rate Fast heart rate Big pupils Small pupils Excessive drooling Vomiting Unbalanced/acting drunk/wobbly "Zoning out" to nearly comatose, but able to be stimulated back to alertness for short periods Flinching with loud noises or sudden movements Intermittently rigid limbs Urinary incontinence/dribbling urine Low temperature Low blood pressure Dogs never have all of these (and some of these are contradictory), but if they have a lot of them, and bloodwork is normal, and physical exam is normal aside from the things listed here, I tend to consider marijuana the most likely scenario. I always tell people other toxins are also possible, because they never know what the dog got into and I can't prove it was pot, but we always hope for pot because that's the least lethal of any of the things I know of that will cause these signs, and it goes away in 24-48 hours. Only really severe cases end up requiring hospitalization (nearly comatose dogs). I really don't know if that's what happened to your pup, not knowing where you live and what drugs or toxins the dog has access too or what the dog's exam looked like aside from the drunkeness. I mostly wanted to post about marijuana intoxication because I find it entertaining that, in 4 months, I've seen 8 of these that I was fairly positive about, yet a lot of vets have no idea what a)marijuana intoxication looks like and b) what to do about it. In school we have to learn that certain fungal diseases are restricted to certain parts of the country, that California is notorious for having a year-round foxtail season, and where various ticks are found. No one tells us that there are much smaller regional pockets of what might otherwise be uncommon presentations; in my neighborhood, drunk dogs ate pot and all sick puppies have parvo until proven otherwise. 90 minutes away that story changes completely, but I'm sure the vets there are excellent at diagnosing some parasite or fungus that I've never seen but is very common in their neighborhood lake or something.
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Jan 1, 2013 17:27
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MrDutch posted:
We hired a walker service and before that had an unemployed friend take care of mid-day walks/exercise. If you live spitting distance from your job, making due without a walker isn't too bad, but since you're doing this alone, you might want to consider it for your own sake. I've met a few people who work from home and still have a mid-day walker come by just so they could get a real lunch break and their dog had a chance to socialize with someone else. I'd definitely go with an older dog - trying to raise a puppy on your own in an apartment isn't a good idea, you might as well just take your security deposit money and throw it into a fire. You'd also want to avoid any breed/mix that's super high energy...a GSD or a border collie would take a lot of work especially if you don't have access to a fenced yard or off-leash park nearby. I wouldn't necessarily rule out big/low energy dogs if you have the space for it (don't get a giant dog if you have hardwood floors and you don't own your apartment...), but you should probably be looking toward the smaller end of the spectrum. For something in between greyhounds and whippets have been known to live like happy couch potatoes in the city.
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Jan 1, 2013 18:16
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Re: dogs and working full time, I don't come home at lunchtime and we only have a dog walker come in once a week (so I can stay late at work). I don't mind leaving my dogs for a full working day, but I'm pretty neurotic about not leaving them alone twice in one day. If I have to go somewhere in the evening the dogs come with me or otherwise I stay home. I guess it comes down to what the dog is used to. My dogs would be stressed out if I came home in the middle of the day, took them out for a short walk and then left them alone again. I'm guessing that dogs used to this schedule don't mind it at all.
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Jan 1, 2013 20:15
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Rixatrix posted:Re: dogs and working full time, I don't come home at lunchtime and we only have a dog walker come in once a week (so I can stay late at work). I don't mind leaving my dogs for a full working day, but I'm pretty neurotic about not leaving them alone twice in one day. If I have to go somewhere in the evening the dogs come with me or otherwise I stay home. I adopted an older dog and this is what I have done for the last 2 or so years. I try not to leave again later in the day (if I can at all help it), but even if I do for short trips he seems to be fine. If I came back in the middle of the day he'd go nutty.
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Jan 1, 2013 21:16
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I've had my adopted Border Collie for about a month and a half now, I made a post about him here right away and you guys were really helpful. He's gotten a lot better and learned some tricks, but I still have some concerns. I'm pretty sure that he's depressed. He mopes around the house a lot and mostly sleeps when we're around. He does get happy, wag his tail and run around a bit, he seems happy on short walks, but he doesn't play much. He's eating and drinking, although sometimes he takes a while to finish his food and it'll sit for the whole day, he'll finish it by night though. I know he's had a rough life but I want to know if there is anything I can do to make him feel better. I noticed that he's missing one of his big teeth on the top, so he must have gotten roughed up pretty good. He totally trusts me though, I can pick him up, wrestle with him, touch his paws, growl at him to play, he responds well to all that and knows that I'm his owner. I can even take his food from him when he is eating or put my hand in his bowl without issues, he's very tolerant. He's only 2 so the amount of energy is not appropriate, especially for a Border Collie. I take him out about 4 times a day, do 5-10 minute training sessions with him every day, and I only give him treats and praise when he is happy and playful, as to encourage that behavior. Before I adopted him the vet gave him a clean bill of health. I know that moving around has been hard on him but I thought he'd be more perky now. The other thing is that he is really great when we are on short walks in places he knows, he never pulls on his leash, he stays on the side he belongs on and he never barks or does anything like that. The minute we go outside of that territory, his anxiety peaks and he doesn't do as well. He often darts randomly, I have a short lead and give him as limited lead as possible, but he pulls very hard sometimes. He seems very wound up and it makes things unpleasant. It's worse when we're in a high traffic area, but I've found that no matter where we are, be it a quiet street, park, or whatever, the further it is away from the house, the worse he gets, he pulls so hard his harness starts to choke him, he's literally clawing at the ground pulling ahead. He ignores treats and praise. If I say his name, or HEY, he ignores that, all he cares about is getting out of where he's not familiar. If I get on the ground and pet him he's a bit better, but it's still bad and it gives me a lot of anxiety too. Sometimes I'll be crossing the street, look both ways and while I'm making that head turn he will dart in front of me and I will step on a paw and the walk is over, he is so wound up there's no changing it. I've found that in these cases if I just start running, he runs too and the anxiety goes away, because we are running from whatever is making him uncomfortable, but it's not always appropriate to run and sometimes I just want to walk, you know? I feel like there has to be a better solution. I thought it was an issue of him not getting enough exercise but it makes no difference whether he goes out 5 times a day or 2, he still acts the same way when he's somewhere he doesn't know. They told me he was a stray so it makes sense, he feels lost and wants to get out of there. The second we're back in an area he knows, he's totally fine and acts normal again. The only other thing is he really, really hates going in the car. Every time he's been in the car unless he is in my lap and I am petting and holding him constantly, he throws up, everywhere, drools badly and gets very anxious. I've tried just putting him in the car, then the next day putting him in it and starting the car, then the next day going on a short trip around the block, made no difference. He just gets upset and starts vomiting if it's over a few miles. Makes no difference if it's highway or city driving, he just hates it. He doesn't have to go in the car much, but it's nice to know it won't be a huge huge issue when he needs to. For what it's worth, I'm not crating him in the car or anything, he just sits on the seat. He usually lays down but it takes him a while to wind down, this usually means throwing up a few times, then falling asleep.
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Jan 1, 2013 23:33
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BusinessWallet posted:
If you have to go on a long road trip with him, ask your vet about giving him dramamine and what dose they'd recommend for his weight.
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Jan 2, 2013 00:16
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Well back for an update on the Shub'Buddy puppy we adopted. He got a fun trip to the vet last week... to get fixed! Poor guy. I had to leave town for a funeral so the wife and I boarded him at a vet's ranch. Got him a good lookover, his one year shots and fixed in one fell swoop. He was very happy to see us when we picked him up a few days later. I decided after thinking about it that I don't want to stud the dog out to a potential backyard breeder and forever be paranoid of him getting a neighbor dog pregnant. Followed PI's advice to get him fixed up. So I've been in the hunt for a few things and I need some more PI advice. Do any of you guys have any good choices for chew toys that are pretty indestructible? I'm also looking for a bed that can't be easily chewed up. Reason being, I pulled his bed out of his crate cause he figured out he can get the cotton out of it... this dog loves to rip the stuffing out of things. I'm also trying to stockpile some more toys so I can rotate them to stop him from being so bored. I'd like to put 3 different toys in his crate at a time so hes less bored during the day when we're at work. Once his manners are a little better on a leash (been working on some leash training with him), I'm going to hire a dog walker for a few days a week so he gets more exercise too and I don't have to worry about him all day. Anyways back to some toys I've got him: -A couple Kong extreme chewer toys. He seems only interested in those if I take them away for a bit and return them a few days later. -Kong Wobbler - he gets his meals out of this and he LOVES them. Hes on wobbler #2 as he destroyed his first one playing with it. We let him play with the old one and take the new one away so he doesn't destroy it. -Couple hard rubber balls and random hard rubber toys His variety isn't that varied with the toys he cant destroy. Anyone have any good toys they've found for heavy chewers?
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Jan 2, 2013 18:43
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You guys recommended the book Don't Leave Me. The book says I should record my dog when I am away. What kind of system can I use to do this? I don't have a computer at my house that we leave on so I can stream it to my harddrive. I would like to be able to record/save up to 10 hours if possible. I can't watch a livestream. Any suggestions? Also, my dog was doing better but I guess the time I took off over Christmas got her used to me being around again and she has regressed and is now more destructive than ever  This is getting old! I did meet someone else whose dog did the same crap mine does, and she did most of the sames things I am doing to try to fix it, and when the dog got to about 2 she got much better, so here is to hope! But 9 drat months is enough already girl!
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Jan 3, 2013 00:59
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I know you said you don't have a computer to leave on but if you happen to have a Macbook (or any laptop with a webcam) you can get iCam which will record movement events for you. Just leave the laptop plugged in somewhere nearby and set it up to watch your dog. If you've got an iDevice too then you can get the corresponding app that'll livestream your macbook's feed to said iDevice. It'll even send push alerts when it detects motion and replay the recorded events.
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Jan 3, 2013 14:53
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So, how much exercise is enough for a young dog? I have a7 month old Manchester terrier. I take him for an hours walk in the morning (fairly brisk) leave him in a crate for 4 hours, then return at lunch for an hour (play for 30 mins) then another 1 hour in the evening when I get back and he's still got loads of energy. Any ideas? Can I get a giant hamster wheel or treadmill for him? At around 22:30 he zonks out and sleeps til the morning when he never wants to get up....lazy sod. Here he is pictured in, you've pissed me off mode: 
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Jan 4, 2013 19:01
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By walk do you mean on-leash, human paced walk? That could be your problem. I take both of my dogs on a hour to hour and a half walk (probably around 3.5-4 miles) each night, and when we get back my old dog is tired and my two year old JRT is looking at me as if to say, 'okay that was fun now where is my proper exercise?' I can't even imagine how hellish she would be if the only exercise she got was on-leash walks.
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Jan 4, 2013 19:21
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bad-yeti posted:So, how much exercise is enough for a young dog? Two hours seems like it should be enough time-wise, but how strenuous is the exercise? Walking on leash (even if you're walking briskly) is nothing to an energetic young dog. Are you able to take him somewhere where he could run off leash, preferably in varied terrain? The other issue with physical exercise is that increasing the amount of exercise also makes your dog more fit, ergo he'll need more exercise etc. How much mental stimulation is the dog getting? You can train him, feed him (all) his meals from treat-dispensing toys and so on. Figuring things out tires puppies out a lot faster than going for walks. Various kinds of nosework work well, too.
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Jan 4, 2013 19:21
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I'm not sure if this is the best place for the question but I can't think of anywhere better... I'm having Cooper neutered in a little over a week and they presented two "options" $74 in blood work and sevoflurane instead of isoflurane anesthetic. The bloodwork is like half the cost of his neuter and he is a completely healthy puppy that will be around 6 months old, it seems like it could be an unnecessary upsell for both, I mean surely they would require it if it was much of a concern. Obviously I don't want to jeopardize his care but I also don't want to spend that much money if it is highly unlikely to change a normal outcome. My vet didn't give me much advice on both otherwise I wouldn't ask here, they were kind of like do it, don't do it, he'll wake up faster with the more expensive anesthetic, we might find something in his blood work, we probably won't. I mean if the vet said "Yes, we really recommend the blood work" I obviously would do it but they seemed kind of ambivalent about it and basically said they would definitely recommend it on an older dog or one they hadn't seen before or often but it's really my call on what appears to be a perfectly healthy puppy. Three Olives fucked around with this message at 20:54 on Jan 4, 2013 |
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Jan 4, 2013 20:41
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I hate that. I just brought Linus in today for his neutering and took most of the upsells (who wouldn't want to lessen your puppy's pain you monster). Just take the boy's balls in the least painful way and don't give me an option.
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Jan 4, 2013 20:48
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Perhaps it would help to not think of things like pain medication as an "upsell." The thing is, vets are damned if they do and damned if they don't with regard to discussing costs and treatment options with owners. edit: Three Olives, they were trying to inform you of all of the options so that you can make a decision. As in most medical fields right now the idea is that they want you to be in the drivers seat regarding the choices you make. Topoisomerase fucked around with this message at 21:11 on Jan 4, 2013 |
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Jan 4, 2013 21:06
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bad-yeti posted:So, how much exercise is enough for a young dog? Do you feed him from a bowl? One way to help your dog get more exercise and mental stimulation is by feeding his meals from a toy like a Kong Wobbler, a Tug a Jug, or a Buster Cube. Its not going to be a ton of exercise, but I find that my dog really enjoys working for his food like this and enjoys sitting down after his meal. I'd personally recommend the wobbler. Its easy for a dog that's never used a food dispensing toy before. You can also give him opportunities to "forage" in a controlled way by filling a box with news paper and scattering/ hiding kibble in it so he has to hunt for it/ dig for it. Additionally, since he's a terrier, have you considered using a flirt pole or tugging with him? The flirt pole would be a good way to tire him out and you can buy or make one fairly cheap. I'd also suggest doing more trick training/ basic obed work with him. My dog loves working for his food and frankly really throws himself into learning new things. The 100 things to do with a box exercise was a big hit and teaching him to spin was actually pretty easy.
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Jan 4, 2013 21:10
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Thank you all for the advice, started nose training and he seems to love it. I hadn't concidered the mental stimulation as being as important as physical. bad-yeti fucked around with this message at 22:03 on Jan 4, 2013 |
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Jan 4, 2013 21:50
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Topoisomerase posted:Post video please. It would actually be pretty abnormal for a 1 year old dog to get what we call idiopathic peripheral vestibular disease. Sorry I didn't update this for a little while, but it definitely wasn't IVD. We took him back to the vet on Thursday afternoon for an x-ray to see if he had any fractures or if he had swallowed something dumb, because he didn't seem to be improving. Nothing showed up on the film, so we took him home and he basically slept for 18 hours after the anesthetic they gave him before the x-ray. When he woke up Friday morning, he was a lot perkier and today he's basically his old self, maybe still a little less boisterous. Called the vet this afternoon to discuss and she said it was probably a concussion; there are a bunch of tests they can do for that but once the symptoms have cleared there's no real way of telling. Thinking about it, he was probably sleeping on top of his kennel which he likes to do in the sun, woke himself suddenly by farting or something and fell off onto his dome. He didn't have any obvious injury on his head, but I guess you don't need to have anything bad on the outside to be temporarily short-circuited on the inside. He's currently asleep with all four paws in the air on the kitchen floor; it was 108 degrees here yesterday and we're still feeling the effects. Thanks for everyone's concern and input, it's appreciated.
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Jan 5, 2013 07:40
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Three Olives posted:I'm not sure if this is the best place for the question but I can't think of anywhere better... Everything about anesthesia is about decreasing risk to the comfort level of the owner and/or vet. In "what appears to be a perfectly healthy puppy," bloodwork in most cases would show nothing abnormal. However, even in outwardly healthy puppies, pre-op bloodwork could find congenital liver or kidney abnormalities that could manifest during anesthesia that you wouldn't see outwardly beforehand. Now, the idea is that this particular occurrence of actually finding stuff is rare, but it can happen. That's why it's your choice - the vet's probably comfortable about operating in this situation without, but are you comfortable with the added risk of not knowing prior to surgery, however little actual anesthetic risk may be mitigated by performing that bloodwork? In addition, offering you the bloodwork is all about legal CYA - if your dog actually DID have that rare abnormality and ended up dying from anesthesia and the vet hadn't offered the bloodwork to you, they could probably lose their license (depending on the local licensing board) if you complained to the vet board, not to mention you being able to sue for malpractice. Every spay/neuter on otherwise "healthy" young animals could just be done like the feral cat spay/neuter clinics - no breathing tube down the throat, no inhaled gas anesthesia, no supplemental oxygen, no monitoring, no pain meds, no e-collar... and in probably 95% of the cases at the feral cat clinic, they wake up okay! For the other 5%, most of those die. Is that acceptable risk? (not to me!)
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Jan 5, 2013 16:28
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My mutt is a third the size of a german shepherd but sheds the fur of two full sized ones. So many lint rollers.
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Jan 5, 2013 17:43
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So it seems Lando has a shoe fetish, as well as a fetish for anything absolutely repulsive (notably tampons and pads  ). I know no one is probably surprised by this, but I didn't expect it. He doesn't chew ANYTHING ELSE, but holy poo poo if there is a tampon at the bottom of the big garbage can he will knock it over to try and find that thing. Shoes, too. If we let him in any room with a shoe in it, even if said shoe is in a closet or drawer or locked in a chest, he will claw at said object trying to get the shoes. It has gotten to the point now where he's not allowed in any room except the kitchen/living room unless crated/tethered on a leash (seriously, I can leave steak on the table/counter and he doesn't jump up. Dog doesn't know what's good for him). I feel bad because I want him to be able to roam the house without me having to watch him every second.Here's what we've tried: We're working on a solid 'leave it' command, and he knows that if he drops the object he gets lots of treats. So by being vigilant we are able to at least stop the destruction. We replace the shoe/gross object with a toy of similar feel (seriously, we have bought about 40 toys and I try to keep a bunch of them hidden and bring them out so he is "OMG NEW TOY!" when he sees it), but he gets bored with the toys after a bit if we don't actively engage him with it and goes off looking for shoes/things that smell disgusting. We're being more vigilant, taking the trash out every day and keeping our shoes in drawers/closets, but he is almost obsessed. We've also tried more exercise, but either it's not enough (we have a huge yard and go outside and play frizbee and let the dogs play chase for about 1-2 hours a day, plus going out to run around/go to the bathroom every three hours or so during the day because I work from home, plus he and Starbuck do play quite a bit when he's finally realized he can't get into chewing my shoes), or it's not the problem. So, any other tips for managing this behavior, specifically when I'm in my office working and don't want to have to have him leashed to my chair? Anything I can do better?
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Jan 7, 2013 21:45
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I woke up this morning to find my 8-month old corgi, Abby, in her crate with white-frothy diarrhea. She's been on a Innova Prime Chicken for a few months now and has had no problems with it, she's never turned her nose from it, or gotten ill. I've already called my vet, and will be taking her in today as soon as she gets into her office. I'm sorry if this isn't much information, but wondered if anybody had any experience with this particular thing. I took her out to go again a few minutes ago and her stool was still the same consistency. Edit: I should note that her stool color is not white, but the froth is. Nonsense fucked around with this message at 19:00 on Jan 8, 2013 |
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Jan 8, 2013 18:57
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Nonsense posted:I woke up this morning to find my 8-month old corgi, Abby, in her crate with white-frothy diarrhea. She's been on a Innova Prime Chicken for a few months now and has had no problems with it, she's never turned her nose from it, or gotten ill. I've already called my vet, and will be taking her in today as soon as she gets into her office. I'm sorry if this isn't much information, but wondered if anybody had any experience with this particular thing. You're not going to get a lot of help here because of the rules, but things like this are why I recommend that Home Vet Reference book in the OP - it helps me decide whether or not I should panic. It's possible that she just ate something bad and the white stuff is just a mucous lining in her stool. Good luck with your vet visit.
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Jan 8, 2013 20:08
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MrFurious posted:You're not going to get a lot of help here because of the rules, but things like this are why I recommend that Home Vet Reference book in the OP - it helps me decide whether or not I should panic. It's possible that she just ate something bad and the white stuff is just a mucous lining in her stool. Good luck with your vet visit. I'm sorry for breaking any rules of this thread, but yes it seems to have just been something she ate off the ground, she's crafty like that. She has improved throughout the day, and doesn't show any distress, the vet made similar comments about the mucus in her stomach lining. Thanks for your recommendation on that book, I'll likely use that going forward.
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Jan 9, 2013 00:38
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Is it normal to have a hard time finding a good breeder? I live in west Texas and have found only two people who sell corgis. However one stopped replying to me altogether and the other basically said I asked too many questions and she could easily sell it without all the trouble. For reference I asked maybe 1/3 to 1/2 of the questions recommended in the OP and for a contract, and was polite the entire time. I guess the biggest red flag was that both of them were willing to sell the dogs @ 6 weeks even when I said 8 was perfectly fine.
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Jan 9, 2013 19:44
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genderstomper58 posted:Is it normal to have a hard time finding a good breeder? I live in west Texas and have found only two people who sell corgis. However one stopped replying to me altogether and the other basically said I asked too many questions and she could easily sell it without all the trouble. For reference I asked maybe 1/3 to 1/2 of the questions recommended in the OP and for a contract, and was polite the entire time. Going to go out on a limb here and say if they didn't like how passionate/inquisitive you were, they aren't good breeders. I know from the bit of looking I've done (more in curiosity than actual interest at this point) there are a TON of horrible breeders, a few ok breeders and very very few GOOD breeders. Best of luck to you, I know PI has a great gift for finding awesome breeders!
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Jan 9, 2013 19:59
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genderstomper58 posted:I guess the biggest red flag was that both of them were willing to sell the dogs @ 6 weeks even when I said 8 was perfectly fine. That should be a deal breaker with any breeder.
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Jan 9, 2013 20:07
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Yeah, it sounds like the breeders you were talking to were pretty mediocre. However try not to sound like you're giving them the tenth degree when asking your questions. Obviously there is lots that you want to know about a breeder's dogs, but they field a lot of emails and they spend a lot of time talking about their dogs to people already. It can be tedious answering questions in a checklist type fashion if it's the 100th time you're doing it. Try to keep things really conversational when you ask. Also I recommend going to shows, meeting a breeder's dogs and connecting that way. The internet is impersonal and it's tough to get a feel for a person's dogs that way. Find 'em online, see if they're doing things you agree with in their breeding program, then try to make contact face to face to chat 'em up.
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Jan 9, 2013 20:13
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Cool, thanks for the advice y'all. I think asking them a lot of the questions face to face may have been better, you are correct there. I was just trying to get a good feel for what kind of breeder she was prior to driving a couple hours to meet with her. Oh well, would rather take it slow and be sure I suppose! 
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Jan 9, 2013 20:25
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Nonsense posted:I'm sorry for breaking any rules of this thread, but yes it seems to have just been something she ate off the ground, she's crafty like that. She has improved throughout the day, and doesn't show any distress, the vet made similar comments about the mucus in her stomach lining. Thanks for your recommendation on that book, I'll likely use that going forward. Not to worry, it's just a PI forum rule that no one is going to offer direct medical advice on your pet, nor contradict what your vet said over the internet. The closest you'll get is "you might seek a second opinion". Glad she's okay. genderstomper58 posted:Cool, thanks for the advice y'all. I think asking them a lot of the questions face to face may have been better, you are correct there. I was just trying to get a good feel for what kind of breeder she was prior to driving a couple hours to meet with her. Oh well, would rather take it slow and be sure I suppose! Not going to reiterate what everyone else has already said, but the breeder we used for our dog actually did give them away as early as 6 weeks although she generally tried to do 8. I personally don't regard this as a dealbreaker, but it is definitely a big red flag. In our case, we got Sadie at 6 weeks, but the circumstances surrounding it were a bit unusual and we were willing to take the risk. In addition to that, we were so impressed with every other aspect of the breeder that we felt we could handle the behavioral challenges that came with an early and undersocialized puppy. I'm not sure I'd do it again, but things turned out pretty well. That said, our breeder also grilled us heavily about our personal lives, and we did the same. We were at her place at least twice when someone else would call to ask about the puppies. Their first question over the phone would be "How much are they?" and she would immediately hang up on them. I think it's fair for the breeder to expect serious interest from you before they get into the nitty gritty details, but if they are balking at your questions once you've shown a willingness to commit to a puppy from them, then they are not responsible breeders and you're better off looking elsewhere.
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Jan 9, 2013 21:48
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Yeah, honestly, if someone sent me a 20 question email about birds or tailoring or something, I wouldn't say "You ask too many questions, go away", I'd say "That's a lot of questions and I'll answer some of these basic ones now and some more later because it's kinda overwhelming!" That first response is definitely not something you'd hear from a dedicated professional, and more from someone who is just in it for money and who doesn't want to bother with "high maintenance" customers.
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Jan 9, 2013 22:24
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Pile of Kittens posted:Yeah, honestly, if someone sent me a 20 question email about birds or tailoring or something, I wouldn't say "You ask too many questions, go away", I'd say "That's a lot of questions and I'll answer some of these basic ones now and some more later because it's kinda overwhelming!" That first response is definitely not something you'd hear from a dedicated professional, and more from someone who is just in it for money and who doesn't want to bother with "high maintenance" customers. Yeah this. When I bred rats I'd answer questions that were asked conversationally no prob, but if someone sent me some spergy checklist style thing (it happened a lot) I wouldn't be rude but I might not even respond unless I just really happened to feel like it that day. Even when they didn't mean to, it felt like I was being interrogated and like this person thought it was somehow my job to convince them to do me the monumental favor of getting a rat from me and it usually made me want to tell them to gently caress off. If I sent any of the breeders I like a list of questions via email (lol like they know how to use the internet) they'd prob tell me to go jump off of something and that I'd never get a dog from them ever and that I'm prob a terrorist who voted for obama.  It just wouldn't be well received by 99% of them.So basically yeah when scoping out breeders your best bet is to track them down at some breed related event/hangout and start a dog convo and slowly lead into any questions you have that aren't eventually answered by the natural flow of conversation.
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Jan 9, 2013 22:50
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Superconsndar posted:So basically yeah when scoping out breeders your best bet is to track them down at some breed related event/hangout and start a dog convo and slowly lead into any questions you have that aren't eventually answered by the natural flow of conversation.
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Jan 10, 2013 08:39
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Superconsndar posted:
Yeah, but unless he's looking for a hawg dawg from some bucolic individual who barely has a phone, much less internet, I think it's reasonable to expect something better than "you ask too many questions  " over email.
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Jan 10, 2013 18:57
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Pile of Kittens posted:Yeah, but unless he's looking for a hawg dawg from some bucolic individual who barely has a phone, much less internet, I think it's reasonable to expect something better than "you ask too many questions To be fair some people get really butthurt overall the questions because they feel like you are implying that they are substandard/ not good enough. Unfortunate, but yeah not really a sign of a person I would want to deal with.
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Jan 10, 2013 19:10
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Any recommendations on getting a young puppy (11 weeks) used to a collar? Since he's been inside with us since arriving home we haven't worried too much about putting a collar on him, but we've got his first puppy pre-school coming up later this week and the first attempt at putting his collar on wasn't very successful! All he wants to do is squirm and bite at the collar, so I'd like to make him comfortable while wearing it. He's a miniature dachshund if that makes any difference.
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Jan 14, 2013 11:46
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At eleven weeks, surely he should have been going out for walks by now? Stick the collar on and give him something delicious to distract him for a while, like tripe. He'll deal with it.
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Jan 14, 2013 11:59
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