The Puppy & Dog Owner Thread: Dog owning for dipshits

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Pet Island > The Puppy & Dog Owner Thread: Dog owning for dipshits

Crooked Booty: Apr 2, 2009; arrr

I have an assortment of questions. The pup in question is a 6-month-old shepherd mix, and he's so darn laid back that it's easy to forget he's a puppy.

1. How many hours/day in a crate is too much if the puppy doesn't seem to mind it? He is perfect in his crate and will just rest for 8 hours at night without a peep. He was dumped in my yard at a less-than-ideal time, and I am going to be crazy busy for the next 2-3 weeks. As long as he's exercised and has something fun like a Kong in his crate, is there any harm in crating him for 16-18 hours a day? It would only be this much on the extra bad days during the next few weeks. I feel crappy about it, but the puppy doesn't seem to give a poo poo, so is it doing any harm?

2. We're working on getting him to not chase my cats. When he's indoors, not crated, and the cats are loose in the house, I have him on a leash for the cats' safety. Unless a cat runs past him, I don't have to even touch the leash most of the time -- he will follow me if I move to another room, etc. Am I going to make him neurotic by having him glued to me all the time indoors? When I have my fiance man the leash, the puppy pulls to follow me and stares at the doorway until I come back, but he's not freaking out or anything.

3. Similarly, how do most couples deal with training? We are clicker training him, and I am going to be the primary trainer, but we want him to listen to and love my fiance, too. Should we both work with him separately every day, or should I wait until he has mastered a behavior for me before my fiance asks him to do it? Should we both work with the clicker, or is that too confusing?

4. Anyone have tips for fun/busy treats that are safe without supervision? I know like every toy ever says it requires supervision, but I'd like to have more stuff I can put in his crate with him when I'm gone. He loves his Kong, but I feel like he needs supervision with bully sticks or bones because he tries to swallow big chunks (and I am a paranoid person). I ordered one of those bottle/rope puzzle things for kibble, but I think he's going to figure it out really quickly and not be entertained very long.

Have some lovely cell phone pics :3:

Bonus points for anyone with breed guesses. He's definitely shepherd-y, but no clue about the other part. Hound? Pit? Mutty mutt mutt?

# ¿ Apr 8, 2012 16:13

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# ¿ May 3, 2024 16:03

Crooked Booty: Apr 2, 2009; arrr

MrFurious posted:

That's an extremely long stretch. I wouldn't go longer than 4-5 hours at a time. I realize that this is the exception in your schedule, but I would strongly recommend you find someone to look in on him if you can.

Yeah, I meant 16 hours total in a day, not at a stretch. I'm at school 8-10 hours a day on bad days, but I can come home for lunch to let him pee and play outside for a bit.

MrFurious posted:

Since you're going to be crating so much, feeding his meals via toys like that is a good way to tire him out with the time you have so he's calmer in his crate while you're away.

He's getting all his meals kibble by kibble with the clicker or in the Kong. :3:

Thanks a lot for all the advice!

One more question: Do most people leave water in the crate with a puppy overnight?

# ¿ Apr 8, 2012 22:56

Crooked Booty: Apr 2, 2009; arrr

My opinion: I have a large breed mutt puppy, and I had him neutered shortly after adopting him (~6-7 months old). I like the idea of waiting until more like 18 months in a male puppy, but there are a lot more considerations than health/conformation.

1) A dog can get a bitch pregnant in the blink of an eye, so that's a year of never being off leash at dog parks, the lake, hiking, etc. I've known people whose dogs have knocked up a bitch while both animals were on leashes, just because the owners were distracted talking.

2) I live in a neighborhood of people who take lovely care of animals, and I find loose/lost/abandoned dogs all the time. I also have a 4 foot chain-link fence, and my dog could probably jump over it or dig under it if he was motivated enough... such as if a bitch in heat was on the other side. He's never unsupervised outside for more than a few minutes, but a few minutes is all it would take.

So if I lived in a nice neighborhood with a 6 foot privacy fence and no loose dogs, and I had access to lots of fun ways to socialize and exercise my puppy without ever being off-leash or at a dog park, I probably would have waited until 18 months. That said, if he had started acting too testosterone-y at any point during the wait, I would have just neutered him then.

ETA: Oh yeah, almost forgot I saw a 2 year old dog with testicular cancer the other day.

# ¿ Jul 24, 2012 18:41

Crooked Booty: Apr 2, 2009; arrr

The most common kind of tick in Arizona is the Brown Dog Tick, which can transmit a bunch of horrible diseases to dogs. Even if you kick the dogs out of the house, you should really keep trying to get the ticks under control.

What kind of tick collar are you using?

Cowslips Warren posted:

Also I've never seen ticks that weren't bloated with blood leaving a host, so are the collars or the drops driving them away rather than killing them outright?

Some species of ticks only feed intermittently. Some species have also immature stages and/or males that don't bloat up like you may be used to.

# ¿ Sep 25, 2012 01:28

Crooked Booty: Apr 2, 2009; arrr

Whether they're raw or cooked or "safe" pet store bones, you should still be careful. Dogs can and do break their own teeth chewing bones of all varieties, especially when you give big load bearing bones (like pet store marrow bones or gigantic knuckle bones) to smaller dogs. I've also seen way too many dogs with bones stuck in their esophaguses to ever feed bones without close supervision, but that should really go for any treat (or toy) that's small enough to swallow and not easily crunchable.

# ¿ Mar 30, 2013 01:47

Crooked Booty: Apr 2, 2009; arrr

MrFurious posted:

If they recommend acepromazine, find a new vet.

This is a little dramatic. Everything I've read suggests that MDR-1 mutant dogs typically have the same duration and degree of sedation as normal dogs if the acepromazine dose is reduced by 25%. Many vets use such low doses of acepromazine in normal dogs that a dose reduction isn't even necessary in MDR-1 mutants. Not all the drugs on the "MDR-1 blacklists" floating around on the internet are equally serious. And benadryl and melatonin are both really crappy sedatives in dogs.

That said, this dog probably doesn't need any drugs.

# ¿ Apr 17, 2013 20:09

Crooked Booty: Apr 2, 2009; arrr

compton rear end terry posted:

Riley ate some chicken, but still won't eat peanut butter, regular dog food, or treat biscuits. I'm going to give the vet a call tomorrow. But since Sunday he's seemed like a whole different dog.

Is he still wearing the flea collar? If so, take it off. Most flea and tick collars (excluding Seresto and Preventic collars) are pretty sketchy and are way more likely to cause side effects than Trifexis is Based on your posts in this thread, your dog wasn't acting right starting several days before you gave the Trifexis, so that may not be the problem. I'd call your vet.

# ¿ Apr 30, 2014 03:03

Crooked Booty: Apr 2, 2009; arrr

First, you can't predict her whelping date very well based on when she was impounded. You've probably read online that gestation is about 9 weeks, but this is misleading. Canine sperm can live in the uterus for about 5 days, so even if you knew she was bred on May 7th and only May 7th, her actual "conception" date might not have been until May 12th or so, all depending on when she happened to ovulate. (This is why responsible breeders like to do tests to know exactly when their female ovulates; this lets you predict due date MUCH more accurately than just knowing when she was bred.)

The temp method of predicting labor is actually pretty good, and I'd highly recommend it if she'll let you do it. It's the best method you've got to predict when she'll whelp, and it's basically free. About a third of bitches don't have a detectable temperature drop, and most often these are bitches with very small litters or singletons. If the vet saw lots of puppies on ultrasound, odds are in your favor. You need to measure rectal temp 2-3x daily starting about a week before her due date because it can be brief. Record the temps you get. Most bitches will have some normal fluctuations in the morning vs. evening, but real temperature drop will be more noticeable, around 98-99. The temperature drop indicates the beginning of Stage I labor which should last about 6-12 hours (but sometimes as long as ~30 hours) before stage II starts. Stage I is where you see nesting, pacing, other behavior changes. Stage II is where you see contractions and pushing and puppies.

Personally, I'd spring for an x-ray about a week before she's due if you can afford it. It's the only way to know the number of puppies for sure. Knowing the number makes things safer and will lower your own anxiety level a lot.

I think the most important thing for whelping at home is to know what's normal and what's an emergency, so here's a short list of bad things that should prompt you to call or take her to the nearest emergency vet:
- Greenish black vulvar discharge BEFORE any puppies are born. (Once puppies start being born, this can be normal.)
- >30 hours since Stage I labor and the temperature drop without progression to Stage II (pushing, etc.)
- Mild contractions not progressing to hard contractions within 3 hours.
- HARD contractions without the first puppy being born within 2 hours, or without subsequent puppies being born within 1 hour.
- A puppy hanging out of the vulva for more than 15 minutes.
- Periods of rest without strong contractions for more than 4 hours when you know there are more puppies.

Obviously that's not a complete list, but I think having normal time periods for things can be really reassuring. If you're sitting around watching her whelp, I'd also write down what time things happen. It's really easy to be like "OMG that puppy has been stuck there for like 20 minutes!!!" when it's actually been 5 minutes and it's totally fine.

Anyway, sorry that turned into a novel. I am a nerd for canine reproduction. Feel free to ask if you have any other questions.

# ¿ Jun 22, 2014 16:18

Crooked Booty: Apr 2, 2009; arrr

Jewce posted:

Awesome, but there are a ton of models. Any that I should look at in particular?

I have this cheap one and it works fine. I can't speak for its usefulness around the house as I've only ever used it on dog nails. You are correct that the similar rotary tools sold at pet store specifically for nails are terrible.

# ¿ Nov 20, 2014 22:44

Crooked Booty: Apr 2, 2009; arrr

radlum posted:

My dog just had a seizure, the fourth in ther short life (a year and 7 months). The vet hasn't been much help (he just told us we had to be there and wait until it ends). Do you guys have any suggestions on what to do during the seizures? How to improve the quality of life of a dog with that condition?

Four seizures in what period of time? Did you vet do any tests to look for a cause of the seizures?

Sorry you're going through this. Watching a pet have a seizure is awful.

# ¿ Feb 15, 2015 18:45

Crooked Booty: Apr 2, 2009; arrr

Removing retained baby teeth in a puppy kicks up dramatically less bacteria than doing a full dental in an adult dog with a nasty mouth. Veterinarians remove retained deciduous teeth at the time of spay/neuter in puppies all the time, including veterinarians who would never advocate for a surgery and dental procedure in an adult dog at the same time. That said, two short anesthesias is safer than one longer anesthesia in the vast majority of patients.

Basically I don't think it's a big deal either way in your case.

# ¿ Mar 4, 2015 16:22

Crooked Booty: Apr 2, 2009; arrr

kitten posted:

While we're on the subject, I have giant breed puppy (80 lbs at five months, English mastiff). I'm really torn about when to get her spayed. The breeder wants us to wait till maturity so that she'll look proportional and hopefully have less problems with her joints. The vet was wanting to get her spayed at like four months so we don't deal with a heat and I think there's less chance for cancer. Everywhere I look is highly divided on this and I wondered what you guy's opinions were.

in before a bunch of goons act like there is a clear cut answer to this question because of what their breeder or vet told them.

This is a really tough call for a female giant breed pup. If you don't care about her looking gangly and her lines have healthy joints, I'd personally spay before the first heat. The evidence for increased risk of mammary cancer after even one heat is (in my opinion) more convincing than the evidence for any problems associated with spaying at 5-6 months. Read up on the debate (like you have) and do what you can live with.

# ¿ Mar 5, 2015 04:03

Crooked Booty: Apr 2, 2009; arrr

Impossible to tell from a picture. A lot of things that are more common than mange can look just like that. Go to a vet.

# ¿ May 28, 2016 01:53

Crooked Booty: Apr 2, 2009; arrr

You should bug your vet again. If you get the same answer, you should call a different vet. That does not sound normal.

# ¿ Jul 23, 2016 02:15

Crooked Booty: Apr 2, 2009; arrr

FizFashizzle posted:

Stroke? Slipped a disc out of nowhere?

Could be any number of things, most of which are very painful, so you should really take her to a vet. Or really you should have taken her to a vet Monday morning but better late than never. Disc disease is really common but again could be lots of things.

# ¿ Aug 10, 2016 02:21

Crooked Booty: Apr 2, 2009; arrr

xeria posted:

Any suggestions, at least to get her through the night without digging up her already raw skin until I can take her back to the vet in the morning and see if I can get some ointment or something?

You can put a t-shirt on her and tie a knot in the back so it's fitted enough that she can't get her foot underneath it.

Sekhmet posted:

I tend to recommend Trupanion for pet health insurance, as I've found them easiest to deal with as a DVM and IMO most likely to cover a high percentage of most claims.

edit: I'm going to sign up with my new puppy (coming a week from Sunday)

Seconding Trupanion. Also I've had several good experiences with Healthy Paws - easy to work with, and they pay a straight high percentage.

# ¿ Sep 24, 2016 14:36

Crooked Booty: Apr 2, 2009; arrr

beergod posted:

Is there a consensus on having gastropexy performed as a preventative measure on a Great Dane when they go in to be fixed? We are getting ours fixed at one year and the vet suggested it to prevent turning after bloating.

I would absolutely do a gastropexy if I had a Dane or any breed prone to this problem. Do it!

# ¿ Dec 7, 2016 04:15

Crooked Booty: Apr 2, 2009; arrr

Problem! posted:

Most of the fear mongering about it online is from the anti-vaxxers who think your dog's gonna get autism or some poo poo.

Actually it's a non-core vaccine with a higher risk of vaccine reactions than the vast majority of other canine vaccines. So some of the "fear-mongering" is based in science. Admittedly all the science on lepto and the lepto vaccines is pretty lacking.

JibbaJabberwocky posted:

Can anyone chime in on the Leptospirosis vaccine? My dog has been known to slurp voraciously from backyard puddles so the vet suggested it to her. She got it when she was a puppy and had a booster yesterday and lo and behold her face puffed up like a balloon. I did some digging and I'm seeing somewhat conflicting reports on this vaccine. All of the official sites say it confers a year long immunity to Leptospirosis and is suggested if a dog is at risk (see puddle drinking). Other sites suggested there was research that showed it was only providing immunity for like 2.5 weeks and then only against like 2 of the bacteria in that family. Also I live in the deep south and we don't seem to be the areas in this country most affected by these bacteria. Either way I'm leaning towards skipping it unless someone gives me some really compelling evidence. I don't need my dumb dog to choke on her dumb fat throat the next time she gets it. Any thoughts?

Does your vet know about this reaction? Do they think your dog should be vaccinated again? If your dog were my patient, I'd tell you the odds of her having a more serious reaction (like anaphylaxis) the next time she gets a lepto vaccine is a lot higher than her risk of getting lepto. But lepto prevalence is poorly studied and extremely variable by region, so your local vet is the best expert.

# ¿ Dec 23, 2016 04:16

Crooked Booty: Apr 2, 2009; arrr

learnincurve posted:

She's a chihuahua x Yorkie...... Only toy breed with absolutely zero genetic problems.

lol

# ¿ Jan 1, 2017 20:52

Crooked Booty: Apr 2, 2009; arrr

Sekhmet posted:

Both of these breeds have predispositions towards patellar luxation, granulomatous meningoencephalitis, occipito-atlanto-axial malformations (most commonly leading to luxation of C1-C2), portovenous shunting....I could go on. But nope, definitely not zero genetic problems.

Maybe you should read up a little on animal genetics before posting misinformation in this thread. Mods??

# ¿ Jan 1, 2017 23:50

Crooked Booty: Apr 2, 2009; arrr

Residency Evil posted:

Thanks again guys. The "cheap" dogs I've found have been ads like, say, this one: http://www.hoobly.com/yuhgd/f-labradoodle-puppies-red-apricot-family-raised-micro-chipped-lifetime-breeder-support.htm Most likely a puppy mill?

Look at the seller's other listings. They've got 3 large litters of puppies born within 6 weeks of each other - two litters of doodles and one of Irish Setters. They're breeding multiple breeds. Parents have no health clearances or titles. There's also no way someone with 3 litters on the ground is spending much one-on-one time working with these puppies.

Aren't you an MD? Why not spend the money to get a puppy that you know won't be crippled by hip dysplasia at age two? You're going to be stuck with this dog's genetics (both health and temperament) for over a decade.

# ¿ Mar 5, 2017 22:30

Crooked Booty: Apr 2, 2009; arrr

Nostalgia4Dogges posted:

So I was under the impression a week after the second parvo vaccine dogs were fine to socialize anywhere. My vet said not until after the third, which comes 3-4 weeks after the 2nd one at about three months

Is it just a matter of professional opinion? She's a great vet, I feel she is a bit overly cautious about things, which is probably warranted. For example: is highly against any and all bones or antlers etc--pretty much anything you can't indent with the press of your finger

It has very little to do with the number of vaccines and much more to do with the age of the puppy when given the vaccine. Puppies get antibodies to parvo from their moms, and those antibodies wear off over time. The puppy can't properly respond to vaccination and make his own antibodies to parvo until those maternal antibodies are gone. The age at which maternal immunity is gone and the puppy can respond to vaccination varies from puppy to puppy but is generally thought to occur before 16 weeks. So most conservative recommendations are for the puppy to get a final parvo vaccine between 14 and 16 weeks of age. In places with tons of parvo, like where I live, we try to give the last vaccine right at 16 weeks to be safe.

And now there's research suggesting that maybe the last vaccine should really be at more like 18-20 weeks in high risk areas. In theory, this may be especially true for puppies from responsible breeders with recently well-vaccinated mothers, and less of an issue with random shelter pups that probably didn't get much maternal immunity to begin with.

Also a dog (and especially a puppy) can break a tooth on anything remotely hard to chew on. If you're willing to spend the money on root canals and tooth extractions if this happens, feel free to feed bones and antlers. If you're going to balk at the cost of fixing broken teeth and would instead let your dog live with a painful mouth for years, then you should probably stick to softer chews.

It's all about calculated risks. FWIW, I'm a veterinarian, and I give my dog bones and antlers under supervision, but I would never take my puppy to a pet store, public park, or other high-risk place before about 18 weeks of age. There are plenty of opportunities to socialize a puppy without going to places with lots of strange dog germs.

Crooked Booty fucked around with this message at 20:50 on Apr 1, 2017

# ¿ Apr 1, 2017 20:48

Crooked Booty: Apr 2, 2009; arrr

learnincurve posted:

Avoid chicken and liver as treats, they are rather empty and just take up space.

Huh?

# ¿ Apr 5, 2017 12:22

Crooked Booty: Apr 2, 2009; arrr

I'm a vet and I always wonder how people create these completely obnoxious mouthy adult dogs who ~gently~ put their teeth all over me and hang onto my arms while I'm trying to examine them. The owners always act like this is fine and cute.

This must be how it happens

Xarn posted:

We are teaching her to bite gently before we try to teach her not to bite at all

# ¿ Jun 23, 2017 13:30

Crooked Booty: Apr 2, 2009; arrr

drat Bananas posted:

Hey yall, this is probably a cavity, right?

Cavities are pretty rare in dogs, and that would be a really weird location for one, but it's suspicious looking. That's also a common spot for dogs to damage their enamel if they're chewing the bars on their crate, for example. The deeper layers of the tooth stain more easily, so sometimes you can have a dark spot like that where the enamel is worn. Your vet may need to x-ray that tooth to know what's going on and see if the deeper layers of the tooth are affected.

Sometimes cavities can be repaired like in humans, but it usually comes down to what procedures your vet is set up to do and how much money you want to spend trying to save the tooth. A lot of GPs don't do restorations, root canals, etc., so you might have to see a dental specialist for that kind of thing.

# ¿ Jul 28, 2017 18:04

Crooked Booty: Apr 2, 2009; arrr

Fluffy Bunnies posted:

Your dog has a hell allergy, go to the vet

More specifically your dog has a flea allergy. Use something better for flea control.

# ¿ Sep 27, 2017 21:49

Crooked Booty: Apr 2, 2009; arrr

Mrfreezewarning posted:

Anyone have experience with this diagnosis? I've been reading about it online and it seems no one can give me any answer on whether or not he'll probably be okay. The vet told my wife he's going to pull through but this vet is new to me and I want a source I can trust to give input.

He should be fine. This is actually a pretty common thing, and most dogs recover quickly once they're on IV fluids. The dogs who get into trouble are the ones who don't get prompt treatment.

# ¿ Oct 10, 2017 18:22

Crooked Booty: Apr 2, 2009; arrr

Martian Manfucker posted:

Gonna talk about this anyway and hope a someone can sympathize.
My 10 year old intact border collie got a very bad bladder infection over the (canadian) Thanksgiving weekend and in the process of that emergency visit the vet noticed her blood glucose levels were astronomical. I can't remember exactly but it was close to 28mg/dl. I got antibiotics for the infection and made an appointment with my regular vet for the first day she was back to get some more information and testing done.

Long story short, she diagnosed diabetes and we started her on insulin immediately, transitioned her food to Hills Prescription Diet W/D, and started scheduled feeding. She has been on 9 I.U. of insulin once daily, in the morning immediately after her first meal, for about five days now. The problem is, her blood glucose hasn't budged an inch since then. I'm not comfortable testing it at home yet(and my glucometer hasn't arrived yet anyway), so the vet has had me come in with her at various times throughout the day to get it checked, and it hasn't dropped below 20mg/dl once. Her reading today 6hrs post-injection was 25.6mg/dl which is obviously not good.

I've been sick to my stomach for two weeks now over this. No one in my family has ever had diabetes and I've never had an animal with it, so I'm learning everything for the first time and it's so overwhelming sometimes. The vet wants to take things slow, get her infection cleared up, and get her settled on the new food before we go full steam ahead in trying to regulate her blood glucose, but I'm so worried, not having seen any results from the insulin. Is it normal for it to take awhile to see results with insulin? That worry combined with the fact that I'm such a stupid piece of garbage for not having her spayed when I got her is eating me up. I had no idea at the time that diabetes (not to mention the countless other problems) was a risk with unspayed females, and I had thoughts of maybe breeding her. I figured since I live in a rural area I wouldn't have to worry about accidental pregnancies and blah blah blah. This dog is pretty much my life and I let her down in such a big way. Once she's healthy enough, I'm having her spayed.

She needs to be spayed ASAP. There is even a chance her diabetes could go into remission if she is spayed (but it may not). When was her last heat cycle? If she was in heat in the last 2 months, she has high progesterone levels right now which basically counteracts all the insulin you're giving her. In other words, there's basically no way you're going to get her blood sugar to come down until she is spayed. If your vet is not recommending she be spayed now, you should seek a second opinion. There is no "waiting until she's healthy enough" in this situation. Diabetic animals generally do fine with anesthesia anyway.

Crooked Booty fucked around with this message at 09:16 on Oct 18, 2017

# ¿ Oct 18, 2017 09:12

Crooked Booty: Apr 2, 2009; arrr

Away all Goats posted:

Even tennis balls can do that. Just don't overdo it. One antler every other year isn't going to destroy all their teeth.

Wear over time is usually not a big problem. The bigger problem is that antlers (and the hard kind of nylabones) are hard enough to break their teeth. Dogs break their upper forth premolars on these things all the time. Treatment is extraction of the tooth or a root canal, both of which are expensive. I�m a vet and remove teeth that dogs have broken on antlers and nylabones all the drat time. I also give my own dog these things because he likes them and it wouldn�t be a big deal to me if I had to remove a broken tooth. If you�re gonna cry about a $1000+ vet bill or make your dog live with broken infected teeth, don�t give your dog antlers or nylabones. Or just don�t get a dog.

# ¿ Oct 30, 2017 21:57

Crooked Booty: Apr 2, 2009; arrr

Ethiser posted:

So I got a little pup from the shelter a month ago. He was already 7 months old and behavior wise he's one of the most well behaved dogs I've ever had. My only concern is that he has some sort of allergy. I'm not sure if it is related to the outdoors, something in my apartment, or food. The shelter said they rescued him from a trailer when he had lived his whole life inside. I switched him over to a grain free lamb food this week, but I've read that it takes a few weeks to determine if that will help. Any advice to help me figure out what's got him so red and itchy?

Have you taken him to a vet yet? Dogs can have all sorts of skin infections which are red an itchy, and while allergies might have predisposed him to get an infection to begin with, an infection isn�t going to clear up until you get him on the right medication.

As for food allergies, the only way to figure that out is a really strict food trial, meaning 8 weeks on ONLY a hypoallergenic diet with zero other food or treats. The easiest way to do this is get a prescription hydrolyzed diet from your vet. These diets are basically pre-digested so that the protein particles are so small that they cannot trigger the immune system. OTC diets like the one you�re trying often have contamination with other food proteins, and if he�s allergic to lamb or whatever, it�s not going to work. Basically you�re just guessing and doing a food trial with a proper diet via your vet is a way better use of your time and effort.

# ¿ Dec 14, 2017 16:39

Crooked Booty: Apr 2, 2009; arrr

Jacco posted:

Besides the horrible website and music......does this look like a good breeder?

http://www.luvashihtzu.com/index.html

nope

# ¿ Feb 24, 2018 01:33

Crooked Booty: Apr 2, 2009; arrr

crowbb posted:

She says recovery time about a year without surgery, 6 months with.

I don�t think this is a good or accurate way to think about it. A dog with a torn ACL is going to develop arthritis in that knee, period. The goal of surgery is to reduce how much arthritis develops. Dogs are initially very lame after they tear their ACLs and the lameness typically gets better over a period of weeks to months because the scar tissue and arthritic changes make the knee more stable and functional. Your dog�s knee will never be normal again whether or not you have the surgery done. I would expect the knee to be bigger problem when your dog is old if you don�t have surgery compared to if you do.

I recommend surgery for large dogs that are otherwise healthy. But it�s expensive and not a 100% fix. It�s not wrong to not do surgery if your dog is getting around great with just the medications she�s on, but there is a decent possibility that your dog will continue to be lame on that leg for the rest of her life without surgery no matter what meds you give her. (She could also be lame forever after surgery but the odds are much lower.)

crowbb posted:

Are the braces worth it or a waste of time? I see dozens of them on Amazon and I'm not sure which ones, if any are good.

A waste of time and money at best.

# ¿ Mar 8, 2018 02:06

Crooked Booty: Apr 2, 2009; arrr

FWIW, I did both Wisdom Panel and Embark because I�m a nerd, and my Embark results were much more believable. There was some overlap in the results, but wisdom panel said my dog (stray from east Texas) was predominantly some very rare Asian breeds I had never even heard of. The breeds he resembles were way down the list. Embark results were believable wth no rare breeds listed. Who knows!

# ¿ Apr 14, 2018 16:45

Crooked Booty: Apr 2, 2009; arrr

Residency Evil posted:

A few questions for you guys:
1. Is Heartguard the best medicine to prevent heartworm?
2. Is Nexguard the best med to prevent fleas/ticks?
3. What's the cheapest place to get Heartguard/Nexguard?
4. Should I vaccinate for lepto/lyme?

1. Heartgard is great and also cheap. There are also a lot of equivalent generics that are even cheaper. All of the oral heartworm preventatives are super effective and super safe.
2. Nexgard, Bravecto, and Simparica are closely related drugs, all relatively new, very similar efficacy, and are arguably the best medicines for fleas/ticks these days.
3. If you want the cheapest, you can probably save a few dollars a month buying Nexgard online. Or you can buy it from your vet where you can feel good about supporting a local business, and also feel confident that you�re not buying diverted or counterfeit product which is a real issue with products like this. Heartgard is pretty darn cheap no matter where you get it. If you want cheaper, get a generic.
4. Depends on where you live and what sort of stuff you do with your dog . Find a vet you trust and get the vaccines they recommend.

# ¿ Jul 5, 2018 15:22

Crooked Booty: Apr 2, 2009; arrr

Iron Lung posted:

Hey y'all, is there a thread recommended pet insurance company? Looking at FIGO, ASPCA, and Healthy Paws (seems like the best one). Our pup is a 1.5 year old Cavalier who has a pre-existing heart condition (which I know won't be covered). We're mostly interested in preventative care, future cardiology exams and stuff which I think should be covered, and emergency care. Appreciate any recommendations!

I think Healthy Paws is very good, but I don�t think any insurance company is going to cover future cardiology visits for a cavalier that already has heart disease. Also pet insurance is much better for emergencies/illnesses than preventative care in terms of getting your money�s worth.

# ¿ Jan 5, 2019 20:27

Crooked Booty: Apr 2, 2009; arrr

drat Bananas posted:

Has anyone gone through the process of having your dog diagnosed with Cushings disease/syndrome (even if it was determined your dog didn't have it)? I would love to hear experiences from others, because it sounds like the way to diagnose it is to run a bunch of expensive tests that progressively say "Well we haven't ruled it out yet" over and over until they say "Yeah, it looks like it is Cushings"

What started as routine bloodwork for a dental cleaning ended up pointing out some crazy liver values.

March 2018:
ALP: 403 (normal: >120)
ALT: 161 (normal: >140)

Feb 2019:
ALP: 1,618
ALT: 226

9.5 yr old neutered beagle

Cushings symptoms: Increased water intake, panting for no reason
Random symptoms: Always licking his front paws/front legs up to the armpit despite switching foods [Taste of the Wild Wetlands (duck, chicken, sweet potato, peas, potato) to Kirklands Mature (chicken, brown rice, egg, oatmeal, barley, white rice)]. Also he has a fatty tumor on his abdomen nestled right below his ribcage center. We call it his boob. Maybe the size of a mandarin orange? They already took a sample of it a couple years ago to determine it's nothing to worry about.

So far we ran the bloodwork (above) and did a urine test to try to rule it out:

Urine Creatinine: 208.6
Urine Cortisol: 22.5
UCCRatio: 34 (the exact cutoff value for "hyperadrenocorticism is possible")

It sounds like the next step is one of two options:
1. Two more tests, I forget their names, but they are like $300-400 each and are more of the "We haven't ruled Cushings out yet" variety
2. An ultrasound with a veterinary internist specialist ($600) with possible biopsy ($200) but it's more definitive in getting answers

The prices are kind of spitballing, and maybe I misheard some things, it was a long phonecall. So I think we're going with option 2 but drat these prices are stinging. Honestly, I would jump into a volcano for my dog, so I'll do whatever is medically necessary and recommended to get back to a good quality of life. But it just sucks, because I just spent like $2,000 on my cat 5 months who didn't end up making it. And what if it does get ruled out after $1900 and now we gotta go exploring for other causes of the liver values! Just ranting...

**if you are a medical professional and would like to weigh in, this is of course a hypothetical dog who doesn't exist it's just a very, very specific what-if case and anything suggested is just for educational purposes for the owner to feel more educated when speaking with the vet who has actually examined him. Hypothetically.

There are two decent blood tests that are pretty definitive in testing for Cushing�s - low dose dexamethasone suppression and ACTH stim. The first one is maybe is a little better of a test than the other. I would be surprised if either test costs more than $300-400 even in a very high cost of living area. There is no reason to do both tests as far as I am aware. (Both of these tests involve collecting multiple blood samples over the course of the day, so maybe that�s caused some of the confusion about multiple tests?)

The other thing to know is there are two types of cushing�s and sometimes additional tests are required to differentiate between these kinds. In most cases the root problem is with the pituitary gland. In perhaps 15% of cases the root problem is with the adrenal gland. The only difference between the two is when it�s the adrenal gland, it can be a nasty malignant tumor causing the problem, so if for example you would consider having surgery done on your dog to remove a malignant adrenal tumor, that can be important info to have. Sometimes the blood test results point towards either adrenal or pituitary-dependent cushing�s, but not always. Sometimes you need an ultrasound after the blood test.

With an ultrasound you can look at the adrenal glands. You can see if there�s an adrenal tumor but also sometimes the size of the of the adrenals can make you suspicious of cushing�s if you haven�t done the blood tests yet. Even if there�s an adrenal tumor, not every adrenal tumor causes cushing�s, so I don�t think anyone would treat cushing�s based off an ultrasound alone. If the ultrasound is suspicious, one of the aforementioned blood tests would still be the recommended next step. The biopsy your vet is referring to is probably a liver biopsy which would be a reasonable next step if your dog does NOT test positive for cushing�s.

So either my take on it is pretty different from your vet�s, or you may have misheard some things. I�m a little tired so hopefully that all makes sense.

# ¿ Feb 13, 2019 17:39

Crooked Booty: Apr 2, 2009; arrr

The Bananana posted:

Looking for a Labrador Retriever, because i am a basic bitch, lol.(also, I grew up with a Lab, and I loved her to death)

Seconding what IJ said about weird lab colors.

I�m in central Texas and I think you�re not going to find many pups for <$1000 from parents with health clearances. You get what you pay for there. I�d also keep in mind that even if you don�t want a show dog or a hunting dog, good lab breeders are generally going to be focused on one or the other. These are going to be dogs with very different temperaments and very different conformation. Which do you want?

If you don�t care about that stuff and also want to spend less for a pup without clearances, consider Lucky Lab Rescue. They take really good care of their dogs and have puppies available pretty frequently.

# ¿ Sep 10, 2019 17:03

Crooked Booty: Apr 2, 2009; arrr

America Inc. posted:

My girlfriend has been really worried about these sores she's seeing in her puppy's mouth:

Reading the OP maybe they're puppy warts? They don't have that cauliflower look. You can see the white spot on the right and then there's a red spot on the bottom gum. The puppy is 5 months old.

My bet is that's from chewing on something. Puppies who are vigorous chewers will sometimes really tear up their mouths while teething. And dogs with black lips/gums will temporarily loose the pigment when there's inflammation or trauma, so you get pink spots. If she had pink lips, you probably wouldn't notice this.

# ¿ Sep 12, 2023 20:25

Crooked Booty: Apr 2, 2009; arrr

Rand Brittain posted:

Then he spent a lot of time yelling at us because Campion isn't fixed, which is technically against the park rules. As a golden, I'm told he shouldn't be fixed until he's two years old (he is now six months old). He told us the vet was wrong about this.

Sorry to be a downer but you really shouldn't take your intact male dog to dog parks until he's neutered. He is now old enough to get an unspayed dog pregnant. Hopefully there aren't unspayed female dogs at the dog park either, but the rules exist for a reason and apply to you too.

PS dog parks are terrible for dogs in the long run 95% of the time, see also: "my dog was pinned today by some rear end in a top hat's dog"

# ¿ Dec 11, 2023 21:20

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# ¿ May 3, 2024 16:03

Crooked Booty: Apr 2, 2009; arrr

i own every Bionicle posted:

Thanks so much everybody. Newton and I are in southern New Hampshire. The first place I found was this place:

https://www.wolfpackcanine.com

They have a pretty slick website and they were helpful on the phone. Google reviews were good but not on Yelp. And the more I look at the sight the less I find regarding anything useful.

Then I found these people:

https://www.fortunatek9.com

Who clearly spend a lot less on their website and fake google reviews. The class structure and owner involvement seem closer to what I wanted. Still, no commitment to positive reinforcement only, and no accreditation from the organizations Kaiser mentioned, but the trainers do seem to have some info/accreditation.

Yeah I would avoid both of these. The first one is a self-described "balanced" trainer meaning they use a lot of aversives like e-collars. The second place refers to positive reinforcement training as a fad. That's a nope from me, particularly for a dog like Newton.

# ¿ Dec 18, 2023 23:21

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Pet Island > The Puppy & Dog Owner Thread: Dog owning for dipshits

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