Having a dog is a bit like I would imagine having a retarded kid is. "This is why we can't have nice things!" Sunday morning I wake up to dog puke on the mat at the front door. Cleaned that up, but there's still a visible stain if you know where to look. Then I had an errand to run on the other side of town. Since it was an outdoor errand, I decided to take the dog. Oh, this is after the oil change guys vacuumed out my car. Luckily, I remembered to put down a towel on the passenger seat, as The Dog proceeded to puke not once but twice during the drive--all after having driven 20-30 minutes, so if I'd have turned back I'd have pretty much had to scrub the mission. So I'm driving while watching for puking signs so I can grab her head and make sure she stays over the towel. Then this afternoon I noticed an almost imperceptible darkening on the rug in the guest bedroom. Further investigation revealed a definite urine smell. I let her out and played with her when I got home from work--in spite of being beat. But since it is starting to get cold, I closed the door after she came in. Then I got up in the middle of my sleep to open the door and let her out. When and how did she manage to pee in the house?! I know she can fucking go 13 hours, holding it. How'd she fail to do 9!?
Sounds like she got a virus or bug - and that can shorten the length of time a dog can hold it. Same as humans. Might need a visit to the vet to have her checked out. See - she IS a kid.
I was going to build her a doghouse, before she learned to jump the fence. Then when cold weather comes I could put her out for the day. And on a farm with enough land, I could probably let her roam--apart from the herding dog in her making it likely she'd terrorize cattle--but I'm in suburbia. There's just so much interesting stuff outside the fence. I can leave her free to roam as long as I am around and/or keep one eye open. Today she was at the gate, pushing her nose through. I hollered at her from inside and she had that "Busted! " look and moved away from the fence. But besides all the kids playing and pedestrians and cats and squirrels and other dogs, there is the occasional coyote. Last night I saw an opossum. Heck, if I were a dog and I saw a 'possum walk by I'd jump the fence to chase it down.
She needs more exercise, as Cesar would say. 30 min walk in the morning and 30 at night. Do you have a treadmill/walker? stick her on it and turn it on to a comfortable pace for about 30 minutes. That might help.
A word of advice, don't give your dog the Hartz, et. al. OTC flea treatments. A couple of years ago, I had a very, very costly trip to a 24-hour emergency vet in Birmingham. It was storming so I put my Springer Spaniels in the basement. About an hour later, one started going nuts. I went to check and the other dog was crumpled up at the bottom of the steps having a seizure. Both my regular vet and the Emergency vet agreed that it was the flea treatment. When the tox report came back, it confirmed it. Fleas become resistant to toxins. The Rx stuff like Frontline and Advantage periodically reformulate their medicines. Hartz and the other OTC's don't. They just up the concentration. You could be giving the correct dose per your dogs size and still be giving them enough to kill them...
Wait, you clean up your dog puke? Don't you know they'll clean it up themselves after a while? When my girl dog pukes my boy dog eats it up and rarely see evidence. When my boy dog pukes...my boy dog eats it up a bit later.
She's a nut. She might've eaten it eventually. But she's an odd dog. The other day I felt like giving her a treat, so I picked up some beef liver. She looked at me like I was insane. But she loves tomato-based sauces (and cheese).
Well, I had my first nail trimming misadventure. The doggie is very good, all told. However of late she has taken to digging in a big way. I don't know if she picked it up form the idiot neglected neighbor dogs or it is just instinct, but if she feels she isn't being played with enough, she's taken to excavating holes. Unfortunately for me, being "played with enough" in her book equates to bout 15 minutes of fetch every two hours. For a bit I was wondering if the digging might be caused by her nails. I've been told you need to trim a dog's nails every month or so but that doesn't make sense. No one trims a wolf, fox, or coyote's nails and they're fine. But I was starting to see nail damage so I carefully trimmed them. Since her digging has gotten more involved though, I wondered if it was more than boredom and attention-getting and she was trying to wear down her nails so, after filling in the latest hole, I decided to get out the trimmer. I reviewed a couple online guides and cautiously proceeded. Made it to all but the last two nails on a hind leg when I cut a quick. She's a really good doggie and she took it really well, but now I've got her doctored up while it clots. Gah. This dog takes up so much of my time.
It happens. Last time I took my 7lb chihuahua to the vet, he had his assistant hold him while he clipped his nails. Even working together they still caught the quick on one of them. They just dusted it with a clotting agent and called it good. I usually just take him to Pet Smart. They'll trim and file him for about $22. They do require having the immunization records on file, though.
Yeah. That's one of the things I'm guilty of: anthropomorphizing. When she looks up at me a certain way I think "Aw, why is she sad?" Or when her tongue is lolling out I attribute it to her being happy. In reality most of the time it is likely just anatomical differences that create the appearance of human emotions. I mean, I know she does happy and sad among other things, but not at the level we do. Well, I've wasted the morning and a good chunk of the afternoon. If I can make it through another of Anc's long-ass articles and wade through the monkey-poop-throwing fight over Z & MD's latest bit of jackassery I guess I'll finish the last two nails and see if she wants to play some fetch. [Edit: Oh, and since I didn't have a styptic, I put ointment and a band aid on it before covering the foot with a sock. About the time I was going to check on it she'd managed to get the sock off, it was bleeding on my freshly washed sheets, and she was licking it. Plan B was getting out the gauze and that no-stick wrap to patch it up. When I've got the bleeding stopped I'll hit the tip with Krazy Glue and pick up some styptic when I go shopping. ]
God DAMN, those things bleed. When she cut her paw it clotted a lot faster than this. Didn't want to spend the day stuck in the house with a gimpy dog and I thought I'd allowed the bandage to work long enough. Caaarefully took it off with no bleeding. Caaaarefully applied Krazy Glue for protection. Everything seemed to be working. Then I decided to pick off one strand of cotton fiber that I thought might be distracting and apply a second coat of Krazy Glue. Looked away for a second to fart with the cap. Looked back and the tip of the claw had a bright red pinhead sized cauliflower blossom on it. Watched it until a bubble of blood had worked its way out the tip of it and dripped on the bedspread. So the bandage is back on and it is off to pick up some styptic.
I'm no vet, so heed what I say at your own risk, but I do believe you're better off letting a minor quick bleed get some air. Just confine her someplace where it won't get packed with filth or ruin any flooring and let it dry out on its own. As my vet explained it to me, the chances of an infection from that are less than an actual flesh wound. Makes sense, if you think about it. Can't be dying in the wild every time you lose a toenail.
Fair enough. I suspect that dog saliva has some coagulants in it or something. Because in the time it took me to get to the store to pick up some styptic she'd gotten the bandage and gauze off, there was no blood anywhere, and she demanded a game of fetch. Of course this reopened the wound, so it was a good thing I got the styptic. They weren't kidding, she really didn't like it, so it was a pain to try and hold it on for the mandated 5-10 seconds. Then after applying, I had to keep her from licking it for a good minute or so. When that was all over, she of course ran around like she'd been cooped up in the house all day. I didn't want her to reopen it, so I attempted to just take her to the park to walk around it. But in the end I wound up getting out the B-A-L-L and throwing it for her quite a bit. That clotting stuff is good stuff (I brought it along, but didn't need it). I also found out she likes Summer Sausage, which is a relief, because when I brought her fresh raw beef liver she acted like I'd just grown a second head and refused to eat it. I was worried she was a vegetarian or something.
Dog Psychology... So. The weather has started to turn for the year. It's been cold, rainy, and overcast the past few days. This doesn't stop The Dog from wanting to be outside. I mean over and above pooping, peeing, and playing fetch. She'll spend a fair amount of time inside, lazing on assorted furniture, but if it isn't a downpour she'd really rather be outside where she can better keep watch on things. It's the border collie in her. Ironically, a change in the weather has changed her perspective on her environment. In the summer, the holly tree overhanging from the neighbors' yard was to be avoided. The pokey leaves it shed were unpleasant for her little feet. But those same leaves currently provide excellent cover from the rain. So she has set up her current watch post under it. Yes, she could set up in the garage or under the front porch roof, but apparently she prefers the holly tree. On a related note, some of her digging apparently isn't completely boredom. Once she started using the holly, she immediately excavated a big hole under it. When I scolded her, filled that in, and placed the DON'T DIG HERE YOU LITTLE FUCKER rock over it she promptly dug a bigger hole next to the rock. Well I filled all that in with fill from my driveway project, so today I come out to find her sitting on top of the fill, where she's fashioned herself a crude dirt doggie bed/foxhole. I was tempted to scold her, but it was a pretty nice little bed and she really didn't see anything wrong with it. I probably need to make her a doghouse one of these days. I've got most of the materials I'll need for it. I just don't look forward to painting the damned thing. And I'll probably wind up cutting some more HardiPlank if I work on it. Ah well, at least my crappy pawn shop power miter had a fused blade bolt, so after I finished the siding I was stuck with the dull blade on it. Now I have to burn through lumber instead of cutting it. BTW, part of the reason for this post is that I'm killing time. The Dog is outside and I need to go run errands, but I didn't feel like ordering her in. I also don't feel like having her dirty belly sitting on my various furniture while I'm gone.
What are peoples thought regarding table scraps? On the one hand, I've always been of the impression that you under no circumstance feed a dog leftovers--partly because it encourages begging. But on the other hand, dogs are social and hierarchical animals. It seems like you enforce your position in the relationship by giving them a portion of your food after you've finished eating. Thoughts? (I got to thinking about this after church--the scripture passage with "...even a dog gets the scraps from his master's table." ) [EDIT: Oh, and in retrospect, the origin of the fence jumping problem is the neighbors who first encountered it. She was doing what dogs do--barking at people who walk past their yard--and they got tired of it. So they started giving her snacks. So that, combined with me leaving her unsupervised for too long--I suspect--is why I now have to keep her cooped up unless I'm watching her like a hawk. ]
Just a few - A whole lot of human food is dangerous to dogs. Your dog needs a designated eating spot, a consistent source of food. If you want to share food that's the place to share it. Feeding dogs at the table results in dogs hanging out at your every meal. Oh and sharing barf is natural behavior for many critters, including dogs.
Depends on how much you enjoy cleaning up throw up in your house and never ever chicken bones. On the other hand after our first dog died I was suddenly aware of how much food suddenly appeared on the floor!
I nearly killed my dog with pepperoni pizza one time. Had to spend the night in the puppy hospital and everything. Anything but dog food or the meals I prepare with lean, unseasoned meat, and his whole tract goes nuts until he starts bleeding from his asshole. Presently babysitting two other tiny dogs. Now I give my dog seizure meds, another dog insulin injections, and hand-prepared meals for all three.
When Jack Bauer sees me in the TV chair, he knows he has a good chance of getting some food. I fed him from it by hand when we first got him. I don't have any problem giving him some abnormally nice food from that chair. He got some ribeye fat the other night.
It really depends on the dog. Lou could eat almost anything without getting sick--I used to give him cheese (Thank ENT for that suggestion!), fried chicken skins, pork reins--he even got addicted to peppermint Altoids when my brother dropped one on the ground by accident! Like UA, I wouldn't give any dog any seasoned meats. Onion in particular is harmful to dogs. ETA: Oh, and if you want to feed him scraps without him associating it with you sitting at the table, just make sure to feed him the stuff in his dog bowl only and not your hand.
oh no - snacks will be so sad. no more ICE CREAM??!?!? she loves her some strawberry ice cream. i've always let her lick the bowl. oh well. at least she can still have turkey, cheese, and bananas!
Do not, under any circumstances, give anything with BBQ sauce! Stop giving table scraps if you notice that your dog stops eating regular food and is holding out for the good stuff. They need the nutrients in the dog food. I know a lot of people will not give table scraps at all, but for my dog, it is the ONLY thing that motivates her. She doesn't care about toys or bones or anything else. And she seems healthy. She's not a fatty or anything. That being said, she's such a manipulative bitch. She'll be totally comfortable and laid out on the couch, but as soon as she hears a wrapper, she will get on the floor, look up with her big sad brown eyes and start shaking like she's soooooooooooooo cold and hungry. But as soon as you give her some, suddenly she's fine and hoppin' around with her tail wagging.
I've always given my dogs table scraps. It's not like they spoil their appetite . . . never yet known a dog that would turn down food under any circumstances short of the "waiting to die" period. Mine got dry food, doggie treats, and table scraps. And would still come begging should I happen to eat something in between. Avoid the obvious no-nos, like chicken bones or spicy stuff, and it shouldn't be a problem. Oh, and chocolate. NEVER EVER give a dog chocolate. And now I have a cat that will steal french fries if you don't watch him. Very odd.
For close to three months The Dog has apparently been flea free. No sign of the little fuckers on him or in the house. Today she managed to play with about 3 other dogs. Tonight I brushed her out. Later in the evening I was reading and small, dark insect landed on the page. I went to swat it and it jumped away. It came back and I had a closer look at it. Right size, narrow, flat body. Jumps away no matter how fast you swat. They may be back. For the past few months I've been giving her dog biscuits with brewer's yeast in them. That is supposed to help with fleas. Maybe I'll have to give her her monthly bath, though. Just to be safe. Already sprayed down the rugs in the living room and my chair with permethrin. Hit the pillows with lilac spray.
I came home from work about a week ago and one of my dogs had jumped up on the counter and pulled a pan of chocolate brownies down, still 3/4's full, and eaten them all. She never got sick. I was expecting all sorts of nasty stuff to come out of her but she was fine.
My 14 pound pinscher ate the remains of a grocery store rotisserie chicken, bones and all. Expected that to kill him, but no, he was just full for a few days.
If you treeated her with Frontline or Advantage, the medicine helps the dog repel fleas for at least six months to a year, if I remember correctly. They may have been a couple of hitchikers who aren't long for this world, if that's the case.
