The Official "Dogs of the DMF" Thread

[Bendy]

Louis. He's around 7 years old, and huge. Not terribly fat, just massive. Biggest pug I've ever encountered. Pugs are a lot of fun. Bizarre behavior, curious, snorty pig noises, and the list goes on. I'm not sure he knows he's a dog.

Leering at me for disturbing his window-watching;


Overflowing with enthusiasm;

[hbliam]

I put frontline on all my creatures every month and they still have fleas. I'm starting to wonder if it's really worth it.

Try advantage or other similar brand. Sometimes you just need to switch things up and it works great. I switch bewteen them every so often as I had the same problem. Also wash them first and then apply. If you wash them soon after (within a day or so) you are just washing it off. And do not buy the copy cat crap at the grocery store, it's no where near the same. Lastly, if they already were bitten and then you administer the drug they may still itch for a week or so. Just like when you get bit by a bug, bugs gone but you still itch for days.

[acalles]

Lab results came back..

They couldn't find any parasitic worms.

they think it was some other kind of worm that tried to live there and didn't take. He said he's see's it from time to time..

they said it likely upset his system, which is why he's pooping blood. he gets some meds for it (to reduce the inflamation) and can only eat only rice and chicken till the bleeding stops. it should be gone in a few days..

[Stella]

Bookmark.

My 2.5 year old amstaff mix tore her ACL a couple months back.  We can't get her to settle down enough to let it heal and have been advised off the surgery because of this and her breed doesn't take the surgery well.  We have tried vet prescribed downers and she doesn't react well to them at all. 

How's your girl doing?  Brian is still dealing with a bum foot/leg – especially if he starts running around (w/in 30 seconds or so).  How did they determine it was the ACL?  It's my hunch that that's the problem we're facing since it's such a common but unfortunate (and expensive) issue. And I don't know what else it could be.  He's been on limited activities since the 4th and he's becoming a handful w/o the exercise (swimming is also verboten) as is any social/off-leash interaction. 

Brian wouldn't let the vet or any of the techs (or the combination of 4 of them) palpate so we went with the first step of anti-inflammatories and rest for 2 weeks (as challenging as that is for an 8 month old).  Since the foot/leg is still bothering him, we need to get him back in and put him under for x-rays for a clear diagnosis.  Hate to do that but it's become necessary.   

Just curious how you are (or anyone else is) handling their dog under these circumstances (no playing, no surgery, lots of energy). 
 

[IZ]

Louis. He's around 7 years old, and huge. Not terribly fat, just massive. Biggest pug I've ever encountered. Pugs are a lot of fun. Bizarre behavior, curious, snorty pig noises, and the list goes on. I'm not sure he knows he's a dog.

How big is your Pug?  Mine fluctuated between 31-33lbs.  He was quite robust!    Love those lil' guys..excpt for the shedding!!  Your's looks a lot like Izaac did.  Watch out for those inevitable eye problems.   



Stella & RM..I didn't know B had a foot/ankle problem?!  That's no good.  Hope all goes well!

[angler]

How's your girl doing?  Brian is still dealing with a bum foot/leg – especially if he starts running around (w/in 30 seconds or so).  How did they determine it was the ACL?  It's my hunch that that's the problem we're facing since it's such a common but unfortunate (and expensive) issue. And I don't know what else it could be.  He's been on limited activities since the 4th and he's becoming a handful w/o the exercise (swimming is also verboten) as is any social/off-leash interaction. 

Brian wouldn't let the vet or any of the techs (or the combination of 4 of them) palpate so we went with the first step of anti-inflammatories and rest for 2 weeks (as challenging as that is for an 8 month old).  Since the foot/leg is still bothering him, we need to get him back in and put him under for x-rays for a clear diagnosis.  Hate to do that but it's become necessary.   

Just curious how you are (or anyone else is) handling their dog under these circumstances (no playing, no surgery, lots of energy). 
 

Some days good, some days not so good.  Most days she wakes up not favoring it - you wouldn't know she was injured.  Most days she goes to bed favoring it at least a little.  On bad days (or really high activity days) shes not using it and holding it off the ground at all times.  On those days she wakes up favoring it. 

Initially we tried to keep her from activity and that was just impossible.  The vet prescribed doggy downers and she hated them.  I swear they made her more crazy.  She is exceptionally high energy and needs exercise at least once a day.  Unfortunately, pain apparently means nothing to her, so she isn't very self limiting.  We try to avoid activity that involves lateral movement, which sucks because one of her favorite activities involves a lot of lateral movement. 

The vet diagnosed the problem by examination as x-rays don't show soft tissue damage.  The vet didn't recommend an MRI, which would show it, as she is very familiar with this injury in bully breeds.  (She has 3 with ACL tears).  That vets advice is to not fix it with surgery, at least not until she settles down some.  A failed fix is usually worse than the original tear.

[cyrus buelton]

Just curious how you are (or anyone else is) handling their dog under these circumstances (no playing, no surgery, lots of energy). 

I got reamed for it before, but I'll say it again.

See if your vet will give you a light sedative to help with controlling Brian. Alprazolam (xanax) in a small dose will probably work pretty well for him. I am not talking about zonking him out completely, but it will reduce his activity greatly.

I gave it to Greta after her spaying and it worked really well.

or

you could try Baby Benadryl, liquid formula in a syringe.



EDIT: Didn't see above post when I typed this out, but I have heard that the sedatives can induce the dog into being more hyper than down. My neighbor has that issue with his American Bulldog. I think he actually ended up giving the dog more when it became hyper and it eventually calmed down after 1.5mg of xanax. That is what his vet told him to do, but I am not sure if I would play that game. I mean, the dog weighs about 110lbs, so 1.5mg over the course of 2 hours really isn't that high of a dose, but still.....

[angler]

EDIT: Didn't see above post when I typed this out, but I have heard that the sedatives can induce the dog into being more hyper than down. My neighbor has that issue with his American Bulldog. I think he actually ended up giving the dog more when it became hyper and it eventually calmed down after 1.5mg of xanax. That is what his vet told him to do, but I am not sure if I would play that game. I mean, the dog weighs about 110lbs, so 1.5mg over the course of 2 hours really isn't that high of a dose, but still.....

Your mileage may definitely vary with sedatives.  I'm not an anti-drug guy, but some breeds don't like the downers and Tiger definitely didn't.  For her, she would get all sloppy, but spooked super easy, which would make her spaz out for every little noise.  Since she was already a bit sloppy, she would fall down or run into stuff while trying to respond to whatever spooked her - not good.  I've had previous dogs that have responded wonderfully to sedatives though.

[cyrus buelton]

Your mileage may definitely vary with sedatives.  I'm not an anti-drug guy, but some breeds don't like the downers and Tiger definitely didn't.  For her, she would get all sloppy, but spooked super easy, which would make her spaz out for every little noise.  Since she was already a bit sloppy, she would fall down or run into stuff while trying to respond to whatever spooked her - not good.  I've had previous dogs that have responded wonderfully to sedatives though.

I can understand the "sloppy" aspect of it, as that probably is something that can occur since it is a chemical mind altering medication.......but the getting spooked is pretty odd. Yeah, that wouldn't be good at all.

Just like humans........everyone responds to meds differently and not all of them work properly.



Did you ever find a medication that did help with the calming of Tiger?



I am worried about my dobe having orthopedic issues, so I sort of control the amount of hardcore running she gets. I think in general dobe's are pretty lazy..........at least mine is.

[angler]

Did you ever find a medication that did help with the calming of Tiger?

No we didn't, but we didn't really try different things. I just went looking for the bottle, but couldn't find it so I couldn't tell you what she was taking.  Do they give dogs Valium (diazapam)?  My GF seems to remember it was Valium.

For her breed, she is right on the cusp of becoming a very low activity dog age wise, so we are hoping that will help.  In the meantime, she gets a dose of glucosamine/chondroitin at every meal.  That supplement has definitely helped.

[cyrus buelton]

No we didn't, but we didn't really try different things. I just went looking for the bottle, but couldn't find it so I couldn't tell you what she was taking.  Do they give dogs Valium (diazapam)?  My GF seems to remember it was Valium.

For her breed, she is right on the cusp of becoming a very low activity dog age wise, so we are hoping that will help.  In the meantime, she gets a dose of glucosamine/chondroitin at every meal.  That supplement has definitely helped.

Yeah, Diazepam is Valium. Not sure if they give that to dogs or not, but don't really see why not. It is just a general Benzo like xanax, just a little stronger. I take valium when I fly. weeeeeeeeeeeeeee


What is that supplement you are giving her?


we give Greta 4-5 fish oil capsules per day. We have done that since she was a puppy, so she enjoys them as a treat. It is pretty odd. That stuff works great. It makes her coat extremely shiny and soft (as dobe's typicall have a course hair.....not greta.....she is actually soft) and it really helps with her joints. Fish oil is a great supplement.

[angler]

What is that supplement you are giving her?

I can't take enough Valium to do any damage to myself.  Just goes to show that meds hit folks differently......

The supplement is called Dasuquin - 600mg Glucosamine Hydrochloride, 250mg Sodium Chondroitin Sulfate, 45mg Avocado Unsaponifiables.  She takes them as treats and digs them.  They recommend 2 a day for 4-6 weeks and then one a day thereafter.  We go back to 2 a day when she is limping a lot.   Maybe I'll get her some fish oil as well.

[cyrus buelton]

I can't take enough Valium to do any damage to myself.  Just goes to show that meds hit folks differently......

The supplement is called Dasuquin - 600mg Glucosamine Hydrochloride, 250mg Sodium Chondroitin Sulfate, 45mg Avocado Unsaponifiables.  She takes them as treats and digs them.  They recommend 2 a day for 4-6 weeks and then one a day thereafter.  We go back to 2 a day when she is limping a lot.   Maybe I'll get her some fish oil as well.

One 5mg valium and about 25 minutes later with a double beam and coke mixed in makes for a very relaxing flight for me.


I will check that supplement out 


Pop a fish oil for yourself too, it is good for you.

[JBubble]

The brat (please excuse the mess, we were reorganizing the house)

MVI 1078

[Stella]

Oh my gosh...I was watching and thinking how hysterical that was but then I got grossed out.  What the hell happened to your arm Mother?!?  (Funny pup though for sure!)