Ask questions and share about your pet's health to help others.
One of them is a pit bull black lab mix, and the other is a pit bull rottweiler mix who is also fixed but the pit lab is not, not sure if this is relevant or not.
Sorry if this seems to ramble. I just have a lot on my mind.
He has already broken and melted my heart. I am a teacher and will actually be off work for the next 6 weeks to train, play, and “mother” the little guy. I think I have convinced my mother to watch him for the first couple of months when school starts to help him settle in because he is so young. Our best guess is that he is a lab mix. He will probably be medium to large in size.
I know that socialization is so important for a pup of this age. What can I do to help him?
I keep crying and my anxiety about the next 6 months is very high. My worries make it hard to sleep even when the little guy is sleeping. I’m so sad for him and I just want to make sure that he is a happy, healthy puppy. The shelters around here are overwhelmed and I refuse to leave the little guy. Euthanasia rates are pretty high.
He will eventually be an indoor/outdoor dog. I won’t be comfortable with this, though, until he is older. That is why I’m going to pay my mom to watch him. I will be gone from 7-3:30 and my man works from 7:30-5. On days with inclement weather, my fella would be able to come home and let him in or out. We have a large fenced in back yard with plenty of shady areas. I live in a rural area with very kind neighbors so I am not worried about anyone messing with him. I live in East Tennessee where there is rarely an extreme temperature; however, I’m also looking into adding a doggie door, too.
Here is what I have done so far:
(1) He has a lifestyle crate (with the partition to make it smaller for now) that is attached to a large playpen in our kitchen. He sleeps in this crate at night. I’ve been sleeping on a couch next to it at night to take him out when he wakes. This is generally every 2 hrs.
(2) I’ve taken him to the vet. They dewormed him and gave him a flea treatment that is appropriate for a little guy under 5Lbs.
(3) I take him out to potty every time he wakes up from sleeping. He has only had 3 accidents in 3.5 days. I clean up his mess well so as not to leave a smell and take him out anyway. I DO NOT scold such a young pup but rather just take him out and set him in the grass each time.
What can I do to ensure this little guy has a great adolescence? Especially considering he is off to a rough start?
It will probably take a little while to potty train him because he is so young. To socialize him you can take him on walks and play with him and get him toys to play with. Puppies are resiliant so even though he has had a rough start just give him a loving home and play with him and make sure he is happy and he will be fine into adolescence. I hope you and your new puppy the best!
Don’t worry about what happened to him. Think about how lucky he is to have a caring human now who is taking great care of him. Socialization is important. Make sure to introduce him to lots of people when he is old enough to go on nice walks. Also dog parks or other dogs that you know, should be a great way to introduce him to other dogs. Your vet should have a ton of info to share with you. Best of luck!!
Thanks for the encouragement! I had a torturous few day where I didn’t know if I should keep him or take him to the shelter. Many people on the internet acted like it was inhumane to have a dog if you couldn’t keep him indoors 24/7 and be with him most of the time; however, the lady at the shelter showed me all the cute pups there and told me that many don’t make it out. I refuse to give up on him! I’m not rich and I don’t have the resources to put him in a daycare every day but I do have a very comfortable and large home with a privacy fence. I have lots of love in my heart and no children, as well.
I plan to use the next 6 weeks to get him into the routine of our household. My mother won’t be able to help out because she takes care of my grandmother but my man is gonna arrange to drive 40 minutes here and 40 minutes back on his lunch to check on little man.
We are looking at collar activated doggie doors currently but he will be too young for that at first. I found a really cool solar paneled fan that can attach to a doghouse and “heated flooring” options for winter. I can’t believe this stuff exists! Who knew a dog could have a climate controlled doghouse?!?
Again, I really appreciate the supportive comments while I was panicking about what to do. 🙂
my dog got injuried at a dog park today. we took him to an emergency clinic. They gave him Rimadyl and buprenex together. i wanted to know if that was safe because he is a shepard lab pit mix
Yes, they are frequently used together. The rimadyl is anti-inflammatory and the buprenex is stronger pain control, they work best when used together.
My yellow lab keeps coughing and ultimately retching. Foam and spit come up.
added note he went swimming in the creek yesterday and now his foam looks like algae from the creek in it…..could he have creek water in his lungs? When he lays still no coughing…..when he is active….coughing and retching.
So lately I’ve been thinking about getting another dog. My current dog is a Chihuahua and possibly Rat terrier mix; he’s about 13 years old. Before I got him he used to have another chihuahua he always hung around with, but that was when he was around five. He only barks when there is someone making noise outside or that get too close to our fence, the same goes with barking dogs or ones that pass by our house. Other than that he is very friendly with strangers, especially when they come into our yard. He does however, have an issue if dogs come onto his territory, like most dogs do. He has never been to a dog park and has gone to a pet store a couple times, either for shopping or to be groomed. Our neighbors have a dog who barks at everyone and everything, even if I open the back door for a second. My dog occasionally fights with him through the fence, and by that maybe every few weeks. My dog doesn’t bite, growl, nip, scratch or anything at strangers when they come over, even if it’s our pest control. I’m not sure how he will react when we bring another puppy home? We’re either thinking of getting a border collie, lab, doberman pinscher or possibly an italian greyhound. Any tips on what to do when they first meet? Do you think he’ll be alright with another puppy? Any advice helps, thank you!!
Has he ever been around a puppy? Are you willing to separate the dogs and rotate which is out, if things go south?
A warning about dobes, because I have one – they are NOT gentle with littles. You’ll have to work very hard on teaching a dobe puppy to be gentle with smaller animals – our girl is nearly three and still occasionally stomps my cat. They’re also tough puppies and are quite literally a full time job until they’re around 2 years of age…I’ll happy talk more about the breed if you want, but I don’t want to flood this particular answer with my babble. 🙂
This is how my rescue recommends you introduce a new dog to your home (and I do this with all fosters coming to live with my pack of 4 terriers, one of which is a Cairn/Chihuahua mix):
Before the new dog arrives pick a place in the home for him to live most of the time for 3 days. I use my guest bathroom some times, and other times I use my craft room – both have tile floors so it is easy to clean up any accidents that may occur with the new dog. Inside that room I place a dog crate appropriate in size for the new dog/puppy.
For the first 3 days after the new dog arrives, we play musical crates and/or rooms. I do not allow the dogs to see each other, they only smell each other on me, and under the door, etc. When my dogs are loose, the new dog is in the prepared room. When my dogs are crated or in their kennel the new dog is allowed to be out of the room, in the yard, or house with supervision. There is ALWAYS a closed door between my dogs and the new dog.
I spend time playing and training the new dog each day, and will crate my boys for an hour or so in the evening so I can just plop on the sofa with the new dog for cuddles. With a puppy you will need to be spending a lot of time with it as you will not be able to resist! Spend an equal amount of time with the older dog. One of the activities you want to focus on with the puppy is learning to walk on a leash – this is critical for the 4th day.
On the morning of the 4th day, put leashes on both dogs and immediately go out the door for a walk. Don’t give the dogs time to sniff or eyeball each other – the job is to walk together with you for at least 10 mins. If the puppy is older keep walking (5 mins. per month of age is a good rule of thumb – too long a walk puts too much stress on the bones and joints of a puppy).
Once we have finished the walk I take all the dogs into my fenced yard, drop the leashes and allow them to sniff, play, ignore each other as they see fit. Dragging the leashes allows you to step on a leash or pull one dog away from the other if things get hairy.
I have had 99% success with introducing dogs this way. The only exception was a foster that decided my smallest dog was prey – good thing I had that leash to grab! It saved my dog’s life.
We believe the reason it works is that it allows the dogs to smell each other without any misunderstandings of body language. In the wild a lone wolf will spend weeks haunting a new pack’s territory. They stay mostly out of sight, but scent mark in the territory. Then they start showing themselves to the pack from a distance. Finally they approach members of the pack. If the pack wants them they are welcomed (usually by the female members of the pack). So while our dogs are no longer wolves – smell is the first thing they pick up on. First scent, then sight, then hearing. So this 3 day of separation, but crossing each other’s scents helps the dogs get to know each other without confrontation.
With my dogs it works so well, they don’t even sniff each other’s butts once we are done the walk.
Since your dog is used to fighting through a fence I caution you to make sure that he and the new pup never see each other through a fence or crate during those 3 days. Keep that solid, shut, door between them.
Your 13 year old dog may never want to play with the puppy – but the puppy will want to play with him! Be sure your older dog has a place he can escape the puppy – such as a dog bed or crate, maybe in a different room. When your Chi is getting too much attention from the pup, tell the puppy to “leave it” and ask him/her to play with you. This will help the puppy learn to leave the older dog alone when he is in his quite place.
An Italian greyhound is a better size for your current dog, and they generally are ‘softer’ dogs. The other 3 breeds you mention will be a real challenge for you, and will overwhelm the Chi. It is a giant leap going from living with a Chi to living with these 3 other breeds. They all are high energy, need WAY more exercise, and a lot of training to become good canine citizens. The Border especially, will need a job. Borders are scary intelligent.
All that being said – give your dog a month with the new pup before you decide if it is going to work or not. Good luck!
My dog is vomiting diaherra and will not eat he us a black lab and is nine yrs old
Take him to a vet asap !
This is one time we can all only say take him to the vet and tell then it’s urgent.
Sorry to hear
Might have parvo
That’s what happen to my puppy found out today she had parvo best of luck !
This morning I got up, and as normal my 2.5 y/o Lab mix (95lbs) jumped up from where he was sleeping on the floor beside me, and followed me into the bathroom.
As we were leaving the bathroom, I noticed he was having trouble walking. His front legs were straight, but his back end was in a squat position (almost like he was going to take a poop) and shaking very hard.
He was trying to walk back towards the bed, but was having a lot of trouble. I panicked thinking he was about to poop, and tryed to drag him back onto the tiled bathroom floor. Just as quickly as it started, it stopped, and he seems normal again. I assumed it was maybe a muscle cramp or hip spasm.
My husband had told me a few months ago that he’d seen the dog have “seizure-like” shaking and today said it looked exactly the same. Could this actually be a seizure? Duke seems fine now, he ate his breakfast no problem, and is acting like his normal self.
Should I be taking him to the vet this week? Would they be able to do much with only knowing of two episodes?
i would absolutely notify them of the incidents, with dates, times, and durations if you’re able to give that information. they may want to see video of future episodes, as well as immediately bringing him in the next time this occurs.
If I’d had my phone on me I would definitely have videoed it. But I’m not even sure I would have had time. The whole thing lasted maybe 10-15 seconds. I can’t remember when my husband noticed the first one – he told me about it at the time but I brushed it off thinking he was over-reacting
understood – just trying to help you think of things the vet will probably want to know, especially going forward. they may also want to know about potential triggers…so, what the dog was doing just before the incident, whether they were calm or excited, etc. context clues can be a huge help with things like this.
My dog had emergency surgery on Tuesday to remove an obstruction from his small intestines. He was discharged on Friday afternoon. He had 2 small bowel movements that afternoon – both were diarrhea or very soft. He is eating a bland diet of chicken and rice. He is not vomiting, but he has not had a bowel movement in almost 48 hours. He is also taking tramadol. His surgeon is not in today to answer if this is normal. Should he be taken into the emergency vet?
My pug / boston terrier mix occasionally chuffs and huffs like a horse with the heaves. What could be the cause of this? My old Yellow Lab used to do the same thing. Could it be heartworms? He’s 5 yr. old not neutered male in good health
If he is not on Heartworm preventative then your dog could have heartworms. Why is he not on preventative? It sounds like it could be a heart problem and he should go to the vet. A vet is the only one who can diagnose Heartworms or another heart problem.
I’ve been crate training my new dog, she’s a year old, and she’s been doing well. I took the crate apart to clean it and as soon as her blanket was put in it she got in and went to sleep. I had to put it together around her. My question is a matter of consistency. My schedule is pretty consistent as a student, but I have a lab once a week right in the middle of the day. Should I only crate her when I’m gone for those two hours or should I do it every day at that time?
agreed – consistency is important during the training process. once she’s used to it and goes in willingly, i’d say feel free to scale back, but for now keep things to a daily practice.
The one dog not being fixed is definitely the reason for the aggression. Get the 1 dog fixed ASAP then attempt reintroduction this may mean contacting an animal behaviorist for help.
Dr. Dawn is correct – you must get the second dog neutered, and even then you need to keep these dogs apart (so they can’t even see each other!) for several weeks afterward. This gives time for the testosterone to work its way out of the new neutered dog’s system.
Then, get the help of a professional behaviorist to reintroduce these two dogs – don’t attempt it yourself because they now have a history of aggression and will associate this aggression with each other. You need someone that can read the tiny signs a dog gives when they are uncomfortable with another dog. Even your own fear of something bad happening can trigger aggression between these two, so find a way to get help. If nothing else, contact your local SPCA and tell them your situation – and ask if they have someone that can help you, maybe a volunteer or a trainer that will help at a reduced cost. Explain that you are trying to avoid having to re-home one of the dogs and maybe they can help in some way.
Good luck – and don’t wait to get that boy neutered!