New Puppy Mummies, Part 3

[DharmaLovesDraco]

New thread, because quite frankly I can't do without you all :)

hello everyone, may I join you?

My condolences Juice, that sounds so sad and it is obviously a difficult thing especially just before christmas...

I have a 12 week cocker spaniel and I was hoping for some reassurance regarding toilet training. He's not been out yet (last jab is tomorrow) which must make it harder. He doesn't seem to have a "place" to do his business- despite having a training pad that he uses over night in his crate, during the day the floor anywhere will do. We've shown him the pad by the back door and put him on it straight after he's done something on the floor.

I'm not expecting miracles, just to know i'm doing it right!

Welcome Nigella

Your dog can go in the garden, just not into contact with other, unvaccinated dogs.

I actually think that puppy pads make the process of toilet training longer and more confusing for the dog, but understand others may find them useful. Crate training should help, as he shouldn't want to dirty his bed area, which is why you get a crate that has little room for anything other than a bed and maybe water.

You need to be taking your puppy out into the garden basically as often as you possibly can, and certainly after food, sleep, play, about every half an hour. Its a pain in the arse at this time of year but the more committed you are early on, I am sure it will reap rewards. Use a command, we use 'wee wee', others use 'potty', or 'be good' etc. When he does go, praise profusely just after the event and give him a treat (use some of his food allowance for training initially).

If he does go in the house, just ignore and clean up, pop him outside if you catch him in time.

He will get it, but some dogs get it quickly, others not so quickly, bit like babies

Personally, our dog doesn't ask to go into the garden even now, but that suits me, as he does go if I take him into the garden and ask him to toilet.

Sorry, I meant my last sentence means that the dog fits round my schedule rather than his own, which is an advantage sometimes.

Basically, dogs are quite simple creatures, they will do what works for them, so if toileting in the garden gets a lot of praise and maybe a tasty treat, they will display that behaviour in order to get the benefits again .

Reward and praise the behaviour you do want, ignore (as much as you can) the behaviours you don't want.

Morning - er no ... afternoon folks. Where did this morning go?

Well, Pip has done it again. Another Friday morning, another loopy-do around the garden and another gushing leg wound. This time he was having a grand old time barking at his ball, running to the other end of the garden then running back and 'surprising' it, then charging into the back porch with it in his mouth, when he slipped on black ice and careered into our wooden step ladders which were on their side in the side alley.

I saw him charge down the garden, went to open the back door for him and heard the most horrific screaming. Went out and he was beside himself, head thrown back full-on screaming, spinning in circles on three legs totally panicked. Scooped him up - not easy with a dog his size - and raced him into the house, lay him down and checked his leg, couldn't see anything and he was happy for me to touch it all, but not bend it. I was convinced he must have broken a bone, went to get the phone to call the vet and ds1 shouted that he was dripping blood.

He's lacerated himself right on the knee joint and boy did it bleed. Cleaned him up with antiseptic, applied pressure and left him to rest to see if it would stop of it's own accord or if he needed to see the vet (I have a certificate in canine first aid by the way, I'm not just being negligent and trying to avoid the vet fees).

He was fine for half an hour then tried to get up and couldn't without screaming and as soon as he tried, it started pouring blood again. Have had to scrub blood out of the living room carpet (thank heaven's for Simple Solution) and at one point had a mound of blood soaked sterile wound pads which made me panic just to look at them.

Remembered what the vet said last time (when he punctured his foot) about needing to give it time to heal over, so carried him to his crate and popped him in there. That seems to have done the trick. He's been resting in there all morning, occasionally yelling out when he tried to change position - just got up to say hello to my Aunt, so took him out for a wee and he's putting weight on it and it's stopped bleeding.

Have popped him back in his crate for now to keep him quiet. Am going to keep an eye on it this afternoon and will take him up to the vet for evening surgery if it starts bleeding again. It helps that we only live across the road from the surgery, but if they can't get us in there I'll need dh home to drive him to the main surgery in town. Fortunately dh says he's going to be home early today and my dsis is coming later so we have a babysitter if needs be.

Honestly, these Saluki types are so thin skinned. He's already got several nicks that are still healing from his stint of Lurcher racing in the park with Lurcherboy the other day. I have a feeling I need to upgrade the quantity of items I keep in my canine first aid kit.

Ok, so I already have an update.

Called vet to book an appointment and the receptionist panicked and insisted he needed to be seen there and then and I had to take him to the main branch. I explained I can't get to the main branch and she got quite shirty with me saying someone needed to drive him there. I have literally no-one to ask, my parents are away on holiday, my sister lives an hour's drive away and hasn't got the car until 5.00 pm and there's no-one else to ask.

Luckily the nice vet nurse was there and offered to check it out and dress it, so we'd have a better idea if he was likely to need stitches or not. If he needed stitches it would mean going straight to main branch this evening, if not we could take him back there for evening surgery.

So, I dressed the wound, covered it in vet wrap and took him straight over. Blooming dressing wouldn't stay put due to the wound being on the bend of his leg, but still. As I thought, it's not a deep wound, surface graze, but has quite a lot of swelling behind. So, no stitches required, but it does need to be seen by a vet, so he's in at 6.10 tonight. Advice until then, keep him quiet, perhaps crate him and don't let him lick it. So exactly what I was doing before the vet nurse insisted I was being negligent then.

Ah well, at least I know I was doing the right thing.

Lovely vet nurse saw him in his lunch break - he was eating his sandwiches when we arrived - and didn't charge us. Bless him.

Embarrassingly, it was the same vet nurse that was there when he punctured his foot a few weeks ago, so it was a case of "Oh no - not you again!" (to the dog, not me I hasten to add). I have a feeling Pip is going to become notorious for this sort of thing at that surgery.

Vet nurse agreed with me about what great big screamy wusses sighthounds are.

Bless Pip and his gangly legs. Nasty incident to deal with Moose. Toby is going through a galloping stage at the moment. Sigh. Everything goes flying, including him!

Poor pip. I hope he recovers soon. I bet youre glad you know canine first aid.

Thanks guys. It's such a shame, because he was really enjoying himself right up until the second he crashed. Same both times, for Pip it seems enjoying himself seems to equal impending vet bills injury.

I must admit I have forgotten a lot of what I did on my course, but have resolved to dig out my coursework folders and do some revision - seems like I'm going to need to keep up to date with Mr Accident Prone Puppy in the family.

The vet receptionist told me off for using TCP, as she said it can burn the skin. She was, again, quite shirty about it, but it one of the things we were told to use on the course and I always dilute it appropriately with boiled/cooled water. It's what I've always used for antiseptic - well either that or Dettol, but we're out of Dettol. I told the vet I used it last time and she was perfectly happy and said I'd done the right thing.

Just come home from the school run and found him trying to eat his kong standing up, so he didn't have to bend his leg, bless him.

Need to go and soak all his blankets now, as they're all covered in blood.

Where do you do those sort of courses. I haven't bought TCP for ages. I might have to get some as I used to like the smell!

I have to admit, injury etc aside, I'm rather enjoying the house smelling of TCP. I stupidly used the TCP solution I'd made up to wash the blood off his side and other legs and now he absolutely reeks of the stuff - hence the lecture from the receptionist.

I did my first aid stuff as part of a Canine Studies Course at an agricultural college in Lancashire here, but they don't run it any more. They seem to do stand-alone canine first aid courses now though.

There are quite a few companies offering canine first aid courses now if you Google, but I wouldn't know which one to recommend. Maybe someone else in The Doghouse would know which one is best if you started a thread about it?

Oh no, poor Pip. Sounds like quite a traumatic day Moose, keep us posted how he gets on tonight.

Eek moose - Pip is certainly accident prone

Rubbish day here - I have come down with norovirus so have spent the last 24 hours throwing up and with awful stomach cramps

DH took Fitz out for his first off-lead walk this morning with strict instructions not to overdo it (yesterday his paw was looking fine) but they met his GR puppy friend and of course he started chasing round and round and now he's losing again - argh

Good luck tomorrow juice

Limping not losing ...

Oh dear poor Pip, what a lot of time it consumes when they're ill.

Minty is still unwell. Not eating, sad, sleeping a lot and not a happy puppy. Meds are working hopefully and back to vets on Monday if no better.

I gave rice and chicken to give him tonight do in hoping he will eat that. Vet said to keep him on his usual kibble but he looks at it and walks off despondent.

Oh no basil you poor thing. Fingers crossed for it being one of the 24 hour ones.

I'm back from the vets. It was horrible. Walked in and there were two ladies in the waiting room in tears, holding their little dog wrapped in a blanket and obviously come to say their final goodbyes. The appointment before theirs over-ran so we were in there together for 45 minutes and it was heartbreaking.

Pip's appointment came and fortunately it was with my favourite vet, who adores him. She was very thorough, checked him all over, legs, hips, spine everything. She said his joint seems stable, but he has a massive Seroma with a lot of bruising and it actually seems to be quite a nasty graze, rather than a cut - so now thinking he may not have had an impact, but perhaps lost it on the corner into the back alley, fallen and skidded along the paving with his leg taking the brunt of it.

He has to go back tomorrow morning - but to the main surgery - and if no better or it get worse in the meantime, she wants to xray him to be on the safe side. So, no breakfast for him tomorrow.

Cut/graze has finally stopped bleeding, but is oozing serum, so she's dressed it and strapped it up, which wasn't easy given the location of the wound. Unfortunately they only had pink, leopard print vet wrap left in the drawer (it's a very small satellite surgery) which had to be wrapped from his ankle to his hip, then up over his bum and round his over leg to stabilise it, so he's really rocking the 'Bet Lynch' look this evening. Good job it was dark when I walked him home.

... just had to re-site the bandage, as it had slipped (vet said it probably would) and it's pouring serum and some blood again.

Mint, sorry to hear Minty is still so poorly. I hope the chicken peaks his appetite and he perks up over the weekend. Poor lad.

Pink leopard skin bandages? Sound really funky Moose! Awful for Pip though that a bit of fun results in such injury. Hope he's ok tomorrow.

In general, when dogs have D&V do they smell really awful? I'm wondering if this is just standard for a poorly dog. Minty smells really 'high' - can't describe it any other way, but it's a high smell that hurts the nose IYKWIM? I had him in the sitting room with me and couldn't bear to be near him, DH thinks he needs a bath but he is so sorry for himself I can't bring myself too. Christmas Day at our house so we will have to bath him but if it's a usual-poorly dog thing, I'll wait as long as possible before bathing. He's a bit perkier tonight after chicken & rice but not naughty enough for me to stop worrying!

I love the thought of pip as bet lynch.

Quick question as am going slightly into panic mode as we are picking the puppy up today. Am so sorry juice, it was yr day too.

Am going to do the taking him out in the garden thing for toilet training, but what do we do if we are carrying him out and about for socialisation? I've got a little fleece blanket I can carry him in. Would he just go in that? Or should I bring something for him to stand on if he starts making signs or we've been out over an hour. I'll takes him into the garden before we go.

Thanks

I used to take newspaper to put on the ground but felt a bit silly! Made me feel minty was protected but not going to wee on me! He used to wriggle and whimper when he needed to go down for a wee

Thanks. Will give that a try!

Reup - that's something which worried me but never actually happened! We took him out everywhere and somehow he managed to hold on until we got home. He had a very strong association between grass and weeing so unless he was in our garden he'd hang on - it actually took him several weeks to decide it was ok to have a wee out on walks when he could go out

Poor minty - sorry he's still feeling so unwell - I've no idea re smell - have you mentioned it to the vet?

Moose - any update about Pip? I hope he had a good night

DH has had to take Fitz out again this morning as although I've stopped throwing up I'm still feeling rubbish - I just hope DH realises quite how short a walk Fitz needs ...

Thanks BB - smell wasn't as bad when we were at the vets - that was Tuesday last. But I did mention it and he checked his bottom for hair and said he would clip his hair if there was matted poo (he is a VERY hairy dog!) but said it was fine.

I think as soon as he's better we will have to bite the billet and wash him. Just need him to perk up and that's proving slow. I imagined puppies to be like toddlers - mine were both really quick to recover from D&V and would be bouncing off the walls if I kept them at home beyond the initial poorliness. Minty is lethargic, wags his tail when he sees us, likes a cuddle but then flops on his bed with little interest in garden or playing.

Hope you bounce back soon BB

Mint, is he still being sick and having diarrhoea or has it stopped now he's on the medication? D&v can come with a horrible smell, but if it's a particularly nasty smell I'd advise getting him to the vet again asap, as some of the nastier bugs have very unique smells that are particularly stomach churning. Call and ask there advice if you are in any doubt, I think I'd be quite worried by him stilll being so lethargic after a few days of meds and want him checked again sooner rather than later.

Pip is doing ok. He was up a couple of times in the night and relieved himself of his bandage at 5.00 am, but was walking a lot better this morning and even got some of his toys out to play with. He was less impressed at not being allowed breakfast before his vet appointment.

After an examination and some time spent watching him walk up and down the corridor, the vet was pleased with him and felt he didn't need an xray. He has to have a couple of days rest then lead walks only for 5 days and is on antibiotics and anti-inflammatories.

It looks very nasty this morning, still lots of swelling and fluid and his whole knee is one big purple bruise, but thankfully it has finally stopped oozing.

We're back at the vets again on Monday morning, but both dogs were booked in anyway for their tapeworm pills to be administered and passports stamped prior to our holiday, so she's just going to check him over at that appointment.

Basil, sorry to hear you are still feeling so poorly. Hope you can get plenty of rest and dh is sensible about Fitz's walk.

We discovered the puppy is car sick on the way home - twice! We put his mummy smelling blanket in his crate and he's now asleep. I can't wait till he wakes up!

Glad pip is recovering and I hope minty does soon too.