Advice sought re: poorly dog (sorry, rather long - as is the dog!) panicking a bit

[SearedChestnut]

Hi, I was hoping some more experienced dog owners might be able to offer some advice regarding our dog, which we adopted at Easter. He's a lovely male uncastrated 4 yr old lh daschund.

We are going to the vet in two hours time but I am panicking a bit in the meantime. I've been around lots of dogs growing up but never been responsible for one of my own before.

Context: the dog had a very difficult start in life. He came from a seemingly well-off household and we were told that the reason for him being offered for adoption was a marital break-up and a new baby etc. His owners admitted that he had spent most of his puppy-hood alone in their garden and they hadn't taken him out for walks. But the male of the household seemed genuinely affectionate towards the dog and sad to see him go. And the dog, when looked at superficially, seemed well cared for and friendly.

But when we had him checked over by a vet on adoption, it turned out that the dog had been badly neglected. He hadn't had the correct injections as a puppy and in the instances when he had, they hadn't been followed up with any boosters. His teeth had been neglected to the point where he had a horrible infection and had to have an operation. His ears were disgusting to the point of not being able to hear properly. He was underweight and had bad patches of scurf on his skin. It also became apparent that he didn't know how to walk on the lead and was scared of bicycles, other dogs, large men in hats, tall women in hats etc etc etc. He gets fearful if anyone leans over him too much or walks past with a remote control or book in their hand And the vet, having followed the paper trail (we live abroad) thinks that he had probably been bought from a puppy farm.

[Sorry for long ramble but background details significant I think]

Anyway, to cut a long story short; dog has never been a good eater. Every dog I have ever known has been a walking dustbin but adopted dog frequently needs to be cossetted and cajoled in to eating. He eats well for a few days and then just eats a very little or not at all for a couple of days. It is a constant struggle to keep weight on him.

I should add that he is of course now up to date with injections, his teeth are no longer hurting him, he's been wormed, had flea/mite treatments and we've changed from the poor quality dog food to much better quality kibble (he also has rice and chicken and rice and mince - anything he is fed has to be fairly delicate because of his stomach). But with every change, although he has put on weight and his coat has improved immensely, he never seemed quite 'at ease' with eating or enthusiastic about it.

We put this down to his nervous temperament and initially to the pain of his teeth and after the op, possible 'remembered' pain.

But he has had 3 bouts of vomiting (mainly clear gunge like wall paper paste) since Easter. He's often refusing to eat. And last night he was up all night vomiting again - the worst it's ever been - he's cross and grumpy and whimpering today

I'm really worried now. I'm afraid the vet is going to say that his early neglect has left him susceptible to some horrible illness or that there is something more sinister going on?

Does anyone have any ideas as to what this could be? We put it down to his nervous temperament at first, but it is becoming obvious to us now that there is something more serious going on.

What will the vet do? What questions should I ask?

[AcrossthePond55]

It's all good slimming. His previous owner has no idea where he is. It was all done 'sub rosa'.

He's pretty darned spoiled. I've told DH that I'm worried about what would happen if he had to decide between saving the dog or me from a sinking ship! DH is officially 'that old man with that little dog'.

[Slimmingcrackers]

Acrossthepond that's good to know!

Same here with dh. Furry one and him spend most evenings sat on the sofa, staring in to one another's eyes. It's a love match.