General Dog Chat Part II

[BiteyShark]

A place for nattering about our canine friends.

Old or new, feel free to come and chat any time

Teatimetoller was back to see the neurologist again today. It’s all looking good and he’s not showing any pain response from his sciatic nerve anymore. He’s obviously a lot happier so the vet was really pleased with his progress. He’s on antibiotics for another five weeks but we’re going to wean him off the painkillers and see how he does. It seems like it’s taken forever but he does finally seem to be recovering

That's good news teatime

Oh lovely news teatime, and what a lovely pic!

We went for a lovely walk on the downs on the way home from the vet and he looked soooo happy

I think you can tell when they are laughing as their faces light up

Touching wood here too.

Just a picture of granddog....

Love doggy pics. Wish us luck. Good citizen test next week. Eek b

Good luck Wolfie and WolfieDog.

Lovely pic aged

I hadn't realised there was a dog chat thread. Can I join you? I often need a place to vent about my special needs dog...

RadioDog is 11 this year. She's an ex-working Patterdale terrier, with degenerative disc disease and nerve damage after spinal surgery (yes, from Mr Fitzpatrick himself) 6 years ago.

That means permanent pain meds, permanent anxiety meds, no tug games, no jumping, and very limited exercise.

She's an absolute nightmare to deal with, horrible to walk, cannot greet strange dogs or humans, is noisy and stubborn and aggressive, but she is my hairy child substitute and I adore her.

His mum was left to starve in a house. Neighbours broke in after 2 days of hearing dogs barking and discovered a pregnant dog and another dog. They had done a moonlight flit.

Some people hey.

Aged. Thank goodness they went in. A case here of a woman who moved out and left her dog. Not a happy ending.

Oh that's awful aged. I don't know how some people live with themselves

Of course you can join Radio, the more the merrier. It sounds very hard Radio and although it's only been for a few weeks at a time I found it hard trying to do enforced rest. It must be even harder when they are in so much pain like your poor dog.

Just mentioned on the tick thread we have been innodated with ticks today. Much worse than most days and counted 6 so far. I can't stop scratching myself now as I could see the attached ones were still alive with their legs wriggling.

Radio hi. What a nightmare. Can she do hydrotherapy or brain games to tire her out?
Patterdales are complete characters aren't they!

Oh crap I just typed a whole post and lost it. Never mind, here's a picture of the savage beast. She's a bit weak in her hind legs and has tremors from nerve damage, but as long as her pain is under control and she's happy and sprightly, she can carry on. The minute that changes though, she will go with dignity - no wheelchairs and no more bloody surgery, it's too awful and she's so afraid.

In the meantime, the clown can outsmart me at brain games any day of the week. I've run out of ideas to tire her out. As for hydrotherapy, sadly she hates water and strangers, so I suspect the stress would outweigh the benefits.

Oh those eyes. Hydrotherapy is a big no then. Stress and fear isn't going to reduce pain at all. Here's hoping the pain meds continue to work their magic. (I do agree though. There's what may be possible and then there's what's best for your dog. They may one day not be the same thing. )

Her eyelashes are RIDICULOUS...like a giraffes. Sadly she's not as adorable as she looks, she's grumpy and intolerant and hates being touched.

Yes, DH and I have agreed on a plan and when that plan will need to be activated. Damn dog keeps fooling us though, she'll have an episode where she is in awful pain, and we have a flurry of morphine followed by steroids and counting down the days to see if she'll rally again once the steroids are reduced...and she always bounces back. Fortunately we have an excellent, fabulous vet.

Anyway, let's not get morose! She's been a very difficult first dog and she has had a great life, she's suffered some trauma and pain but she is very loved. Tonight she snuggled up with me on the sofa - her default spot - and only told me off once for moving. DH got down on the floor and let her "attack" him, her favourite noisy game, and then they played hide and seek for a while. I laid a treasure trail upstairs for her, which she annihilated in 30 seconds. I'm looking for brain games for her.

Not many ticks down here, but then she doesn't go far!

I don't believe you. She IS adorable. The feisty ones always are!!
She's lucky to have you.

Aw thanks Wolfie.

She doesn't come to bed with us anymore - she did, for years, but DH is a restless sleeper and with her nerve pain (even the lightest touch gives her a jolt if she's not expecting it) I suspect she doesn't like the unpredictability of his movements. But she normally sneaks under the covers and curls up next to my stomach at about 4am. She's a heat seeker, like most small terriers!

She might wake me for a wee actually, I did my best to encourage her out at bedtime but she just gave me a Paddington stare.

Those eyes would do a magnificent Paddington stare!

@Radio she's adorable - if feisty behind the scenes! I've no idea how you keep a terrier even semi-sane on limited exercise so I salute you! Mine - albeit much younger - is nice if he gets 2 hours+ exercise per day and not very nice if he doesn't... If you're looking for brain games, this is an excellent place to start - you can even search key terms like "crate rest" and "elderly" to find options that don't require much movement www.facebook.com/groups/canineenrichment/

Everyone on here is talking about ticks and we've not had any here - unless I'm missing them. I've even bought a special tick remover, which is currently lying pristine in the packet

Hi radio, welcome!

no ticks here, despite long grass and woods.
Got me worried now, as we are away form tomorrow and ds is dog sitting (eek) and he wouldn't notice a tick let alone know how to remove it.

He's a photo of steppedog, its an old one but cute (he is rarely this still!)

Nice one, teatimetoller! Hello aged and radio! Steppe, that sounds familiar!

SquirrelDog obviously feels neglected this morning, he’s insisted I watch him chewing on his squirrel toy, while lying on my foot, then planted himself on my chest while he stares out of the window. (And now he’s standing in my lap while he investigates the top of the bookcase )

Feeling tired today. The foxes were having a party last night which meant around 1am BiteyDog was growling, barking and running about the house in a frenzy .

The ticks are off his eye today but another part of his eye lid has a big swollen lump on it which is probably from all the tiny insects that were crawling over his face last night. Oh well I guess there is a downside to summer