new dog throwing up

We took in a red merle Australian Shepherd a week ago, who more or less had a tramatic life. He's a great dog, very laid back (until he gets wound up with our Border Collie.) Right now, he's on Iams Smart Puppy for large breed (what we're giving our 9 month old Border Collie. Payday is later this week and we'll get him or Adult dog food.) The people we got him from had him on either Puppy Chow or Dog Chow (don't remember.) They guessed he was about 2 years old. I'm guessing 3-4, since he has all of his adult teeth and he is filled out. Vet didn't guess outside of what I thought. The vet gave him a clean bill of health.

He has thrown up several times since we're had him. The first couple of times were after our 2 year old fed him some birthday cake and a cookie. Another was after he took a snack cake our 2 year old sat down and left. I'm blaming that on the sweets, and we've changed our child's eating habbits with the dogs in the area. The last time looked just like dog food. The time before looked like he puked up some kind of soft mesh plastic. I didn't recognize it as anything of ours and don't know where it came from. He seems to be eating fine, though since puking this morning he hasn't ate much (though he cleared out alot of the food bowl tonight.) How much of this could be related to the diet change (dog food change, not the birthday cake. That's not part of his normal diet.) I always thought they'd usually get diarhea rather than puking with a food change. Also, this isn't an everyday event when he throws up. I've also not noticed him poop, but I've smelled new droppings int he yard when the border collie isn't around.

At what point should I become concerned (more so than now) and go to the vet? We've had him exactly a week. Granted, he's not fully settled in but seems to be adjusting rather well. He's not lethargic or withdrawn. Other than the puking and questionable going to the bathroom, he seems fine. Doesn't drink excessive amounts of water and pees normally.

You mentioned he threw up a kind of soft mesh plastic. Is he getting into something he shouldn't. I'd be concerned that you're not noticing him pooping in the yard. I would call you vet to have him checked out. It may be possible that he ate some kind of plastic and it is causing a blockage. I would give the vet a call.

I second what Barb says. Also, the puppy food could be having somethign to do with that, since it's a different formula than whatever he was on. Quite frankly, I would get both your dogs on a completely different food, but that's another thread.

Right now, just ask the vet to check for a blockage.

you should probably take him out on a leash to go to the bathroom to make sure he is going. Try to keep a better eye on him since he seems to like to eat things and that is a very dangerous habit that you have to try and prevent. If he does not poop he needs to go to the vet. If he has a blockage his intestines could start to die and if too much intestine die so does the dog. I'm not sure about the throwing up but since he has been having cake that could upset his tummy, I'd also switch his food to something better but you can visit the nutrition section to look at stuff about that. Hopefully other people can help with the throw up, but since he is not pooping it could be a blockage. Take him on a walk and see if he poops, most dogs will on walks. If he does not go today he needs the vet.

Also you say that you are feeding puppy food and he is approx 2yrs old. Puppy food is very high protein his system may not be able to process adequately what he is taking in

this is a shot in the dark here, but in another post you mentioned you had taken him to the vet for hw test? I hope they gave you Interceptor vs Heartguard?

1/3 of all aussies carry the MDR1 gene in one form or another, and heartguard for an aussie is a big no no.. Just a thought..

diane

Sounds like dietary indiscretion to me. It sounds like he shouldn't be left unsupervised in the house. Is he crate trained? If he is, put him in his crate when you can't watch him. Another solution is to tether him to yourself. My dog did the same thing when we first got him, but he doesn't do it anymore.

Try to see if he's pooping or not. If he's not pooping, has severe vomiting, or becomes lethargic, he needs to go to the vet.

a couple of things,
1. the pup food is temp. We're broke till payday
2. he doesn't feel bloated and is eating, though not a whole lot (but then again, our BC isn't eating as much right now either)
3. he isn't left unsupervised and is crate trained, a pleasant surprise given how we got the dog.
4. after talking to our bc's trainer, we have a new theory: POOP EATER!!!! I've noticed also that there has been less poop in the back yard. I only had one bag, which seems less than when I had 1 dog.
5. he is going to a real vet this afternoon. I say real vet because the guy we went to last week for shots is worthless for anything other than shots and small things, like a rash but he's really cheap, good when you're broke til payday. I'm up now because ironically, the neighbor's dog is barking at something and has kept me up for the last hour, so I'm up writing about mine...
6. the weird thing he puked up, not sure about that. I don't really know how to describe it. I don't know what it was. I'd hesitate to say it was plastic, but it was curved and had little holes in it. Not like a mesh screening. I don't know how better to describe it. could have got ahold of something he wasn't supposed to. If that's the case, I don't think he found it here. It doesn't look like anything from our home.
7. we started him on heartworm preventative. It's a generic, but its going to the vet also to show him what we've given him.

Another update in about 12 hours. the vet visit is at 4:15pm. Its 5:20am. I think the neighbor's dog is quiet. I might be lucky to sleep for about 45 minutes.

well, they confirmed that he is a dog. He has a light case of worms, but otherwise in good shape. Looks like we've got a poop eater on our hands. That combined with a change of home & diet, add in an overly cautious new owner and you have a healthy dog. They verified that "all the plumbing works" and he's not bound up, constipated or anything like that. He emptied the food bowl when we got home. They gave me a dewormer and said he should be cleaned out in a few weeks.

ahhh,,have I mentioned aussies can be "pig" dogs? LOL

If the worms weren't making him throw up, the poop eating sure could.

diane

Glad to hear he's okay.