The dog musing/vent thread

[pinkspore]

In the last month, Cohen has knocked out a top incisor, broken a bottom canine, ripped up her stop pads running on frozen ground and almost poked her eye out with a stick last night.

She's only 5, but she's falling apart! Or ripping herself apart.

Collapsing under the weight of her own awesomeness and becoming a black hole.

 

[BostonBanker]

So I noticed last week that Lucy had a couple loose incisors. Decided last minute this morning to bring her to work with me for a dental since I knew we had time. She had 8 teeth extracted. Her mouth is deceiving because she really has like, no tartar buildup and her gums look okay too, but her incisors were horrible and she had some deep pocketing along her molars. I'm such a bad person! I really slack with her dental care, and she had a couple questionable teeth that we're deciding to leave in and see if aggressive home care will save them.

What is the home care you will be doing?

I am in a constant battle with Meg's teeth. I am religious about brushing them every single night. The last time she had a dental (maybe 18 months ago?) for a loose tooth that needed to come out, they wound up taking something like 6 or 7. The vet was mildly baffled when she called me, because she said there was basically no tarter buildup, and that she probably just had genetically bad teeth.

I really want to avoid having to have more teeth taken out as much as possible (although the vet basically told me that it will happen again). I'm always looking for other ideas beyond the constant brushing if you have any secrets!

 

[JacksonsMom]

What is the home care you will be doing?

I am in a constant battle with Meg's teeth. I am religious about brushing them every single night. The last time she had a dental (maybe 18 months ago?) for a loose tooth that needed to come out, they wound up taking something like 6 or 7. The vet was mildly baffled when she called me, because she said there was basically no tarter buildup, and that she probably just had genetically bad teeth.

I really want to avoid having to have more teeth taken out as much as possible (although the vet basically told me that it will happen again). I'm always looking for other ideas beyond the constant brushing if you have any secrets!

Jackson's tarter builds up like crazy if I don't brush. I admit I've been slacking lately. I think it's been a little over 2 years since his last dental cleaning and I'm thinking every 2 years or so is how often he's going to need them professionally cleaned.

But I use Petzlife and it honestly seems to work. I went away a few times in the last couple weeks so of course don't ask my dad, who watches him, to brush his teeth, so after 10 days of not brushing, his teeth looked very yellow and yucky. I brushed and used petzlife one night and already I noticed a huge difference the next AM.

HealthyMouth is really good too and VOHC approved but it's just pricier. Since the petzlife gel seems to do the job, I likely will stick with it.

I also sprinke Wysong Dentatreat on his food and give him Dentastix at night -- those probably don't do much but... the dentastix do freshen his breath.

 

[JacksonsMom]

Lola puked in my car today. Ugh. She's never gotten car sick before. Who knows. Thank god she was in Jackson's Snoozer lookout seat so I can just take the cover off and wash it but she did manage to get it all over Jax's coat too which was laying in there... lol.... PUPPIES *sigh*

Housebreaking has been going 1000x better this week though! So yay for that!

 

[BostonBanker]

But I use Petzlife and it honestly seems to work.

Oh, thank you for posting that! It is something that crossed my mind to order ages ago, and somehow it just fell out of my head.

 

[Southpaw]

I'm planning on just attacking her with everything - brushing, CET Hextra chews, chlorhexidine rinses, maybe more RMBs in her future....

She had a dental 2 years ago and I pretty much haven't done anything since then. So she might be fine if I just brushed.

 

[DogKisses]

In the last month, Cohen has knocked out a top incisor, broken a bottom canine, ripped up her stop pads running on frozen ground and almost poked her eye out with a stick last night.

She's only 5, but she's falling apart! Or ripping herself apart.

She's had a rough time, poor baby!! Are her pupils just like that because of the lighting? Or are they actually like that?

 

[*blackrose]

So, something came across my facebook page regarding a pug that passed away at a Petsmart while there for a routine bath/nail trim.

The pug asphyxiated during the nail trim and they couldn't revive him.

The owner claims they "strangled" her dog and dislocated his neck due to poor restraining technique. That they kept going with the nail trim after the dog was unconcious because every single one of his nails had been quicked. That the staff is so incompetent that they kill animals and holds them in choke holds.

While I am horrified that it got to the point where the pug actually asphyxiated...am I a horrible human being for understanding how it could have just been a freak accident? I have had two different pugs turn blue and stop breathing while just *attempting* to restrain them (not even actually restraining at this point) - and these were "healthy" adult dogs with no health issues aside from being, well, pugs.

If the person doing the restraining/trimming was only focused on trying to keep the dog still and not getting their arm ripped to shreds (not easy with a pug), I can understand how it could happen. Enlongated palate pug with long quicks starts thrashing/screaming/being a pug. Handlers restrain appropriately, trim nails quickly, nicking them all due to long quicks and thrashing dog. Pug turns purple due to stress/palate/structure. Handlers don't realize because of focus on task at hand. Pug stops struggling. Handlers realize pug is now blue, begin attempting to revive. He can't be brought back and passes.

It's still horrible that it *did* happen...but I feel it is unfair that the owners are claiming it was done due to poor/abusive handling. Poor judgement, maybe, by not realizing the dog was in respiratory distress, but...bah. Whatever, I guess. Not my problem.

 

[Southpaw]

So, something came across my facebook page regarding a pug that passed away at a Petsmart while there for a routine bath/nail trim.

The pug asphyxiated during the nail trim and they couldn't revive him.

The owner claims they "strangled" her dog and dislocated his neck due to poor restraining technique. That they kept going with the nail trim after the dog was unconcious because every single one of his nails had been quicked. That the staff is so incompetent that they kill animals and holds them in choke holds.

While I am horrified that it got to the point where the pug actually asphyxiated...am I a horrible human being for understanding how it could have just been a freak accident? I have had two different pugs turn blue and stop breathing while just *attempting* to restrain them (not even actually restraining at this point) - and these were "healthy" adult dogs with no health issues aside from being, well, pugs.

If the person doing the restraining/trimming was only focused on trying to keep the dog still and not getting their arm ripped to shreds (not easy with a pug), I can understand how it could happen. Enlongated palate pug with long quicks starts thrashing/screaming/being a pug. Handlers restrain appropriately, trim nails quickly, nicking them all due to long quicks and thrashing dog. Pug turns purple due to stress/palate/structure. Handlers don't realize because of focus on task at hand. Pug stops struggling. Handlers realize pug is now blue, begin attempting to revive. He can't be brought back and passes.

It's still horrible that it *did* happen...but I feel it is unfair that the owners are claiming it was done due to poor/abusive handling. Poor judgement, maybe, by not realizing the dog was in respiratory distress, but...bah. Whatever, I guess. Not my problem.

Okay so my first thought when reading this was "well.... it's a pug." I just picture this pug doing what pugs do - flailing and yelling and being dramatic, and then with their structure... yeah it's not really surprising that this sort of thing would happen.

It sucks and I kind of get the owner's POV because definitely, if something like this happened to one of my dogs, I'd probably just be full of blame and not able to think through the situation logically.

 

[JacksonsMom]

Okay so my first thought when reading this was "well.... it's a pug." I just picture this pug doing what pugs do - flailing and yelling and being dramatic, and then with their structure... yeah it's not really surprising that this sort of thing would happen.

It sucks and I kind of get the owner's POV because definitely, if something like this happened to one of my dogs, I'd probably just be full of blame and not able to think through the situation logically.

Yeah that sounds sucky all around. I will say Petsmart ruined Jackson from nail clippings. He was like... 1 when I decided "hey, I'm here, might as well get nails trimmed" and it was like awful. They grabbed him from me and literally muzzled him (I understand, they don't know, etc, but it was completely unnecessary) so then of course, never being muzzled before in his life, let alone by these strangers he has no idea who they are.... he starts flailing around. So they have like 2 people holding him down and one clipping. That was the first time he ever expressed his anal glands out of fright, and now he does it nearly every time we go to a vet or groomer... Omg I'm SO mad at myself that I even let it continue. I was still just kind of a new dog owner and my friend was there with me with her dogs and I just kind of thought it was normal. Anyway he's 6 now and still freezes when we get to the register near the grooming. And I regret sooo much that I just sat there and watched and freaking KNEW better. I felt so bad afterward. I could've tackled nail trimmings in SUCH a different way. I've seen lots of really bad excessive man handling with petsmart groomers through the the windows and I totally understand, sometimes it's simply necessary... but most of the time I just don't like how they go about things. I'm sure there's a few good ones out there and all. But yeah.

 

[Southpaw]

Yeah that sounds sucky all around. I will say Petsmart ruined Jackson from nail clippings. He was like... 1 when I decided "hey, I'm here, might as well get nails trimmed" and it was like awful. They grabbed him from me and literally muzzled him (I understand, they don't know, etc, but it was completely unnecessary) so then of course, never being muzzled before in his life, let alone by these strangers he has no idea who they are.... he starts flailing around. So they have like 2 people holding him down and one clipping. That was the first time he ever expressed his anal glands out of fright, and now he does it nearly every time we go to a vet or groomer... Omg I'm SO mad at myself that I even let it continue. I was still just kind of a new dog owner and my friend was there with me with her dogs and I just kind of thought it was normal. Anyway he's 6 now and still freezes when we get to the register near the grooming. And I regret sooo much that I just sat there and watched and freaking KNEW better. I felt so bad afterward. I could've tackled nail trimmings in SUCH a different way. I've seen lots of really bad excessive man handling with petsmart groomers through the the windows and I totally understand, sometimes it's simply necessary... but most of the time I just don't like how they go about things. I'm sure there's a few good ones out there and all. But yeah.

Yeah I can agree that a lot of people just jump to excessive handling when they don't know how to read dogs or better techniques. Although I will also say that I have never worked with a pug that didn't require some good restraint.

 

[MandyPug]

Yeah I can agree that a lot of people just jump to excessive handling when they don't know how to read dogs or better techniques. Although I will also say that I have never worked with a pug that didn't require some good restraint.

I'll bring you Izzie She's refreshing to people who have handled normal pugs. For nails, just lay her on her back in your lap and go to town with the dremel. Sometimes she falls asleep.

I will mention something i've been told by our rehab vet regarding Pug skulls/necks. We have to be very careful adjusting pug necks because there is a little kind of hook like piece of the skull on most dogs that essentially keeps their noggins on right. Pugs don't really have that due to the change in skull structure. So we take neck adjustments very gingerly with her, just in case.

 

[Southpaw]

I'll bring you Izzie She's refreshing to people who have handled normal pugs. For nails, just lay her on her back in your lap and go to town with the dremel. Sometimes she falls asleep.

BEtween that and her fit body condition, I don't know if I can believe that she's really a pug

 

[MandyPug]

BEtween that and her fit body condition, I don't know if I can believe that she's really a pug

Some days even I don't believe she's a pug.

It's like she forgot how to Pug. She doesn't even snort. That's beneath her, in fact she doesn't care for Pugs. The noise? The looks? Is my dog just that shallow?

ETA: I just had to start feeding her MORE because apparently I have a pug who is hard to keep weight on (and checks out 100% fine medically) #notactuallyapug

 

[*blackrose]

Yeah I can agree that a lot of people just jump to excessive handling when they don't know how to read dogs or better techniques. Although I will also say that I have never worked with a pug that didn't require some good restraint.

My coworker is like that - she immediately wants to go to "harsh" (aka, very firm) restraint when we're doing things like nail trims or anal glands. Like, flip the dog over and lay on it kind of restraint, or death grip bear hug it. Which just...is so not what you should do first thing, because if the dog was already a bit nervous, flipping it over isn't going to help matters. I like to try to make things happy and go slow. I'm also not afraid to muzzle and lay on a dog, but it's just so much nicer if that can be avoided for everyone's sake. I'd much rather take my time with a questionable dog to make it a pleasent experience than botch it up and make the dog ome of those that does immediately have to be muzzled and held by two people.

And I would totally take an Izzie over most pugs. Hahaha I have met one or two that are absolute dolls, but the rest are just psycho about any form of restraint - even if I'll I'm trying to do is hold them still for an exam and that's it!

 

[pinkspore]

Okay so my first thought when reading this was "well.... it's a pug." I just picture this pug doing what pugs do - flailing and yelling and being dramatic, and then with their structure... yeah it's not really surprising that this sort of thing would happen.

This almost happened to me at work. Pug was in a non-tightening groomers noose and just needed to move his head a tiny bit to keep his airway open, but instead decided to strain against the noose until his tongue turned purple. Of course, "resigned to fate" feels different than "losing consciousness" so I immediately stopped clipping and got him breathing again. I haven't had any other dog willingly attempt asphyxiation.

 

[Slick]

I came home from being gone for an hour, and Leo did not come meet me at the door to greet me. He stayed in his dog bed and waved his tail from afar.

I probably shouldn't be this sad...but... but ... but... he ALWAYS greets me

 

[teacuptiger]

I came home from being gone for an hour, and Leo did not come meet me at the door to greet me. He stayed in his dog bed and waved his tail from afar.

I probably shouldn't be this sad...but... but ... but... he ALWAYS greets me

*hugs* Leo didn't get into any trouble, did he? That's usually how Roxie behaves when she did something she knows not to... Or she slinks up to me.

If he didn't... I'd be pretty sad if Roxie did that, too.

 

[Elrohwen]

Met a super crazy dog lady at rally class last night.

My dad was with me to take pictures of Watson. As we were waiting for my turn, he snapped a picture of this berger picard who was standing next to him and checking him out. The owner says "Can you not? I really don't like people to take casual pictures of him." So my dad apologizes, says he perfectly understands, etc, and then she proceeds to go on for 5 minutes about it.

"You know, there are just sooo many pictures of him online now and you never know how those will get out. He just won a huge show in France and there were way too many pictures taken of him there."

Then she asks, "How are you going to use these pictures? Do you sell to magazines?" Why would some guy show up to a beginner rally class in the middle of nowhere with his daughter to take pictures for a magazine? lol Then she says earnestly, "You know, I don't even take him for walks in my town! It's so likely someone would steal him and I can't risk that."

Uhh, this is probably one of the quietest, wealthiest, and safest places you can possibly live. Most people on the street would think her dog was some sort of scruffy mixed breed, but even if they knew he was some super fancy show dog it's pretty far out there to think they would want to steal him.

The instructor and I kept trying to save my poor dad, saying that he was there to take pictures of Watson, and he took some pictures of the instructor's dogs last time and she loved them, and she wanted him to come maybe do a photography fundraising event.

So the woman finally stops talking for a minute, then starts up again with "So could you take pictures of him for me? Do you have a card? I had some pictures done and they were just terrible. I'd be interested in working with you."

And people ask me if Best In Show is true to life. Haha

 

[BostonBanker]

wrong thread....