Adopt A Dog Arizona
Adopt A Dog Arizona
Adopt A Dog Arizona
What do you think is wrong with my dog?
She is lethargic and she sleeps all the time. She vomits and has no appetite. She ate this morning, but threw it up and hasn't eaten since. I even offered her wet food and she didn't take it. Her lymph nodes seem swollen to me too if that matters. Any idea what could be wrong?
She is a rescue dog that we adopted last week so she could have something that the vets missed. My sister took her to the vet this morning just for a check up and she didn't say anything, but she did draw a lab for Arizona desert flu (or something like that) and lyme disease.
I was thinking maybe bowel obstruction because she ate some wood shutters recently, but she's been pooping regularly so I don't think that would be it.
What do you think?
I wish people wouldn't bitch on here about taking my dog to the vet, but obviously the vet my sis went to had no idea what was wrong so maybe I could get a suggestion on here.
Hmmmm, the first question question that I have for you is, how long have the symptoms been present? Did they just start this morning? Or have you noticed any strange behavior over the last several days? If they just started you have some time...but don't drag your feet on this one in case it's something worse than you imagine it to be.
A few years back our Jack Russell/Border Terrier mix started showing similar symptoms to what you are seeing in your dog. He wouldn't eat, he was lethargic and he started throwing up. By the time we got him to the Vet and they started running all the necessary tests it was too late to save him. His liver had burst and no one could figure out how it happened. He couldn't have been saved by the Vet, but had we known how bad it was we could have put him down a day earlier and saved our little Buck a lot of pain at the end of his life.
Thankfully our Vet is awesome and she was smart enough to run a full body scan on him to check his insides. Had she not done this, he would have suffered for even longer as we wondered what was going on with him. Sorry for the sob story but just wanted to put that out there. It's not exactly a very common thing to have happen and I'm sure your pup is not suffering from anything like this. 
Anyway, provided that the symptoms just started I would be willing to bet that yoru dog ate something her little furry butt wasn't supposed to be eating. And your idea of it being a bowel obstruction could be right on the money too. One worst case scenario though is that she got into something poisonous, but the symptoms from that would have most likely started immediately and would have gotten much worse, very quickly.
I'll give you a little advice here but just remember that I'm not formally trained in animals science in any way, shape or form. I'm just a Pet Parent who's dealt with plenty of dogs over the years...
A common home treatment for vomiting in dogs is to withhold food for the next 12-24 hours. Offer her some water, in small amounts, and make sure that you keep offering it to her frequently. And don't give her too much, as it could just cause her to throw up even more. An easy way to do this is to place a few ice cubes in her bowl so that she can slowly lap them up as they melt.
At the end of the 12-24 hours cook her up a small amount of bland food and offer it to her. I do this when my dogs are having issues with diarrhea or vomiting and if it's nothing more serious, it usually works like a charm. I just boil up some skinless, boneless chicken, drain off any grease, and then add that to some cooked white rice. You could also try white potatoes or pasta in place of the rice. No matter what you give her to eat at this point though be sure that it's bland and soft, and that you only give her a small amount. Let her eat what she can get down, take what she doesn't eat away, and then watch her carefully to see if she throws the bland food up as well.
If you do this, and it doesn't work, I'm going to suggest at that point that you do what others here have suggested and get her to a Vet. Also, if you see her symptoms getting worse during that 12-24 hours of withholding her food...take her to the Vet at that point immediately!
I've also used those chewable Pepto-Bismol tablets ffor my dogs in the past...but I'd check with a Vet before you give any to your furry girl. If she has something worse than an upset stomach or a bowel blockage, you never know if the Pepto might make it worse.
One problem though with the symptoms that you are describing is that they could be dozens of conditions when it comes to a dog! And that first Vet that your sister took the pup to may not have missed anything at all. Dogs get into things all the time and you never know what they are going to dig up and eat when you take your eyes away for a split second. They are rascally little buggers and even the dumbest ones are masterful at getting into things!
Oh and if you do end up having to take her back to the Vet and aren't satisfied with that first doctor that she went to, find another one. Ask around or search online for local Veterinary clinic reviews if you need to. Vets are like any other profession...some are good at their job, some suck horribly at it!
Good luck!! We hope that everything works out for you and your pup!
Shy and Timid Dogs: How To Train Them
I am telling you two of my stories so you can help your dog live a normal life and have fun in it.
I have had a dog since I was four years old. I trained this first dog tricks and he would do almost anything I asked of him. Some how training a dog just came natural to me. I believe that this is how it is. With some people it is natural and with others it must be learned. I don't know why this is, however, all of us are born with different talents.
Over the years, I was never without a dog and most of the time we had several dogs. There was never a time that I could not work through any problems until, along came Kiki. We are getting a little ahead of ourselves now. Let's go back to Manny.
Manny we adopted because no one else wanted him. He has deformed back legs, extremely large ears and is shy and non-
responsive to anyone that approaches him. Oh, he is a purebred Greyhound and we saw him the first time at a picnic for Arizona Adopt A Greyhound. At that time we were not looking for another dog and did not even consider him or any other dog. The day after the picnic, a friend of ours that was there asked my husband if we saw Manny. He did not recall seeing him and our friend told Carl about him. She said you should see if he was adopted and if not you guys should take him. You could give him a good home and help him with his shyness.
Carl called to ask if I knew if he had been adopted, which I did not. Long story short, we ended up with Manny.
We went and picked him up and brought him home from the race track. It was in November and rather chilly out. We got him loaded into the SUV and off we went. All the way home I tried to talk to him and encourage him to come up close to the front seat to see me and get love. Not a Chance! He cowered in the very back corner and shook all the way home. Finally we arrived home and coaxed him to come with us out of the SUV and into the house.
We have a doggie door and that is always the first thing we show any new dog we bring home. As soon as we showed it to him, and he realized he could make his escape, he zoomed through it and just as fast we heard a large splash in the pool, loud yelps and Greyhound feet trampling about the yard. I swear, if I did not know better, I would swear he walked on the water. He jumped in one side and came out straight across on the other side. The very odd part is, most Greyhound can,t or won,t swim. He flew straight across and out the other side before we could even get through the door and out back.
I am only telling you all of this to let you see how severe his shyness and fear of strangers was. Yes, I said was. He has now traveled all over the Southwest with us and has attended, not competed, many AKC Trials, with us and Kiki. We will now get to her story. As this unfolds, you will learn the secrets of helping these unfortunate dogs.
Arizona Adopt A Greyhound actually called us to see if we would foster Kiki for them and socialize her so they could adopt her out. Well Carl fell in love with her before we even arrived home and that was that as far as foster home. We called and told them she was adopted.
Kiki was even worse that Manny. The very first day, she crawled under our computer desk, which she was much too large to fit under, and ripped her side open. I mean open. It cost us over $1,000 to take care of her wound.
As time went on she just was not responding the way we thought she should. This was the first time I was at a loss. Then I found a trainer that specialized in problem dogs. This was all I needed. I took off and ran with it.
Just to let you know how bad Kiki was, at the first lesson, she would have been inside my skin if she could have gotten any closer to me. If someone else approached us, I thought she was going to shake herself off her own legs. Now, through what I am going to share with you, you too will be able to bring your dog into a normal life.
To start with, let them know that you love them, but you are in control. This will actually be the great secret you were looking for. They don't want to be in control, they want you to love them and they want to know exactly what you expect and want from them.
Let's start by giving them a place that is only theirs and this will become their safe place. Choose an object like a pillow, rug or purchase a bed or raised cot for them. We will call this "place" and teach them to stay on it when told place. You do this by taking them to it and telling them place, if they try to get off, just place them back on it with the same command "place". Don't make them stay for extended periods of time at first. Start small and add time as you go. In a very short time, your dog will like it there and feel safe and secure. There is your first secret, you made them feel safe and secure. As you continue with this structure, they will start feeling that way more often and soon they will start gaining self confidence. As you are continuing with this positive training, make them feel they are the smartest dog that ever lived. Never yell at them or make them feel less important. You also do not want to make them feel in control or that they have to take control. This is not what these dogs want. They want a pack leader and not have to be pack leader.
Now you can continue on with general obedience training. The thing to remember, is that you must remain in control with love and confidence building. At this point, I do not use any treats other than love and building up their spirits and confidence. It will take longer with some of these shy dogs than others, but it will work every time. Just give it time. Work with them every day and move to a new command every week. You will soon see a huge difference.
Using this method of love and building up, becoming the pack leader by training and leading in your training will get your dog right where you want him.
About the Author
Mary Hovel, affectionately known as the "Dog Lady" since traveling with her dog show "Scottie And Friends", has owned dogs since 1952. She has been caring for dogs and foster parenting for organizations such as Arizona Adopt A Greyhound since 1984. She began training professionally in 2001 with her Greyhound Kiki, who went on to earn many certificates including being the #2 Greyhound and the #3 Overall Hound in the US as ranked by the AKC in 2006. Whether you're training your dog, or looking for information about how to care for your dog, you will enjoy your visit to Mary's Doggie Blog.