Re: Sick from too many veggies [quote author=Dexter link=topic=3723.msg42090#msg42090 date=1387459015] [quote author=David link=topic=3723.msg42086#msg42086 date=1387450595] Oh dear - poor Charlie. I won't suggest sprouts then although they are pretty effective in the poo and the pooh department! [/quote] My money is on Simba being the first to sweep the sprouts ,Lisa can advise us of the smelly results...she'll get Christmas first! ;D [/quote] In fact it will be Obi in Australia who is first to wake up to Christmas day Although if we have any members from New Zealand they'll beat the lot of us to Christmas. Unfortunately it sounds like Julie's rubber plug won't be having much of a Christmas at all, following recent events. Good to hear that Charlie's systems seem to be all working well again. If only they knew what was good for them.....
Re: Sick from too many veggies [quote author=Oberon link=topic=3723.msg42115#msg42115 date=1387472839] Unfortunately it sounds like Julie's rubber plug won't be having much of a Christmas at all, following recent events. Good to hear that Charlie's systems seem to be all working well again. If only they knew what was good for them..... [/quote] Bit runny poo, but bright enough now. As usual. Poor boy. He is not getting used to this lead walk and pen confinement malarky at all. I'll have to have a think about how I'm handling this. He spooked at a new road sign in the dark tonight. This is the boy that can do tubes, trains, trucks, oxford street, fireworks...he doesn't spook. It's not good, this tramping round the same 4 or 5 streets, staying away from other dogs. We can't do this until April.
Re: Sick from too many veggies Oh Julie I hope you see the rest of it pass quickly ....or find where he's chewed and left it.....the latter hopefully ??? Sorry Rachael ,you weren't overlooked and believe it or not my geography isn't that bad ;D...or is it?...hmmm
Re: Sick from too many veggies [quote author=JulieT link=topic=3723.msg42125#msg42125 date=1387477343] [quote author=Oberon link=topic=3723.msg42115#msg42115 date=1387472839] It's not good, this tramping round the same 4 or 5 streets, staying away from other dogs. We can't do this until April. [/quote] Julie, I feel your pain. Due to winter weather, pretty much the only walks Simba gets are on-lead walks around the neighbourhood, 3x a day. We've made 2 trips to the dog park in the last two weeks because it's just been too cold to go, and on one of them there was no one else there. So he got a bit of off-leash running, but no play time with other dogs. I'm getting pretty tired of the same old walks, too. I keep trying to think of different places to go but there's only so many routes to go from your house. I have the advantage in that I suppose I could drive to a different neighbourhood to walk around but that seems a bit silly. And when it's really cold I can't be bothered to do the whole warming up the car thing. So, tromp, tromp, tromp around the neighbourhood we go....again, and again, and again.....
Re: Sick from too many veggies Lisa and Julie,that is our life....all the time walk options are so limited .since the publicity over the Desert poisonings I am too scared to try anywhere new so we have just been walking round our community and the community parks and doing the horribly early thing so he can get a run off without anyone grumping at us.... Chris is off now until the new year and we are going to get out in the car and drive up to a place about an hour away where there are shallow inlets and undeveloped beach areas....still not strictly allowed but well give it a go. Lisa I feel your pain,our Summer temperatures are exactly the same challenge to is only the other end of the temperature scale. Julie don't get disheartened ,when you feel down about it remember it's all for a reason and this time will pass and you will be able to get him out on some fantastic walks when he's recovered.....I worry about Dexter walking the same trails all the time but you know I don't think he does .Its me that gets a bit bored,not him!as long as he gets the Kms on his legs and a bit of entertainment sniffing and socializing on his way round he seems happy...
Re: Sick from too many veggies Lisa, Angela, thanks so much - it's a comfort to hear how you manage. This is pretty new to us. Previously, Charlie's walks involved very little on lead stuff. Really, we just trained lead walking, we didn't ever do much apart from where we had to. And in London that was almost never unless we were out on a special trip to see a new place, or on the tube, or to the vet's. His exercise was on the common, and apart from walking across the car park at the beginnng and end, and our on lead training exercises, 100% off lead. And since he was so keen on retrieving, and we had our recall games worked out, and I could always let him play with another puppy if I wanted to do so, I could exercise him as hard as I thought he needed. As a result, he is so much better off lead than on. Although where all of this will leave me in terms of our off lead work I don't know. During the summer, I kept his weight low and stable with 250g a day, and about 1.5 hours off lead exercise a day on the beach, plus a few short lead walks, although we were always in and out of the garden too, doing short little training exercises. Now, he has to be on a lead even in the garden. How far and how fast do you have to walk to keep a dog fit on lead? One of the problems I have is that Charlie is a sniffer and while I manage this ("let's go" treat etc) it's a little exhausting to do it all the time and slows the pace of the walk. Charlie is now getting 4 or 5 x 15-20 minutes a day - so perhaps 1hr 15 or 1hr 40. I'm getting the dog walker to do 2 of these, and I do 3. She manages to walks faster than I do, because she is fitter but also a bit better at keeping Charlie going and not sniffing (I think she has a bit more steady forward momentum with a faster pace, I'm getting fitter myself though ). But we both try to stick to a "medium pace", which is what the vet said to do. In the first 3 weeks of this, Charlie put on 2kg. His food was then cut down even further to 50g in the morning, which I have to feed to give him drugs, and then the kibble and sea biscuit treats we use to reward correct position and leaving a sniff on walks. He does not seem to have lost any weight in the last 10 days of the reduced food though. I feel silly, but I'm so worried about this, any tips you can give me would be great.
Re: Sick from too many veggies Have you tried small cubes of apple to replace a few of the biscuits? If he has stopped putting on weight I wouldn't be too worried. Have you managed to sort the hydrotherapy out? Keep up the good work. Alice
Re: Sick from too many veggies Sorry - I should have said, the reason it's all so important is that the surgeon said Charlie needs to be below average weight (ie a bit thin), and as fit as we can manage, going into the operation. Both to give us the best chance of recovery, and to manage the risk that the left leg comes under stress, taking all of Charlie's weight as he doesn't use his right leg hardly at all. No news on the hydro yet, the therapist is in discussion with the vet about a risk assessment...
Re: Sick from too many veggies Oh I understand the concern. Is it worth moving on to the kibble for overweight dogs? Alice
Re: Sick from too many veggies I was just thinking about that, yes. I'm popping down to the vet's for some ear drops, I think I'll ask him about a different food. Also hope the hydro place gets back to me today.
Re: Sick from too many veggies Julie, instead of sea biscuits as rewards I would try some 'Leberwurst' in a tube. You only need the tiniest amount to squeeze to the opening of the tube but it will still give a massive reward, and it is easy to carry. I used this and Primula cheese in a tube when I needed lots of rewards during Murffi's training.
Re: Sick from too many veggies Thanks Heidrun, I'll nip down to Waitrose and get something - I'll give it a try.
Re: Sick from too many veggies Ah Julie,I know this is hard,you've really enjoyed every minute of owning Charlie and getting him out and doing different things,so don't think I am forgetting how hard this is for you. Its a lot easier for me to manage as we've never had the enjoyment of anything different,a case of you can't miss what you've never had,this is a really difficult aspect of the situation for you to deal with x I have a smile to myself when I'm on high alert for 'THE' park rabbit and cat appearances...if we ever move back to the UK in Dexters lifetime can you imagine the stream of posts you are all going to have to suffer from me as he chases sheep,rabbits and squirrels,every farmer in North Yorkshire would be after us....and our version of the 'Fenton' video when he saw sight of deer would have Animal Behaviour students in stitches forever. ..... A GROWN Labrador acting like a totally unsocialized puppy! I know Charlie's weight management has always been a challenge,the diet change suggestions are a really good idea,I don't know why I didn't think of that as my vet mentioned the low calorie option of what Dexter is on as a possibility after his castration.so far no need as Dexter tends to be the other way ...he's drops weight worryingly quickly if he's a bit off.... How far and how fast do you walk a dog to keep him fit?...I have no idea,Julie.I can tell you what I do but right now I'm not going to because I think it will make you anxious....your circumstances are different to mine at the moment ,you are being dictated to by an injury and you are totally doing the best you can x Getting the excercise in that you can and hopefully the hydrotherapy is going to keep him ticking over fitness wise ,he won't be as fit as he has been but he's a young strong dog and you are going to be able to build him up when he's recovered,for sure!careful control of his calories....which isn't new to you is going to manage his weight so you are absolutely doing everything you can.Right now you might not be doing everything you WANT to do but you are certainly doing everything you are ABLE to do and you are doing it really well xxx
Re: Sick from too many veggies [quote author=JulieT link=topic=3723.msg42163#msg42163 date=1387524667] Thanks Heidrun, I'll nip down to Waitrose and get something - I'll give it a try. [/quote] I think you'll be better off going to Lidle for Leberwurst in a tube.
Re: Sick from too many veggies Well, he's just been sick again, had really, really, runny poo, and I found the plug. Since that's day 2 of vomiting, we're off to the vets....great. I love this dog. It's starting to get me down. And he is still vomiting - but nothing in his tummy now. Vets open soon.
Re: Sick from too many veggies Ahhh poor little Charlie!! Maybe it's the painkillers and drugs that have upset his tummy? If some humans feel sick after medication why shouldn't a dog? That whole situation must be just terrible for you since you love your dog somuch!! If this would happen to Odin i would fall to pieces i guess. Our thoughts are with you and Charlie! Keep your heads up!! Licks from Odin!!!
Re: Sick from too many veggies It's hard work at the moment, for sure. But at some point it will be in the past. It's kind of par for the course that dogs will experience drama that tests us and them. It's awful and seemingly endless at the time, but normality does return. Kibble is very concentrated food. Would you consider substituting some meals for raw (like, a chicken wing as a meal replacement), which has the bulk but a much higher water content?
Re: Sick from too many veggies My thoughts are with you. As Christoph said, it might be the pain killers :/ .......at least your suspicions were right about the plug....cheeky Charlie
Re: Sick from too many veggies so sorry he's still being sick.....it will pass though, honestly Riley had (and still does have to some extent) a really sensitive tummy and we spent weeks sorting him out after he picked up a bug at about 6 months. Their immune system takes a long time to really get established apparently. It was special food and probiotic gunk from the vet followed by chicken and rice and probiotic yoghurt. It took a while but we got straight again and now it's just a distant memory - as this will be for you, stay strong xxx
Re: Sick from too many veggies It does sound as though the meds might be causing the upset tummy. You know, Rachael is right (I often seem to say that!) - giving him some raw food might really be good for him. A chicken wing, or turkey neck, or chicken back, is more satisfying for the dog and is indeed higher in water content, as well as having the advantage that it contains no additives or wheat etc. Might be worth giving it a go (once his tummy is settled, of course). Are you in London over Christmas? If you can get out to the country, it might really be worth sourcing an area where there is water where it would be safe for Charlie to swim. He doesn't really need hydrotherapy to swim, his coat is so thick he won't get cold in a river or pond (and the weather really is really quite unseasonably warm at present). I know it's all fraught with difficulty, but since you are looking at months of this, it might make it easier to bear if you know that you can take him for a swim once or twice a week, which will tire him and keep him fit without putting pressure on his knee.
