Is my pup a healthy weight?

[Maralynn]

What was the penicillin for if allergies was the diagnosis?

 

Re: spaying - IMO, it's one of those things that you need to look over and see what is going to be best in your situation. If you're not sure about your ability to prevent unwanted litters, then around 6 months is probably best. Personally, I would opt to wait. But it would be easy for me to keep my dog contained while in heat.

[GentleLake]

I'm wondering why penicillin for allergies, too, unless perhaps there's an infected skin rash, which, again would indicate poor timing for surgery (or vaxes). Unfortunately it doesn't seem to be common sense for some vets. Good to know it is for you.

 

As far as picky eating, you can create an even pickier eater by giving in to them. I have read over and over again that a healthy dog will not starve itself if there's food available, so I'd be inclined to take a tough love approach. Put the food down and if she doesn't eat it in, say, 20 minutes, pick it back up until the next regularly scheduled feeding.

 

With an adult I'd do this until she was ready to eat, even if it took days. I doubt I'd do that with a pup this young, though, and honestly I'm not really sure how long I'd wait her out. I'd probably cave by the end of the day.

 

Have you tried mixing canned food with her dry? That may be an enticement for her to eat. You could gradually reduce the amount when she gets old enough to really wait her out. Many people add some canned food for a dog's life, though, for palatability. It might be worth trying.

 

I feed raw so, I'm not looking for this kind of thing, though I've used sample sizes for training treats more than once.

 

A lot of dog food companies have small sample size packages of dog food. The trick would be finding them. A local pet store used to put them out regularly, but they've stopped doing it. If you're anywhere where there's a large dog show, there'll be vendors with samples.

 

And there are some dog food manufacturers who offer sample packages of a pound or 2. Again, I don't know how easy they'd be to find, but you might try the big box stores (and it couldn't hurt to ask if they have samples that they don't put out).

 

You might try some of the online stores like PetFoodDirect (http://www.petfooddirect.com/), or even contact manufacturers and explain your situation and see if they'd send you some samples. I bet you could get some that way.

 

Good luck getting this all figured out.

[simba]

"A lot of dog food companies have small sample size packages of dog food. The trick would be finding them. A local pet store used to put them out regularly, but they've stopped doing it. If you're anywhere where there's a large dog show, there'll be vendors with samples."

 

Ooh, how small, and where can I get? I have a dog who's very allergic to things, and I don't want to have to buy 2kg bags of dog food when 0.3kg will tell me if she's allergic or not.

[Betsy]

My small, local, specialty pet store has them all for free. I think usually only the small local specialized places will likely carry them.

 

Here's the local store that carries them: http://naturedogomaha.com/

 

Edited to add, usually only enough for 1 or 2 meals. But I like to use them for training treats.

[CptJack]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Natural-Dog-Food-Samples-Evo-Orijen-Innova-Canidae-19-99-/331126911746?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4d18b3b302 I order several times a year. I use it for dog treats but if I was looking for a new brand of food, I'd try it for that, too.

[GentleLake]

^^ That's a good deal of money (especially when you add the shipping) for what looks to be mostly free sample sizes.

 

The free sample bags tend to be around 3/4 to 1 cup of food. The ones you pay for are usually a pound or 2.

 

I've offered several suggestions about where to find them, Simba, though I'm sure there are others.

[simba]

Sorry, GentleLake, I did read what you'd written, I just realised it sounded like I hadn't. I was more asking if there is anywhere else that might be likely to them. Thank you!

[CptJack]

Eh, if I could find free samples I would do it but paying a buck a piece (little bit more - like 1.10?) which I've found most online retailers want for those little sample packs anyway. I don't have a problem with it. I'd spend that 35.00 getting from the boonies into the nearest PetSmart - which doesn't have samples so far as I know. Sometimes money is actually worth less than the time, too, and for me those things last forever AND are cheaper than most commercial dry treats.

I would not play this game unless I was prepared to do online ordering of what worked and I wouldn't do it for a picky eater as opposed to one who wasn't doing well on their current food.

 

I have a picky dog. He's an adult. My concession to him is a spoon full of canned or some warm water. Mostly though I just put it down and he can eat it or not.

[brookitar]

Sorry for the late reply everyone been busy with Effie and went out of town for the weekend. Effie got some one on one with the dogs I grew up with (two middle aged boxers). My mom got her on an eating schedule with the same food again thank goodness. We are thinking the competition for food is what influenced her to eat again or maybe the penicillin shot helped with some tummy aches she was having? I picked her up today from my mothers in my mustang...poor thing throws up every time when its just her and I. When we take the truck (my fiance and I) she doesn't get sick...idk if its comfort or maybe the car isn't as bumpy since its larger? We are going out of town again this coming weekend again but will take the truck so she doesn't feel bad on the drive.

 

Wow I need to find a small pet store that does this or go to some kind of event when Effie becomes comfortable around crowds. For awhile I had to give her egg on her dry food to eat it....same thing I use to have to do with our old boxer. Sometimes dogs can be more picky than children when it comes to dinner.

 

For her being spayed I'm going to try to put it off 6 months or longer. The problem is where I live there's a lot of people who have male dogs that haven't been fixed. What scares me the most is one man lets his pit bull off the leash on my dog sometimes and its not fixed (and this is by a kids park). My fiance already had to yell at someone at our dog park because they thought it was funny that their male dog was trying to mount her....so disrespectful in my opinion.

[simba]

Egg- totally off topic but... I just walked out of the room and came back to find the jack russell hurriedly getting off the table. There goes my egg wash for my pie.

 

Is she one of those dogs who goes into heat quietly (you know what I mean)? With ours it was pretty easy to tell so you could keep her away from the dog park in those times. Lots of unfixed males here who are often wandering, 7 years the dog was unspayed for and it wasn't a problem.

 

Edit: "What scares me the most is one man lets his pit bull off the leash on my dog sometimes and its not fixed (and this is by a kids park)."

 

It's funny, where I come from this is totally normal (albeit not with pit bulls because there are few of them) and it isn't something I would think twice about. I mean, growing up we had an intact off-leash male at a dog park regularly. But then he was biddable and mannerly.

[brookitar]

How Effie is doing these days....she's going through a huge growth-spurt right now. I need to get a picture of her back....her hair is coming in all shaggy. Also she has gained all her weight back and more over the weekend. Forgot to add that part...she feels about 26 pounds but we need to weigh her to make sure.

 

 

[brookitar]

LOL that sucks! Those are awesome dogs too! Effie gets to see her jack russell friend named Purdy this weekend.

 

I'm not sure when border collies go into heat typically. I just know my moms English bulldog went into heat way too early this year...I think she was only 5 months. They are going to have a litter of pups but she is a mess indoors its pretty bad. Those kinds of dogs you can't keep in the backyard because they will overheat in this Texas sun.

[RemsMom]

Wow, what an adorable puppy! My GSD has allergies and the vet would give him an allergy shot occasionally to help. Over time he was able to go longer times between shots. I think it has been a couple of years since the last shot.

 

Have you tried adding pumpkin or yogurt to your puppies food? Both my dogs love pumpkin and yogurt. I also add water to my GSD's kibble and he really likes that.

 

I should add that I went through many brands of food before finding one that agreed with my GSD. I am feeding Taste of the Wild to both the GSD and my BC puppy. Sometimes you just have to try a lot of different brands before you find one that is perfect for your dog.

[brookitar]

Thank you!! They said if it gets bad enough we can try a histamine. For some reason her diarrhea hits when its really rainy...maybe mold?? We live in a very foresty area with TONS of cedar trees. Our poor boxer has to get prescribed eye drops and steroids because he won't stop clawing at his eyes.

 

Yes the pumpkin really helped! I never knew that was a natural remedy until we got Effie. I'll have to try yogurt soon!

 

Hmm I'll have to try that brand next! Yeah that's what we are going to do soon. She gets bored of her food really fast! Even though she hates her food she herds the cats off if they try to sniff it.