Question by candice: Will a pit bull attack again? Anything?
Please be serious. I’ve always heard if a pit bull tastes blood while in anger it needs to be put down b/c it will be vicious. Now about my friends dog Chaos. He is always very well mannered. Can go on a walk without a leash, will stay on the porch without a leash. Has lived with 6 cats and another dog for 2 years, he’s 3 yrs old. On wednesday night he seemed to be playing with the new little puppy (been there about a month) when all the sudden she cried because he had her whole head in his mouth. When made to stop he did. The puppy had $ 200 worth of stitches. The pit also suffers from allergies. Lots of bad patches of skin. WIll he be a dangerous dog now or go back to being a good dog?

Best answer:

Answer by Jessie
There’s no truth to that ‘blood theory’ that you posted.

However, this is not a dog I would trust around other dogs. I would get a behaviorist who has experience with dog aggression in bully breeds involved soon.

Until then, he should never be around another dog off lead. Even with professional help, he may never be reliable with other dogs.

Aggression towards other animals and aggression towards humans is usually unrelated, so I would not be worried about people being around him unless he has shown aggression toward humans in the past. As with any dog, supervise with children.

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Question by sweet: Should I take my dog to the vet again or just call and ask?
I have a 8 month old puggle. She’s been to the vet a month ago and everything was fine. Her vaccinations are up to date. She gets her frontline flea medication every month. I clean her ears, bathe her, etc. However, she scratches the outside of her ear. She just finished her first heat a month ago and she keeps licking her genital area (her bleeding has stopped). I scheduled for her to get spayed which is in a month.

She also scratches one of her sides. It’s not constant, but a few times a day. She does not have diarrhea, she has regular stool, she eats the same (cesar and pedigree dry food).

I love my dog very much, but I cannot afford to take her to another vet visit right now. Is this something I need to take her to the vet? How much do you think I’ll have to pay again for allergy tests? should i just call and ask?

Best answer:

Answer by Laura
Scratches are normal. If they are irritating the skin, that’s a whole different ball game. If you’re still concerned when she gets spayed, mention it to the vet and ask their opinion and if they’ll watch for any unusual behavior while she’s there. Good luck!

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Question by sweet: Should I take my dog to the vet again or just call and ask?
I have a 8 month old puggle. She’s been to the vet a month ago and everything was fine. Her vaccinations are up to date. She gets her frontline flea medication every month. I clean her ears, bathe her, etc. However, she scratches the outside of her ear. She just finished her first heat a month ago and she keeps licking her genital area (her bleeding has stopped). I scheduled for her to get spayed which is in a month.

She also scratches one of her sides. It’s not constant, but a few times a day. She does not have diarrhea, she has regular stool, she eats the same (cesar and pedigree dry food).

I love my dog very much, but I cannot afford to take her to another vet visit right now. Is this something I need to take her to the vet? How much do you think I’ll have to pay again for allergy tests? should i just call and ask?

Best answer:

Answer by Lorraine
Personally I think frontline every month is a bit excessive, and could be the cause of her scratching.

Her ear is the important thing, and it depends on how much she is scratching as to whether there is a problem or not. If it is excessive and you notice a lot of brown wax, or if she hangs the ear down or dips her head down that side constantly then you know there is a problem and she must see a vet.

Sounds to me like you are pretty much on the ball here and just being very observant which is good.

From your description I would say don’t worry about a vet yet, but if any of the symptoms become severe then get her there.

Also watch out for any signs of problems regarding her heat. Just google phantom pregnancy and watch for that, but more important google pyometra and recognise the symptoms for that. DON’T PANIC… I am not saying she has them, but you seem to be the kind of owner that can be observant and knowledgable.

By the way — sorry – but there is no such thing as a puggle. It is not a breed.

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Question by Thorn: I’ve been to a vet and will go again – but please offer your advice (allergies?? maybe – skin condition)?
So I have a shih tzu – about four months ago she went to from having some minor skin irritation to full out losing most of her coat and getting a massive infection all over her skin (staph, I believe).

We medicated her with a course of prednisone and cephexalin antibiotics, and also until it cleared up I bathed her every other day with Keto-Chlor antimicrobial shampoo (from the vet).

Anyway, we thought she was done, but now I have noticed some reddening on her skin around her neck, and scabs appearing behind her ears and on her chest, mostly on her chest.

The only thing I can think of that might have changed is that we rotate flavors of dog food from Taste of the Wild. I think she was eating both the Pacific Stream formula and the Wetlands formula when she got her skin issues, and we just recently bought a fresh bag of of the Pacific Stream formula again.

What do you think is going on? I am really freaking out and very upset about this and will be getting her to the vet asap before she relapses and all her hair falls out again (this is making me nervous also because she is in heat and blowing her coat anyway and it’s hard to tell what is what).

Oh, by the way she is only almost four years old, so she is not an old dog either.

I just bathed her with the Keto-Chlor again today.

*sigh*
She sleeps on a hard plastic kennel floor. :’(

We recently-ish exibited at the fair, maybe she has a sudden allergy to fleas? She didn’t have fleas during her last flare up though, and she doesn’t have fleas from what I can tell right now. We used a new flea medication (just as a precaution… uh, Frontline as opposed to our usual Advantage, but that was more than a month ago).
The vet did a tape test on her skin, and said it wasn’t yeast in the skin (although she got yeast deeeep in her ears, kind of a covert, un-scented infection, the staph infection was kind of a secondary thing to the yeast)

Best answer:

Answer by MissPriss
many skin conditions can be exacerbated by diet. If you have noticed a correlation between the food and the timing of the flare-ups I would stop feeding that food and see what happens.

dogs can develop strong reactions to fleas and even the flea-removing products as well.

Does she sleep in the same place every night? Is her bedding washed in detergent? Have you changed detergents? Stop using fabric softeners (if you wash her bedding and use them)

you are going to have to become a bit of a detective to narrow down the possibilities.

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Question by thunderflr: Again, few puppy questions.?
My dog seems to be nipping/scratching his leg and sides of the belly. Do you think it could be a food allergy? He was much worse looking when I got him at the shelter, but still scratches those areas every so often. I’m currently feeding him purina puppy chow and will be switching to chicken soup: puppy formula. (Please suggest a different grand if you know of a better dog food.)

There seems to be these brownish flakes under his coat. Any idea what they are? I can brush them away but it would literally take hours!

My puppy loves to rip up his bedding in the kennel. What should I do? I even put in a heavy duty towel in there and he ripped a hole in seconds!

How do I get my puppy to open his mouth? Sometimes he’ll pick up something that isn’t good for him. >_< What chew toy should I get him? He got tired of the rope, kong, and rawhide even though I rotated them on a daily basis.

My puppy isn't gentle with dogs smaller than him. (He's 4 months and pretty big.) He ignores the cries they make when he plays to rough. He'll always play rough with the dogs smaller than him. What should I do? >_< Please do not say "go to the vet". I'll thumbs down you. Mainly cause I know the vet knows everything but it's nice to know what other people think.

Best answer: