Question by the sun will come out tomorrow: Dog in possible distress? Is there something the owners and their vet might be missing? Or refusing to see?
This dog is a playmate of my dog and she seems to have a lot of issues. I know the dog came from a Backyard Breeder and I don’t think the breeder ever even saw the father dog. She sent her female to be mated with this male. But my friends have learned a valuable lesson about bybs and puppymills through this dog. This dog though is maybe 1 or 2 years old I’d be surprised if she is any older and she is some sort of small breed. Poodle or Bichon Friese or Maltese or Westie. Its a little white dog, I’m not good at keeping those small breeds straight.

The dog when she is at play she can’t seem to keep up with the other dogs. She wears out in the first 10 minutes of play. The dog is constantly panting even when not at play. We are talking that this dog pants most of the day active or inactive. The dog chokes and coughs a lot when running and sometimes even more so when resting. I dog sat this dog last weekend and the dog in the middle of the night would wake up having severe coughing fits. I gave the dog her allergy medicine as instructed by the owner but it did nothing for the dog. The owner said she is being treated for some sort of allergies. She is on a very special diet due to allergies. So she has food and breathing allergies they say. She gets very nervous when left alone and so she is on some sort of sedative or anti anxiety medicine as well, the vet is treating her for some sort of anxiety. I had no idea the dog had this many problems but I keep seeing that something else isn’t right with this dog and I can’t put my finger on it.

Why would a dog this young have so many problems running and playing, especially when the weather isn’t hot. Why would this dog constantly pant? Why would this dog wake up coughing at all hours of the night and start coughing really hard when she is at play? And when you pick her up her heart always feels like it is trying to beat right out of her chest.

I’m thinking something is wrong and they and the vet haven’t caught it or something like that?

Could something else be wrong? What does it sound like? I just can’t put my finger on it but I think this dog needs to be checked out further.
What should I say to the owners? I know something else isn’t right with their dog. I’m to watch her again this weekend. They are possibly moving out of state, job interview and they are going back down there to house hunt. I just can’t let this dog move away possible really sick and not say anything

Best answer:

Answer by mauveme49
You could suggest they get another vet to give them a second opinion. Other than that there is not alot you can do.

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Question by nobodysyndrome: Great Dane owners, some questions?
I’m in the process of convincing my parents to get a Great Dane puppy. I know it’s a big decision and with such a large dog comes a whole new set of problems and expenses. I’ve been looking into them for over a year now, and I’m pretty confident it’ll be the right choice. I just want to gather some more opinions on some things:
1. Growth problems. Some sites I’ve read say that high protein levels cause skeletal deformities and increase the risk of hip displaysia, others say it has to do with high calories and unbalanced calcium/phosphorus levels. I’m leaning towards the latter.. Anyway, the highest quality dog food in the area seems to be Taste of the Wild, and it’s all life stages, and Pacific Stream has relatively low protein levels just in case (and around the forums it says that it’s better for sensitive stomachs and allergies anyway), so I was thinking of it, but I’m not sure. Pros and cons would be nice. A lot of people have also recommended raw diets, but that seems a bit hard to manage.
2. Bloat. I’ve read some conflicting studies, so I’d like to hear what you think about how elevated feeders, exercise before/after eating and all that effects the risk, or if it does.
3. I’m allotting 30-60 minutes a day for an afternoon walk. Does that sound adequate?
4. Any personal experiences you’d like to share?
In all reality I have about 3 or 4 hours in the evenings I could be walking him. I don’t mind, however much exercise he needs.
Ahem, to clarify, I didn’t mean for 3-4 straight hours. We’d probably both collapse from exhaustion.
And I am still in high school, but I can get up earlier to walk him around our property (most of you are recommending multiple walks a day). I can probably spare a half hour there.
I haven’t decided on a breeder yet, but there’s one fairly close that has dogs with excellent hips.

Best answer:

Answer by GracefulFalcon
I can answer you on number 3. No that is not by far enough. It’s a big dog. You’re going to have to walk that dog for about up to 2 hours a day and a few miles. Half an hour is not going to give it the exercise it needs.

All dogs have their own problems, big dogs tend to have a shorter life span than small dogs and yeah what you’ve listed here is true. But you’re just going to have to cope with them. Ask a vet for more detail. Why does a raw diet seem hard to manage? when you’re out buying steak for the family buy one for the dog and feed him it raw. sorted

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Question by samiah lowe: Dog owners plz help:-)?
Okay so I have narrowed my next dog food down tto these 2 brands. Due to availability and I’m not worried about price. I have 7 longhaired dachshunds. Some have allergies to chicken soy and a few other things and 1 is prone to yeast infections so please tell me your experiance with these foods and what breed you have and any other info you think will be helpful thanks in advance

Food 1: acana grain free grasslands, pacifica or small breed adult
Food2: blue buffalo grain free

Best answer:

Answer by Last But Not Least
Blue Buffalo is a great food, for sure.

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Question by kostlover32: Dalmatian Owners I need advice?
I have a 10 year old male dalmatian and he’s been getting sores on his feet and in between his toes for over a year. I took him to the vet the first time he got one and the vet told me that dalmatians tend to have skin problems and that the only way to take care of the sores is to cut them out which would mean to cut part of his toes off. NO!! So, I put him on a good dog food that was recommended by a pet store owner and his skin is still not better. The sores that he gets look like cysts that he licks and licks until they burst and then they go away but eventually come back. They ooze and bleed and he licks them constantly!
The vet also said it’s probably not allergies but only a problem with the breed. Any suggestions are welcome.

Thanks!
Ok, well I called a new vet and the lady told me it sounds like allergies. We have an appointment this Saturday morning! I can’t wait to get him some help. He’s so miserable licking and licking all the time. The secretary said that the vet usually puts the animal on antibiotics for infection and then prescribes a steriod spray but then you have to keep the dog from licking it off. The lady said I might have to put a cone on his head. LOL I’m opting to try and get a oral med. Does anyone know of an oral med for allergies?

Best answer:

Answer by m7mdtalib
do what ever u think is right

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Question by Alabama Girl: A MUST READ FOR ALL DOG OWNERS!?
I set out to do research to give my two dogs good food. I had like so many other people bought into the commercial brand foods like Purina, Eukanuba, and Pedigree. Well after doing research on the different brands i have found shocking truths about foods from grocery stores. Like putting dead dogs and cats that had been put to sleep with lethal injections and road kill animals along with MANY other terrible things that are put into our pets food that can kill them. I have also found out the 87% of dogs die due to bad commercial foods. Either by lack of nutrition, cancers, or other things that are in our pets foods. I am so glad that I found this info out and I will be throwing out my Purina food and go out and buy some Blue Buffalo since it is the best food I can find near me. I will be buying Blue Buffalo Senior since my Pom is 9 and my Dachshund is 7. My Dachshund had bad problems with skin allergies and now I have found out that it is due to bad food. I know that a lot of people don’t want to switch to a brand like Blue Buffalo because it is more money. But in all reality it isn’t. I did the research you can get a 30lb bag of Blue Buffalo Adult dog food for $ 42.99 and you can get a 8lb bag of Purina one adult dog food for $ 12.99 so if you bought 4 bags to make it up too 32lb since it wouldn’t add up too 30lb it would cost you $ 49.00. Blue Buffalo is roughfly the same price! Plus since you are feeding a better dog food you dog will not eat as much as he would normally. His coat will be shinier,his stool will be smaller,his breathe will be better. He will not die from chemicals and waste. I used to think that the people on here getting on to people telling them that their dogs food was crap was annoying but I want to thank them for that because it got me to want to check out why they were saying that. So everyone on here that says get off of the crappy food THANK YOU! And for a question can you give me success stories from your own dogs that have gained a better life from switching from a bad food to a good food?

Here is a good link for peaple wanting to know about the affect commercial food is having on their pets-
http://www.thedogfoodconspiracy.com/dog-food-secrets.php?hop=laurens10

Here is a food comparison. Where does your dogs food stack up?
http://www.bluebuff.com/sample/true-blue-results.php

Here is another good link-
http://www.healthypetnet.com/HealthyPetNet/Products/LifesAbundance/DogFoodCompare.aspx?realname=40088008&cat=0&hdr=&Ath=False

Best answer:

Answer by ? ?
Thanks for this valuable information.

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