cavNrott

Once my dogs have been trained to 'out' whatever they have in their mouths they will spit out whatever they have. I don't need to put my hand in their mouths to remove whatever it is. They spit it out voluntarily. I teach them 'out' by trading because I've found puppies will cooperate much more readily with a trade and it doesn't involve a struggle of trying to prise something out of their mouths that they don't want to give up. I always carry treats in my pocket so I usually do have something to trade with but they will 'out' on command, treat or no treat once they know the command. I've never removed their food bowls from them and we have no resource guarding. The Rottweilers eat side by side without incident and don't steal eachothers food. They know their food will not be taken from them so they don't need to worry about it. The small dogs are fed in their crates. They run into the crates when they see me preparing their food. The crate doors are left open.

Thanks Oonga. I appreciate how thoughtful you are and that you think of us. Sophie sees the oncologist tomorrow. I'm concerned about her blood test results with the tumour growing at the rate it is. Sophie is still her usual happy self. What a delight this dog is under all circumstances. I'm so very lucky to have her. She takes everything in her stride. She's had some major surgeries in her life but is always compliant with whatever needs to be done for her or to her. She needs to be spoon fed all her meals but her appetite is good. She seems to be pain free except when eating. We may need to increase the pain meds so she is able to eat by herself, though I don't mind spoon feeding her. She makes it easy for me. Dana no longer inspects Sophie's mouth. She did this before we started the drug therapy but hasn't done it since. I think she's well aware Sophie is ill but I don't know that the other dogs are. They are all doing well and life goes on as usual for them. Giving hugs from you all around. They love hugs.

Zed n Q, I am so very sorry for your loss of the beautiful Zed boy. Gone too soon. Godspeed Zed.

Zed N Q. I am so very sorry for your loss. Another of our wondeful breed taken too young.

I'm so sorry to hear the sad news. R.I.P. Basil

Staffyluv: How is Ollie coming along? I think about him often and we haven't seen an update from you for a while. Hoping all is well.

Longdog there is a palliative care sub forum in this health forum. Would you like to post about Basil in there? You will get a lot of support from very caring people who also have very sick dogs. I'm hoping for the best for Basil and my thoughts are with you.

The way I overcame this problem with my pups was to approach them with an ever better, fresher bone as a trade up....an item of higher value than they already have. If your dog sees a pigs ear as higher value than the bone then offer that and vice versa. I use the command 'out' and offer the new item as a reward for giving up the one they have and praise highly for obeying the command. I still never take anything from a dog without trading up. Though now that they are adults they will 'out' whatever they have in their mouths. I still reward them for obeying the command.

He may have a UTI. Make an appointment with the vet and take a sample of his urine in a clean container with you. I would do this ASAP because UTI's are painful. The small amount of urine would indicate a UTI. He is not trying to defy you. Dogs don't think that way.

Thanks Wolfgirl. Sophie amazes me with her good spirits and joy of life. Hopefully when we see the oncolgist on Thursday there will be something else we can do to slow the growth of this tumour. It doesn't seem to be as painful as it was. She used to keep turning her head away when a vet tried to inspect her mouth but she's quite willing now to let them examine it. How is Pearl today? Zed & Q, how is Zed after his busy day yesterday?

Oh, I was hoping he was feeling better ZednQ. I'm sorry to hear there is no good news. Yes I agree, quality over quantity.

Oh, don't let Sophie know she's allowed to pull Rakaaz. She knows pulling is not allowed :D I should give her a good telling off for taking advantage of me. Our trainer would be horrified at her behaviour because she's usually a very obedient and well behaved dog. I'm concerned at the rate her tumour is growing. It's bigger than it was when she had the last surgery. I'm glad she's going to the oncologist next Thursday. She is certainly doing better than her prognosis suggested Oonga. I think the oncologist has her on the right combination of drugs and it's helped that Sophie was so healthy before she got this awful disease. It's good to hear that Zed seems to have plenty of energy. I've been wondering how he was doing.

Thanks for the update Wolfgirl....and to Ci for the kind words earlier on. That's really strange with Pearl isn't it? Hopefully it will settle down for her and you. Sophie is still feeling well, her tumour is growing very quickly now. Since she seems so well otherwise I'm wondering if the oncologist will suggest debulking it again...I'll find out next Thursday I guess. Took her out walking again today and she was even more badly behaved than last time. She sure has plenty of strength left. Pulling when she wanted to meet another dog. She's friendly but I had no clue of the other dog so we had a struggle on the footpath. Fortunately she doesn't know she could drag me across the road if she tried. We're both the same weight. The onco wants her on a fatty diet and she's put on weight and I've lost some. Being so fit and healthy before this cancer hit her has stood her in good stead to tolerate the drugs she's on.

Did you get the final results of the tests on Pearl, Wolfgirl? Hoping it all went well for you.

Thank you k9katz. That sounds like an excellent food. I think I'll swap over from EaglePack.

Can you tell us where we can find an up to date ingredients list please K9katz. If you pm me I will be happy to tell you. I think there are a number of us interested in this food so it might be a good idea to post the ingredient list on the forum if you could. Thanks.

Can you tell us where we can find an up to date ingredients list please K9katz.

Will be thinking of you tomorrow Wolfgirl. Is Pearl having the MRI at the Mt Waverley Specialist Centre? Sophie is feeling much better now, though she has quiet days on the days she has the chemo tablet. She has them every second day and today was the day so no walk for her. It's a bit hot to walk her anyway. Please update us on Pearl when you find out how the MRI went. Hoping for a good result for her. Zed & Q. How is Zed doing?

Thanks again for the support guys. Jodie I was hoping that Sophie's tumour would shrink again or stop growing but unfortunately it's still growing daily and changing colour. I increased her pain meds this morning as the dose she's been on for the last few weeks doesn't seem to be working as well now.

I think someone is having us on....note the op hasn't been back.

I've seen that site I think. I was considering at one stage putting an old arthritic dog onto Metacam but read that it too has adverse side effects. I think all NSAIDS have side effects and they shouldn't be given without a full meal. I ended up leaving her on Rimadyl. She had no bad reaction and it did the job of keeping her pain free.

Rimadyl has killed more dogs than Metacam ever will. If 50ml Metacam was injected, the dog would not have made it out of the surgery. Eye ulcers can become a serious matter. Make sure the dog is kept in the dark and has no wind from fans or air conditioners that could blow onto the dog, that could effect the eye. Agree about the eye ulcer. Do you have statistics you can direct us to that show more dogs have died from Rimadyl than will ever die from Metacam.....though how they would know what will happen in the future is a bit of a mystery. Facts are derived from what has happened not what might happen.

Both Metacam and Rimadyl can have side effects. Rimadyl doesn't kill dogs 'usually' at all. Melodramatic much Some people are allergic to Penicillin but we don't go around saying Penicillin kills people usually. Some dogs have a bad reaction to Rimadyl, the same as some dogs can have a reaction to any other drug. Most dogs do well on Rimadyl. I think we could be pretty sure that 50ml of Metacam would probably kill a dog.

I think you're right. 50ml of Metacam I doubt it. Both Metacam and Rimadyl can affect a minority of dogs badly. Most dogs do well on it and those who do have an adverse reaction to the injection usually show signs very quickly, not hours later at home. Ermm....digisol. An ulcer on the eye that doesn't heal is not a simple matter either.

I've known about the cotton wool balls soaked in milk for years....dunno where I heard it though but it does make sense to me.