aliwake

yeah, we were thinking he had a furball or something - it didn't really occur to me that it was a 'cough' until Rebanne suggested it yesterday, but it makes much better sense. I was probably most annoyed about the cough medicine the vet gave us - it was over $40!! I wish I'd been able to be there.... Never mind. At least we have it now. The cough suppressant is ok at the moment, because he hasn't actually managed to bring anything up yet - not for lack of trying though

I'm really glad to hear he's calmed down and the playpen is doing its thing! Must be a big relief for you.

well, my husband took him to the vet, who tried to stimulate a cough with pressure on his throat (apparently a good indicator of kennel cough, but not 100%), but didn't have any luck. However he decided to work under the assumption that it is kennel cough, and charged through the teeth for antibiotics and cough suppressant Not very happy. And my husband thinks I'm ridiculous for getting information from the internet and believing that antibiotics are not necessary at this stage. The vet told my husband that it is bacterial (he did check), though from what i read it's viral AND bacterial? So who knows. Given it's a shared decision, and hubby took him to the vet, he's now getting antibiotics. Having said that, he was definitely worse last night/this morning - coughing more often, and seems to alternate between hyper and a bit lethargic. Not sure if I'm imagining that though. Either way he'll be missing his obedience graduation and hopefully the antibiotics will help whatever it is, even if it isn't kennel cough. I gave him the cough medicine last night which didn't noticeably help, and his first antibiotics this morning. I really hope he starts to feel better soon. It sux knowing they're not well and you can't really do anything about it.

I must say Nixon seemed fine at lunch - didn't cough/retch once... It seems to happen when he's been lying down for a while. But having said that, I've definitely had colds where I only need to cough when I'm lying down, and you get that awful tickle in the back of your throat... It woke him up at 4.30am this morning which is pretty unusual, so there's something going on. Unfortunately our least favourite vet is on this arvo, but hopefully he will redeem himself.

Sounds like a great plan. Just make sure his crate is inside the playpen too - our pup hated his playpen, but he at least calmed down enough to sleep properly in there after we got him a crate - before that he would bark and cry for hours

Taking him to the vet this arvo, where they'll assess him in the car! :) Thanks for the heads up Rebanne, even if it isn't kennel cough, it wouldn't have even occurred to me that it was a possibility. Will be very sad if he has to miss his final basic obedience class on saturday, but better than making other dogs sick. Lucky we've been too busy to go to the park the last few days.

Thanks Rebanne - I didn't even think of it being a cough, but realistically he doesn't seem to be bringing anything up, so that could make sense. He did have a little sneezing fit last night too, so maybe he is sick! The only idea I had is that maybe he's allergic to his bed, but he was fine on it a few days ago.

bummer! how disappointing after getting your hopes up

If he vomits up undigested food, then that's more of a concern than bile. On a similar note, Nixon has generally retched up the occasional bit of bile, and when he was smaller there would be little clumps of hair in it - I think when he was losing his puppy coat and was grooming a lot. The last couple of days he's been sleeping quietly then will wake up to hoik/vomit but nothing really comes up (that I can tell). It sounds awful, and it's happening fairly often - maybe 10 times a day (that I'm aware of while we're at home). He seems otherwise fine and not distressed, but it sounds awful, and it's happening a LOT more than it was. Should I be worried? Have contemplated calling the vet but it seems a bit silly when he doesn't seem bothered by it. Any ideas?

The ramp wouldn't help in the long term anyway - Nixon now takes flying pig leaps off the top step at the slightest provocation! It's not a big drop, but it still can't be good for him. There's only so far you can manage things - some things we just can't control! I think going downstairs quickly would be more damaging than running upstairs, so if you can teach that from the start you'll be ahead. And there might be less chance he'll be tempted to take flying leaps off the lower steps too :)

I'm not really sure what I'd do in that situation, we only have 2 steps. I put a ramp over the steps for Nixon when he was pretty small and made him use it going down because that seemed a lot harder on the joints. Not sure how that would work with so many steps though! We also have timber floors, and I cringe ever time Nixon starts running inside because he slides everywhere! I'm sure it's terrible for him, but there's not much you can do when they get the crazies, except refuse to participate! At our basic obedience class recently they mentioned that when grooming, it can be useful to trim the hair on the footpads so they can grip better. Was definitely news to me, but I haven't tried it yet - I think it will help with the sliding quite a lot though. Particularly as we keep his nails really short, so there isn't much giving him grip at the moment.

I'm hoping he'll adjust fairly quickly. My plan is stop the food in about a week, but still keep coming home for another week or two, then just start dropping days occasionally, so it won't be every day, then just slowly drop the number of days right back. My home time in the arvo tends to vary a fair bit depending on what errands I need to run, and he seems to handle that ok. It's probably more me that will miss my lunchtime cuddles! But at least it's getting dark later now, so we can have a bit more fun after work. Congrats on your anniversary! Sounds like it was a great night! We have our first wedding anniversary coming up in a couple of weeks, and will actually be out at another wedding for the night! Luckily circumstance has provided a puppy sitter, so it could still be a while before we leave him alone at night. I know he'd be fine - I think I'm more worried he'd just bark a lot and drive the neighbours nuts, but it's probably more likely he'd wander the yard eating possum poo for hours on end!

Hank is super cute! Congrats! Nice work on actually having a night out Lisa! Nixon will be 6months old next week, and we haven't been out at night since we got him... We'll have to brave it eventually I guess. I'm sure he'll be fine, but I'm nervous! He had his first day at home without me coming home at lunch time last week, which was a mixed bag... Our lovely neighbour agreed to poke his lunchtime kong through the fence for him, but my other neighbour (also lovely) sent me a text late afternoon to say he'd been barking for an hour and should she go rescue him? He was clearly un-nerved that I hadn't been home when I should have been, and as it got closer to when I'd usually be home from work he was getting quite upset I guess! not looking forward to weaning him off the lunchtime visits altogether, but it'll have to be done over the next few weeks I guess...

Thanks! I'll check it out

The jalna is working great - I was just wondering if anyone makes their own yoghurt from low lactose milk, or from goat's milk? Mum always used to make our yoghurt when I was a kid, so I'd be fairly interested in giving it a go. She probably even used goat's milk now I think about - I 'apparently' had a dairy allergy, so she was always giving me goat's milk instead. I'll have to ask her about it... I just have no idea where I'd get goat's milk in Brisbane though!

yeah, I give mine Jalna for that very reason. My pup has had a lot of tummy upsets, and the key reason he gets yoghurt is to firm up his stools. I wouldn't risk giving him something that could potentially make the problem worse. Don't really feel like experimenting to find out if he is actually lactose intolerent or not - he's had enough dramas.

I've asked in the past how dogs are able to eat yoghurt, given most are lactose intolerant, and I was told it's because most yoghurts are made from goat's milk? none of them specify the type of milk on the packet though. I've thought about making my own, but trying to source goat's milk would be pretty tricky! Has anyone used the low/no lactose milks at the supermarket to make yoghurt?

Thanks, I'll have a read. Would be great to think I could just use panoramis and everything would be sorted! Having lost a dog to paralysis tick though, I'd hate to take chances.

I really feel your pain Nixon would go psycho when left in his playpen initially. There were days he didn't sleep because he was whining and barking and crying, and throwing himself at the playpen walls trying to break out... He settled a LOT better when he had his crate in there also, but still wasn't great. Now he's outside during the day, and very happy about it, but you've said that's not an option for your pup? Nixon was completely ignoring all the toys and kongs in his playpen in favour of getting stirred up and wanting to come find me. They do settle better eventually over time I think. It sounds like maybe you need to work on his independence more. Make sure he has alone time, even when you're home? I think trying to mix up your schedule a bit is good, but others might not agree. If the same thing happens at the same time every day, then they're getting set up to fail when anything different happens. Get him used to change and variety. Maybe you could try some kind of soothing toy like a snuggle puppy when you go out too?

In my experience, if they're awake, they need to pee - at that age anyway! Maybe you've just gotten lucky. better to take him out just in case than to be cleaning up pee in the middle of the night. Their bladders just aren't big enough to hold it long at that age. It will just be a matter of experience and getting to know your pup. My pup is almost 6 months now, and he will sleep through. But, if I hear him stir during the night I'll be alert, but won't do anything unless he actually stands up, and I can hear nails clicking on the floor - that is code for "outside now"!

Wow - weird that their vet didn't even notice...

That's great! I guess the breeder just forgot to give you the instruction manual! :laugh:

Yeah, I was planning on getting a big bag of food - is it really off everything?! it's a great deal for the more expensive purchases!

I've never heard of people being advised to keep pups out of their own backyards because of parvo risk. Unless there has been an infected dog in there before, you have more chance of bringing it home on your shoes... If it gets good results, then let him go where he needs to I reckon! :)

That's very tricky. I'm not really sure what to suggest - my pup would wee anywhere but seemed to know from the beginning to poo on his turf toilet inside, or on the grass outside. It must be really frustrating! If you think he's not keen on outside in general yet, then maybe try an inside toilet. We started that way for when he was stuck in his plyapen, and when it was cold, or rainy. Now he's older he goes exclusively outside, but having the inside toilet was brilliant when he was little. This is the one we bought: http://www.topbuy.com.au/tbcart/pc/Extra-Large-Pet-Indoor-Dog-Potty-Training-Toilet-Loo-Pad-3-Tier-76x51cm-p187234.htm