Carolk9s

[color=darkblue][size=6]BENIGN![/size][/color] I got the news Thursday evening, both growths removed from Candy are BENIGN. Whew! I can exhale now. One growth was a polyp and the other a pampilloma. I've been on the go since then plus working long hours. I brought her home from MD tonight and she'll see our vet Monday to check her foot. I cannot remember if I posted that last weekend she popped EVERY stitch in her foot and we were off to the emergency vet. Poor girl had to spend the night there and get restitched. It is a GOOD thing I am bringing home paychecks again, this would have been even scarier otherwise. I won't be working overtime this week so should have time to catch up on Dogo and other things, like laundry, vacuuming, hey maybe even get a full nights sleep!

Sorry I was so late in seeing this, I've been on the go since Thursday. My very first thought upon seeing the photo of this beautiful dog was 'Is this a Dutchie?' thinking about Dutch Shepard. Could be some Malinois in the background or Dutch Shepard but Dutchies are kinda rare. Dutchies are generally much darker than Malinios and many times have a brindle coloration. How old is your pup and how big? The body type as far as I can see does look a bit more compact like a Mal or Dutchie. Whatever his parentage, he's a beaut!

I know how upsetting this can be. I once received an anonymous note taped to my front door saying that since I moved in, my dogs barked all night and I had better put a stop to it. My dogs are locked in the house with ME at night, always have been. If you are on friendly terms with anyone in the neighborhood, certainly I would spread the word. I would however do it a very low key manner, the woman was 'mistaken', not a crackpot, LOL. Might even be a good idea to print off your own flyers and take them around to your neighbors. Put in there that there is a case of mistaken identity and that you, as a responsible dog owner, would never let your dog roam and annoy people and other dogs. It may be, like others have said, that your neighbors already know this woman is a bit of trouble but it does not hurt to make go on the offense in a manner a speaking so that YOUR dog does not get tarred with the wrong brush.

First, it was absolutely the right thing to remove your dog from your house. Thank goodness it was 'just' a nip. BTW, your dog was NOT regrettful and sad from nipping your child, he most likely was responding to your reaction as well as the baby's but I do not believe dogs feel regret as we think of it. No matter the circumstances, you now KNOW your dog may nip a child, therefore he has lost the 'trusted around babies' designation. This is not to say he cannot or should not be allowed to interact with children and babies but only under the strictest supervision and greatest care. Perhaps the nip was a one time thing but you simply must never take a chance. I congratulate you for immediately removing your beloved dog from the house and the baby, it truly was the right thing to do. In another forum, I have read about a couple with a small child whose dog growls at the child should the child approach the parents. This couple has apparently decided that the dog stays and wants a trainer to help them resolve the issue. I firmly believe the resolution is removing the dog. The couple has actually been advised by their vet and by a behaviourist to have the dog put down as the dog has shown other temperament deficiencies but they refuse to do that. I don't know that situation first hand so don't know if euthanasia is truly the only sensible option for that particular dog. When my Jesse was a pup, my niece was over to see him. She was about 3 at the time. She accidentally stepped on his rear paw, he whipped his head around and growled at her. To some, this would have been acceptable on the dogs part, to me, it was not. I LIGHTLY cuffed him and told him no. I ALSO gently reminded my niece that she needed to watch out for puppy feet and tails etc. I believe he learned that day one of my expectations and he never growled at her again. When she was visiting, I made sure she behaved appropriately around him and I always gave him an out if she became too intrusive. Can you integrate your dog back into your home with the baby? Perhaps with some help from an experienced trainer, yes. Don't take any undue chances but good luck as I know you love your dog and I'm sure you miss him too.

She limps and when I have the plastic bag over her bandage for going outside, she stops a lot and sticks that front leg out. Now that it's bedtime, she has to wear the plastic e-collar, oh she looks so sad! She turned her nose up at water but attacked her dinner with gusto. I put some water in her food so at least she's getting some fluid. I gave her about 1/2 her normal dinner ration then about 2 hours later, gave her some more. I'm sure she would eat even more but that must wait until the morning. She just figured out how to lie down with her lampshade on. She does not care for me lifting her but she's not allowed to jump so if she wants up on the couch, I pick her up. I'm very careful not to bump her boo boo!

She came through surgery just fine. She has a large bandage on her front right that can come off Thursday. I'm sure my Mom will be thrilled to know this since she will have Candy with her then! The vets gave me an e-collar, the protective kind not the electric kind, poor Candy has to learn to lift her head up or it drags on the ground! She has a few stitches in her lip from the removal of the skin tag. It will be 5-7 days before I get the biopsy results, I told the vet, do NOT call me at work with those, leave a message at home. While good news would be ok, this way I won't be wondering if I don't hear from them at work.

Teaching a crawl could come in VERY handy should you ever decide to do UKC agility, in AGII there is a crawl tunnel! Back is another good one, I've taught that one to all of my dogs. It also is very handy should they crowd you at dinner or treat time! Congratulations on your class and I'm so glad you and Web had such a good time.

Sending positive thought for Chico to be well!

Great photos! I love the look of determination on the faces of the pullers.

Nuthin like tooting yer own horn right? :BIG: Today is my birthday, I've never been shy about revealing my age and I am 46 today. So what am I doing to celebrate? Well, so far I have vacuumed the rug and done two loads of laundry. And for real birthday fun, I'll be mowing the back yard later today. Who says I'm not a party animal! :banan: I did make myself french toast for breakfast, that's an occaisional treat. I will be taking the dogs to the park soon though I'd much rather take a :sleep2:

[size=6]Wishing Chelsea a [color=red]VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY [/color]wtih many more to come![/size]

Oh yeah, I've decided to pull her out of the agility trials at the end of October as well. She may indeed be fully healed but as I entered her in 3 runs each day, I feel that is simply too much jumping and climbing and running about on what may still be a tender foot. If the results of her biopsy are negative, there will be more trials in the spring.

Thanks for the well wishes. I'm soooo glad to report that Jesses' lump was merely a fluid filled cyst. Vet 'popped' it and it was nothing but clear fluid. I have decided I am staying home from work on Wednesday. I've requested the day off, if granted great, if not, I'll call in sick. Apparently this company does not have the rule my former employer had. There, if you called in sick during your probationary period, you were fired. The boss has not gotten back to me yet about my request. If he turns me down, I will ask about bringing her to the office with me and having her stay in her crate under my desk. There is room. I've heard the boss is allergic to dogs but as Malamum said, I can only ask. We are a high production environment, if the boss wants me there and working, he would do well to let me bring her in. Otherwise, I will work on convincing my mom to let me bring Candy up to her on Wednesday and go back to pick her up over the weekend. I swear this growth has gotten bigger since I found it Tuesday. Candy is licking it quite frequently, I think there is some pain involved but not heavy. Jesse has started sniffing at her and her leg, that rather freaks me out. Trying to hold it together and not think the worst but it's hard. Waiting is hard.

Ok, I now need some suggestion on how to confine her in the days after the surgery. I am so new at my job I know I cannot take time off, I could call in sick but not only would I not get paid, I could lose my job. I am debating between crating her and leaving her loose in the house. Either way the doggie door will be off limits and I will come home at lunch to let the dogs out. Candy will be on pain meds after her surgery and may want to be quiet, she is usually the one who instigates Brittany into playing. I am very concerned about her being home without me there while she is recovering. I've already pulled her from agility trials in October as she will need to rest for at least two weeks after the surgery. There are trials the very end of October that I will decide on based on how she heals and the results of the biopsy. I most likely will pull her from those also. I am probably making a mountain out of a molehill as I am terribly worried about her.

I noticed a weird looking growth on Candy's paw Tuesday morning. Can't get over that I missed it until then. Took her to the vet, Candy will have surgery next Tuesday to have it removed and biopsied. I managed to control the shakes until I got out of the vets office. I tend to worry that the worst will come, stupid of me I know. Vet said it is some sort of horny growth, not the result of any kind of cut as I first thought. She is also going to remove what may simply be a skin tag on Candy's muzzle and have it biopsied as well. To sweeten the deal, Jesse is going to the vet tomorrow to have a lump on the back of his neck checked out, due to my work schedule, they could not fit both dogs in today. I hope it is just another 'old dog' bump but until I have it checked, I will wonder.

[color=red][size=6]Happy Birthday to my best buddy! [/size][/color]

Candy earned her first Blue Ribbon today at an AKC agility trial. I ran her in Novice Standard Preferred and Jumpers With Weaves Preferred. We did not have a perfect score, she decided to bypass a jump and go visit the ring crew for what felt like forever! We NQ'd in JWW's but the 1st 1/2 of her run was awesome. She then decided she didn't wanna do no more stinkin agility and ran to the gate. She did come back to me, I sent her into the tunnel and over a couple of jumps and had a big celebration. The club had toys for dogs finishing 1st thru 4th so Candy got a new plush squeaky toy and lots of crunchy munchy liver treats! We will have more trials in two weeks, more a week later, more the end of Oct., and a couple of fun matches in November. Good thing I am working again to pay all these entry fees!

Happy Birthday Riley!

My dogs each get a greenie each day after dinner. I've never noticed a minty smell! Do greenies come in a minty flavor too? This is a good heads up for all of us, just because they've never had any kind of reaction does not mean it cannot happen. Glad your pup is ok after the allergy pill.

Hurry home Tabatha! Thinking of you and hoping for Tabatha's quick and safe return.

Jesse, almost 13, got his last 'cocktail' of immunizations when he was 9. Brittany, almost 11, got her last one when she was 9. I skipped Candy's yearly booster this year, I will consider getting a booster for her next year. I no longer get the bordatella or kennel cough vaccine, I think it is all but worthless. Neither Jesse or Brittany was up to date on that vaccine when I brought Candy home from the SPCA as a foster and she was gearing up into a raging case of kennel cough. Neither of my older dogs got so much as a sniffle or minor cough from being in constant contact with her. I take my dogs to the park frequently and I also do a fair amount of agility so they are constantly exposed to potential bug situations. All appear very healthy. I recently had to leave Brittany at the vets during the day to have a dead tooth checked out. Initially, I was told I would need to bring her shot records showing she was up to date, when I told them her age and that she had received yearly vacs until age 9, they said no need for the info after all. The vet who saw Brittany was quite impressed with her condition, he said she did not look at all like an almost 11 year old dog. He even said if he had guessed, he would have said 7-8 years at most. My dogs do get the 3 year rabies shot. They are all due for that booster next year. If Jesse is still walking this earth, he will get it too, pretty sure that will be his last vaccination for the rest of his life.

[quote name='MajiesMom']That sucks. You shouldn't leave your pet(s) outside unsupervised, yes there are reasons for this idiots! [/quote] I'm not sure I understand the full meaning of this statement and I certainly do not agree. My dogs are able to be outside unsupervised daily. My yard is double fenced and I routinely walk the line to check for potential escape routes but I sure as heck do not go outside with my dogs each time they fly through the doggie door. They have access to the backyard every day while I am away from home at work. It is a sad fact that I must work for a living and cannot come home during the day to let them out. I could not and would not force them to stay indoors for the 10 hours or so that I am away earning money to buy them more stuff. It is sad about 3 dogs losing their lives in the above situation. I don't understand why the owner of the two dogs that attacked the JRT had his dogs put down, perhaps he had reasons beyond this incident. Many years ago at a show, a JRT went wild at the sight of Jesse who was standing calmly beside me. The JRT, who was wearing a harness, was snapping and snarling as if he wanted to rip Jesse limb from limb. The lady holding the leash said to her dog, 'You are such a fool, that dog could hold you down with one paw and torment you for days'. She apologized for her dogs bad manners and dragged him away. Jesse merely looked amused by the dogs antics.

This could, just maybe, be a SUPER opportunity for you to off some training assistance. This kid does not know any better and needs a mentor NOW. Is it possible for you to talk to her and her parents and offer some free tips on responsible and gentle training techinques before this poor pup ends up in the shelter as 'uncontrollable'?

HF, I am hoping mightily that your babies are returning to good health.

I strongly urge you to have this tooth pulled and any infection cleaned out. I feel you pain regarding the cost, I spent $225 today at the vet for my older girl. She has a dead tooth, the vet xrayed it, said no abcess or other problem seen so the tooth can stay in for now. He also cleaned her teeth and gave her a general going over while she was under light anesthesia. She is snoozing on the bed behind me now. The infection would just come back and cause your dog misery if it is not dealt with now. Your baby probably feels pain or at least discomfort in his jaw and around his eye due to the infection. D.O. is so correct about bacteria in the mouth affecting other body organs, can be quite dangerous. I know it's costly but I really feel it is the best thing to do for your buddy.