ferky1

Miles has some toys that he prefers over others, and maybe 2 or 3 that I would consider his favorites, BUT there isn't a toy on earth that he wouldn't drop in a heartbeat for something new. No matter how into a toy he is: chewing, squeaking, fetching, cuddling, etc., the minute he sees something unfamiliar in my hand the old toy is yesterday's news and he becomes fixated on the new thing. It doesn't even have to be an altogether new toy, sometimes I present him with a toy that he hasn't seen or played with in a while and he acts like it is the greatest toy ever put on this earth.

Miles is 6 1/2 months old now and according to my research he is entering his adolescence, therefore he is more independent and assertive, and less likely to want to listen to mom and dad. IT HAS BEGUN! I am finding myself having to repeat the easiest of commands because Miles decided that he didn't want to hear me the first time. He now loves to turn and walk away when he hears 'come' even though he knows exactly what he's supposed to do. He is putting things in his mouth that he knows he shouldn't, and unlike when he was a real young pup, he isn't trying to eat them. He does it because he isn't allowed and then puts up a fight when I forcefully take them away. Sounds to me like he is a teenager and I don't like it one bit! Does anyone have any advice to get us through this life-stage? How long does this last? Anything to make it easier? Do I let him get away with 'small' indiscretions, or should I stay just as firm so he doesn't try to take advantage of my leniency? I just don't know how to handle his new-found lust for independence and I can tell that this is just the beginning of him acting up. My dad and I are friends now (I'm 28), but from age 12 until 19, we didn't agree on anything and frankly, we just didn't get along. I don't want my pup to see me as an enemy. What to do?

[quote]She thinks the brush is some sort of toy even though its kept away from her except for grooming[/quote] You might want to try the reverse and see what happens. In the beginning Miles would not hold still because he was so very interested in the brush and what I was doing with it. On the advice of a friend I let Miles have the brush to smell, nibble (just a little) give a thorough once-over. As expected, he got very bored very quickly. Now he doesn't constantly twist and turn to try to smell/bite/play with the brush because he knows what it is and that it isn't very exciting.

While Miles is only 6 months old, and we are still a ways off from actually doing it, today I planted the seed in my wife's head about getting another puppy. To my surprise, she wasn't totally against it! We have had such a great time with Miles and he has brought us so much joy that I would love to start over with a new pup and also get Miles a playmate for the times we are not there. So. . . . is there a general rule about bringing a new dog into a house? Are there preferred combinations? ie - boy/boy, boy/girl? Miles has been neutered and any new pup will be too. Is there a minimum age whereby the 'older' dog will be better suited to give up some of his space/toys/undivided mom and dad time? I believe that Miles is still too young yet but I wonder how mature he will be in a few months. anything else?

I don't know much (e.g. anything) about crating an older dog, but I think that the general rule should always be 'baby steps.' Crating can only be a good tool if the dog views the crate as it's den/bed, and this can only happen if it is introduced to the dog gradually. I defer to others more knowledgable on this matter. Here is a fantastic website with TONS of articles on crate training, housetraining, commands, etc, including articles on housetraining older dogs and introducing the crate. [url]http://www.uwsp.edu/psych/dog/lib-SpecTrain.htm#crate[/url]

Your problems are well beyond my knowledge base, but I do see one thing that I find interesting: you don't catch her in the act. If she is an un-housetrained pup, then how does she have enough freedom of movement to consistently sneak away and poop outside of your view? I am not trying to sound like an expert and I know that everyone uses different techniques, but before Miles was housetrained he was ALWAYS supervised. If there weren't at least 2 eyes on him, then he was in his crate. Period. When Miles would try to leave the room, he would be called back. He didn't always want to come back but I'm the boss so tough sh*t. Your dominance is reinforced by making the pup come to you even when she doesn't want to. If she thinks that she's the boss then she will ignore your calls. (sorry if I'm siding with your fiance :oops: ). You reduce the chance she will go without you catching her if she doesn't have free reign of the house (you also reduce the chances of her getting into dangerous situations). Catching the pup in the act and correcting her is very important. Even more important is knowing when it is going to happen (body language, hints, time of day) and getting her outside. When she does go outside, you praise her like she just found the cure for cancer. It sounds to me like she just doesn't know that inside isn't the place to poop. Your corrections don't mean much because they are after the fact. Additionally, and I know it may be hard, but you should try using the crate as a housetraining tool. It worked so perfectly for me. If she is like most dogs and won't poop in the confined crate, then by all means use that to your advantage. She leaves the crate and immediately goes outside, if she doesn't poop, then it's back into the crate for 20 minutes or so, then back outside. She will go eventually and most likely it won't be in the crate. And because she will be praised so lavishly for going outside, she will begin to get the connection. I don't mean to sound preachy, but I just went through this and had terrific results. Good luck

Are you crate training or using any other type of confinement? This really helps. Placing them in an environment where they don't want to poop really helps them learn where they should poop.

I just wanted to have some closure about this issue and tell you how it worked out. Miles fasted for a day and a half (he ate breakfast Thursday and then nothing until dinnertime Friday). We gave him boiled chicken and white rice for dinner on Friday which he loved - of course he would have eaten anything at that point. After that special meal he went back on just Wellness and everything has been great. His appetite has actually increased, he is eating all of his meals (which he never did before) and he doesn't even need yogurt on his morning meal to entice him to eat. He hasn't thrown up since the morning he saw the vet and he has been pooping regularly. All in all, a very good conclusion. It looks like fasting was the answer to Miles' stomach woes. . . .

I think that Shih Tzus should still be in the running and given your revised requirements, I think they should be at the top of the list: inactive pooch who is quiet indoors - absolutely not impossibly hard for a novice to train - Miles is my first dog ever and he was housetrained and had a slew of tricks by 4 months medium sized, short coated - no, no :-? but. . . . light shedder - absolutly genetically strong (long term vet bills) - every dog is predisposed to different ailments. Shih Tzus have an average lifespan of 12-15 years obedient and can be left alone in my small apartment for a few hours daily without me having to come back to a destroyed apartment - one of their greatest attributes is how calm and laid back they are. But they are NOT pushovers. If you are alpha and command respect, you will have a strong, obedient dog who hangs on your every command. If you are weak and don't display your dominance, you will get walked all over. This is true of many breeds. Keep up the searching and good luck. 6 hours a day for a month?! I think it's time to pull the trigger!

Maybe I'm biased, but I'm pretty sure that with one big exception, you just described my dog, a Shih Tzu. If you can look past the fact that it is a small breed, and the way many show dogs look (in my opinion ugly with that long, flowing hair which is absolutely not necessary for a house pet), then this is a great dog. Going down your list of requirements: - Shih Tzus are certainly indoor dogs. They are actually recommended for people living in apartments or in cities because they don't need lots of space to excercise or room to play. A game of fetch inside tires him out very well. - Shih Tzus are extremely quiet. Quite uncommon for such a little dog that you'd expect to be yappy; they are not. Miles only barks when he gets REALLY excited, and it's usually just one bark to let you know he's there. Never barks inside. - This is one really calm breed. They will get energetic and playful when you want to, but they are known as a great lap dog because most of the time they just want to hang out with you. When I sit and watch TV, so does Miles. When I don't have time for him, he lays down and either quietly plays with a toy or takes a nap. - Not only are Shih Tzus hypoallergetic, they don't shed (of course all dogs, and humans, shed somewhat, but they are known as a non-shedding breed). - Absolutely obediant and easily trained. You may hear that they aren't intelligent, but I don't see that at all. At 4 1/2 months Miles could sit, stay, lay down, roll over, play dead, beg, walk without pulling on a leash, etc. Now at 6 months he pretty much understands what I want from him with just a look or hand signal. At the same time, he is very forward with guests or anyone (or dog) he meets on the street. Not at all timid, shy or aggressive. - Cost is the biggest drawback. You want a well-bred Shih Tzu and they can be pretty costly. In addition, unless you want to do it yourself, you have to get them groomed approximately once a month. Otherwise their hair can get long, matted and look funky. Anyway. . . check it out. Wonderful breed. As for the custom toilet seat thing, not with a shih tzu. I'd be interested to see that work with any dog!

Thanks for the advice. Miles is a 6 month old Shih Tzu. He gets 2 scheduled meals a day, no free feeding. I find it interesting to hear about other dogs puking on a empty stomach. Every time he has done it, it has been pretty far from his most recent feeding. He either does it in the afternoon or evening before dinner, or in the AM before breakfast. I have never seen him vomit after a meal and it has always been yellow foamy stuff, not food. So maybe it is an empty stomach "thing." One knowledgable friend thinks that Miles has some sort of blockage, but I don't see how that could be given that he was eating and pooping well. Nothing seems to be blocked! As an update, last night he was pretty unhappy about not getting dinner, but he eventually got over it. He didn't seem to miss breakfast this morning (he has never eaten as well at breakfast as he does at dinner). The last time he vomited was yesterday afternoon a few hours before his scheduled dinner (which of course he didn't get). Now we are going to let him go a couple more hours and then feed him an early dinner. I have a few questions about that: I know that people recommend white rice and boiled chicken for sensitive stomachs. Should I give him that for dinner or is it okay to go right back to the Wellness? If I give him the rice and chicken tonight, am I setting him up to be disappointed when he goes back to the dry Wellness (I WILL NOT get into the habit of cooking for him!). Should I let him eat as much as he wants tonight, or should I limit him to a small meal because of how long it has been since his last? Any other recommendations?

Here's the story -- Miles has been healing well from his hernia and neutering 10 days ago. Other than that event there have been no note-worthy occurances or changes in his lifestyle or diet (he has been doing really well on puppy wellness for almost 3 months). 4 days ago he threw up a yellow foamy substance (stinky too!) but didn't seem to have any lasting effects. Every day since then he has thrown up one time. Tueday it was before dinner, Wednesday around noon and this morning at about 6. It has always been the yellow foamy stuff, never food. Interestingly he is still very playful and happy the other 23 1/2 hours a day. He is eating well, pooping happily and loves to run, chew and play. Because the throwing up was reoccuring, the wife and I decided to move up his vet appointment for stitches removal from Saturday to today so we could get a professional opinion. We saw a new doc today and boy was he young! I swear I saw some acne! Anyway, he gave Miles a thorough exam, said the operation and scars looked great and removed the stitches like a pro. He then started to look for a cause for the throwing up and found none. His advice was to fast Miles for 24 hours and see how he does. If he throws up we are to bring him back for blood tests and maybe x-rays. If he doesn't, we are to feed him again and see what happens. Here's my question - is a 24 hour fast common? I do it once a year for religious reasons and it sucks! I feel so bad for my little guy. He's been through so much the last few weeks and now we are going to withhold food?!?! Right now he is okay but I cannot imagine what he is going to be like tonight after dinnertime comes and goes. The worst of it is that he obviously doesn't know what's happening and he will be looking to me to settle his grumbling tummy. Maybe I'm being a sap, but I'm uncomfortable with forcing Miles to fast. Am I being silly? Am I just prolonging a diagnosis if I ignore the doc's advice and feed him anyway? This dog is turning me into such a weakling!!!

[url]http://edition.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/europe/09/18/uk.animals/index.html[/url] LONDON, England -- Animal welfare officers discovered 244 dogs, 16 parrots, seven cats, a rabbit and a chinchilla from a small house in northern England. The 269 animals were crammed into all parts of the three-bedroomed house, including the loft and basement, officers from the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals said. It took 26 staff two days to clear out the animals from the house owned by a middle-aged couple in Carnforth, Lancashire. The RSPCA said: "This is the largest seizure of animals in our history. It is huge." The local council's environmental health officers have also visited the property. Breeds of dog recovered included shih-tzus, dachshunds, lhasa apsos, bearded collies, corgis, Chihuahuas, poodles, Pekinese and Yorkshire terriers. The birds included a macaw, Amazonian parrot and an African Grey. All the animals have been taken to various animal centers across the country.

Arghhh! It looks like my worrying may have been warranted! :-? First off, Miles is awake and alive and that's the most important thing, but, the doctor informed us that (and he hasn't yet given much of an explaination) while the neutering went as planned, they were forced to make a much larger incision than they wanted in order to correct his hernia. I haven't gotten exact dimensions, but the doctor is quoted as saying "don't be alarmed when you see it" :o After we pick him up tomorrow they want us to do our best to immobilize him for the next FEW days. Stitches can't be removed for 10-14 days and during that time they don't want him doing any types of activities, including stairs. Apparently the operation was so substantial that they have him on painkillers. My wife is a wreck. And we can't even see him until tomorrow! The waiting is awful.

I'd be interested in hearing other people's opinions, but personally I would give a call to your vet and see if he/she thinks it is related to a medical problem. Generally, puppies have very nice smelling breath. Puppy breath means something good, dog breath does not! And 7 weeks is definitely a puppy. What do you feed him? I know that there are a ton of products for dogs to make their breath smell fresh, but I would hesitate giving anything to such a young puppy without first consulting my vet. If your vet does give you the go-ahead, I highly recommend greenies. They aren't minty nor do they smell good to humans (at least to me), but they do take the nasty dog breath smell away and leave the dog odor-free.

Well Miles is at the vet now and I am at work not getting much done. He is being neutered and having an umbilical hernia corrected. He is staying overnight. I know that he is in good hands and that his procedures are common, but I can't help that anxiousness and unsettled feeling knowing that he is going under the knife and even if things go perfectly, I won't get to see him until tomorrow. The wife and I toyed with the idea of visiting him tonight after work, but we decided that it might be upsetting to him to see us and then have us leave him again. We'll wait it out. So here I am, just sitting here. . . . :drinking:

Midori - PetSmart and similar big chains are not so good about stocking the healthier, natural foods that everyone here raves about. They absolutely do not sell Wellness, Innova, Canidae, Natural Balance, etc. I don't know about where you live, but here in Philadelphia the PetSmarts have just started carrying one brand that does look like it's on par with those mentioned above. It's a fairly new brand called Blue, made by Blue Buffalo (there is no buffalo in the food). Just looking at the ingredient list should show you how much better it is than Iams and most of the other stuff sold in PetSmart and grocery stores (i.e. no corn, wheat, soy or other fillers or allergens). Here's Blue's puppy formula ingredient list and a link to Blue's website, they look pretty serious about making a good product: [url]http://www.bluebuff.com/[/url] Chicken, Chicken Meal, Whole Ground Brown Rice, Whole Ground Barley, Oatmeal, Rye, Chicken Fat (preserved with Mixed Tocopherols, Citric Acid and Rosemary Extract), Menhaden Fish Meal, Whole Carrots, Whole Sweet Potatoes, Alfalfa, Ground Flax Seed, Herring Oil, Sea Salt, Barley Grass, Whole Eggs, Sunflower Oil (preserved with Mixed Tocopherols), Dried Whey, Calcium Phosphate, Dried Kelp, Whole Garlic Cloves, Lecithin, Parsley, Spirulina, Yucca Schidigera, Lactobacillus Acidophilus, Bacillus Subtilis, Bifidobacterium Thermophilum, Bifidobacterium Longum, Enterococcus Faecium, Zinc Amino Acid Complex (source of Chelated Zinc), Choline Chloride, Iron Amino Acid Complex (source of Chelated Iron), Turmeric, Vitamin E Supplement, Arginine, Lysine, Manganese Amino Acid Complex (source of Chelated Manganese), Natural Color, Beta Carotene, Copper Amino Acid Complex (source of Chelated Copper), Potassium Amino Acid Complex (source of Chelated Potassium), Vitamin B12 Supplement, Vitamin A Supplement, Calcium Ascorbate (source of Vitamin C), Niacin, Calcium Pantothenate, Riboflavin, Folic Acid, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Thiamine Hydrochloride, Potassium Crude Protein 26.0% min Crude Fat 15.0% max Crude Fiber 4.0% max Moisture 10.0% max

I am not exaclty sure what you mean when you say "as cautious with treats as with food," but you may want to refer to this thread I started a few weeks ago for good tips and recommendations for good treats. [url]http://forum.dogomania.com/viewtopic.php?t=7468&highlight=[/url] IMHO - treats are not supposed to sustain your dog so their ingredients simply cannot be given as high of a priority as the ingredients in the food. Having said that, with all of the good treats available, and considering that most dogs don't know a 'good for you' treat from a 'bad' treat, there is no good reason to give unhealthy treats. Also, as the other thread touched on, if your dog is susceptible to allergies, treat ingredients become just as important as food ingredients. I recently switched from rewarding and training with wheat-based biscuits and some random meaty treat to Wellness biscuits and baby carrots and my little guy has no idea. He still gobbles them down and looks for more. It's not like trying to convince your 10 year-old to try some celery instead of a snickers, if the dog will happily snack on either, might as well give the better one.

I know that I am in the minority, but a sonic rodent repeller has worked for me in the past. We lived on the 23rd floor of an apartment building and every night mice would wake us by scratching behind the walls. Eventually they gnawed through some molding and gained access. After an unpleasant experience with a sticky trap (kindof funny story), we bought the sonic and aimed it at the hole they had made. Whatever that white box emitted, it convinced the mice to go elsewhere. After a few weeks the repeller was unplugged and left unplugged and the mice were back a few weeks later. We kept that thing plugged in after that until we moved out! I have no idea about its impact on family pets, we didn't have one then. I can tell you though that the packaging clearly stated that housepets are totally unaffected.

Doctors Foster and Smith is a terrific pet supply company, and their prices are some of the best around. They have a gigantic selection of beds, including the Dura-Ruff - chew resistant bed. Here is the website. I highly recommend ordering a free catalog. It is huge and contains everything a dog owner could possibly need. [url]http://www.drsfostersmith.com/default.cfm?siteid=0[/url] I know I sound like an advertisement, but I assure you that I am not. Just one very satisfied customer!

Aonir - I was recently in the same boat as you, with a new 11 week old puppy and feeding an inferior food (Eukanuba). There are a lot of threads about what are the best dry foods. I don't think that there is one Best, but generally everyone agrees about the worst foods. A quality food manufacturer should WANT you to know what is in their food. Purina isn't so good about that. These foods have less of the good stuff, and sometimes even the meats they use are unidentifiable. Would you rather eat Poultry meal or Chicken meal? It's never a good sign when they don't actually identify the food. Specifically, check out the first 3 or 4 ingredients, these make up the largest percentage of the food. You want them to be identifiable meats and oats/grains. Inferior foods have more fillers in the top ingredient spots. Generally, you don't want to see wheat flour or corn occupying the tops spots, they bulk up the food but do nothing for the dog. Wellness and Innova are 2 of the most highly regarded dry kibbles on the market. Innova's first three ingredients are Turkey, Chicken and Chicken Meal. Wellness has Chicken, Salmon meal and Menhadden Fish meal. These are good foods. Purina and Eukanuba and the like are mainly corn meal and other filler crap. The first time I went to the pet store to buy Wellness, the clerk actually said "Oh, so you are getting the good stuff." It was actually less $$ than the Euk! After all of my questions and research I have found the following highly recommended dry foods with top-notch ingredients (in no particular order): Wellness, Innova, Canidae, Natural Balance, Chicken Soup for the Dog Lovers Soul and Blue. There are many more. As for your initial question, there is nothing wrong with feeding a dog only one type of food. As a matter of fact, most vets recommend it. The same meal day in and day out offends our human sensibilities, but it works for dogs. After all, just look at what happens when you suddenly give your dog something different: usually loose stools or diarrhea. You can always supplement the dry food with some yogurt, cottage cheese, actual meat, etc., but be warned that if you get your puppy used to it now, he will expect it forever (some people love to supplement dry with Natural Balance's food rolls - soft food. I myself have never tried it). Personally, I allow my little guy 1 heaping tablespoon of plain yogurt with his breakfast about 3-4 times a week. It makes me feel better, is good for him and he loves it. One final note, and I apologize for the length, but I got on a roll. . . when changing foods, always do so gradually. I changed from Euk to Wellness over 2 weeks. You need to give your pup time to adjust. Also, expect your pup's appetite to vary. Just like a child, puppies sometimes suddenly decide that they don't like their food and they won't eat it. Whatever you do, don't panick, don't run out and get a different food and don't reach into the fridge or your own dinner to try to get something in his stomach. Unless the little dude is sick, he will not starve himself. Practically the day my guy started getting 100% Wellness, he decided he didn't like it anymore. After 2 full days of eating practically nothing (probably less than 1/2 cup of food in 48 hours), my wife and I were panicked and ready to go to the pet store and try different stuff. Luckily we held off and our guy decided that Wellness wasn't so bad. Just as suddenly as he stopped, he started eating well again. From all the advice I've heard, this is normal puppy behavior. Sorry this got so long. Hope it helped.

I am looking for some recommendations for good treats for my pup. We are trying to stay with natural, no preservatives so we have been giving him Old Mother Hubbard's puppy biscuits (broken up because he's just a little guy). Due to some pretty bad skin itchiness, we are now trying to remove the most likely allergens, and this includes corn, wheat and soy. Of course the first ingredient in his treats is wheat flour. A pet store employee recommended Wellness treats as they are all natural and wheat, corn and soy free (he is now eating Wellness puppy kibble and doing pretty well). Are these Wellness treats any good? Is the fact that they contain Molassas a bad thing? Does anyone have any recommendations for a good treat? How about those meaty treats all the stores sell? I know he'd love them but I hesitate because of all the crap that they are made with. Does anyone recommend a soft-meaty treat?

Pardon me if this has been previously posted, but I didn't see it anywhere on here. Maybe the dogs are mutating to be resistant to certain forms of euthenasia! :wink: Anyway, good for him: [url]http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/news/1060249312168822.xml[/url] Dog survives gas chamber with his tail wagging 08/07/03 Jim Suhr Associated Press St. Louis- Cast into a city gas chamber to be euthanized with other unwanted or unclaimed dogs, it appeared that the roughly year-old Basenji mix had simply run out of luck - and time. But this canine had other ideas. When the death chamber's door swung open Monday, the dog now dubbed Quentin - for California's forbidding San Quentin State Prison - stood very much alive, his tail and tongue wagging amid the carcasses of a half-dozen other dogs. Animal-con trol supervisor Rosemary Ficken had never seen such a thing and didn't have the nerve to slam the door shut again on the dog and fire up the carbon monoxide. This 30-pound, orangish ani mal, she be lieved, beat the odds and should live on, doggone it. "She told me, Please, take him. I don't have the heart to put him back in there and re-gas him,' " said Randy Grim, founder and head of Stray Rescue of St. Louis, the charitable shelter that took in the dog before taking the animal's story public. Quentin's ordeal was played and replayed yesterday on local television stations, drawing scads of people looking to adopt "such a sweet dog" that showed such dogged resilience. The center euthanizes dogs nearly every morning - about 3,000 a year. Quentin's fate appeared grim. Surrendered to the city by an owner no longer wanting the animal, the dog eluded adoption, landing him in the death chamber that he somehow managed to emerge from, groggy from the sedative but otherwise "pretty responsive," if not downright rambunctious. "There was a reason for this dog not to go down," said Rich Stevson, program manager for the animal center. "Maybe this dog is a special dog of some kind." The next morning, he said, "it was jumping up and down, wagging its tail." Grim said yesterday that Quentin was a little malnourished but "in very good condition," being checked for heartworm and other maladies by a veterinarian. "You can tell he's really digging it," Grim said of the dog. "He has a bed, love, food and water." And that invaluable second chance.

A couple of weeks ago we decided to get Miles (4 month old, 6 pound shih tzu) off of puppy Eukanuba for various reasons; mainly because of the Iams company and his itchy skin. We very slowly began introducing him to puppy Wellness and he LOVED it! He has always left some food in his bowl but he made sure to get every morsel of Wellness. Just when we were about to finish the last of the Euk and get him on 100% Wellness (about a 2 week process), he has stopped eating his meals almost entirely. We have pretty much ruled out any health problems because he is very active and playful, warm and loving and his personality hasn't changed a bit. Also, he still loves to gobble up his treats and chew on his rawhide (I have made sure not to give too much of either so he doesn't get filled up and try to substitute treats for his meals). He is just not very interested in his food and we have tried going back to the Euk, he doesn't want either. We are considering going to a new food, maybe Innova or Natural Balance, but what is to stop him from gobbling those down for 2 weeks then stopping? My head tells me that he is just being picky and I only need to wait until he gets hungry enough to eat, but my heart says to run out and get a new food and do that every 2 weeks for the rest of his life if that's what he needs! (well, maybe not). what to do?

I have a 14 week old, 6 pound Shih Tzu that was born with an umbilical hernia (hereditary and quite common from what I understand). Due to the potential dangers associated with a hernia, the vet recommended that we neuter Miles and fix the hernia at 20 weeks. I have never heard of someone performing elective surgery on a small breed before 6 months and I was wondering if anyone can offer me some comfort or advice on this matter. I want the best for my boy, but I monitor the hernia regularly so I will know if anything pops through (so far nothing), and I have also spoken to people who's dogs have gone their entire lives with an unfixed hernia. Is 5 months too early for my little guy? Will that extra month make a difference? Am I just being overprotective?