Dog Owner Chat v4

[taurus ;]

Eeeeeeeya! I got little Alma last night. Do any of you have any advice on feeding? The puppy center said they should have two doses a day, but Alma seems like she wants more...

Is this hunger, or just that she enjoys the taste and wants more? She isn't whimpering or crying as in hunger hut...

I usually free fed puppies, which is basically access to food anytime they want it, until about a year and 6 months. Some people will argue against this, but if your dog is on a good quality dog/puppy food and is getting daily exercise, it will maintain a steady weight, fat/obesity is out of question. However, this does depend on the dog. Both of my dogs are free fed, they know when to stop eating, but some dogs will not. Never had a problem with eating too fat, eating out of boredom, etc.

I am free feeding Spade until a year and 6 months, because that is the age when her conditioning will start and she'll have to be on scheduled feedings.

OMG ANOTHER DOG HAS BEEN ADDED TO THE FAMILY. Not showing him yet(winkwink) though. Sadly Evie got adopted, and something I did not know, Layla was a runaway, and her owners came and picked her up, Zara was sadly not even an option, though I would have loved her. I'll be introducing new pupper later on today!!!!

[Imzadi83]

I brought Missy to the vet today about a lump in her ear. It turns out to be a hematoma, and a bad one.

They tell me she needs surgery right away and it would cost 750$.
I go back to her owner and tell him everything; what's the problem, the severity of it, the future problems that may arise if untreated, yadda yadda yadda.

I'm willing to save up my next two paychecks in order to get this dog some medical help. This dude gives me excuse after excuse of why not.

ARE YOU KIDDING ME? You're dog is in discomfort, you have someone willing to pay the medical bills just because I also love this dog. I DO NOT want him to pay me back, all I want is Missy to be healthy and happy.

His excuses- Missy is too old for surgery( she is 8 years old which isn't really old in my book), Swizzy might mess with Missy's ear and Missy will fight her ( he has a three bedroom house, separate cages, basement and attic... and he kept them separate when Swizzy was a puppy and had her ears clipped...?!) it's so easy to keep them separated, it will go down on its own ( The vet told me that it'll just get worst and more expensive), he watched videos on people at home removing it themselves... he told me he isn't going do it, but I honestly don't believe him.
In the end the decision is his, but honestly it's killing me!

Denying medical care to a dog who needs it, depending on where you are, is animal abuse and is against the law. He can be fined, have the animal (and possibly any others he owns) confiscated, be banned from owning animals, and face jail time. You might want to explain this to him, it might change his mind. At the very least he should know the possible consequences for his "decision".

And while there is always a risk to surgery, especially for older dogs, vets should do blood and other test to determine the risk for a particular animal.

[chase.]

I have A Red Nose Pit bull Labrador mix, And A blue nose Pit bull great dane mix, And they don't really get along. Any tips?

in all honesty it depends on how severe the situation is, what exactly happens, when etc...

I don't really have much to go on, so more details would be great ^^

If they're not really hurting each other aside from an accident or two, then they could be playfighting. My rough collie and my brothers dog play fight, and some accidents do happen but they're normally just messing around and it's the size difference that causes the problem.

If it's minor [small nibbling, scratching, very small warning growls] it could be something to do with the attention you give them, my neighbours dogs kept fighting, and it turns out that one was jealous of the other from the amount of attention the newer one got. Is one of the dogs new? Because that could be the problem.

If the situation is severe, [full on going for each other, growling, biting, scratching] for the time being I'd recommend an inside cage or something similar if they're hurting each other. You would need to get someone that specialises in dog aggression to see what's going on if it's severe enough.

Hope this helps ^^

[Mintu1]

Eeeeeeeya! I got little Alma last night. Do any of you have any advice on feeding? The puppy center said they should have two doses a day, but Alma seems like she wants more...

Is this hunger, or just that she enjoys the taste and wants more? She isn't whimpering or crying as in hunger hut...

I fed my dog 3 times a day until She was 6 months (morning, noon, eavning) I wouldn't change the ammount that your dog was told to eat unless you notice her loosing weight but I would space it out to 3 meals.

[Cardinal]

Eeeeeeeya! I got little Alma last night. Do any of you have any advice on feeding? The puppy center said they should have two doses a day, but Alma seems like she wants more...

Is this hunger, or just that she enjoys the taste and wants more? She isn't whimpering or crying as in hunger hut...

3 meals a day until 6-8 months old then you can gp down to 2 meals and after a year old you can decide if 1-2 meals a day fits you and the dog.

Sentry is 7ish months and does best with a large meal in the evening and a couple small meals/chews durring the day. Smaller 'meals' are typically fresh whole raw eggs from our chickens (a fan favorite), freeze dried beef liver, veg from our garden (which he steals. Jerk.), canned food stuffed into a kong, pork/beef/chicken/deer scrap meat from our meal prep, etc depending on the day and then a 1 1/4 cups of kibble (victor hi-pro plus).

[awakening souls.]

Happy Canada Day to my fellow Canadians! Will have a few posts up soon of my doggies dressed up c:

[Luzien]

@ WafflesTheCat:

Eeeeeeeya! I got little Alma last night. Do any of you have any advice on feeding? The puppy center said they should have two doses a day, but Alma seems like she wants more...

Is this hunger, or just that she enjoys the taste and wants more? She isn't whimpering or crying as in hunger hut...

I fed my dog 3 times a day until She was 6 months (morning, noon, eavning) I wouldn't change the ammount that your dog was told to eat unless you notice her loosing weight but I would space it out to 3 meals.

That is a cute girl
how is she, did all go well? and tell how your first night did go
what is the name of her color?


Thats not good with only 2 times a day.....
it also depends on the food you feed...what food did they give you for her

....... i too would say 3 timesv a day atleast, like Mintu an Cardinal did say
--> you also can do 4 times for the first weeks when you see that she cant eat all at once or Looks hungry..so she gets "more food" atleast she will think so..


but you will need to change her puppy feed to young adult feed...
(i have to ask my mom when we did this ...as i did forgot it^^)

Stay with 2times a day when she is young adult to adult, it is more healthy then..not only once....with each dog we had we did this 3-4 times when puppy till 6-8month, then its 2 times...but you also could do like cardinal when its 1 big meal and many small ones it could ork well too. ^^


...there are some interesting sites to look at...the basics you can find one wikiedia under:
Puppy Nutrition

--> and make a book or list , write how much she growth each week( or when you like do it every day^^...but week is enough...like every monday...) and also take her weight each day or once the week....some do it like the breeder did- after every feeding....so that you know if she does grow enough in hight and weight.... so you always know if she is healthy or if there are Problems and such.

[awakening souls.]

Eeeeeeeya! I got little Alma last night. Do any of you have any advice on feeding? The puppy center said they should have two doses a day, but Alma seems like she wants more...

Is this hunger, or just that she enjoys the taste and wants more? She isn't whimpering or crying as in hunger hut...

puppies of her breed should be fed 3 times a day, or 4 times spread out in smaller quantities. adults of her breed should only be fed twice a day, once in the morning and once at night. they must've been misinformed.

[Flossie]

This smiley face was waiting for us at the airport on Thursday! She had an amazing time staying with her friends and really bonded with their King Charles, Minnie. We'll have to plan some play dates in the future!

[WafflesTheCat]

Sleepy lil girl is currently in an early evening nap!

It's quite hot down here, and due to her fluffy coat and it being Alma's first day, I shall wait until her walk to be tomorrow. We're still letting her out after meals and such to go, though.

Edit: thank you to those who gave me such useful advice! Really appreciate it



Playtime with Lobster.