Dog Owner Chat V. 5

[JustRenTime]

I didn't know this thread existed...I'm never leaving! Hi guys, here's my duo! Astrid the Wolfdog and Adonis the super mutt Pitbull mix (Both Embarked)!

[Imzadi83]

Chloe's insurance company's newsletter sent out a list of fall pet safety tips. Though I'd share https://www.healthypawspetinsurance.com/blog/2019/09/24/9-fall-pet-safety-tips?utm_source=enews&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=customer-enews-oct20

[Imzadi83]

Dog Food Recall

This is an expansion of the Sunshine Mills, Inc recall and affects the following brands...

Champ Mini Chunk
Field Trial
Good Dog
Hunter's Special
Old Glory
Paws Happy Life
Pet Expert
Principal
Retriever Bites & Bones
River Bend
Sportsman's Pride
Sprout
Thrifty
Top Runner
Whiskers & Tails

https://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/dog-food-recall/sunshine-mills-aflatoxin/

[Huggles]

Ugh hi everyone. Coming here hoping maybe someone can help me...

I have a 2 year old german shepherd. When i got him he was severely underweight. He is a typical german shepherd in the fact that he is very high energy. He exercises a ton and i cannot draw it back of course or he’ll tear the house down or unfortunately shut down with anxiety. However he has like no food drive. It has gotten better with training but hardly. He’s incredibly picky.
So ive had him for almost a year now and he just wont gain weight. I give him raw food when i can otherwise he is on a 32% protein 25% fat food with added supplements. Now obviously that should get him to gain weight but he refuses to eat consistently no matter what I try.

We have switched food, Works for a bit but loses interest.
Tried using kibble for training, he had a while where he was motivated to do this but then has no interest. Id love for this to be our go to but he isnt interested 80% of the time.
Added yummy stuff. This works sometimes but he still eats sluggishly and if i dont have something to add in he says absolutely not.

He has been cleared by the vet, its not medical. He is just picky and may have some anxiety around food? He came from an abusive home.
If he was a healthy weight, not eating for a day or two i wouldnt care. But i want to do sports with him but we cant do anything if he cant even stay fit... its so frustrating. Ive never dealt with a low food drive dog especially when we started out him being so thin.
Im just not sure what to do at this point. He could go a whole week without eating and still ignore food in a bowl if i offered it.

[Imzadi83]

What have you tried treat wise? Warmed up meat? Baby food? Peanut butter? Cheese? Bananas, berries? Sweet potato? Have you tried grinding up some freezed dried liver and mixing the kibble in that? Adding sardines? Wet dog food? Duck based food? Raw egg? Cooked egg?

Have you tried feeding in puzzle toys?

Have you tried some recipes for cooked dog food? Warmed food may smell more appetizing.

Also what is the situation like when he eats and can you change it up? If he eats with other animals you might try feeding him alone. If you normally leave him alone maybe he's like the company so you might try sitting nearby and reading aloud or having a snack yourself.

Still, my instinct with this would be to seek a second medical opinion, maybe even some kind of specialist if he is truly medically too thin. If he is just a picky eater you may just have to switch things up on a regular basis.

[i<3 wolves678]

I could do with a bit of advice right now, this week it turns out Mungo and Midge have both got rabbit fleas, and we’re struggling to get rid of them all. We believe they got them through Midge running off into the bushes up the fields where we walk them, as even though numbers have been declining, there is still a group of rabbits known to be living in there. We could never really afford top of the line treatments, so we’ve only been giving them slightly cheaper flea treatments, which seemed to be working until now considering that in the eight years we’ve had Mungo he has never had fleas, despite running through those same bushes in his youth when the rabbit numbers were so much higher.

We’ve given them a bath the other day (which both of them absolutely hated) and put more treatment on them, but despite getting rid of a lot of them, there are still some fleas hanging around. We’re watching to see if they gradually die off, and grooming and picking them out of their fur when we spot them, but if anyone has any additional advice, or can suggest what better brand of treatment we could be giving (for clarification we’re in the UK so preferably only brands sold here) that would be really helpful.

Thankfully rabbit fleas won’t stay on humans or furniture for too long without dying, so that’s at least a bonus.

[frogandtoad]

I need a tidbit of advice when traveling long distances with dogs. My nephew and I are planning a trip throughout the Nevada desert to visit some of the pet-friendly public land hikes along with lakes and possibly other sightseeing. This is of course not happening anytime soon with the world having a gigantic hiccup at the moment. We're doing this trip by vehicle a 4x4 suburban (I don't want to go into too much detail about the vehicle for obvious reasons.)

We have pretty much everything else figured out both dogs microchips have been updated. We have also decided to use and have both dogs wear their E-collars while off-leash. Both have a solid re-call but this is just a safety precaution for those just in case moments when vocal communication may not be clear enough. We have also figured out the safety gear for the dogs while adventuring this includes, Rexspecs, Life Jackets, Boots, and etc. We have also figured out what we are doing dog food-wise and came to the conclusion better to have too much than too little.

However, I own a medium to large dog breed while my nephew owns a small to medium size breed. We're trying to figure out the safest and most efficient way to travel with our dogs. So we can prepare ahead of time and be ready for our long road trip adventure. Does anyone have any tips, tricks, and advice for traveling long distances with dogs?

Thank you.

[Blue_Aussie]

I too am going on a long distance trip with my aussie for the first time.It will be an 8 hour drive and luckily we are going to be in a motorhome not a car. but i would also love to hear any tips or tricks for dog travel as this will be Mazie's first long distance/5 day trip so far.

is there anything besides toys and such that i should pack for the ride? I bought some bully sticks and will bring a kong to fill but its going to be her longest ride in a vehicle!

Thanks!
-Blue_Aussie

[Lilspookiibat]

I Own a little brown boston terrier, he just turned 2 in august. I need some help, I honestly can't get him to behave at all, he really only behaves when he's tired, what do I do? Is it just a boston terrier thing? Will he mature as he gets older?

[Blue_Aussie]

I Own a little brown boston terrier, he just turned 2 in august. I need some help, I honestly can't get him to behave at all, he really only behaves when he's tired, what do I do? Is it just a boston terrier thing? Will he mature as he gets older?

Id suggest giving him a job such as agility. or just going for more walks nd doing training sessions to work his brain. If he isn't neutered, id get that done too c: