After about 1.5 years since the passing of our great friend & dog, K.C., we are leaving momentarily to go and get two new dogs.

These dogs are a few months old and were strays that a lady was eventually able to coax into coming to her. They are two males & brothers, and might be the only two left from a litter that got abandoned. They probably know how to live off the land. There are with a foster lady/agent now.

We were only looking for one. When I was talking to the agent lady, she said "would you want both" and I found some alter ego of mine answering "yeah, it wouldn't be right to break these two up."

Talk about a life decision for the next 15 years.

Will post pics later.

Congratulations Sunil. And do post photos please.

On and I agree, not breaking up the brothers is the right thing to do and both you and the dogs will probably be happier.

How about Jake and Elwood for names?

One of ours was found in the woods at 4 mths starving. Good decision !

Any idea what breed? 2 aren't much more work than 1, although the meds are doubled (as is food and clean-up!).

I'm down to one from 4 and really need to get another pup so this one can help train it.

Touches home for me, we had a pair, brother and sister, that we found abandoned and took them in, great dogs and as close as I have ever seen before, seldom saw one without the other.

They both died of poison a week apart. The better half was deeply affected, both dogs were with her every one of her outdoor steps.

She made two hasty decisions, replace them quickly and have a lot, preventing getting close. Not one to argue with faulty logic I wisely , a rare exception, kept my tongue. She went to the area where we found the original pair, looking for another dog that might have lived from their litter. Clever dude there said he had an offspring that he would part with, six bucks later we had a dog who's closest resemblance was that it had 4 legs and a tail, the next day she went to the local temple, locals drop off dogs at the temple knowing the monks can't turn them away, and picked up two more, three aren't much more difficult than one, where is the problem?

Less than a week later she calls home asking me to bring flashlights to a spot just down the road, two more, a pair of brothers, 4 weeks old pups who had been just been abandoned. If 3 aren't a problem why would 5 be?

Two weeks ago, a three week old puppy was found on the road in front of the garage, three weeks is way to early to be weaned and probably wouldn't make it, but we took it in, it is surviving. It has captured everyone's heart, including the other dogs.

Dog 7, a Jack Russel Terrier look alike, was the straw that broke the camel's back. I found the owner and took it back, I also found the owner of the 3 week old, but nobody, including the owner wanted it to go back. I kind of liked the Jack Russel.

Moral of the story is that two dogs are at a minimum, twice as much trouble as one and after that it is even more exponential if not synergistic.

I moved to Indiana when the "pups" were 12 weeks old. I had 2 adults (Mom and another ESS) plus the 2 pups. One day I took the pups for a walk in the woods and they weren't listening very well to me telling them to stay close. So, when they took off I just let them go. I kept them in sight so they couldn't get in much trouble, but I was very careful to keep at least one large tree between them and me. After a while I can see from their body language they both thought "Uh oh, where did the dude with 2 legs go?" They started searching and I started hiding. This went on for about 10 minutes then I let them find me, and then I didn't pay much attention to them. They stuck like glue the rest of the walk. The Male 12 years later still comes back and checks in every 5 minutes or less when he's back by the pond and I'm out of sight near the house. He'll just stand there looking at me and when I tell him O.K. Back with a hand signal towards the pond he's off and running to the water. That's the reason why I need to get a pup this Summer. There is so much it'll learn from the Male that training will go SO much easier.

Good for you Sunil. I'm looking forward to the pictures.

Nice looking dog Eric. I love big dogs!

It is good news, ain't it? I hope you get the pair so they both get a GREAT home. (will they have access to my shed?)

I doubt that we will ever do it again. One the last 2 that we have had, the end wasn't what I want to go through again.

Our most recent was a half Pomeranian and 100% lousy dog. It hated men and Kids. But it liked women and it became a part of my Wife's life. It growled and snapped at the Grandkids and actually bit me once. Funny thing; when one Granddaughter "grew up" it started getting along with her. Don't ask because I don't know. If it got free, I had to spend hours hunting for it. And yet, at the end, after I had spent 5 or 6 thousand bucks at the vet, it hurt to put it down.

I now get my dog fix by boarding my Grandsons half Shepard and half fence jumper when they go out of town. When they return, I kinda miss Good Old Bear being around.

These are the two dogs currently referred to as "Red" and "Blondie."



These are the dogs with my daughter and niece:



Red is about 99% a spitting image of my old dog, K.C., except Red is bigger.

These dogs are mixes of what I would guess to be Lab, Shepherd, Dane, Hound, etc, etc.

Yesterday during the day was like a dream. We brought them home and let them check out their new digs. I let them off the leashes within minutes of being home, and they never ran away. They were great with all the kids and family. Man did they smell!

We gave them a bath.

They never even barked.

Blondie is on an antibiotic and had real bad poos. Two minutes after we picked the dogs up, Red laid down to sleep in the car, but Blonide wouldn't settle. We pulled over at a rest stop and Blondie made a huge & nasty dump. I was grateful that he let us know he had to go. After that, they both fell asleep in the car for the whole ride home.

Now, last night is a different story. We always have deer, turkey, ground hogs, rabbits, and other wildlife cruising through our yard.

I took them out on the leash and there was a deer in the next lot. They started low barking and huffing. The deer, that was 100 yards away, charged at them for about 10' then took off into the woods.

When I got the dogs back inside, they kept acting like they heard animals outside.

These dogs don't seem to know how to go up and down stairs.

We had two cages set up inside our craft room which is adjacent to our bedroom on the second floor.

At least three times during the night, I had to carry them down the stairs to take them out, and then back up the stairs.

Blondie puked in our bedroom twice and pissed in our bedroom once. Earlier in the evening, I saw him start squating in the living room. I was like Flash and scooped him up and hauled him out back to the tree line where he proceeded to take a nasty dumpy. We are living in a house that we just built and the house is about 5 months old, brand new.

Today, again, is just like heaven with these dogs.

We've created a "Voodoo Zone" back in the woods where they are supposed to take their dumps. Starting to see some understanding there as I've been relocating their land mines to the the V-Zone. This worked great with our old dog. I can't stand dumps in the yard!

Part of my mind is saying "what were we thinking?" This is the part of myself that I know very well. Another part is saying "put the time in now as an investment for the next 15 years or so," which again is a part of myself that I know.

I haven't heard from the part of me that said "yeah, it wouldn't be right to break these two up." I might shoot that part if I see him again.

Guess I'll tell my version...
We've had a pair of housecats for 15 years. One died off little over a year ago. I took great delight in telling the one left he was the "last of the Mohicans", no more housecats. Been preaching it to my wife for over a year now, no more, no more. Joe died a month ago from heart disease. Wife started emailing me pics of kittens a week later...

My yellow lab scared the bejeezus out of me this morning. She is 13, hard of hearing and worse at seeing. I was trying to give her meds before I left for work. She looked to be sleeping, I spoke to her, nothing. I nudged the dog bed with my foot, nothing. Oh %$#@! I reached down to touch her, she yawned, struggled up, and looked at me like I was nuts. That day is just around the corner and I am not ready.


Jeff-

These dogs are LAZY!

I can't get them to do anything. I want to start some command and leash training and all they want to do is lay around.

A couple months ago my beloved German Shepherd/Lab passed away, she was 16 years old and went quiet in her sleep. I got that dog when I was in first grade. She was loyal, loving, protective and smart. Never disliked anyone, didn't care too much for other dogs, but that didn't bother us too much. Everyone in the house shed a tear or few when she left us.

Now we have a stray Pomeranian... WORST DOG EVER. Dumb as a rock, poops on the cement instead of the yard, barks at everything. My mom kept it because she fell in love with its fur and catlike behavior, I think its an abomination to all dogs. But since it is so anniying and dumb everyone in the house, including my mom, has the sentimet of "Well at least we wont cry when this one passes"

Good looking dogs Sunil... I wish I could get my dog to do more laying around and less bouncing off the walls, but that's what you get with a 1 year old lab. Keep us updated on your progress.

Mikeyboy,

Since the dog is a stray unfortunately you don't know it's background. As far as it poohing on cement it may have had a kennel with a cement floor, although it's hard to believe someone would put that breed in a kennel but it takes all kinds. And hard to believe but there are people out there that are too lazy to take their dogs out as frequently as they should and let them soil a basement floor. You dog may be used to this.

On a funny note my previous dog was a very dominant female and very territorial. Not long after we took in my nephew due to a broken home she took a dump in his room right in front of us. Never did that before and never did it again. I must say we were shocked but I think she was trying to tell my nephew something.

Sunil,

Can I suggest when you take your dogs to do their business to say, "Get busy" when they do their thing? It won't take long and they will associate that with number 1 and number 2 and will go on command. Every dog I have had learns this and some were not the brightest.

As far as lazy didn't I see that breed on Hee Haw on the front porch? Sorry couldn't resist. Oh and they will bark. Rest assured when they feel part of your pack they will bark at every precieved threat. It may take a couple of weeks though.

My breed (Akita) that is not supposed to hardly ever bark, barks all the time now!

Thanks Cecil.

Night number 2 (no pun intended) went better. We located the pups to the garage with their individual dog cages.

Got up at 2:30 AM to take them out to "get busy." One pee-ed and the other ended up dumping but not in the right place.

My wife went down and spent some more time with them, and they were fine.

It's all your fault Sunil. Naming them Red and Blondie. I mean come on. No self respecting boy dog wants to be called Blondie. Red, yea I can see that, Red Buttons, Red Skelton, that works, but Blondie?

You screwed up big time. Should have gone with Jake and Elwood. I tried to tell you but NOOOOO, you wouldn't listen.

Coop me up in the house and call me Blondie and I'd pee on your rug too.

We haven't named them yet.

Yep, I vote for Jake and Elwood.

Either that or Pete and Repeat.

It might be Boone (Blondie) and Rex or 'Wrecks' (Red), but we'll see.

My daughter seems to like calling Blondie, "Bob."

The daughter is pretty strong-willed. Must get that from her mother....

I would recommend that no matter what names you pick, make sure you choose names that are very different from each other. Makes it easier for the dogs to recognize their names. My dog is sleeping at my feet as I type this. No good American family should be without a dog IMHO!

Good looking dogs.

Jake and Elwood have my vote.

They look about as energectic as my dog. We check him for a pulse daily.

Good looking new family members Sunil.

Hmmmmmm.....Me and RexCramer may need to have a talk with you!

I'm sure they are anxious about the new surroundings. It happens to people too!

Make sure you take them to the same place every time on a lease and they will learn where it is acceptable to go.

Thanks alot, Cecil. We can all kiss our invitation to see Sunil's new crib goodbye.

I'm sure it's funny Brettski but I have no idea what you're talking about. Can you expound a little for those of us that are slow?

Sunil,

Lager & Ale or Ale & Lager would be good depending on their personalities.

While the doo-doo/voo-doo area training continues, I think I've seen one of the funniest things in my life.

Both dogs play a lot together in the back yard, kind of like WWF but more slow motion-like.

They took a break and I could tell that the blonde one was sniffing around to "chamber a round" so to speak.

I had no leash nearby and then the red one started thinking he might do the same.

I started trying to heard them both the the Voo-Doo Zone. I was kind of running parallel to the blonde dog who was about 15' away, and the red dog was about 15' behind the blonde dog and running also.

Then I saw it. They both stopped and rotated 45 degrees on axis.

And bamb! Synchronized Pooping.

We were 20' shy of the Voo-Doo Zone.

"Synchronized Pooping". Somehow I just don't see that becoming a event at the Westminster Dog show.

when you can get them to carry the batons with the long flowing ribbons, we'll be gold medal bound...

Dave did you write "Marly and ME" I just saw that show and it is exactly like your story.

The last thing the dog lady said as see handed us our new highly bred bloodline cattle dog pup (now none as Ranger you will see him in alomost every picture I post on here) was "You'll have your hands full with this one". Truer words have never been spoken.

Losing a dog is like losing a family member! My lab is of field line genetics and has more energy than the Energizer Bunny! She's completely crazed about birds, retrieving and water and if she hasn't been out for a run in a couple days she'll let you know it.

Sunil,

I would pay big bucks to get a video of you and the dogs doing the "Voo-Doo" Run. Great fun.............years of memories!

P.S. Do you have any pix of the dogs awake?

P.S.S. I almost forgot....................did get out of Petsmart for under $500? Good looking mallard toy ..... it's quite the quacker! My dogs love it!

Sunil Congratulations and God Bless you!

Oh boy, dogs have to be my MOST favorite subject. Keeping them healthy is what I do for a living. Rescue dogs are very near and dear to my heart and I cannot commend you enough for taking in a couple of throw away's. They always make the best pets. Thank you for opening your heart and home to these precious pups. I've been active in dog rescue for years and I am now on foster dog number 70! Yep, 70! I failed at fostering five times and now have a house full. But in all honesty I would not have it any other way.

Reading all these posts made me smile. What fun you are going to have! As I see that you have an aversion to the Voo Doo I've got a couple of tips for you on that subject and more.

#1. You can ALWAYS tell the quality of the food you are feeding by the size of the "used dog food" in your yard. If you have huge cow-pie poops that stink, then the food is mostly grains and filler and you are paying for the poop. Think about what corn looks like on the other end when we eat it. It digests even less in dogs... If you wouldn't feed steak to a horse, why on earth would you give your dog a bowl of cereal?

#2. If you feed a higher quality grain free food or even a natural raw diet you will have VERY tiny poops that turn white in a day or so and do not stink. They will also dissolve with rain and even with six large dogs, I never have to pooper scoop.

#3. Dogs are carnivores and require QUALITY proteins. If you feed a better food you actually have fewer vet bills and your dog enjoys a longer and healthier life. Most of the foods at the supermarket and petsmart are garbage. There's a good article to help you decipher it all here. Another to help you understand the true nutritional needs of dogs and cats here.

#4. Yearly vaccinations are a thing of the past and should NOT be given. Do you get vaccinated every year? Of course not and neither should your dogs. Vaccines are linked to all manner of autoimmune diseases and cancers find out more here.

I've studied companion animal nutrition for the last 7 years. If you or anyone on this forum ever needs help please don't hesitate to ask. I've helped to design diets for dogs with cancer, liver/kidney disease, diabetes and many other conditions. Always free of charge. It's my gift to these wonderful creatures who we are lucky enough to have in our lives. The website in my profile has all my contact info, please feel free to holler if you need help.

My absolute favorite quote;

"There is a cycle of love and death that shapes the lives of those who chose to travel in the company of animals. It is a cycle unlike any other.

To those who have never lived through its turnings or walked its rocky path, our willingness to give our hearts with full knowledge that they will be broken seems incomprehensible.

Only we know how small a price we pay for what we receive; our grief, no matter how powerful it may be, is an insufficient measure of the joy we have been given." (Clothier)

Congrats again and if you will PM me with your address I'll send you and your pups a "Welcome Home" care package. I've got all kinds of goodies at the shop. They will love their Auntie Anna!

Outstanding post, Anna. You really nailed it!

I feed my dog Innova dry puppy food and twice a week feed her the canned food of the same brand. My dog loves raw deer meat and I feed her that regularly too. I shoot a lot of fish eating and diving ducks that tastes like well nasty... So I freeze them and feed the ducks to her as well. She loves them, so it works out. Innova is a top notch brand but costs an arm and a leg. However, my dog's health is excellent and that is what concerns me.

Innova is a good food. I had considered carrying it in my store but at the time there were a limited number of distributors in my area and the availability was not stable. I couldn't risk having folks start using the food and then not be able to get it on a regular basis. It looks like they are getting that under control and it certainly is a good food, especially the EVO formula's.

The fresh food is always a great idea, it's actually the only thing I feed my critters and you are smart to freeze it first. Freezing for 30 days kills all the parasites and makes it safer to feed.

I could tell you a story about my friend Wendy, the "free" venison and the $1000 worth of tape worm medicine! Ever since then I freeze all wild game for 30 days first. EWWWW! Nasty red mutant tapeworms. Yuck!

If you ever want to swap up for some variety (which is always a good idea every 3-4 months) take a look at Orijen here. I think they make the best dry food on the US market today. It's about the same price as Innova but you feed less because all of the formula's are grain free.

Thanks Anna I'll take a look...

I feed my dogs pedigree for years until I got on this site. http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com and looked at the reviews for each dog food. I switched to Wellness Core after that and the results were amazing. There coats got healthier and they had more energy and just seemed so much happier. Pedigree and eukanuba are both 1 star dog foods, the worst on the list. I always thought that they were the high end dog foods since they were the ones putting on the shows.

I think Core is a good food and the website is a good general one that has limited information. My problem with sites like that one and articles about good foods is that they base it purely on the ingredients on the label. None of the sites take into consideration where and how those ingredients are sourced and processed. Quality can vary wildly from one batch of chicken meal to the next. It can also be sourced from several different companies. Basing a review purely on ingredients is, IMHO, short sighted. You are not comparing apples to apples, so to speak.

Granted I am an absolute freak about ingredients and only carry a limited number of processed foods for that reason. Most don't measure up once you talk to the manufacturers and get more info on sourcing and processing.

That's just my two cents.

PS. I don't carry Wellness because another store in my area already has the line. I didn't want to duplicate what she was doing and hurt her business. If she did not carry it, I certainly would pick up the line of grain free products they produce.

Anna:

I like the by-line but I know for a fact that the dogs will eat stuff that I won't go near! You know how long a dog has bad breath after eating a 3 day old bluegill that has been floating near the bank in the heat of August? It took almost 2 weeks before I couldn't smell nasty, stinky, fish breath. Bad, BAADD dog!

ROFL!

My byline refers to things we intentionally feed to our dogs. Not what they dig up in the yard or fish out of the pond on their own!

This is my daughter Carli with who we now call Milo and Boone



Again with the dogs


Boone





I had to leave for Argentina back on 6/14/09 so somehow the wife and kids came up with "Milo." So sad....

Boone is the brains behind the pack.

I don't know if I mentioned it, but the vet said that in a female dogs litter, there can be more than one father-dog.

Both of these dogs have near exactly the same build, but as you can see, they have very different markings.

I think there is a book that talks about this. "My dog has two dads" or something like that.

Milo and Boone - I like it.

So I had to take Boone to the vet this evening after kind of running him over in the Mule. I swear he was off to the side, so we started moving. Next thing you know, he's squealing. A few stitches and he's good.

While I was waiting, I got the dogs' weight profiles (in lbs.):

6/9/09 Boone 64; Milo 68.
6/23/09 Boone 74; Milo 73.
6/30/09 Boone 78; Milo 73.
8/13/09 Boone 97; Milo n/a

Milo didn't go to the vet with us, so we have no weight for him, but he's the same height as Boone, just not as thick. He must be high 80s or low 90s now.

We're really enjoying the personalities of these dogs. There was a time a few weeks back when I was really questioning my own stupidity (or lack of intelligence) for having gotten two large dogs in a new house with two young kids. Part of the problem was the dogs propensity to just leave the yard when my wife was gone and I was the only one home with the kids.

We got the invisible fence and that has made things so much better.

I wasn't really thinking the dogs, or dog at least, were going to go over 100 lbs., but it seems like at least one of them will.

100 lbs
They look like they have adapted well

Glad to hear you dog is OK Sunil! They really do become part of the family...

I had to take my lab to the vet a couple days ago to get her a couple vaccines she was due for. She ended up testing positive for Lyme's Disease. The vet said it is easily treatable so I am not too worried. I like you Sunil am amazed at how fast a dog can grow. We were looking at her chart when at the vet. At 7 weeks when we got her she was a hair over 5 pound. At 3 months she was 34 pounds. At 8 months she was 53 pounds and now at a hair over a year she is 58 pounds.

Dogs truly are man's best friend! Being gone on vacation last week and leaving her at my father's house while away, I realized how attached I have grown to her. This fall will be the first I get to hunt with her and that will only make the attachment stronger. There is something about the relationship you develop with a dog who is your hunting partner. You are so proud of your dog and you know they are doing what they love to do.

Sunil, you don't have dogs, you've got a couple of ponies that bark for the kids!

Anna, Your #4 on your list is what I've been telling people for a long time. I'm not a vet but I've had dogs most of my life. My dogs that didn't make it past 10 or 11 years all had there shots regularly. Now we've had a doberman make it to 16yrs and a husky make it to 17yrs before they had to be put to sleep. Their only shots were puppy and rabies.

We have three Golden Retrievers and just adopted a 14 month St. Bernard. We are going really light on shots.

Also believe it or not, the St. Bernard is better behaved than the retrievers. He is fixed but has been no major problem.(he is still gunshy about everything)

Anyway, thanks for listening to me blabber. Its getting late, I have to go to bed.

I disagree about vacinations, and unless you have evidence (not anectote) to back up you belief, then it is superstition (by definition). I buried 4 fully vacinated dogs at 14 to 15 years old (2 German shepards, and 2 Norweigen elkhounds) a few years back. Feed them meat instead of grain and the immune diseases will be uncommon. Canines are carnivours. And please keep your unvacinated dogs contained so my family and dogs don't catch their diseases! Sorry, but mistreated pets at the hands of do-gooders is a pet peeve of mine (pun intended).

One more tid bit, dogs (and people) with worms virually never get immune diseases including allergies. And those people with the worst allergies are most resistant to worms. The theory is that many immune diseases, including auto-immune diseases are caused by an immune system geared up to fight parasitic worms, but with "nothing to do". Worm-free animals (and people) are a recent phenominon in evolutionary times. Pig roundworms, that do not complete their life-cycle in humans, are actually being tested as a treatment for irritable bowl syndrome (an auto-immune disease). Don't think that I am advocating not deworming your pets. Our pets' (and people's) lives have never been so long and healthy. But getting old brings on a host of new diseases. However the alternative is not so good either.

Shame on all of you for not posting the length of your dogs.

How in the hell are we supposed to calculate relative weight?

With my dogs you would definetly need their girth as well. I swear the neighbor is feeding them table scraps.

My old dog used to have the run of land with three homes on it.

One day he came back to our house with the distinct odor of smoked meats on his breath.

When interrogated, he said nothing.

HAHA!

They never do! My last dog and the present one get treats from my parents that live above my garage when not in Florida. They NEVER EVER tell you they already had one!

You must use the proper interrogate techniques when questioning a canine.




SPEAK FIDO, SPEAK.

GOOD DOG!

Kidding folks, only kidding.

I'm out of town again, so my wife emailed me a pic (not so focused) of the dogs:



Boone, on the right has to be over 110 lbs. and Milo on the left must be just over 100 lbs. now.

Good dogs.

I have to get some video of them playing in the yard. It's pretty entertaining.

PS. These dogs are masters of the "perplexed" look as you can see.

You had some pretty good Boone and Milo stories when we were in Branson. I'd love to see some video footage!

No wonder Boone's skin looks loose.

What do you mean?

edit. I think I get it now

They are some cute dogs... It's hard to resist those faces they make isn't it?

We posting puppy pics?

Why not?

[img][/img]

Ha, Sue, that second picture is hilarious. Sure have a lot of lab owners here.

Labs love the water and so do we!

Had to share a couple of pics of Max, my Chesapeake Bay Retriever, who is the follow-on to dearly departed yellow lab, Sue. Yeah, there's just something about the retriever line that gets ya!

Here he is looking like a total doofus in mid-head shake:
[img][/img]

And here he is looking totally in denial as he was caught about to get into some manner of mischief:
[img][/img]

I think Sue may be referring to the Ground Hog incident.

When we were talking to the adopt-a-pet type lady, we got the story that these two dogs were strays in rural Ohio, and some lady had to try and lure them in over the course of many weeks.

This made me think that the dogs might have learned to live off the land, so to speak.

I'm sure that they don't know how to live of the land by this point.

A few weeks after we got the dogs, I was out of town. As told by my wife, her mother was at our house watching our kids in the back yard when she heard some agressive barking and possible some highly animated squealing coming from the front of the house.

As she quickly made her way to the front of the house, she saw Boone with his head streched out, and leaning back like in a tug of war.

A large ground hog was attached to his lower lip.

While this wouldn't necessarily create enough reverse force on Boone for a tug of war, the fact that Milo had the ground hog by the tail apparently trying to pull it off of his bro certainly would.

My mother in law yelled out and all parties kind of just stopped activity like the ringing of the bell at a boxing match.

Boone had to go to the vet just to get checked out; he's fine.

Now, I'm almost 100% sure that this ground hog still lives in our yard as there's a ground hog in that vicinity with a broken tail. I think all three of them are friends now.

These dogs seem to have two other obsessions being toads and grasshoppers.

Our house has a lot of concrete around it, and at dusk in the summer, we get a lot of toads coming out onto the concrete. These dogs find this so entertaining. Then tend to softly step on the given toad, and then roll him back. I try to break it up, but there's just too many toads and the dogs have free roam. A month or so back, Milo rolled a toad to the old dirt nap. He kept waiting for it to move again.

Regarding the grasshoppers, they seem to love trying to step on them also, for hours.

Pretty much, these two are a pair of wimps.

Experienced groundhog dogs always seem to have an ear or two torn up. This is about all a groundhog can reach while being held in the dog's mouth by it's neck.

I had the dogs back at the vet for a check up and have their weight stats:

6/9/09 Boone 64; Milo 68.
6/23/09 Boone 74; Milo 73.
6/30/09 Boone 78; Milo 73.
8/13/09 Boone 97; Milo n/a
8/19/09 Boone 96; Milo n/a
9/01/09 Boone n/a; Milo 91
12/15/09 Boone 120; Milo 96

According to the vet, Boone has mild hip dysplasia in his back left hip. He favors it whenever he just gets up from laying down until he warms up a bit.

The vet said it was mild and that his bone was not coming out of the joint, but had a slight movement when flexed up and in.

The vet recommended regular Glucosamine (sp?) and fish oils.

I think we are also going to start trying to feed Boone a little bit less. For all we know, they might still be growing.

I know we have some vets out there so any input is appreciated (vet or not!).

Anna, paging Anna...

I use a salmon oil additive on Shanny's evening meal I got from Anna and feed a glucosamine supplement both at her breakfast and evening meals.

Those are a couple big puppies!

Are they trained to use the neighbors yard, the forest, or do you have a diesel powered poop lifter and hauler combo?

Our Corgi also has mild hip dysplasia. She gets 500mg Glucosamine and 400mg Chondroitin Sulfate everyday. We also put her (and our Lab/Coonhound cross) on a diet to get her weight down to optimum. Those measures, and not lifting her up to any height above what she can reach on her own (to reduce impact shock when she jumps down) have reduced her stiffness/limping by something over 95%.

Thanks everyone.

Dwight, the dogs do #2 in the lot next to mine which is vacant, so that's good.

Only down side is that I own that lot and want to put a pond in there. Retraining them to do #2 in a smaller area will take some time.

Dammit you gotta love dogs!

One of my Springers was trained by her previous owner to go potty on the ice plant at the back of his property. (4"-8" tall groundcover that needed zero care or attention).

When I got her, she'd never go potty on the lawn, she'd always have to go in the flower bed, or in the bushes. That made life easier.

But, I can't imagine picking up after a couple small ponies every day! I'd really be hating life when the snow melted.....

Glucosamine Chondroitin is great stuff...and not just for dogs.

It sure helps my big dog's hip ( hip dysplasia is common in big dogs). That plus losing 15 lbs (he was 100 and is now about 85)sure has helped him

We had a Rhodesian Ridgeback that had hip dysplasia so bad he had to have a pectineal myotomy. Probaby didn't spell that right, anyway it is where they go in and cut the big muscle inside the leg to keep it from pulling the ball out of the socket on the hip joint. It worked fairly good for a while. Unlike humans they can also remove the ball off the femur and the hip joint will form a false joint with muscle that is supposed to be pretty effective.

Well, Boone was at the vet to see the joint specialist vet.

The vet says that Boone does indeed have hip dysplasia as is shown in Boone's x-ray below:



The doc says Boone is still growing and puts him at 12-15 mos. old. He says the HD is a 3 out of 5 with 5 being the worst, but says it may get better for a few years as he matures and his joints harden up a bit after he's done growing. But he says he'll be hurting bad there when he gets into his older years. This doc went over options but seem more in favor of seeing how Boone does which was also our opinion.

I'd be curious to hear from some of the docters here (Mardi, are you out there?) or other dog people.

Also, Boone is now 126 lbs.

I had a Springer that was diagnosed with hip displaysia at 2 YO, and lived to be 17. Her's was about the same severity. I first started her on Glucosomine (sp?), watched her weight closely, then gave her one baby aspirin if she seemed in discomfort. As long as I didn't let her run too much, and make any fast turns, she did pretty well. As far as exercise, swimming during the warmer months seemed to be the best.

My big dog Lucky has had that for about 3-4 years and does fine. Keep the weight down and some Glucosamine Chondroitin and don't make them run and jump to much. When he starts to limp much then he gets ibupropiin .