!%$%^* dog!

[BrahmaMama]

My DH just took Max, our Doberman into the vet. I was watching him yesterday while he was outside, and he was trying to go potty with no success. He didn't go at all yesterday, and you could tell he "had" to. When he didn't eat his food last night, I knew something was wrong.

Max is an indoor dog, but now that the weather is nice (r) he is spending more time outside. We are on an acreage, with a grove of trees around. Max and our other dog Diesel are wonderful at finding bones on the property. I don't know if they are old ones from out in the grove somewhere, or what.

DH just called me from the vet-they did bloodwork and x-rays, and sure enough-little pieces of bone have him "backed up" and they are all combining together to make one "big" bone. They are apparently too far down for a normal surgery, so David said the vet said something about putting him under, and going in from the back

We've gone back and forth with what to do-put up an underground fence, to keep the dogs out of the grove, and away from my chickens (Max is also the dog that has lost alot of my grace-as he is a chicken killer) it's just not feasible (not sure if that's the word I'm looking for) to keep him on a leash at all times. Underground fencing is so expensive now, and honestly it's just a bad time for anything like this to come up. I think when DH called, he was expecting me to say, just put him down-as I've often threatened that I'm going to personally shoot him. But no, I said "I suppose.." So now we will be looking at a $500+ bill from the vet (and that sounds pretty low to me, but what DH said)

 

[Dar]

My dog was not a chicken killer but man o man was she a runner...

I could not afford to fence the whole yard so what I did was get some plastic coated aircraft cable (its like the cable used for a laundry line).. and attach it between 2 trees like a laundry line....i have a leash with the metal clips on both ends and i clip one end to the dog and the other end to the line therefore she had the length of the plastic coated cable + the length of the leash..this gave her full access to the yard and i could keep her from running....and when I went to feed the chickens my table scraps i could just attach a clip to the plastic coated cable and temporary reduce her roam area


ps...when my dog gets bunged up i make pork chops and give her the trimmings...it cleans her right out....a dried pigs ear will do the same...but something else may work differently with each dog...

*disclaimer cause i know i am gonna need it....*** always follow the advice of your vet

 

[kees]

Many people use the cable run.

If you use an underground fence, it really isn't that expensive if you install it yourself. Basically, you would bury the wire a little bit under the soil.

I hope that your Dobie will get better soon.

Suzy

 

[Chicken Fruit]

you know, it costs literally 90-120 bucks to build a dog yard. The posts are about 3 dollars a piece, and the fencing is like 50 for a 50 ft roll, which makes a nice 12x12 dog yard, but its easier to just buy two rolls and commit to a 24 foot square yard. That comes out to about 120 bucks. Throw the posts in the ground and tie the fence up with wire.

Its really not that hard, we've done it ourselves plenty of times.

 

[BrahmaMama]

You know, I've thought of that tie line idea before- it's just something we haven't gotten around to yet. That would probably be the best thing for him though. I know one of the "plus'" of an acreage is allowing your dog to run, but I also know you need to keep track of them. They never go towards the road, which is gravel, so less traffic too...again, they don't go towards there though.

The vet told DH that he had another dog that he had to do the same surgery on-a greyhound that kept eating rocks. I guess the dog's owner ended up getting one of those muzzle/mask type things-probably what you see a racing greyhound with, and just put it on him *every* time he went out. He said that's something to look into also. It's just a matter of us being more dilligent I guess *sigh.*

I like the pork chop idea,

I did try to feed him some bread soaked in olive oil yesterday...he wouldn't touch it though. That made me wonder, as he eats ANYTHING, but I thought maybe the oil smell was offputting. When he didn't eat his food though..

 

[cluckychick]

I use a gel that come in like a toothpaste tube that my vet gives me and I just give a squirt in their mouth. You can buy it at the farm store as well. Used for hairballs for cats. It works good.

 

[Chicken Fruit]

Quote:
A muzzle is a good idea, although dogs get good at wriggling out of them if they have the time...

Building a little yard is just sooo easy, and then the job is done and your worries are pretty much over. We always use 4 foot fence, but they sell 5 foot.

Also, check out local lumber mills- they dont usually advertise their existence, but if you drive around you're bound to find some some where- unless you live in an arid area. They'll sell raw lumber for practically nothing. We just fenced our ENTIRE YARD with 6 and 4 foot solid wood privacy fence... about 200+ linear feet or so, for about 600 dollars, including all the hardware, screws and extra woops-we-mismeasured wood. it took us a couple years since we built it piece by piece and baord by board, but it was well worth it. It'll last a long long while.

 

[Dar]

Quote:
its usually a malt flavoured....the one I use is available at any pet food store is called femalt...but i have never used it on my dogs....good idea tho

 

[BrahmaMama]

Quote:
A muzzle is a good idea, although dogs get good at wriggling out of them if they have the time...

Building a little yard is just sooo easy, and then the job is done and your worries are pretty much over. We always use 4 foot fence, but they sell 5 foot.

Also, check out local lumber mills- they dont usually advertise their existence, but if you drive around you're bound to find some some where- unless you live in an arid area. They'll sell raw lumber for practically nothing. We just fenced our ENTIRE YARD with 6 and 4 foot solid wood privacy fence... about 200+ linear feet or so, for about 600 dollars, including all the hardware, screws and extra woops-we-mismeasured wood. it took us a couple years since we built it piece by piece and baord by board, but it was well worth it. It'll last a long long while.

I'm sure my DH can build one, he is pretty good that that type of stuff.

That paste sounds interesting-I've never heard of it before.

 

[Appytaz]

I have a very stubborn running dog and she will run thru the underground fence. She even has the larger stubborn dog collar. I had to fence the property and then attach the shock fence to my chain link. She has no clue it is not on right now, but she will not go near the fence. However, neither fence alone would keep her in!