Dog advice

[Stephen Blair]

I have 3 dogs, 2 of which are getting on. They live outside in kennels.

The fox terrier is 12, has dimension but is happy and now wears a muzzle at night time as she barks a lot, the muzzle has really chilled her out tbh:001_smile:

 

My German pointer is 11, has had epilepsy since it was about 2, vet always said they couldn't do anything, pills are just a gesture.

He has always been super fit, but would take fits and after 10 minutes would be ok, he may take more in the kennel but we don't know, they are getting more and more and his behaviour is getting strange.

He whines a lot, always making beds in things around the garden, very clingy and just not right.

I have tried different stuff, feeding him more, making his bed better, but he always chews tip and chucks it out, moved him into the shed with a nice bed, whines and chews it up, brought him indoors, guess what, whines and chews up his bed.

I think maybe all the years of fits have caught up with him. I do not want him suffering, I don't want him having a poor quality of life , and I don't want a wierd dog, barking in my garden when I have kids.

Really stuck , Vet gave him a look over a few weeks back as he was in with a sore paw, and said they didn't know , he is also not keeping weight on:lol:

[john p]

Had similar thing with my Alsation,when they start going 'weird'its distressing for all concerned,personally with kids about i wouldnt run the risk.horrible though aint it ?

[Stephen Blair]

He is actually 12, in my head I know what needs done but he is fit.

I always thought we would retire him into the house to live out his last years. But he has never been around kids, and he gave a little growl last time, so no chance.

[Andy Collins]

Sounds like an isometric stroke Stevie, my lab is going through the same problems at the moment, similar symptoms, apparently brought on by the stress of my going into hospital and not returning. His life was upturned by the loss of his pack leader, and quite simply he couldn't deal with it. Can be treated with a pill, though they can recur.

[Paul Smith]

Stephen, the pointers a good age and it sounds like it's had a good life. I lost my wire hair last year, went into the vets for a simple thing and wasn't happy to hear the outcome. A tumour or growth the the stomach, possibly thousands of pounds worth of treatment with no certain out come. She was putting Muntjac out of bramble the same morning! I made the decision to put her down, a very hard decision but I value the welfare of my dogs more than my own and I think in this situation selfish feelings. After all I might feel better giving her the treatment but would it actually make the dog feel better?

 

It's a decision only you can make but I always say when the dogs quality of life suffers its probably time.

 

Good luck

[Martyn Amos]

you got to do what you think is best,sometimes its a hard choice to make,i had to make it myself,we had a 14yr old jack russell who became senile,constantly barking and peeing in his own water[he lived outside]

he had no quality of life,we made the choice of having him put to sleep,also agreed with the vet.

 

but they again we only brought our rhodesian ridgeback bitch home from the vets today after a major op [womans trouble] she went in friday,had op yesterday and back home today.set us back £633.00 but she is only 8 so we were prepared to give her a chance:thumbup1:

 

at the end of the day you do love your pets and they become part of the family and its hard to say goodbye.

[Stephen Blair]

Sounds like an isometric stroke Stevie, my lab is going through the same problems at the moment, similar symptoms, apparently brought on by the stress of my going into hospital and not returning. His life was upturned by the loss of his pack leader, and quite simply he couldn't deal with it. Can be treated with a pill, though they can recur.

 

That's nuts Andy, all this started getting really bad my 2 nd night in hospital, My wife couldn't get him to settle so we put him to my mates kennels as we thought it would be better for them, and my wife had enough to do.

So we were apart for 3 weeks!

The dynamics of the pack are all to shot, the fox terrier used to be top dog, but now she is bonkers, the younger border terrier is acting like a teenager and shredding stuff in the garden, it ate the trampoline cover earlier today. Now Rudi is like a scared old dog:thumbdown:

The fun little border now won't go near its food if I am in the garden.

They all used to sit and wait till I gave the go ahead to eat.

Edited January 15, 2012 by Stephen Blair

[White Noise]

My Staffy started having fits in July of last year . I feel totally helpless when he's having one . Now he's on Phenoarb at 30mgs a day which is a small dose and was doing fine until 12 weeks ago . When he had a cluster of fits and as he was coming round he bared his teeth at me for the first time ever . So I really understand your situation . I think as your his Master you'll know him better than anyone . If he's eating and has a sparkle in his eyes you'll know for sure he's happy .

[Aaron]

As hard as it is i think you know the answer to your own question.

[Andy Collins]

We have to take ours to the vet again tomorrow, he's 11 now, though during the day he's fine, at night he just whines, woofs and wanders about all the time till he collapses dog tired in the corner. He's a lovely old dog, been great with the kids all the way through and a brilliant guard dog. We have to have him checked for other ailments tomorrow, maybe it will give us an idea which way he has to go, or if he can be left a year or so. Trouble is, we need our sleep too, I'm trying to recover, my wife has enough on her plate looking after me at the moment without having to endure sleepless nights due to the deranged dog!