ferky1

Miles (2 1/2 year old Shih Tzu) developed an unsightly growth just under his nose about 5-6 weeks ago. It grew rapidly and then stopped growing. Took him to the vet about 2 weeks ago (well respected facility, hospital, 24 hour emergency care. . . .) and they were very nocommital. They said it could be 1) An infection in which case he needs antibiotics, but if it's not an infection then of course the antibiotics won't do anything; 2) a histiocytoma or 3) a cancerous or pre-cancerous tumor. Vet said that based on Miles' age and the look of the growth, she is 99.99% certain that it isn't a tumor or anything dangerous. She "guesses" that it is a histiocytoma and she said that if Miles was her dog she would wait one to two months and it may go away on its own. Otherwise she would cut it out. She said that it shouldn't be growing, but I think it is. That's the story. Here's some pics, I'd like to know what you guys think. In the two weeks since seeing the vet I think it's gotten bigger. It's unsightly, but at the same time I hate to think of causing Miles the pain of cutting it off. [img]http://home.comcast.net/~mrosenstein22/Miles_growth_1.jpg[/img] [img]http://home.comcast.net/~mrosenstein22/Miles_growth.jpg[/img] [img]http://home.comcast.net/~mrosenstein22/Miles_growth_2.jpg[/img]

[url]http://www.thestate.com/mld/thestate/news/local/9467779.htm[/url] Dog stops Columbia carjacking Associated Press COLUMBIA, S.C. - A dog took a bite out of crime to stop a would-be carjacker Thursday night, police say. The 3-year-old Rottweiler-Doberman pinscher mix named Diablo bit the suspect after he opened the passenger door of a car stopped at a stoplight and grabbed the driver by the neck. The woman, who asked The (Columbia) State not to identify her, said she had to pry the dog's jaws open to get him to let go. The dog lost its four bottom teeth in the incident, but the woman said a veterinarian told her those were the dog's puppy teeth. The carjacker has not been caught, Richland County sheriff's spokesman Joseph Pellicci said. A couple thoughts here, first, you want to bet that some breed-hating idiots are going to use this as ammo for saying that rots and dobs are dangerous? Also, I predict that the car-jacker/dog bite victim, if caught, will find some scumbag lawyer (I am a lawyer and fully acknowledge that there are some scumbags out there) to sue 1) the dog owner, 2) the township for allowing that type of breed, 3) the car manufacturer for not protecting car-jackers from dogs in the passenger seat 4) the dogs' breeders and 5) anyone else he can think of because God knows this couldn't be his fault :roll: One question though: The dog lost four teeth. That's some tough biting!! But a 3 year-old with baby teeth? Does that sound right?

[url]http://www.nbc10.com/news/3593850/detail.html[/url] Appears to me like another case of dogs and people suffering because an owner is incapable of exercising any type of control. [b]Owner Tries To Save Pets From Death Sentence Two Dogs Allegedly Bit Three People[/b] UPPER DARBY, Pa. -- Two Bichon Frise dogs in Upper Darby may look cute and cuddly, but a Delaware County judge said their bites are just as bad as their barks and he has ordered them to be put to death. A judge on Tuesday deemed both dogs vicious and ordered them to be put to sleep after they bit three different people, including two children, in as many months. Anna Aslanides said she can't imagine life without her precious pets, Perry and Bastille. "(The judge) wants to kill the dogs. He can kill us, me and my daughter together. He can kill us too," Aslanides said. Megan Reilly, 14, almost had to go through a series of rabies shots after one of the dogs bit her in April. "It bit right through my sock," Reilly remembers. "I was just walking. I didn't provoke them in any way and it looked like they were running behind me the other way, and they just came up behind me and bit me." Reilly still has a visible scar from the three puncture wounds and had to have an X-ray to make sure there were no remnants of the dog's tooth still imbedded in her leg. She almost had to get a series of painful rabies shots because her mother, Kathleen Reilly, said it took a week of phone calls and faxes to the police and health department to determine if the dogs were vaccinated. Reilly said the owner never responded. "I had to protect my child. I know the chance of the dogs having rabies was possibly low, but the fact that she wasn't responding to anybody had me thinking that perhaps these dogs weren't up on their immunizations and I can't take that chance with my child," Reilly said. Megan Reilly wasn't alone. Two other people, including an 11-year-old boy, were bitten in the months following her reported attack. The law in Upper Darby says after three bites, a dog must be destroyed. "It does not matter what kind of dog, if there are three bites it can be considered vicious," said Jim Maloney of the Upper Darby Health Department. Aslanides' mother said their dogs are not vicious. She said the family has hired an attorney and is not going to lose Perry and Bastille without a fight. The township said the appeals process could take several months, during which if the two dogs were ever outside, they would have to be on a leash and muzzled. If the appeal fails, the dogs will be put to sleep, by order of the court. Copyright 2004 by NBC10.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

I know this probably belongs in the Health section, but more people see it here in the Everything section. Miles' best friend, an overweight pug named Gabby, has sores on her mouth and lips. The vet diagnosed them as Papaloma or Fiber Papaloma and said that there isn't any medication they can give and they aren't contageous. In Gabby's, and the vet's, defense, Gabby sees lots of dogs during the average week and no other dog has picked up anything. Miles is supposed to go over for a playdate tomorrow (the first time since the appearence of these THINGS). No one seems concerned but me, but I can't find any information on the internet. Does anyone know anything about this? Would you let your dog go play? Edited to say that I have been informed that the formal name is Fibropapilloma. Still can't find any useful info though.

[quote name='sashagirl']ferky... did you see the post in NDR? :wink: 8)[/quote] I actually don't know which thread in NDR that you are referring to. Link?

[quote name='primorse']Uh, nooooo. I am "directly implying" that allowing one's cat to have kittens (particularly at this time of year) directly causes kittens to die. In the unlikely event that Sarah's brother in law has room in his life for three or four or five more cats, he can go to the shelter and save the life of as many as he wants. If he finds "responsible homes" for these kittens, that will be three or four or five "responsible homes" that other kittens won't get. They will die as a result. Legal quiz: Why is it inaccurate to charactrize anything that I say on this board as "slander?" primrose[/quote] What backwards logic that is! By applying your reasoning, no dog or cat should EVER be permitted to have offspring as long as there is at least one dog or cat without a home. You are saying that even the most responsible breeders, those who run full genetic testing, line up homes before mating even takes place and mate for the betterment of the breed instead of to make a buck, are guilty of killing the proportionate number of shelter dogs that won't be adopted because the breeder's puppies will go to those homes. What a stretch!! Sorry, don't buy it. Maybe the brother-in-law is guilty of allowing the cat to mate and giving birth to kittens without having found them homes, but to imply that he is directly or indirectly responsible for their, or other cats/kittens deaths is alarmist and offensive. Legal quiz answer: Slander is the spoken word, libel is written.

Miles is no retriever, but you had better believe that when someone walks in the house, he runs to greet them and then as soon as they give him some attention and pet him, he gets even more excited and runs off in search of Red Monkey (shown in pic below). Usually he will bring Monkey back and let you grab it so he can wrestle you for it. He'll even follow you around with Monkey in his mouth waiting for you to fight him for it.

I frequent a Shih Tzu forum at: [url]http://forums.doghobbyist.com/forum.php?catid=149[/url] Someone started a thread asking for advice on getting their Shih Tzu to eat dry food after being on a special soft diet due to an illness. It was always my understanding that short of BARF (or a similar fresh-food diet), high-quality dry kibble was the best food. Below is a post from a well-respected member of that Shih Tzu forum and it didn't sound right to me. Nobody has questioned her advice and I was wondering what you dogomaniacs think about it: Let me ask a question... why do you want her to eat dry food? It's not really good for dogs, and the only reason we use it so much is that it's cheap and convenient for us. Fresh homemade is best if you can do it, but if not, a quality canned food would be better than kibble. ----- Christie Caber Feidh Scottish Deerhounds Holistic Husbandry since 1986 [url]www.caberfeidh.com/[/url]

[quote name='DeafAussieLover']i was feeding my dogs pedigree and just recently swetiched to chicken soup dog food, my dogs love it![/quote] OT - DAL, glad to hear that yours are doing well after the changever to Chicken Soup. Miles has been thriving on CSFDLS and we are very happy with the results.

Can't offer any specific advice except to see this thread: [url]http://forum.dogomania.com/viewtopic.php?t=12997&highlight=pepper[/url] Looks like you aren't the only one with this problem.

I have been feeding Miles Chicken Soup for the Dog Lover's Soul for the past few months now. One day Miles decided that he hated Cannidae (he went on a hunger strike and wouldn't touch the stuff) and we experimented with Innova but it was too rich for the little guy. We decided to give Chicken Soup a shot based on its great ingredient list and recommendations from others. Miles loves it and everyone is happy. He poops less than when he was on the Cannidae and Innova (you don't want to know what he was pooping while on Innova!!!), he has no gas (that we know of) and he is healthy, shiny and active. It is also less expensive than almost every other "high-end" food we tried. Ingredients for the adult dog version: Chicken, turkey, chicken meal, turkey meal, whole grain brown rice, whole grain white rice, oatmeal, potatoes, cracked pearled barley, millet, chicken fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols), duck, salmon, egg product, flaxseed, natural chicken flavor, kelp, carrots, peas, apples, dried skim milk, cranberry powder, rosemary extract, parsley flake, potassium chloride, salt, choline chloride, dried chicory root, vitamin E supplement, iron proteinate, zinc proteinate, copper proteinate, ferrous sulfate, zinc sulfate, copper sulfate, potassium iodide, thiamine mononitrate, manganese proteinate, manganous oxide, ascorbic acid, vitamin A supplement, biotin, calcium pantothenate, manganese sulfate, sodium selenite, pyridoxine hydrochloride (vitamin B6), vitamin B12 supplement, menadione sodium bisulfite (source of vitamin K activity), riboflavin, vitamin D supplement, folic acid.

If you haven't found it already, there is a website, and a forum, just for people in the dog walking/pet sitting business. Lots of people here who have started and now run their own successful doggie businesses. [url]http://www.petsitters.com/[/url] [url]http://mb.petsitters.com/forum/[/url]

8-12 months was when my Miles 'came into his own' and started testing the boundaries of his own independence, so that's what it sounds like to me. You may start to notice that Webster relies on you less and starts to push his own boundaries by ignoring commands and trying to assert his own will. Essentially he is a teenager and from what I hear, raising a teenager is no fun! Miles and I got through this phase by getting even more attention from me. I discouraged the bad behavior and episodes where he "forgot" (yeah right) a command and really encouraged the good with praise and treats. Essentially, we stepped back to when he was a younger puppy that was just learning the rules. You may need to re-assert yourself as alpha, remind him that obeying you is fun (treats and praise) and do not reward any of his actions that display an attempt at independence. This is terrible advice for raising a human child but I think that it really works with a dog. You will get through this, but you need to be vigilant and pay even more attention to him now.

No offense taken K. My initial reaction was based on my reading of your post to mean that barking/whining/crying is based on the type of breed, as if a mature toy breed would still have this problem. I now see that we are all talking about babies. No one can ever expect a baby not to cry. They're babies, it's what they do!

First, and not to impugn K who knows a heck of a lot more about dogs than me, saying that this (excessive barking) has something to do with having a tiny dog is just wrong. Many toy breeds, particularly the Shih Tzu, have been breed to be [i]silent[/i] partners. By their very nature, Shih Tzus are quiet dogs not prone to yappiness. I have 3 Shih Tzus in my life, one of them my own, and the only time any of them bark is when they get together and start roughhousing and getting crazy. Unfortunately, and I don't know that it is the problem here, but one of the most common ways that bad breeding manifests itself in Shih Tzus is with excessive yappiness. I'm not saying that it can't be corrected, but it isn't natural for a Shih Tzu. Having said all of that, it is possible that your little pup is just scared being so young and away from its mother and littermates. Maybe your little girl decided to skip crying and whining and go straight to barking! Other than that, Cassie and K's advice is good. You have to do everything you can to comfort the little one, but it is important NOT to reinforce the barking by paying any attention to the dog when it's going on. Rewards and comfort should be given to quiet dogs, not barking ones. Think of it this way, every time you take the pup out, speak in nice loving tones or give the dog a treat while she is upset and freaking out, you are actually rewarding her for the behavior and going backwards in your training towards a well-settled puppy. Not to fault you, but I doubt that your pup would have gone on for 45 minutes if she didn't believe, as she learned the night before, that you would eventually come and "rescue" her. Last but not least. You have a 9 week old Shih Tzu and you haven't posted pictures?!?!?! Get on that NOW! I've never met a person that didn't melt in the face of a Shih Tzu puppy. [edited to say that the first part of my post, regarding yappiness and bad breeding, is really geared towards barking during the day, at noises, birds, strangers, the wind. . . . Whining, crying and I guess barking are not that uncommon in any breed at such a young age when spending the first few nights/weeks away from its mother]