Baileysmom

Im so sorry HF!! hopefully all get well soon!! I agree with bleaching the yard though......... I did that after the parvo here, I put straight bleach in one of those "miracle grow" containers that attach to the hose to dillute it and sprayed and sprayed :wink: other than about 2 milliion worms coming to the surface for a few minutes ( I think they were cussing at me, but not sure :wink: ) the grass and everything survived just fine!

first of all - not too worry too much, he is still here :wink: yesterday morning Bailey came in from outside and ran in all excited as usual and accidently ran into Bongo and must have hit his face where his lump is :cry: Bongo screamed in pain and then cried and cried :( he tried to get over to me and was shaking so hard he could hardly walk. he was "smacking his lips" and throwing his head around. I sat on the floor holding him and comforting him, he finally stopped crying and continued shaking like a leaf for several minutes before he calmed down. :cry: poor thing, I felt so bad!! Hes back this morning to "normal" - getting a little more uncomfortable every day it seems, but basically doing ok. he still eats, but occasionally refuses a meal. this morning I noticed a couple spots on his side that look like he's losing hair, jsut a few small "holes" in his fur :o any idea what that would be?

I seem to remember someone (TX maybe?) asking how Bongo is doing and I dont think I ever really answered :oops: sorry..... For the most part, things are the same - his tumor is visibly larger and is gradually, as expected, causing more discomfort in his mouth. Last night was the first time he refused to eat his food :( the vet said refusing to eat would be the first signs he is getting closer to the end :cry: we did coax him to eat some table scraps :oops: and cheese (which Im sure is not good for him since he still has trouble with a constipation type problem, but we were desperate to get him to eat) anyway - the question I have is, is there a good way to clean "eye goobers" other than just water and a wash cloth? the tumor is large enough that it is "squinting" his eye so it runs alot. I clean it as much as I can, but it seems to hurt if I put any pressure on the lump, and no matter what I do there is dried goop under his eye...... any suggestions?

In my opinion a kong is a must - they make many differnt sizes, and strengths (including puppy versions) alot I think depends on the dog though and what they like - I would maybe get a couple different things and see what he ends up liking .... Bongo would only play with rope bones an even that not alot, and ofcourse chewing on treats, he was never a "toy" dog....... Bailey on the other hand is obsessed with chasing tennis balls when we're out at the dog park, and LOVES stuffed squeaky toys at home.

Thanks everyone - you guys are right....... I need to wait, becasue it would be alot of added stress for everyone to train a new one while we are trying to give Bongo the best we can for his last month or so. Its jsut hard to see Bailey so bored sometimes, she seems to be jsut dying to paly with someone and Bongo jsut gets annoyed - we take them both to the dog park as often as we can, but thats a half hour drive away :( Im thinking maybe the answer is having Stryker come over some days (if thats really ok Nay?) that way they can play and wear eachother out and Bongo didnt seem to mind him around at all - but its still on not a permanant change to stress him and all of us with :wink:

Ok - I apologize in advance if this is long and rambling...... I jsut feel like I need to get some of my ideas and thoughts out and maybe see what others think or what experience others have had....... More and more I am realizing Bailey needs a playmate, She wants so badly to play with another dog and for obvious reasons Bongo will have none of it. My first question is should I be looking now or waiting til Bongo is gone? either way I feel horrible - either I feel like I am pushing him out if I do now, or trying to replace him if I wait :o neither one of which is my intention. also, I worry if we brought home a dog now how would Bongo feel? like hes being replaced? :cry: or am I putting way too human emotions on him? and on the other hand - would doing something like that help him or us in letting go? or jsut take away time that we should be with him? on a whole other side to those questions - any ideas on a good breed to look for ? I do not want a young puppy, but a yong enough "adult" that they are still playful (maybe a yr or two?) I am thinking small to medium size - we are fairly active, but not extremely, so dont want an "overwhelmingly active" doggie....... I will pretty much be looking at our humane society and on petfinder when I do. so- any thoughts for me??

I know there are others here more knowledgeable on the subject - but Ill get you started...... I dont know alot of the good/bad on the different types so Im interested in that also...... I have a friend who loves the wire kind because her two can see and sleep beside eachother even though they are in differnt crates, but then my obedience instructor said she knew someones collapsible wire crate actually collapsed on the dog :( have no idea if thats a real concern though or if the person wasnt responsible to secure it properly :roll: personally I use the plastic kind but have thought about getting the canvas type eaasier for traveling. On the training part, simply start by tossing treats in it and praising big time when he goes in - do not close the door on it at first though. leave the door open so he can come and go and inspect as he wishes at first. once he is getting used to it close the door for only a minute or two, and give lots of praise - gradulaly increase the time...... I was concerned about crate training Bailey because she was 8 mo old when I adopted her and I had no idea of her prior situation, but she took to it really well, and now I jsut say "crate" from anywhere in the house and she runs right into it! :D if Im going to be gone very long Ialso give her a kong to keep her occupied :wink: good luck!!

BONGO!!!!! Its his 12th today, Valentines Day :D Sadly, as we know, it will be his last - but we are trying to celebrate as best we can and spoil him :) Happy Birthday handsome old man!!

[quote]My dog's name is Pauly! [/quote] I'm sorry :oops: actually Pauly doesnt sound too bad - adding the "y" makes it osund alot better for a dog for some reason :wink:

personally I like human names for my dogs (within reason tho, Paul is stupid :wink: ) right now I have a Bailey - I had a couple of foster aussie mixes we named Abby and Maxie........ as for yours, Alena, have you looked at the many dog naming sites? thats where I always start :lol: and at the humane society I have a baby name book I can refer to when I need to name a dog or c@t (so they can go on PF or in the paper) In case you saw - last saturday there was a Aussie as the pet of the week in the paper that I photographed and named Beau :D

I totally know what you mean :D I have a huge cupboard in the bathroom with a set of drawers in it, the whole thing full of doggie stuff - their alternate collars, sweaters, dremel, clippers, shampoos, bandanas, etrc etc etc, and thats not to mention the laundry room has special hooks where there are several leashes, harness, gentle leader, etc.... :oops:

I got the same request for my beagle meet up group, but not sure if I should do it, youll have to let me know how it goes :D

seven would be too many for me :o , but if your family is happy with the situation, and they all receive good care, get plenty of exercise and playtime and eat good food, then it shouldnt be a problem :D like someone else said, though, you may want to look into your city or county limits though if you are concerned about legality. some places say you have to have a kennel license or something similar to have more than a certain number of dogs.....

we have lost way too many this past year :cry: last february we had to put my sons pom to sleep he was aging fast, had no teeth, was blind, deaf and then suddenly over the course of 2 days became paralyzed :( then in the fall we lost 3 foster puppies and their mom to parvo :cry:

He's hanging in there - sleeps alot, but he does still get up and bark at the door/windows (a wonderful habit Bailey taught him :roll: ) he still eats, but not as much and I can tell it hurts :( I can see that the lump is bigger and his eye on that side doesnt open as far as the other side.... I really wish he could tell us how he feels, because I really dont want him to suffer and he's one of those "strong, silent" types and Im afraid we won't know its time until he's really hurting bad :cry:

Thanks again - I have no idea how far into it they caught it :oops: the first time we saw the lump it showed up very suddenly the beginning of september, he had several teeth removed then (thinking it was the abcess) after all that, the swelling went down, but never went away completely - and then seemed to be getting bigger starting a month or so ago......... he was seen again about it about 3-4 weeks ago and was diagnosed jsut over 2 wks ago now........ so thats where we are :roll:

Thanks so much DO - that helps alot - in your experiences, what has the time line been like?

This is something I will probably call my vet about, but I know shes busy, so I thought I'd bring it up here first....... Most of you know Bongo was diagnosed with cancer about 2 wks ago - specifically squamous cell carcinoma, in his upper jaw area (it was first thought to be a tooth abcess) We know he is leaving us, and the vets first "prognosis" was anywhere from a few weeks up to a couple months. I havent been able to find alot of information on this particualr type, toher than she said it is slow to spread, but is very aggressive and "nasty" :( So far Bongo is ok - the tumor is getting larger, but he is still eating, though not as much. He has been having trouble pooping and is getting pumpkin with his food as well as the med sulfasalazine for colitis. the vet thinks it is unrelated to the cancer though..... what I have been wondering lately though is - what can we expect to happen from here?? will he jsut slow down more? act in pain? anything specific we may see that would tell us the end is getting nearer ?? he doesnt show his pain much as it is, and I do remember the vet saying its easy to "wait too long" in that case (ie- they are in massive pain before they really show it) I am very grateful for having this time and being able to spoil him knowing we dont have much more time with him, but I also wish I knew the "right time" - obviously we want him to be around as long as possible and not pts before he's "ready", but I also dont want him to suffer......... :cry: any ideas or experience with this??

Ok - I dont know exactly where this should be or how any of you can help, but I have to try........ a friend of mine jsut called and her brother has a 1 yr old pittie girl he needs to find a home for (not sure of the exact circumstances, but know it involves a divorce..) I think she needs training (ofcourse) but she has been around kids and other dogs and is really well behaved. He tried to take her to our local HS :cry: but thankfully decided not to leave her because we do not adopt them out because of the high incidence of fighting them in our area and she would be pts. he is responsible enough to want to make sure he knows the people will be responsible with her given her breed esp. and even said he would rather have her pts humanely than worry if she is being fought or neglected. SOOOOO - what can we do? anyone here know of anyone who might want her? I will look up the rescue areas also - but other than that Im at a loss :(

Ok I'm really confused now :roll: my vet still swears that the fleas have to bite to die with frontline plus. I still see fleas occasionally on Bailey, but she doesnt itch nearly like she used to! I'm wondering if I should switch kinds or what?

good news! he went at the dog park today! not tons - so it would still be nice if I coudl give him something to help if hes a little constipated

THis morning I went to let Bongo in from going potty and he was outside crouching liek he needed to poop but nothing was coming out :( I noticed the same thing one time last week, but since I dont usually stand out there to watch them do their business (Bailey wont go if anyone is watching!) I dont know if this is happening all the time........ is there somethign I can give him to help him go? is this a sign of something beginning to shut down in his body? :cry:

my vet said its in their system but only kills them when they bite - I ahd talked to them about it because I was finding live fleas on bailey after using it......... I still use it, but now Im wondering if one of the others woudl be better - Id sure rather not have them at all!

COngrats Nay! you know, he must be perfect, he has the same birthday as me!!! :wink:

we did get back the results - and its not good....... squamous cell carcinoma :cry: the only treatment is a very invasive surgery and given the location and his age, really not even an option....... the doc said its a pretty nasty cancer, but spreads relatively slowly. It seems the only thing to do now is enjoy him and spoil him for whatever time we have left. (she said shes had dogs last as long as a couple months - but prob not that long) :cry: