BuddysMom

What a difference! I love the before and after shots, all the doggies look much happier after you groomed them!

Not scared anymore, Buddy is going to be just fine! He spent 2 days, one overnight at the vet's. Got 2 injections 24 hours apart. The pre-injection x-rays had showed NO cardio-pumonary damage or anything, leading vet to conclude it was in the early stage with no adult worms :D He was very sore from the dorsal injection and IV spot last night, and is on rimadyl :-? for 10 days. But he is very perky this morning! Vet says he can run and play as much as he wants because of the low stage of infestation and the better treatment, but we'll still keep him quiet and spoiled for awhile. We go back in one month to make sure he's HW free. When we answered the "free to a good home" ad about a week ago we thought we were giving Buddy a better home, but now it turns out we saved his life.

I think the idea of shooting just goes beyond what most people can stomach ... beyond our idea of how civilized people act. I mean there is the Old West image of shooting a horse when it's leg is broken, but really ... imagine the scene of terror executing these puppies one by one in this way ... the others had to know what was going on and thet they were next. I think the vet would have charged to euthanize, at least $20 per puppy. His first felony was allowing his dog to have puppies to begin with imo.

I'll probably do with Buddy what I did with Puppyput the collar on in the morning and take it off at night (we say "time to put on your pajamas!" when we take off the collar :) ) If he was going to be home alone for hours, or if he were more michevious as far as jumping up on things, etc. I may reconsider. I do plan on getting him microchipped.

[quote]most shelters are trained to evaluate dogs for aggression and know who is adoptable and who is not regardless of breed.[/quote] True but imo the people at this particular shelter don't have the proper training or skills to do this. If the police K9 unit, veterinarian, or licensed animal behaviorist could make the evaluation I'd probably change my opinion, but until that happens I don't want THESE people releasing adult purebred pitbulls of unknown history into our community.

Sorry this is not a helpful post but just a comment that has to come out - I am NOT in favor of BSL but it seems that something has to be done. When we oppose BSL in our communities it would be most productive imho to propose and alternative. Not sure what that is. I imagine this forum has had this discussion in the past about this, and I will look for such. In my community there is a danger, as I see it. A 1 year old purebred PB is up for adoption in the local pound. The card said he was a stray, so how can they know he was not agression trained? They are good skilled people down there but not animal behaviorists. And maybe I will get bonked over the head for saying this here, but I would rather they PTS in this case NOT because of his breed, but because of the sadly real possibility that slimy people have already ruined him because of his breed.

AllAmerican, I don't know what to say ... I'm just so sad for you all ... sorry that happened. :cry:

My heart and well wishes go out to you and all your doggies!! Please keep us posted.

Yes many of the natural remedies that people use can also be used for pets (But not ALL of them, and obviously in different doses). A good natural food store would have books on the subject and staff who could help. You ca probably find some things on the 'net too. There have been some posts inthis forum about using Rescue Remedy. It is simply flower essence and totally safe. It would be good for you and your husband to take some too! (usually you put a couple drops in a glass of water - it works sort of homeopathically.) Good luck!

I'm sure the "advice" part got lost in the melodrama of my last post - The point was that I may try to sleep with him ... although on second thought NO, especially with a puppy you need to establish yourself as pack leader and that's counter productive. And now that I look at your first post it seems like maybe he was in the bed with you? This may be part of the problem because that's treatin him as a peer when instead at this age you need to be pack leaders. Assuming you have ruled out any medical reason (like infection from his nueter?) What about a big stuffed animal, hot water bottle, etc ... other things to comfort? I'm thinking maybe he's nervous ... And what about holistic things like lavender (aromatherapy), rescue remedy (flower essence) ... things like that? I think putting him outside would make it much worse and he soon would be completely out of control. I hope you get the help you need!! Keep us posted!!

Thank you both, that all helps so much!

My new adopted dog Buddy was found to be heartworm positive today and goes in for treatment tomorrow. They think (hope) it is stage 1, he doesn't appear to have symptoms. I'm really scared though! Can anyone "talk" to me who has been through this?

Thank you! He is 19 inches at the shoulder. But 45 pounds! Definitely needs to lose some weight.

Buddy is heartworm positive!!!! :( He goes in tomorrow. I'm going to search the forum and the rest of the www now.

After searching local shelters for a couple of weeks, Buddy came to us through a "Free to a good home..." ad. He was adopted from the pound but his owner found she couldn't give him any attention. He never got to go for walks or rides, and stayed chained up in a small dirt yard 24/7. We brought him home Sunday! (We being me, husband John, and Gladysse, cat 17 years old). He loves us as much as we love him (which is a LOT!!) He is so polite - yesterday John started calling him "little man". Yes we are the clich

K your post made me smile thinking about the vast differences in mothering skills among my friend's band of Arabian horses (which I wish they would not breed no matter how good the lines, there's too many Arabians too...) But it's neat thet they have learned to consider the mare's temprament in addition to bloodlines, genetics, etc. in making breeding decisions.

Buddy Loves the Innova! I am so glad ...

Ripley's, you make a lot of sense to me. Thanks for taking the time to explain your position. The idealist in me agrees with the 2 year ban on breeding, period (This would include BYB's, and everyone by the way; when I see peple bringing this up they are not just saying "let's only target responsible breeders!" I've also been thinking about freedom / infringement / realistic enforecement through all of this discussion. These to me seem like the most challenging things. Do we want to be, with our dogs, like China has been with people and regulate reproduction? My first thought is, YES with dogs (in a reasonable manner), but NEVER with people! (Oh how I can ramble on. Hopefully when I get my "2nd paw" I'd have earned it.) :wink:

The dog and the vet were SO lucky you came around - not just a good samaritan but a "dog person" majorly!

Oh, this was perfect. Having gone through the 'third day' and 'fourth day' over the last 6 weeks, and eagerly anticipating a 'first day' tomorrow, this really hits the spot. I'm typing through a cloud of bittersweet tears. Thanks.

Wow, she is beyond cute! Looking forward to seeing her as she grows!

This has worked onece with a distressed older dog - actually it was Puppy on her last night, she got up in the middle of the night and couldn't walk on her own, so i 'duck walked' her outside and around for awhile, but then she wouldn't stay in her bed, she wanted to keep getting up and trying to walk. I took a sleeping bag and pillow and cuddled next to her, stroked the ends of her ears and just talked softly to her. She settled down and went to sleep (I did too). Woke up on the floor but at least we got some rest. (then we went to the vet) :cry:

Thank you AllAmerican and Newfiemom ... I got up early to amend my post of last night, I was tired and had just come from a dinner party where a couple was bragging about making designer dogs with their Yorkie. I should have waited till morning to sign on! :oops:

Well, I'm just glad to see some folks feel the same way I do... and I certainly have not set out to disparage truly "good" dog breeders... ... And I have not felt that anyone has been defensive (which is probably just another characteristic of BEING a "responsible breeder" as you are!) Yet I can't help doing the math. You (with the help of your dog) make puppies ... people buy your puppies ... sure that's a beautiful thing! But in the meantime all the unwanteds are ignored because hey, why should anyone give the shelter a glance when thay can buy the perfect dog from You instead? And also wondering if problems really are fewer with bred dogs than with rescue dogs? Not saying I know, but to me it just seems like it would be the other way around.

Thank you smooshie and rednosemamma!! I found Innova!! It looks like truly "the stuff". And not as expensive as I though it would be. I will probably do the oatmeal & yogurt switchover.