Advice Please

[Linzi00]

Hi All,

Well i've had a pretty sick puppy the last few weeks. Several infections (ear, skin and a UTI) then I found out he has roundworms. On top of all that he has had a very bad limp - which after 10 days of rest (and 5 days of Rimadyl) went away....but has returned. SO we are starting the process again. He did have an xray done - and there is possibly something not right in a little elbow bone - but could be just a puppy phase. My vet wants to wait for his other issues to clear up and then readdress the elbow.

Anyways...None of the bones or my old tricks (yogurt frozen in a Kong) are holding his attention. He does have an appetite but im wary of overfeeding and am looking for something to occupy him while not adding too much to his daily intake (i do measure out the kibble and subtract.) I found a local butcher and bought pigs ears and turkey necks. They came frozen in a package. I was wondering how to prepare these? Do I give them frozen? Do I thaw them out and then give it? Cook them? He has had pigs ears in a package...and he likes them...but they make him thirsty. He does tend to have a sensitive tummy. Any advice would much appreciated....Also, any ideas on how to keep a 17 week old puppy interested without too much activity?

 

[NewfieMama]

We have had luck with puzzle toys and egg babies. I got both on amazon.

Hope he feels better soon!

 

[Puppypeoplenj]

Check out the raw feeding sticky on the Food forum! The consensus seems to be that it's perfectly fine to give him the meat raw. But remember to never give your puppy/dog a cooked bone. It's more likely to splinter and hurt them.

 

[ElvisTheNewf]

With ear and skin infections I'd be cautious about giving him too many different types of food since he may have a food allergy. What are you feeding him?

That being said, have you tried peanut butter frozen in a kong? Elvis loves that, but since we're watching him weight we started stuffing them with frozen green beans.

I'd also contact his breeder if he's having that many issues in such a short amount of time. They may have advice but should know what's been going on, especially if ortho issues may be involved.

 

[Codes]

Have you contacted your breeder? If not, that is the first step to see what they would advise.

 

[lmfoltyn]

Jake loves green beans (frozen) put in his toys. He has a ball with holes on both ends that we put beans in and he goes nuts with it. He lays there and loves it. Another thing is raw bones with the marrow inside. Messy in the house but outside both my dogs will lick and chew for hours. You do have to be careful as if they get too much they will have loose poop the next day.

 

[Kayak]

Not sure if you want to introduce another food, but Kayak goes nuts if I put a little bit of string cheese in a Kong. It usually occupies him for a while. Also, If I want to stimulate him mentally without too much exercise, he likes to play the cup game. I put a treat under one of three cups and move them around and he has to guess which one has it and if he guesses correctly he gets it. I was amazed how quick he picked up this game when he was a young pup. He lays on the floor and will watch so intently and then when I'm done he puts his nose on the cup he thinks it's in. It's crazy cute. Your guy might like this game too.
Like the other's said though, I would contact the breeder, that seems like an awful lot of problems in such a short amount of time.

 

[mrs big dogs]

My experience with pig ears has not been good, especially with puppies, they are hard to digest and they gave my newfies the runs

 

[Sound Bay Newfs]

Marrow bones are great for a chewing pup. Freeze them first. You may want to take out some of the marrow first. You may be mixing too many types of food that is upsetting him. My dogs love playing with empty cardboard boxes and empty dog food bags. The limp may be pano and may go away as he matures.

 

[robertjt]

My pups love to play with plastic soda bottles or plastic milk jugs. If he kicks it with his paws, it may make him run. But, he just may lay and chew on them. Give it a try. (take off all caps first) Good luck and I hope he feels better soon.

 

[Linzi00]

Marrow bones are great for a chewing pup. Freeze them first. You may want to take out some of the marrow first. You may be mixing too many types of food that is upsetting him. My dogs love playing with empty cardboard boxes and empty dog food bags. The limp may be pano and may go away as he matures.

Thats a great idea....and I bet the freezing will feel great on his gums. He does get marrow bones - under close supervision - but I always take the marrow out first. I finally found a great butcher here and stocked up.
No Pano - or at least not likely as that was the first thing they looked for on his xrays.

Got the dryer. Thank you = ) Although for a first timer it looks quite intimdating

 

[Linzi00]

I did speak with the breeder and let him know what was going on. We are treating the things we can now and keep an eye on the limp; with limited activity. I am going to thaw the turkey neck and try a bit for him tomorrow. He loves the pig ears from the store - but I just dont like the sort of artificialness of them. I think he loves the crunch. Maybe I will wait a while before I attempt them. But I think he would be fine with them...just not raw. Maybe I can find a way to dehydrate them myself to duplicate the store ones.

When we brought him home he had diarrhea for a while. I am pretty sure that it was from the de-wormer. I also switched his food to Innova large breed and he has been doing great on that. I don't think necessarily that he has a sensitive tummy - he has been on several antibiotics for a while now (first for the skin infection - then we had to switch when the culture came back.) He still has several days left. I also had to give him the de-wormer again - so I am fairly confident thats where his tummy issues are coming from. There were a few weeks there where he was having good poops and no senstivities to any food that I noticed.

Thanks for the advice! He loves water bottles, paper, anything that krinkles, and I will definitely try the cup game! Thanks so much for all the advice.

 

[ardeagold]

Make sure the bone is RAW! And scoop out the marrow. It can give him diarrhea until he's used to it.

The limp could be pano, or it could be an elbow problem. Hopefully it's pano. To get rid of that feed a high quality Adult or All Life Stages food. And if you find that food is the problem, I'd stay away from wheat, corn, soy, and...chicken for now. Those could be triggers for the ear and skin problems. Make sure you look at ingredients. No chicken fat or anything should be in the food. And treats need to be wheat, corn, soy and chicken free too.

Hope you get everything straightened out soon!!

 

[Cat]

Empty plastic bottles of any size with the tops taken off...

...is Samson's toy of choice since he hit the ground. That hollow sound they make no matter how much he moves or touches them keeps him going for quite awhile. If he stops, we just move or toss it again. Any size too. You should see him with a 2.5 gal empty water container...
We try to monitor the heck out of food inputs and outputs and don't constantly want their entertainment based on eating something, but rather be stimulated when we can't be playing together so much, i.e., you are playing. but it doesn't keep you from functioning with other things to be done. Treat time is treat time and play time is play time

 

[Cat]

P.S.

so sorry about the ear, skin, UTI, limp nonsense. These guys and girls take a long time to grow up...You're a good Mom