MaryJane

Try giving a slice of toasted bread with some butter or peanut butter - I used to use this to put weight on fosters.

Since the kitten did not have any shots, you might need to get a rabies booster for your dogs. Check with the vet and see what they recommend.

So sorry that this happened to you ... Even though it does not look like the eye was scratched - you need to have the vet exam the eyes otherwise, could get a "bad eye infection". Is there a chance that your dog may have gotten bitten - if so, did the cat have a current rabies, if not, you probably need to get a booster.

You didn't mention which town you were in in MA ... you might want to try Angel in Boston although they will be expensive for regular visits. Tufts is out in the western part of the state and they are also good. I use Angel all the time now for emergencies although I like to use a local vet for the "regular stuff". You might also want to check with the greyhound groups and see where they take their dogs.

If there is no bacteria I agree with the vet that you should not be giving antibiotics. You might want to try another C&S in a week or so and see it cultures bacteria. Do you have any results from the rest of the urinalysis like the specific gravity, protein, blood, or glucose? The next logical step is to do a ultrasound or x-ray and see if there is something going on with the kidneys/bladder/stones.

She's starting to assert her dominance which happens when a new dog starts to feel comfortable in the house. As someone mentioned, it's not really you she's possessive of - it's whatever "she wants" at that moment. With big dogs - and a big dog knows that it's big, you are going to have jostling for the dominant position. If you have not already done it, you need to take her to training classes with other big dogs (get into a training class that specializes in the big breeds) and since she is so big and maybe not so controllable, you'll might end up using a prong collar. As a side note, you may want to consider taking both the dogs to training at the same time, sometimes when dogs are walked (or trained) together they start to realize they are part of the same pack but .... sometimes not

I didn't have a chance to read all the articles but, from what I read a few years ago it needed to be used with pepper to get the benefit - it that still true?

I'm sorry - pseudomonas can be real tough to treat in a UTI. My Lucy had it and luckily (knock wood) it was sensitive to a regular antibiotic so she didn't have to go into the hospital. Decades ago when I worked at a vet we had a dog that developed a UTI with two different bacteria and this was one of them and it was a case where it was impossible to treat both bacteria at the same time and when one bacteria was treated the other "ran rampart" .. just couldn't get ahead of it - the dog ended up having to be put down. Prayers for the best possible outcome in this situation ...

If your dog cannot have chicken at all your options will be limited. About 2 years ago I went thru the ingredients in most of the dog foods out there to get a reasonably priced kibble to feed a "chicken sensitive" dog. What I found is that most of the kibbles will have some "non-specified oils" or ingredients which are likely to be chicken based. I was only able to find three that did not list any chicken or "suspicious ingredients" and one of those was the Limited Ingredient Natural Balance. I used the Venison and sweet potato which seemed to do the trick for this dog. Since then I have used this dog food for other fosters also. By the way the other two (reasonably priced) with no chicken were the Solid Gold beef and Barley which wasn't helping enough and the other was the Petsmart's Authority Lamb and Rice which didn't help at all.

Sending prayers that everything will be OK with some bed rest

"Grain free" seems to be the current trend IMHO. I've been feeding my dogs cooked oatmeal every morning for years and they seem none the worse for it. Since they get a good amount of fiber, the poops are pretty easy to pick up but not "rock hard". Note, in the wild a dog would not be able to feast on grains but ... they do eat animals that will have stomach contents full of digested nuts, berries, grains, grasses and so on.

I'm very careful about treats and feed nothing that has anything from China. Like you, I'm also careful to "see past" the made in USA statement and try to check where the "ingredients" originate from.

Oh my ..... looks brutal, hope she heals quickly

You can try adding a tablespoon or so of some yogurt to the food.

The change does not come from the individual -- it comes from the trainer ... Do you blame the dog when he won't sit? Then why are you blaming the client when they can't get the dog to sit?

I don't know about your area but around the Boston suburbs I can usually find meat on sale for about 2.00 to 2.50 a pound at regular supermarkets (people food).

I would suggest that you do "evaluations" at the end of your classes and also do a "expectation survey" at the beginning of the class. The expectation survey allows you to address what your clients expect to get from class which you can realistically counter with what they will actually walk out with. You may also want to put together an "objectives" page which provides clients with what they will have "done" (accomplished) once they complete the class. This puts a burden on you to make sure for example that each dog coming out from class will be able to sit on command or heel (whatever you decide is an objective) and if the client can't make it happen, then you would have to step up and "make it happen". As to the evaluations, this will allow you to upgrade your class to include information/practices that the clients deem to be important even though it may not rank high on your list - an example would be "jumping" as a trait that is causing misery in a house and thus, need to be addressed. A rule of thumb, most "how-to" classes seem to have too much "talk" rather than showing and practicing. Sometimes "stories" are nice but, not when the clients are not getting what they paid for. I would also suggest using client's dogs for your demos rather than your own dog (if you feel that you are capable). It will be tougher but, that is why it will earn you respect and "repeat customers". Note, there is a tendency to "blame" the customers because they are not doing the exercise right, not listening and so on ... if these are consistent problems then change the class/techniques to take this into account.

Usually with my fosters I take them out - when they get up from a nap/sleeping - after they have been playing - after they eat - and at least every 3 hours I do this until I know their toilet schedules a little bit better. In addition to praising, you need to get a "word" or "words" to identify what you want her to do outside and then praise her when she does and make sure that you use the "word". With all my fosters so far, I was able to use the keyword and the dogs would just go outside and do what was needed. Depending on the foster it could take anywhere from a few days to 2 or more weeks for them to "make the connection". Note I use a different keyword for each. Good Luck

My first dog was picked for me by the adoption group and they made a great choice - he was my "heart dog". The adoption groups grow to know the dogs well and they really want the family and the dog to work well together - they have everyone's best interests at heart. Good Luck!

Just love those ears - what a cutie!

One of my greyhounds was over 100 lbs and he was getting a bit over 4 cups a day when he was fed kibble - so 6 cups may be too much if you are also giving treats. Also, you don't want to give that much at one feeding - break it up over two or three feedings a day. If you want to get some extra weight on him, try a slice of toast with either a bit of peanut butter or regular butter. I have used this countless times to put some weight of fosters.

So sorry to hear that this has not resolved.

Thanks for sharing - very good read.

I might recommend putting her on a kidney diet, either commercial or home-made.

You've provided quite a bit more background about the food allergies issues that you face and I can see why you have decided to try raw but, did you consider just doing a cooked home-made diet where you can control all the ingredients? One of mine also has food sensitivities (chicken and noodles) and as a result, I home cook for both of mine. As mentioned by others, feeding an immune compromised dog a raw diet could be a risk because of the bacteria that while it might be OK for a healthy dog might cause severe issues in an immune-compromised dog. Also, when I reread your recent reply, there were additional symptoms being mentioned of swallowing/licking" in addition to the choking. This starts to get indicative of bloat (gas building up). I hate to even bring this up but in that case, sometimes dogs will also extend out their neck and they may make hacking sounds. They also can't get comfortable - they lie down and get up immediately. As someone has mentioned, post this instead in H&M and get more responses from a medical rather than the food/diet perspective.