Hawthorn

I've had vets take blood from the neck and the leg, but have only had bruising with the neck. Sophie's quite nervous and got a bit freaked out when they tried to clip her neck but was much calmer when they clipped her leg, so all in all I prefer them to use the leg. As regards taking them out the back, most vets have taken the blood in the consulting room, one or two have asked which I would prefer, and one always took them out the back without asking. Last time this happened, Sunny was gone for ages and came back upset (and he's not one to get upset easily) and later developed a bruise. I don't like to think what happened to him (trainee nurse getting some experience I expect) but I have since changed vets (for other reasons) and would always insist on being present in future.

I agree.

Your words reminded me of this lovely poem, which seems to be a variation of a poem by Edgar Guest: I'll lend you for a little while A dog of mine, God said For you to love while he's alive And mourn for when he's dead. So will you, till I call him back Take care of him for me? He'll bring his love to gladden you And should his stay be brief You shall have his memories As solace for your grief. I cannot promise he will stay Since all from Earth return But there are lessons taught down there I want this dog to learn. I've looked this wide world over In my search for teachers true And from the throngs that crowd life's lanes I have selected you. Now, will you give him all your love Nor think the labours vain? Nor hate me when I come to call To take him back again? I fancied that I heard you say Dear Lord, Thy will be done For all the joy this dog shall bring The risk of grief I'll run. Will you shelter him with tenderness And love him while you may? And for the happiness you've known Forever grateful stay? But should the angels call for him Much sooner than you planned Brave the bitter grief that comes And try to understand. Author unknown

Sophie's been losing the hair progressively on one of her ears for a couple of months now and there is also some redness and scaling, although it doesn't seem to bother her. We've been back and forth to the vets and have tried antibiotics, which didn't help at all, and have now tried Advocate to kill any mites which could be present. We're giving it another couple of weeks to see if the Advocate will work, but at that point if there's no improvement it looks as though we'll have to have skin scrapings and a biopsy done. I'm not happy about this, as it will involve a general anaesthetic and a stressful day at the vets for my very-nervous-of-strangers little girl, but I can see that it might have to happen. I'm also a bit concerned about how much skin they might have to take for the biopsy. I asked the vet about it and she was a bit vague, talking about how little spare skin there is on the ear, and taking a half-moon shape out of the edge of the ear, but this did nothing to assuage my fears at all. I have visions of my pretty little girl with a permanently mutilated ear. Has anyone else had this done? If so, would you mind sharing how much skin was taken, where from, and what it looked like?

I'm just wondering if perhaps he might have a heart problem that's causing him to panic. I see from JohnF's post that Lyme can cause heart problems, and if he's getting episodes of racing heartbeats, for example, it could certainly cause him to panic. I agree that you should find another vet who will take this seriously.

I'm so sorry . And yes, she was beautiful. RIP Zema

I have read this article several times over the years and it is a good reminder not to become complacent where your dog's safety is concerned. Personally I would never take any of the risks mentioned in that article. Just because someone takes the trouble to train a reliable recall in their dogs does not imply that they trust them to the point of carelessness.

Yes, I always recall train mine and yes they have very reliable recall, although some have taken more work than others to get there. My first greyhound was such a poppet that he barely needed any recall training at all. My second was more of a challenge as he was quite keen on chasing rabbits initially. Sunny and Sophie have both been quite easy. Sunny is generally pretty lazy although he does love to run so he's a bit "all or nothing" when out on a walk - we are very lucky to have access to many acres of fenced-in countryside to walk in. We always walk for at least 20 minutes on lead to give them a chance to warm up and then Sunny generally likes to have a big, long run fairly soon after being let off the lead but then for the rest of the walk he pretty much plods along close to me. He's unusual for a boy dog in that he's not really interested in sniffing much, and he's not into chasing either, and we don't walk off-lead if there are other people or dogs about. In fact, these days it's difficult to find an opportunity to recall Sunny because, apart from when he's running one of his big circles, he's never far from me. If we want to practice recall with Sunny whilst out on a walk we usually have to manufacture a situation. Sometimes, when he's doing one of his big circles, if I think he's getting too far away I'll whistle once and he'll immediately start to turn. He is a very good boy . Sophie is my little recall superstar, though . She's not into running like Sunny is, although she will chase him if he runs. She's an incredibly curious dog though so what she enjoys on her walks is scampering around investigating every rabbit hole, every branch etc etc, and if there's a rabbit or pheasant to chase so much the better, but she's also very biddable and comes instantly at top speed whenever recalled and she does it with such a happy bounce and smile too! Recalls are a very exciting part of our walks for Sophie because she LOVES her yummy treats. I have put in many hours (a few minutes at a time) and a great deal of thought into recall training them over the last three years (not that they have any idea they are being trained - to them it is just a very exciting enjoyable game) but it is SO worth it. We practice recall every day at random times in the house and in the garden and every time there is a stampede to see who can get to me fastest for the treats - they get several delicious treats every single time (chicken, beef, liver, sausage, cheese). After 40 years of dog-ownership and attending many training courses, I have given up on the traditional methods of recall training (with short or long leads etc), and instead concentrate on finding ways to make my greyhounds think that the recall cue is the most exciting sound in the world!

This is what used to happen with Sophie's. The picture I posted is of it in one of its early stages. Over the course of a few days, the redness would fade and the blood blister would get bigger and bigger until it burst and turned into a scab, which eventually fell off. Just when I thought it had gone forever, a tiny blood blister would form and the whole cycle would start all over again! Hopefully this won't happen in your case, but yes do keep a close eye on it just in case. This is exactly what Tank's does. It never gets past a paticular size but does run on a cycle. Do you think I should have it removed any way? How much does it worry you? I had Sophie's removed because our vet said he hadn't seen one before so had no idea what it was. Plus, I tend to be a bit of a worrier about these things and prefer to have them removed rather than keep watching and wondering if there are any changes that might indicate it's turned cancerous. I think if she develops any more I will most likely have them removed if they don't resolve on their own within a few months, although it would depend on her age and state of health at the time too, as our vet will only remove them with a general anaesthetic. Other people might feel comfortable with a wait and watch approach. Just FYI (and you probably know this anyway) but the pathology report for Sophie said it was important to keep her out of the sun as dogs with these growths have an increased risk for skin cancers generally.

This is what used to happen with Sophie's. The picture I posted is of it in one of its early stages. Over the course of a few days, the redness would fade and the blood blister would get bigger and bigger until it burst and turned into a scab, which eventually fell off. Just when I thought it had gone forever, a tiny blood blister would form and the whole cycle would start all over again! Hopefully this won't happen in your case, but yes do keep a close eye on it just in case.

In our house it's the other way round. Sunny is the boss and Sophie defers to him all the time. That said, I don't let Sunny take her food or treats. They have their own designated treat-receiving areas in different parts of the house, which they voluntarily run to whenever there's a treat on offer, plus I supervise them until they've both finished. If it's a longer lasting treat I separate them with a babygate so they can enjoy their treats in peace. I think Sunny understands now that he's not allowed to take Sophie's treats and rarely tries these days, but I expect he would if I weren't around!

Sophie had something similar too. It kept going away and recurring over a period of months, so eventually I had it removed and it was a cutaneous hemangioma. As foxysmom said, although they are benign they can become cancerous if left so best removed IMO.