Time4ANap

Hope you and Sallie had a quiet night! Let us know how she is doing when you have time.

Run free, Alfie.

She is cute! Congratulations!

That boy is going to wake up very hungry! So glad that the surgery went well.

Have you tried a bedtime snack like a Milk Bone or similar? They probably are hungry, and are used to being fed pretty early at the track. A little something extra at bedtime might hold them a little longer in the AM.

I've thought about it because Rocket loves to stick his nose in every shrub along our walking route. Fortunately, the area is old enough that we've never seen a snake here, but I know they are nearby on the golf course. If I start seeing rattlers out sunning themselves in the neighborhood then I will probably investigate it a little further.

Here's a reverse sneeze video for comparison. https://youtu.be/1UyBrb0Hhpk

Maybe some stinky canned dog food or some sardines (the kind packed in water) cut into small pieces. Cottage cheese or vanilla ice cream is sometimes a big hit also. At this point with her not eating, it sounds like anything she will eat would be acceptable to keep some food in her. Her stomach may be shrunk to a very small size since she hasn't been eating. That sometimes makes it really hard to get them to eat. Rocket has had his share of stomach issues and times that he didn't want to eat. He rarely turned down cottage cheese or scrambled eggs mixed with some canned food. I found that the mushier and stinkier the combination of foods, the more likely he was to be interested in it. He loves the Evanger's Canned Organic Chicken, but it's not a completely balanced food - it is only cooked chicken. Evanger's has some good combinations of canned stuff if any of your local pet stores carry the brand, but any canned food would be worth a try. Sorry you are going through this. Best wishes to Peanut!

Taylor, Dr. Rocket prescribes lot's of ice cream and "cheezeburgers plane" to speed up your recovery. He also prescribed a side of fries. Daily.

Dog Food Advisor is often a wealth of mis-information. If you went by them we would all be paying 20 bucks a pound for dog food. Without going into too much detail we had the same issue for several years - a new food would work for a while, then would end in uncontrollable stomach issues and diarrhea. We tried many of the "high end" foods and some of the lesser regarded ones, and we were often up at 4 AM due to tummy gurgles and cleaning bile off of the floor due to an empty stomach.. The only food that we have been able to use consistently for more than a year is Precise Foundation Chicken Meal and Rice. We have used it for several years now, and when Rocket turned 7, I switched him to the lower calorie Precise Senior food, which is essentially the same as Foundation but less fat and calories. He has done wonderful on it. I have it shipped from Wag.com since it is not a food that has lots of shelf placement in our area. Depending where you are located, it may or may not be on the shelf in a local pet or feed store, The food is highly digestible, and it is rare now that Rocket has the early morning tummy gurgles. It still happens once in a while, but not like it used to, and not as severe. In the interim until you find a food that works for you, you might consider giving your hound a snack or reserve half of the dinner and feed it before bedtime to get through until morning. The bottom line is that the best food is the one that works for your hound, and that takes some trial and error to find. Don't be bullied into feeding high end foods by what you read online. They may or may not work, just like any other food you try.

Nothing unusual at all about multiple poops, or the fact that they are runny after a few times. That's simply an effect of the food and the GI system. Before you go trying other foods, it's really not a big deal. If your boy is otherwise doing okay on the food you use (no itching, skin flaking, excess shedding) try adding Olewo Carrots to his food to help firm things up. I top Rocket's kibble with some of the carrots at breakfast and dinner. Rocket has had GI issues off and on for years, and they have all but disappeared since adding the carrots. There are numerous threads on here about the carrots. A little goes a long way, and you will usually see things firm up instantly.

Dr. Rocket prescribes lots of ice cream to get the swelling down. Feel better soon, Dood.

I give Rocket free-reign to stop, wander and sniff on about the first half to three quarters of our walking route. Once we pass a certain point, he knows that it's time to walk a straight path without stops to go back home. If you can find a portion of the walking route that is "his time" to let him sniff and wander, then pick up the pace at the same spot each day, he might figure it out. Hounds are pretty good at figuring out a routine.

I'm so sorry for the sudden loss of your sweet girl. Her name always made me think of an old-time Hollywood starlet. Run pain-free, Betty Joan.

Are you seeing blood or mucous in the stool? If not, then it may well just be the ingestion of feces that is causing the diarrhea. I would go with the bland diet followed by some metronidazole if diarrhea persists. Hookworms usually present a bloody mucous stool. (Other things can as well, so that's not a 100% indication) Fecal tests are sort of hit or miss because finding eggs or worms in them depends on the timing of the cycle, so those tests are often negative. I have given Panacur in the past when we had a negative fecal just as a preventative, but since you have been dealing with them already, it may be time to go to something stronger like Drontal Plus if your vet thinks that hooks are still the problem. Drontal Plus is more expensive than Panacur, but it works well for persistent worms. Here's some info that explains the hookworm cycle etc in it's simplest form. http://pets.webmd.com/dogs/hookworm-in-dogs

Bland diet will help ease the stomach, and I would also talk to your vet about getting a couple weeks of Flagyl (Metronidazole). When we do a bland diet, I use a mixture of way over cooked rice or pasta with lots of extra water added, scrambled eggs, and Evanger's Organic Canned Chicken Dog Food instead of boiled chicken. I also switch to 4 smaller feedings a day so that that I'm not putting as much food at one time in to tummy. It works well for Rocket when we have stomach issues. Worms are one of those things where you can do everything right, and they can still come back if you didn't get them treated at exactly the right time in their hatching cycle. Don't beat yourself up too much, they can be a battle, but you will get them eventually. If you want the Panacur faster, it is sold at most farm supply stores and many pet stores under the brand name Safe-Guard Canine Wormer. It's the exact same drug, made in the same factory, just packaged for retail sales under that name. The "Panacue" brand is sold by vets, Safe-Guard" is sold at retail stores. Make sure you purchase the right strength and dosage for your hound's weight. Also, do not use the product that's marked for livestock, it is a much higher dose and not safe for your hound in the supplied dosage for livestock.

I'm so sorry for the loss of your gorgeous girl. Run Free, Shana.

Congratulations! She's gorgeous!

The answer seems to be whatever works best for the dog. Here is a Bloat Reference Chart you can print out and keep handy. I keep ours on the refrigerator. http://www.bmd.org/bmdcr/bloat_chart.pdf

The crate is simply her "safe place." She has lived in one as her own space since she was little. At 3 months, she will probably start to show more interest in household people and activities in the coming months. She is just now settling in. If you think the hardwood is an issue, put down some non-skid rugs on the path to the bedroom and see if it makes a difference. The fact that she comes out of the crate when she hears the garage door means that she is looking forward to your arrival. She goes back in simply because it's her space. As far as getting on furniture, she may or may not. We've had Rocket for over 6 years and he has no interest in furniture. He will nest up a pile of blankets on the floor, or may lat on the ceramic tile with nothing under him. No rhyme or reason. Your girl sounds very normal. A year from now you will have a completely different hound who will act like she has always lived there. It just takes time.

Yes - I moisten his kibble with a little warm water. The consistency of the carrots using the 4 ounces of water makes it very easy to spoon half of the carrots out of the bowl for breakfast, and the other half for dinner. It's sort of the consistency of a thick oatmeal and I just put it on top of the kibble after I've moistened the kibble. To make the carrots, I add the hot water to the dried carrots in a small bowl, cover it with plastic wrap and walk away. Don't over-think it. I did that at first because I wasn't sure what they were supposed to look like.

I've just opened the second 2.2 lb bag of carrots. The first bag lasted approximately 60 days using 1 tbsp per day. I decided to eliminate the oil as we really don't need it for Rocket. I use about 4-5 ounces of very hot water (using the "beverage" setting on the microwave) and make it the night before for the next day.Each night when I setup the coffee for the morning, I also make carrots. I split that into 2 meals. I have not found the need to refrigerate it when used within a day, but just cover it with plastic wrap to keep the water from evaporating out of them. Rocket goes back and licks the dish clean if he happens to leave any residual carrots in the bowl. Trolley beat him to it one day when she was visiting! Rocket has Stress Colitis, so the slightest thing can set it off even though he's a very mellow boy. His output literally bounces across the ground now since we started the carrots.

Chicken based-kibble usually has the fat either removed or significantly reduced, so if he's getting too much fat with the raw stuff that might explain it. It's probably too son to use one particular theory of an allergy or tummy issue. You might try giving a bully stick to get him to chew, or a marrow bone with close supervision and see how his output is on that. You can then start to figure out if the problem is chicken or just a sensitive tummy. I tried to give Rocket raw turkey necks and found that he wouldn't chew the last piece properly before swallowing it. About 12 hours later like clock work the small piece of un-chewed neck bone would come back up. I had to stop giving him turkey necks for that reason, but have had no issue giving him a 3 inch beef marrow bone or 5-6 inch bully stick 2-3 times per week.