Time4ANap

Coats of any kind would most likely hold in the heat and make it worse in that climate. When Rocket gets overheated, we do have a cooling coat (home made) made from a towel fabric that allows us to keep pouring cool water on him. He hates the water on his skin, but if we use the coat, it doesn;t bother him and helps to saturate him. Once cooled down, you have to remove the coat immediately so it doesn't trap heat. You can do the same thing with a towel if your dog hates water. We don't use this to keep him cool, but rather to cool him down if overheated. It is also important ot cool the chest and belly, as this is a large part of where they overheat. For the most part, its going to require the same changes you make for yourself, as you already said - no walks in the heat of the day or above certain temps, and staying hydrated. Good luck. I'm sure some of the members here who live in the desert will chime in with what works for them.

There is a ton of different stuff going around, including an increase in hookworms and Giardia in many locations. If the Flagyl doesn't get them feeling better, you may need a fecal test and some Panacur. Gong through similar issues here at the moment. Hope your girls are better soon.

I'm so sorry that The Duchess had to leave. Everyone here loved her. All of us were her "Loyal Subjects." Run Free Nadia.

Wow! That's gorgeous. We miss that boy.

Way to go Lazer! So glad to hear that you are doing well! We will be thinking about you on Friday. Tell your Momma that you need some ice cream to help you recover from the dentist.

Wow - 2 at once! Congratulations! At one week they are still trying to figure out where they are and what's expected of them. Others will chime in on how they've handled similar specific training. Rocket knew the stairs when he got here so we didn't have to do that. Don't let impatience get to you. Your dogs will continually change for the next year or two before you finally realize that they are settled in. They have to establish whole new routines and learn about hundreds of new things they've never seen before. It is so much fun to watch them discover things. Make sure you take a step back to watch that, and don't be in too much of a hurry to "train" them.

Cool! Thanks. If you haven't tried them, Rocket and Lexie highly reccommend Grizzly Salmon Treats!

i'm pretty sure we met Olivia at the Greyt Gathering. We were there without Rocket because we flew in. We were hogging other people's hounds.

Rocket has had the same symptoms for a couple of weeks, but all tests were negative for hooks and giardia. We initially treated with multiple rounds of Metronidazole and did a Panacur treatment last weekend after the runs persisted. After the Panacur treatment he is much better, so we probably had some worms that just couldn't be detected in a sample. We are finishing with one more course of Metronidazole to help heal his tummy. This morning we had our first completely solid poop in weeks. :banana It is not possible to 100% decontaminate the lawn without killing it off. I personally wouldn't go that length unless there is a persistent issue with multiple reoccurrences. Hosing down the remnants of runny poop until it disappears completely will go a long way to minimize contact with it in the yard. While this is occuring, I would use some temporary fencing and designate a poop area for turnout to make the job easier. They don't need full run of the yard just to poop. This article talks about Giardia and the things you can do to minimize the spread. Since we weren't sure what we were dealing with, we took Giardia precautions including handwashing after any contact with Rocket including petting. We ran his bowls in the dishwasher every night on the the Sanitize Cycle, and used a sanitizing bleach spray on the counter after his bowls were on them to prepare his food. Giardia cases seem to be on the rise throughout the midwest this year. Not sure why, but when we started checking, we found that many vets have seen an increase in Giardia as the weather warmed up. Not the end of the world, but very frustrating and takes some time and precautions to deal with and prevent the spread. Hope that Rocky is feeling better soon.

Gill, i hab an Elmo too!!!! its won ob my favoritz! Yur pal, Rocket in illinoize

Try Precise Foundation Chicken Meal and Rice, or Precise Sensicare (which is a lamb based food). Both are highly digestible. Both are available to order at Wag.com if you can't find locally. Precise Be sure to look for those exact names, as they have other foods with similar names that are different. We tried some of those same richer foods with Rocket and had the same reults - after a few months - liquid poo. (We use the Precise Foundation Chicken Meal and Rice now, and have been on it for over a year with excellent results. (You may note in another thread that Rocket is having stomach issues - we have ruled out the food as the cause, and he is back on it with no food related issues.) It appears we may be dealing with worms or a parsite of some type, and are going through that treament process now.

Must be something about the name that you rarely see them upright.... Welcome from Rocket in illinoize, aka Rocky, Rockaroo, Rocketman, RockyDude, Rocky Mon, RockerDude, ..........etc....

Lexie, Rocket says he will eat your green beans so your parants don't make you sit the table until you eat them....

There's usually a 15 or 20% off coupon code on the site for first time customers as well. The free shipping is for orders over a certain amunt, but even when I've paid for shipping it's cheap, and the order arrives in 2 days. Great site with great service.

We never got to the point of confirming Giardia, as the vet wanted to do a 2nd round of Flagyl first. It is still in the back of my mind now that the Flagyl is finished. If it comes right back, then we'll be doing test and doing a round of Panacur. I'm hoping we're out of the woods, but ready to get right back into the fight if need be. I will have a small pharmacy on hand shortly myself....

Don't go just by the price per bag. Check the feeding instructions and figure out how much you will actually use. With some foods, based on calories etc, you may end up using less per meal than you do presently, making a bag last longer than your current food does. We used to use a 30lb bag of TOTW every 3 weeks for Rocket. We switched to Precise Foundation Chicken Meal and Rice which comes in a 40lb bag if you get it from a retail store, or a 30 lb bag if you order online. With the 40 lb bag, we only buy food every 5-6 weeks- so the 40lb bag goes almost twice as far as the TOTW did. Precise actually has bonus sized bags most of the time with 10% more food for the same price, so we often get 44 lbs for the price of 40, which goes even farther.

Or the day after the Tylan expires....... It's rough on me when I don't get MY 15 hours a night......old age is hell.

Fingers crossed that the meds will take care of it. Well, meds and lots of cookies.

Update! This morning we actually had formed-poop during our walk. It's a good sign. He has slept through the night the past few nights instead of needing a 4:30 AM meal to calm his tummy. We may be getting back on track! I have elminated the cooked rice that we were giving him which seems to have helped eliminate the runs. He had his last dose of Flagyl, and we have started working his meals back to a mix of kibble and boiled chicken. We are feeding 4 smaller meals a day instead of the usual 2. The bloody stools and the nasty smell have subsided, so we may have won this round using Flagyl and cooked food. Thanks to everyone for their good wishes and all of the suggestions. Hopefully, I'm not jinxing this by posting a good update! i have Tylan Powder coming today, so it is only natural that the problem gets better after i order a $60.00 jar of something with overnight shipping..... it never fails!

Could it be a certain treat that he only gets occasionally irritating his tummy? I also wouldn't rule out some type of worm or parasite, even though you de-worm regularly. Some of those nasty things keep coming back. When it happens, i would have the vet check a poop sample. The other thing to consider is at 9.5 his dietary needs may be changing a little. Some of the people with seniors will probably chime in with their experience. Stomach problems suck, as we are going through this now with Rocket, and still not certain what's causing it. We seem to have a round of it every 9 to 14 months. Good luck! Hope your boy is feeling better soon. .

Give it a day or two. Some people say up to a week but when we've had to switch, if Rocket isn't firming up by day 3 we don't continue with the new.

Ordered and will be here Tuesday. Thanks to those who suggested it. Whatever is going on,Ii think it will help him.

No puddles here, but he ocassionlly will sniff the grass and then start licking something - i'm assuming that's where he picked it up. I usually try to head that off, but every once in a while he sneaks one by me. If you boarded him, he could have picked it up there. The foster I had was in a kennel before he came to me and I think that's probably where he picked up his giardia. You mentioned Rocket had been boarded 2 weeks prior to getting sick, so I'd bet that's where he picked it up. There are so many places he could have picked it up that I can't even worry about where it happened. Our walking route usually has some poop in the grass because of a few idiots that feel they don't have to pick up after their dogs. The whoie thing that has me looking at Giardia are his symptoms, and the fact that there seems to be a dramatic increase in Giardia cases in the area. Hopefully we can get an accurate test / diagnosis and get him back to his old self. Since he's laying around and sleeping most of the day, I've had no one to almost trip over 70 times a day....

DW and I discussed Tylan last night. He doesn't seem to be getting better this weekend, but is no worse either. Will be heading back to the vet on Monday for next steps / tests etc. Thanks. No puddles here, but he ocassionlly will sniff the grass and then start licking something - i'm assuming that's where he picked it up. I usually try to head that off, but every once in a while he sneaks one by me. Thanks for the link!

We use Precise Foundation Chicken Meal and Rice. Works well for us. Some GT'ers have experiencd dull coats on it, but I think it's one of those you need to try to find out. Many people in our adoption group have gone to this and have had great results. If you can;t find it locally, it's available from Petflow.com, and Wag.com (Just a note, you may find a previous thread where I was changing fom this to Precise Sensicare. We have ruled out a food issue and now have no need to switch, Whatever problem Rocket is having is medical in nature, so we have no need to switch his food.)