Got a scare with my dog.

[gspsonny03]

Man, did I get a scare last night. My dog has had diarrhea for the last three days and won't eat his normal food or any of his treats. Last night he started panting and breathing really hard, so I got up with him and took him outside, he did his business. I brought him back inside and he must have drank a bowl and a half of water. Got him to the vet this morning and they wanted to know if I had any kind of poison laying aroung, which I don't, but they thought that might be a possibility. They gave him two shots of something and a bunch of pills to start taking twice a day and told me to give him pedialite to keep from dehydration. He's acting a little better as of this afternoon, so I'm hoping for the best. Most of you know what my dog means to me, so I'll keep you all informed.

[fabsroman]

Something like that would have me pretty scared too.

[Jabba]

I'm sending you good doggie vibes from Indiana and another GSP man. Let us know when things clear up.

Jabba

[Nulle]

Years agoe I lost a real good hunting friend when he got out of his kennel and when I found him he was real sick. Took him to the Vet and told them I thought he got into some anti-freeze someplace. They sat on their butts and no treatment and I finaly told them if they were not going to try to save him to put him down which they did.
Good luck to you and sounds like you got it in time whatever it was.

[fabsroman]

Nulle,

I would have been pissed as hell at those vets. They definitely wouldn't have gotten anymore of my business after that.

[gspsonny03]

Thanks everyone for your concern, I think he's going to be fine. He's starting to get an appetite back and some of his energy. My son was over this morning and asked if I had taken him to the park, to which I replied yes. That's where I take him for his walk, well my walk and his run, but anyway, he said you know they sprayed over there for weeds don't you, and I did notice him eating grass over there, so maybe that's what it was. Anyway he's acting a whole lot better. I've still got five more days of pills to give him, and it seems that everything isn't passing right through him so I'm hoping for the best.

Nulle: I'm with Fabs on this, if that had been my dog, they would have had to call you to keep me from smacking someone around. I'm not real sure how good our vets are over here, but at least they do seem to care, and what ever they gave him in the shots seemed to really help. Thanks guys.

[Jabba]

Great news!

Pat the rascal on the head for me!

Jabba

[gspsonny03]

Will do Jabba, and Thanks.

[Swift]

Glad ta hear things are lookin up! ;)

[gspsonny03]

Man, it's great to have him back to near normal. Took him to the park this morning and he was out running and playing and getting cactus in his feet, it was great, well except for the cactus. He had a ball, and so did I. I can tell his energy level isn't quite there yet because before we was done he was walking beside me, which he never does unless I have the leash on him, but I think he's getting there.

[Hi Ball]

I am glad for you and the dog, that all is well for the most part!
I very much would be concerned as to how this dog got his mouth on any type of poison? I often wonder about mice in the attice after I put down "BAR POISON" (grain based) I am told they will often try to get out of the attic and get to water soon as possible. If they were to enter the dog compound, one of my dogs might get a hold on that mouse perhaps. A slight but very slim chance that could happen, as the compound is 40 yards from the house.

None the less I would be searching for any signs of what could have caused that condition to pop up on your dog. Anti-Freeze is a BIG KILLER and it only takes one drop to wreck a dogs organs in a matter of an hour or so. This type of thing is usually fatal though. I play close attention to where anti-freeze goes. A leak from a hose causing a drip or two on the floor of a gargage can kill a dog!

[Andy L]

Im no vet, but I had a dog get into some sort of poison one time, pretty sure it was anti freeze. (My neighbor had been working on a old clunker in the yard and had oil and anti freeze everywhere, we learned later.)

I took her to the vet and she was SICK. Sluffing stomach lining and just very sick. The vet basically told me there was nothing he could do. Kinda like Nulle said, I can put her down or keep her comfortable til we see what happens. She was dead in just a couple hours.

Anti freeze and other poisions, like rat poison, are bad news. Thats all there is to it.

Andy

[Lilred]

I'm real glad yer dog is ok GSP..I lost Copper 2 years ago to such strange happenings. It's funny, that's the same dog that, as a pup, went in the shed, tore down every fishin pole I had offa the wall (which there was 8) and somehow er another, got bout half of those pole's hooks in her lips. I reckon she was playin with the baits....but she laid there and never flinched while i cut each hook out as gently as I could..shoot..I flinched more than she did lol.
She was a brave dog...runned her tail off, and loved to hunt as much as I did. Smart as a tack she was..she was always a lil weird tho. Never ever would go to anybody but me..not even my son. When she ran...she bawled so excited-like..that when I shot..some folks was thinkin I shot her LOL..I miss her very much.

One day, I came home from werk, and she wouldnt get up...just laid there all sickly. I grabbed her neck hide and pulled...she was dehydrated. (When the skin don't come back down..they're dehydrated) So, I took her in the house and started an IV. That seemed to help over the next hour..and the vet's office was closed. I was hopin to keep her ok until the next morning. She never puked, she never gave me nary a stool to look at...she just laid there. 2 hours later...she seemed to get worse, and I took her to a animal hospital in Richmond. They said her kidneys were failing, they aint know why, and there was nothing they could do.
They gave me some pills to ease the pain for her..I aint have the heart to leave her there. I took her home, and kept her in the house and did what I coud to keep her comfortable. I buried her the next morning. I guess she had some kind of cancer er somethin...I dunno.
Sometimes..that's just the way the Good Lord werks..but before she died, she had a litter of beautiful pups..I kept 1 male..and boy is he just like her. At least part of her is still w/ me...

[gspsonny03]

Thanks guys, he's pretty much back to normal now. Not really sure what it was he got into. I know the neighbor lady was using poison to kill moles in her yard and managed to chase them into my yard, and I had a small radiator leak at the time, so he might have got into that. All I know is he was pretty sick then, but is doing real good now and I'm thankful for that.

Lilred I'm truly sorry to hear about your dog. It's amazing to me how attached we become to these so-called dumb animals. I mean after all they are just pets, right? Let them get sick and/or hurt and you'll miss work or sit up with them all night or spend your last dollar to see that they get the help they need to get better. Kind of like taking care of part of your family. Hmmm interesting remark isn't it.

[Jabba]

Ya'll that have been on the sire for a time know that I lost 3 dogs in about a year. The 3rd one was a 6 month old female GSP pup that got killed at the breeders getting some finish training. At 6 months old she was steady to shot, and retrieved to hand. Had a great nose and LOVED to hunt. WHen she got killed the breeded gave me the option of pick of his next litter. I took a male, and he is the dog that I have posted in the other thread.

I am torn about them. I am very attached to Cooper, but I would not have had the opportunity to get him had Piper not gotten killed. In hindsight, would I be willing to trade Cooper for Piper? That is a REALLY tough thought. Coop is a great dog in so many ways. But so was Piper.

Glad your dog is better man.

Jabba

[Valigator]

I was just thinkin...if you have a public park or an area where the city does spraying....cant they just put up a sign notifying people the area has been sprayed with chemicals.....ya know for your dogs, kids, heck anyone.....

[gspsonny03]

I always thought that it was a requirement by the city to do that, and in the past I have seen notices to that effect. I didn't see one this time, so I don't know if they sprayed or not. All I'm going on is what my son told me. The company that he works for does work closely with the city and he does seem to know alot about what the city is doing or planning to do. Alot of things that we are not priviledge to know. But yeah, I think you are right. Some of the things that they spray can be harmful to humans as well as animals and that should be marked.