Help for stomach

    • Gold Top Dog

    babelfish
    The first time I would fully close the door only for a few seconds, then again reward by walk or play or something he really loves. Take your time to do it on his terms. 

    Gibby is over a year old now.....we are well on our way to leaving him in the house without barricading him now.......left him Sat and Sunday night for about an hour the first night and about a half hour longer the next while we went to our neighborhood parish festival for a bit.  He did well...... I think he layed on the floor in the kitchen right below the window he watched us walk away at.....at least the first night.  Although a neighbor heard him crying one of the nights...I had the window open.
    • Gold Top Dog

    willowchow

    Dyan, Willow does the same thing.  And, I've found that going to three meals has helped her out a lot. 

    Well thanks for telling me that Lori.   Good to know.   I know it worked when I did it the first time...but then I felt he should probably go back to 2 times to eat because its not always possible to be here for an early meal.  Plus..... he is always bugging us to eat...and he pretty much stopped it at that mid meal....so we figured he was ready to give it up.   BUT....maybe his body isn't...Wink
    • Gold Top Dog

    Or, you could give him a Pepside before bed.  I've done that too. 

    • Gold Top Dog

    willowchow

    Or, you could give him a Pepside before bed.  I've done that too. 

    When he was a baby..he used to vomit bile first thing in the morning a lot before breakfast...but hasn't done that at all for a long time. But he does do it before supper....somewhere between 3 and 4.    Get gets supper about 5.

    I do have Pepcid here.....just for Gibby.   When he was sick last Saturday...I gave him 4 of them. My vet almost had a heart attack on that...but that is what another vet told me I could give Bubblegum for her size.....Gibby is about Bubbys size now.  But I never thought to give it to him as a preventative.

    • Gold Top Dog

    Yeah, Willow's vet approved the Pepsid too.  I'm not sure why your vet got upset, over the Pepsid itself or that he took four.  Willow took one daily when she was on Prednisone and even before that if she wasn't eating three meals I gave her one.  You basically have to decide when his "bad" time is and give him the meal at that time.  Willow's is in the AM if it's been more than 10 hours or so since her last not even meal--as long as she has something she's usually OK, a cookie or a little meat anything will stop the bile. 

    If you want you can give Gibby a little snack in the afternoon OR if you aren't home give him the meal in the morning later. 

     

    • Gold Top Dog

    dyan
    we are well on our way to leaving him in the house without barricading him now.

     

    Yes, but the crate is a different thing from his point of view (clearly since he freaked out so badly last time). The idea is not to push him further than he can go without losing good attitude about it.

    • Gold Top Dog

    willowchow
    I'm not sure why your vet got upset, over the Pepsid itself or that he took four. 

     

    Thats it....that I gave him four.  You see when Bubby was sick she said something like 1 or 2, I don't remember because what ever it was I might have done but when I took her to her old vet before she got really really sick and ended in ER....that vet said give her 4 twice a day. I questioned it and he said "yes....4 is quite normal for her size and you can actually give it to her 3 times a day!"  But the big thing is he wrote that on a sticky note that I attached to the box of Pepcid. When getting another box I just put that note on the new one so I remembered.  When I told my vet that is what I gave Gibby...she said "YOU GAVE HIM FOUR????"   I told her why I did and she didn't really say anything.  But.....really if I was using when he wasn't all around throwing up like he was on Sat........I wouldn't give him 4. 

    Yes.....I think I might start feeding him 3 times a day....or at least take some of his supper and give it early. Problem with that is that when you put less in his bowl........1. it looks so like not enough.    2. worse.....................he KNOWS its not enough. lol!

    • Gold Top Dog

    babelfish

    Yes, but the crate is a different thing from his point of view (clearly since he freaked out so badly last time). The idea is not to push him further than he can go without losing good attitude about it.

    Yes...we definately have a problem with the crate...always did. I don't think its the crate so much as being locked up...in that we have taken him to Camp Bow Wow a few times for day care.  We golf and sometimes like to go a little longer than we should leave Gibby at a time, so I pay the big bucks for day care. Well that works out during the week...but on the weekends ( which is when we mostly go to golf ) they put them in their kennels for a few hours for break time/lunch time etc.  I took him yesterday  ( Tues ) when we went to the zoo for a family get together and they only kennel them an hour. When I picked him up she said the was fine for a while ( of course we took some food for him to eat ) layed on the cot for a while and all...then started crying and barking.  She said they ended up letting him out and just let him hang out in the play area....moved him from one to the other while cleaning up.   BUT...when we take him on the weekend....they will put him in for almost 5 hours...and I bet they leave and come back...so Gibby isn't getting out of it then.  So it is a problem... especially since I believe that stress plays a very big factor in torsion....which is so much of a worry in a Dane.  Their kennels are giant....walk in probably as big as my laundry room, so its not just a smaller crate or kennel as we have at the vet.

    • Gold Top Dog

    Well, smaller meals are better for dogs with his sensitive system anyway.  And, he's still going to be getting the correct amount of food just spaced out more. 

    Willow does the same thing, she'll eat then look at me like, where is the rest.  You just have to ignore it as long as they are getting the right amount daily. 

    • Gold Top Dog

    willowchow

    Willow does the same thing, she'll eat then look at me like, where is the rest.  You just have to ignore it as long as they are getting the right amount daily. 

      Wink   Wink     Wink
    • Gold Top Dog

    dyan
    I don't think its the crate so much as being locked up

     

    Yeah, I can see that. I can feel for him too ;-) I still do think that some gradual approach with something awesome as a reward might work. For example, our gal love going out for walks. Whatever is presented as a prelude to a great walk is eventually accepted with enthusiasm. So if you could get through to him with that type of message, it might make it easier on him. Our other dogs is easier. Whatever might potentially mean food is a good thing :-) I think that with dogs it's all about positive/negative associations.

    But I am not a trainer nor an animal behaviourist. It is my believe though, that taking it slow and building positive associations works.

    • Gold Top Dog

    babelfish
    But I am not a trainer nor an animal behaviourist. It is my believe though, that taking it slow and building positive associations works.

    I'm sure that is true. 

    However, when you get a new puppy... bring him home... you put together his place that is his....we did that with his crate. He cried from day one....which we expected.  Several week later when he was still crying all night we stopped putting him in.  Perhaps moving his crate all over the house to keep it in the room we were in might have done the trick, I don't know... but that was not happening. It is a big crate with the divider in it...and I live in a small home.

    But its alright now. In my mind the crate was a temporary thing. IF he would have loved it and turned it into his security haven I would have left it for him forever. But my intention was to use it until he could be trusted in my house. I feel good knowing I can leave and my dog can comfortably lay on his couple beds in the house..or look out the big window that he loves to do. And I feel good knowing that anyone coming to the door can see my giant dog looking out at him. 

    When I took him to doggy day care a few times.....the girls there say that when its "break time" he goes in his big giant kennel and lays on the bed...eats some food..rests, .but lasts only a while before getting upset and crying and barking.    Another day care that I checked into yesterday said she has a couple of dogs that when they are there...when its time to go in their house and the dogs are upset....she lets one stay out in the play area.  Thats what they did for Gibson at where he was...they figured he can walk around the play area by himself and see what is going on and he is quiet.

    • Gold Top Dog

    Hi. I wondered into another section of the forums and found your post about him carrying his head low.
    http://forum.dog.com/forums/p/94241/761065.aspx#761065
    I assume this is the same dog, right?
    http://i128.photobucket.com/albums/p174/Dyank123/DogPark.jpg

    To me (and my hubby) this really looks like a picture of a dog  who's not feeling well. Was it exceptionally hot that day?
    Also the odd tail position feels like a subtle warning. To me this reads: I'm not feeling well, leave me alone.
    I'll be happy to be wrong. But we had a lot of medical issues with our gal, this is what she looks like when she's unwell.

    Anybody else seeing what I'm seeing?

    • Gold Top Dog

    babelfish

    To me (and my hubby) this really looks like a picture of a dog  who's not feeling well. Was it exceptionally hot that day?
    Also the odd tail position feels like a subtle warning. To me this reads: I'm not feeling well, leave me alone.
    I'll be happy to be wrong. But we had a lot of medical issues with our gal, this is what she looks like when she's unwell.

    I believe that day it was acually quite cool....but that particular picture was at the dog park after he had been running ( see foam in mouth ) with the dogs for a while.  It was probably not a fair picture to use since he was in a situation that he is not always in...plus I don't remember if that picture was the first time we went there or not...but if it was, we walked in and he immediately was pounce on by several dogs that were there..including another male lab ( I think it was ) that was trying hump him for the first 5 minutes or so that we were there.

    However....that said people explained to me ( either on this board or the Great Dane board ) on how you have to teach the dog to walk with his head up high...   You see my Bubblegum ( picture in my avatar ) was a show dog..came to be at 3 yrs old.......pranced like the beautiful show dog that she was and I guess I can't help but to compare....