calliecritturs
Posted : 9/18/2009 12:14:37 PM
rwbeagles
...if the puppy ate...say...TWO pairs of undies and only threw up one...you would not know until he had a very serious serious issue requiring surgery. Probably best to take the pup in and get an xray to rule out anything foreign being present.
Given that this pup doesn't want to eat or drink --- ***VET NOW***. Because the likelihood is exactly this -- that there is something *else* in the gut. It could be a ball, a toy, or ... another piece of clothing or a sock (or nylon footie).
The problem is -- sometimes certain things don't show up on an x-ray. Like ... cotton fiber for example. So an x-ray may not work -- you may actually need to do an ultrasound to avoid weeks of illness and exploratory surgery that has to "guess" at where something is ... or is not.
You've only had this pup for a week and even tho house-training may SEEM reliable, trust me ... it's not. There is something called the "honeymoon" phase -- where the dog is actually on his BEST behavior for a while. (Yeah, it may not seem like it!!) So, what everyone said above about keeping track of this pup for 100% of the time is critical.
In short, I've seen "old dogs" (of like 13 or so) who suddenly get the debbil in them and do something COMPLETELY bizzare -- like eat the corner of a rug or something "not easily noticed" and suddenly you've got a sick dog with an obstruction. I actually learned about obstructions from a friend of mine who had a small poodle do exactly that.
Not a dog who EVER did such stuff -- routinely had run of the house. But someone stashed the summer hammock "away" (behind a swing on the front porch) and lo and behold -- someone had spilled something yummy on that hammock and didn't notice it when it was rolled up. Maybe it was blood from a sandwich or part of a milkshake -- but it was YUMMY and the dog took to lying behind the swing and was chewing on that hammock and NO ONE KNEW.
This was like 10 years ago and the vet bills were like $6,000 by the time they had to figure out what the heck it was and WHERE it was.
My point? You really can't ever just 'trust' them - it's a nice thought but it's not reality. I mean, at least with kids you can often tell when they're fibbing (too much detailed information?? hmmmmm!!!!! no information AT ALL?? hmmmmmmmmmm!!!) but with a dog? Usually you get nothing -- other than the fact they've been "missing in action" for a while.
With a new pup -- literally an 8 foot leash with the loop end thru your belt can be heaven-sent for a brand new pup. Everyone is still enjoying playing with the dog, but then NO ONE yet has learned to really watch what the dog is doing when they aren't interacting with it. It's a learning thing -- for the dog (to know what you expect) and the other family members (most of whom have never had to be utterly accountable for such a thing before).
Good luck -- but have that family meeting AFTER YOU GET BACK FROM THE VET.
(in an obstruction when waste/food backs up from the obstruction back to the stomach they get really sick to their stomach -- stomach acid has poured in over and over and over and it just SITS there -- so particularly when they quit eating and drinking it's time to go to the vet. You may not even have noticed how long it's been since the dog has pooped -- and if the obstruction is up IN the stomach then it could be quite a while before they stop pooping.)