Neuter Surgery - The Recovering Patient

Alvin Snoozes After His Neuter Surgery

Early this morning the car carrying Alvin to the verterinary hospital disappeared around the corner. I stared into space thinking about the behavior and medical benefits associated with neutering. At the same time, I knew the animal would be in pain tonight. And his dog maleness (for lack of a better term) would be irreversibly cut out.

Then Simon tugged on his leash so he could chase an imaginary flying insect, and I turned to walk into the house.

Late in the afternoon, the patient returned home, greeting Simon and I with his usual enthusiasm. But there was the bandage from the dew claw removal (also done today) and shrill yips if you picked him up the wrong way.

Simon seems to understand that something is different and didn't protest (too much) when we kept him away from Alvin. Unfortunately, based on our instructions, they can't play for 10 days because rough housing might disturb the stitches. Simon will NOT understand the 10 day play restriction.

Alvin parked himself in the den and tried to sleep, but the pain was bothering him. Tonight he ate a few kibbles and drank a little water, endured the photographing, and finally fell asleep. I took pictures of the incision in case excessive swelling develops. If there is infection, you have a benchmark picture for comparison purposes. These pictures are not pretty, but I guess it's a good idea.

Tonite he'll sleep with a soft e-collar so he can't lick the incision if he wakes. Excessive licking can cause an infection.

Hope he experiences less pain tomorrow.

valmillsy

Dog Blood Tests for Liver Shunt - Questioning The Results

A few days ago, I wrote this post about Alvin's liver shunt diagnosis:http://designerpuppys.blogspot.com/2009/09/incorrect-liver-shunt-diagnosis.html

Today we got the results of a fifth blood test from an independent lab. Fortunately, this blood test is OK and he's cleared for neuter surgery on Monday.

Alvin does NOT have the liver shunt condition. After all these blood tests (Alvin shakes uncontrollably when he gets within 100 feet of the vet's office), the blame is squarely on the original lab for creating extreme agita for the dog and his owners (and probably his vet).

I hope that no other animal or its owners have to go through this BS, but I haven't figured out if it's worth the effort to make the lab people understand the chaos created by their incompetence. I probably should leave it alone, but then I guess I'm doing something with this post.

Please leave a comment if you have any suggestions about how to deal (or not to deal) with this issue.

valmillsy

The Most Important Dog Training Secret for New Puppy Owners

Recently, I wrote an answer to a puppy training question on yahoo answers. People say that some of those questions are really dumb. And they may be right, but really dumb questions can raise excellent issues that impact all of us dog lovers.

For example, the questioner wrote: "But we went to puppy training class so he remembers SOME commands." My response: Why doesn't he respond to ALL the commands taught in the puppy training class?
Puppy Learning (your dog) and Puppy Training (you)
Clearly, the commands learned in the class were not reinforced in the case of the yahoo answers questioner.

Let's take a look at this issue from the standpoint of the way a dog learns. Do you show a puppy how to sit 10 times and then expected him to know the verbal command and the hand signal? And then you stop training him?

Puppy learning (your dog) and puppy training (you) are ongoing processes. For example, I was gone for a week when we brought Simon home from PA. When I came back, Alvin (6 months at the time) wasn't responding to simple obedience commands. No one had bothered to reinforce "Sit," "Down," "Stay," and "Come" while I was gone. He hadn't forgotten them; he just wasn't used to doing them.

The Puppy Training Secret

Okay, it's not really a secret, but I needed to get your attention. It's more like common sense. I had to jog Alvin's memory - every day. I remembered the dog trainer mantra from the It's PAWSible! Dog Training and Puppy Training DVD - incorporate the commands into daily living and make the dog work for his rewards.

Of course you need to reinforce basic obedience training with short fun sessions on a daily basis, especially when you're teaching a new command. But the real secret to teaching dog obedience is to make it part of everyday activities.

But how to you make basic obedience part of your daily routine? Think about the times you interact with your dog(s) during the day and see what commands you can incorporate into your interactions.

Examples

1. You're bringing your dog in from outdoors. Ask him to Sit and Stay, and once you've walked through the door into your home, ask him to Come. Same activity going out the door, unless the dog really has to go!
2. Before you put his full food disk on the floor, ask for a Sit or a Down.
3. Your new puppy is shadowing you all over the house. As he's following you, stop, say Come, and lavish a lot of praise.
4. Alvin gets an occasional ice cube to supplement his drinking water. I get him to lie down, put the ice cube a foot in front of him, and say "Leave It." Once he looks at me, I say "Okay," and he gets the ice cube.
5. Simon (14 weeks) is leased in the house sometimes because he's not fully housetrained. So we practice the Stay and Come commands a lot.

I'm sure you can think of other situations where you can use the obedience commands. Once you've done these reinforcing activities for a few weeks, they become part of the routine. You will find that it'll make life easier for you and you will have a well-trained dog in no time. As a new puppy owner myself, anything that makes life easier is a gift!
valmillsy