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Re: Lily - My English Setter
Bless your IMS for asking your family to 'give her a chance'.
My neighbor asked me a few weeks back if I knew of anyone looking for a pure bred lab puppy as they we considering trying to re-home their pup. Her name is Daisy and she is 10 months, only a couple of weeks older than our Toby pup. She described Daisy as being skittish and too rough for their older golden dog.
I offered for her to bring her over to meet Toby to try to socialize her. I put Toby in my father in laws yard (right next door) so she could have time to sniff around our yard alone. Daisy was so fearful she could not even bring her in my front gate. She had to take her to the back. She hid behind her owner and snarled at me. I leashed Kinser and brought him out first. She snapped at him. I put him back in the house. She wouldn't go near the fence line to see Toby and Rocky. After about 20 min. I leashed Toby and brought him over. She continued to hide behind her owner. I ran Toby around the yard on his leash. She looked a bit interested but we left her alone. Toby and I ran around some more and she finally dropped her front paws and the butt went up in the air. We let them sniff. She was still scared but showed signs of wanting to play. So I unleashed Toby and they did a few laps chasing each other around the yard. Then she was beat and hid behind her owner again. Was back to being nervous if Toby went near her so I leashed him again.
When I looked at her I noticed her belly fur from her spay was not grown in. She was spayed in march. She was foaming at the mouth. A two minute romp around the yard tired out a 10 month old lab pup. She was fearful and reactive. I started asking questions. Found that she was spayed at her regular vet, which is closer to the Syracuse area. But she was vaccinated locally, at the same animal hospital Decker's original vet owns. She had to carry all 65 pounds of Daisy into the vets because she was so fearful. She asked the vet about the lack of fur re-growth from the spay and was told not to worry about it. She was told try taking her to Petco, etc... to socialize her. Can you imagine - taking a snarling and snapping (fearful and reactive) pup to a place with children who might want to pet a puppy? Thankfully my neighbor didn't feel that was a good idea either.
I recommended she take her back to her normal vet for a second opinion. I recommended she have some blood work run and to ask the vet about the possibility of her having an unbalanced thyroid. She's very young and it would be unlikely, but not impossible.
That first picture of Lily reminds me sooo much of how Decker looked before his hypothyroidism was diagnosed. I think his initial mobility challenges were a result of the low thyroid levels and that when he lost his vision and became so lethargic and fell so often that one of those falls caused his spinal compression injury.
She brought Daisy over a second time and she was able to bring her in the front gate. Daisy still won't let me pet her but she didn't snarl at me this time. She ran with Toby again for about two minutes and then was exhausted and foaming at the mouth again. She's going to try to bring her over once a week to see if there is any behavioral improvement. She made great progress from week one to week two so we are hoping week three is continued improvement. I still hope she takes her back to her original vet to ask some questions though. Having seen first hand the impact of having a low thyroid can have on the life of a dog - no question in my mind it's worth at least exploring the possibility.
I'm so glad you have 'only diabetes' to manage these days!
Bless your IMS for asking your family to 'give her a chance'.
My neighbor asked me a few weeks back if I knew of anyone looking for a pure bred lab puppy as they we considering trying to re-home their pup. Her name is Daisy and she is 10 months, only a couple of weeks older than our Toby pup. She described Daisy as being skittish and too rough for their older golden dog.
I offered for her to bring her over to meet Toby to try to socialize her. I put Toby in my father in laws yard (right next door) so she could have time to sniff around our yard alone. Daisy was so fearful she could not even bring her in my front gate. She had to take her to the back. She hid behind her owner and snarled at me. I leashed Kinser and brought him out first. She snapped at him. I put him back in the house. She wouldn't go near the fence line to see Toby and Rocky. After about 20 min. I leashed Toby and brought him over. She continued to hide behind her owner. I ran Toby around the yard on his leash. She looked a bit interested but we left her alone. Toby and I ran around some more and she finally dropped her front paws and the butt went up in the air. We let them sniff. She was still scared but showed signs of wanting to play. So I unleashed Toby and they did a few laps chasing each other around the yard. Then she was beat and hid behind her owner again. Was back to being nervous if Toby went near her so I leashed him again.
When I looked at her I noticed her belly fur from her spay was not grown in. She was spayed in march. She was foaming at the mouth. A two minute romp around the yard tired out a 10 month old lab pup. She was fearful and reactive. I started asking questions. Found that she was spayed at her regular vet, which is closer to the Syracuse area. But she was vaccinated locally, at the same animal hospital Decker's original vet owns. She had to carry all 65 pounds of Daisy into the vets because she was so fearful. She asked the vet about the lack of fur re-growth from the spay and was told not to worry about it. She was told try taking her to Petco, etc... to socialize her. Can you imagine - taking a snarling and snapping (fearful and reactive) pup to a place with children who might want to pet a puppy? Thankfully my neighbor didn't feel that was a good idea either.
I recommended she take her back to her normal vet for a second opinion. I recommended she have some blood work run and to ask the vet about the possibility of her having an unbalanced thyroid. She's very young and it would be unlikely, but not impossible.
That first picture of Lily reminds me sooo much of how Decker looked before his hypothyroidism was diagnosed. I think his initial mobility challenges were a result of the low thyroid levels and that when he lost his vision and became so lethargic and fell so often that one of those falls caused his spinal compression injury.
She brought Daisy over a second time and she was able to bring her in the front gate. Daisy still won't let me pet her but she didn't snarl at me this time. She ran with Toby again for about two minutes and then was exhausted and foaming at the mouth again. She's going to try to bring her over once a week to see if there is any behavioral improvement. She made great progress from week one to week two so we are hoping week three is continued improvement. I still hope she takes her back to her original vet to ask some questions though. Having seen first hand the impact of having a low thyroid can have on the life of a dog - no question in my mind it's worth at least exploring the possibility.
I'm so glad you have 'only diabetes' to manage these days!
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