Let's See Your Dogs!!

Nice dog, and nice pictures! You live in about my favorite area of the country.

 

Maggie my Weiner Dog..

 

Pulled up a sapling, a favorite past time until he cleared them all out.






This was supposed to be a vegetable garden, that idea didn't last long.


He was not happy the snapping turtle was in his yard

 

My pup! He would've freaked out with that snapping turtle ^^ haha

 

He was going nuts, looked outside a few times and couldn't see anything. Then we were like, hey, is that rock moving...

Finally got a fence in a few months ago, so that should keep the snapping turtles out of the yard while going from the lake behind our place to the river across the street to lay eggs.

 

Mine being hella lazy!!!

 

Kacy is almost 2......

 

gaurding the house from squirrel attack

 

My lovelies. Bruno Jackson the Bloodhound and Carter Elisah the Lab/Mastiff. The loves, the laughs, and the joys of my life. Particularly the Bloodhound.

NMW, LOVE your Newfie mix! I grew up with Newfies and just love the breed. Yours is a beauty!

 

Anyone else ever have their dog chew on their paws? This is the 2nd time mine has done it. I can't tell if it's the food or something outside. Been going on for a few weeks now. She does have a lot of allergies and picking her food has been an adventure. Also prone to ear infections. Shes a Lab BTW.

 

It's an allergy, probably. My Bloodhound does this. Talked to his breeder and the vet, both said the same thing- allergies. Mine is also prone to ear infections, common in Bloodhounds. My vet suggested Benadryl. Before bed, when he's chewing really bad, I spray his pads with Bactine and put socks on him so he can't chew them during the night. This has worked for us and it doesn't hurt the dog like hydrogen peroxide does.

I have a (totally unsupported by medicine) theory that mine scratches his ears with his feet and the yeast and bacteria from his ears get transferred to his pads and it's a build up of that junk on their paws that causes them to chew, instead of it being an allergy.

 

Thanks! I love the bloodhound btw, that face is awesome!

I'm gonna try a different food and see how it goes. Hopefully she can calm down a bit. That is a very interesting theory btw.

 

You might want to try Zymox Otic for the ears. It's available over the counter and seems to work pretty well. There are two kinds. One has a bit of cortisone and the other does not.

My lab gets any water in his ears and he's just as likely to get an infection as not. This stuff has been a godsend-no more $100 vet visits.

I guess I'd ask whether the dog licks all four paws or just the fronts? If just the front end, then it could be stress related.

One thing I've realized (having owned two labs now) is that they are working dogs and need both exercise and a 'job'. So running the dog is just as important as playing fetch or doing some other kind of 'work'. If they don't have that physical stimulation, they do sometimes resort to licking.

As far as ear infections go, most long covered ear breeds (like the lab and blood hound) are susceptible to ear infections. Regular cleaning as well as keeping them dry helps a lot (I use that swimmers ear stuff to help keep them dry after he swims or is near water). If I'm out camping, I use baby wipes if I feel like he needs an ear cleaning.

Riley also seems to just start scratching and will often end up with bumps on his head. I don't know if the bumps are from scratching or they are what causes him to scratch. Vet says it's important to stay on top of that-which I do with Benedryl. I use the Costco stuff since it's cheap and comes in a good sized bottle. I also have some prescription strength stuff as well but haven't used it in a while the Benedryl does the trick.

Hope that's helpful.

 

The licking may be boredom but, after a while, I think it becomes a habit for a dog to lick their paws and then it becomes an obsession.

Ian, I think giving a dog a job is the best thing you can do for them. A tired dog is a happy dog.

I clean my Bloodhound's ears about once a week. I use over the counter stuff I bought at Tractor Supply Co. If I remember, it was between $8-12 bucks a bottle. I use raw cotton to clean them. When I clean them, I don't push down into his ear. I clean what I can see and leave the ear stuff in there to work its way into his ear canal. If you push, you're just pushing more crap into his ear canal.

My vet recommended squirting hydrogen peroxide in his ear canal. I tried this once, Bruno yelped in pain and I never did it again. Granted, hydrogen peroxide is cheaper and is effective but it is painful for the dog. I just couldn't stand by and watch my dog scream in pain when there were other, effective treatments out there.

 

The vet was right, your dog wasn't in pain, but he was freaking out because of the fizzing , bubbly action that takes place when peroxide is introduced into the ear canal, to a dog (& humans for that matter),it sounds like rice krispies on steroids inside the canal, plus its a major cold rush, so although I agree with your dog that it feels weird & freaky its doing its job disinfecting & cleaning

 

This is Zoey, she's a Shepherd/Husky/Coyote. She was a rescue off a reserve in souther Alberta.

 

Zoe is a pretty looking girl!

 

This is my boy Enzo.
He will be 7 this coming may 2013. Pure bred Boxer. 86lbs of solid brick (and some puppy rolls).

 

Yeah I have some left over meds for the ears. It clears up the infection up pretty fast. I got her a new food last night. She seems to like it, we'll see if she stops chewing her paws.

As far as boredom goes....I keep her pretty busy.