I’m a happy boy, Mom… let’s play some more! Kenai 27 weeks old
Kenai went to obedience class last night, and Scooby Doo didn’t show up!! We had some attempts to rubberneck, to bugger with other dogs, and to get excited, but the Gentle Leader made it all so much easier. He loose leash walked so well we made it to 4 marshmallows on the spoon. We’d have done 5 or more if my hands weren’t having tremors. Sorry buddy.
I found myself to be nervous before we left for the OC. No way was I going to let my anxiety give him another awful class. So I did some praying, some singing, and some deep breathing all the way there. I really wanted him to do well, even if there is touch of ego in that: how good it is to show off the marvelous boy that rocks his public outings. More than that, though, I don’t want him to have any more flubs, because he should be proud of himself.
Dogs know when they’ve knocked out a killer show. You can see a dog’s head pick up, their tail come out, and they stand up taller. It’s easy for them to feel when they’ve made you happy, and they enjoy it. Makes ‘em feel good, knowing how well they’ve done. Kenai did his work, did it well, and did it without treats. Affection was his reward, and at one point, he got so happy he licked the make up off my face and leaned.
He held his sit/stay and down/stay while I went all around him, ran in front of him, looped behind him, jumped over him and anything else spastic I could think of to try and make him break it. When released, Kenai stood his beautiful self up and popped out an honest to goodness show “stack”, like he was in a conformation ring. Talk about proud of himself!
His legs were (and are) very sore, which makes holding that sit/stay even more significant. He held, even if it hurt. But I don’t want him to hurt, I want him to be comfortable. So I’ll be checking out some homeopathic remedies to reduce his pain and inflammation.
I just don’t know that it is Panosteitis in the bones, because he keeps going for the big tendon at the back of his hind legs. If I press the bones he’s fine, but if I mess with the Achilles and flexor tendons he reacts. Pano is a nutritional growth issue where the bones are very dense, and painful as they grow. Pups can chew their legs, and even go lame.
Kenai is a heavy boned, fast growing Dane pup, so it is certainly possible. But I just hesitate to say he has Pano: it’s almost as if the tendons aren’t growing quite as fast as the bones and are being stretched harder than normal. I don’t know. Whatever it is, I’ll see what I can come up with to help him.
The only rotten thing about last night was Kenai came home with fleas… oh I was mad! None of my dogs have ever had fleas. Ticks, yeah. But I not fleas. Now I have to find something to get rid of them, on him and in the house. I don’t like using flea and tick stuff on my boys: if it makes me sick, it might make them sick if used too often. I brushed and sprayed him with the natural repellant I have, and sprayed the furniture/carpets and such. But repellants don’t kill.
♣
BB wound up having surgery yesterday, to remove what looked like a peice of metal from his intestines. It was metal. It was also attached to a collar… how on earth he got it and swallowed it unseen is a mystery. Had to be overnight, the same night he decimated that bone. Beebs is doing very well, though, and had his stomach “tacked”, called gastroplexy, to prevent his stomach from twisting if he happens to bloat.
But the vets put on such pressure for us to neuter him I got mad. They called 3 times, not to tell Mom about her puppy’s emergency surgery but to pressure her to neuter. Not a word about how long the surgery would be, what complications might arise, etc…nothing but neuter, neuter, neuter. The final call, they said since we weren’t going to castrate, they’d just go do the surgery and hung up. Mom was sobbing, and I was pissed.
BB has an undescended testicle, which isn’t too rare. It’s hanging out up there, atrophied and useless in his abdomen since it can’t get through the super narrow pelvis. Undescended testicles are more likely to grow tumors and even become cancerous. I know that, and that one single sentence was all those vets had to say, and we would say thank you but no.
It would be nice to not have to worry about another surgery to nueter him later, but we have medical reasons NOT to neuter yet, if at all. And you cannot look at his smashed up pelvis, his impaired leg and tell me he won’t ever need another surgery to keep him walking. It’s not like there won’t be an opportunity later.
Nuetering is an elective surgery, it is not medically necessary. And BB cannot risk developing the super fast bone growth that giant breeds usually will have if castrated before adulthood. Male Danes will grow super tall and super skinny if neutered before 12-18 months old. Experts in giant breed growth are starting to say it all over the place, finally.
If BB’s leg bones grow too fast, he is far more likely to speed up the process of deformity in his damaged leg. He bears most of his weight on his front legs, and they are splaying already because of it. Neutering him now would make those other legs longer, faster, and weaker. They could even fracture the smaller bones from nothing but the improper distribution of the weight of his body.
Our sweet Bananna Butt could wind up an amputee or even need to be put to sleep if the deformity cannot be repaired again, or the other legs give out. I WILL NOT ENDANGER HIS LIFE FOR SOMETHING NOT MEDICALLY NECESSARY. I was so angry at the heavy handed tactics and the fact that they told us nothing at all about his emergency surgery, that I called Dr. Fox, the vet that had done BB’s leg surgery.
Ten minutes later, Dr. Fox called back after going into the operating room and finding out what was going on. He certainly knew I was mad about the inappropriate way we were treated. He did as he always does: give a complete and detailed report of what was being done, what complications we need to worry about, how long BB would likley be in intensive care, and asked if we had any questions. THAT is how you talk to a dog’s owner.
The vet in charge hasn’t called us yet today. She’d better suck up her pride and either apologize or seriously alter her bedside manner. Mom’s still very fragile, so I have the phone. Boy do I have the phone… I better not get avoidance, either. Can ya tell I’m a little displeased?
We hope to have the Beebster home again this weekend, but he can’t leave until he’s eating and pooping normally. So we’ve got our fingers crossed.
