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How frustrating for all of you!! Weak bladder or not, I have an idea that will keep your floors pee free and your sanity in tact! It takes a bit of patience, but it's EASY AND TOTALLY WORTH IT!!

Get at least 2 bells and mount each one at head height right next to each door that you take Gersh out.

Each hour on the hour, call Gersh to the door and GENTLY nuzzle his nose/head on the bell so it rings PRAISE HIM and then take him outside and tell him to do his business. PRAISE HIM LIKE CRAZY WHEN HE GOES-BUT DON'T DO IT WITH FOOD TREATS.

In the event that Gersh ACCIDENTALLY rings one of the bells (bumps it while sniffing in that area or whatever)take him outside anyway and praise him for ringing his bell. This will reinforce that the bell means time for potty! And in the event that he goes potty -*CELEBRATE WITH HIM!!*

In the event that Gersh has an accident, don't scold, just take him to the bell, nuzzle his nose on it, and take him outside. Not to be redundant, but this also reinforces that the bell and potty equal outside.

I was frustrated with the puppy-potty thing too, but it only took my puppy just about a week to understand that if he rang the bell, he could get outside for potty.

I love that my puppy is bell trained! Since he learned ringing his bell gets him outside to take care of business, WE HAVEN'T HAD ONE ACCIDENT!!!

Give your dog time to learn this, some dogs get it in a week, some take 2 weeks. You must be consistent about nuzzling their head/nose gently on the bell each and every time they go outside for potty.

Try this and you won't be disappointed!

Best Wishes from the Dogue de Bordeaux over here in Wisconsin!

Thank you all so much for your support and experiences with what I'm dealing with. Beaumont began seizures about 2 weeks ago- he's 6 months old now- very unusual for a puppy to have seizures to begin with especially in my breed. We're seeing the neurologist tomorrow and hopefully between the neurology dept. and my new vet we will be able to give Beaumont a happy seizure free life. I'll update everyone when I get home, hopefully on Thursday. We're leaving in a few min. Thanks all again.

Hey everyone, this is going to be long, so brace yourself.

My puppy had seizures (2 of them) just over 2 weeks ago. I rushed him to the Emerg.Vet and got treatment. He was pheno-loaded and then put on Phenobarb. 65mg twice a day. 10 days later we went to the vet for a blood level check and a booster on his lyme's vaccination. Beaumont had gained 10 lbs. by this time. The vet called his prescription in to a local pharmacy and I got it refilled never looking at the dose because I ASSUMED IT WAS THE SAME. The vet DIDN'T INFORM ME SHE WAS LOWERING THE DOSE!!

Beaumont went for boarding Fri and Sat. nite and I picked him up Sunday afternoon.We went from the boarding kennel into the car to go to the beach for the afternoon. Beaumont had a Grand mal Seizure on the way to the beach. I immediately headed for the Emerg.Vet. and he kept seizing on the way, never really recovering from the seizure before when the next one would start.

Beaumont kept cluster seizing all afternoon and into the evening, even with a vailum/glucose IV  and yes, they gave him rescue doses of vailum to stop the seizures when they happened. Finally at about 9pm they got his seizures under control.  I was with Beuamont the entire time and we spent the night there.

After some discussion with the Emerg.Vet, I learned that our regular vet had DROPPED THE DOSE FROM 65mg to 60mg!!! This combined with the 10 lbs. weight gain is what I and the Emerg.Vet suspected caused the seizures to come on so strong.

At 8am I had to transport Beaumont to the regular vet so he could be weaned off of the valium IV. I requested  ANY vet other than the one I had seen the week before who had treated my dogue so carelessly (not to mention had said that he is an aggressive breed )I was informed she was the only vet on that day so I had no choice.

Well, when I tried to discuss the difference in dose of meds in relation to the weight gain and questioned why she did it, she literally blew me off and just said that Beaumont's pheno levels had come back within the therapetic range. I said yes, but at the 65mg dose, not at 60. She tried to change the subject and I informed her that I had the Emerg.Vet run a NEW pheno level test just to make sure that the new dosage was within the expected parameters and also that a Bile Acid test was being ran to check for liver shunts. The look she gave me could have killed Medusa!

I requested a referral to a neurologist because I feel that infection of the brain or brain tumors/lesions should be eliminated as possible causes of the seizures. Again I was met with a condescending attitude about what I felt best for my puppy!! FINALLY she gave me the referral and we see the neurologist in Madison,WI (I live in Stevens Point,WI) tomorow June, 27,2006

Obviously, I am NEVER going to that vet again, and have already researched and found a new vet that I'm VERY comfortable with.

And of course my breeder was contacted about everything as it has progressed and she is absolutely crushed-she views her litters (has only whelped 2) as her babies as much as we do. She is spaying her bitch and is very concerned as to how I'm proceeding with things, wants updates etc.

So here's the thing:

Anyone else ever have a Dogue de Bordeaux get seizures and also SO YOUNG?!! If so, how did things turn out- did the dogue have to be put down? or did you get stuff under control with the right vet and meds?

Everyone I've talked to in the Bordeaux community has never heard of such a young pup having seizures, and very few have even heard of a Bordeaux having seizures period! Beaumont is from good stock, not a puppymill- I found my breeder through the Dogue de Bordeaux Society.

I'm absolutely heartbroke that my puppy has to go through so much h*ll and from what I've read about other breeds the earlier the onset the more grim the outlook.

PLEASE HELP!!!!!!

When a dog is trained in guarding, (nevermind their natural instinct to protect their pack!) that dog will "freak out" on what is precieved as a threat. Was this guy hoping to arouse every dog in the park? I'm certainly no expert on caninc psychology, but I know enough not to do something THAT

Yep, healthy is most important. And dogues grow up in height, out in weight, up in height... you get the picture.

If the two of you are getting lots of excrecise (swimming?) that may contribute to the low weight. If you're really worried, try feeding your babe an extra cup of food at each feeding, chances are he'll burn it up at the beach!

Hi my name is Emily (WI Em) and I have a 6 month old Dogue de Bordeaux puppy named Beaumont. I aquired him from Buckeye Bordeaux in Ohio. I've got to resize my pictures of Beau, and then I'll get some posted. I have pictures from when I brought him home to recently, so from about 8 weeks old to 6 months old. Will see what I can do or get my 9 year old to help LOL.

Ok, got the picture thing figured out. This is a pic of Beau at about 4 months old snoozin' on the sitting room floor. He's still a baby, even if he is 70 lbs. now...

For me it's simple. When I make Beaumont's next appt. I'm going to ask which vet he will be seen by. If it's the vet I have no respect for, I'll simply say that I would prefer to see anyone but HER and at any time. If they don't like that, I'll find a different vet

I'm not going to bother trying to educate someone who obviously has their mind made up about my dogue's temperment/disposition/training. People like this woman are the ones grabing their kid by the arm and dragging them to the opposite side of the road when we're out for a walk. *shug* I love my puppy dog, he loves me and he's great-that's all that matters