Big Paws Only Dog Forums

I'm so sorry to hear about Magic. My thoughts are with you and your family.

You look great! I love that cut!

This is going to sound like tough love, but I've had some personal experience with this (not a boyfriend, I would walk off based on my previous experience), and I have very little tolerance for this sort of behavior.

It's more a question of how angry do most men get about those little things and how do they show anger when they feel it.

Most men do not get that angry (or angry at all) over things that small. And when they happen to get that angry - over something much more important - they do not show it by acting out that way. Part of being grown up is behaving like an adult and not a 2-year-old.

He can help it. Another part of being grown up is taking responsiblity for one's actions and controling how we react. It may take work, but he can do it. To me, the fact that he says he can't control it is as big of a red flag as the behavior itself. If his behavior scares you (that you offered to buy another record to keep him from blowing up and that you and Miles had to leave the house would make me think so), you should seriously consider leaving if he does not change it ASAP.

I found a sore on Riley Thursday night. I originally saw it Thursday morning, but it was a small dark spot and looked like he may have made a mess while going to the bathroom. He doesn't like anyone messing around with his tail end, so I figured he'd clean it.

When we walked that night, I noticed that it was definitely a wound right by his bottom, maybe an inch or so over. The vet's first appointment was this morning, and I figured it was a puncture or a bite of some sort (he chews up areas when he gets a flea bite, though this looked different with the puncture hole). I said okay and kept the area as clean as possible Thursday night through Saturday morning.

It turns out, one of his anal glands ruptured! They flushed it out, which I thought they said involved cutting him a bit (can't see that part now, just looks like the original wound, so maybe I misunderstood). They expressed his other anal gland, and the vet said the stuff in it was as thick as frosting. She said it would have ruptured very soon. Poor Riley! I wish I'd known what that was when I first looked at it. I would have taken him to the emergency vet to let them flush it and give him some pain meds. They said signs of this are dogs scooting their butts across the floor and licking their butts a lot. Riley doesn't do either of these things, nor have compacted glands ever been a problem with him before.

He is now wearing one of those e-collars. He's got antibiotic cream, antibiotics, and pain meds. He's mostly whiny and not acting like himself - not pushing himself on me for attention, but instead just standing there and whining. Also, he's running into stuff, and instead of backing up, which I know he's smart enough to do normally, my doped up dog just stands there-doesn't push harder or pull back, just stands-and waits. Then he'll whine a bit and wait some more until I fix it.

He's got a follow up next Saturday, and the vet said he'll need to come in every 8 weeks to get his glands expressed. If it seems like they are compacting a lot, he'll need them removed. My poor bear...

How funny! I just saw this book in Starbucks today and wrote down the title to look it up tonight and put it on my Amazon shopping list ("Saving Sprite" is already on it ).

Also, I finished "Water for Elephants" last weekend. I enjoyed it overall, but I wanted to tell Jacob, the main character, to man up several times throughout it!

Ugh. 

http://austin.craigslist.org/pet/684197594.html

Good job, Bailey! Oddly enough, I had strangers drinking on my porch last week. I was in the backyard with the dogs, and they ran up to the fence and were barking. I heard a dog barking back and realized the dog must be in the front yard for the bark to sound that close. I walked up the the fence, and there was a couple sitting on the porch, drinking and smoking. They had a little border collie pup-maybe 8 months or so-with them. They asked for my neighbor by her clown name... My next door neighbor is a hula-hooper who dresses like a clown. I pointed them to her house. They then proceeded to tie the dog up while they were out over the weekend. I left a note on her door informing them that tying dogs up in Austin is illegal, and their dog barks the whole time they are gone. I suggested crate training. GRR Interestingly, when they were there, they were out in the yard practicing spinning plates on sticks. That was kind of cool to watch.

Sorry to hijack your thread. It's just funny that someone else here had random people drinking on their porch this week!

He's a cutie! Keep taking a lot of pictures! I hardly took any of Riley when I first brought him home (so out of character for me). You'll appreciate them later, even if he looks annoyed!