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Messages - Berner_Mom

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91
Anyone know of a website that I can order online the Chilly Bone dog toys?  Who makes these toys?  (They are soft, sturdy canvas outside,non-toxic sponge center.  You soak in water and freeze for an hour, and they are great for teething puppies.)

I have spent all afternoon driving from store to store in my city, no one has ever heard of them- so frustrating!

I have looked online, but the few websites I found don't ship to Canada (I'm in Calgary) which makes it even MORE frustrating.

Any ideas?

Thanks in advance.

92
Thanks for the great ideas, we will be trying the towel-soaked in water, and 3/4 full water bottle ideas for sure, and I'm going to search my pet stores/internet for the Chilly Bone too.  We have tried the Bouda rope (with two knots in ends) soaked in beef broth, frozen, but Tucker was not interested.  I think it was frozen too much, so will probably try it again with only a moderate amount of freezing.

Please keep posting if there are any other thoughts out there!  Thanks!

93
I am wondering if anyone makes a teething ring for puppies that is similar to a teething ring for babies?  You know the kind, that has water on the inside, so you freeze it solid, and makes a good, gnawy, cold surface for babies to gum/chew on.  Anyone know of any kind of product like that for puppies?

I am finding most teething toys for my puppy to be too hard plastic for his tender teeth/gums.  He LOVES to chew on cold stuff, we are currently tossing his Nylabone fish and nylabone bones and his Kong Wubba into the freezer for a few hours before giving them to him....but yesterday he got ahold of a small size freezer pack (meant for humans!) and absolutely took to it like crazy. (it fell out of our freezer as hubby was putting food away)

My husband thought it would be ok for him to chew on, and let him have it......when I got home and found Tucker gnawing away happily on the freezer pack, I felt horrible taking it away from him, but was too afraid he'd puncture it and swallow the liquid....

If you guys know of any similar product that is water-filled or you can fill with water, and freeze to let a puppy chew on it and it be puppy safe, please post!

Or, any other ideas for a teething 5 month old BMD?


94
Anything Non-Dog Related / Re: pets versus babies
« on: August 13, 2008, 11:29:02 pm »
Saw the thread, and felt compelled to reply.

As a woman who has wanted children with my husband since the very first date we ever went on (8 years ago), who has spent 4.5 years fighting infertility, being told time and time again by multiple doctors that my husband and I would never conceive on our own, that we had a less than 2% chance of ever having a baby together, to stare at that pregnancy test in September '06- to see the positive test result- it was a miracle.

To have carried that child, my daughter, through the most perfect, textbook pregnancy ever, to have no problems at all- not even elevated blood pressure on my part for even a second- to approach her due date of May 25, 2007 with joy, love, anticipation, excitement and the wonder of it all- to realize that our dream of starting a family was FINALLY coming true, to have proved all the doctors and the tests WRONG, to have conceived on our own just when we were ready to give up.......

....end in the stillbirth of my baby girl, McKenna, (6 lbs, 15.7 oz, perfect baby girl) two days after her due date on May 27, 2007, from something called Fetomaternal Hemorrage.  A super-rare thing that "just doesn't happen", according to my OB/GYN, I have never known pain like that.  I hope to never know it again.

I would never, ever, even for a split nano-second compare the joy of parenthood and raising a child with owning dog.  I would never buy a puppy instead of continuing to try to have children, as emotional, heart-wrenching as this journey has been for us.

My husband bought Tucker for me for Mother's Day 2008, because it was the first mother's day I was supposed to be celebrating with my almost-1 year old daughter, and my husband seemed to know that Tucker was exactly what I needed in my life to finally start to get out of the pit of depression my daughter's death had thrown me into pretty much a whole year earlier.  Tucker is not a replacement or substitude for my daughter.  He is a symbol of my husband's love for me, and a symbol of the fact my husband will do ANYTHING to show me there is hope, happiness and love still left in this world.

We are still trying to have another baby, we will never give up hope.  They told us we would never do it the first time, and McKenna proved them wrong.  I hope we get the chance to prove them wrong again, this time- bringing home a baby from the hospital, and not a memory box.

Those of you with live children, you have no idea how blessed you are.

95
Bernese Mountain Dog Discussions / Re: Allopecia (sp?) on my 5 month BMD
« on: August 13, 2008, 11:11:04 pm »

I am sorry to hear this - as it makes the potential road tougher here.  It sounds like my biggest suspicion and the one I see far too often in the breed:  hypersensitive immune system from over stimulation.

Do you have other vets in your area to go to for a second opinion?  I would hate to see you pay $$$ on things like biopsies because your vet isn't looking internal at the immune system. Another opinion may help you zero in on the whole body picture.

Good luck!

Hmmmm....can you expand on "hypersensitive immune system from over stimulation"?  I have never heard of it (though I am new to the world of Berners...I did do research ages ago when we first got together and thought about getting a pup) I don't recall coming across this term (it was 8 years ago though).   I can go for a second opinion, its a huge practise and Tucker can see any one of the other vets- though you'll probably say a different vet practice would be the best bet...that might be harder to arrange, plus won't they just want to do the skin scrapings all over again?

96
Bernese Mountain Dog Discussions / Re: Allopecia (sp?) on my 5 month BMD
« on: August 13, 2008, 06:19:11 am »
So.....had Tucker at the vet yesterday.  She did do skin scrapings, took enough for 8 slides.

The 8 slides were tested for various things, including parasites, mange and stuff I don't remember right now....Anyway, she called later with the results, and all the slides showed negative. 

So...this means we are back at square one.  She said his ears haven't flared up, (apparently food allergies show most in red, irritated looking ears, as well as itchy spots on skin etc...) and since there are no new spots, just the ones originally that came out, she's ruling out Tucker being allergic to what he is eating.

The fur that is present in the balding patches has been broken off, which means he's pulled it out- we just need to know why.

So he was given one treatment of Revolution, in case its a parasite they didn't catch on one of the 8 slides, and a 10 day course of antibiotics.  After the antibiotics are done, we'll go back and she'll look again.  If there are no signs of improvement, they will biopsy the area and do further testing.

Thanks for listening.

97
Bernese Mountain Dog Discussions / Re: Allopecia (sp?) on my 5 month BMD
« on: August 09, 2008, 06:53:03 pm »
kealoha812:   LOL that is too funny!  We have no living children, just one daughter in Heaven (see my signature below) but that was sort of our first thought, as Tucker had been to groomers the day before he woke up with the bald patch, and we kind of thought- at first- that maybe they were just overzealous with the clippers.  I actually called Petsmart when we noticed it, to question them as they were under instruction only to shampoo/blowdry and brush, and trim his nails, NOT to cut/shape his fur (its puppy fur, doesn't need cutting yet!).  I did look into the brand of shampoo they used on him, in case it was an allergic reaction, but its oatmeal based, and further use of the shampoo did not cause new spots.

Tucker is seeing the vet Tuesday, so hopefully we will get some answers and possible courses of treatment then.  I am going to have Dr. Barclay do skin scrapings, as a kind of mange is what I'm leaning towards.  My family border collie had mange near the end of his life, and this looks very similar.

98
Bernese Mountain Dog Discussions / Allopecia (sp?) on my 5 month BMD
« on: August 08, 2008, 07:23:34 am »
I have heard of Berners getting a lot of "hot spots", and I'm wondering what exactly those are, and if this "allopecia" (loss of hair) on my puppy is a hot spot, and what you all did to help it get cured.

We had Tucker home about 2 weeks, when this big patch of fur on his right side just seemed to disappear overnight.  Its about 4 inches by 5 inches, almost round in shape, there is some sparse fur left, but basically its gone and we can see skin.

We thought it was maybe the harness rubbing on him, but the harness straps don't come anywhere near the place the fur was lost.  We thought it was food (and still could be food) but our vet says now that the food he is on is a good one, and that it should clear up the bald spot- if it was allergy/food related.

We have a vet appointment in 3 more days, as she said to bring him back if it wasn't cleared up and fur growing back in, and its not.

But I was wondering what all of your experiences were- thanks in advance for your replies!

Oh, also- I don't think its from bordom.  We haven't seen him licking/biting/scratching the area, though he is home a lone for part of the day (3 hours in morning, then 2-3 hours in the afternoon) and from what we can see on the video (yes, we set up a puppy cam!) he just sleeps in his kennel all that time.  We didn't catch him on tape at all biting/licking/scratching.

Again, thanks!

99
My Tucker is 5 months old, and yes- I do find he has a lot of energy....but it seems to be in short bursts.  He is an early riser, but thankfully the 3am/4 am/5 am's have pretty much stopped, and now he's ok getting up at 6 am, when I normally get up. 

But he will play/play/play like crazy first thing in the morning, especially with our one cat, Simba (1.5 years old), and getting him to heel and listen to voice commands on the morning walk is almost impossible.  He wants to smell everything, chase bugs, meet everyone- its exhausting!  BUT...all this only seems to last the first hour or so of him being up.  Then he's calm, hanging out, eating his breakfast, watching my husband and I get ready for work.  He goes to his "room" (kennel) no trouble, and we leave.

I come home at lunch (3.5 hours later) and give him lunch, walk him again, and he's the best behaved puppy ever, heels like theres no tomorrow- but will still burst out of that quiet demeanor if there are people/other dogs around, and will be crazy, bouncy again- and then switches it off, and is back to being calm and cool.  He is much the same way on his nighttime walk, though I do notice he doesn't behave quite as well as the mid-afternoon walk, perhaps because this is the only walk that my husband accompanies us on?

I would agree with the other poster, every puppy is different, even inside its own breed, I'd classify Tucker as "laid back with short random bursts of energy", and I've heard much the same from friends with Berners.

BTW- your profile pic is cute!  Your pups look adorable.


100
Last night was Cooper's first obedience class...I was worried that he was going to be the "class clown" and not pay attention to anything (he gets distracted very easily).  However he did incredibily well and even walked up the ramp on the first try!  The only down fall was getting him in the building (it took a lot of treats and big pushes).  The teacher told me the exact thing everyone on here did as well about the tile floors.  Another Petco trip might be inthe near future...this time I will bringhis Kong with peanut butter or a frosty paw (he never turns down those!)   :D

Had to ask- what is a "frosty paw"?  I have never heard of such a treat/toy before, sounds interesting.  My Tucker is 5 months, and had the exact same thing happen to him at Petsmart the first time we brought him.  We also have hard wood flooring through pretty much our whole house, so he's been slipping and sliding since day one.  Trimming the fur on his pads is a great idea, and also continue the trips to PetCo.  We've taken Tucker about 1 a week (he goes there for regular grooming too) and he now loves it and gets excited when we tell him to get in the truck- he recognizes the store from outside in the parking lot, and I swear could find his way there on his own if needed!

101
Bernese Mountain Dog Discussions / Re: Our new puppy
« on: August 01, 2008, 07:57:26 am »
Congrats on your new arrival- she is adorable.  My only words of wisdom are "LOTS of toys!"  My Tucker (5 months old now) loves to have a huge variety of stuff to play with, its so cute to see him walk over to his toy box and choose a toy, change his mind, go back for another etc...He also prefers stuffed toys as opposed to rubber, but every dog is different.

Congrats again, and welcome to the board! (I'm new too, its a great site.)

102
Congratulation s!  Baby Troy is so adorable- thanks for sharing the pictures.

103
Leonberger Discussions / Re: Accident - Feeling Guilty
« on: August 01, 2008, 07:27:27 am »
Maggie is so cute!  How is she doing?  I know how awful you felt, it really does kick us in the gut when anything bad happens to our fur-kids, whether its something we do unintentionall y, or something their clumsy selves get into...its not easy.

For example- my hubby and I were out walking Tucker the other night, and along the route we take is a huge boulder that Tucker LOVES to climb up on, and jump off, its probably 2, 3? feet off the ground.

Tucker was sitting on top of the boulder, my hubby was right beside him, petting him.  Tucker put his front paws over Brent's shoulders, then his head, in a true dog-hug, and for some reason- my husband STEPPED AWAY!  (he claims he was pushed backwards by Tucker, but I have my doubts and think its more just poor judgement on his part).

Well, Tucker lost his balance and fell off the rock, landing with a thump and wail on the ground.  OMG we felt horrible, and Brent was sure he'd broken a leg.  It took about 7 minutes to convince Tucker to try to get up....he limped a little bit, but was fine after about 10 minutes, trying to get back on the rock again.  It happens.

104
Right now we have nothing on Tucker when he is in the house with us.  If he asks to go into our backyard (completely fenced in, locked gate), we do slip a chain collar on him that has his tags...because he is microchipped, but tags are VISIBLE, as you say.  Once he is back in house safely, we take chain collar off.

When we are walking him, we walk him with the chain collar on, but his leash is attached to his harness.  He pulls so much- as puppies do- we felt like we were strangling him with him pulling on collar.  So we are training with harness, for him to heel, and he is responding well.

I'm leaning towards eventually getting rid of harness, and just walking him with chain collar, as I don't think it will harm his fur as much?

Ooooh, Binky- GREAT idea with two leashes, one for harness/one for collar!  Love it!  And thanks, Tucker is adorable.  He's about 3 months in that pic, right now at 5 months he's entering his awkward stage, he's ALL legs!

105
My Berner is only 5 months old right now, and we are walking him with a harness.  He is learning to heel really well, and once he is grown- I am thinking ahead!- I would prefer just to have a collar on him, for convenience sake of not having to harness him every time we go out.  Plus, I'm not sure they make harness' as big as Tucker will eventually be. ???

My question to those of you with BMD's or other large/giant doggies- would you/do you walk your adult dog on a harness?

What types of collars and/or harness' have you found work best? :-\

I've heard a BMD having a collar on all the time can result in a ring around his neck, and the fur stopping growth in that area...I'd like to avoid that as much as possible.

Any tips- greatly appreciated.
Thanks! :D
Sarah

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