As promised to Lauren, Don, and Lynn, here is our first Dozer (previously Tanner) update. The drive back home (all four hours of it!) went really well. He slepy pretty much the whole time, no car sickness, no accidents. We made about four stops along the way, letting him stretch his legs, etc. He went to the bathroom at every stop, we were so proud (and relieved!). I could tell Nathan was sweating bullets, dreading the interior of his car might soon be covered in Dozer's bladder contents. As soon as we got into Houston, we went and got him a collar and some dental bones. We took him to my parents' house to meet Nakita (our current dog). She was a little timid at first, clearly intimidated by his size. He just plopped down on the floor and let her sniff him all around. When we got them both back to our house, we could tell Nakita was clearly concerned about her position as the attention hog of the house. After about 3 hours or so and some dinner/yard time, they both got a LOT more comfortable with each other and started playing!!!! YAY!!!! Nakita loves to be chased and Dozer loves chasing her. This is EXACTLY what we wanted, a playmate for Nakita! We are so happy!
Tomorrow Dozer gets to make his first vet appointment to have his stitches looked at and make sure his little tail is healing properly. We also need to ask our vet about some possible allergies he might have. He has been scratching his sides nonstop since we got him to the hotel in Dallas Saturday night. :(
Overall, though, he is looking like a great match for Nakita. We couldn't be happier :) Thanks so much to all of you guys who helped with his adoption! We will make a habit of keeping you guys updated!
Caitlin & Nathan
Thanks for the update
I love the picture of Dozer and Nathan. I'm so glad that Nakita has accepted him and they are getting along so well. I could tell from the short time that we had him that he would be a great addition to someone's family -- I'm glad it was yours!
BTW -- I found his rabies tag and I will mail it to you this week.
Crate After Feeding
One thing I would like to add to all these great comments is....remember to crate Dozer for at least an hour after each feeding to help him not get into a bloat mode. There is a link on here for Bloat. I was so happy Lea from Dogs Unleashed Daycare & GDNT helped me with this information. Danes tend to bloat, and it is safe to crate them after feeding them their meals, to help them not bloat.
Also, the better the food quality, the better Dozer will feel and look. We feed our Lilly Innova Evo(Raw Cooked Kibble), and on this diet we feed her 4-6 cups a day, depending on what activities we are doing. Walking, running at the park, etc. She has skin trouble, and so far this diet has really helped her. She also gained the weight she needed and is maintaning.
Welcome to the Dane Board! And happy Dozer Dane Days ahead!
Peace, Love & Light!
The love they-animals- give~ is like no other love given! HC
Good tip
We have read as much as we can about bloating in danes. It's really a scary thing and I had absolutely no idea about the condition until Nathan and I started researching the breed when we decided we wanted to get another dog. We feed Dozer twice a day and we do crate him at night after dinner for an hour (which doesn't seem to bother him in the least since he has to take his post-dinner nap anyway). After breakfast, though, we usually don't crate him because we feed him at 6am along with our other dog. After breakfast, everyone comes back into the bedroom to go back to sleep while Nathan and I get ready for work. Dozer has picked up on the ritual and takes his post-breakfast nap right away.
We also have a supply of Phazyme ready to go in case he starts showing signs.
raised feeding
to help with the bloat issue, make sure you're using a raised feeding dish, even if it's just putting his bowl on an inverted pail or something (look for info on a bucket bowl).
also, as don mentioned, please be careful of his feet, even if he has been used to walking, the pavement is still pretty hot. try it in your bare feet and if it's too hot for you, it's too hot for him.
welcome to the discussion board and keep asking questions. sounds like dozer has found a great home.
Raised food bowls
We actually went to home depot and purchased two raised plant holders. They work great! His bowls fit perfectly inside them and they are just the right height. They were ten bucks each, as opposed to the $70 we could have spent online to buy actual dog feeders. We got the tip from Judy when she came and inspected our house. Thanks, Judy!
Yay! Thanks for posting
Yay! Thanks for posting about Dozer! It's good to hear he's fitting right in. He seemed to know right away that you were his new family and went right along with everything. Let us know what the vet says about the itching. Like I said, he may not have had a really healthy diet for a good part of his life and he's been in and out of the vet for that silly tail and different foster homes for a while so he probably has had his food switched all around a lot. A good high quality diet on a regular basis may go a long way in improving his overall health which includes his skin. I am also a huge fan of fish oil supplements.
¸..·´¨¨)) -:¦:-
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((¸¸.·´ ¸.·´ -:¦:- Lauren -:¦:-
-:¦:- ((¸¸.·´ Guinness' Mom
Vet Visit
Well, we took Dozer to the vet yesterday afternoon. Dr. Bessell said he looks, overall, to be in good health. He said it doesn't look like the stitches in his tail are doing any good at this point because most of them are loose. However, he said his tail looks fine and is healing well, we just need to keep an eye on it. He said it looks like the ear medication is working, as is the eye medication.
My major concern, as I said, was his constant itching. Dr. Bessell took a skin scraping and it came back mite-free. While that doesn't completely rule out something like mange, Dr. Bessell said he is fairly confident Dozer just has a secondary skin infection which could be the product of his vet stay, stress, different foods, etc. He gave us another bottle of antibiotics to keep him on (the same kind he has been on for his tail), which he said should help clear up all his infections (eye, ear, and skin). We are going to bathe him probably once a week as well.
Dozer weighed in a 101 pounds exactly, which was way less than what I expected him to weigh. The vet agreed that Dozer needs to put on about 15 more pounds but also that he is not done growing. Nathan and I are doing our best to guess how much food he needs. We are feeding him Nutro, 4 cups in the morning and 4 at dinner. Hopefully he will start putting on some weight.
Overall, he did GREAT at the vet. He was calm, good-natured and made lots of friends as usual. Dr. Bessell said he was the best behaved dog he has seen yet! :)
Questions for everyone:
1. Does anyone have any suggestions how much we should be feeding Dozer at this point?
2. Any tips for bathing? (shampoos, locations, etc)
3. We normally take our other dog on a 3 mile walk everyday (about an hour's worth of walking). I am not sure Dozer could handle that long of a walk so we are trying to gauge how much exercise he needs. We walk them at night, when it is cool. Does anyone have any tips on how far and how often we should walk him?
Kim's Tip of the Day!!
Ok.. feeding.. i'll leave to the experts (everyone else)
Exercise.. (get a 2nd dane)
But my tip for the bathing is... do NOT put the leash around your ankle if bathing him outside and there are cats in the neighborhood! :)
kim
Mom to Furgus & Mazy!
Good questions
Sounds like Dozer has found an awesome place to live! He is getting all the love and attention that you need. I will give my 2 cents for your questions.
1) I would try to feed him 3 times a day rather than 2 large feedings. If you both work 8 hour days you could do a feeding in the morning, one when you get home from work and then maybe a smaller feeding before bed. When I have skinny fosters I always just moniter there feeding. I think the amount of food that you are feeding should be enough to put some weight on him. I would take him and weigh him every couple of weeks at your vets office or pets store. Just remember that at some point you will probably need to cut back. I don't remember how old Dozer is but for some danes when they are under 2 years old they just stay sort of skinny. My dane, Duke was skinny for the first 3 years of his life and now he could stand to lose a few pounds. :)
2) I have always used an oatmeal bath shampoo. If his skin is really itchy there is a medicated shampoo called Sulfodene that I have found to be effictive on itchy skin. I would say that you need to find the happy medium because too much bathing could irritate the skin further. As far as getting the bath done. I just get in the shower with my fur kids. I just get in there with them, bathe them, and then take a bath myself. If you can't get him in the tub since it is warm outside bathing outside is probably your best bet. Most danes usually don't like water so good luck! :)
3) I personally think that Dozer could probably go out and walk 3 miles right now. When I have fosters they always walk this much with me without problems. My great dane that I just lost Misty, could walk that far with heart failure at 9 and 10 years old. I really think it is one of the things that help keep her alive well past everyone expectations. I would just keep an eye on him and maybe the first few times do 1/2 the trip and see how he responds and increase from there.
Thanks for asking all the good questions and keeping us updated. Feel free to ask away. In the next week or so you will learn to know Dozer better and better and no exactly what his needs are going to be so try not to stress to much about it now. Welcome to our great dane family.
Janet
Mother to Duke and Misty
Hey there...
I can try and answer some of your questions which I myself have received great advice for others here about.
diet... http://www.doglogic.com/danefeedfaq.htm http://www.greatdanelady.com/articles/criteria_list_of_better_foods.htm. I hope those two links will help you. The first talks about ingredients, protein levels and fat levels. The second is a list of 'better diets'. I have two new pups and diet seemed complicated and overwhelming but people on this site have been there so they are a wealth of info. Also, although these diets are more expensive (will I have to eat rice so my pups can eat healthy????) I found my dogs ate less and were more satified on the better diet.
bathing...the three popular choices are #1 Dirty Dawgs (or other self wash places...you take your pup and bath him and they provide everything you need. #2 at home in he bathtub with a shower spray. Somebody also suggested putting a treat in the soap dish which has worked great for me...no lifting:) #3 outside with the hose
exercise...sorry, I have no idea but someone else will:)
My dogs came with a poor diet and skin issues. both my dogs were constantly itchy even becoming destructive to their skin. They both had been to the vet several times and had negative skin scrapes and were both on antibiotics/ antihistamines. My dogs had been on a really bad diet and I think the diet change did the most good. (although I don't think Nutro is so bad). Like someone else suggested, I also give my pups salmon oil. Only thing, ease into the full dose, my pups had some loose stools at first.
Questions....
Feeding.... When Dozer was with us, i was giving him 3 to four cups of Nutro 4 times a day as he was skinny when we got him. At first he was tearing into it like he hadn't been fed for a week, but by Friday he had settled down to just a hurried meal. He is young, still growing, still needing another 15lbs, and depending upon his activity level you may need to make adjustments. I wouldn't add any more to the twice a day amounts, but if needed, add another feeding time and make it three meals.
Bathing.... We normally tie ours up to a fence post in the back yard and hose 'em down. There is an earlier post about bathing and how different ones do it. On Saturday before the adoption we took Dozer over to MuttWorks in Coppell for a 'do it yourself' bath. That was the first time we have used one (MuttWorks, Dirty Dogs, etc here in the Dallas area. Not sure what you have down there in Houston....entrepreneurial opportunity??). For $15 we got to wear the rubber aprons, able to wash him without having to bend over, in a tub, with warm water, a choice of shampoos and conditioners, towels, and a blow dryer. I like it! Wouldn't work for our Pearl as we couldn't get her in or out of the tub.
Walking..... for the first few years Lynn and i were considered crazy because we walked our dogs EVERY night, not any 3 miles but a walk none the less. Look at the posts about Misty, and there you have an 8+ year old dane diagnosed with heart failure doing 3 mile walks. My major concern would be to watch his pads and make sure they get toughened up for the circuit. Dozer may not be conditioned right off for that long of a walk and may take a little building up.
Grumps II
a.k.a don, Mr. Heather's dad
Pads of feet
Ask Katie how to condition the pads of her feet! LOL She did a great job of breaking in her shoes!
Note: Katie ran away for a few days and when she was found, the pads of her feet were bloody and chapped. She had to have her feet wrapped in specail gauze pads to heal. (this is the real short version)
Hotel
Oh, and the hotel we stayed at was the Marriot Towneplace Suites. The room was big enough for everyone and they were very accepting of pets. There was a $75 pet fee but that was it. He made SO many friends, I was amazed. There was some little league baseball team staying there the same night we were and they all were just crazy about him. In fact when we were leaving the hotel early Sunday morning, a few of the kids were out by the pool as we walked by and a few of them yelled "BYE DOZER!". It made my day :)
Nakita
Nakita is a mutt we rescued from the HSPCA about a year and a half ago. We are guessing she is a blue heeler/ australian shepherd mix. She has the markings of a blue heeler and and blue eyes of an australian shepherd. She is gorgeous. Once I get a good picture of them playing together, I will post it. They slept on the same doggie bed last night so things are looking good!
what a great picture:)
That is a very happy dog!!! Keep sharing..please:)
Lucky Dog!
Congrats on Dozer!! What kind of dog is Nakita?? And then most importantly... what hotel let you keep a dane there?? :) Anyone else out there with hotel experience??? :)
kim
Mom to Furgus & Mazy!
Hotel
When Lynn and i transported Harley down to Galveston, we stayed at a Motel 6 there in the Woodlands. Large dogs accepted, and no pet deposit.
Grumps II
a.k.a don, Mr. Heather's dad
Yay!
i am glad it all worked out. it should be a science, knowing when 2 dogs will get along. And He is a beatiful boy. God bless and Good Luck!Kate