WHAT KIND OF DOG OWNER ARE YOU?

WHAT KIND OF DOG OWNER ARE YOU?
By
Barbara J. Galasso

1) When you get up in the morning, you…..
a) Take care of the dogs first and you and the family last.
b) Take care of the family and yourself first and the dog last.
c) Neither. You stay in bed till 10:00 o’clock, get up and drink 3 cups of coffee and
then with one eye open and the other still shut, you let them out of their crates.

2) When you buy dog food for your dog…..
a) You don’t buy dog food. You cook for him.
b) You read labels and make sure it’s premium grade or all natural.
c) You feel the cheapest brand will do.

3) When you buy supplements for your dog….
a) You make sure it’s holistic and human grade.
b) You make sure it’s a good value for your money and will still do the job.
c) What supplements? His no-brand dog food is good enough!

4) When you buy toys for your dog….
a) You make sure he has one to chew on, one to tug with, one to catch with, etc.
b) You make sure he’s entertained with one or two toys.
c) His “toy” is trying to bite the tail from the dog that’s in the next run.

5) When you exercise your dog…..
a) You road work him with a car or bike a few times a week.
b) You take him for a walk down the street or in the woods.
c) Exercise? Hell, let him fence run the kennels. You’re too busy watching the
“soaps!”

6) When you groom your dog….
a) You’ve bought a special tub, a special table, hair blower, clippers, shampoos, etc.
b) He goes in to the bath tub, using the same shampoo & conditioner that you do.
c) Grooming? (Scratch, scratch *&%)….What’s that?

7) When you show your dog….
a) You hire the best handler, pay him top prices & bonus’s…nothing is too good for
your dog!
b) You hire a good handler and even a young up and coming one.
c) You ask the kid down the street who mows your lawn if he’s free this week-end.

8) The kind of car you drive to a dog show in is….
a) The top of the line van or motor home. You believe in traveling in style.
b) A nice SUV or mini-van that’s comfortable for you and your dog.
c) What ever happens to be running at the time and has gas in it that’s sitting in your
driveway.

9) When you breed your bitch….
a) You choose the top stud dog that money can buy. You do expensive testing, pay
airfare to get her to him & back and set up a custom made whelping box.
b) You choose a stud that you can afford hopefully in your area.
c) You breed her to her brother in the next run.

10) When you sell your puppies you….
a) Advertise them in a top publication and tell all your breeder friends about them.
b) You advertise them in the local paper as well as on your website.
c) You hang a sign out on the front tree…”Puppies for sale, highest bidder takes them
all!”

SCORE:
Mostly (a’s) – You live, breathe, talk, walk, and dream dogs. You’re a true dog person. You can’t believe there’s any other kind of person. Perhaps that’s why you don’t have too much in common with most people unless they’re show dog people. You adore your dogs and your dogs adore you. They come first and they are very spoiled and you wouldn’t have it any other way. Your home, your life and your social circle centers around your dogs. Guess one could say, “You’ve gone to the dogs.”

Mostly (b’s) – You truly love your dogs and realize they have a place in your life, but they aren’t the only thing that matters. They are included in your life, but they are not your whole life. (See example in the mostly a’s section above). You enjoy them and want the best for them, and you make sure you give them an excellent quality of life, but they do not come before yours and your families needs. (Again see the mostly a’s section above). You take your wins graciously, and accept your losses as it being part of the game. Life is good for you and your dogs because you have struck a harmonious balance.

Mostly (c’s) – Not one of your dogs is more important to you than your own needs. Nothing will prevent you from watching your soap opera’s, and no dog is going to use your “Evening in Paris" cologne to smell better than you do. Your dogs live around your schedule even if that means he went to bed at 8:00 the previous evening and will have to wait until 10:00 the next morning to be let out. You don’t exercise him because you’re talking on the telephone all day when your soaps are not on. You wonder why he’s not doing more winning in the show ring than he does. You’re pis--- off at the judge for not putting him up, you’re cranky with the kid who mows your lawn for not winning with him and you’re jealous of the ones who are winning. Your1988 Dodge pick-up breaks down on the way home from the show and you vow never to go to another one again……..and you curse to yourself wondering why Mostly a’s and Mostly b’s avoid having anything to do with you.


My rating: Mostly a’s or b’s: (4), mostly c’s: (1)


NO PART OF THIS ARTICLE MAY BE USED OR REPRINTED WITHOUT THE PERMISSION OF THE AUTHOR!


From the book: DOG OWNER'S HOME VETERINARY HANDBOOK...Open the front cover and the first two pages you see contain the Index of Signs and Symptoms, from Abdomen (painful, swollen, distended, and tucked up) to Weight loss, Wheezing, and Whining (continual). There's a comprehensive index in back, of course, running the gamut from Abortion to Zinc-Responsive Dermatosis, which is all very useful, but when your pooch is in pain, it's great to be able to turn, with the minimum of folderol, to the page that says to relax, it's nothing a bit of extra grooming won't fix, or alternatively to hightail it over to the vet hospital. It's a wonderful reference for any dog owner, with chapters on emergencies (such as burns, dehydration, and poisoning), as well as worms, infectious diseases, skin care, and canine eyes, ears, and nose. There are chapters on the digestive, respiratory, and circulatory systems, the nervous, musculoskeletal, and urinary systems, plus dog sex, whelping, puppy pediatrics, geriatrics, and chapters on cancers and medications. In short, it covers every health dimension a dog owner might want to know more about, identifies the possible causes, helps you determine the severity of the condition, and indicates what treatments or actions to take to best insure your dog's good health.

UTERINE INERTIA

The whelping of puppies is normally a time of excitement and anticipation for a breeder. You’ve done the best breeding possible between two healthy well bred dogs and are looking forward to seeing the results of the combination of these pedigrees. Most German Shepherd mothers are good whelpers, but there are those few who are not. You just never know what to expect when delivery time comes. No matter how well prepared you are, some things you are just not prepared for at all.

When I first started breeding dogs back in the late 70’s all my bitches produced normal healthy litters and had no problems delivering their babies. I always bred selectively and bred on a small scale, normally one and rarely two litters a year.

In the early 80’s I was very fortunate to have been able to purchase the best bitch I ever owned. She would become BIM Ch Arbar’s Xanadu ROM. (See picture at the top of this article). She finished in five shows and garnered two majors from the puppy classes. She was the first place winner of the 12 – 18 class at one of the National specialty shows. So you could imagine how excited I was to be able to breed this beautiful bitch. I bred her to GV Ch Cobert’s Trollstigen ROM for her first breeding.

Xanadu was a terrible eater when she was pregnant. Under normal circumstances she ate well. When she was pregnant she turned her nose up to everything that I offered her. The only thing that she liked to eat at those times was dog biscuits. So she would be offered handfuls of dog biscuits and pre-natal vitamins just to get some kind of nourishment in her. She looked like a bag of bones. She was still her normal excitable happy self only she looked like she was starved.

So when the much anticipated happy day for her whelping came, I was right there with her helping bring her babies into the world just like all my other bitches. She seemed to be doing fine. She delivered each puppy and accepted each one and all was well in that whelping box………so I thought! Anyway, after Xanadu delivered five puppies, she seemed liked she was all done. No more contractions. No more restless standing and turning around. Nope she was a happy contented mother lying with her puppies as they nursed away. All seemed to be well. I left the room to make her a small meal. When I came back into the room with the bowl in my hands, I just about dropped it on the floor. There was Xanadu looking like a very proud momma and it was as if she was saying to me: “Look at what I did. I delivered another puppy by myself and I didn’t even need your help.” Well yes, indeed, she did deliver another puppy. Only thing was that the puppy was in two pieces. The front part of him/her was lying next to Xanadu’s front legs and the other half of the puppy was laying by her other front leg. “Du” (as we called her) was licking and loving the dismembered puppy. I was horrified. It was so awful. She must have had a hard time delivering the puppy and probably pulled too hard on the pup and cut it in half. I quickly took what remained of the little guy and discarded him and called my vet.

We took her into the vet’s office and he examined her. He said that she had uterine inertia which I never heard of. She literally stopped contracting and it was like her uterus became non-functioning. This would become the “normal” way that she would whelp her first couple of litters. She would produce a few puppies and then stop contracting even though there were more puppies inside the birth canal. She was given oxytocin which would make her contract again and the rest of her puppies were born.

For some reason Xanadu would whelp in the middle of a huge snow storm. One time we were rushing her to the vet’s office in the middle of the night driving in treacherous weather and I was in the back of the van delivering another puppy! Now looking back, I wonder why my vet never suggested that we do a c-section on her.

From her first litter, she produced two champions (one which was a Select # 3 and International Champion) and naturally like all breeders do, I wondered about the puppies that she lost. What would they have been like had they lived? The second litter was a repeat breeding and she produced another champion and a Best Opposite Maturity winner who was one her way to her championship when I went through some personal things and stopped showing.

So just what is uterine inertia (dystocia) anyway? It is an abnormal relaxation of the uterus or sluggishness of uterine contractions during labor. Sometimes a bitch may have a difficult birth because of problems with the shape and size of the pelvic canal.

After prolonged labor, the mother may have low blood sugar or low blood calcium. In this case, your veterinarian will give calcium and dextrose injections which may help strengthen uterine contractions. If easy passage is not possible, or the bitch doesn’t respond to medical treatment, your veterinarian will deliver the puppies by Cesarean section.

Xanadu would go on to make her ROM, but whelping her litters was always a concern for me. Her last couple of litters went alright without any major problems except for a runt who I had to give “mouth to mouth” to help the little girl breathe. She always remained small but lived a long healthy life in her pet home.

Whelping litters can present problems. It’s always wise to alert your veterinarian when you have a bitch that is close to delivering her new litter. Like I said in the beginning of this article, most German Shepherds are easy whelpers, but it’s when you least expect it that something can go wrong. No one likes loosing puppies especially when it’s out of your top bitch. I’m left to conclude because Xanadu was such a poor eater while she carried her puppies, that she just didn’t have enough strength to deliver them all by herself.

My rating: Have a vet on call when your bitch will be whelping: (4), feeding a top quality food and supplements: (4)