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#1
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How do I handle this?
Y'all know Khan's back story almost as well as I do, so I figured I would
try here for some ideas. We've been going to the dog park for almost 8 years now. No major incidents, no fights, nothing more than a little snarkitude when someone accidentally slams into him or uses him for a hurdle or something. Starting some time last year, he started getting less tolerant towards unneutered males (I should say new unneutered males; ones he's known, he's fine with), especially larger ones. Given his alpha tendencies towards other dogs, I figured that it had something to do with that and his increasing age/infirmity. It was easy enough to avoid unneutered males anyway, so no problems. Now, it is starting to generalize more into larger males, or should I say some males with certain body types/posture. I'm sure I'm making it worse by assuming the worst and my own nervousness is likely escalating the situation. I can solve this by not taking him to the dog park any more, and in fact, am cutting back. The problems: 1. Between my crappy foot and Rajesh's work schedule/gout, it becomes difficult to take them out like we used to. I can't give the dogs long walks on consecutive days (or I'll be off my feet for weeks on end). 2. He is still fine with a vast majority of the dogs, and given that it is cold out, is having an absolute blast running and wrestling and trying to keep up with the young 'uns. 3. Most importantly, he needs the continued socialization. In the past, when he hasn't had the constant daily exposure to different people that he's been getting all this time, he back slides rather severely on his people skills. There is an added wrinkle to this. I noticed it last year, and again now. His worsening behavior coincides with an increase in his thyroid medication dosage. He behaves fine on 0.4 mg daily dosage, but we've upped him to 0.6mg with the eventual goal of increasing it to 0.8 mg, and this behavior surfaces. On 0.4 mg, he is definitely hypothyroid (across the MSU panel), but on higher dosages, his behavior deteriorates (Because he feels better? Because he feels worse?). Other than this particular behavior, he is perfectly normal - hair/coat issues have been resolved, eats/drinks fine, good energy, etc. Hind end weakness is an issue, but it is likely a result of his Cushing's. What the hell do I do now? There are no incidents and there will be no incidents because I can read him well and can manage him well. But, I need a longer term solution. Suja |
#2
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How do I handle this?
Suja wrote:
Y'all know Khan's back story almost as well as I do, so I figured I would try here for some ideas. We've been going to the dog park for almost 8 years now. No major incidents, no fights, nothing more than a little snarkitude when someone accidentally slams into him or uses him for a hurdle or something. Starting some time last year, he started getting less tolerant towards unneutered males (I should say new unneutered males; ones he's known, he's fine with), especially larger ones. Given his alpha tendencies towards other dogs, I figured that it had something to do with that and his increasing age/infirmity. It was easy enough to avoid unneutered males anyway, so no problems. Now, it is starting to generalize more into larger males, or should I say some males with certain body types/posture. I'm sure I'm making it worse by assuming the worst and my own nervousness is likely escalating the situation. I can solve this by not taking him to the dog park any more, and in fact, am cutting back. The problems: 1. Between my crappy foot and Rajesh's work schedule/gout, it becomes difficult to take them out like we used to. I can't give the dogs long walks on consecutive days (or I'll be off my feet for weeks on end). First priority is to take care of yourself. You come across as practical and health aware, but I think a reminder is in order here. I don't know what you can do about your foot, but do your best to get Rajesh to consume the right things. If I remember correctly some Indian food relies a lot on butter and other rich ingredients. Can you cut back on that? I assume you have cut out Port, Sherry, and other fortified wines. 2. He is still fine with a vast majority of the dogs, and given that it is cold out, is having an absolute blast running and wrestling and trying to keep up with the young 'uns. Given the size of your yard can you have his friends come for visits? Otherwise I wouldn't give up on the dog park. 3. Most importantly, he needs the continued socialization. In the past, when he hasn't had the constant daily exposure to different people that he's been getting all this time, he back slides rather severely on his people skills. FWIW we are having similar problems with Smoky. Needs continuing socialization, difficult to find it other than at the dog park, but the dog park is not working as well as it did a year ago. There is an added wrinkle to this. I noticed it last year, and again now. His worsening behavior coincides with an increase in his thyroid medication dosage. He behaves fine on 0.4 mg daily dosage, but we've upped him to 0.6mg with the eventual goal of increasing it to 0.8 mg, and this behavior surfaces. On 0.4 mg, he is definitely hypothyroid (across the MSU panel), but on higher dosages, his behavior deteriorates (Because he feels better? Because he feels worse?). Other than this particular behavior, he is perfectly normal - hair/coat issues have been resolved, eats/drinks fine, good energy, etc. Hind end weakness is an issue, but it is likely a result of his Cushing's. How about arthritis? Our shelter for about a month had an older GSD who enjoyed the company of other dogs, but objected to mounting or paws on her back as calls for play. Some of us decided that her arthritis made weight on her back painful. If arthritis would pain medication help? What the hell do I do now? There are no incidents and there will be no incidents because I can read him well and can manage him well. But, I need a longer term solution. Suja What you need and what you get may be two different animals. Sometimes the only long term solution is a sequence of good enough short term solutions. |
#3
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How do I handle this?
"Suja" wrote in message ... "William Clodius" wrote in message: First priority is to take care of yourself. You come across as practical and health aware, but I think a reminder is in order here. I don't know what you can do about your foot, I think that I can be more careful with what I do. I know that there are things I can do to make it less likely that my foot will act up, but often it isn't the most convenient thing to do from a time crunch perspective, so I forego it, and then pay for it in a big way. but do your best to get Rajesh to consume the right things. If I remember correctly some Indian food relies a lot on butter and other rich ingredients. Cooking is all pretty much olive oil based. Mostly our eating habits are good and leans vegetarian. Can you cut back on that? I assume you have cut out Port, Sherry, and other fortified wines. Alcohol is a very occasional treat for him, in any form. Definitely no wine or beer. Given the size of your yard can you have his friends come for visits? We can, and do. It's not the same thing, because the yard isn't fenced, so all his friends have to be on tethers, and variety seems to have something to do with it, because they tend to just kind of hang out after a while of just seeing each other. It isn't really that easy to predict who will become a playmate and who will not - for instance, one of my friend's Shar-Pei mix plays very much the way that he does, but it took about a year of ignoring each other before they decided that they can in fact wrestle each other into the ground. Otherwise I wouldn't give up on the dog park. I'm thinking that I need to revise expectations. Today was an exceptionally good day at the dog park, although there were at least a dozen dogs around. He played just about non-stop (as did Pan, with a little squeaky moose about the size of my thumb) for an hour, and I didn't have to manage him at all. I think what I need to do is be prepared that there will be days when it won't work out quite this well and then just go for a walk when it happens. Even if the walk happens to be 10 minutes long. FWIW we are having similar problems with Smoky. Needs continuing socialization, difficult to find it other than at the dog park, but the dog park is not working as well as it did a year ago. He is automatically less suspicious (and aware) of people attached to dogs, which is a huge plus. I'm not sure how to get that short of going to the pet store, and based on prior experience, that's a really terrible idea. How about arthritis? He has a touch of spinal arthritis in his left hind end. It hasn't affected him any way that I can tell. He's a stoic dog in general, but his energy levels and desire to keep going tells me that he isn't over extending himself. When we go hiking, I'm the one that's poorly off the following day. He is on Glucosamine and fish oil, but no pain meds yet. What you need and what you get may be two different animals. Sometimes the only long term solution is a sequence of good enough short term solutions. Well, I just wish it would appear to me, whatever the solution is. My inclination is towards doing more training, but I haven't quite figured what form that's going to take, or what to do to address this issue. Suja From simply an exercise viewpoint, would you consider a treadmill for Khan? I know that doesn't address your socialization needs, but it could fill in for you when you can't walk. -- Phyrie Kiba the Cav's Pics: http://www.flickr.com/photos/phyrie/...758930/detail/ |
#4
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How do I handle this?
"William Clodius" wrote in message: First priority is to take care of yourself. You come across as practical and health aware, but I think a reminder is in order here. I don't know what you can do about your foot, I think that I can be more careful with what I do. I know that there are things I can do to make it less likely that my foot will act up, but often it isn't the most convenient thing to do from a time crunch perspective, so I forego it, and then pay for it in a big way. but do your best to get Rajesh to consume the right things. If I remember correctly some Indian food relies a lot on butter and other rich ingredients. Cooking is all pretty much olive oil based. Mostly our eating habits are good and leans vegetarian. Can you cut back on that? I assume you have cut out Port, Sherry, and other fortified wines. Alcohol is a very occasional treat for him, in any form. Definitely no wine or beer. Given the size of your yard can you have his friends come for visits? We can, and do. It's not the same thing, because the yard isn't fenced, so all his friends have to be on tethers, and variety seems to have something to do with it, because they tend to just kind of hang out after a while of just seeing each other. It isn't really that easy to predict who will become a playmate and who will not - for instance, one of my friend's Shar-Pei mix plays very much the way that he does, but it took about a year of ignoring each other before they decided that they can in fact wrestle each other into the ground. Otherwise I wouldn't give up on the dog park. I'm thinking that I need to revise expectations. Today was an exceptionally good day at the dog park, although there were at least a dozen dogs around. He played just about non-stop (as did Pan, with a little squeaky moose about the size of my thumb) for an hour, and I didn't have to manage him at all. I think what I need to do is be prepared that there will be days when it won't work out quite this well and then just go for a walk when it happens. Even if the walk happens to be 10 minutes long. FWIW we are having similar problems with Smoky. Needs continuing socialization, difficult to find it other than at the dog park, but the dog park is not working as well as it did a year ago. He is automatically less suspicious (and aware) of people attached to dogs, which is a huge plus. I'm not sure how to get that short of going to the pet store, and based on prior experience, that's a really terrible idea. How about arthritis? He has a touch of spinal arthritis in his left hind end. It hasn't affected him any way that I can tell. He's a stoic dog in general, but his energy levels and desire to keep going tells me that he isn't over extending himself. When we go hiking, I'm the one that's poorly off the following day. He is on Glucosamine and fish oil, but no pain meds yet. What you need and what you get may be two different animals. Sometimes the only long term solution is a sequence of good enough short term solutions. Well, I just wish it would appear to me, whatever the solution is. My inclination is towards doing more training, but I haven't quite figured what form that's going to take, or what to do to address this issue. Suja |
#5
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How do I handle this?
"Suja" spoke these words of wisdom in
: "Phyrie" wrote in message: From simply an exercise viewpoint, would you consider a treadmill for Khan? Never really thought about it. Although he is no longer reactive to a lot of things he used to be reactive to, I don't know how he'll take to it. I have to see if any of my friends have a treadmill they'll let me borrow for this. I know that doesn't address your socialization needs, but it could fill in for you when you can't walk. He's one of those dogs that needs to walk before he'll poop, so the exercise walk also doubles as a poop walk. Of course, then I have to decide what to do with Pan for her exercise - at least she's more likely to chase stuff if you chuck it for her. Suja If he has rear end problems, a treadmill is hard on them. |
#6
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How do I handle this?
"Phyrie" wrote in message: From simply an exercise viewpoint, would you consider a treadmill for Khan? Never really thought about it. Although he is no longer reactive to a lot of things he used to be reactive to, I don't know how he'll take to it. I have to see if any of my friends have a treadmill they'll let me borrow for this. I know that doesn't address your socialization needs, but it could fill in for you when you can't walk. He's one of those dogs that needs to walk before he'll poop, so the exercise walk also doubles as a poop walk. Of course, then I have to decide what to do with Pan for her exercise - at least she's more likely to chase stuff if you chuck it for her. Suja |
#7
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How do I handle this?
Have you mentioned to his vet that this occurs when he's on a higher dose?
Maybe there is another medication that can be used with out the side effects this one has? Celeste -- Save 25% or more on your eBay® auctions Snipe eBay Auctions with Bidnip http://www.bidnip.com/a.php?id=39019 "Suja" wrote in message ... Y'all know Khan's back story almost as well as I do, so I figured I would try here for some ideas. We've been going to the dog park for almost 8 years now. No major incidents, no fights, nothing more than a little snarkitude when someone accidentally slams into him or uses him for a hurdle or something. Starting some time last year, he started getting less tolerant towards unneutered males (I should say new unneutered males; ones he's known, he's fine with), especially larger ones. Given his alpha tendencies towards other dogs, I figured that it had something to do with that and his increasing age/infirmity. It was easy enough to avoid unneutered males anyway, so no problems. Now, it is starting to generalize more into larger males, or should I say some males with certain body types/posture. I'm sure I'm making it worse by assuming the worst and my own nervousness is likely escalating the situation. I can solve this by not taking him to the dog park any more, and in fact, am cutting back. The problems: 1. Between my crappy foot and Rajesh's work schedule/gout, it becomes difficult to take them out like we used to. I can't give the dogs long walks on consecutive days (or I'll be off my feet for weeks on end). 2. He is still fine with a vast majority of the dogs, and given that it is cold out, is having an absolute blast running and wrestling and trying to keep up with the young 'uns. 3. Most importantly, he needs the continued socialization. In the past, when he hasn't had the constant daily exposure to different people that he's been getting all this time, he back slides rather severely on his people skills. There is an added wrinkle to this. I noticed it last year, and again now. His worsening behavior coincides with an increase in his thyroid medication dosage. He behaves fine on 0.4 mg daily dosage, but we've upped him to 0.6mg with the eventual goal of increasing it to 0.8 mg, and this behavior surfaces. On 0.4 mg, he is definitely hypothyroid (across the MSU panel), but on higher dosages, his behavior deteriorates (Because he feels better? Because he feels worse?). Other than this particular behavior, he is perfectly normal - hair/coat issues have been resolved, eats/drinks fine, good energy, etc. Hind end weakness is an issue, but it is likely a result of his Cushing's. What the hell do I do now? There are no incidents and there will be no incidents because I can read him well and can manage him well. But, I need a longer term solution. Suja |
#8
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How do I handle this?
"Spot" wrote in message: Have you mentioned to his vet that this occurs when he's on a higher dose? Maybe there is another medication that can be used with out the side effects this one has? Yes. She is perplexed by it. It's usually hypothyroidism that causes aggression, not the treatment for it. It's my understanding that there are different brands of thyroid supplement (he's on Soloxine), but they all pretty much work the same way. Suja |
#9
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How do I handle this?
On Fri, 23 Jan 2009 19:45:21 -0500, "Suja" wrote:
"Spot" wrote in message: Have you mentioned to his vet that this occurs when he's on a higher dose? Maybe there is another medication that can be used with out the side effects this one has? Yes. She is perplexed by it. It's usually hypothyroidism that causes aggression, not the treatment for it. Tha'ts weird. I've read, and been told my more than one vet, that it's just the opposite, and we've had some greyhounds that had aggression problems after they went on Soloxine. The problems improved when the dosages were reduced. One vet described dogs with too high a dose of thyroid supplement as similar to drinking large quantities of Jolt. |
#10
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How do I handle this?
"Suja" wrote in message ... He's one of those dogs that needs to walk before he'll poop, so the exercise walk also doubles as a poop walk. Of course, then I have to decide what to do with Pan for her exercise - at least she's more likely to chase stuff if you chuck it for her. Have you considered buying yourself a Segway so you can get your long walks in? That is after all exactly what they were invented for - people who have difficulty walking - and it would sure be nice to see a few more of them on the road being used by people with actual infirmities, verses the crowd of 20-somethings I see using them now as basically toys. Ted |
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