meandmyskate

Hey folks,

My 4 year old Great Dane/Boxer mix threw up today. I normally wouldn't think much of him throwing up once as he's got a sensitive stomach, but it's also followed with a fever. No, I didn't test it, so I don't know how high it is, but his body temperature is definitely elevated, it's noticeable to the touch.

That said, those are the only things abnormal about him. He's got his normal energy level, is eating/drinking like a champ, is as affectionate as ever, no signs of lethargy and he's not throwing up repeatedly.

I took him for a long walk last night and he ate something off the ground, which I knew would upset his very sensitive stomach - so the throwing-up doesn't surprise me (though usually it's diarrhea), but it's not usually accompanied by a fever and I don't know whether to be concerned or not.

He's in great shape, gets regular exercise (the 6 miles we did last night is normal for him, and hasn't phased his energy level at all today - which, is slightly abnormal as that normally takes the edge off after a few days with no walk), but besides the fever and the isolated vomiting, he seems just fine.

I'm not the kind to take him to the vet for every broken nail, so I'm not supremely concerned, but I just want an idea of - in your experience - is this something concern worthy...

Thoughts?

Thanks!

He's my first, and I've always played the concerned first parent roll, so I wouldn't be surprised if this is just that.

That being said, I have a 1 year old Great Dane/Boxer mix. I take him out to the dog park pretty much every day. As the season's begun to change and it's getting lighter and warmer for longer, we've stayed out longer. For the past three months, we'd go out for about 45 minutes and when we got home, he'd nap for a couple of hours and be pretty chill for the rest of the night. This week I was off sick from work, and as it was beautiful and he still needed his exercise, I took him in the middle of the day for longer. We'd alternate between 30 minutes of fetch on land, and 30 minutes of fetch in the lake for a total of an hour and a half to two hours. For the last week when I've brought him home he's gotten some water and went straight to bed, and other than readjusting, finding a new resting place, or getting more food or water, pretty much sleeps the rest of the day and night.

While he looks content, and he's obviously getting plenty of exercise and thus mellow when he is awake. I'm concerned about over-exercising him. He's not bruised, doesn't appear to have soreness in joints, or anything. I'm just concerned cause my boy is sleeping so much. And...I do get that his exercise increased drastically in a very short period of time and that's probably causing most of it...I'm just concerned about how healthy it is for him to sleep so much.

Thoughts?

So here's the deal...

I'm gonna try and be concise and to the point, but I suck at that. I have a 10 month old Dane mix who has a problem holding it when I'm gone. The vet gave him a clean bill of health. When I'm home he doesn't have accidents. When I'm gone he does, he doesn't pee in his crate usually, as much as he aims outside his crate. I tried restricting his water for a period of time, but that didn't help, and when looking at it it wasn't a fair course of action for him. It just seemed to make sense to control the out-flow by controlling the in-flow. Either way, it didn't help. I've recently stopped the restriction and it seems to have only gotten worse. I work close enough that I can and do come home every day for lunch and walk him and make sure he does all his business at that time. I'm only ever gone for between four and five hours. Even when I rarely spend an entire day with my boyfriend I come home every three or four hours to walk him, and come home in the middle of it to exercise him. We get an hour or so vigorous exercise every day. But he still pees outside his crate, sometimes in the morning, sometimes in the afternoon, sometimes both. I'm not sure what my next course of action is to try to eliminate this problem. I recently sectioned off his crate and that's helped a lot, but still it happens that he pees outside his crate.

I won't do anything drastic and give up my dog for a problem that I haven't learned to eliminate. That wouldn't be fair to him. It's my problem, I totally get that. But how do I stop this? This is my final step before I seek a dog behaviorist, which perhaps I should have done by now...

I'd appreciate any advice.

Thanks

what questions would you want included? why?

My dad died on October 17th, 2007. My gums have been bleeding since then. I'm a bit concerned, and a bit embarrassed by this, and I was wondering if anyone has experienced something similar.

The only thing I can think of that would have started it is that due to the stress of the situation I probably smoked twice as many cigarettes for about a week after Dad died. I went from about one pack a day to about two. But have since drastically reduced my smoking. Currently I smoke about half a pack a day. Other than that my habits haven't changed. I brush two to three times a day, I've recently started eating healthier, and I'm getting more exercise, so they should be perfect. I'm a bit confused as to why they're bleeding and how to make them stop.

Thoughts?

When I was about 5 years old my (single)mother sent one of my sisters and me to the cheapest day care she could find. The lady abused us. I have a poor memory, especially when it comes to my childhood which (as of about 3 hours ago) makes sense now, but it is also genetic. I do remember two distinct occasions, but know there were more. I think my mother knew about it. I sent her a text and asked her. She hasn't responded which is unlike her. I stopped going to my current therapist because of finances. It was from a community center that offered a sliding scale, and while I make decent money, my debt to income ratio is not so good...at all...and they don't look at that.

I'm left wondering if my compulsiveness, obsessiveness, indecisiveness, irrational fears, and settling for things less than what I want are byproducts of the abuse. I also am left wondering how to cope, how to deal with and forgive my mother, and what good resources are for abuse that is not domestic. Thoughts?