Entire Dog Blog

Dog owners could have seen this one coming a mile away and turned the dog. The benefits of experience.

Michael Vick was forced to file for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy from Leavenworth after convictions on dog fighting charges derailed his career.

The Vick fighting dogs, though, are living the high life.

[T]he 49 pit bulls seized from Vick's Bad Newz Kennel in Surry County are living the high life. Many experts said that the former fighting dogs should be euthanized, but, instead, a judge ordered each dog individually evaluated. As a result, only one was deemed too vicious to help; another had to be put down because it was sick.

In fact, the disbursal of the Bad Newz Kennel has been Good Newz for the dogs and researchers, who are studying the pits to find out just if and how these gladiators can be rehabilitated.

Of the 47 surviving dogs, 22 are at an animal sanctuary in Utah, and 25 went to foster homes. One is now a gentle therapy dog, another is in training for "flying disc" competitions, and others have happily adapted to family life, reports The Washington Post.

This is Part One in a series detailing what I have learned in caring for my dog George, who was diagnosed with cirrhosis of the liver.

It was four months ago yesterday when my wife and I noticed that the stomach of our 6-year old Cocker Spaniel, George, was severely distended and rock-hard. 10:30 PM. We had noticed him getting a little bit heavier over the few preceding weeks, but we chalked it up to inactivity. I started him walking on the treadmill, which he took to splendidly. But at that moment, 10:30 PM, it had become clear that something was seriously wrong. We weren't quite sure what it could be, but we knew that it required a trip to the emergency vet.

We did our best to hide our near-panic from George as we loaded him into the car and began the 15-minute drive to our nearest emergency veterinary hospital. We'd both had close relatives die from cancer during recent years. We knew a build up of fluid was not a good sign.

George was not aware of any of this. He was his normal, friendly self when we arrived at the hospital. Pom-pom tail wagging frantically, he explored as much of the waiting room as his leash would allow while we filled out the paperwork. In just a few minutes, he was taken back into the examination area and my wife and I were left to our own increasingly fatalistic thoughts.

"Maybe its worms," I said, forcing my mind to go anywhere that could possibly mean this was something a few pills and a little attention could cure. "Maybe he ate something in the yard that's creating a blockage, or a reaction." It would mean surgery, but it was curable.

"Maybe," my wife said. She wasn't buying it any more than I was. None of our dogs is left unattended in the yard long enough to eat anything.

I did what I always do when there's trouble: I paced. I walked every inch of the expansive waiting room. I tried to focus on the wall-hung flat-screen television, but I couldn't. My wife sat silently on the hard bench. There was no one else there.

It was the longest forty-five minutes you could imagine. Seconds ticked by like minutes, and minutes took hours to pass. And the longer we waited, the less I was able to fool myself into thinking any good news would be coming out of the examination area.

The look on the emergency vet's face when she came out to lead us into the consultation area was confirmation that we were in for a devastating blow.

It was clear fluid that was filling George's belly. It could mean a number of things, and none of them were good. Based on her examination and preliminary blood work, she had determined that the problem was with George's liver. Something we hadn't known was that Cocker Spaniels are prone to liver disease. It was hard for her to determine the extent of the damage to George's liver, as the fluid was pressing on George's liver and kidneys. But, no matter the cause or how far it had progressed, it was not good news. There wasn't going to be any good news, only varying degrees of bad news.

She did not think it was cancer. She thought it was chronic cirrhosis of the liver. Whatever it was, the blood tests indicated that George was in liver failure.

We agreed that George's fluid should be drained, and to pretty much any treatment she thought would help George be comfortable. George would be spending his night in the hospital, and was scheduled for an ultra-sound in the morning.

The doctor suggested that we think about how much treatment we were going to give George, and at what point we would want to put him down. We didn't even need to think about it. We knew how we felt on the subject.

Our rule is this: George would not be put down because of expense or because it was too much work to help him live.  However, if it became clear that George was suffering or in pain or had no enjoyment of life left, the only humane thing to do would be to end his suffering.  We wouldn't keep him alive just because it made us feel better to have him around.

The emergency vet assured us that liver disease such as what she thought George had was not painful. There would be times when George would feel run-down and times when George would feel listless, but pain is not associated with chronic liver disease in dogs.

The emergency doctor thought that George's time would be measured in weeks. Maybe a month or two. It was devastating news.

George's hospital stay lasted two fretful days.  We took him on a Wednesday night, visited him on Thursday afternoon, and decided to bring him home on Friday. We were given constant updates on his condition the entire time, and encouraged to call any time for these updates. George was observed to be perky, friendly and active during his stay.

That Friday, we arrived at the hospital to pick George up and consult with his attending vet.  In the next installment, I will examine what treatments and prognosis traditional medicine had to offer.

Court dates have been set for the two Plainville (Connecticut) brothers allegedly involved in the January 13 drilling death of a a Pit Bull named Baby.

Enrique Cruz was watching Saverino Cruz' son when the son was allegedly bitten by Baby, one of Cruz' two Pit Bulls, prompting the alleged drill attack that resulted in Baby's death. When investigating the incident, police also found Coffee, a younger Pit Bull, at the scene. Police allege that the two dogs lived in deplorable conditions in Enrique Cruz' basement and that the dogs were "malnourished, unlicensed and not vaccinated." Coffee was later adopted into a caring home.

Enrique Cruz will appear in court to answer a Misdemeanor charge of Cruelty to Animals and two Infraction charges (No Vaccinations, Failure to Comply with Dog Ownership Requirements) on February 5, 2008 at 10AM. He is currently out on $10,000 bail.

Saverino Cruz (called Severino Cruz in court documents) allegedly drilled "several holes" into Baby's head, resulting in her death, after learning that Baby had bitten his son. The son was treated and released from the hospital.

Saverino Cruz (Severino Cruz) will appear in court to answer Misdemeanor charges of Disorderly Conduct and Cruelty to Animals on February 14, 2008 at 10AM. He has been released on $25,000 bail.

I personally never really understood the dog houses that people build in their backyards. That's probably because I currently live in a dog house with a mortgage that I pay on behalf of the dogs that own me.

I know dog houses are pretty popular, and some are very extravagant. Something to keep in mind, though, is that unless you're installing a heater for some reason, the dog relies on its body heat to keep warm in the dog house. And for that to work, the house needs to be small enough to store the body heat and insulated with some material that will prevent it from escaping.

KOTA has posted an article (that I crudely coverted from its original all-caps format) to remind us of those factors.

Keeping the dog house out of the wind, elevating it off the cold ground, and giving them extra food, to keep their bodies warm are all important, but if that dog house is too big, your pet might not be able to stay warm.

"you don't want to make the dog house so big that the dog can't stay warm," said Panhandle Humane Society director, Deb Shutte. "the body heat is what heats up the dog house and helps keep it warm, so as long as they can get in, stand up and turnaround, that dog house is plenty big."

PetSmart.com gives some specifics.

• the door height of the house should be at least three quarter of your dog's shoulder height (from the ground to the neck);
• the length and width of the house should be at least equal to but not more than 25 percent larger than the distance between the nose and the root of the tail;
• the height of the house should be at least 25 percent taller and no higher than 50 percent the height of the dog when stood erect.