Help me with my new Buddy! :o

I adopted a pit/lab mix 3 weeks ago from the local pound, "Meatball" was a very sweet and caring puppy and still is, he is now 7 months old or so and still extremely friendly to everyone he meets. I keep him on a leash at all times because I am still not 100% sure of his personality as it changes slightly day to day as he gets more comfortable being away from the pound, he was there for 3.5 weeks. He is very loving to me and I think he understands who I am now. He still will not come when called though alot of the time. OK. enough babbling here is my porblem....
about a week after I recieved buddy i noticed he has nasal discharge or snot. I figured it was Kennel cough or a cold, I took him to the vet and he was given "Clavamox" twice a day for 7 days. he finished his last pill Wednesday morning. He still has some sneezing and a runny nose. my main concern is that he eats very very little, and after he left the vet 2 weeks ago I was told that because he can not smell his food it is normal that he is not eating. well it has been almost 5 days now and he is getting skinnier and skinnier, he sleeps all day but when he is awake he is very very active and will run and jump everywhere. Also at the vet he was given his last set of shots and a shot for rabies. I feed him alot of treats because he will eat them and I figure those are better than nothing. Tonite I bought "pedigree" little champions wet food and he is loving it he ate 3 bags of it in a row. I am wondering if this could explain the constipation and very very wet diherreah. I was told i should mix dry food with the wet food, but I am very new to the whole dog owning pleasure and I am taking all possible advice. please help me what can I do to make Buddy better? is it ok that I feed him only wet food? what can I feed him to fatten up? why does he drink 20 liters a day? why does he urinate and sit like a bitch? what is with the constant erections? why does he never ever ever bark or cry? why is he so lazy? (he sleeps about 18 hours a day), does he need to go to the vet again tommorow? could he still be sick? why does he pee for minutes at a time? is 10 walks a day enough for him?
thank you
Jonny S

 

Sounds like normal puppy behaviour ot me.
At 7 months, you should have him neutuered pretty quick and that will stop the constant erections.
Let him drink water. You should put fresh water in the bowl every 2 hrs. and if he drinks it all, I don't think that is a problem.
Some male dogs squat to pee until they are 2yrs. old. Some in less time. If you meet older male dogs and start to socialixe him around them, when he sees them lift their leg, he will catch on.
Puppies slep a lot. In fact its not uncommon for puppies to sleep 16 to 18 hrs. a day. That's what my vet told me cause I worried about Harley too.
You should be feeding him dry food aswell, yes this probably would explain the runny stool.
He pees for so long because he drinks so much water.
To fatten him up feed him chicken soup. Make sure its cool first.
By 10 walks a day, how long are they, is it always the same route? Pits are high energy dogs, and just walking him isn't always enough excercise. Also, you should keep taking him on different routes each time to socialize him with surroundings and bring him around other dogs as much as possible if he is not dog aggressive because this will help decrease the chance of him being dog aggressive.
If you are worried, of course you should take him to the vet. None of us here are vets, we just all have dogs and give the best advice we can. If you feel he is having real problems, make another appointment. Get his nose checked again too if he is still having the same problems.

Also, with the neuturing, most vets charge by weight, therefore cheaper to get it done sooner. But, for now, get him a little stuffed buddy he can take his "energy" out on.This will help with the constant erections.

Good luck

 

Thank You!

I did neglect to mention that he came from the pound already neutered, but thanks to what you said I am already a little less worries so I really appreciate you taking the time to answer me, I am happy to know there are many other caring people out here. I will begin adding dry food to his wet food and when you say chicken soup would it be the store bought campbells? or do I make it myself? with noodles or without?
another quick question is do dogs have "nightmares" or bad dreams? because sometimes while he napping he will make crying sounds or jsut up and bark once or twice at nothing, i am jsut wondering
thank you
JONNYS

 

I have used this recipe to put weight on a puppy that was recovering from parvo. She began to gain weight in just a couple of days. I cut the recipe in half and froze quart size bags of it. The recipe is from the holistic dog website. http://www.holisticdog.org/

Satin Balls

Ingredients

10 pounds hamburger meat [the cheapest kind]
1 lg. box of Total cereal [or comparable natural brand]
1 lg. box oatmeal
1 jar of wheat germ
1 1/4 cup veg oil
1 1/4 cup of unsulfured molasses
10 raw eggs
10 envelopes of unflavored gelatin
pinch of salt

Mix all ingredients together, much like you would a meatloaf.

Divide into 10 quart freezer bags and freeze.

Thaw as needed.

Uses/Comments
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I take a frozen pack to dogs shows with me, kept on ice, and never have had any trouble with it spoiling, even in the heat of Texas summers...

All my dogs go crazy over this stuff...but you have to be careful, it will put wt on the dogs pretty fast if you feed enough....I feed a pack a day...half in am , half in pm.

When I want to increase the weight on a dog, I feed more; so far I haven't got to the point where they won't eat anymore, and believe me, Satin has eaten a lot at one setting. It will put on the weight, make the coats soft and blue black (on black dogs at least, that's all I have).

The dogs stop all the itching and chewing at their coats/skin, their eyes get this bright look and the energy level goes out the roof(not that Belgians need any more energy).

The bitch that I got this recipe for is a picky eater, but when this in on the food(I long ago stopped trying to "bury" it the other food; they just hunt it down to eat first, and making a mess trying) she eats much better. It seems to whet her appetite.

Comments

Per the information received after having the Satin Balls recipe checked by several vets/labs:

Satin Balls is a total canine diet. It can be feed by itself or as a supplement, for however long you wish. My dogs have been on Satin Balls for over a year; the only time that I have fed it alone is when I had a sick dog needing to be built up or an underweight dog that I plan on showing.

The only problem with feeding it by itself is figuring out the amount. It will put weight on a dog in a few days...that's why it is so great to feed just before a show. If you have a dog that is in good weight, but you just want to build coat/endurance, you would have to figure out how much to feed (cal per kg), or you would end up with a fat dog in a very short time. At one point, I let Satin eat as much as she wanted, just to see how much she would consume. I never got to that point! After a pound pack, she was still looking for more, so I stopped. I have been told a dog will stop eating when full on it, and that you can then gauge the amount needed to maintain weight!

I just fine that per the pocketbook and ease, my dogs do very well on it as a supplement. I give about a 1/4 pound each night to maintain beautiful coats, energy level, and a full appetite...no picky eaters here.

Just don't try to hide it in the kibble...they will make a mess throwing out the kibble, digging for the Satin Balls! My dogs have never gotten sick on Satin balls...not even when I am at a show and feed only that. I feed less kibble, so I saves money there. There is also less stool to pick up as the dogs are able to digest all of the Satin Balls.

I have been playing with the recipe. I now use the Knox Joint Gelatin instead of the plain Knox unflavored gelatin. Since this is high in vit C and protein, and is good for the joints, it would be good for the dogs. They don't seem to mind the added flavor.

I am also adding Flaxseed oil. They probably don't need the added oil, but so far I have not seen it hurt anything.

Fix some up and let your dogs enjoy. They will love you forever and forever!

 

I believe that dogs can have nightmares. Harley was abused before we got her and every once in a while when she's sleeping she starts to sob like a child and tremble. Its quite sad. We have had Harely for almost a year now and although the dreams are less frequent they still happen.

As for the soup, make it home made, and sub. noodles for rice. The rice should not be a minute type rice, but a natural brown rice, and over cook it by about 10 minutes.

 

My dog Cedo was a neutered male and lived to be 13yrs. But, every time we sat down to eat a meal or snack, he would get an erection. I guess he was just excited about food since he couldn't be excited about anything else. It was kind of embarrassing when people came over for dinner, though. :shock:

 

lovesdapits:
That's too funny. I have a friend that had a Bull Mastiff that LOVED to eat cardboard. She owned a clothing store and brought him to work everyday, so keeping the cardboard away was pretty hard. Everytime stock would arrive in those big boxes, HE got an erection.
:shock: It was hilsrious!