[FamilyOfFive]

We ar a LOW income family of five - my husband and I owned a shepherd/samoyed for 10 yrs before we had our 3 girls (he actually passed away while we were expecting our first) - our 2 eldest were asking for a dog when we found out we were having baby #3, so we said we would wait til she was out of diapers and gave up her soother - that happened this past summer, so we went on Kijiji and other sites to see what we could find.
We found that one of our neighbour's had posted their Beagle on Kijij, so we e-mailed them for more info. They had him for sale for awhile then told us they would just give him to us! I was excited, but also a little wary as they had mostly kept him in the backyard and never seemed to walk him. I wasn't sure bout his behaviour as we had only petted him thru his fence, so I suggessted that they bring him by for a visit so we could see how our girls would be with him and he with them. The next thing we knew, they had moved!! I e-mailed them asking if they had maybe sold the dog, and they said that they dropped him off at the Mississauga Animal Shelter!!! I was really upset! So... we called the shelter and foudn out he was scheduled for neutering so we called every day til he was ready to be adopted out, and then went and got him. He has been with us since the end of Sept, and is basically a mountain goat!! He climbs and and eats EVERYTHING!!!
Recently, his stool started to become soft and he left a few "gifts" for us over night and boy did they ever smell!! So I told the girls to STOP giving him any treats. I noticed his stool returning to "normal" last 2 nights HOWEVER, today, I have found two different spots in the kitchen where there appears to be jelly and a bit of poop. Like a teaspoon full. There is a slight tinge of redness, but I am pretty sure it's not blood (mom of 3 gilrs here and yes, have had to "study" the baby poop when they weren't well) - so.... that being said, they only thing that he has different last night was a PEDIGREE JUMBONE - I read the ingiedeints (rice flour, GLYCERIN, sugar, cellulose powder, wheat flour, PROPYLENE GLYCOL, sodium caseinate, natural flavor, drid meat by-products, ......etc.) and YUCK!!! I am thinking that the treats might be making his stool have that in it. I have been reading the ingredients on a bunch of dog treats and GROSS!!!!!! I can't beleive that the big name dog food companies actually say these are GOOD for your dogs!?! I have found a sweet potatoe/duck jerky treat at Dollarama that he LOVES and are all natural!!! Only sweat potatoe and duck jerky! He didn't seem to have the runny stools when he has those.
So....... any advice would be welcomed as, like i said, LOW INCOME family here and really cannot afford to run him to the vets right now. Thanks!!

 

[oldhounddog]

FamilyOfFive ,

Welcome to Beagles Unlimited.
What you have described with your dog's stool sounds like Giardia or Coccidia as they both have similar symptoms. The jelly cover or mucus with a little red ( small amount blood ) and bad odor is a sure sign of Giardia or Coccidia. ( Treats will not cause this ) Giardia or Coccidia can be easily treated if you have access to meds or if the shelter will give free treatment. Let me know what your choices are here....

For now I would skip treats and feed a good quality kibble with a named meat source as the first ingredient if possible , and plenty clean water. Keep any accidents cleaned up and use some type of disinfectant cleaner.




Are you in the USA?
Do you have a shot record or any Vet history for your new dog?
Any other information on your dog will be helpful.

Post back as soon as possible and I will be glad to help any way I can.

Best , oldhounddog

 

[Mom2Beagles]

Hi there. I am so glad you were able to get him from the shelter!

Sounds like he needs some training and a regulr diet without so many treats. My beagle Vazzle has had that jelly-poo on occasion, almost looks like mucous. She is fine and her stool is fine, I think its just when she has a tummy upset. Pick one dog food brand and try that for a few weeks. You don't have to spend a ton of money, just find one that agrees with her tummy. You seem to be good at reading ingredients so you should be able to select a food that you can afford. I feed my girls kibble and mix it with warm water and a teaspoon of canned food. I also add our left over veggies from dinner and they like that. As for treats, you can actually use kibble for treats. If you do want to give a few bisquits, get a dry kind not those meaty-chewie kind. Once you have him on a better steady diet for a few weeks, see how the stool is. If that jelly is still there then you should at least try to take a stool sample to a vet.

I would get him on a schedule, take him for walks and work on training. That will keep him from being so crazy in the house.

 

[FamilyOfFive]

Thank you so much for your kind words He does seem alot better yesterday and today - his stools seem more solid and yes, we were trying to teach him tricks last night and used a handful of kibble - worked just like treats!! and he seems to be mellowing out - I don't know if it's him feeling better or my attitutde towards his training (or even my husband's all around attitude to him) have helped, but it's really great to have others to "bounce ideas off of" like this forum.

 

[Lead]

Please don't ignor the fact that he could have Giardia or Coccidia even though he is doing better. The fact that it smelled is a good sign that he has something more then a bad reaction to a treat, this is a condition that is not life threathing to a mature dog but still not healthy for him.. Here on Beagles Unlimited are remedies for both conditions. But as suggested you could call the shelter that he came from and ask them if they hava medication for the conditions that they could give you.

 

[FamilyOfFive]

I appreciate all your concern - I also have three daughters and I look up "stuff" and "conditions" on the internet all the time - he is totally back to "normal" and we ahve had NO further "incidents" (other than him eating a granola bar wrapper and throwing it up!) Now, he only gets sweet potatoe treats and he LOVES those!! and his stool is completely "normal" now

 

[oldhounddog]

Hi FamilyOfFive ,
So glad to hear everything is back to normal with your Beag. It is good that you care enough to use the net as well as good general common sense to educate yourself to make informed choices for your pets and family , I salute you with 2 paws up for your effort. Please check back in from time to time and let us know how things are going. We will always be glad to offer advice to all friends of "ersatz mountain goats".

Best , oldhounddog

 

[FamilyOfFive]

LOL! read your reply oldhounddog to our girls - they laughed at the "two paws up"! LOL! AND...... the "mountain goat" reference!! so acurate!!! He has quite the liking to toilet paper! Not the empty rolls either! teaching our girls to keep the bathroom door closed! He still tries to jump at the table - he 'specially tries to grab food from our 6 yr old - he know she is less "dominating" she is too soft when she tells him "no!" He acts like he doesn't have any food in his bowl and is STARVING when anyone has any kind of food. He also doesn't like to be cornered in his cage - if he "steals" something (like a shoe) and you go in there after him to get it and soudn scolding, he will growl - no lips up or hair on ends, just a look in his eye like he is defending himself. I don't want him to bite any of us,.....just now he grabbed 6 yr olds chocolate cupcake and ran towards his cage - I yelled and he dropped it before going in, so I closed the door behind him and cleaned up the dropped cupcake. He is "whining" now - any suggesstions on "time limits" in cage? I think that leaving him too long makes him forget why he is in there, but I am still upset and that makes it hard to be nice when I let him out. Will he ever stop trying to steal off the table?

 

[oldhounddog]

I yelled and he dropped it before going in, so I closed the door behind him and cleaned up the dropped cupcake. He is "whining" now - any suggesstions on "time limits" in cage? I think that leaving him too long makes him forget why he is in there, but I am still upset and that makes it hard to be nice when I let him out. Will he ever stop trying to steal off the table?

FamilyOfFive , Very good question.

The use of the crate/cage to help when you have special needs or can not supervise your dog is fine , however , I would advise against using the cage for correction or time out as your dog will not understand that concept. Generally what you want is for you dog to view the crate as a happy and secure place as this will help future efforts with training.
I know this can be frustrating at times , just try to take a deep breath and reward yourself with a well deserved break for being a great and caring person , not to mention doing the work of 3 people...

Most of what you have described can be made better with basic obedience commands ( sit , down , stay and recall with word of choice) easily taught at home using food rewards. This can be fun and easy , take a look at the video link below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7NHqAW66-gE&feature=youtu.be

This trainer has many free video shorts on youtube and is one of the best I've seen.

Please post back if you have any ?

Best , oldhoundog

 

[FamilyOfFive]

A Very Difficult Choice
For about a year, our family had been looking into acquiring a four legged furry friend of the canine persuasion, to add to our house hold. Then, 4 months ago, one of our neighbours was giving up their dog. We knew that everyone in the neighbourhood liked this pup and thought it would a great idea to add him to our home. After talking with the previous owners and arranging a “play date” we suddenly found that they had up and moved and surrendered the dog to the local animal shelter! We right away went to make sure we could have him and kept in constant contact with the shelter as he was being held for the standard time and then neutered and microchipped. We were THRILLED when we were finally able to go and adopt him into our family, but now I realize that I was blinded by the fact of “saving him” and didn’t really think about his adaptability with our family.
I have been trying to be patient, as I know the previous owners didn’t do ANY type of training, and things have been progressing very well, but after 4 months, I am afraid that it may be time to find him a better home.
Please know this, I am really NOT the type to “give up” and this has been something I keep tossing back and forth daily at first, then weekly. I think it would be best FOR THE DOG’S sake, that we re-home him.
My husband and I owned a dog BEFORE we had kids and that dogs personality was one of such love and utter devotion to us. With this dog now (he is a beagle and his name is Radar), he seems to be of a dominant personality and there are things that I just can’t see eventually “working themselves out” over time. We have three daughters aged 12, 6 and 3. He is a little too “rough” with them sometimes and our 10 yr old cat HATES him. He really LOVES other dogs and people and LOVES to socialize. I really think he would do well with an ACTIVE owner (one that would take him on jogs and what not) and maybe another dog. He is good with kids, I just think he is better suited for OLDER kids (8+) as he is strong.
It is our children we are having trouble training! The younger/smaller ones just cannot remember to pick up their toys and food wrappers and he gets into them and I am afraid he is going to get hurt.
He is good about “going” outside. He “lives” on our main floor with a baby gate on the stairs so he won’t go up and get the girls stuffed animals and so the cat can stay up there without him bothering her. We had to move the litter box and the cat’s food and water to our eldest daughter’s room so the cat wouldn’t have to come downstairs. He sleeps on the couch at night when we all go to bed and doesn’t make any noise. In fact, in the mornings, I have to drag him off the couch to go outside!
I really want what’s best for Radar, and as much as we enjoy him and love him, I really think he would be happier somewhere else.

 

[oldhounddog]

FamilyOfFive ,

From your first post and throughout this thread , your frankness and honesty about your concerns for Radar and family especially with the amount of effort to make all this happen while making a home for 5 plus one very busy mountain goat is extraordinary. I am sure the decision to re-home Radar after such a valiant rescue effort is " A Very Difficult Choice ". Your evaluation of what would be best for Radar shows you care. I feel certain , given the sincere nature of your efforts so far , that you will make sure that Radar goes to a loving family. You have a great " don't give up " attitude and I absolutely Respect this....


Best , oldhounddog

 

[FamilyOfFive]

THANK YOU oldhounddog! I have been getting mixed opinions from friends/family/neighbours - I just don't want to make him miserable :-( he just seems like such a sweet yet dominent dog and I want him to be happy, not behave because I have to "make him" - sigh - I appreciate your kind words