Surgery on ailing Great Dane yields 43 1/2 socks

Fox ^ | 9/4/14

[workerbee]

PORTLAND, Ore. – The 3-year-old Great Dane was miserable and retching when its owners rushed him to a northwest Portland emergency animal hospital.

It was something he ate!

X-rays showed a stomach full of "a large quantity of foreign material." Nearly two hours of surgery later, Dr. Ashley Magee had the answer -- the dog had consumed 43 1/2 socks.

DoveLewis Emergency Animal Hospital spokeswoman Shawna Harch said it's perhaps the strangest case in the hospital's history

[Bigg Red]

Carrots and rum! Love it!

BTW, my sister passed on a tip for curing counter-surfing. It involves putting the bait on the counter with a bunch of empty beverage cans, so that they go with the food when the dog pulls it down. When the cans hit the floor, it will scare the dog into not doing it again.

My dog loves peanut butter, which is great when I have to give him a pill; I just wrap it in a glob of peanut butter. Anyway, I laid my trap back several months ago by leaving a peanut butter sandwich attached to soda cans.

We went out to dinner but came home to find the peanut butter sandwich untouched. Amazed and befuddled, we half expected to find the word “entrapment” in our dog’s search history, but, then, I walked into the room where the beer kit mentioned in my previous post had been stored. And you know how that ended....

One of these days, I am going to try the can trap again.

There is a kitty training technique that I have used successfully on cats that I have had. Get a spray bottle or a squirt gun, and let them have it every time they jump up on the counter. This has not worked so well with the cat I have now because he is so stealthy.

I never catch him in the act; I just hear him jumping down. But I know never to leave food out if I am not in the room, and I sanitize the counters every time I get ready to cook. But I think his main reason for getting on the counter is to look outside.

[defconw]

LOL on the can trap and entrapment! Brilliant, that should work. The cats! I have a spray bottle. Works on one cat. The other cat just does not care. He's very defiant and now he's also indignant. He blames me for bringing that large, loud hyper active black thing into HIS house. :)

The other cat is rarely seen. They are just looking out the window mostly. The defiant cat will bite a hole in the bread bag just to do it. He must be anti-carb. He never ate the bread. So all plastic bags and food are kept in cupboards. Thankfully they have not figured out how to open the cabinets. I had an 18 year old cat who used to open cabinets all the time.

The dog likes peanut butter as well. I put it in her Kong. She also likes liverwurst.

[AnAmericanMother]

Deer antlers.

I have two high-bred field Labs and one half-and-halfer who's just as wild as the others - took after her AFC/NFC grandsire.

They do go through that chewing stage, but the antlers don't smell or stain, are soft enough not to hurt their teeth, and grind down to a soft powder.

Plus if you ever want to use her for a shed-hunting dog, you have her all scent trained already.

[defconw]

That is a great idea. We live in the woods and there are deer running about. I will have to stop at the pet store.

[AnAmericanMother]

I have a champion counter-surfer who has springs in her feet and is a *plotter*. Once I was standing right in the kitchen and saw her peering around the dining room door. When I turned my back, she STREAKED through the kitchen, LEAPED up in the air, and snagged a New York strip steak right out of the pan it was marinating in (up against the backsplash). It was gone by the time I yelled, "HEY!" and chased her around the corner - she choked it down whole.

We had to share the remaining steak while she got a whole one, and all night long she would come up to us and burp, "HI!" with Jack Daniels on her breath.

Springs in her feet.

[CSM]

One of my work friends, a fellow canine fan, was telling me about this news story. What neither of us could figure out is how anyone fails to notice 43 socks missing!

[defconw]

Oh My Gosh! That is hilarious! Thanks for the warning! Mine has a just enough border collie in her to drive us crazy. But her personality is lab. She jumps and jumps and jumps. I think next year I am going to get her a teather ball.

[AnAmericanMother]

The pet stores think the )!*&@&^ things are made of gold!

I bulk order mine from Colorado - elkusa.com For the bigger antlers they charge about $25/pound - which the pet stores will charge for ONE medium sized antler!

[defconw]

Thanks for the tip! My husband has some antlers in the garage, but I am guessing I would get in big trouble were I to give them to her. :)

[AnAmericanMother]

You need to find an Agility training group near you.

BC/Lab should be perfect for Agility. It will give her an outlet for all that energy, she'll get to jump and jump and jump (and negotiate tables and teeter-totters and A-frames as well), and it will give her something to THINK about.

It made all the difference with my first dog - from a loon she became a pretty solid citizen that I could take anywhere. I was running her in Masters when we retired her from Agility because she was introduced to Retrieving around age 6 or so and preferred chasing nice warm things with feathers. She wound up doing Obedience, RallyO, and K9 Nosework too. Great all round dog, she's just the house queen and general critic now at 13.

Labs definitely need a Job, and that goes double or triple for the BCs. They are obsessive-compulsive workaholics, Labs at least usually have an "off" switch.

[workerbee]

she would come up to us and burp, "HI!" with Jack Daniels on her breath.

LOL! Great story!

[CSM]

I highly recommend that every dog owner read “Good Onwers, Great Dogs.” It is a phenomonal read and very enlightening. Once you understand your dog, you will be able to create a perfect companion that doesn’t eat your socks!

;-)

Here is a link to it on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Good-Owners-Great-Brian-Kilcommons/dp/0446675385/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1409932878&sr=1-1&keywords=good+owners+great+dogs

[defconw]

My husband works just one night a week. I work days. But that one night a week, she has me taking her out constantly. She's looking for him. If he's in the garage I have to take her out and show her that I have not gotten rid of him. She does not try to herd the cats. Not yet any way.

I will look into that. She loves to run and jump. She loves to eat out of her Kong. I need to find her some more games to play. We are surrounded by ranchers so I have to keep her on a leash until she listens better. We did put up zip lines so she can do her pacing.

[defconw]

Thanks. She is an awesome dog. I just have to wear her out. Takes a while.

[CSM]

What we consider annoying, our canine friends consider bonding! ;-)

[defconw]

OK, LOL I’ll tell my husband. She likes to nibble on him. He’s salty I guess.

[AnAmericanMother]

You can build your own equipment if there isn’t a group nearby. Lots of info and specifications on the USDAA website.

[AnAmericanMother]

If he has some little spikes, that should be o.k. . . . just don’t give the dog the B&C 180-point rack :-D

[defconw]

That would give us something to do. Of course the dog will have to taste everything first. :)

[AnAmericanMother]

Just work her on the contact obstacles and a VERY low bar until her growth plates finish growing. 7-8 months is about typical.

You can start on the weave poles any time.

My old Choc hitting the weaves in USDAA Masters:

They do seem to enjoy it!