# Introducing My Lot!



## Nukawin (Apr 11, 2016)

New here but I love showing off my non-human family because I just adore them. xD So here we go!

First up are my dogs. 








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Tucker *is my 15 year old Pomeranian (the little dude in the middle). I've had him since he was 11 weeks old, and he's just a little fireball. He's very choosy about who can pet him, and most cases, only I'm allowed to pet him. He's very close to me, and very affectionate (always leaning his head on my shoulder or licking my arms/face xD) but he's also very temperamental and doesn't like children or being groomed - I've a scar on my thumb from a few years ago when he protested being brushed.. Now I take him to the vet to be shaved down so he doesn't get matted to the point of fly strike. :|

He suffered a luxating patella at 11 months old, which needed surgery (it was so bad), so his left-leg is iffy. He was attacked by a Springer Spaniel during a walk when he was 1yo, and aged 4yo, he was attacked by the SAME SPRINGER SPANIEL. :evil:

Aged 6yo, he was attacked (AGAIN) by another, even bigger dog. He lost sight in his left eye, though the vets didn't feel it required removal so they allowed him to keep his eye. Over the years it's shrank in size. :/ 

Currently, Tucker is on pain relief for a healed dislocated knee (I had no idea how or when that happened, but vets found it on xray) and a slipped disc in his spine. He's got arthritis in both knees and elbows, a cataract in his right eye and is going deaf, has a grade 2 heart murmur, and is on medication/medicated food for lvl 2 kidney failure. 

I have to collect a urine sample from him every month with a ladle so the vets can monitor his kidneys, and I reorder his medication at the same time. Every 3 months, he has bloods done, so vets can check the rest of his organs to see how they're coping with the meds. 

Despite everything he's been through, and currently going through, the vets have complimented how lively and active he is. He still runs around the yard after the other two, and even tries to jump up. 

I gotta be honest, if he didn't have as much spirit as he has, I would have probably chose to have him PTS so he wouldn't have to eat medicine for the rest of his days... But he's still so full of life and energy, that I can't bring myself to choose for him, so I'll continue to care for him until he's ready to go. I'm so devoted to this bugger I gave up my second year of college just to provide for him. I would do it again too, over and over. 

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*Ripley* (floppy ears) and *Milo* (erect ears) are litter-mates (Brothers). They're 7 years old, Jack Russell/Mongrel (possibly Beagle/other breeds) mixed, so in short, they're both mutts. I've had them since they were 6 weeks old, very young, but their mother (my sister's dog) lost interest in them when they were 3 weeks, and we had to intervene to keep them (and their siblings) going. 

These guys are insane, and honestly I spent so much time working on their relationship with each other that I ended up neglecting their obedience so... They're not very responsive to commands. My bad. :roll: I focused on their relationship since it's never advised to get siblings (I've seen first hand what happens there... Twice) but I had picked Ripley and my mum picked Milo, and neither of us wanted to give the other back. So I worked with them to establish a peaceful relationship where they share everything, from their bed, to their food, their toys, etc... They have their own kennels/food bowls, don't worry, I understand the importance of them needing their own things, I'm simply pointing out how far their relationship has come.

*Milo* (erect ears) is the confident, yet clingy brother. He's very out-going and friendly, eager to meet everyone, but loves to be close to his family. He's always at my feet. Milo is also the more clever of the two. They lack obedience, but Milo taught himself to retrieve/drop the ball for me, so every time I launch it, he'll bring it back and let me have it. Milo is also extremely vocal - Not the most charming of his personality. He gets so excited that when bouncing like a lunatic doesn't work he'll bark too. x_x

Milo has a dangerous prey-drive, something we discovered when we tried to introduce my sister's Ferret to him. The ferret's breeder was holding the ferret while the dogs were penned, but Milo managed to grab the ferret through the fence. Thankfully the breeder acted quickly and the ferret came away with a bald patch, but after that we just didn't bother introducing Milo to any other animal since. Milo is happy to play with most toys but he favours balls, and he LOVES running after them! He will even bring you a ball just so you'll throw it for him, if you ignore him, he'll bark at you until you throw it! 

Our first Christmas with these two, Milo gave us a Parvo-scare. He went off his food, was very off-colour, lethargic, and throwing up. We rushed him to the vet on Christmas Day, and the vets examined him, and after giving him some medication, told us to keep an eye on him over night. Next day, it was like nothing happened - Turned out, he ate something he shouldn't have. It passed naturally thankfully.

Milo also has a luxating patella, and a seasonal skin condition (he develops black bald patches around his ears every summer, his fur comes back by Winter). We're still investigating that. Last year, he sliced his paw open, thankfully he didn't need stitches for that (the vets checked it out and confirmed that). Was still a real scary thing since tho it bled so much. :shock: 
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Ripley* (floppy ears) is the shyer, but more independent brother. He's not aggressive, but he can be shy with new people (tends to hide behind me on walks when I stop to talk to someone). That said, he's happy to go off on his own, not one to hang around like Milo does.

Ripley has surprisingly been the healthier of the two, the only times he's needed to see a vet was when he was neutered, or when I take them in to be weighed for their flea/worming meds. 

He's thankfully not as vocal as Milo, though, that said, sometimes when Milo starts, Ripley will follow along. Ripley can easily jump 5ft verticle, and his favourite toys are any sort of Rope Toy, since he loves tug-of-war. Ripley likes to bring the rope toy close until you notice it, and he'll either let you grab an end, or he'll just lift it and run from you. xD

Like his brother, Ripley also has a prey-drive. Honestly, I have no idea how bad his is, since when he met the ferret, he didn't go for it like Milo did. However, when there are cows/sheep in the neighbouring fields, he'll pace the fence and whine. Thankfully he's never had the chance to chase them, and it'll remain that way if I've anything to do with it. 

The pair of them go insane for balloons, so I'll take them down to the field behind my house (it's an extension of our yard, so it's our field haha!) and blow up some balloons, and just let them have it! They'll bounce after the balloon until they get it grounded, then they pop it and come running back to me for another. Great way to burn energy! 

Despite their prey-drive, neither of them have shown aggression towards people. Even the vet is greeted with wagging tails and eagerness. Milo is iffy with strange dogs (he tends to become stiff in movement and will give a low growl, he hasn't lunged), and from what I've been told, Ripley is more sociable (he broke into a neighbours yard once and played with their dog, I was away at that time so I'm going by eye witnesses haha). 

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I've decided I'll share with you my late girl, Sandy. 










I've always wanted a German Shepherd. As a child they've been my ultimate favourite breed, and all my experiences meeting GSD's have been pleasant. Eventually my parents surprised me with an 8-week-old GSD that I named Sandy. Sandy had very poor health. She grew up with panosetitis, and suffered a skin allergy on the inside of her thigh. She also struggled horrendously to put on weight, so most times, she looked emaciated, despite us feeding her a lot. We'd been in and out of the vets trying to figure out what was going on. The vets then kept loosing our records so we changed vets. 

Sandy holds a very special place in my heart. Not only was she my favourite breed, but she understood me like no one else did. She was a family pet, but she was my guardian, my bestest friend. I always took her for long walks on country roads, and we'd go down to the creak so she could play in the river, she loved water so much. 

Sandy never had any training beyond a few basic commands, but she had the most amazing ability to know how I felt and how to act based on that. When I was happy, she was content, confident and relaxed. When I was sad, she'd become very affectionate, rubbing against me, leaning on me and pawing at me. If I felt angry or nervous, she would become fiercely protective. I'm a very nervous person, especially with strangers, so if one stopped to talk to me and I felt nervous, Sandy would come between us and growl if the other person got too close - If I felt okay about the stranger, Sandy was happy to let them pet her. With one person I really disliked, when he got too close she snapped at him. She never made contact thankfully but she defiantly convinced the guy to stay away from me. 

She was always catching the attention of people I walked past, because she was big and she was beautiful. When my nephew came into the world, Sandy was very gentle and tender with him, carefully licking his face when he visited and being patient when he tugged on her lips or ears. She never once showed any intent on hurting him. When Ripley and Milo came along, she took to them like she was their mother. She always teased Tucker (he never wanted to play with her) but when the Brothers came, she had new play mates so she stopped pestering Tucker. Sandy would sun-bathe while the two lay either curled up beside, or on top of her. During walks, they would always turn and lick her face. When she met the neighbours young lurcher, she greeted it with a few gentle licks. 

We arranged to have Sandy spayed when she was 5 years old, since Ripley and Milo were maturing and we didn't want any surprise litters. During her op, the vets found a tumour; Cancer. One month later, they removed it (they gave her time to recover from the spay first). Sandy recovered well and life was great for another 3 years. 

And then Sandy started showing worrying signs. She was disorientated, loosing her coordination. She was making abnormally sharp turns, and if she was too close to a surface, it would result in her slamming her head off said-surface. She was staggering about and sometimes would trip over herself. During walks, she became so out of breath she had to lie down and rest before we could continue. So we took her to the vet to investigate. I watch A LOT of vet documentaries so I already suspected neurological problems for her mobility.

The vets examined her and did xrays, where they found a deformity in her spine, near her atlas and axis vertebrae, and it was compressing on her spinal cord. In short, they diagnosed her with Wobblers Disease. They also made another discovery in the xray; A mass had appeared in her lungs. Their examination also discovered another mammary tumour. The cancer had come back, and was now also in her lungs. 

After the findings, Sandy was put on two different kinds of pain relief, in a vain attempt to give her some comfort, but she was going down hill fast. She was loosing her weight, she stopped eating, she tried to play with the brothers but she was in such a condition she couldn't even do that. We took her to the lough to give her some fun, but even then... She couldn't enjoy herself, because she was so unsteady on her feet, she couldn't go into the water. My dad was with us that day and said when she looked at him, he saw in her eyes, she was saying ''i can't do this anymore..''. Sandy had stopped smiling. 

What kills me about this was Sandy had given up before I did. I wanted to give her more time, but in doing so I just prolonged her agony, so yeah, I do beat myself up over it. A week after her diagnoses, I eventually admitted defeat. 

On the 21st of September, 2012, we took her to the vet one last time. I stayed with her through her last moments, I couldn't leave her. I petted her as she took her last breath, and I felt her soul leave her body. It was the first time I'd seen my dad cry, and when I got home, my entire family was crying. She was only 8 years old. 

I arranged with the vets to have her cremated, and her ashes returned to me in an urn, where I now keep in my room close to me. I'm always reminding her that she's a good girl, and I do still mourn her. My only regret is that I didn't see she'd given up long before I did. 

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Sorry to end the post on a sad note. I couldn't bring myself to discuss my current dogs without adding in my big girl. 

I've more pets to introduce but I sorta feel like I've turned this post into an essay, ^^; So I'll introduce the other members of my animal family later.


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## LittleBettaFish (Oct 2, 2010)

I wonder if Sandy had EPI? It can cause them to basically starve to death no matter how much they are fed. 

Much as I love German Shepherds (we have four), the breed does have a lot of health issues, cancer and allergies being among them.

Poor Tucker sounds like he has been through the wars! He sounds like one of our walking vet bills.


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## Nukawin (Apr 11, 2016)

Can't say I've heard of EPI, though I just googled it there and seen some examples. Honestly, she wasn't THAT thin (her vertebrae, pelvis and leg bones were not visible) but she did have a few more visible ribs than that of a lean, healthy dog. After she was spayed she seemed to gain weight. I don't think she had EPI, but now that I've been made aware of it (honestly had no idea), should I ever get another GSD that shows similar problems, I'll get them tested. 

And yeah, it sucks that the breed is afflicted with so many health issues. What doesn't help is people who breed them for profit, and don't care if the parents have genetic health issues that could pass on. >_< I'm also not a fan of the show-bred GSDs, they are among the worse health wise.  Sandy's heritage (what we were told) was her mother was a police dog and her father was a show dog. TBH I think she was a backyard breeder's result, or a puppymill dog, given how poorly she was. My parents never got to meet the sire/dam. :/ 

As for Tucker. He's defiantly a fighter, and he still has the fighting spirit! I have to agree with the walking vet bill though, xD.


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## LittleBettaFish (Oct 2, 2010)

Yeah it sounds like it wasn't EPI, as after googling I did notice that a lot of the afflicted dogs were like rescue seizure skinny. I actually didn't even realise this condition existed until I started lurking on a GSD forum. 

Some German Shepherds do just seem to be notoriously difficult to put on weight. Our male is like that. 

I'm surprised with all Tucker's battle scars, he doesn't have a wing at your vet named in his honour haha. 

But what else can you do but love them :tongue:


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## Nukawin (Apr 11, 2016)

I have several dog books, and even GSD-specific books, you'd think this would've been mentioned in one of them. D: I guess my library is a little outdated, heh. 

I'm planning on my next GSD being a male, but atm, I'm focusing on Tucker, since he's the one needing regular meds and tests to manage his conditions. I'm glad Ripley and Milo (aside Milo's few hiccups) have been relatively healthy, tho given their obvious leg bows, I do expect them to have mobility issues (probably chronic arthritis) when they get older as a result of the bow-joints. :/


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## Romad (Jun 28, 2009)

What a great fur family you have. I loved reading their stories. 

Thanks for sharing and welcome to the forum.


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