bella_bc_husky

What you just described is EXACTLY what I just went through a month ago with my pit/lab mix. He was ok with noises last year; we have had him for about a year and a half now and he is more afraid than he was in the past by far (although he is a very anxious dog to begin with, but this new stress is extreme). So I did some research online, found some ideas to desensitize him by playing thunder in the background (which really only works if you have long periods beforehand to work on), some other ideas to try, and came across the thundershirt. I had then called my vet since we had a week of constant thunderstorms and fireworks rotating and ended up getting him prescribed with quite a hefty dose of xanax, which I don't like because he is a zombie on it. It was good in a pinch and at the beginning, but the vet also recommended I check out the thundershirt so I figured I'd give it a try. I just got it in the mail yesterday and I put it on him as soon as I opened it. He *instantly* looked calmed. I went off to work today with it on him and am not sure if it helped or not but we are supposed to get scattered storms this weekend so I'll be able to watch the results. You should check into it -- it doesn't work for EVERY dog, but it does come with a 45 day guarantee in case you are not happy with it and there is a way higher percentage of dogs it has worked for as opposed to those it has not. If you do some searching online you can get free shipping too. I'm thinking I may look into it for my border collie/husky mix, as it is supposed to be like "swaddling" a baby and she could sure use some comfort to calm herself down (especially since I just walked in the house to find her destroy a giant stack of paperwork that I just brought home from work...... *sigh*). Also, do NOT comfort the dog yourself by cuddling or extra attention during a thunderstorm or fireworks... it's like telling the dog that there really IS something to be worried about. Good luck!

I've never actually seen one of those, but it's good to know in case I ever do! Knowing her, I will probably need something at some point! She seems to be doing a lot less licking and nibbling since she's taken the medicine, and she's had 3 doses. I haven't recently gotten the 'evil eye' from seeing her nibbling on the spots and telling her to "leave it"... haha

Good thinking... I'll keep that in mind if she continues to lick. The vet seemed to be more concerned about her licking at her leg, since the paw can be easily wrapped up. The spot on her leg is in such a spot that can't really be covered or taped up. I gave her the first dose of medicine a few hours ago, and so far she hasn't really touched either of the spots. Then again, she's also really knocked out from her big adventure... she's been extra mellow tonight! It's like having a completely different dog

Turns out after a skin scrape (and a big vet bill!), they found out that it isn't mites and it isn't a build-up of yeast. Apparently she just has an extra amount of bacteria. The vet put her on Cefpodoxime and wants her to wear a cone (ha! she ate the last one) but I told her that would be an absolute last resort. She's not too happy with me right now after the skin scraping and people poking at her.

Ok, I haven't had much luck with healing Bella's foot or leg, so we're making a trip to the vet today. She is going to LOVE me! I'm really starting to think that this will be a repeated winter theme... but we'll see what the vet says. I'm hoping I can get some prescription for her. I think she is mostly done bothering with the spot on her leg, but since dog fur grows in spurts, it's hard to tell if she's still picking at it or not. Here goes nothing!

So I didn't get a chance to get to the pet store today with everything going on, but I noticed a new thing on Bella which may lead to a vet appointment sooner than expected. Granted, I haven't kept up with wrapping up her foot lately (due to lack of knowing what to put on it), and it appears that she's been chewing on it more lately. While I was looking at how raw her foot seems, I also noticed that she has a patch the size of a half dollar on her inner thigh of missing fur on the same leg. It doesn't appear to be an injury, maybe just a really bad itch that she's pulled the fur out on. I just sprayed it with anti-itch spray and bandaged her foot up with neosporin again (until I pick powder and bag balm up at the store). It seems that the skin in the patch is dry and itchy looking like her foot. I also don't see any sign of fleas or mites, and she has had a dose of frontguard fairly recently. Is this a so-called "hot spot"? There's no broken skin, but she's obviously been grooming that one area more than she needs to. She's at least gotten to be SO tolerant now with me bandaging her foot - she kind of sighed and rolled her eyes at me as I struggled with the cheap pair of scissors that came in my first aid kit when they broke in half. Poor girl!

I do think that the ointments are just making her want to get at it more to clean it, so you're right, a powder or other dry substance would be a good investment. I'm glad that the coloring on her fur isn't from blood... I wouldn't say it's really blood-red, but as IPSY said, it's a rusty color. We had a similar problem with one of her back paw pads last winter too; one of her toes was split open (not sure if that was an injury or cold) and all I did was put a glob of neosporin on at night and it took care of itself. This one, however, seems to be a little more stubborn. I don't really think there's anything lodged in there, because I can see where it is chapped and dry.. almost like your hands can get in the winter if you don't moisturize. I don't think I mentioned this in my earlier post, but in the first few days I noticed the injury, I soaked her feet in an epsom salt water bath just in case something was stuck in her pad. I actually do have bag balm on my shopping list, although I haven't been able to find it... I was originally thinking walmart, but I didn't see it there. Next stop will be a pharmacy, I'm assuming they have it there, I just don't know what area. I was going to try that but figured I'd post on here to see if there was anything else I'm missing out on. Good to know I was heading in the right general direction. I have also checked Petsmart and Petco for Pet Wax - all I could find was a Petco brand for $22 or something like that for a really small tub. Wanted to get opinions before spending so much on that, plus I've heard it's not good to overuse that because it can make their feet TOO soft and more prone to injuries. Also to add to the list, Gold Bond! I doubt she'll like licking powder. I'm going to have to use the e-collar as a last resort...... when we had her spayed, the vet put one on her, and she tore the thing to shreds - I have no idea how! Thank you all for your tips, they are extremely helpful. I think the key is to do something minimal that she won't focus all of her attention on... or get some more gauze and some bitter spray. I will go shopping this week and pick up some various items to try to heal this stubborn wound, in hopes that I can cure it without a vet!

I don't know if this has been said yet, but in the event that you can't crush the pill and it has to be taken whole, what about chunky peanut butter? Maybe spread on a saltine or something like that? Also, those pill pocket things from the vets are pretty handy too, as long as you can outsmart the dog!

Adorable!! I love it when they're puppies

Does anyone have experience with tried-and-true topical foot medicine? Bella has had one foot that is so dry and cracked that she keeps cleaning it, and in the meantime she is pulling her fur out here and there to try to get to the wound. It's not quite in between her toes, it's more on the outside toe, but her fur is stained from it being so cracked and bleeding. I've tried applying neosporin and wrapping it up at night, although she doesn't deal too well with the gauze and will chew it off by morning most times. I've also used another first aid ointment (meant for dogs), but I can't remember the name of it right now , and she pulled the gauze off again. I've tried vet wrap too; no luck there. I've left it alone for the past week or so, hoping she will let it heal, but no luck. She's had it for 2-3 weeks. How can I get her to stop licking it, and what can I use to speed the healing process? I just don't want to spend $20 on a small tub of something that isn't going to help one bit!

I actually had (have?) problems with my 10 month old BC/husky mix play biting. What doesn't help is that my old roommate used to purposely tease her to the point that she would do that, and that's where she picked up on it... now she knows it's not ok to do that (and the roommate is gone!), but she still makes the play biting gestures. She knows she can't bite, but she still likes to put her mouth on things without biting down. I heard somewhere that that's just how some dogs play... not sure how true that is though. Just make sure you keep plenty of things to chew on around and you should be able to get past it soon! I know what you're going through, it was only a few months ago! Hang in there!

Barbara, We have met all the requirements as the first website says, and the second website interests me - I'm going to try to find the DVD around here so I don't have to wait for it to ship. If I can get it without having to shop around on the internet, I'd love to grab it. Thanks for the tips!

funny you say that.... she did end up moving out of here 2 months ago (thankfully!) and we have another one... it's helped out a lot since the first roommate isnt here to go against what we are training Bella!

I'm having trouble finding anything specific on 'how to'... maybe I'm looking in the wrong place?

Does anyone have a great success method for crate training a puppy? We have used a crate since we got Bella, and at first she ABSOLUTELY REFUSED going in there. We worked hard on getting her in there when we weren't around to watch her, and she got better with it... until our roommate went against everything we did for training. Now she hides under our kitchen table when we call her to the crate and won't come out. Once again we have to walk her to the crate, and she hates it - whining and barking as soon as she's in there. Can anyone help with tips on getting her back on track?