Brandgin

Thank you so much Muddy Bob and Miztiki for your kind replies. It makes sense Muddy when you say that my family and friends are trying to save my emotions rather than being unkind. Thank you for that. I have been a lurker on the board for quite some time so have read all posts. Muddy I am terribly sorry for the loss of your girl to cancer...my deepest condolences to you and your family. Miztiki, I hope that your Boyden continues to do well and his health gets back to normal. I know that you both can appreciate what I am going through and that means alot to me. I will continue to seek answers to my girlys health issues and hopefully soon I will know one way or the other what her prognosis is. By the way, her name is Ginny.or..Gin Gin....fatty Mcfat fat, sweet pumpkin, lovey dovey....she answers to anything and is a very loving 3 year old Border Collie/Lab mix who I adopted from a rescue in British Columbia, Canada when she was about 4 months old.

My thanks to all of you for your replies. Though my vet did not believe my dog had a tick disease, she did test her and that was found not to be evident. (Apparently we do not have tick disease here in Alberta where I live) I asked for a prescription for Doxycycline which she has been on for the past week and I have seen some slight improvement. She is walking, though very shaky, only a few steps and did attempt to run today but fell down. Also her appetite has come back, she cannot chew hard food due to the muscle atrophy and I am feeding her canned food right now. She seems be be more responsive and not in pain, which is good. All of her blood tests have come back normal, internal organs normal and her xray showed nothing abnormal. The vet still feels that it may be cancer so I am going ahead with the cat scan to see if they can find anything. I am so frustrated not knowing what the problem is and if the drugs she has been taking are helping her or masking something else. It amazes me how many of my family members and friends have said, "Why don't you just put her down? Why are you spending so much money on her, she's just a dog." They just don't get the fact that I love her so much and that to me she is like one of my children. They call me the crazy dog lady but I just don't understand how some people think a dog is so worthless...no wonder I like dogs more than people.

Thank you all for your replies. I am going to the vet this afternoon and will have her run more tests to see if this may be the cause of her illness.

Hello all, My 3 year old female border collie has been very sick for the past few weeks and seems to be getting worse..these symptoms came on quite suddenly. Three weeks ago she appeared active and healthy and was still chasing frisbees for as long as my arm would hold out. I have had many tests run on her, have had her on anti-inflammatories and now steroids. I have been to two different vets, with no diagnosis yet and am waiting to get her in for a scan. I wondered if there was anyone else who had a dog with similar symptoms. The muscles at the top of her head and her temples have atrophied and her head looks like a scull...very sunken in so that the bones in her face are very prominent. She is having great difficulty walking, especially her front legs which are very weak. She cannot stand for a long period of time and cannot climb stairs at all. I have to carry her outside to do her business and then carry her back in. She is not really interested in eating and she normally loves her food. I am very, very worried about her and the waiting to find out a diagnosis is very stressful. More importantly, I am concerned about her pain and not knowing what else to do to help her. Has anyone had a similar experience with their dog? Thanks.

I met up with a fellow with two very large and I mean huge dogs (pony size),in an off leash area. Because Brandon has shown some agression, as I mentioned in my note above, I held tightly to his leash and asked the fellow to control his dogs and not to approach me, as mine didn't like it and his reaction to them could not be trusted. He said, "actually it is you who does not like to be approached by strange dogs, but it appears that your dog is fine with it." This fellow told me he trains dogs and is very observant of both dogs and their persons behaviours. He felt that some of Brandon's agression may be because he felt my tension (as I was clutching the leash very tightly with my dog pressed up against my leg and on occasion have jerked him along)on the leash and felt he needed to guard me or there was something he should be afraid of. I have been attacked twice by large dogs and am nervous of those I don't know. I didn't realize that I was even doing this. Over the past few months, I have been very observant of how I approach other dogs, how tightly I grasp the leash and my own body language. I have relaxed when being approached by off leash dogs and basically walk right by and this has certainly made a difference in how Brandon interacts with them. I observe his body signals and as long as I am relaxed, he usually is as well. He greets the dog, sniffs his butt and away we go.

My 9 year old, BCx does not Malamutes and will display agression every time he sees one, whether it is male or female. I am not sure of his past as he was adopted from the SPCA and what history he may have had with this particular breed. I have also noticed that he does not like any dog that has a tail that curls up and over their back. I am not sure of what signals he interprets by this, whether he sees it as a sign of agression by the other dog or what. I must always keep him on leash as I cannot determine when he will react and when not. He is normally a very, very, submissive dog.

Lucy, My dog never displays agression except to this young elkhound. He is fine with other dogs and he has met hundreds over the time I have owned him, he loves to greet them and does not display any agressive tendencies. He is normally a very submissive dog and I am not sure why this particular one bothers him so much. The elkhound totally ignores my older dog but likes to play with my younger female. Thanks for the advice on muzzling him and I will do as you suggest and get a longer leash so he has some extra freedom.

I let both my dogs run off leash in safe areas. There is a park that we frequent where almost all the dogs are off leash at one time or another. Both my dogs are pretty good at coming when called unless distracted by squirrels. I do have one problem with my older dog who has taken a dislike to one particular young year old elkhound that also frequents the park where we walk. He hates him and attacked this dog the last time we met up for no reason. Since the last incident I have kept him leashed at all times but I am considering purchasing a muzzle so that he can again be off leash and get some exercise along with his younger sister. What do you all think of the idea of muzzling him when he is off leash to prevent any more fights with this other dog. Just to let you know, he does not like this dog for some particular reason and hates all Malamutes (male or female) as well but is terrific with all other dogs.