The Swamp

sancarlos wrote: ↑Tue Feb 13, 2018 6:09 pm Pro tip when hiring somebody to do this sort of thing when you travel (whether they stay at the house or not). Old ladies are MUCH more dependable and reliable than 20-somethings or teenagers. (Much less likely to dip into your liquor, too). Always go with the old folks.

We had a coworkers 18 year old college kid house sit our dog and house for a week last summer. He texted us each day and other than needing help to setup his xbox he reported that everything went great.

On our return(sunday)... After using the shower in the basement and puddles in the storage room my wife discovers that the sump is no longer working. First call is the plumber. Second is to the coworker to ask if he noticed anything strange with the basement bathroom. He had been sleeping down there and playing xbox all week. He said he didn't notice anything and had been using it all week.

Plumber can't come out so I end up having to take an extra vacation day on Monday to get someone out to the house and fix it. According to the plumber the sump was filled with what looked like a full roll of paper towels. Talked to the family about it. No one flushed any paper towels. So sent a text to the coworker. "Hey... Plumber fixed the bathroom and found alot of paper towels had clogged everything." A few hours later we have a text back from coworker. "Sorry. Just talked to son and he said dog had constant accidents and he was cleaning up. She already talked to him about not flushing paper towels and he had no idea. Oops."

So... $250 for a dog/house sitter. $200 for an emergency plumber. Extra vacation day + 3 nights of cleaning carpeting that was only 2 years old. Clean out storage room and throw away everything that was at ground level. The smell still comes through occasionally. I ended up buying a black light to find the parts of the carpet to concentrate on. 22 puddles by the way. I don't think that fucking brat took the dog out at all.

That's unbelievable.

$200 for an emergency plumbing service???

I found some old pictures of why I love our neighbors dog. My daughter always loved dogs, but was a bit afraid of them. She would ask to pet dogs, then usually back away and chicken out when owners let her. Milo fixed that problem. We spent a couple nights at our neighbors house during the infamous October snowstorm when we lost power for 10 days, and they had a generator. My daughter was 3, I think. A couple days into our stay, I went downstairs and saw my daughter taking a nap, laying on top of Milo, who was curled up, with his head on her cheek. Wish I had a picture of that. But this was from 5 years ago, when I pet sat for them. She was so proud to hold Milo's leash when we took him for a walk.










And this is the new puppy

Oh G-d. You're gonna break the internet with all that cute in one post. Be more careful!

I helped (in a very hands off manner) catch this guy on the way out the hospital for my last rabies shot. I noticed a couple of cars pulled off to the side of the road, and then the dog running around in the street. I stopped and kept my car in the middle of the road so no one hit him until they managed to get a leash over his head. He was wearing that red collar, no tags. Tail is docked (he is a pointer after all), and he is very VERY skinny.

You are a good dude, Rass. I think you have a future as a dog whisperer or something.

Good work, Rass.

My dog is about to have surgery on his ACL.

It was a tough week for the family. He's had a gimpy rear leg for a while - he'd injure it by slipping on something, then he'd favor it and limp for a few days, then get better until he did it again.

But weekend before last, he apparently slipped his collar while tied up outside a store and got chased by another dog. He ended up reinjuring that leg - and totally fucking up his other rear leg. So he basically couldn't walk. Which really sucks when your house has stairs and the dog weighs 80 pounds. And sucks even worse when my son and I were out of town when it happened, so any stairs had to be negotiated by my wife and daughter.

His previously gimpy leg has gotten better enough that he can finally negotiate stairs again. But tomorrow he has surgery on the new injury. So ugh.

Steve of phpBB wrote: ↑Tue Mar 06, 2018 2:23 pm Good work, Rass.

My dog is about to have surgery on his ACL.

It was a tough week for the family. He's had a gimpy rear leg for a while - he'd injure it by slipping on something, then he'd favor it and limp for a few days, then get better until he did it again.

But weekend before last, he apparently slipped his collar while tied up outside a store and got chased by another dog. He ended up reinjuring that leg - and totally fucking up his other rear leg. So he basically couldn't walk. Which really sucks when your house has stairs and the dog weighs 80 pounds. And sucks even worse when my son and I were out of town when it happened, so any stairs had to be negotiated by my wife and daughter.

His previously gimpy leg has gotten better enough that he can finally negotiate stairs again. But tomorrow he has surgery on the new injury. So ugh.

Good luck, Steve!
As you may recall, our doggo had ACL surgery two months ago. Surgery was successful, but after one month, we were wringing our hands because recovery was going so slow - slower than the surgeon said ought to be the case. So, we signed up for a few sessions of dog physical rehab (and attached a siphon to my wallet). So, now we just had the two month checkup and now everything is progressing much better. Whew.

If I could give any advice it would be to A) keep the dog fairly immobile in the early days, (The scary thing is the possibility of an additional blown ACL in the other leg. So, you aren't supposed to let them hop around tripod-like during recovery.) B) do exercises to strengthen the muscle on the affected leg, and C) try not to let the dog gain weight while exercise is limited.

Steve of phpBB wrote: ↑Tue Mar 06, 2018 2:23 pm Good work, Rass.

My dog is about to have surgery on his ACL.

Great work Rass. My wife wants to rescue another dog, and I am fighting against it (since I will be the one taking care of it...) but seeing stories like yours makes me think that maybe we should take in another needy dog.

And good luck with the surgery. These dogs... if they weren't so wonderful, they'd be a pain in the ass.

Good luck stevedog.

And...

Fuck you for posting that.

Where's the kleenex?

Mack ate a pair of headphones this morning. He's still a good dog, but he's in the gooddoghouse.

Thanks for your support, guys. He's in with the vet now. They told me 12 weeks of no off-leash activities. And then limited after that. Since we spend our summers in the woods where no one uses a leash, that is going to be really tough on him and us.

sancarlos wrote: ↑Tue Mar 06, 2018 6:14 pmGood luck, Steve!
As you may recall, our doggo had ACL surgery two months ago. Surgery was successful, but after one month, we were wringing our hands because recovery was going so slow - slower than the surgeon said ought to be the case. So, we signed up for a few sessions of dog physical rehab (and attached a siphon to my wallet). So, now we just had the two month checkup and now everything is progressing much better. Whew.

If I could give any advice it would be to A) keep the dog fairly immobile in the early days, (The scary thing is the possibility of an additional blown ACL in the other leg. So, you aren't supposed to let them hop around tripod-like during recovery.) B) do exercises to strengthen the muscle on the affected leg, and C) try not to let the dog gain weight while exercise is limited.

Thanks. Since his rear ACL is probably already partially torn, I'm scared as hell of another one. The vet said this morning that happens in about 30% of cases. And I'm willing to practically starve him to get his weight down. He's already overweight at 80 pounds, and it is not easy for me to carry him up the stairs.

SC, when did you start doggie PR?

Can't tear your other ACL during recovery if it's already torn!

We started physical therapy at about 5 weeks after surgery (about 3 weeks ago), after we were told that recovery was behind schedule. It is not cheap but it really helped. One more session and we are done with it.

sancarlos wrote: ↑Wed Mar 07, 2018 4:56 pm We started physical therapy at about 5 weeks after surgery (about 3 weeks ago), after we were told that recovery was behind schedule. It is not cheap but it really helped. One more session and we are done with it.

So we found out that his other ACL was already fully torn too. Do we really *need* to spend another $3K and four months of recovery to get that fixed? What happens if we don't?

If we do it, they recommended doing it in about four weeks, once he can support himself on the leg that was operated on yesterday.

Steve of phpBB wrote: ↑Thu Mar 08, 2018 12:28 pm

sancarlos wrote: ↑Wed Mar 07, 2018 4:56 pm We started physical therapy at about 5 weeks after surgery (about 3 weeks ago), after we were told that recovery was behind schedule. It is not cheap but it really helped. One more session and we are done with it.

So we found out that his other ACL was already fully torn too. Do we really *need* to spend another $3K and four months of recovery to get that fixed? What happens if we don't?

If we do it, they recommended doing it in about four weeks, once he can support himself on the leg that was operated on yesterday.

Man, that is a really tough spot to be in. For an 80 pound dog, I don't know how you get around surgery, unless you want to put his ass end in a cart. (Or euthanasia.) If it was a little dog, I think you could just punt.

sancarlos wrote: ↑Thu Mar 08, 2018 1:27 pm

Steve of phpBB wrote: ↑Thu Mar 08, 2018 12:28 pm

sancarlos wrote: ↑Wed Mar 07, 2018 4:56 pm We started physical therapy at about 5 weeks after surgery (about 3 weeks ago), after we were told that recovery was behind schedule. It is not cheap but it really helped. One more session and we are done with it.

So we found out that his other ACL was already fully torn too. Do we really *need* to spend another $3K and four months of recovery to get that fixed? What happens if we don't?

If we do it, they recommended doing it in about four weeks, once he can support himself on the leg that was operated on yesterday.

Man, that is a really tough spot to be in. For an 80 pound dog, I don't know how you get around surgery, unless you want to put his ass end in a cart. (Or euthanasia.) If it was a little dog, I think you could just punt.

Yeah, that's what I figured. I was wondering because his right leg (not operated on) is generally fine until he hurts it, and then he favors it for a while but it gets better. So maybe we could get away without doing that one. But in the summer we live in the mountains and he loves to chase critters in the woods.

He's seven or eight years old. So god willing, he has enough good years left that we should spend the money. (Luckily we can afford it.)

You are a good man.

My 2 1/2 year old mutt is acting weirdly.

Three weeks ago she pissed on our bed. Totally housebroken, and has only been on the bed once or twice in her life. She did it when alone in the house.

She did it again two days later. sometime after not being alone for more than a half hour. Easy solution, keep the door shut.

Last night, after a weekend of not being alone and after very sufficient exercise, and with no loud noises or any potentially disturbing events (even for a high strung beast like her), she snuck in our room, pissed all over the bed and then ran out. First time in 3 weeks...

Vet thinks it could by because she has a UTI or some such thing and this is her way of alerting us. (Seems weird...)

So, I have to collect a urine sample. I was just outside with her, trying to get a small trough like thing under her before she peed. Not surprisingly, she thought it was a toy and bit at it.

So - question is, have any of you guys collected pee for a dog's urine sample. and if so, how?

Stupid dog...

Unfortunately, I've had to do it several times. There is no special trick that I am aware of; I just had to follow the dog around the yard and hold the container under the stream once they got going. The challenge always was to stay close but act like you weren't following or paying attention. Sometimes it took several attempts to get enough for the sample.

M&Ms worked with the kids.

Unrelated to catching pee, but our older dog got in the habit of peeing and/or pooping in the house. She often did it at night, or when we weren't home. We learned/decided that she gets anxious when she's left home, so now whenever we leave, even for a pretty short period, and every night, both dogs go in their crates. And you know what, they like it that way. I think they're less anxious, and there's no need for us to stress about what the dog's getting into.

Shirley wrote: ↑Mon Apr 09, 2018 1:49 pm Unrelated to catching pee, but our older dog got in the habit of peeing and/or pooping in the house. She often did it at night, or when we weren't home. We learned/decided that she gets anxious when she's left home, so now whenever we leave, even for a pretty short period, and every night, both dogs go in their crates. And you know what, they like it that way. I think they're less anxious, and there's no need for us to stress about what the dog's getting into.

The fact that she did it when the house was quiet, yet all four of us were home (and no yelling or anything going on, is really weird.

Maybe she hates Patrick Reed?

Possible something freaked her out when home alone and now every time you leave she panics?

I saw my vet technician do it once with a ladle-looking thing.

mister d wrote: ↑Mon Apr 09, 2018 2:05 pm Possible something freaked her out when home alone and now every time you leave she panics?

Well, my wife and I were away for week recently, and the first incident occurred just over a week after we returned - most likely when she was alone for an hour or so. The next time (a few days later) I can;t be sure when she did it. But the weird thing is that this time was 3 weeks later and she wasn't alone.

But all three times were on our bed. No other peeing anywhere else in the house.

And she just farted and my office stinks like dog shit.

Grrrr...

This is going to inspire a very special Paw Patrol episode.

A_B wrote: ↑Mon Apr 09, 2018 2:22 pm This is going to inspire a very special Paw Patrol episode.

My dog's ACL is healing but now we've had a pissing problem with one of the cats. Took us a long time figure out why one of the little shits kept urinating outside the litter box. It was always at night so we never witnessed it. My wife is a clean freak and it was driving her crazy to keep waking up and discovering things that were peed on. At first we thought it was behavioral with one of (the three of) them. But, after they all went in for their regular checkups, the vet reported that the big tomcat has diabetes! So, my wife has been giving him a shot of insulin twice a day. I'm cautiously optimistic, because A) he hasn't peed outside the box for a several days now. And, B) the vet says there is a good chance that the cat will somehow be cured of this after awhile and won't need further injections. But, fuck!

Pruitt wrote: ↑Mon Apr 09, 2018 1:57 pm The fact that she did it when the house was quiet, yet all four of us were home (and no yelling or anything going on, is really weird.

Maybe she hates Patrick Reed?

Yeah, my dog did that too. When she has to go, she gives us pretty much no indication. No whining, or staring, nothing. She's the only dog I've had that does that.

Shirley wrote: ↑Mon Apr 09, 2018 8:11 pm

Pruitt wrote: ↑Mon Apr 09, 2018 1:57 pm The fact that she did it when the house was quiet, yet all four of us were home (and no yelling or anything going on, is really weird.

Maybe she hates Patrick Reed?

Yeah, my dog did that too. When she has to go, she gives us pretty much no indication. No whining, or staring, nothing. She's the only dog I've had that does that.

Izzy sits by the back door quietly when she needs to go out. It's weird.

But this wasn;t a case of us not noticing her at the door.

My neighbor's puppy showing off his Puppy Kindergarten diploma. They may have issued the diploma prematurely. But he is soooo cute!

The head tilt! Adorable.

Moreta wrote: ↑Fri Apr 20, 2018 3:11 pm The head tilt! Adorable.

Not guilty!

Putting down our yellow lab, Dallas, tomorrow. 14 good years, about 9 months of decline. She's in no pain, but degenerative myelopathy has meant that she's got a decreasing amount of control over her back legs. She hasn't shit outside since at least Thanksgiving, but has been pretty good about holding her urine until she walks outside. It'd be a bit easier if there was a major triggering event, or massive issue, but it's time for the slow decline to end. She's a good girl, and will be missed.

Sorry to hear that, chedda.

Sad news. Sorry, man.

Worst Friday news dump ever. Sorry dude.

Geez that's so terrible. So sorry.