Alexandra

Hello,

My 2 year old pit bull mix is leash aggressive. She goes to doggy daycare four days a week and is wonderful with the other dogs, but she is off-leash there and does not feel threatened by them. When we go for walks at the dog park however, she is a completely different dog. We cannot approach any people or their dogs without her snapping or lunging at them. If we keep our distance and simply walk past them she is completely fine, but when people want their dog to meet mine, I generally decline. She is always leashed (loosely), and I have worked hard to keep myself relaxed and not tense up when we pass other dogs, and that seems to help.

My friend and I have begun to go on runs together, and she owns a great dane who is super friendly and great off-leash. She wants me to bring my pup with us but I'm afraid she is going to snap at him and be terrible since she will have to be leashed at all times. Is it better for them to meet at a neutral place like the park, where I can keep her separate from him on her leash and simply let them observe each other from afar while we run? Or should I just walk her on her own and then leave her home when I go for a run with my friend? I want her to be able to socialize with other dogs on our walks of course, but I also don't want her to cause trouble or, God forbid, bite another dog. It is so awful because she is normally so sweet when she is off-leash with other dogs! Any advice? Thanks!

Hi everyone,

I know I'm probably going to get yelled at for this, but I'm 22 years old, I understand the dangers of tampons, I really just have some questions.

I went from a little after 12 noon to around 8:15 with a super tampon in today. I usually don't use the super absorbent kind but after having a few heavy periods the last few months I've tried to switch to see if that helped with the absorbency. This has never happened to me before. I'm always SUPER careful when it comes to changing my tampons and never usually go over about five hours.

So, naturally this one time I screw up I'm freaking out. I know I won't be using super absorbent ones again, since it still wasn't completely saturated after eight hours and I know using too large of a tampon can cause TSS. But can TSS happen after ONE eight hour period? Should I start taking my temperature to see if I get a fever and be ready to be throwing up tomorrow morning? I'm a big worrier, and I've been reading up on TSS so of course I'm freaking myself out even more, which isn't helping. How long before I would experience symptoms? I've read some freaky stuff on here and online about people forgetting they have tampons in for like a week with nothing happening besides a bad yeast infection. I've NEVER done that. Again, I don't ever go past five hours, except this time. And I sleep with pads on at night.

Just wondered if people have forgotten before and left their tampons in for a long time and caused any problems. Thanks!

Hi everyone, sad dog mom here,

My two year old bull terrier mix Lizzie and I just got back from the vet, where she was diagnosed with a partially torn ACL. That being said, she is on strict bed rest (No running, jumping, stairs, or roughhousing) for 7-10 days with anti-inflammatory medication along with pain killers. Being a very active dog, (5 mile walks every day or daycare when I work for up to 8 hours a day), will Lizzie ever be able to reach the activity level she's used to again, especially if she gets surgery to repair it? Reading things online, which aren't always helpful, it would seem as though even with surgery to repair the knee, she should not exert herself fully, which will be very difficult for her since she is a high-energy pup. Granted, we have a long way to go before we should even be thinking about exercising again, but I'm really afraid of her going too crazy once she starts feeling better and re-injuring the knee. I do not think I will want to be paying for multiple surgeries for her, and I don't think she will want to go through this more than once.

Also, with the bed rest, is there any way I can make her more comfortable? She cannot comfortably lay the way she usually does to sleep since her knee cannot be tucked under her body without causing pain, but I've put as many blankets under her as I can in her crate and she is still free to walk around the first level of the house. She's really restless already and is whiny, even on the pain medication and it's breaking my heart!

Anyone who has experienced this with their active pup: Was it difficult to slowly introduce your dog back into exercise routines? Should I completely erase doggy daycare from the picture, since she goes completely nuts there to let all of her energy out? Any advice would be great, I was never expecting my dog to get this kind of injury so young. Thanks!

Hi everyone,

I have a 22 month old bull terrier mix who is a rescue, and she is very, very attached to me. I'm a senior in college so I live with my parents, but my boyfriend works and goes to school in Boston, MA. Every other weekend I usually go to his apartment and visit on Saturday night and come home Sunday afternoon. However, whenever I leave, my parents always tell me my dog mopes around, doesn't want to exercise (which is crazy for her), and is just generally sad. The second I walk through the door on Sunday afternoon, she is all over me! She jumps on me, licks me, and is ecstatic that I have come home. I don't know if she still has abandonment issues, but she is still not super comfortable being home alone with my parents, and we've had her for over a year now.

My question, however, is, would it be a bad idea for me to bring my pup with me into Boston to my boyfriend's apartment overnight? The apartment is dog friendly, and he's more than willing to have her. She loves my boyfriend as much as she loves me, but she is a very nervous dog so I don't want to make her very uncomfortable either, being in a strange, bustling city. I live in a small town so it's usually very quiet and she is comfortable there. But I also want her to be exposed to new environments, in a controlled setting, and if I'm with her she is usually okay. And since I'm going to be there with her the entire time I can hopefully keep her calm and comfortable when we bring her to the park to run or walk her down the street, regardless of the amount of people or traffic or trains. Since I know she is nervous and distressed when I leave home even just overnight, would it be worth it to bring her to an entirely different place and stress her out further, even if she is with me? I'm trying to help her and keep her comfortable, and usually the only time she feels safe is when she's with me. I'm torn! I don't want her to be upset either way. Thanks!

Hi everyone, concerned doggy mom here. So, my vet clinic has no open appointments for at least a week, and my dog is four days late on getting her rabies vaccine booster. I've been calling and calling to schedule her because I'm usually NEVER late with her boosters, especially one as important as rabies, but to no avail. They can't take her for at least a week, which I guess at this point won't be so bad. I never go anywhere without her and she is a bit aggressive towards other dogs when she is on a leash, so it won't be too hard to avoid other animals until she can get her vaccine.

However, just to ease my mind, is it totally psycho of me to call another local vet clinic and ask if they can vaccinate her? I'm assuming it's an important enough vaccine for other vets to possibly take her, even if they don't have her records or anything. She does go to daycare during the week, usually just to give her some extra exercise (being a mixed terrier breed, she never seems to get tired), but I obviously won't be taking her for a week until she can get her shot. Do you guys think another vet clinic would take her? Can they even take her without having her as an actual patient?

Also, if anyone knows why the vaccine is required yearly besides being against the law if she does not get it, that would be very helpful. I've heard lots of mixed reactions about many dog vaccines, and I know a lot of people are against giving their dogs ANY vaccines, even though the rabies one can have some serious consequences on both the dog and owner if animal control picks them up or after they've been bitten without getting the vaccine.

Sorry for the multitude of questions, I've just been hearing a lot of different debates about different vaccines. My dog will be getting her rabies vaccine, and probably all of he other ones as well, but my main question is, can other clinics take her if my own doesn't have an open appointment? Thanks a lot!

Hi everyone,

I picked my dog up from daycare this afternoon and saw that she has two red rings on her belly right on her skin. There's no fur where the bites are, if that makes a difference. I always thought ticks liked furry spots on a dog. I've been picking ticks off of her when I pick her up from daycare this week, but none of them have been engorged and we use Frontline on her. I'm going to watch the ring overnight before taking her to the vet, but is it possible for her to have two red rings in order to have lyme disease? Also, don't know if this matters but there was no tick found near the red ring. Just the ring itself with nothing in the center of it. I'm mostly just curious if a red ring is DEFINITELY lyme disease, or a tick. Do other insect bites leave red rings? And can there be more than one rash? My dog has two. I've attached photos. Thank you so much.

http://i.imgur.com/ua7RJHg.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/y1mDN1s.jpg

Hi everyone, hypochondriac here.

I went to see my little cousin's school musical tonight, and learned halfway through from his sister that he was violently ill with the 24 hour bug yesterday. After the play when he came out to thank us for coming, I of course had to give him a hug. Now, while the worry-wart in me would never have done that normally if I'd known someone had the bug, I had to hug him and tell him he did a wonderful job. As far as I know, he hadn't thrown up today, and the hug was brief. Now of course I'm worried I'm going to catch the bug! I know you're contagious a few days after you've stopped vomiting, and I have also heard that the virus can only be passed from hand-to-mouth contact if he hadn't washed his hands after going to the bathroom or vomiting. I came home and washed my hands multiple times and changed my clothes. Am I worrying way too much? Or could I still be at risk? Thank you!

Hi everyone,

I've written about my pup Lizzie before, and she has improved, but I'm looking for a few more opinions. It's been six months since we've adopted Lizzie, a bull terrier mix, and she's already come leaps and bounds from her first few months at home. She was absolutely terrified of my father, and would growl at him with her tail between her legs, her hackles up, and a look of pure fear in her eyes. We've worked with her so much, and she will still growl at him if he approaches her while she's in her crate (and feels as though she's trapped) or if he looks right at her while approaching her. However, if I'm sitting with her on the floor and my dad sits down with me, she'll walk right up to him now, tail wagging, and lets him pet her with no problems. If he sits on a chair and I'm a bit far away from her, she'll approach him more reluctantly but will still do so and give him a lick on the hand, but her tail will be between her legs and you can tell she is just uncomfortable. However, she's best buddies with my six foot four boyfriend who doesn't even have to sit down to pet her. Apparently he isn't intimidating to her at all, which blows my mind. I still can't figure out what it is about my dad that scares her, but we've made progress so far. He is only a few inches taller than me and can have a loud booming voice, but we try to tell him if he's being too loud around her and he always tries to speak to her with a high-pitched voice like I do..does anyone think she can come full circle and be comfortable around him? Or does anyone have tips on how I could make her more comfortable around him?

Hi everyone,

I jammed my finger into a wall a month ago and it immediately swelled up and bruised under my fingernail, but the pain and bruising went away after a few weeks. The finger stayed swollen however with tingling when I bend my hand forward with all fingers flat on a surface. There is no pain however and I have full range of motion. I saw my college's health services and the nurse deduced (without an x-ray however), that she did not think it was broken because I could bend it every which way, and it is not dislocated because the bone is aligned. Any thoughts as to why it is still swollen now with some tingling? The nurse told me the healing process for a jammed finger can take weeks to months and my finger may always look this way, but I find it hard to believe that it will stay swollen forever. Could it be something more serious?

Hi everyone,

So, I have a ten month old bull terrier mix puppy who I adopted about four months ago from a local shelter. She's super sweet, affectionate, (naughty, but what puppy isn't?) And very, very smart. She and I have a very strong bond. She follows me everywhere, cries when I go upstairs (she's not allowed upstairs), even if I'm only gone for a minute, and loves my sister and mom too.

However, we've been having major issues with her and my dad. He is super nice to her, we make sure he's the one who feeds her, he'll sit on the floor with her and feed her treats, will try to coax her over to him, never tries to pet her on top of her head if she won't allow it, and tries to play with her. I think part of the problem is that he has a very naturally loud, booming voice. We had a smaller, more submissive dog for ten years and he passed away in June. He was attached to my dad, so he's taking this a bit hard. When we first met her in the shelter, she was all over all of us, my dad included. So when we took her home, we were completely shocked at her behavior.

I guess my question has to do with when my dad comes home from work. She barks whenever she hears anyone enter the house which is normal of course, but when the door is opened and she sees who enters she immediately stops if she knows who it is (i.e. me, my sister, my mom, or someone she's met before). When my dad comes home, she'll keep growling and barking, even though she KNOWS it's him and he sometimes does not even acknowledge her or do anything that would be threatening to her. I know she's afraid of him, since she'll cower and put her tail between her legs when he approaches her and she watches him VERY closely whenever he's around. I just don't know whether or not it's okay to scold her for her continuous barking at my dad when he comes home. I don't want to punish her for being afraid, but that's unacceptable to me. Part of me thinks she's just being a brat. She knows he lives with her, it's been four months.

I don't know if she was abused as a younger pup, she was found in a parking lot by animal control and brought to a really great shelter. She was socialized with other dogs and is great with them, but very wary of men, which I don't think is super abnormal. She even warms up to almost all men, except my dad. We've been socializing her like crazy. We bring her to dog parks, friends' houses, and houses with men so she can become familiar, and almost every time she warms right up to them. And if she doesn't, she'll hang out with me but won't bark or growl at them like she does with my dad. So I have NO idea what her problem is! Help!

About a week ago I jammed the tip of my middle finger into a wall while playing with my dog...I couldn't believe it. The skin under my nail immediately bruised and hurt so bad but the joints seemed fine just a bit sore. Now I'm realizing that the bone in the middle joint seems to be jutting out a bit but I have no pain at all except when I bend my finger all the way. It will bend but feels a bit stiff. The knuckle itself never bruised and it hardly even hurts when I bend it. I'm wondering if I dislocated it? I'm getting it looked at tomorrow but more just because it's annoying, not out of pain. And it looks strange. Will it get splinted? Or will it heal on its own? Also, if it has to be popped back in, will that hurt? I'm kind of a wuss. :/ and I've never broken a bone or dislocated anything so I'm nervous! Thanks...I heard it's a super common injury.

Hi everyone,

So I was sitting at the coffee table writing a paper when my puppy came barreling into the room and knocked over my water bottle. I was right there when it happened so i was able to grab the bottle and place it upright but unfortunately a bit of water got on one side of the keyboard.

I immediately wiped up what I could, and even took off some of the keys that I could see wetness under and wiped them. There are only a few crevices I can't get into with a paper towel but I took the battery out and flipped the laptop upside down on a towel.

I actually had my laptop on (running on battery only) for a few minutes after the spill so I could back up my paper on a flash drive along with other stuff for my college classes. I gathered as much as I could and the laptop worked completely fine through all of that...but then I turned it off and flipped it.

I guess my question is, how long do I let it sit for before I try turning it on again? And if it was working a few minutes after the spill is that a good sign? Again, not much water spilled on it and it was only on one side of the keyboard. It's not like an entire glass of water soaked the keyboard, and I also need it for school so I either need to make a quick replacement or have to hope it will work. I've seen lots of forums about a completely soaked laptop and how to salvage it but not much on a laptop with possibly no water damage at all, or very minimal if there is any.

Any suggestions would be great! Thanks.

Also, I've seen lots of forums suggesting that disassembling the laptop completely to let the individual parts dry out is the most effective way to save everything, but I have absolutely NO experience with the assembly or internal workings of a laptop and feel I'd be doing more bad than good if I tried.

My 6 month old bull terrier mix Lizzie is super aggressive towards my dad, and only occasionally barks at my mom. Right off the bat, she and my dad haven't gotten along. She feels threatened by him, I think, and always barks at him, cowers when he approaches her, won't let him put the leash on her, and won't let him lead her anywhere on the leash. She plops down or simply runs away from him. He's tried everything from ignoring her completely to feeding her special treats (i.e. chicken, steak bones) that she doesn't receive from anyone else. Nothing has worked. She'll take a treat from his hand and then back up ten feet and eat it away from him. When he tries to pet her she lowers her head and looks away, which I've learned are signs of fear and soon to be aggression? I no longer no what to do. Tonight, at dinner, she stood behind his chair and just continuously barked and growled at him. He wasn't even facing her! He was eating his dinner and she freaked. She even approached him from behind and bit his pants and started tugging at them. I ended up having to tell her NO and put her outside on the porch.

The strangest thing is, she is SUPER attached to me and loves my sister just as much. She took to us right away. Other men have come into the house and she's iffy at first but if they feed her she warms right up. It's literally JUST my dad. I don't know if it's a dominance thing or if it's because my dad is the one who feeds her her meals (in attempts to be friends), but this needs to stop. My dad is about ready to give up on her.

We've been to obedience class. My dad is the one primarily holding her leash and issuing her commands, and she does PERFECTLY while at class. It's only when she gets home that she misbehaves. HELP! Thanks.

My 7 month old rescue puppy is a horror in the house. She chews on furniture, fingers, arms, her leash, whatever she can get a hold of. She also barks like crazy at my dad. I originally thought she was afraid of men but other men have come over to the house and she's a bit skiddish but for the most part goes right up to them. I always have them throw treats to her from a distance and only pat her on the back, and it works most of the time. My dad however, will feed her sliced chicken or special treats she doesn't usually get, and she still won't even let him near her.

She also goes into little fits where she just misbehaves as much as she possibly can. No matter how many times I put her in her crate for biting, she comes right out looking all remorseful and then she bites again. No matter how many times I tell her NO when she bites the furniture she won't stop and acts like discipline doesn't affect her.

I'm on my last leg with this pup. When we saw her at the shelter she was super submissive, peed out of excitement when people came up to her, and kissed us all like crazy. After a week of being home she started the barking and being completely dismissive to discipline. We don't know what to do! HELP!

A few weeks ago, I rescued a bull terrier mix puppy from a shelter. When my family and I went to visit her in the shelter prior to taking her home, she was super sweet, submissive, peed out of happiness/excitement, and would not stop kissing us. She was the sweetest dog I had ever seen, and we were all completely in love.

Since we've had her home, however, Lizzie is showing signs of what I think is fear aggression. She was picked up by animal control when she was 6 months old, so I think the problem might be lack of socialization. She's fine with other dogs, but I think that's from playing with other pups at the shelter over the 5 weeks she was there.

When strangers come into our house however, her hackles go up, she growls, barks, and lunges at them. She has never bitten anyone, and I think she is terrified, but when she's not at home she's completely fine. She also barks at our neighbors but is too scared or nervous to approach any of them. She'll simply sit or stand in the yard and bark at them across the street with her hackles up.

Lizzie is super friendly towards me, my mom, and my sister, but is very wary of my dad as well and occasionally barks at him when he startles her or scares her. He's been working incredibly hard with her however and they are on pretty good terms now. She is not afraid of all men, just my dad. My 6'4 boyfriend who towers over her does not frighten her at all, but other guys who have come over have made her go nuts. There are also times when she'll bark at him and we have NO idea why. It's quite frustrating but I'm trying really hard to work with her. The shelter staff thought she was abused but had no way of telling, but she acted fine towards EVERYONE at the shelter. This aggressive behavior only started when she came home with us. Any suggestions would be great!

We are going to obedience school, she is a complete angel when she is there. She loves the trainers and all the other dog owners and their dogs. I have no idea what her issue is with people or what to do about it. Any suggestions would be great! Thanks.

My puppy, Lizzie, is a 6 month old boxer/bull terrier mix. She's adorable, and completely sweet and attached to me. She follows me around the house and will play and cuddle with me for hours. When it's just me and her, you'd think she was a completely normal, socialized puppy.

However, we've only had her for two days and we're already seeing some major aggression issues. I think her actions are strictly out of fear, but she's terrified or feels threatened by my dad. Whenever he enters the house she goes bonkers. She barks, lunges at him, follows right behind him while growling, etc. He basically ignores her, drops her treats without looking at her from time to time, and even lets her out to go to the bathroom in the morning and while I'm at work. She's completely fine and warms up to him when he is home with her during the day and even lays next to him and sleeps comfortably until I get home.

Today, however, Lizzie figured out that other people AND other dogs live on our street as well. I had her out on her leash in the yard to do her business, and my neighbors came home and began emptying groceries from their car. Lizzie gave a few "big girl" barks and growled, but didn't seem too threatened...until I noticed her hackles were standing up from her neck and all the way down to her tail. She was either on guard, or was petrified of my neighbors. She reacted similarly to my neighbor's dog. I didn't bring her over to the people or dog however, because I was afraid she would bite them. I didn't know how she would react.

My cousin, a vet, told me she desperately needs to be socialized, which I obviously agree with but...how can I effectively socialize her without thinking she's going to bite all of the people she crosses paths with? I'm taking her to obedience school and a behavior specialist in a week, but until then, should I bring her to different places where there are lots of people? And how should I handle her if someone asks to pet her? I'm terrified that she'll try to bite someone, I just want her to be happy and feel comfortable around people besides me. How can I effectively socialize my little girl?

Thanks for taking the time to read!

My dad in particular. We just got her today, and I know she was probably abused, at least that's what the shelter people told me. She is totally submissive and terrified when it comes to my dad. She barks and growls at him, but when he comes close to offer her a toy or treat she lays low to the ground with her ears back and tries to hide. She practically shakes, poor thing. I feel so bad and I've never gone through this with a dog before! What do I do? I know she will take some time to get used to her new surroundings but my dad will be looking after her for a few hours every day while I'm at work, and I'm afraid she'll be really anxious because she seems to be incredibly attached to me. She doesn't leave my side and runs to me whenever my dad or another man enters the house. How do I break her of this habit gently and get her to trust my dad and other men?

Hi everyone,

My question is pretty self-explanatory. I lost my lhasa apso to AIHA awhile ago, and I'm finally ready to move on. I'd like to get a breed that is completely different from a lhasa, so I can be sure that I'm not simply getting the same breed or a similar dog to replace my first one. I loved him dearly but I can't wallow in his death forever and need to stop thinking that he's going to hate me for getting another dog! So, preferably a medium/large sized dog that is pretty healthy in general and isn't a huge shedder.

Any suggestions for great dogs will be greatly appreciated!!! Thanks everyone.

Hi everyone,

This could just be me freaking out, but yesterday I took my ten-year old lhasa apso to the vet for his yearly check up and vaccinations. We've known for years that he's had a heart murmur. He's ten now, and the vet just changed him from a stage 2 to a stage 3 murmur. She said his heartbeat is perfect and told us there's no need for an echo-cardiogram yet, but he's been drinking much more water lately, and today I was playing with him and he suddenly dropped his toy and layed right down on the floor, like he got dizzy or really exhausted. If he gets mildly excited now when he's outside or knows he's getting a treat he pants, which he wouldn't normally do, and does not run around like he used to. He now prefers to walk and only runs a few times a day, if that. When we go for walks he also prefers to just do a few laps around my street and then would rather go back inside than keep walking or exploring around the yard.

Again, he's also ten years old and I could just be overreacting now that I know his murmur is worse, but my family and I are going to Florida in about a week and have to board him...is he going to be okay? I know I should listen to the vet who says he's fine, but now I'm worried sick. He isn't acting like himself. Should I stick with having him boarded or should I ask a close relative to take him in for that week that I won't be around?

Does anyone else have any experience with their dogs and heart murmurs?

Also, my lhasa is very big for his breed. Most lhasas are about 10-15 pounds, I believe...mine is 30. He's not small and fat, he's twice as long as a regular lhasa and twice as tall. He's never been overweight and has always been kind of lazy. That's why I'm just not sure if he's still re-cooperating from the vet visit and it just takes him longer because he's older now? Or if I should call the vet again.

I'm really just looking for advice from heart murmur dog owners to see if I'm acting crazy, or if these are warning signs of heart failure. Thanks!

Hi everyone,

My pet rat has been constipated for about 48 hours now. My vet suggested Senokot tablets? We only spoke over the phone however because I couldn't bring her there today, and I forgot to ask how much of the tablet to give to her and how to administer it. Any ideas? And if anyone has used them before, do they work? Thanks!