sierramist

Hi everyone,

We have a Brittany Spaniel, approximately 15 years old. Up until very
recently she's been pretty spry and happy.

First, we noticed some excessive thirst several weeks ago. Then she
became a bit tired, didn't want to get up as much, etc. - possibly
joint-related. This was unusual, but I figured at first it was just
old-age setting in.

Now, just a couple of days ago, she began licking, biting, and
"munching" her rear end. I checked out the area and initially found
nothing amiss - no obvious irritation or bites - and assumed it was
just something irritating her skin. I gave her a bath, and applied
some hydrocortizone spray, which seemed to do the trick.

Yesterday, we were out for just 30 minutes or less, and by the time we
got home she had literally ripped her skin open all over her rear, it
was oozing, bleeding, the fur stripped clean. I went into panic mode,
cleaned the now open wound and dressed it with some Neosporin and
sterile bandages. Then I went and purchased a halo for her to wear
temporarily so she couldn't pester it further.

First of all, are all of these changes in behavior related, do you
think? Second, is her persistence to gnaw on herself simply
psychosomatic, or is something truly amiss? I've done some research
and came up with nothing so far. My vet isn't available until
tomorrow, so I was hoping to maybe get some advice in the meantime.

Thanks!

shore

I think it very likely that something is really wrong and
that your vet needs to check her out. For example, two
endocrine problems that can cause excessive water
consumption and skin/coat problems starting at the
hindquarters are Cushings disease and hypothyroidism. She
really needs to see a vet.
--
Melinda Shore - Software longa, hardware brevis - shore@panix.com

All you need to know about Social Security "reform": Your
in-laws are going to have to live with you

i am

Here's Disciple Paulie:


Disciple Paulie Sez: "No One Understands
How Wits End Training Really Works, They
Assume It's All Nicey Nicey And don't Realise
It's A Very Disciplined Method That Deals With
Any Situation And The Foundation Is Built On
Trust And Understanding."


Disciple Paulie Writes:


I've never forced my dogs to do anything, I tell
them they are good dogs and they seem to
follow me, once I told them they were bad dogs
and they ran away from me, now I only ever tell
them they are good dogs and they always are, always.


Trust your dog, ask it to do your request and say
"good dog" sincerely at the end of the request and
I bet you'll find your dog thinking then responding
everytime.


A bit of respect works wonders, the same rule applies
to every aspect of the relationship with your dog.


Obedience and affection are not related, if they were
everyone would have obedient dogs.


Paul.


========================


Here's a couple of The Puppy Wizard's FREE
WWW Wits' End Dog Training Method Manual
Students tellin you HOWE they done it EZ GENTLY
NEARLY INSTANTLY and FOR FREE:


"The Puppy Wizard" <ThePuppyWiz...@earthlink.net>
schreef inbericht
newsLpzb.2640$Qd6.1560@newsread1.news.atl.earthl ink.net...

My dog (a 1 year old Yellow Lab) was biting his tail
at the root (Vet said his anal gland was blocked, and
was causing an itch).

After squeezing it, he still wouldn't stop biting his
tail. The vet advised a neck-funnel (don't know wat
you US-guy's call those) so he couldn't reach his butt.


I hate those things, i think they will drive a dog nuts.


I tried the wits end method. (difficult to read such a long
textfile if English is not your native language) Luckily this
is without all the "HOWE's" etc.so at least it's readable for
somebody like me.


The minute he started to bite i trew my key's
next to him on the floor, and praised him (he
stopped biting and looked up when he heard
the sound) I did this 7 times,


after that the tailbiting completely stopped.
Just give the wits end method a try.


One of the possible downloadlocations
is http://www.doggydoright.com/id3.html


Hennie van Dalen
www.chello.nl/~h.vandalen11


----------------------------


"Paul B" <a...@clear.net.nz> schreef in bericht
news:3ff50d83@clear.net.nz...

The same thing worked with my lab licking/chewing
problem too. He had an itch due to blocked anal glands
and started chewing and licking his tail at the root.

After the glands were squeezed, and the itch was
gone he still wouldn't stop. (because the place he
chewed raw was itching)


After some training (roughly the same methode as
yours) he stopped.


--
Hennie van Dalen
www.chello.nl/~h.vandalen11
http://www.chello.nl/~h.vandalen11/f...oggy-pictures/


--------------------------------------


"Hennie van Dalen" <h.vandalen11***removethis...@chello.nl>

RTFM is age-old computer lingo.... It stands for "Read The F***ing
Manual" ;-) I used the manual and it works
very good!


But it is a long text to read (76 pages printed on
A4-size paper) My lab is 1year old now, and teaching
him something new takes about 30minutes
(depending on what to teach offcourse)


My other dog (a 7year old staffordshire terrier-mix) is a bit
slower in learning, but he is used to me calling him a "bad
dog"whenever he did something i didn't want him to do, or
it might be the age.


Sometimes it looks like Sam (the lab) WANTS to learn
something new: he wants me to bring along the can
filled with washers whenever we go for a walk. It is a
very "humane" way of teaching: the dog is allways a
"good dog", and never a "bad dog"


There is nu punishment or prong-collars involved.


For a fact i tought him to heel in 15min's without
beeing on a leach at-all !!! When he spotted a dog,
he used to run towards it, but now i tought him to "ask
permission" first, and to my surprise it worked!


My dogs never went to puppy-training (lucky for them),
maybe this helped too.


Manual can be found at http://www.doggydoright.com/id3.html


-- Hennie van Dalen www.chello.nl/~h.vandalen11 http://www.chello.nl/~h.vandalen11/f...oggy-pictures/
"Ted Rumple" <rumplem...@kalbar.net> wrote in message news:30aa784b.0309290208.135e9ab1@posting.google.c om...

bsjm

As you're aware, you need to go to the vet. When our (now deceased)
springer started consuming large amounts of water, I called the vet and
asked if she could have diabetes. He informed me that older spayed females
don't get diabetes (yes, I was dumb, forgive me, and I believed him). As
the days progressed she started having other problems... finally I insisted
on some blood tests, and yes, she turned out to have a very high blood
sugar, as well as kidney failure, possibly due to the elevated blood sugars.
In humans, the byproducts of waste build up with kidney failure and cause a
lot of problems with severe itching... maybe this is one possibility for
your Brittany (on top of what Melinda said)???

Good luck and let us know what the vet says.

Shelly

p.s. That guy is no longer my vet.