The Dish by Darcy

Dear Darcie,

I have to say this, that since I’ve been feeding raw food to the dogs, the clean up is so much better, the conventional food went through them in a big stinky mess. I can’t find a vet who approves of raw food yet, and yes, the vet did make fun of it in front of the dog. I’ll keep feeding it though, their health has improved so much on raw.

Here are the answers to your questions (edited for space). Dottie is my daughter’s dog, I am the primary care giver, feeding and cleaning up after them. The vet did not take x-rays. Teeth are good. The dogs are 12 year old sisters. I moved my office back into the house.

Both dogs sleep sounder than they used to. In fact the sister often wakes up choking, the vet said it was ‘reverse sneezing.’ I think he’s full of sh*t.

Dottie does have a harder time getting up on the bed and into the truck now. Vet says she has stiffness in her back legs, I thought it was more like a hamstring hurting. Vet says no but he was describing exactly that to me.

When I fed the dogs, I’d just put down their dishes. Dottie stopped eating if I was still watching. I found out later that her sister was eating Dottie’s food and her own food. I have to put the food into Dottie’s mouth now to get her to swallow it, she doesn’t really chew.

Dottie is doing better on her walks now, I praise her a lot, she still seems tired. She’s eating better now since you and I last talked, too. She ate a little pancake and her dinner tonight.

Any ideas why this is happening would be welcome. Thanks, Kathleen

Dear Kathleen,

Just a wild guess here. I’d say you have some sibling rivalry going on. It’s probably been going on as long as they’ve been together at your house but it could be that now Dottie is older and not quite as nimble, she just doesn’t want to have to continue to protect her space and food. And the fact that there has been a life change, that makes sense, too. You have moved your office back into the house. Watch carefully without staring at the dogs how they both interact with you in your office space, and with each other. I wonder if Sis has told Dottie that your space is hers now. It’s worth your while to  make sure that both dogs respect your space and don’t tussle at any level, physically or mind games, over you being at home. I treat my dogs as equals. It’s my house, they just get to live here.

Dottie refusing food may have more to do with her sister taking it from her than anything else. Sis can do that with a simple look or a stare. As Dottie has aged, maybe she just doesn’t want to fight for her dinner any more. My best guess is that she’s always had to fight back quietly against her Sister,  to keep her away from the bowl, you just didn’t see it, that sort of thing can be very subtle with dogs. Once a dog bullies another successfully, the die is cast, so once Sis took over the food bowl, Dottie gave in to her.

Siblings raised together can present a problem, one usually is the stronger personality and gets what she wants when she wants it. It’s possible that Dottie has always been the more submissive dog and will give up her food or space or whatever to her sister more readily as they age. I’m not there so I don’t know for sure, but if that were happening in my house, I’d go back to putting the food bowls down and staying for dinner. If Sis tries to take Dottie’s food, you step between her and the bowl. It’s your bowl now and you’re going claim it and offer it to Dottie. Sis can’t bully dinner any more. Sis can’t even lick it clean. After dinner pick up the bowls and wash them. Tell Dottie when you offer her the dish, “Eat please. Thank you.”

Reverse sneezing is a real thing. A dog is trying to clear it’s sinuses or nasal passages, like a human child sniffing up their nose instead of getting a tissue to blow. Reverse sneezing can be scary, you think your dog is really in trouble, it can sound much more severe than it is if you don’t know what it is. It’s really nothing to worry about according to vets who do know about it. If Sis does it again, calm her and hold the sides of her nose together with just a little pressure. If that sounds like what she’s doing, you’ll help her sniff the stuff up more quickly.

Although Dottie is doing better with the walking, she’s still not thrilled with it. If she was mine, I’d still get her to a chiropractor for some adjustments. It could be old age but because it came on quickly and she’s stopped jumping up, it sure could be an alignment or a damaged muscle issue. Your chiropractor can help, adjusting the skeleton so the muscle can heal.

Thank you for getting back to me. It’s good to hear that Dottie is doing a little better. Don’t ask her to do too much walking until you get her some Chiropractic help. She really might be telling you she just doesn’t feel solid enough to go walking. I’m understand that completely. I’m still dealing with my recent slipped disc. I’m getting better very fast with proper care. If that’s what’s going on with Dottie, she’ll love you to pieces if you get her some help. You may add years to her life, you’ll definitely add quality to it.

Make sure that both dogs get time alone with you and that Sis doesn’t bully Dottie. Bullying can be as simple as a look, get out of my way, “My Momma.” Or as bad as, “This is my house, my food, my Momma, my stuff…get out of my way.”

Special time alone with you will help raise Dottie’s confidence at the least. And at best, will give her “time off” from her sister pushing her around.

Darcie

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Dear Darcie, Both of my dogs have been very healthy living on raw food diets however the one all of a sudden a couple months ago has decided she doesn’t want to eat and we actually have to force feed her. Any ideas? She also doesn’t want to go for walks any more which used to be one of her fav things to do. The vet has given her a clean bill of health. Any suggestions? Yes, she will periodically eat junk (quinoa pancakes, cooked meat from our plates) but we don’t like to encourage that kind of behavior since all it did before was given them diarrhea and such. We do give quinoa pancakes as a treat occasionally. Kathleen

Dear Kathleen,

You didn’t say how old your dogs are. If they are older, hearing and eye sight loss may be an issue. It’s frightening to some dogs to lose their hearing and eyesight and it can change their behavior. Teeth and gums can be a problem at any age and can also change behavior. Do you know anything about the parents of the dogs? Check with your breeder to see if the siblings or parents are having any problems.

I’m not concerned about the eating problem so much because she’s not refusing all food and you would have said if she was wasting away. Unless there is something trapped in her gut that isn’t supposed to be there, it’s probably not the eating that is the bigger problem. I am concerned about the refusal to go walking. I’d guess they are connected some how. She may be refusing food because she isn’t hungry, no physical exercise can do that, but if she’s always been a good eater, it’s probably more about the physical mobility, the walking.

There are physical, mental, and emotional reasons for dogs to change their behavior. Let me ask a few questions.

Is your vet a holistic vet? Did they look at her total body: skeleton, blood, tissue, eyes, hearing, cracked or lose teeth, gum disease, check fecal for worms, fleas and ticks, weight issues? Or did they just listen to hear heart and lungs, feel around for any lumps, take a quick look into her mouth and say, “Nope, she’s okay.” Some traditional vets don’t know what to look for when they are dealing with behavior changes. If your vet did a good and thorough exam with x-rays and didn’t find anything physical, teeth, eyes and ears are okay, then we are maybe back to mental and emotional. If your vet didn’t check all of these things, get to a holistic vet and get another opinion.

Has anything changed in the past two months in your house? Divorce, marriage, new friends, new dog walker, new neighbors, new dogs or new kids on the block? Did anyone move out or away from her normal life routine, did someone leave the neighborhood? Did a dog in your house, neighborhood, or a friend of hers die or is it sick? Arguments among people in the house? Did somebody lose a job or lose money, or start a job and gain a lot of money? New house? Did the landlord come in while you were away? Any humans with depression? Children in the house who’ve had a spanking lately or were grounded? Human stress can trickle down to the dogs causing their behavior changes.

Can you pin point the day this started? Was she in the yard alone any time during that day? New meter reader? Workers around the neighborhood? Did anyone spray their yard with chemicals? Carpet cleaned?

Is she pooping and peeing regularly? Nothing stuck in her gut? As an aside, my friend’s Dalmation ate a pair of panty hose, she refused food and wouldn’t move until after her surgery to remove the obstruction. After that surgery, she did it again, twice. How to make that stop happening? Pick up the panty hose!

Is her urine clear and smells healthy? Poop good, looks and smells healthy?

Did anyone jerk on her leash? Did she jump off of something, couch, bed? Has she quit jumping? Necks are so easy to hurt and that can cause problems all down the back and into the legs. Back and neck injuries are often overlooked by vets who aren’t skilled in that. I can attest to the fact that when your back is hurt (read about my slipped disc), your physical self does not work right. It hurts to move. Please don’t make me go walking. I’ll stop eating if you don’t make me walk. Maybe I shouldn’t eat so much, the extra weight hurts my back. Hey, it happens in dogs, too. We’re not stupid when we follow our instincts. It could be what your dog is saying.

Pain can cause depression in dogs. It can be long lasting if it or the reason for it isn’t diagnosed and treated. Depression can be caused by many things. You can’t know for sure if what your dog is experiencing might be depression, physical, or mental without talking to a professional in those fields.

If she was mine, here’s what I would do. I’d start with something simple. My very best guess is that she’s hurting somewhere in her body, refusing to eat and walk is a huge sign that something is wrong. Physical pain can keep a body from wanting to eat.

This is my suggestion. Get her to a chiropractor for animals. They will be able to recommend a massage therapist for her, too. Stay on a regular course of therapy as your new doc will talk over with you. Give it at least three months if your doc agrees and see if your dog changes back to her normal routine. It’s what I would do.

(By the way, feeding dogs table scraps is okay, it’s way better than some of the bagged foods out there, in my opinion. Maybe it was the big dog food companies who started that nasty rumor and maybe they shared with veterinarians who in turn shared with their customers, sells more commercial dog food that way. Those of you who feed commercial foods made of bad stuff, stop padding the pockets of the dog food makers who don’t care about your dog’s health. Table scraps are okay, just stay away from added fat, preservatives, additives, processed flour, color dyes, added salt and sugars. Meaning no store bought pizza, lasagna, and bread as a regular diet. All simple foods like roast beef, lean grilled chicken and steak, fish without bones, organ meats, and almost all veggies and fruits are fine. We fed our dogs table scraps from a family of seven kids all the time when I was little kid. Along with all the raw food they got, they lived to old age with no vet interference and no vaccinations. DO NOT give your dog cooked chicken bones, that is cardinal rule, those bones turn to needles when they are cooked. Raw chicken bones are fine.)

I’d say, spend the money to take her for some treatments. It won’t hurt her and it may make her all better. Let’s hope it’s a simple spinal alignment problem. Let me know what happens. I’ll say a prayer for her and for you right now.