Wednesday, January 27, 2016

Challenges with Puppies

pepper the new puppy
My puppy when I've first got him

You’ve just seen the main culprit of my frequent tardiness for this month. Born on the 3rd week of November, Pepper is now 9 weeks and 4 days old (or 2 months and 6 days old). I’ve got him last January 5, a very special number even before he became my pet.

Current challenges that I’m experiencing:


Ill Looking Eyes
Should I be worried in the change of his eyes? After I’ve dewormed him, I noticed that he looks like fresh from sleep every lunch time. It’s been 1 week but his eyes are still like that. However, that contradicts with his high energy level every morning and afternoon whenever he sees me. He still wags his tail.
  • Is his eyes normal? Permanent? Or just a part of his growth?
  • Is that a side effect of deworming? Or the effect of deworming product I’ve used?
  • Did I do something wrong when I’ve dewormed him?
  • Will it change?
  • Is mange involved?
  • Should I ask a vet? Go there?
  • Will I continue deworming him next week?
  • Did I miss something?
  • Is he really feeling well? Or there’s something wrong internally?
  • Is it okay to leave him like that? Just ignore it?
  • Will he get better on his own?

with sad eyes
His sad eyes after a few weeks

Mange
My sister keeps on telling me that I shouldn’t give a disease its name unless a doctor confirms it. She’s a nurse. There’s a doctor for animals but I don’t really like when they just administer drugs without explaining or telling stories. Just like in computers, I hate it when most technicians suggest reformatting a computer when the problem was really just minor and can be fixed if people have patience (the easiest solution and easiest way for money). That’s a shortcut in life, but it doesn’t really kill the root cause of problems.

At first, I ignored him scratching. I thought it was just normal because he previously has lice. I bathed him twice with an anti-lice treatment but he didn’t stopped scratching even after his skin was cleared of lice. I thought it was just the eggs that hatched, his old lice wound or it’s just normal in dogs. I should have prioritized searching about a puppy that still scratches his skin! I’ve tried checking his skin daily. Later on, there’s a distinct doggy smell in his skin, which my cousin said it’s normal. But I am bothered whenever Pepper feeds milk from our female adult dog that has mange (galis). Since Pepper smells like he has mange, even if the effect was still not apparent in his skin that time, I can’t wait to give him a bath but I have to observe him yet for deworming side effects. I was also hesitant because his eyes has this “just awoken” or “I’m ill” appearance after deworming him.

madre de cacao for puppies
Boiled madre de cacao for dogs's mange

Just this Sunday, I gave him a natural madre cacao bath. That was the only time where some of his fur in his back has shed. Some of her skin turned pinkish (or could be the effect of madre cacao?). Yesterday, I bathed him again and his chest, stomach and thigh became pinkish. My search about mange is still ongoing. For now, I’ll just stick on giving him an every other day bath.

Now that I have a dog, it became my eye-opener of what “galis” truly is. I’m no longer grossed on the thought of human being infected with dog’s mange but mange will remain embarrassing for less knowledgeable people. Not all mange is contagious. Our pets are our responsibility and the state of their health reflects us owner.

My Puppy is Biting Me
Someone told me to cut the tip of my puppy’s teeth using a nail cutter. Due to finding that practice strange and my soft heartedness, I don’t have the guts to follow it. She said that you can also use a nail file or it can be done in pet shops. I’d rather let guys do that for me (hello bf!), if only he is here.

His teeth? It’s as if it keeps on getting sharper instead of being dull. I can no longer count how many times he had bitten me. There was even this old wives tail that the bite of puppy is even more dangerous than the adult dog and to not underestimate puppy’s rabies. We should really be careful not to let little children play with them without an adult’s supervision.

pepper with brownie
Pepper play-biting with our other adult puppy dog.

Pepper’s bites leaves a small dent but haven’t caused bleeding so far. Just imagine a needle or a blade; just a slight contact can cause a tear in the skin. It quite hurts (mahapdi siya). I should avoid teaching him tricks when he’s hyper as he can accidentally bite my hand when I’m handing him his treats. This already happened to me once. He also plays a tug of war in my skirts and jeans. It’s really a must to come up with an idea to distract him.

Those biting incidents stress me and drain the energy out of me. That made me realize I don’t like to die yet, or at least not to die that way. Going to the hospital because of rabies is a nuisance as well as the process and the payment for it. I don’t like going to hospitals. I’ve already been bitten by our neighbour’s dog when I was just a toddler.


13 comments:

  1. Awww. He's so cute! Btw, did you get vaccinated? Soon his bites would get a bit hard. But having a dog would never leave you lonely!!!

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    Replies
    1. Hi Bhushavali, he's not vaccinated yet. I'm waiting for him to turn 3 months before I'll let him have an anti-rabies vaccine. I hope he'll eventually learn to stop biting me. I don't really find my puppy cute...

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  2. I also have 2 puppies in my house and got man bites from them as well while playing with them or something like that,to them it's like fun or something I thinks.So I also sometimes enjoy it as they bite me not so deeply ever :)

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  3. Having a puppy ( or any pet at that ) is a lot of work. It entails commitment and tons of love. I' never had a pet puppy before because I'm scared of dogs in general. I'm scared of getting bitten and of the puppy galis. But as there are challenges to having your pet puppy, I'm sure there are more joys to it that's why a lot of people are keen to having a pet.

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    Replies
    1. Same here, I was afraid. I've been bitten back when I was very young. I'm afraid of anti-rabies injection too.

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  4. I want to have a pet, but due to allergies and asthma..huhuhuhu..I am forbidden to have one.

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    Replies
    1. My boyfriend has allergy but that doesn't stop him from petting dogs and cats. I don't stop him though, because that's what makes him happy. Just wondering, maybe you could try other pets?

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  5. What a cute name, Pepper! I love puppies they are always so sweet but they are fragile and prone to illness too. I've never owned one though.

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    Replies
    1. Yes, they are. Especially those pure breed puppies. Though we have Aspin here, short for Asong Pinoy, they're very resistant to common dog diseases. They're low maintenance too.

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  6. I don't have my own pet dog, so I don't really know what to suggest. He sounds overly active so i don't think he's sick, but have him checked just to be sure.

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  7. As a puppy he's probably going through the teething stage. My dogs are a little over 6 months but he still chews on everything. Having a puppy is like having a baby, it's a full time job.

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  8. Such an adorable pup. We also have a dog but he cant be inaide my house eveeaince i had a child coz we're both asthmatic

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  9. Keeping a pet is a lot of hard work also, that depends on the owners some love their pets and are willing to do all the work.

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