[Dailydrool] Shelter Challenge, Aggressive eating, Thunderstorms, Heart Murmurs

[Pam Farris]

Good morning All!
 
I checked this morning's update on our shelter challenge ranking and we are still at 319, the same as yesterday.  Either the vote counters are enjoying their weekend and didn't update the votes or we just held steady at our ranking.  Either way, today (Sunday) is the last day to vote for Basset Rescue of Florida (FL) to help us win the weekly $1000.00 prize.  Please redouble your efforts today and hit up some more friends and family and maybe, just maybe we'll make it to the #1 spot on the weekly votes.  Thanks to all of you for doing this and thanks to the great Droolers who started this basset effort.  This is week 3 of their efforts and hopefully later on, Marilyn will paw in on who the rescue is for next week.  Remember, it's all about how many votes that rescue gets for the WEEK, not the entire shelter challenge.  
 
Aggressive eating - This is a very serious problem that should be nipped in the bud.  I apologize for not knowing how old this dog is, is it a foster dog, etc but this is how I handle a dog that growls at me for any reason. If this is your own personal hound, a good behaviorist/trainer experienced with aggression issues should be sought out and consulted.  If it is a foster, you should contact the rescue immediately for guidance.   I practice the Nothing In Life Is Free philosophy (you can Google it for basic info).  I also take a look at what I am doing and how I am behaving towards the dog that that is telling it that he is boss over me.  Then I stop doing those things.  Even as careful as I am, sometimes I slip up and get complacent about my behavior.  That opens up the door for bad behaviors to come out.   I also have to walk a thin line because I would rather the bad behaviors come out while they are being fostered, than after wards
 when I placed them in their adoptive homes.  Remember, height, space, first in line and attention mean power to a dog.  They want to be on the couch as that is higher, they want to claim that special space on the sofa or on the floor so that you have to move or walk around them, they are first to eat and drink, they want the attention.  Simple and subtle things are how dogs communicate.
 
Thunderstorms - We experience daily (sometimes several times daily) thunderstorms here in South Florida.  In the ever changing pack of fosters I have in and out, there is usually one or more that have some degree of storm phobia.  I am having good luck with giving 5mg of Melatonin (human supplement) at the first hint of a storm.  It relaxes them and they tend to sleep through it.  If possible, I crush it, dissolve it in a bit of water, suck it into a dosing syringe and squirt it in their mouth.  That works fastest.  Sometimes I give it in a bit of peanut butter and that takes about 30 minutes.  So far so good.  Hope this will help some of you and perhaps those rivers of drool and mountains of shed hair from the stress can be averted.
 
Heart Murmurs - Please talk with you vet about starting your basset on CoQ10.  It supports the heart and has shown to help heart murmurs to some degree.  It also is supposed to help with gum health and a vast list of other things.  I give any of the bassets with heart issues a 100mg dose twice a day as well as any heart medications my vet prescribes.  I give human grade that I buy at Costco.  Our mature adults and seniors (7+) get this also.  Remember also that Fish Oil is good in addition.  I also give 1000mg Fish Oil twice a day.
 
Gosh, this got really long but lots of things to cover so I'll end it now.  Drool to all those who have lost their loved one and to those sick bassets - get well soon.
Pam Farris
Basset Rescue of Florida, Inc.
www.BassetRescueFlorida.com