Riley'n'Mia

No Riley could not breathe and collapsed and died whilst I was in the back with them still trying to get the ball out of his throat she was on the other side of me and didn't see him again until we stopped the car at the vets and he was gone, she was very scared when she did see him and didn't want to go anywhere near the car and still doesn't of course amid all the chaos we got her out of the car and away from Riley as soon as we stopped the car but she still knew what was going on.

Yes riverstar Riley and Mia were always walked daily and together I work on a farm where there are lots of other dogs and this is generally where the interaction with the other dogs took place. Riley was never overly aggressive towards other dogs but he liked to stand over them and dominate them so I always kept him on lead when dogs other than Mia where in our company. We are still finding Riley's hair everywhere so I assume Mia can still smell and sense him everywhere and she lies on his bed outside during the day rather than her own. Sorry to hear you lost Poochie and Zeus is still greiving I never realised something like this would affect us all this much.

Our family pet 3 yr old female JRT Mia was formerly a fun loving extremely dog friendly girl until a couple of weeks ago when our 3 yr old male GSD Riley died in a tradgic accident (choking on his kong ball). Mia has shown no signs of depression or behavioural changes since Riley's passing except when other dogs go near her she is very aggressive and frightened she has her tail between her legs, head down and launches at them no matter the size of the dog and attacks. I thought I was doing the right thing organising a play date with a dog she'd played with on numerous occasions when Riley was alive as I thought she would be lonely, the meeting has been on neutral ground and both dogs on leads (as they always have been in the past when we first meet up, then at usual meetings once they say hello we take the leads off and they play happily and we have to drag them away as they are having so much fun). Mia is very loving towards her human family and especially my 2 yr old daughter I just don't understand what is going on with her as far as other dogs are concerned. I am only a pet owner and don't quite understand the inner workings of a dogs mind but would really like to understand what she's going through so I can perhaps help her as this is still a hard time for our whole family Riley is very much missed by us all. Could she be thinking now Riley is gone she must take on the role of alpha leader or something ? Not sure if this is relevant but Riley died in the back of our landcruiser and Mia was beside him in the car (whilst we were rushing to the vets). Thanks for any help or advice, Jade

Hi Kynan Yes it was the kong with the hole in it tennis ball sized everyone said it was a 1 in a million chance of this happening and Riley had played with it at the park at least 4 days a week for at least 2½ years but I will NEVER let any dog Mia now or other dogs I may have in the future play with one of these again they get so slippery with the dogs spit. I couldn't get a grip on it I tried putting my fingers in the hole, rolling it around so he could breath through the hole anything I could think of but we just ran out of time and of course he was biting me whilst gasping for air through the whole ordeal. Thank you to everyone for their thoughts and prayers I will explain to Audrey that Riley has died and is not asleep hopefully that will make things a little easier for us all. His ashes came home yesterday and I can't even bring myself to look at them yet Mat has put them in the spare room until I am ready to let him go.

Hi all I haven't logged on for a really really long time hope everyone and their fur kids are all well. My beautiful and much loved 3 year old German Shepherd (Riley) died suddenly in a tragic and very distressing accident on Sunday afternoon by choking on a kong ball. My soon to be two year old daughter (Audrey) was with my husband and I at the time this happened along with our 3 year old JRT (Mia). To cut a long story short I tried to get the ball out of Riley's throat whilst my husband, Audrey and Mia all ran to get the car and rush Riley to the vets. By the time we arrived at the vets (being a Sunday and living in a rural area we had to wait a further 10 mins for the vet to arrive) he was gone. Audrey knows something has happened and that Riley isn't there any more but she keeps asking when he's coming back and saying "Riley asleep, Riley gone". He passed away in the back of the car and everytime we get in the car she gets all excited saying "Audrey pat Riley, Riley wake up" so I show her the back of the car and explain that he's asleep and is never going to wake up and she won't see him ever again. Audrey has been pretty good and coped well with the whole thing but at 3.30am today she woke up crying and saying "Audrey pat Riley, Riley wake up" I don't know if she was having a dream about him or what but she was pretty upset which of course made me cry (for the 1000th time) and probably made her worse. She then took 3 hours to fall back to sleep, she hasn't mentioned Riley again as yet today but I don't know if I am saying or doing the right things to help her and me crying in front of her probably doesn't help either. Any advice from people who have children and have lost a pet would be greatly appreciated ? Thanks, Jade

My 14 month old GSD also plays too rough with other dogs & gets very jealous & protective of my 12 month old JRT he starts off by lunging at other dogs straight away & trys to get my JRT away from them, he eventually calms down & plays nice but I generally won't allow him to be near the other dogs for long enough to get to the calmer stage I just move him on straight away as I am not very strong & if he tried to dominate a dog that got aggressive I'd be in all sorts of trouble.

Thank you for the warning Inspector Rex I spoke to the vet again this morning and my dog is eating and acting normally now plus his stools have been back to their normal consistency since Sat lunchtime. She thinks given his quick recovery with treatment that he probably won't have a reoccurance so long as I continue to feed him the diet he's used to and nothing else. I will continue to montior his stools (he does one almost everyday on his walk) and if I notice a change in them again I will look at seeing a Vet Internal medicine specialist (where would I find one) ?

Hopefully if it happens again I will be able to spot the signs quickly and sort it out thanks. Thanks charli he is much better today. Thanks shepmax ! Riley ate a bit of boiled chicken last night and was a bit brighter when I got home from work. This morning he ate some more chicken with some plain rice and was acting almost normal following me around the house, stealing hubby's work socks and harassing our JRT. He did throw his breakfast up after he ate it but at least he's interested in food again I'll keep a close eye on him but I think he's getting better slowly

I got my female JRT desexed just before 6 months old, I picked her up that night she was fine I just gave her a nice warm place to sleep and she did for about 1½ hours then was looking for food (she's a guts). The hard part was keeping her still it drove her nuts being locked up for a week especially since my GSD male was allowed to run around when she was ok to go for walks etcetera again she went mental the first few days.

How did you know quickly that the dog was ill ? Riley was sulking for about 24 hours but still eating so we didn't think much of it cause he's a sooky boy anyway and he gets cranky at us if we go away and usually sulks for a day or so, we thought he was just sulking until he went off his food and I noticed he had runny, blood stained poo then I took him straight to the vets but it would of been 36 hours after the kennel that I took him to the vets. Also how long did it take for the dog to eat again after the first onset of Colitis ? Riley hasn't eaten for over 48 hours ? Sorry for all the questions I am just really worried as he's never been sick at all before.

Thanks jigsaw I am going to try to feed him some warm chicken and rice tonight. Thanks rovaround glad to hear someone knows a dog that's got it and is going well I feel a bit better now !

My dogs stayed at a kennel on Saturday night and my GSD started showing signs of illness about 36 hours later, took him to the vet and after doing blood tests and feaces tests it was discovered he has Colitis (link attached for those who don't know what it is I certainly didn't) http://www.thepetcenter.com/gen/colitis.html Riley (sick dog) hasn't eaten for 2 days I am very worried about him has anyone elses dog had Colitis and if so what was the outcome ? It's his 1st birthday today and he's so sick, sad and miserable

:D I am so very sorry Bella what a brave and selfless thing you have done for your beloved boy. RIP beautiful Asher to Bella, your partner and the girls.

Hi Bonmedia I have laid down some STRICT ground rules for my husband to follow as he's usually the one not enforcing the training and commands EVERY single time for eg. one time he'll make the dog sit before opening the door to let him in or out the next he won't. After much heartache and arguing with him over the last few months he is finally understanding that what I have said all along is true and the dog can NEVER get away with things no even once or he'll take advantage and run wild. Riley has been a lot better in the last 4-5 days thankfully so I am hopeful we are getting on top of it, I am getting our 5mnth old JRT desexed in 2 weeks and once she recovers Riley is going to get done as well.

That would be good if you find it but please don't go to too much trouble I know what it's like trying to find old photos ! Although it can be fun bringing back memories as you search through ones you haven't seen for years