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

Thanks for the advice Irene and also the compliments on Riley's pedigree (I have no idea about dogs pedigrees I just thought his sire was a spunk in the pic on the website) interesting to know he could have inherited his traits from his German lineage. We are actually calling into his breeders place this weekend as Riley is staying with them Sat night (I don't want to leave him at home and we have to go to a family thing) so I will have a talk to them then. They have been breeding for a long time and spent 4 hours with us talking about the breed the day we choose him, they have called us or we've called them about 4 times since we got him just to check on his progress (and we send an updated pic every month which they comment on) I am sure they will be more than happy to offer advice/support.

I'd love to see that pic

I have taken away the charger the day I took the pic actually so unfortunately I can't blame that How weird is that your neighbour called her twins Riley and Mia I hope they are better behaved than my Riley and Mia ! I really like the name Riley and kind of wish I'd saved it in the event I have a baby boy one day......... Riley's parents are http://www.sundaneka.com.au/Frontpage.html under the litter page he's was out of litter "K" he was the quietest out of the males in the litter and we wanted a male the other two were biting my hands really hard and running around like mad but he just sat on my lap licking my arm and snuggling into me BOY DID HE SEE ME COMING .........

Tashi might be naughty sometimes but boy is he cute :p Maybe I should send Riley to you to learn horse manners :D all the horses at my work are too valuable to risk practicing with and my horse is more possessive than a GSD of me and would trample Riley if he went near me in the presence of my horse :D wish I'd spent as much time teaching my horse manners as I do trying to teach Riley.

A passing phase? That depends on whether he recognises you mean the boundaries and guidelines you've set him. It is a time of 'learning' for dogs - in part it could be a reflection on what relationship you've established up until now. Or it could be him checking to see if you will assert those boundaries. Could also be the 'second teething' period, - kind of as if his mature teeth are 'settling in' .... some dogs do go through another chewing phase at that point. Either way, it is still about 'learning' even if there is an underlying cause and if unchecked the behaviour can become habitual. Do nothing and the phase will not necessarily 'pass'. Hi Erny We've always tried to be assertive yet fair with Riley from day 1 at 8 weeks of age knowing how big and strong he's going to be my husband and I discussed in great length before getting him that he'd need lots of training as it would be a disaster if a fully grown adult of his size was left to do as he pleased. I am hoping we've done the correct things so far and he's just as you suggest "checking to see if you will assert those boundaries" or even better going through a "second teething period". We def don't intend to do nothing we hope to have him as a friendly, well mannered, loving family member for the rest of his life, he's actually already started to behave a little better today although I think he is sulking because he keeps getting told to do the opposite to everything he's doing at the moment !

Thank you for your reply I agree using a long lead/lunge lead is a good suggestion will def give it a go. I post in the GSD thread most of the time and everyone in there is really good at helping first time GSD owners such as myself with advice so I was taught from the day I picked Riley up not to do too much exercise with him he usually has a 20 or 30 min outing daily which includes a swim in the dam or lake and some light games such as fetching the stick or ball from the water and bringing it back to me (after doing a bit of training on the lead). My vet has also stressed the importance of not over exerting him until he's finished growing. Riley did try humping the first night we got him and he was quickly told off for it, he's tried it two or three more times all not long after his arrival with us around 9 or 10 weeks old but hasn't dared do it to myself or my husband since.

Thanks for the replies so far I am sure he'll grow out of it I'm just worried because like most of us hubby and I want to have children one day and I want him to be trained properly before then and as there isn't anywhere near my home to teach me and him and I haven't had a big dog like him before I don't want to stuff him up !

Sorry if this is long............. My male GSD turned 6 mnths on 26 Dec 07 and up until then was quite well behaved for a puppy, he was easy to toilet train, topped the class in puppy school and has quickly learned sit, stay, come, drop, on your bed, etcetera. He sleeps in the loungeroom at night and has never chewed anything, gotten on the lounge or toileted inside since being toilet trained. His breeder gave me a folder with a lot of info on GSD and what to expect hubby and I call it the "Riley instruction manuel" it mentions in there about the 5 critical periods stating that during the 5th period your puppy will possibly go through either a fear period or try to assert dominance over the family members this stage is between 3 and 4 mnths, my dog never went through this period he remained stable in his behaviour up until now. Over the course of the past 10 days or so Riley has been becoming increasingly less responsive to simple commands such as sit, stay and come, he pulls like a train on the lead (I just bought him a halti so he sits down and refuses to walk at all with it on), is very dominant over my 5 mnth old female JRT (he has always been really good with her before now) and he has started humping things and ejaculating very frequently he even straddled the lounge a few days ago ! As he is a larger breed and therefore slow to grow and mature the plan was to desex him when he's at least 12 months old (as advised by several breeders and my vet) however my husband who loves this dog more than he loves me (well almost) said yesterday if he keeps up this attitude and continues his ignorant behaviour he's getting the chop next mnth or he just might kill him. Yesterday whilst I was working hubby took Riley for a walk on the 800 acre horse property I work on and he was swimming in the river as he's done 100 times before ever since he was 9 weeks old and he just randomly ran off and straight into a paddock with a horse in it (about 350 metres from the river and over a hill) and started chasing the horse, he was almost kicked in the head as my husband who was chasing him calling in terror couldn't catch him before he reached the horse. He's been around horses since he was 8 weeks and never taken any notice of them before and never wanders off when off the lead until now (he won't be having off leash walks anymore and only ever has in the safety of my work) ! He is also strutting around the backyard barking at nothing a fair bit and won't listen when told to be quite he wasn't much of a barker before. There are NO obedience classes in my area the closest is 2 hours drive so I have just ordered some training DVD's off the net in the hope that I can train him myself and I will also be getting some private obedience classes at the local vets with him. Does anyone have any advice is this just a stage and if so how long should it last ? For a larger slow maturing breed what are the pos and neg to desexing before 12 mnths ?

My now 6 mnth old GSD was limping on and off for about 3 days and as I know the problems GSD can have with hips, elbows etc I was paranoid to the point where I couldn't sleep so took him to the vet. It turned out that he was tender in both front elbows due to flopping himself down on the floor boards and pavers (rather than gently easing himself into the lying position lazy sod). She told me to keep on eye on him and rest him for a couple of days then if he wasn't sore continue to do the light on and off lead 15 to 20 mins a day walking until he's at least 9-12 mnths as more exercise than that for his breed wasn't suitable until he's growth plates (sp?) have aligned properly, if he was sore I was to take him back to her immediately. I have made a few adjustments to our house to prevent him lying on hard surfaces and he hasn't limped once since the day he went to the vets. If you are planning on getting x-rays done to rule out hip/elbow problems my vet has said there's no point until after the dog is 9 mnths of age as the bones change so much as the puppy grows prior to then that the x-rays maybe inconclusive. I hope I am giving you the correct advise as I said this is just what my vet has told me to do with my dog.

I just noticed a few weeks back that fly's were hanging out on the ends of my 6mnth old GSD's rather large ears when I touched them a small amount of dots of blood came off on my fingers the little b*stards have been biting them so I got this product off the vet Ilium Fly Ointment 50gm the fly's hate it haven't touched his ears since it's only about $7 and lasts for ages. Don't know of any home remedies though sorry ?