KKDD

Seems to be about 12 to 18 mnths old. Came from Hawkesbury pound a couple of weeks back, heavily pregnant. She had a ceasar (puppies too big) and was desexed at same time. All puppies were already dead. She seems happy and healthy enough - no sign of any infection. Is sleeping behind me on the chair now... Shes been through a lot lately and Im hoping it will lessen naturally in the course of time..... otherwise shes going to be very tricky to rehome.

I have a foster foxie female who submission piddles at the drop of a hat. Lovely little thing, not timid or fearful, well socialised with both dogs and humans, seeks attention all the time, but usually piddles when she gets it. I have found that not actively touching her, but rather letting her crawl onto me and then passively touching her head only, doesnt cause piddling. Picking her up means a definite soaking. She is spoken to and treated with the utmost gentleness at all times, so there is no reason she should feel the need to be so overtly submissive. And she is otherwise friendly and outgoing. Any suggestions on methods I can use to train her out of it?

A sore front end or forelegs in a dachshy is probably not of so much concern in terms of possible spinal damage, than a sore back end or hind legs. If a spinal disk ruptures or partially ruptures, you may see see anything from a little reluctance to move around, to slight loss of coordination or strength in the hind legs, right to full paralysis of the hind legs - which will often include loss of bowel and bladder function. It shouldnt affect the front end of the dachshund because the parts of the spine serving this part of the animal, is higher up than the areas most usually damaged. Spinal damage is usually cumulative so best to take seriously any soreness or incapacity in a dachshund even if it doesnt look very serious. With rest, the damage can often be reversed or at least stopped in its tracks if paralysis hasnt yet resulted. If a dog with an unstable or partially ruptured disk is left to move around normally, the damage from the disk can progress to paralysis.

Hi Mooper I would strongly advise anyone with a dachshund 'pulling up sore' to limit its movement for a little while. Often the tenderness is the first sign of a much larger problem, but short term imobilisation can see the problem settle down without progressing. If one of mine looks sore I crate it for a week when im not around to supervise. Have avoided a couple of major surgeries that way I think. Carrying dachshunds down stairs is always a good idea. The problem is cumulative so its never too late to start. Valentino is going from strength to strength. He walks everywhere himself now and has rather a unique gait these days - wobbly and very pigeon toed - but Im just delighted his legs work at all. He is back to his favourite old trick of wandering off into the garden during 'last wees before bed' and laying low and silent when i call him back in, then search and search.... Still very little power in his back end, but he has developed new strategies for movements which used to rely on strong hindquarters. Digs his toenails in for leverage, that sort of thing. Hes a very stoic, very adaptable little man. k

Valentino has just started to move his hind legs tonight! Im soooo happy - I was beginning to doubt he would recover - its been almost 3 weeks since his surgery. But tonight he made a definite attempt to walk. Totally failed of course, but at least he doesnt have jelly legs anymore. Theres definitely light on the horizon. yay yay yay

Thank you Longdogs, I will certainly contact you if I get another dachie. I do love the breed so much. Its great to know there are breeders working towards making them healthier. Mine very rarely go down a full flight of steps - I carry them. They do walk up them though which I thought would be ok becasue its not jarring. But our house has a lots of little changes in level so they do go down single steps several times a day unfortunately. Valentino is going ok - still no sign of any leg control but he can empty his own bladder now and can stand, as long as I prevent him from toppling sideways. And he still thinks hes the toughest dog in the neighbourhood, even with his mum walking behind him holding his rear end up.

All my dachies are fit and active, but my home is multi level so they do go up and down a fair bit. Wouldnt be any more challenging than hunting though - and surely a breed should be able to withstand an active lifestyle? The breeder I got one of my dogs from said she never gets spinal problems cos she keeps her dogs crated most of the time. That probably should have rung alarm bells for me... Anyway, Id love to see the problem bred out as this is my favourite breed but atm Ill be reluctant to ever get another one and face the expense, worry and potential heartbreak yet again.

Vet is pleased he is taking some weight on his legs. I was just worried becaseu my other dachy Toasty had major surgery to releive full paralysis on 3 seperate occasions (she has the worst spine the vet had ever seen) and each time, was beginning to walk within a week of the surgery. Valentino's recovery is looking much slower so I was worried - which is why I posted in the palliative care section. But Im less worried now that i hear others experiences with the recovery taking months. It is a shame the breed has this problem. I have three dachshunds and all of them have had serious spinal problems. Iv been lucky in being able to fork out thousands of dollars each time its happened (mind you, we dont eat, lol) but Im sure for many dachshund owners, paralysis from a slipped disk means the end of the dog. I would think that it was possible to breed such a serious defect out.

Thanks settrlvr - thats encouraging. I too wouldnt undertake such dramatic surgery if the prognosis for recovery hadnt been so good - and if I hadbnt seen such excellent results with my other dachsys surgery. She too never regained full bowel control but shes mostly pretty good and has a happy healthy active life, so I can live with cleaning up the odd poo. Its now 8 days since Valentino's surgery and he is beginning to take weight on his hind legs. No coordination or awareness at all yet but if yours took 9 months to walk, I know there is plenty of time fro improvement. I hadnt thought of cutting the leg holes out of the sling. Thanks for the tip. What sort of physio did you do?

Last Sunday my 9 year old mini dachshund Valentino slipped a disk in his spine. One of my other dachshy's, Toasty, has had 3 slipped discs requiring surgery each time so I imediately knew what was happening. Anyway, Valentinos was pretty bad, he had quickly lost all function below the slip (legs, bowels, bladder) but I took him to the specialist and he underwent major surgery on Monday, to releive the pressure on his spinal cord - which was causing the paralysis. It cost nearly $4000 but his prognosis was apparently good. Its now 6 days post surgery, and Valentino doesnt appear to have improved at all. He still has no use at all in the hind legs, no control of his bowels and Im having to manually empty his bladder. I dont think hes in much discomfort though and his appetite is good. When Toasty had her surgery, each time she had bladder control and was beginning to gain the use of her legs again after 3 or 4 days, and while I understand hers was excellent progress, im wondering if others have had dogs with similar surgery, who took a while to show any response to it at all? Im giving Valentino physiotherapy for about 30 minutes on each leg each day - stretching and retracting them, and taking him for 'walks' holding his body up in a sling so his forelegs can trundle along, to encourage him to get his back legs involved. Does anyone have any other sorts of exersises or activities I can do with Valentino to promote healing? He really wants to walk - drags himself around at every opportunity (and has given himself a pressure sore on his bottom as a result).

Yay! Poodlechick iv PMd you.

CARAs foster carers are in Canberra and QBN, so would prefer helpers close to those places. Thanks Shmoo, you already helped out with my Sammy the sammy. Remember him? Dear old guy. Will contact you if I have manky ones located in Sydney, before they are transported down to us. Mostly tho, we dont have much of an idea of the coat condition before we get them.

CARA (Companion Animal Rescue and Adoption) occasionally rescues fluffy little dogs from local and regional pounds, and more often than not they are neglected, matted and filthy and need the coat partially or fully removed. We dont have many grooming skills or tools in the group so we are hoping to find a groomer in the local area who would like to help out rescue dogs, by clipping these little ones for us. As rescuers we dont have a lot of funds to spend on grooming and certainly cant afford commercial rates. please pm me if you think you might be able to help, even with just the occasional dog. thanks ww.companionrescue.org.au