Chat
04-13-2014, 10:24 AM
Dogs have been doing great for the last four months. Goats have been doing great with them for the past 4 months as well. I wanted to update you all a bit as well as give a word of warning with these kinds of BIG dogs.
My second biggest LGD is Goliath who at 8 months was a bit over 80 lbs. (Sampson, the bigger of the two, I am guessing is a bit over 90lbs now and is nearly 30" at the shoulder.) When you have dogs this big they eat lots, are amazingly strong & have BIG MOUTHS and LARGE accommodating throats. These dogs will try to eat anything so you need to be careful about that as it is sometimes easier for them to just swallow things instead of spitting them out. They are BIG...but they are still puppies. I.E. "Puppy-Stupid" Because they are big they can swallow things that maybe they shouldn't. BE VERY CAREFUL WAHAT YOU FEED THEM AND ALLOW THE TO CHEW ON!
I am personally very careful with what I allow my dogs to chew on & play with and what I feed them. Unfortunately I do not own my land where my animals are and the land owner has friends and family that like to visit my animals when I am not around...I can't say much because I don't really pay much for such amazing facilities.
For the most part I am fine with as it helps socialize my goats and dogs. Sadly visitors have been throwing in stuffed animals for my dogs to chew on when I'm not around...NOT COOL! So far it had not been an issue as I pull them, their stuffing and body parts out ASAP as I do my chores twice a day. A couple of weeks ago some one visited the and threw a stuffed animal in for the dogs to chew on...I was away for 4 days on a business trip. My boys who were taking care of them didn't think much about it & sadly left the toy there and I came back and noticed stuffing all over but did not see any toys. Since I didn't see any toys it didn't really register any warning.
Then, one of my dogs would not eat anything and was laying around much more than normal for a couple of days. They usually quickly wolf their 6-8 cups of food that is fed to them...he wouldn't. Not too big of a deal so long as he was drinking as dogs have their days I figured. Then I knew we were trouble on the second day when on a walk he laid down & wouldn't get up for quite a while...AND he wouldn't drink. I got him to the vet ASAP and after exam, palpation & X-ray confirmation we found he had something large and sold in his intestines. $1500 worth of care later including unsuccessful IV therapy followed by a serious surgery, he lost much of his intestines along with a stuck stuffed animal head...he has more care to follow over the next little while. He lost enough of his intestines that he will have to be put down if it were to happen again as he can't loose anymore.
Long story short, I am very sadly down a LGD. fortunately the clinic that did the care and who he had originally been adopted through was in touch with the original shelter. Knowing that he could likely never work the farm again as we could never guarantee what he might eat or not eat there, the shelter was kind enough to agree to pick up part of the surgery cost & after care (Not the other care, IV therapy or X-rays). They also noted that they had several good potential homes to re-home him as the farm is no longer a good place for him.
Fortunately Goliath is still alive and well and will be going to a good home but I am so frustrated as he was probably the better LGD of the two. My kids were pretty attached & we needed him s we had also invested much time, money & efforts in to him. It SOOOO didn't have to happen an was totally preventable. While it is cute to watch dogs play with toys, people should ask first &/or mind their own business. I have spoken to the owner who feels awful but also asked where I thought the stuffed animal could have come from.
We both know where...hopefully it won't happen again as this is getting expensive for my family both in emotion and money. I don't think it will & I'll be posting signs on the fences & corrals etc.
Still trying to decide if I will replace him with a new LGD pup so that I still have a team to work together in the fields or just stay with the one.
Anyway, they may be puppies but that along with a big mouth & the wrong items can be deadly to these gentle giants.
My second biggest LGD is Goliath who at 8 months was a bit over 80 lbs. (Sampson, the bigger of the two, I am guessing is a bit over 90lbs now and is nearly 30" at the shoulder.) When you have dogs this big they eat lots, are amazingly strong & have BIG MOUTHS and LARGE accommodating throats. These dogs will try to eat anything so you need to be careful about that as it is sometimes easier for them to just swallow things instead of spitting them out. They are BIG...but they are still puppies. I.E. "Puppy-Stupid" Because they are big they can swallow things that maybe they shouldn't. BE VERY CAREFUL WAHAT YOU FEED THEM AND ALLOW THE TO CHEW ON!
I am personally very careful with what I allow my dogs to chew on & play with and what I feed them. Unfortunately I do not own my land where my animals are and the land owner has friends and family that like to visit my animals when I am not around...I can't say much because I don't really pay much for such amazing facilities.
For the most part I am fine with as it helps socialize my goats and dogs. Sadly visitors have been throwing in stuffed animals for my dogs to chew on when I'm not around...NOT COOL! So far it had not been an issue as I pull them, their stuffing and body parts out ASAP as I do my chores twice a day. A couple of weeks ago some one visited the and threw a stuffed animal in for the dogs to chew on...I was away for 4 days on a business trip. My boys who were taking care of them didn't think much about it & sadly left the toy there and I came back and noticed stuffing all over but did not see any toys. Since I didn't see any toys it didn't really register any warning.
Then, one of my dogs would not eat anything and was laying around much more than normal for a couple of days. They usually quickly wolf their 6-8 cups of food that is fed to them...he wouldn't. Not too big of a deal so long as he was drinking as dogs have their days I figured. Then I knew we were trouble on the second day when on a walk he laid down & wouldn't get up for quite a while...AND he wouldn't drink. I got him to the vet ASAP and after exam, palpation & X-ray confirmation we found he had something large and sold in his intestines. $1500 worth of care later including unsuccessful IV therapy followed by a serious surgery, he lost much of his intestines along with a stuck stuffed animal head...he has more care to follow over the next little while. He lost enough of his intestines that he will have to be put down if it were to happen again as he can't loose anymore.
Long story short, I am very sadly down a LGD. fortunately the clinic that did the care and who he had originally been adopted through was in touch with the original shelter. Knowing that he could likely never work the farm again as we could never guarantee what he might eat or not eat there, the shelter was kind enough to agree to pick up part of the surgery cost & after care (Not the other care, IV therapy or X-rays). They also noted that they had several good potential homes to re-home him as the farm is no longer a good place for him.
Fortunately Goliath is still alive and well and will be going to a good home but I am so frustrated as he was probably the better LGD of the two. My kids were pretty attached & we needed him s we had also invested much time, money & efforts in to him. It SOOOO didn't have to happen an was totally preventable. While it is cute to watch dogs play with toys, people should ask first &/or mind their own business. I have spoken to the owner who feels awful but also asked where I thought the stuffed animal could have come from.
We both know where...hopefully it won't happen again as this is getting expensive for my family both in emotion and money. I don't think it will & I'll be posting signs on the fences & corrals etc. Still trying to decide if I will replace him with a new LGD pup so that I still have a team to work together in the fields or just stay with the one.
Anyway, they may be puppies but that along with a big mouth & the wrong items can be deadly to these gentle giants.
LOCATION: Top-of-Utah at the South base of Ben Lomond