Labrador Retriever Care Sheet
Chihuahua Care Sheet
Breed Species: Shetland Sheepdog
Color: Tricolor
Gender: Female
Birthday: March 24, 1997
Breed Species: Labrador Retriever Dog
Color: Yellow
Gender: Female
Birthday: April 1997
Breed Species: Chihuahua
Color: Fawn
Gender: Female
Birthday: August 9, 2006
Lassie can't walk well because of her problems with her hips. She often falls and stumbles when walking. She is on Rimadyl for the pain and it works well for now. Of course without the pain inhibiting her she tries to jump around and play and falls more. She jumps back up unphased by her falls but I watch and know someday she will not be able to walk unassisted. She's only 8 years old. Her symptoms started when she was 5 years old and I couldn't get anyone to listen to me. She spent almost 3 long years in severe pain with all the vets telling me she was too young to be arthritic or have the kinds of problems I was insisting on. They wouldn't check her for anything. I'm young and I look younger than I am and I have a difficult time getting people to listen to me anyway. They said she was "just stretching" as if I didn't know the difference between a dog having difficulty standing and one stretching (if you can't tell, it still angers me). Finally I got her new vet, Dr. Correy to listen to me. He said the other vets were wrong and should have checked her that she wasn't too young for any of it. I am so grateful to him. He helped her finally stop hurting. Her vet bills have been extremely costly throughout her life. She will never get better, only worse.
Lassie rarely stops scratching for more than a few minutes. We have had to change her diet. She is on Frontline for flea prevention. She gets bathed in hypoallergenic shampoo. We haven't completely figured out what she's allergic to yet. We suspect fleas is one of the culprits but there are most likely more. She has been treated countless times for skin infections cause by her scratching. When she gets nervous she chews herself raw too. Our car was broken into several months ago and while we were outside talking to the police she was inside chewing. When we were finally able to come back inside, the entire top of the back half of her body was a huge bald, bloody patch. I wanted to cry. I wasn't sure the hair would ever grow back. After what seemed like forever, it finally did.
Lassie refuses to go outside. If the door is opened she runs and hides. She knows she is supposed to go outside to use the bathroom, but she waits until she can't hold it one more second before she runs to the door. If you aren't standing by the door and throw it open as soon as she gets there, she generally has an accident. When she does make it out the door in time. She runs straight out and uses the bathroom then straight back in the house. She won't play outside or go for walks like normal dogs do. If left outside for too long she will run her foot pads raw.
If Lassie hears or sees cars or other loud noises she panics. She runs and hides and barks and growls. If she's outside at the time she will run back in the house while still going potty.
Lassie doesn't like strangers or men at all she growls and barks while she runs away. She has lived with my father for all but the first few weeks of her life and she is still afraid of him. Everytime she sees him she barkss and growls and runs away. My father has never done anything to her. He's never been able to get near her.
Lassie is a very wonderful, intellegent, sweet, loving, loyal dog. She doesn't deserve any of this. I don't even know her real birthday for sure. It was most likely falsified. Take my advice, don't buy puppies from pet stores, even nice trusted pet stores. Too often they come from terrible places and by buying them you are only helping to support these terrible places. Stick to breeders, rescues, or shelters. Sometimes rescue or shelter animals are sick but you will usually know it before you buy them and at the very least the rescue or shelter isn't supporting a puppy mill. Or even go get yourself a free mixed breed dog from someone who no longer wants him. They still make excellent pets even without a "pedigree".
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