Crate pads or bedding or bare crate?

[Rits]

Just ordered one as she chewed her replacement bed within ten mins… I did get the one fitted for the crate.

Aw, no! The bed thing is frustrating. You just want them to have a comfy bed! Why don't they understand that, lol. And sadly I think this breed is notorious for it. I don't hear of as many problems in friends with other breeds with eating/chewing beds and soft toys.

I hope the Muenster helps her! It is probably more calorie dense than PPP so check the amount of kcal/cup to figure out the difference for how much to feed. The imodium should definitely help her firm up.

Has she been tested for EPI or had a full blood workup to check her organs? Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency in Dogs | VCA Animal Hospitals Have you asked her breeder if her parents or any littermates are experiencing similar issues? Something going on for so long like this is often chronic due to genetics.

 

[MichiH]

Aw, no! The bed thing is frustrating. You just want them to have a comfy bed! Why don't they understand that, lol. And sadly I think this breed is notorious for it. I don't hear of as many problems in friends with other breeds with eating/chewing beds and soft toys.

I hope the Muenster helps her! It is probably more calorie dense than PPP so check the amount of kcal/cup to figure out the difference for how much to feed. The imodium should definitely help her firm up.

Has she been tested for EPI or had a full blood workup to check her organs? Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency in Dogs | VCA Animal Hospitals Have you asked her breeder if her parents or any littermates are experiencing similar issues? Something going on for so long like this is often chronic due to genetics.

Yes, super frustrating and we just received the replacement! She literally did it within 10 mins in the morning last week. I am so excited for her new bed to arrive! Thank you for recommending it.

I know my mil said go get her a cheap fluffy she’ll be fine lol umm no. Not ever doing that.

She has not had bloodwork done yet and I will have it done if we can’t get to normal with the new food. Interesting read on EPI thank you. I did contact the breeder and she didn’t seem to have much info for me. I did speak to an owner of one of Peppers brothers , she said he had a lot of issues as a little guy and is doing well on new food.
I also watch her like a hawk as we know I am crazy haha and of course she still eats stuff she shouldn’t.

She has been totally fine since September no issues at all and then we got hit hard with terrible diarrhea. Hoping we all sleep tonight and her belly will be ok.

Ah good call on the calories I’ll make sure to check that out too. I would have not thought about that. Thank you!

 

[Katyusharocket]

I also ordered Muenster food finally

once you are transitioned to it, I would love to know how you feel about it. I am transitioning my 3 to Member's mark pasture raised lamb and brown rice recipe. It had a 5 star rating on dog food advisor. I have an accelerated transition plan in place, and I am happy with Zastava's gut heath improvement, as I perceive it. The member's mark guaranteed analysis gave us a probiotic level and a taurine level that I couldn't argue with, plus, $1.10 per pound vs. the $2 per pound that we were feeding. And, the ingredient list is no slouch.

 

[Two Dobes]

It is frustrating when they won't allow anything soft in the crate....the K9 Ballistics pad I bought is actually too big for this crate, so I could only tie down some of it. Falcon found the corner that was not tied down. Thankfully, that is all he did, was chew the tab, and has left it alone now. As if to say "I found it!" I tried putting a old king size sheet in with him so he could nest....nope. Chewed holes, and I could not find the pieces, so out it came. Have never had a dobe like him. Previous kids would just suck holes in the blankies, but not make a meal out of them!

 

[MyBuddy]

Previous kids would just suck holes in the blankies, but not make a meal out of them!

That was Buddy. He was a sucker and would suck on blankets that I would get cheap at garage sales. And I knew what what kind to look for. Kind of like the hospital blankets. Cotton, no fluff Etc. He would eventually start tearing at it but he never, ever ate it. I would watch him pull at it and then spit it out. He never ate any of his beds either.

Annie has never touched her K9 Ballistic crate pad. And she seems to be growing out of messing with the others beds loose on the floor. Never touched the one I put in her nighttime crate either. From day one! I think I put that in there the first or second night she was here. I still watch, though. You might call me a helicopter mom.

 

[MyBuddy]

She has been totally fine since September no issues at all and then we got hit hard with terrible diarrhea. Hoping we all sleep tonight and her belly will be ok.

Poor girl! I hope the change in food helps her. Diarrhea is hard on everyone.

know my mil said go get her a cheap fluffy she’ll be fine lol umm no. Not ever doing that.

Yeah with peppers history, that would be a firm no. I get what she's saying. If it's just a cheap fluffy you can throw them away. But she doesn't understand that's not the point and a fluffy with stuffing would be even worse to be eating.

. I did speak to an owner of one of Peppers brothers , she said he had a lot of issues as a little guy and is doing well on new food.
I also watch her like a hawk as we know I am crazy haha and of course she still eats stuff she shouldn’t.

Did you ask her what she was feeding?

It's so hard to watch everything that they are eating on the ground. I'm like a hawk too. I was talking to my neighbor with the Bullmastiff and she was saying that her little guy eats poop! Not so much his own but anything else! Rabbit. Deer. Even another dog. The last time we let them play Annie pooped. She went to clean it up because she said he'll eat it. I was going to take the bag from her and she said were you going to put it? I said, I don't know at the moment, I'll throw it away somewhere. And she says, I'll take it. She has a hook on her barn where she puts all the stuff that she finds on her walk and then takes it out on garbage day. Okaaaay, she must be cleaning up everything! LOL That's a job!

 

[MichiH]

Poor girl! I hope the change in food helps her. Diarrhea is hard on everyone.

Yeah with peppers history, that would be a firm no. I get what she's saying. If it's just a cheap fluffy you can throw them away. But she doesn't understand that's not the point and a fluffy with stuffing would be even worse to be eating.

Did you ask her what she was feeding?

It's so hard to watch everything that they are eating on the ground. I'm like a hawk too. I was talking to my neighbor with the Bullmastiff and she was saying that her little guy eats poop! Not so much his own but anything else! Rabbit. Deer. Even another dog. The last time we let them play Annie pooped. She went to clean it up because she said he'll eat it. I was going to take the bag from her and she said were you going to put it? I said, I don't know at the moment, I'll throw it away somewhere. And she says, I'll take it. She has a hook on her barn where she puts all the stuff that she finds on her walk and then takes it out on garbage day. Okaaaay, she must be cleaning up everything! LOL That's a job!

Yes, I did ask and it’s in my fb messages lol. We were back and forth for awhile. Her brother is 25 pounds more than her and about 29 inches!

Pepper is a peanut and I do worry her stomach issues have caused her not to grow fully. She does meet standard which is fine, I want her heathy.

Yes, sounds like Pepper she will eat anything besides her poop and other dog poop. Any other critter poop she’s on it.

She even enjoys rolling in it which she did yesterday and I almost passed out the smell. So she got a bath and then poor girl had a night, got dirty with her issues.

Thank you for the support all! Hoping this new food helps her.

 

[Ddski5]

Have there been any periods of time of 3-4 weeks in which you are absolutely sure Pepper hadn’t eaten anything foreign (animal poop)? So you are 100% positive she hasn’t eating anything foreign but yet she still has diarrhea?

I remember Ragnar would always sneak something in and I never saw him but I knew something was amiss when he started the runny poops. Then that would take about 4-5days to resolve gingering food intake and probiotics. Sometimes it took weeks for it to resolve depending on what poop and how rotten with bacteria it was. And if we were on day 5 and it was getting a little better…I see him score some cat poop in the flower bed or goose poop near the mail box. Then I would battle his diarrhea for another five days intensifying what was already goin on in his gut. Just miserable to be honest. I really should have muzzled him, would have made things a lot easier.

I do know for sure that when I 100% kept him from eating anything but food…his stomach normalized out and his poops were fine.

 

[MichiH]

Have there been any periods of time of 3-4 weeks in which you are absolutely sure Pepper hadn’t eaten anything foreign (animal poop)? So you are 100% positive she hasn’t eating anything foreign but yet she still has diarrhea?

I remember Ragnar would always sneak something in and I never saw him but I knew something was amiss when he started the runny poops. Then that would take about 4-5days to resolve gingering food intake and probiotics. Sometimes it took weeks for it to resolve depending on what poop and how rotten with bacteria it was. And if we were on day 5 and it was getting a little better…I see him score some cat poop in the flower bed or goose poop near the mail box. Then I would battle his diarrhea for another five days intensifying what was already goin on in his gut. Just miserable to be honest. I really should have muzzled him, would have made things a lot easier.

I do know for sure that when I 100% kept him from eating anything but food…his stomach normalized out and his poops were fine.

Yes, there have been weeks when she hasn’t eaten anything she shouldn’t. She will then poop normal no issues, it’s great!

I do know recently she got cat poop, a dead mouse, and deer poop. Those I caught her doing as she was with me!

I do believe I need to muzzle her, but man I’ll feel bad about it. For instance now she was in the yard and has her e collar on, I think as watching her and saw her grab something. She can’t help herself and I wish she could.

Even if I say “excuse me” she’ll drop it asap, stand still, and give me a look, so she knows.

Yes, it is miserable and it’s rough on us all. We are up all night long and last night was the worst yet. I usually can get her fixed up, but this time I cannot. So far it seems her Imodium has worked, but also don’t bandage it.

 

[Katyusharocket]

I do believe I need to muzzle her, but man I’ll feel bad about it.

I would feel bad about muzzling, too. The solutions you have to choose from both suck. Muzzle, or illness. Unless you can find a better other way. I feel for you.

 

[Ddski5]

I do believe I need to muzzle her, but man I’ll feel bad about it.

Yes. I could not come to terms with putting a muzzle on my black beast- that’s the way I viewed it… 20/20 hindsight has me guilt ridden. I can tell you that if I had the same issues with Freyja, I would slap a muzzle on her so fast, her head would spin. I see a lot of Dobermans on TicTok that are muzzled when free ranging (a lot more than I expected). They look just as happy and unbothered by it.

Yes, there have been weeks when she hasn’t eaten anything she shouldn’t. She will then poop normal no issues, it’s great!

That’s great to hear right there! So there’s a possibility that it’s not her everyday food upsetting her stomach. Eliminate her extra indulgence on dead rats, foreign poop, grass, mushrooms, etc… and everything will be much better.

I fully agree with you though, it’s so much harder to do than one thinks. It’s a 24/7 constant eyes on and it becomes extremely tiring and frustrating. This is not what I signed up for nor expecting.

I don’t believe you are gonna stop it in the given environment, you just have to prevent it from happening.

 

[MichiH]

Yes. I could not come to terms with putting a muzzle on my black beast- that’s the way I viewed it… 20/20 hindsight has me guilt ridden. I can tell you that if I had the same issues with Freyja, I would slap a muzzle on her so fast, her head would spin. I see a lot of Dobermans on TicTok that are muzzled when free ranging (a lot more than I expected). They look just as happy and unbothered by it.



That’s great to hear right there! So there’s a possibility that it’s not her everyday food upsetting her stomach. Eliminate her extra indulgence on dead rats, foreign poop, grass, mushrooms, etc… and everything will be much better.

I fully agree with you though, it’s so much harder to do than one thinks. It’s a 24/7 constant eyes on and it becomes extremely tiring and frustrating. This is not what I signed up for nor expecting.

I don’t believe you are gonna stop it in the given environment, you just have to prevent it from happening.

Exactly, I am having a difficult time with accepting the muzzle. Although, it is daunting watching her 24/7. When she is in our yard I am with her or peeking outside because I have chores to get done. I’m happy when I see her sprawled out alseep on the patio. Then I go back in 1 min and she’s gone lol.

Helpful to know the Dobermans you have seen seem happy wearing their muzzle. She is such a nut when putting her jacket on, she makes it seem like I am abusing her. She’s ridiculous. Haha. She looks so depressed and I’m like girl it’s 25 degrees out!

So yes, watching her to limit the extra garbage she is eating. That’s a must.

Hoping the food change will help her and that’s all it’ll be. New bed arriving this week too so she won’t be so miserable when it’s time for bed. She lets us know that!

Thank you @Ddski5

 

[JanS]

I see a lot of Dobermans on TicTok that are muzzled when free ranging (a lot more than I expected). They look just as happy and unbothered by it.

Melissa does with some of them too and they don't seem bothered at all. Elroy is good about not eating stuff and Olive is better than she was but I still don't trust her 100%.

 

[Ravenbird]

Yes, there have been weeks when she hasn’t eaten anything she shouldn’t. She will then poop normal no issues, it’s great!

I do believe I need to muzzle her, but man I’ll feel bad about it.

We humans tend to project our feelings like our dogs would think the same way. Once a dog gets use to a muzzle it's like wearing a collar, they just don't care. The fact that she has no issues when you absolutely control her environment, a muzzle would be a no-brainer. We are all so controlled by our emotions, not only what we think, but "what will other people think". I was self-conscious and prepared with answers when I took Asha out in public with her ears in posts, expecting the worst, people hating on it & being rude. I got nothing like that, literally zero rude comments. Same with prong collar, then with e-collar. This built my own confidence that yes indeed it's my dog, I'll do whatever it takes for her to live her best life and others opinions or even my own don't matter. Do it for your Pepper. I remember asking how long I'd have to keep an e-collar on Asha - thinking I could teach her to control her explosive barking and then she'd know not to. My teacher said I would probably need it the rest of her life. I think I cried. Also they were right. Asha is 100% better, but with or without the collar she can still explode barking, but with the e-collar on it's just once. If I had to deal with an eat-anything/everything dog I would not hesitate to muzzle.

 

[MichiH]

We humans tend to project our feelings like our dogs would think the same way. Once a dog gets use to a muzzle it's like wearing a collar, they just don't care. The fact that she has no issues when you absolutely control her environment, a muzzle would be a no-brainer. We are all so controlled by our emotions, not only what we think, but "what will other people think". I was self-conscious and prepared with answers when I took Asha out in public with her ears in posts, expecting the worst, people hating on it & being rude. I got nothing like that, literally zero rude comments. Same with prong collar, then with e-collar. This built my own confidence that yes indeed it's my dog, I'll do whatever it takes for her to live her best life and others opinions or even my own don't matter. Do it for your Pepper. I remember asking how long I'd have to keep an e-collar on Asha - thinking I could teach her to control her explosive barking and then she'd know not to. My teacher said I would probably need it the rest of her life. I think I cried. Also they were right. Asha is 100% better, but with or without the collar she can still explode barking, but with the e-collar on it's just once. If I had to deal with an eat-anything/everything dog I would not hesitate to muzzle.

This really hit home. Thank you @Ravenbird

I had so many of the same feelings and thoughts too with the ears, prong, and so on. I really didn’t get many comments only a few ear ones, but whatever my dog my choices.

I am getting her one for sure, it will help her love her life better. She then can free roam the yard safely and be in the house safely. Wearing it outweighs what could happen and what is happening to her gut.

Another bad night and hoping today we see some light. Going to keep on the new food, new probiotics and hope she recovers and we don’t go through this over and over.

 

[BG1]

Pads yes.
No pads, no.

We got Bonnie something fuzzy and warm and watched and corrected if she chewed. Coming up on two years and So far so good. Her crate is her go to sleep and security zone so that helps, I think. Never been a punishment to go in crate.
And
No chew toys allowed altho she did go thru a phase of collecting chewed marrow bones i there, until spayed.

PS: @Ravenbird really appreciate your posts here, along with others, of course. Like the down to earth culture of this forum too.
PS: @MichiH I feel for ya on the "did she eat something off the ground fear". I run Bonnie off leash on trails and its a joy to see her joy bounding agead, including the head down like a GSP sniffies...
And I'm STILL still working on the "dont eat that" training...
I use "leave it" and the e-collar set at HandOfGod setting if its serious...
Wood chips, coyote poop, dead rattlesnakes dont even get a courtesy warning...

The muzzle is the only way to sleep at night.
You mentioned coons in the neighborhood...
My vet cautions leptospirosis is more serious than giardia, in our area and there is a vax for it.
Ever get a parasite screen for fecal sample on latest diarrhea?

 

[JanS]

My vet cautions leptospirosis is more serious than giardia

Our vet said it's pretty wide spread here too.

 

[BG1]

Our vet said it's pretty wide spread here too.

And its deadly left untreated, kills the kidneys IIRC.

 

[JanS]

We have always gotten the vacs for it here.

 

[MichiH]

Pads yes.
No pads, no.

We got Bonnie something fuzzy and warm and watched and corrected if she chewed. Coming up on two years and So far so good. Her crate is her go to sleep and security zone so that helps, I think. Never been a punishment to go in crate.
And
No chew toys allowed altho she did go thru a phase of collecting chewed marrow bones i there, until spayed.

PS: @Ravenbird really appreciate your posts here, along with others, of course. Like the down to earth culture of this forum too.
PS: @MichiH I feel for ya on the "did she eat something off the ground fear". I run Bonnie off leash on trails and its a joy to see her joy bounding agead, including the head down like a GSP sniffies...
And I'm STILL still working on the "dont eat that" training...
I use "leave it" and the e-collar set at HandOfGod setting if its serious...
Wood chips, coyote poop, dead rattlesnakes dont even get a courtesy warning...

The muzzle is the only way to sleep at night.
You mentioned coons in the neighborhood...
My vet cautions leptospirosis is more serious than giardia, in our area and there is a vax for it.
Ever get a parasite screen for fecal sample on latest diarrhea?

She very well may have eaten something as much as I stalk her she still does it. She knows leave it and will respond, but sometimes she’s mid snacking when I say it.

E collar always for back up reminder too. It’s a full time job ! And another reason why I don’t even want to leave her with anyone, but my husband and boys, they know see she’s dangerous.