What's new
Mastiff Forum

This is a sample guest message. Register a free account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!

  • Welcome back!

    We decided to spruce things up and fix some things under the hood. If you notice any issues, feel free to contact us as we're sure there are a few things here or there that we might have missed in our upgrade.

First day at forever home.

trg

Well-Known Member
How‘s Gus doing? Did he get his new collar? I know, it‘s only been two weeks, but two weeks can feel like two years with these guys. There‘s so much happening every day!
Doing well, I missed his appt. at the vet on the 23. Just got home from the vet. He weighs 78.2 and 25” at the shoulder. He wasn’t crazy about the fecal exam ( nor should he have been). He got his rabies, Parvo and distemper shot. The vet was concerned when Gus struggled during the fecal exam. He pulled away and thrashed his head. Just saying I may have done the same given the same situation. She said with a dog with his size potential, he needs to be worked with to avoid any issues in the future, which I agree.
 

TylerDurden

Well-Known Member
Doing well, I missed his appt. at the vet on the 23. Just got home from the vet. He weighs 78.2 and 25” at the shoulder. He wasn’t crazy about the fecal exam ( nor should he have been). He got his rabies, Parvo and distemper shot. The vet was concerned when Gus struggled during the fecal exam. He pulled away and thrashed his head. Just saying I may have done the same given the same situation. She said with a dog with his size potential, he needs to be worked with to avoid any issues in the future, which I agree.

That‘s great news. I‘m glad he‘s doing well. Bane has never liked the fecal exam either. He doesn‘t bark or try to bite, but he tries to walk away and hide. Whenever his favorite vet tech is there, that‘s usually not an issue, and after a few treats he‘s fine. We work with him a lot, but I don‘t think that he will ever be totally fine with the exam (for obvious reasons). I guess the vet is generally right about the potential, but I would assume that most dogs react similarly in that particular situation.
 
  • Like
Reactions: trg

trg

Well-Known Member
Gus tried to hide too, he actually thrashed a bit after the fecal exam when his shots were coming. They had a choking style leach on him which didn’t help.
 

TylerDurden

Well-Known Member
Gus tried to hide too, he actually thrashed a bit after the fecal exam when his shots were coming. They had a choking style leach on him which didn’t help.

Not sure if it would work well, but our vet used peanut butter when Bane was younger. The vet tech would distract him with peanut butter, while the vet would give him the shots. It used to worked very well, but it‘s no longer necessary now that he‘s older. He isn‘t a big fan of male doctors, but no issues with females at all.
 

Boxergirl

Well-Known Member
I don't mean this to be a silly question, but why don't you guys just take in a fecal sample? Heck, we supplied the entire vet tech school with poo in a bag for months for learning to analyze samples. I never have them do the stick up the butt deal.
 

Jarena

Well-Known Member
Ok so I was thinking the same thing as Boxergirl. But I just figured I generally don’t know what I’m talking about so I must just be the silly one. We always take in a sample that’s less than 24 hours old. Just a tiny bit in a ziplock bag (I double bag it lol).
 
  • Like
Reactions: trg

TylerDurden

Well-Known Member
I don't mean this to be a silly question, but why don't you guys just take in a fecal sample? Heck, we supplied the entire vet tech school with poo in a bag for months for learning to analyze samples. I never have them do the stick up the butt deal.

That‘s actually a reasonable question. They used to do this way when he was very young (not sure why). By that time, his stools weren‘t really solid (8-12 weeks). Bane isn‘t a big fan of having is temperature taken either, which somewhat similar.
 
  • Like
Reactions: trg

trg

Well-Known Member
I don't mean this to be a silly question, but why don't you guys just take in a fecal sample? Heck, we supplied the entire vet tech school with poo in a bag for months for learning to analyze samples. I never have them do the stick up the butt deal.
Going forward I will, I really didn’t like the experience all the way around today. She was talking about smaller poor breed mastiffs. She said yea, Gus may be one of those who make it to 125 pounds. I thought he is 78 pounds at 5 months, duh? I am looking for someone who has a bit more experience with the breed. She also ask if I had any concerns. I said yeah when he rolls in the grass his eyes water, and I thought he had allergies. She said well probably not grass allergies, probably something else. His eyes only water if he rolls in the grass. When I say he rolls he gets in there pretty good, rubbing his face in the grass, etc... Soon as he is done his eyes clear right up. He acts like he don’t even notice it. I’m done complaining. Btw, this is a new vet for us.
 

TylerDurden

Well-Known Member
Going forward I will, I really didn’t like the experience all the way around today. She was talking about smaller poor breed mastiffs. She said yea, Gus may be one of those who make it to 125 pounds. I thought he is 78 pounds at 5 months, duh? I am looking for someone who has a bit more experience with the breed. She also ask if I had any concerns. I said yeah when he rolls in the grass his eyes water, and I thought he had allergies. She said well probably not grass allergies, probably something else. His eyes only water if he rolls in the grass. When I say he rolls he gets in there pretty good, rubbing his face in the grass, etc... Soon as he is done his eyes clear right up. He acts like he don’t even notice it. I’m done complaining. Btw, this is a new vet for us.

Maybe 225 :p
I‘ve noticed that the majority of all vets in the area don‘t know much about large/giant breeds (especially when it comes to nutrition). You never know, but a final weight of 125lbs in his case would be highly unlikely. It‘s probably going to be at least double. She probably hasn‘t treated Mastiffs before. It‘s always great to find a vet who owns large breeds too.
 

Jarena

Well-Known Member
We are currently looking for a new vet also. The one we have now is a very nice guy who seems to know what he is doing and cares for the animals. He doesn’t pressure us too much with our choice to wait to spay but his vet techs do.
Our trainer also has giant breeds and he has cautioned us to do some searching and find a vet more experienced with giant breeds. He said most vets in the area don’t have surgery tables big enough to do the spay operation. That most will actually just hold the mastiffs head the whole time which can, and often does, result in injury to the neck.
I hadn’t even thought about that before...
 

April Nicole

Well-Known Member
Not sure if it would work well, but our vet used peanut butter when Bane was younger. The vet tech would distract him with peanut butter, while the vet would give him the shots. It used to worked very well, but it‘s no longer necessary now that he‘s older. He isn‘t a big fan of male doctors, but no issues with females at all.

Thanks for the peanut butter trick Tyler, used it this morning to clip Logan's claws. Worked great!
 

TylerDurden

Well-Known Member
Thanks for the peanut butter trick Tyler, used it this morning to clip Logan's claws. Worked great!

That‘s awesome. I‘m glad it worked for you. Just watch out for peanut butter that contains "Xylitol“, which is a sugar replacement. It seems to be dangerous for dogs. However, peanut butter that contains refuglar sugar should not be a problem. Obviously, it has a lot of sugar and calories, I would strictly limit the use to "special" treat.
 

TylerDurden

Well-Known Member
@trg How is that "little" giant doing? It has been a month since the last picture. A month in that development stage feels more like a year when you look at before vs. after pictures. I hope everything is going well.
 

trg

Well-Known Member
78721389-0D8B-4F9B-A868-1CDFB48430B5.jpeg
@trg How is that "little" giant doing? It has been a month since the last picture. A month in that development stage feels more like a year when you look at before vs. after pictures. I hope everything is going well.
6 months old, 29 inches at shoulder, not sure of the weight. I do know he weighs more than Georgia now. She is 107-110 pounds.