Introducing my best friend Jake!

Hi again Kath,

When we got Jake (aged 14 months) home from Dogs Trust he had Kennel Cough, in fact he was so poorly that our own Vet thought he may have distemper! He weighed 19.5Kg - and his ideal weight should be 30Kg - he now weighs 31.5Kg. We bit our nails until we got the results. The reason the previous owners gave for handing him into dogs trust - in fact they had his name down at 10months old (a puppy) was that he was 'gun-shy' (he isn't he wants to be with the gamekeeper if he hears shooting, he gets excited and wants to be 'in'; also that he had diarrhea all the time (that was true) and he was bullied by the other dogs. He was kept with intact males and he had one testicle retained so that could account for him being bullied! He was hand-shy though and used to 'rear up' when hubby or any other man went near to him.

Anyway I was determined I wouldn't give up on him. So we took him off to your colleagues at CamVets (we've taken all our dogs there in the past, and they saved one of our dogs who had IMT and a brain bleed) as we had every confidence in them. He had various tests. He does have a small pancreas so feeding him 3 times a day is preferable.

I tried EVERY food available from home made to kibble. Eventually he settled down on Burns Organic fish and brown rice. I shampooed him 2x weekly with Neem40 shampoo. And the rest is history.

CamVets couldn't actually find anything, so we arrived at a diagnosis of IBS.

Sorry that this post is so long, but I thought that knowing the journey he had would answer any questions anyone might have. And if you do feel anger, as I often do about Jake, remember that his first owner was a shooter and Jake was a gun dog. His owner could have put a gun to his head! So, someone was looking after my boy!

Thank you all for your very kind words. Would I do it again! You bet I would!

Carole & Jake xxx

p.s. We have four lovely Black Rock Hens! In the winter when they can't do any harm, we let them out of their enclosure to have the run of our back garden. Jake walks along with them and has never shown any aggression to them. (He enjoys eating their eggs, scrambled!)

 

Carole, regarding your last post no it's not too long. We love pets as well as our gardens and other things and know only to well how easy it is to 'go on' but that's how we learn about things, be they animal, mineral or vegetable, lol.

I was wondering about Jake(as my last post) cos I had a poodle and his hair/fur looked similar so I thought it might dry quickly and not smell as other dogs do - don't shoot me I've got a smelly one now, lol. Although actually my poodle hated the water!? Yes Carole, that's my Joyce in my sig. She's about 14 years old now and showing it in some ways but you wouldn't know to look at her unless you've known her all her life.

Maybe if Jake had IBS that's why the previous owners didn't cope - no excuse at all:( Just saying they obviously couldn't be bothered to find out. He's much better off with you even if you don't have guns. I wonder all the time (still) about how Joyce ended up in a rescue centre. She has a small head for her body (bless, lol) and is/was very skittish about running off etc but has the most loving, placid temperement (sp?), is bright as a button in getting what she wants,lol, and was house trained and used to jumping in a car - all this by 6 months to a year old! Who would want to lose her? Never mind, like Jake, she was lucky(ha, ha-Joyce woofs!) and ended up with us!

Please keep us up to date with Jake (obtw-Joyce hates tinned dog meat too!) and post more pics.

cheers

 

I believe IBS can be caused by stress also. So in his prior living situation sounds like he did not like it.

And, also what bewilders me, a person picks a breed that is "rare" and treats him that way???
Shaking my head.

 

hi jake, im rosa pleased to meet you and im so pleased you have a nice new home